New Year, New Goals

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Hello friends.  I hope this post f ind you well and your new year already filled with God's blessings.  I sure don't know how people post on their blogs everyday, I always have good intentions, but...you know how busy life can be.  Anyway, I wanted to pop in and say that I am still here and I hope to be in my studio a lot more this year.  I have been tiding up, painting, and trying to organize some ufo's to dive into.  Yes, I organize a lot - although I am not sure I really "get organized".   I also wanted to remind you that the first 2011 issue of CQMagOnline will be out soon.  I have an article in it about these vintage baby-shoe pincushions I made for my "stitching sisters" of Bee Crazy.  Bee Crazy is a stitching Bee I have belonged to for some 10 years now and we stitch every Tuesday - ALL DAY!  It is wonderful!  And, we have become such wonderful friends.  If you have the opportunity to join a stitching or art group, I definitely recommend it.  OK, back to the baby shoes...here are some pictures of a few I did.  In my web surfing, I found The Feathered Nest, an absolutely beautiful blog where she has tutorials on what she does with vintage baby shoes and many more fun projects.  I know she would love for you to visit.  How can anyone resist baby shoes!

I love making just about anything into a pincushion.  They make wonderful gifts and are fun just to decorate your sewing room.  Here are a few I have...

The Victorian shoe is actually my wedding shoe from 15 years ago, the little velvet tuffet is in a decorated altoid tin, the snail shell was a gift to me from Victoria Adams Brown of RibbonSmith, the walnut I purchased and want to try my hand at making one, the little brown velvet piece is a crystal salt cellar, the one behind it is a silver (yes, kept it tarnished) miniature goblet, and the large one is actually done with an old cd as the base for the cushion and then I put it on a crystal candle holder.  Recently I came by some large acorn tops and plan to made a pincushion with them - stay tuned!

As for UFO's, this is one of many I am trying to finish up.  This is a pin-weaving I started a while back and am just now adding some textural elements and such and hope to pronounce it finished very soon.  My husband says I never pronounce anything finished unless I just give it away - otherwise, I keep on adding and playing...

This year I hope to open many new doors of creativity.  I have already scheduled to attend a retreat outside of Austin, Texas with KC Willis, an online class from Shabby Cottage Studios, and a silversmithing class locally; not to mention, that my CQ Bee has scheduled a beach retreat later this month for a whole week.  Talk about fun and relaxation!  I can't wait.

So many nice people out in "blog-land" share wonderful images so I thought I would try to do the same occasionally.  Here is a picture that is free for you to use in your artistic endeavors - copyright free for sure as it is a picture of my dear Aunt Julie and dated 1919.  She was a nurse and a caregiver and blessed the lives of many, many people. 

Well, till next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you in His tender care.

Love,

Jules