A Monochrome Experiment

Hello to all and thank you for all the kind thoughts and wishes from last week in regards to the death of my mother.  I am doing each day one at a time.

So this week Sally challenged us to work in Monochrome   A picture all one color, or shades of one color.  At first, I thought how cool.  I have tons of pics I can play with and turn monochrome....and so since I love to play....here are a few of my attempts.

 

 
 

 

I never did figure out if my camera did black and white, but it is something I want to do.  BUT I do have a couple of pics that were done in black and white......the one to the right is my grandmother, Elfie White, and the one below is MY granddaughter, Elfie Bass.....how cool is that!!!!!
 
So now that you have browsed through mine, jump on over to Sally's page for everyone else and enjoy! Til next week.....

Focus On Life - Flowers Week 7

When Sally first posted our "assignment" I figured...piece of cake....I am surrounded by flowers, this won't be a problem....BUT....Last Sat Feb 9 2013 my mother passed away. She had been ill for a while and was quite ready to go...but still no matter how prepared you are...it is still a shock.

So with that said, I am going to post a single yellow rose, not one I have, but from the internet in memory of my mother.  She loved yellow roses. Mom had a yellow rose bush, but of course it isn't in bloom at the moment. So I hope you will accept this humble offer from me in memory of my mother.  Thanks.

If you want to me some of my flowers then check out my other blog...veradesigns.blogspot.com, under flower power....

For more flowers head on over to Sally's Blog.

Feel The Love - Week 6!

Well, they say Love Is In The Air...In Florida it maybe, but to those wonderful posters in the North East.... I send warm thoughts and prayers for you safety and well being!

This week we were asked to FEEL the love....hmmmmm., it is kinda hard when stress is working its best to pull you under!  BUT....when  it starts I do fall back on the warm fuzzy feelings of love from my family.  My husband is still in the hospital, BUT, we talk each day, and I sent him a little heart pillow sprayed with the perfume I wear that he loves!  My daughter lives away from home, but I have pics of her around me and my one son is still home with me, kinda "helping" me through my time of "need" while my hubby is away!  My other son and his wife and my precious grand daughter, Elfie, are in in SC, but I chat almost every day with them and have pics around me of them too, my other granddaughter, Selena lives with her mother in Fla and I chat with her on FB when I am able...  So these pics, phone calls, online chats and such are where I get my warm fuzzy love feelings!  Oh yeah...and my dog Penelope, she has her own personality and is always around for a scratch behind the ears. So enjoy the pics of my warm fuzzes!

 My daughter, Sydny and granddaughter, Elfie

My son, Nicholas and our dog Penelope...their favorite spots....

 My daughter and her boyfriend Aaron

Both my granddaughters, Selena, and Elfie and my dad.

 The crew with my parents

My sweet hubby working on  our garden before his accident..

Our oldest, Larry, father to Selena and Elfie...

And his wife Shelly! 

So there you have it, what I turn to when I need some warm fuzzes!  Hop on over to Sally's page and see what everyone else is posting!!!!!! I am sure it will be a blast!  Sally's Focus on Life

Wow, into week 5 and Feb already!  This weeks assignment was to look for hearts in everything around us. The first few days I didn't even think about it as I had issues going on in my life, but then on Wednesday I remembered and took my camera with me out side. Below are pictures I took of  "things" that reminded me of hearts. Enjoy!

This is a Luna Moth that we saw this week on a chair in my dads yard. I have never seen one up close before. It was beautiful! I could even see his feathery antennae. I know it isn't a perfect heart, but it made mine pitter patter . I even submitted it to the Butterflys and Moths of North American website.  So cool!

 These two pictures are of a type of succulent called Kalanchoe Mirabella.   I have them all over my yard.  The one below I did some playing with. But it makes the middle look like a heart!

In this picture, the purple plant is called a Purple Heart. It is a type of ivy.  The green one beside it  is another type of ivy. And the leaves did look kinda of like hearts.  The one below was just a leaf I saw that looked like a heart....










The two below are from the trees in the forest that line the street where I walk to my dads.  I am not sure what they are, but they are all over the place. And though they aren't "perfect"....they kinda remind me of "broken" hearts...

 

This one is of a Wisteria plant in my dad's yard...even though it is bare, the way the limbs curve remind me of hearts.

And while they aren't exactly shaped like hearts they are red.






And last of all is the fencing around the "rose" garden. It is sorta shaped like a heart!

  So here are my "hearts" for this week. It is interesting to look for hearts as you go through life, as we all need some "love" every day.
 Jump on over to Sally's blog for the rest of  our hearts! The studio sublime

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Week Four - Create Art....

Wow, create art. Am I an artist?  That took some time to think. When I think artist, I think paintings, sculptures, and such. But I am not any of these.

At Dictionary. com, Art is defined as:

art

noun

1.

the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

2.

the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: a museum of art; an art collection.  See fine art, commercial art.

3.

a field, genre, or category of art: Dance is an art.

4.

the fine arts collectively, often excluding architecture: art and architecture.

5.

any field using the skills or techniques of art: advertising art;industrial art.

 Where do I fit into that???  I think I will choose number 1.  To me any art is an expression of someones thoughts. Those of us who make jewelry "create art". Using clay, wood, stones, glass and more are our art medias. We use them to create. We step out of our boxes, try something new, embrace new techniques...

So to me, we are ALL artist. Even if you sew, crochet, knit, needlework, paint, design.......you are an artist. You have create something for all to see.

So now I'll step off my box and show you something I "created" for a challenge. I had had the pieces sitting on my work space for quite a while and wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. But then...the pieces began to speak to me.....I had an image in my mind, and just started putting the pieces together.

 Here you have the finished product. The extra beading around the edges and the fringe were new techniques I was trying. I keep it on my work desk shelf front and center so that I can look at and remember, let the pieces talk. They know better than me!

 A few more of my "art" pieces are shown here. This one was  a challenge about Fairy Tales...

 This piece was done based on the colors and birds. You can see the birds on top of the white beads. This was the first time I had used a scarf or any other media of this type.

 Again I was working a challenge, and came up with this piece. It is my "Blue Mermaid"

 This is my most current one. I used a focal bead from White Raven Creations on etsy, and 5 glass head pins created by Rodney Mace at Fire forged Studio on etsy.  Since I can't do glass and I wanted to promote other "artist" I went to etsy and chose these two pieces. I have another one I am working on also that has a tiny cardinal hand felted by Leanne Pendleton from Got Crow Creations on etsy.

This was a fun pieces I did just to see how those pompoms would work.  As you can see they worked just fine!!!! I love looking at this piece, to me it is colorful, playful, eclectic, and out of the box. The pompoms are itchy if you wear it against the skin, but on top of a turtle neck I think it would be great!

I have many more fun colorful pieces I have done. I think of myself as eclectic. I have always wanted to dance to a different tune than everyone else. Making jewelry and challenges are my dance to a different tune outlet.

Thanks for listening!

For more "artful" people, jump over to Sally's site! The Studio Sublime

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Week Three - Time For Myself....Hmmmmmm

This week we were asked to show and tell about what we do when we sneak a few moments for ourselves. Not having any small children at home I do tend to have a little more time to "steal" for myself.  Usually it is at night...or on Sundays after church as I try to have that as our lazy day.

Usually at night I either, read, crochet, or watch TV depending upon what is on.  It is quiet in my room and when I am done with what I am doing then I can snuggle down in the covers with my husband, (when he finally gets home from the hospital - abt two more weeks)and go to sleep.





Usually on the weekends and sometimes at night, I do work on my jewelry pieces while I watch TV in the living/family room. We have a big tv in there so it is much easier to watch. I have a whole corner....to myself and my family know not to go in it!!!!!

And somewhat lastly, when the days are nice as they have been here in Florida, I get and work in the yard. The above picture is of some shrubs I am trying to grow from cuttings so that we have a little privacy.  I plan to plant some flowering bulbs in between for color.

The one to the right, is a garden that my husband and I work on together...it is kinda a hodgepodge of plants, aloe, a large cactus  lilies,  roses, bromiliad's. and so on. It is fun to get out and get your hands dirty now and then.

So these are a few of my favorite things that I do when I "sneak" time for myself.


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Week Two - The Word!!!!

GROWTH!


Growth....to open up, reach for the heavens, embrace life.

I think looking back that as teenagers/young adults we think we are really living, growing and enjoying life. And we do to a degree....but now....I can see I lived in the moment, which I think stunted my true growth.



As in the picture, this succulent plant will grow tall, but you can see the bends and angles that it made trying to grow straight.  To me that represents a lot of us in our early years.

 The straight and flowering top is us now in our somewhat pregolden years. We made it through the kids, and now our reward is not only grand kids, but a new opening up and blooming as we start on a new path.

 So this year, I want to grow!  With our kids gone, I would like to grow my relationship with my husband, back to that giddy love we had before kids...:-)  I would like to grow my relationship with my Lord, get back to my quiet times and bible reading. I would like to grow my jewelry/crochet business to not only bring in a bit of money, but because I love doing it.

I am excited to see what this year will bring and if by the end I am flowering!

PS. These plants are in my yard......They grow at the drop of a hat!

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