January 11, 2010
· Filed under art/craft
Just got over some really cold weather in Dallas – don’t know what that will do to my plants but that is certainly out of my control! Wanted to post some art work I did in a creativity sampler class I took at the Creative Arts Center last fall.
We did a little bit of painting, some printmaking, collage, intro to jewelry making. and ceramics,
Here are four finished pieces I came up with. None are award winners but I am glad I persevered and finished them!
The first piece is a ceramic tile – we threw the clay, rolled it out and used nippers to trim the pieces. The next two pieces are collage. And the final piece includes some dried mushrooms I had collected years ago. I attached them with glossy matte medium and then covered the entire piece with decoupage. I like the final piece the best – want to do some type of framing – maybe mount it on a board?
Now deciding what I am going to take next!
December 23, 2009
· Filed under etc.!
Wow – didn’t realize I hadn’t blogged since the end of October. Had one trip to Ohio in there but still don’t know where the time went. Christmas is only 3 days away. Am helping my DH make tiki marsala chicken. Pretty much ready for Christmas – still a few more rows to do on one knitted item. I debated about a tree this year but decided to put one up – outside on our new deck. Here is a picture!
The packages are empty – just pretty decorative boxes I bought a couple of years ago. Real gifts are inside!
Here is another picture of our beautiful Japanese Maple trees – our view from our dining room and living room. In past years leaves were all gone by mid December, but this year they have held on and are giving us lots of beautiful red Christmas color! Happy Holidays everyone!
October 27, 2009
· Filed under art/craft
Am busy getting crafts finished to sell at the Lakewood Home Tour on November 14th and 15th. I have never done anything like this before so a NEW experience! Here are some of the things I will be selling!
And I finally got around to making some earrings. These are made from felt balls and silk cocoons that I dyed. Had fun making them – will see if anyone is interested in buying them!
Most important thing is that I had fun making them!
October 13, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
Has been raining for weeks now – very unusual for Texas. Good time to get things done indoors but ready for some sun! I find I am able to motivate myself much more easily when the sun is out .
Anyhow I am going to be selling some of my knitting and other fiber art at the Lakewood Home Festival on November 14th and 15th. This past weekend I atmepted more nunofeltng and am pleased with the outcome. The scarf is a combination of blue merino wool and silk hankies that I dyed. Am pretty pleased – it is soft - love the colors. Here it is…..
And a closeup……
A few weeks ago I needlefelted and wet felted this yellow scarf. I dyed the silk scarf a pale green and decided to go with the yellow – more of a spring color but I like the final product.
And one more. I just noticed that ruffles are in this year. My daughter saw a similar scarf at a yarn shop when I was visiting in Seattle – actually a shop in Bellevue. She said she loved it – so I found some similar yarn and knitted it up – pretty easy and really ruffly!
Will post more of my items soon. And BTW I was embarrassed to note that I posted the cute picture of my grandson and me twice! Maybe it is all this rain or just a senior moment!
October 9, 2009
· Filed under gardening, grandkids
October 4, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
October 3, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
September 24, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
September 19, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
Am so embarrassed that I didn’t know what kind of cucumbers I grew so I did some research today and found out what they were – Armenian! I thought I had purchased some type of Asian cucumber but had thrown out the seed packet last Spring. I will definitely plant them again – they were both delicious and prolific and BIG – see my previous post!
Am getting ready to put in my Fall vegetable crop – broccoli, kale, lettuce, beets and maybe some turnips. Already have two tomato plants in and my eggplant is still producing. Also have some cherry tomatoes in a pot that are still going. Of course, I have tons of herbs as always.
BTW we found out here in North Texas that Oprah is coming to the State Fair on October 12th Not sure if my cucumbers will be featured but at least I now know what variety they are! Think that would teach me to save seed packets!
September 19, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized
Well, not Oprah herself but one of her producers called a while ago to ask me if I was the Barbara Michaels who grew the large Texas sized cucumbers! The article that Lottie wrote for the examiner a few weeks back somehow made it to the folks at Harpo! Seems they are thinking about doing a show about the Texas State Fair – they would come here and do the show onsite. She said they had heard that the fair was a lot of fun – she even knew about the fried butter. I certainly encouraged her to “come on down”!
She wanted to know all about our garden club and wanted to know if anyone else grew large vegetables. I had her call Mike Schmitt. Can you think of anyone else who had an unusual veggie this year? I think it is that Texas thing about growing the biggest! I told her about the sculpture garden at the fair and Lottie and about my blue ribbon for the relish. She asked how many times I will go to the fair and I said at least three times – with my grandchildren, my knitting friends, and my garden club! We will see if they show up. What fun that would be! Isn’t the internet amazing????
Barb
Here is the famous article by Lottie if you haven’t read it!
Right before I composted the now famous cukes I got this picture! Alex was impressed with Grammy’s cucumbers!
The first piece is a ceramic tile – we threw the clay, rolled it out and used nippers to trim the pieces. The next two pieces are collage. And the final piece includes some dried mushrooms I had collected years ago. I attached them with glossy matte medium and then covered the entire piece with decoupage. I like the final piece the best – want to do some type of framing – maybe mount it on a board?
