Tangled Stitch

Just passing by. I have spent the day making more ornaments. I am really loving making ornaments this year. I give thanks to Kathy from the Katbird Shop who said that they are little pieces of portable art. It gave me something to strive for. I am enjoying the act of making the ornaments(except for the stuffing which I wish I had a couple of Santa's elves to do). I really enjoyed making Santa's fur on his jacket and his beard and making the french knot sheep so I got up close with the camera so you could see the details. French knots are my favorite, favorite stitch. Also a music recommendation. I am listening to Death Cab For Cutie's Plans which I took out of the library. Very haunting and thought provoking and the most wonderful music to stitch in a meditative way to. For those of you who are Twilight fans they sing the song Meet Me at The Equinox from the movie. I'm not a Twilight fan but I am a Death Cab For Cutie fan so that is where my interest lies. T...

This piece is called Hidden Beneath the Surface. This is the piece I started a few weeks back but couldn't put down until I did. Now I have picked it up again. It had a completely different name when I started it, but that too shall remain hidden beneath the surface. Why is it that so much of who we really are is hidden beneath the surface like the Loch Ness Monster only to pop out at inopportune times? Why can't we be snarky or nasty or angry or disappointed? Or why is it that when we are truly truly happy there is always somebody there to point out our foibles? Why must we always put on a pretty face for others and live a blah, blah, blah existence? Although I love them dearly even with their own idiosyncrasies, our families are always there to put us back into the place where they think we belong. The relative who has to remind you that when you were 20 you searched your way through too many jobs to count. Those who insists you put some lipstick on even when you never w...

Oh my is my life busy at the moment. I made more ornaments for the Albany Shaker Museum and I'm now knitting a few small purses. The wonderful Kathy at the Katbird sold Floating Turtles(as seen above) and the lovely Debra at Artcentric sold a couple of knit bags. And then we have Thanksgiving. So I'm sending out Thanksgiving wishes and I will go and visit my bloggy friends and then away goes the computer and out come the needles. So blessings to you and all your family. See you soon.

I recently went to drop off some work at the Katbird Shop and took some lovely photographs. The first photograph is the wonderful owner Kathy and her beautiful cat Ophelia. I also took a photo of Roger but unfortunately he was too blurry to be appreciated. Kathy has owned the Katbird Shop for 4 years and has a wonderful mix of unique and beautiful art and antiques. She is located on Liberty Street right down the road from Pinhead Susans a great tavern like restaurant. She is a wonderful store owner to deal with(the tops really) and if you are looking for a unique gift The Katbird Shop is the right place to go. The second photograph is my display. Some of the pieces probably look familiar as some of them have graced this blog before gracing the beautiful shelves of the Katbird. The third photograph is the work of my friend Cheryl. She is a fabulous glass artists and makes beautiful vases, bowls, ornaments and soap dishes. And Kathy sells beautiful hand made soap to place on thes...

Just dropping in to say hi. I started a piece last night. A real piece. I have every intention of sharing it, but I wasn't really planning to blog today and it is downstairs and I am upstairs. I didn't even want to stop to put it down, and it has been a long time since I felt that way. So I am going to say goodbye and get back to my piece. Please read my blog post from yesterday as I believe all the lovely ladies(and the rest of my bloggy friends) inspired the cobwebs out of my brain. Blessings and keep stitching.

I was going to write a completely different blog post tonight but the fates intervened. First off thanks to Lee I have taken pictures of two of my favorite ornaments of this batch. Probably more to come but started with my favorites, I'm really into the cats at the moment. Started making them for The Katbird Shop, made a few for Albany Shaker and now I'm just enjoying the joy of the stitch. Funny how much more interesting and fun a mundane project can become when you do it for the love the stitch. Now onto the inspiration, first off let me mention Deb from Bee Creative. She popped into my head today because of her passion for all things green and for the needlearts. She takes the bus to work every day because of her love for the planet and she makes beautiful knit socks while she is at it. She makes beautiful dyed fabric from natural ingredients and she has beautiful nature pictures on her blog(my guess is they are a thank you gift from God for her care). Take a gander ...

This will be a quick post as I am feeling very melancholy today and the only thing that seems to be helping is embroidering. At the moment I am embroidering ornaments. Each little stitch brings me that much closer to peace. I am trying to find as much joy out of each and every ornament as I can, painstakingly adding stitches and details until the ornament is finished. I went out and bought muslin today as this foray into knitting and crocheting has brought more purses and scarves then I could imagine. I will continue to make purses and scarves as I need them and start watercoloring and embroidering again. I miss it, I miss the creativity, I miss the way that it makes me feel, the peace, the love, my center. I have finally gotten the message that embroidery is a gift I give myself, it makes me complete. I volunteered yesterday at the Albany Shaker Museum and happened to sell one of my new cat ornaments to a lady that bought it for her daughter as I was unloading my inventory. She...

Today I am thankful for the blessings I have. For the family who love me. For the friends who love me. For my wondrous dog and all the pets I've loved and who have loved me. For the idea of art and creation and the ability of that medium that allows anyone to find peace. Even a tortured soul like me. And for the daily inspirations of life where no one would expect to find them. I was watching Ovation tv the other night and they are doing their Everything is Art week. I am so inspired watching artists and designers and understanding where they come from. More from their work process then the finished project. I seem to understand their art and their process better than I understand my own. Well as I was watching Ovation there is a beautiful girl who designs for Marquesa who says in the commercial celebrating Everything Is Art week that this week highlights people who take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. It immediately and every time I see the commercial reminds me of...

I really didn't have much to talk about today. I'm still embroidering ornaments and I'm back to crocheting and knitting again but don't have anything finished(as I like to do my sewing on the sewing machine only when I feel like dealing with the technology of a sewing machine). I looked up the new gallery where I sell my work, New Leaf at 70 Beekman and found this great blog downtown Susie Brown whose link I will put on the side who is just a treasure trove of information about businesses in Saratoga Springs and all the beautiful wonderful handmade things you can find there. So I thought I would share it with you . I hope you are having a wonderfully creative day. I'm gonna go blogging and see what beautiful inspirations I can find to pass along. Hope you are having a wonderfully creative day and hopefully some pictures tomorrow!

Hi All! These are some hand embroidered ornaments I am making for the Katbird Shop. I'm really enjoying the whole twigs and berry and cat thing. I don't really have too much to say today, too much television this week and well the news was just horrendously awful this week. Just another reminder to live our lives to the fullest and get into the process and not the outcome. We never know what the outcome of anything will be. We may wish to think that we do, but we don't. Hard to remember that on a daily basis. I think living in the moment in the process is at least a way to try. I hope you have had a great week creatively and personally. Be back tomorrow with hopefully something more inspiring to say.

This is my favorite tree and I took a picture on a beautiful sunny day not so long ago because the light hit it at just the right angle. I'm feeling a little under the weather, not sure if it is just too much Halloween candy or something a little worse. On the plus side I have been making pillows and ornaments for the Albany Shaker Museum and the Katbird Shop. Will take pictures and share when finished. Blessings to all. See you soon!

Well I didn't think I had anything to blog about today but I woke up this morning to the sound of an interview on the radio about the Albany Shaker Museum and their annual craft show. And they have a blog. So I'm just passing it along. There are pictures of some of the beautiful wares available, information on hours, how to get there and so forth and so on. So please go take a look(if you can in person would be great) and I'll be back tomorrow with something pretty of my own hands to look at. Keep stitching!