Here I sit, researching for hours on line, because I have a "bee in my bonnet".

It all started back (years ago) when I read the "Mists of Avalon"....what a wonderful book. It transports one to another world and time....

Then last week we watched and old black and white movie filmed in the Hebrides in 1940's.
"I Know Where I'm Going".....wow! what a movie!

It has natural elements of Celtic culture....so I am hearing the line this way from the folk song...."the deer knows who I'll marry". I know the Celts revered deer as having supenatural powers...so I think this is how the original line went.

At the same time, January is ending, and St. Bridget's Day and Candelmas are coming (Ground Hog Day for the secular). Of course, there is an ancient day of celebration for the midpoint of winter,called Imbolc.... I have a quilt, for my quilt blog,which I am planning to post called St. Bridget's Cross.

I found many wonderful articles about Celtic/Christian roots.

Now what does this mean? I have had a wonderful quiet snow day...of course I couldn't turn the computer off!.....I t's too bad I'm not a research librarian so I could be paid for this!

More tomorrow....maybe!

This is today's page from my new art journal.

I am an armchair traveler....the old photo of me in an arm chair is typical of a day in my preschool years...denim (indigo) overalls worn at the knees from playing and exploring on our farm...red "cowgirl" boots which I saved up to buy! I always have loved red shoes!

My aunt kept me interested in the world while I was very young...she taught in various countries and would send me dolls from wherever she visited! (That is not one of them I am holding!)

Today, I love the picture of the soft pink floral armchair...notice the suitcases, retired from their journeys now holding photos and souvenirs , and being used as a side table! I have a side table in our house which is just like this!
My daughter is a travel agent "par excellence"...so if I ever decide to abandon the armchair, she is ready to help!

The photo of the PINK doorway with the bicycle is from Corey Amaro's blog...scroll down to her post about Marrakesh!

And you may visit a blog about living in Marrakesh! Happy travels!

I have also just finished some more ATC's.

Blogger (or my browser)is being very strange....my posts (when I look at them) are totally blank today, so I thought I'd get busy and try a new one to see if it "sticks".

This is an image of a watercolor I chose from my desktop files...must have something visual on the post...

Now to see if this "works".....

P.S. I guess it worked....I can view the whole thing now! Back to my cutting and pasting....
ppss.....if you would like to visit a Caribbean island and find your own seashells my daughter can make that dream come true!

The Simple Abundance reading for January 28th explains making an illustrated discovery journal.

This is the cover for my newest, just getting started (having filled up the last one)....it is an angel from an old Guideposts calendar which my mother gave me last week.

I am usually in the mood for lots of pink and some red this time of year....maybe because Valentine's day is near?

So I know my first pages will be mostly pink, floral and romantic....the journal may remain "pink" for quite some time!

These are the BEAUTIFUL pears painted for me by Gemma!

They were waiting in the mailbox when I got home...

I'll be using them in some way permanently on my blog... as they are wonderful examples of fantasy "indigo pears".

(Just shows what can happen when you pull two interesting words out of the "blue" to name your blog!)

On the way home from my mother's , I had to take a break from the drive.....of course there was a flea market just off the interstate!

I found some vintage hankies which may end up as wardrobe for a doll I'll be making... and a Homer Laughlin, "Harlequin" pitcher which will be useful, filled with flowers, in a watercolor painting!


Philosopical meandering.....

I think we live in a strange world where we often substitute what we do or what we own for our true selves....so I'm willing to go along with it to a certain point......By showing you what I buy or create, this may be one way to show you who I am?

These amaryllis were in full bloom when I got home from my mother's!

We have six blossoms now.

These were photographed with the soft sunlight filtering through them.

Yesterday's mailbox held more wonderful things!

This is the ATC from Gemma. How does everyone know I like pears?

I think it is especially appropriate for winter time when we still have pears in the market. Being inspired by what is real and "ordinary" in our daily lives is the beginning of growing as an artist.



Gemma also sent me a beautiful 8x10 watercolor of fantasy pears....I will scan and post it soon. Right now, my ordinary and real life is calling me to leave the computer and go to my job!

How marvelous to arrive home from helping my mom only to find a package waiting!

This is the favor sent by Risa from Quito, Equador. The favor from her tea party! I have layered some of the things in the scanning. She made and sent a lovely fabric"tea bag" sachet for a drawer...te lindo.
Also a handmade note card with a charming pig going to a tea party. a postcard of a 17th century church in
Quito. Golden Chai tea bags and Cedron, a popular
chilean herb tea....

Lovely!

Thank-you, Risa! We have fond memories of your tea party.

Will this really be me one day....waking up in Rome?

A girl can dream, right?

I love this painting by Eva Gonzales...what a restful, peaceful image. I can just feel those wonderful white bed linens and is that lavender in the glass on the table?

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

It is Wednesday afternoon....I just found this test on Janet's blog.

My results are above....and I've just entered a Sweepstakes to win the trip to Rome!

In the meantime, I am still knitting on those socks, and planning to return home tomorrow after Mom's morning doctor's appointment. It has been a fun week, we are both cutting and pasting our clippings and memoribilia....I have a scanner at home so I may publish some later.

Calories with Class?????



A luscious recipe from my friend Gayle....who got it from a magazine article.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

2 Unsweetened chocolate
Squares 1/4 lb Butter -- (1 stick)
1 c Granulated sugar
2 Whole eggs
1/2 ts Vanilla extract
1/4 c All-purpose flour
1/4 ts Salt
1 c Walnuts -- chopped

Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a pot. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beating thoroughly. Stir in the flour, salt and walnuts. Pour into a greased 8"x8" metal baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 40 minutes.
Remove pan to a rack to cool. Cut into 12 squares. Note from Suzy: I personally prefer pecans to walnuts. I have shared this recipe with many people and it instantly becomes their favorite as well. From the recipe files of suzy@gannett.infi.net

This is my goal for today....maybe not a healthy choice, but it will be fun and easy to bake these share this recipe with my mom. First, off to the store, for the unsweetened chocolate squares!

Being at my mother's house on Sunday....I am experimenting with her computer. Just now loaded this photo sight unseen...just to see what was in Mom's file here.
As you see, it is the same photo that Lisa(Oceandreamer) had on her post yesterday....so when I read her post, this computer saved the photo. ( I'm guess I'm glad no one on this computer has been visiting unappetizing or disgusting sites...I could have opened something foul!)
So anyway, this image works for today's post. Thank-you for the photo, Lisa!

Lisa was writiing about how fabric is her medium, she feels her most successful art has been made by sewing....and I have certainly had a lot the same experience, though I would like to become more innovative and expressive with my quilts....

I'm still posting photos and tidbits about many of the quilts I have made on my Lila's Quilts blog (see profile page).

In my last post I gave my mother credit for encouraging my sewing and most of my creative pursuits!

Besides working on this post, we have gone to my mother's church this morning and are cooking a nice Sunday dinner of roast turkey breast, cranberry relish, baked winter squash, mashed potatoes and gravy. I am knitting today...on a pair of socks from varigated sock yarn, and a doll sweater from the indigo yarn.

It is a quiet life......we read the Sunday paper and visit.
Mom reads the notebook of Christmas memories we have been working on for her....each of us writing about different Christmases we recall. Sometimes a photo or scrap of Christmas paper is pasted in also.

(posted on Saturday Jan. 20...illustration saved as a draft ....)

My mother taught me to sew.....


This has truly been one of the most significant parts of my life. From the early memories of watching her sew things for me and my brothers and sisters,
I wanted to be involved. This probably was the beginning of much of my creative life.

This weekend and coming week, I am visiting with my mom for a few days . She is about to have cataract surgery on Monday... it will undoubtably be a wonderful thing for her as she will be able to see well again and continue her sewing and other creative interests.
So, you may not hear much from me...I may not be able to respont to your comments...but I will be thinking of you and reading your posts.

Music to work on your blog by:

Amazon.com: Faith, Hope and Love: Music: Ginkgo Garden

Speaking of Flowers.......
























I have been watching my amaryllis bloom over the last couple of weeks....I keep it in the bathroom of my art studio where it is cool enough to encourage the blooming.
Having the mirror to help produce more blooms works out well too!

Looking for some sunshine............

I am a Daisy What Flower Are You?

Nothing cheers me up more than working with color and flowers!

These are ATC's made on watercolors during these chilly winter days.

I found the "FLower Test" on Janet's blog and couldn't resist giving it a try....so, Janet,
I'm a daisy, too! ( I wonder what other possibilities there are? roses, dahlias, sweet-peas, quakerladies....?)

Escape (from cabin fever) on a Winter's Day........

it took all day, but I got a hat knitted, too!

This has been a crazy winter week...fridgid weather causing changes in the normal routine!
Monday was a snowy day, so I didn't even go in to work....the day was spent cutting and pasting, both at a friend Gayle's kitchen table and at my own. My ATC production is coming along nicely because of this....
Yesterday, another friend, Lizzzzzy, had a doctor's appointment in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I went with her, knowing we would visit a yarn shop while there....it was a snowy drive. the turnpike was in good shape. We drove past miles of frozen fields....and icy everything...Tree braches covered with ice sometimes don't stand up and sparkle like those in the photo...they get weighted down and bend to the ground. Some split off from the tree trunk. Many brought down the power lines, leaving whole counties without power. In the warm and cozy car...with heated seats no less, we cruised on by.

I had brought some leftover yarns and needles and began knitting as soon as we began the trip. An easy watch cap pattern.
http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/kwec-watchCap.html
(You'll have to register for free patterns, but it will take you right to the easy watch cap pattern)

Eventually we had deeper snow along the road and were down to one lane of traffic in each direction.....fence wires were surrounded with a sheath of ice, blades of weeds and grasses were standing stiff like needles. A frozen world.

Reaching the parking lot of her doctor's office, we walked like two little old ladies across the slick frozen ice sheet on the top of the snowy parking lot. B-r-r-r-r! It was about 20 degrees, thank goodness it wasn't too windy!

It was the same at the yarn shop parking lot, they even had a note on the door telling us to go home and knit! (If Tulsa schools were closed, they were too....)

The art doll I am making had asked to come along (she is a fiber freak). So she was very happy when the shop ladies opened up (they were there doing inventory) and let us in anyway.

Lizzzzy found wools to make needlefelted pompom animals and 'dolly' and I found some lovely indigo cotton yarn which will make a lovely sweater for her! (The saleslady warned me that it will turn my fingers blue when I knit it as it is designed to fade like bluejeans..."Denim" by Rowan yarns.)

Re-inspired by all I had seen in the shop, my eager fingers resumed knitting as we drove home.
We stopped at one flea market just before it was closing for the day....will have to return, saw some tempting things...

Lizzzzy and I realized that because of a freak of the weather, our town was fine while just 30 minutes NW of us, life had come to a standstill when ice took over their world !

I am so addicted to posting now that I have just added another blog to my life.
This one is for art, collages, paintings, and dolls.....you can find it from my profile page. Arty Collages and Dolls.

Two images of similar colors and ideas!
The "Birds of A Feather" is an ATC made on a watercolor background.

The photo of the quilt, "Ladybird", has just been added to my blog of "Lila's Quilts".
I made it about 5 years ago...the ATC , I created yesterday. it struck me how themes and color combinations appear and reappear in my art work!

It is cold and we are having snow flurries. I took a snowday and stayed here to work on more ATC's and have had a lovely day. It is nice to have several quilts to pile on the when climbing in to bed.

This is my 100th post!
I am going to keep it simple....just this one ATC, "Express Yourself". That about says it all for me today!
(I'm thinking of starting a tradition of doing a SIMPLE Sunday post!)









Look for more ATC's in future posts!

Good morning Friends!

It is a cold gray gloomy day here in Arkansas...but we are heading off to Quito, Equador to have tea with Risa....(see yesterday's post for the link!)

I'm bring some friends with me...(I'm the one in brown and pink!)

Here is a link to lovely teatime newsletter written by Lady Laurie from Rose Cottage.... by the sea!

Romance and Roses

These are two scanned images of a watercolor I did of my favorite Laura Ashley teapot (given to me by friends on my 40th birthday!)I am posting them for the virtual tea party which is being given today by Risa in Quito,Equador !
I will be brewing Earl Grey and drinking it with a small amount of milk, please!
If I can find my Yorkshire teacake recipe, I will post it too!

Yorkshire Tea Cakes

Makes 10-12

Although we would regard these as breads, the sweet fruity buns are a reminder that in the Middle Ages very little distinction was made between the two.
M
2 oz currants 2 oz sultanas
1 lb white flour (all-purpose) 1 level tsp. salt
1 1/2 oz lard or shortening 2 oz sugar
1/2 pint warm milk 1 oz fresh yeast
M
Rinse the currants and sultanas with warm water, pat dry and set aside in a warm place.

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and rub in the lard or shortening (lard is better but I know how squeamish people can be!). Make a well in the center.

Dissolve the sugar in the milk. Take 3 tablespoons of this liquid and mix the yeast to a smooth paste, then add the rest of the milk and pour into the well in the flour. Mix vigorously to blend well, then knead until it forms a smooth, elastic dough. Work in the warm, slightly moist currants and sultanas and shape into a ball. Put it into a warm, greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured working surface and knead for a few minutes, to a smooth even texture. Reshape it into a ball, cover again and put to rise for 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into 10 or 12 pieces and shape each into a smooth ball. Leave them to rest under a sheet of greased plastic wrap and warm two lightly buttered baking sheets.

With a rolling pin, roll out the dough balls into 3 1/2" disks. Place them on the baking sheets about 1" apart. Cover with plastic wrap again and leave to rise for 35-45 minutes.

Heat the oven to 435°. Bake the tea cakes for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. If you like, when you take them out brush them with a mixture of sugar and milk - it'll give them a sweet glaze.

Split, toast and serve with slatherings of butter! Yum!


I have never actually made these...but have wanted to for a long time! These buns
must be what Ivey sells in her teashop in the "Last of the Summerwine " ---TV series set in Yorkshire! (I really am an armchair traveler...!)




Scroll down for another "game"..... ("test")

A just for fun test for bloggers..... I took this quick test and got these results:

You Are 75% Feminine, 25% Masculine


You are in touch with your feminine side.
Sensitive, intuitive, and caring are all words that describe you.
And you're just masculine enough to relate to both men and women.

Are You Masculine or Feminine?

I can't take this too seriously...there aren't many questions! However, when I look at most of my art work, I'd say it is a bit feminine...especially this pink teapot (see post above)!

More news and views from my studio....this is a shelf with my peace angel whom I fell in love with over the holidays. She is holding a dove, and has a peaceful heart...

Yesterday, she was joined by this lovely framed ATC from Tammy who had offered them in her blog! http://tamberstone.blogspot.com

Before choosing the ATC for me, she had asked me about favorite colors, so the one she sent has the blues and purple! (I think she was in an art group doing art with Sharpie markers recently...)
I am now offering to send a piece of art to 5 of you....just e-mail me .......
roste11@cox.net . The first 5 I hear from will recieve art, with the stipulation that they offer the same gift of art on their blog!

This is a large angel painting in my sewing studio.

She is a watercolor muse from my imagination...(in this photo, the fairie lights and digital camera flash are reflected on the glass...I kind of like the extra sparkle!)

This is the cozy corner of my sewing studio!
I love purple and have used it for my memory boards and in my watercolor of the thoughtful woman...called "Time and Beauty" .

On the pegs, I have ribbons which I can never discard as they might be just the thing I need for some project.


 

This is a photo of my sewing studio....which I have now re-claimed as my holiday guests are no longer using the hide-a-bed sofa here.

I love the little fairie lights, and have little momentos
and fetishes(for lack of a better word) to
keep me and my muse company...
or maybe they are symbols of the muse ?


The window near the sewing machine is wonderful. It enables me to see into the backyard, where in the summer I have my Secret Garden, (retro metal lawn chairs and container plantings).

The walnut chest of drawers was my husband's while he was a growing up...I have it filled with batting, sewing implements, and fabrics. I debate about this...fabrics out where you can see them are much easier to inspire the muse...but I also enjoy the more tidy and peaceful look that this has. So when I am ready to start a quilt, I go through all the drawers and see what I may have forgotten about.....

for example, the stash of Kaffe Fassett fat quarters which I got for my birthday...hmmmmm.




I will show more close ups of the things hanging on the pegs and the purple memo board later. 

This is a notice to alert all of you to the "important" fact that I have added a new blog to my life....this one features my quilts and can be accessed from my profile or from www.lilasquilts.blogspot.com (I hope).

I had a quilt shop for 11 years...that is 572 weeks...I usually made at least a quilt-top
a week...sometimes more, sometimes less...but let's just say I have a few quilts to post!

One more page from the art journal...."cut and paste" and mix in family photos!

Here are 2 pages from my visual journal for the last year....one on a trip to Tybee Island, GA and one about feet...my fortune cookie was telling me to keep my feet on the ground!

This is the cover of the Art Journal I started last year...I will scan and upload some of my favorite pages...

I make the pages by cutting and gluing things from magazines and work in our photos..and my artwork....I usually work in an acid free spiral bound scrap book....then I can tie things(like tags and note cards) on the spiral wire when I wish!

It is time to get another "cut and paste" journal going.... funny though, there is something about blogging that satisfies some of the same creative need...

Here I am in my favorite purple dress in first grade....(just still trying to get the profile part of this blog to accept some photo....I "lost" the one that was on here earlier. Blogger rejects all of the url's, saying they contain illegal characters....I think I'll try taking out the cutsy names I give them!)

Your Power Color Is Indigo

At Your Highest: You are on a fast track to success - and others believe in you. At Your Lowest: You require a lot of attention and praise. In Love: You see people as how you want them to be, not as how they are. How You're Attractive: You're dramatic flair makes others see you as mysterious and romantic. Your Eternal Question: "Does This Work Into My Future Plans?"

What's" Your Power Color?

I took this test and was pleased to see that my power color is INDIGO...That fits with my blog's name! I do love indigo and midnight blue.
I'm not taking all that "they" say about what this means too seriously!




This is my watercolor icon which has the pears and indigo....I may re-do this blog a bit for the new year and replace my photo with the indigo pear watercolor!