vacation vignettes

vignette:  a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression ...


celebrating the quieter, more contemplative moments of vacation...

The iconic Pitons are viewed through the trees as we climb the hill (by car) to snorkel at beautiful Anse Chastenet in St. Lucia.

Pyramid Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

Lake Tahoe, California, USA

Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

 Grand Cayman, Caribbean


LINKS:
Anse Chastanet 
many photos of Pyramid Lake
facts about Lake Tahoe (2nd deepest lake in the US, 10th in the world)
Glacier National Park 
Glacier National Park webcams

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "V."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!
 


 


photos by me © 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013  all rights reserved

It's Spring!

It's Spring!  It's Spring!  It's Spring!!!
Birds are chirping, owls are hooting, the sun is shining (actually it's not!), trees are budding, blooms are busting forth!

My daughter and I shared bags of mixed tulips and daffodils last Fall.  so fun to see all the variety!

pear tree blossoms, tiny green leaves on trees, lemon thyme, muscari, nest, phlox

Wordless Wednesday--where I linked up:

The Art and Tree Chatter of Aquariann

Create With Joy

  Pictimilitude








photos by me © 2013  all rights reserved

Treasury Thanks (March One)

I've been featured in lovely treasuries lately! Many thanks to the treasury makers! 


Bettie of  Collective Gathering featured my pastel rainbow silk velvet scrunchie  in her very sweet collection Spring pastels.  (If you love pastels, you must visit this lovely treasury!)

Bettie makes lovely jewelry using highly polished natural gemstones, Swarovski crystals, and sterling and Tibet silver such as this lovely pearl and Swarovski necklace. Birthstone  and new Spring items are availbale.  "My OOAK designs are waiting for a new home!"


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Deb of storybeader featured my tie dyed pink swirl charity T shirt in her fun treasury white & color = tint ! 

Deb's shop is filled with wonderful paper items like this new to her shop set of 3 bookmarks.  She also offers hand-rolled paper beads, journals, art journals, and mixed media items.  "I love paper and I love books!  With each journal, you also get a haiku, written specifically for the piece, by the Storybeader!"



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Deb of storybeader also featured my "margarita" hand dyed silk scarf in her fun green treasury In honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Here are some of her handwrapped Florentine marbled paper
beads.  "When I went to Italy in May 2012, I found the shops of Florentine papermakers, Francesco Giannini and Gianni Parenti, called Il Papiro. The gentleman at one of the shops asked me if I would like to see how they hand marbled their papers. I was thrilled."  She describes the paper making process in her listing.



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Another wonderful pastel treasury!  Jennifer of White Wave Originals featured my pastel rainbow silk scrunchie in her lovely treasury color me spring. 

Jennifer is a weaver who makes scarves, table runners, and rugs in various sizes like this one.


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Mary of Mary Hopkins Quilts featured my pastel rainbow silk scrunchie in her very pretty treasury Bunny's Pastel Basket.

"Welcome to my quilty world!  All my quilts and quilted items are made from cotton fabrics and Warm and Natural quilt batting. I machine quilt all my quilts, for greater durability."  Besides quilts, Mary has also added knitted items.  Above is a beautiful butterfly quilt.


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Spring is in the air is the lovely treasury curated by Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers.  she featured my "margarita" hand dyed silk scarf.

Cynthia makes a variety gorgeous jewelry inspired by her travels, using only gold and silver with a huge variety of semi precious stones, pearls, shells, and handmade beads.  "We hope you’ll like our broad and adventurous style in jewelry."  These earrings "feature a pretty ceramic porcelain in a soft green that I paired up with hand hammered 16g silver wire.  The swirls remind me of new ferns in the spring as the furls are just starting to unwind."


photos by each individual artist © 2011-2013  all rights reserved!

under

Today was uncharacteristically warm--in the low 80s.  The bees were ravishing the cherry blossoms!

I am under Oliver snapping his portrait!  (He found a cozy spot on top of a pillow.)

I'm under this airplane taking a photo.  See me reflected? (Although for vanity's sake, I must say the reflection does make me look a little wider and rather square.)
(Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force Aviation Museum in Phoenix, Arizona)

a city under the cliffs!  Mesa Verde was home to the ancestral Pueblo people from about AD 600-1300.

Chihuly glass is so beautiful!  I was privileged to see a major installation at the Desert Botanical Garden Museum in Phoenix Arizona in April 2009  

Carolina wrens made an igloo-like nest in a pot of parsley on my deck last May.

LINKS:
Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force 
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA (means green table)
Dale Chihuly website
a new upcoming Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Museum in Phoenix November 9, 2013 - May 11, 2014!!
Desert Botanical Garden 
ZOOM! my blog post on the Carolina wrens with photos and information
My past blog posts with Chihuly glass:
G is for....
Lakes 
Violets
purple 

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "U."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!
 


 


photos by me © 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2013  all rights reserved

terrarium

detail of a terrarium assembled by my daughter and her boyfriend.  It contains a variety of plants and live mosses.


(I love terrariums and will be making one or two of my own soon.)

Wordless Wednesday--where I linked up:

The Art and Tree Chatter of Aquariann

Create With Joy

 

  Pictimilitude 
with a guest post by Random Creative Art!









photo by me © 2013  all rights reserved

Treasury Thanks (February- Two)

I've been featured in lovely treasuries lately! Many thanks to the treasury makers! (All treasuries and items within the treasuries are clickable.)
And yes, I know February was a while ago.  I have a lot of catching up to do!
 
Linda of Linda B's Jewelry included my pastel rainbow silk velvet scrunchie in her very fun collection, Shapes.

Linda makes lovely jewelry--earrings, bracelets, and her very unique and popular wire beaded kippot.  "Making jewelry is my passion."  This pearl and crystal comb is a lovely example of her work!  
                            
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Oksana of OP Style handmade featured my pastel rainbow silk velvet scrunchie in her pretty treasury it's a spring.   

Oksana makes handmade jewelry mostly from polymer clay, seed beads, glass, cords, or metal.  "I put whole my heart and soul in my creations and I believe that people who wear it will be really happy!"  Look at this wire wrapped and beaded golden flower necklace!

                     
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Deb of storybeader featured my bright  cotton rainbow scrunchie in her very colorful and cheery treasury going wild with color!

Deb's shop is filled with wonderful paper items like this bracelet kit of her hand rolled paper beads and copper beads.  She also offers journals, art journals, bookmarks (new!), and mixed media items.  "I love paper and I love books!  With each journal, you also get a haiku, written specifically for the piece, by the Storybeader!"

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Andrea Andrea Durham Designs of included my tie dye pink heart T Shirt in her treasury Do you LOVE what you do?.

Andrea's shop is filled with her fantastic jewelry!  Her copper work like this cuff bracelet is wonderful!  "In my studio you will discover art designs that represent a bohemian lifestyle and a fashion trend that is edgy, yet sophisticated. I am a dreamer, a whismical minded artist that finds beauty in the abstract, twisted, unfinished and unraveled fabrics of the earth."

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Rose of Random Creative featured my hand dyed silk scarf Margarita in her treasury Hello, green! featuring lovely shades of green. 

Rose makes wonderful beaded and button jewelry!  I love these colorful button earrings!  "I make a variety of handmade jewelry including unique, colorful, and fun bracelets, bangles, pendants, and earrings using beads and buttons. I use a variety of beadweaving techniques. I have a few beading PDF patterns of my own designs available."

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Rose also curated this lovely treasury, Soft Spring in Pink and Green!  

Here's another favorite with Spring leaves in her rock garden series--a beaded bracelet using a a right angle weave technique.  "The rock garden design came into existence because I wanted to create a design that was similar to the full, vivid nature of my leafy design, but more delicate."


photos by each individual artist © 2011-2013  all rights reserved! 

Textures

a random collection of textures...

not a black and white photo!  (March 31, 2013)

Let's add some brightness!  This is a stack of tie dyed T shirts ready to be shipped to their new home.

 

taken March 25, 2013.  It's supposed to be Spring!  This is not black and white either!

looking up into palms on a lovely island in the Caribbean at the end of Winter (St. Lucia)

Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Icefields area of Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada (early September 2012)

 

some variety of kalanchoe (St. Lucia).  Baby plants develop along the edges of the leaves of the mature plant.   cool, huh?!




LINKS:
Athabasca Glacier 
other Kalanchoe images

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "T."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!
 


 
 

photos by me © 2012 and 2013  all rights reserved

Exploring Tints: a Challenge

My Blogging Business Artisans team sets forth a new Challenge every month.  The purpose is to encourage us to explore our creativity, to stretch our imaginations.  Perhaps we are re-working something we've done in the past or still do.  Perhaps we're making something entirely new.

Linda of Pruitt Creations gives us this Challenge for the month of March: 

Let's explore color in terms of tint.  In color theory a tint is the mixture of a color with white which increases lightness.  We often create with bright color and ignore tints of color.  Create a project with muted tints....


When I'm dyeing fabric, water, not paint, is my medium for creating tints.  I love to play with color!  I'll mix my dyes to create new colors or add varying amounts of water to make lighter tints.  Below are two scrunchies.  One is dyed with full strength of the particular dyes I used, the other with muted colors created by adding specific amounts of water.

 
 



 



For the March Challenge I decided to explore tints with paint.  I got out my acrylics and an ATC size card (2.5" x 3.5") and began.

I'm using a piece of glass for my palette.  These are the original colors.  In my painting I never used one of these colors full strength.  Every one was mixed with varying degrees of white.  Below is the range of colors I used including the colors in their full saturation.

My palette looked like this at the finish:

It was fun playing with color in a medium I rarely use.  I need to play more often!  Thanks, Linda, for a wonderful Challenge!

I swirled and daubed the blue paint, adding more white or blue as the mood struck me.  There is even texture created by the paint (difficult to see in this photograph).

LINKS:
BBA's list of monthly Challenges
Linky Party for the March Challenge 
April's Challenge  

photos by me © 2013  all rights reserved