Category Archives: inspiration

Patterns in the Sand

Patterns in the Sand

I am NOT a morning person, but I try to be at the beach. I love to go walking barefoot in the surf in the morning before the sun gets out its frying rays. (I still slap some moisturizing sunscreen on this old face. I’ve had two Moh’s surgeries to remove basal cell carcinomas from my face. Ow.)

I take my phone (camera) and look for patterns in the sand. Quilting lines?

One morning, I went stalking these little clams: When the tide recedes, just for a second, the ripples left behind look like little v’s. They make me think of the “flying geese” quilting pattern, and there’s got to be an idea in there somewhere!I also have an idea for those little clusters of bubbles that float in the surf.Of course, there are treasures to be found.    Laura had bought some, “rusty bits,” mixed media embellishments when we were in Saluda, and I found her another:

I’m glad I found it with my eyes and not my feet!

And there’re always critters!This is a cannonball jelly. It’s more disgusting than inspiring, but it reminds me that I’ve got a jellyfish inspired art quilt to finish.

About Mama’s House

About Mama’s House

Mama's House (2)When my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2012, she told me she was leaving me her most valuable possession, her house. She asked that I not sell it and not rent it. She hoped that I would move there. It’s a ranch house, and I made it fairly accessible when she shattered her ankle in 2006. My husband has MS, and she thought it would be a good place for us. She reminded me that it was part of Daddy’s family homeplace, (great-grandparents buried in a family graveyard nearby,) and he said it should stay in the family. I suggested my brother should have it, since he bears that family name, but she said he’d sell it, again letting me know she didn’t want it sold.

My husband wasn’t, and still isn’t, interested in moving there. What to do?

Enter Susan Sorrell. I had seen her on one of the craft shows I watch, probably Quilting Arts. I loved her work and was delighted to find she was from South Carolina. I started following her blog, Little House Art Studios. I was also jealous of Susan Sorrell because she had inherited her grandmother’s house and turned it into her craft studio! Bingo!

srsorrell_Littlehouse2009_1  I have since friended Susan on Facebook and let her know she is the inspiration for what I’m doing with my mother’s house! I’ll also let her know I’ve blogged about her.

Mama’s House is only two miles from my current house. It is right next to the old community school I attended as a child and where I later taught for 25 years. It’s located in the middle of my peeps and my kids! Perfect!

To be fair, Mama left what little money she had to my brother, and my daughter, her only grandchild. Now what to do about restoring and maintaining the house? I had some ideas about that, too, which I’ll blog about in a future post! Till then, K<3.

 

 

A New Magazine

A New Magazine

Room to CreateI couldn’t resist a quick trip into Hobby Lobby as I passed through Mooresville, NC on Thursday. I couldn’t resist buying a copy of this magazine, either. I figured it was a cheaper (not much) knock off of my beloved, “Where Women Create,” but I was pleasantly surprised. There are Q and A’s with each crafter, of course, with sources for the storage items (or similar), and instruction for a simple project from each maker. The photos were all glossy and bright, too, unlike my photo of the cover!

I’ll take this down to Mama’s House and add it to my library. I am working on that library! I bought a monitor to go with my old Dell computer I moved down there. I hooked it up, and it worked! Now I’ve just got to get it mounted on its stand. (It’s surprisingly heavy!) My old keyboard and mouse look awful, so I need to shop for new ones. That should be a fairly inexpensive fix. I will report back.

Evolution of the Pocketbook!

Evolution of the Pocketbook!
Evolution of the Pocketbook!

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted this bag for sale in a major department store. It was love at first sight! Sadly, the price tag said $59.95. “I can crochet,” I thought, just like I do everytime I spot one of these bags that I love. “Yeah, but when? And what year would I finish it? It’s worth the money not to have to fool with it.” I can put up a good argument with myself when I want to. Then, upon closer inspection, I saw that the flowers were just pins. “I could make these,” I thought. “Better yet, I think I saw gerbera daisies at Michaels with clip-on-backs!” I took a look at the plain bags. ‘Not a bad price, but still more than I wanted to spend. The budget is tight these days. I headed home and pulled up eBay… where I found this:$15.00 with shipping. I placed my bid and won! When it arrived I saw that it was nice and plain on one side, with this zipper pouch on the back:I was also extremely pleased to see that the lining of this bag was much, much sturdier than the thin nylon lining of the new bags!

Night before last, I found this beauty at Michael’s for $1.99:

The clip on the back was perfect to slip between the threads on the bag:

I attached it to the upper left corner so when I put it on my right shoulder, my arm doesn’t obscure the flower:

Am I pleased with the result? You bet!

The total price: $17.16!

The best part: I bought some other embellishments that I’ll show later. I can quickly change my pocketbook to match my outfit!