After attending Squam Art Workshops last September, I visited a good friend in New Hampshire for a few days.  She had lots of red accents in her kitchen and pictures of tea pots, and since she really liked what I’d done at Squam.  I thought, for Christmas, I’d create a piece just for her, incorporating red & a teapot.  Of course, time got away from me with all that was December (and January for that matter) and I didn’t quite make the holiday deadline…. So, I finally got this out to my dear friend last week ~ better late than never…

P.S. the frame is one I found in a thrift store and immediate thought I’d use for this piece because of its color.  This is actually the back side of the frame.  I liked the flat, wide simplicity of it rather than the rounded other side.

Did all those exclamation points get you excitied?!  They did me!!!!

I don’t know about everybody else out there, but I am ready for some warmer weather!  I know that living in Florida, I should not be whining, but I will anyway.  Like the rest of the country (and much of the northern hemisphere, it seems), we’ve had an exceptionally cold winter here. It’s all in what you’re accustomed to and, I am accustomed to temperatures much higher than they are right now.  Remind me I said this when I am posting that it is hot as Hades here in July & August….

So, here’s what you really want to know ~ what am I giving away!  I received a lovely box of samples from Toland the other day and since temperature is on everyone’s minds, I thought this fun, summery thermometer featuring my Citrus Toss art would be fun to offer. I’ve already stuck one to my kitchen window and every day urge that red line to go higher…

All you have to do to be qualified to win is comment with an answer to the following question:

What weird thing do you have in your studio, art space, sewing area, etc., that you use as a tool and couldn’t live without?

I’ll get you started ~ I have a chop stick.  When I took sewing lessons, my instructor gave me a chop stick and said it would come in handy, I thought, Yeah, OK, whatever, and tossed it in my bag.  I would now be lost without that chop stick!  There doesn’t seem to be a time I sew that it doesn’t come out for something, whether it is holding the fabric tight to the piping as it goes through the machine, or pushing a small piece through (so my precious fingers stay needle free) or poking a corner out…  So, what’s your weird, odd, strange tool?  I’ll draw a random winner on St. Patrick’s Day!

I’m not really in a cranky mood, I had just been jotting these things down here and there with the vague idea of a post some day, and today is the day.

• Music on blogs; I am usually playing my own music or, I find it distracting while I am reading the blog.  I especially hate it when they bury the on/off ap far down in the blog side bar.  My keyboard is third-party because I liked the touch, so it does not have a volume button.

• Not counting the change back.  When did it become OK to just dump a handful of change in somebody’s hand and say, “There ya’ go.”  I bet if that machine didn’t tell you how much to give me back you wouldn’t know how much to dump in my hand.

• Those pop-up show preview bars that cover the bottom of the TV show you’re watching and often have moving parts that are distracting.  I’m trying to watch a show here, people!

• People who can’t stop checking their cell phones or reading (and replying to) texts while they’re eating with you or talking to you.  Or people who are constantly on their cell phones because they can’t bear to have a minute of down time.  Like, get on the plane, immediately pull out the phone, (and in loud voice) “Yeah, I’m sitting on the plane waiting to take off, what are you doing?  Uh, huh.  Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how long the security line was.  Uh, huh.” (etc).  Heaven help us when it is OK to use them on planes in flight.  Also annoying are people who talk on cell phones in restaurants (I know I am not alone here).  I really don’t want to hear your side of your pointless conversation at the top of your voice while I eat…or worse, both sides of the conversation accompanied by an annoying trilling beep after each transmission.  I really love the folks who wear those silly-looking blue tooth Star Trek-looking things in their ear while they eat dinner with their family. They look important!

• When you order something from a website and are given the option of clicking Yes, send me specials, coupons, etc.  and you don’t click it and get the email ads anyway and have to unsubscribe from their email list - often more than once.  No thanks means No thanks, people.

• When I order something online and I end up on their catalog mailing list and I call, cancel the catalog, eventually order something else from the website and end up on the catalog list again.  It is a vicious cycle.

• Magazines that start sending you renewal notices right after your first issue.

What’s your pet peeve?

Is très charming, non?  I snapped up this dessert-sized darling ~ plus three sibling and a big brother ~ at TJ Maxx of all places.  I couldn’t bear to leave the mug behind either…  What I love, even more than the always-endearing Eiffel Tower, are the ubiquitous Parisian rooftops…

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, long-time-no-post.  It is nice to be busy, but even nicer to get a break.  And last week, that is just what I did.  I unplugged, hung up, disconnected and logged off in order to reboot my creative spirit.

I spent four heavenly days in Cozumel, sitting mostly on a warm balcony with a gorgeous view, blowing through book after book.  How about this view from our room’s balcony? (click image for closer look)

We usually go here to scuba dive, but a yucky cold that seemed to turn to bronchitis while I was there kept me top-side.  I am not complaining ~ how often do I get to sit still, far away from the computer, and just read?  It was bliss, I tell you.  I threw in a few naps for good measure as well.

Sunset cocktails on the balcony didn’t hurt either…I was starting to think I could live on this balcony…

What was not bliss was the traveling part.  Whoever said “Getting there is half the fun” hasn’t flown lately.  I won’t bore you with each and every travel delay and drama ~ of which there were many ~ coming and going.  Some of it bordered on sublime ridiculousness.

So here I am, back at work, feeling MUCH better, thank you ~ both health and spirit-wise!  I needed that!

News Flash!  Denise Clason, who made this great tote from my StudioE SoHo fabric has donated it to Tote Tuesday, which is a website that sells custom totes to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  Great tote, great cause.

This tote, as well as nine (9!) SoHo fat quarters, Denise’s book and some of her stitchin’ up the pieces buttons, licensed by JHB ~ all for one lucky bidder ~ will be up for auction on Tuesday, February 16.

Mark your calendars, head over to Tote Tuesday and good luck at this chance to win a prize valued at over $150.

The other night I thought I was going to implode…or explode ~ I wasn’t sure which!  I had downloaded a TV show a while back to my iTunes thinking I’d burn a DVD and watch it in the living room.  Apparently, one cannot do this.  So, I decide Wed. night that I would just watch it on the laptop in the living room…..but hmmmm…how to get it to the lap top… I decided to copy it on to my iPhone and transfer it to the iTunes on my laptop ~ yeah, that’s the ticket!

So, I downloaded this show to my iPhone, and, in the process, wiped out my music on the iPhone for some reason (really, I am not this tech retarded, but this thing is getting the best of me).  Then I plugged the iPhone into the laptop only to find that the version of iTunes on it needed to be upgraded in order to use the iPhone with it.  Then, in order to upgrade the ITunes, I had to upgrade Safari, then in order to use that, I had to upgrade Quicktime.  And, after all that, I could not transfer the stupid damned show that I didn’t even want to watch anymore to the iTunes on the laptop.  GRRRRRRRRR.

And, while all these things were downloading & installing, I was patiently, updating my address book on my computer from my old cell phone so I could sync them ~ again ~ because the first time, I somehow wiped out all my old cell numbers and replaced them with my email address book from my computer.

I just want a rotary phone and a typewriter at this point.

I released this into the postal system earlier this week, sending it with wishes to get the classes I wanted and a single room.

Wishes do come true…this fall I will be headed back to Squam Art Workshops to learn more wonderful painting techniques, have great conversations with fellow artists and just enjoy the area in general.  I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas…

If you think you can, you should go.  Just do it.  You’ll be glad you did.

(see a post about my 3 days there in 2099, click here)

No, no, no ~ I am still tattoo free!  The local paper ~ the Daytona Beach News-Journal ~ ran an article yesterday and today about what I do.  It was published first in their Business Review paper that comes out on Mondays, then again today in the regular business section of the paper.

While I think the reporter did a good job (thank you, Audrey), I was slightly offended by the use of the term “kitsch” to describe what I produce.  Am I being overly sensitive?  Probably.  And I have to say, I have no idea where she got the Rock Star analogy, but for a couple seconds there, I thought I heard applause…

My sensitivity aside, overall, it was a nice write-up that ran with a couple decent photos.  If you want to read the entire article, please click here.

If you haven’t seen this magazine, you have to get your hands on one.  Then make a cup of tea, or grab a glass of wine and find a quite spot, settle in and enjoy!  Beautiful photographs & inspiring stories about living a creative life…

I don’t know if you can find it in a bookstore or if it is only subscription-based.  I went ahead and subscribed and very much enjoyed the first issue. So, was I the only one who didn’t know about this lovely publication?  I heard about while at Squam Art Workshops last year.