Key West Fabric

This is a corner of a rather large piece of Key West Fabric material that I was able to get when I lived in the Keys. I had visited the factory and have always liked the silk screen prints

Besides this piece I have lots of scraps that I hope to put into a quilt. This piece looks like a quilt but that is just the design of the material.

I came across all of this today while searching for, "just the right piece" of fabric to make an ATC . I had it in my mind what I wanted to do and I remembered that I had seen a lot of different patterns with butterflies and such but of course it is always a game of, where did I put that ? Do any of you play that game? It can be real trying.

Finally I found just what I was looking for, then I had to dig around some more for the DMC and just the right beads and embellishments. I have a craft room but it is used for other things so I have to keep all of my stuff put away.

Well if blogger will let me, I'm going to try and add my ATC here, if not I will have to do another post. I can not believe it put the ATC first, oh well it's on here. The background is felt, the white dragonfly on lavender is the KW print. I added a little pocket to put the dreams in and a little butterfly friend, a few beads and a blue stone body. Done for today, hope you like it.

Big GWTW Fan

Gone With the Wind: This has to be my all time favorite story. When I was a very young girl my mother took me to the theater to see this movie. One time and I was hooked. Yes I have seen it several times, probably more than ten. Of course I have the videos and will probably buy it on CD. These pictures were taken from a book I have called, Gone With The Wind The Definitive Illustrated History of the Book, the Movie, and the Legend. The book is a 50th anniversary edition and is signed by the author, Herb Bridges.It is a beautiful book full of scenes from the movie. The legend part of the book covers the life of the famous Margaret Mitchell, who never intended to publish her story of the old south. The little green picture in the lower left corner is an ATC I made yesterday but I did not want to post it by its self. So do we have any GWTW fans out there? I don't think I'll ever get tired of this story.

Great mail day

I was going to post this romantic piece I made today but then the mailman came. Janet my dear friend made this first one for me, the bible is a charm(and yes it stayed on), the background is so old world and the Christ on the cross, well I just love the whole thing. The other one I made, it is so totally not my style but it was in my mind to try something like this and I was pleased with the way it turned out and everyone says that is all that matters...if I like it ...it's good.

I spent most of my free time checking blogs that I had never been to, found so many interesting people, I tried to leave comments that were straight from the heart so I hope they will all be received well. I can see now I need to keep some kind of record as to who I saw and when. Do any of you keep such a thing? I didn't write any of them down so I hope I can remember where I went. Also I would like to leave my email address in case anyone has a comment that they do not wish to publish here. Well tomorrow is a big day at church, Pastors birthday, dinner after service, so it will be a short afternoon, then back for P.M. worship. Hope everyone has a BLESSED day of rest. godsgalgail@suwanneevalley.net

Old Post Cards

1st.card is of the lower river trail to Lovers Leap and the 2nd. one is Lovers Leap. This is Starved Rock State Park located in Utica, Illinois, in rural La Salle County, Illinois, about 75 mi. west-southwest of downtown Chicago. The Park is 2,630 acres in size and includes 13 miles of hiking trails, numerous waterfalls and other landforms. The park contains 18 sandstone canyons carved over the last 12,000 years by a combination of surface water runoff and groundwater outflow. Starved Rock itself is a large eroded buttle overlooking the Illinois River. French explorers built a fort called Fort St. Louis atop the rock in 1682 but had abandoned it by the early 1700s.

The rock derives its name from a story that a band of Illiniwek was trapped in the 1760s on the rock by a band of Potawatomi trying to avenge the death of the Ottawa Chief Pontiac. The Illiniwek then scrambled to the top of the rock, where the Ottawa and allied Potawatomi laid siege until the Illiniwek starved to death. However, the authenticity of the story has never been verified, and the story is now considered to be more legend than truth.

Visitors are advised to stay on the trail for their safety. Typically, at least one or two individuals fall off a cliff each year. There were 4 deaths from falls between 1999 and 2006. There is a lodge that was built of full timbers in 1930, overnight accommodations, a restaurant, and conference Center. Starved Rock State Park is one of the busiest S.P. in Illinois with yearly attendance over 1 million visitors each year. There is a great deal of botanical diversity found there. As an example, 18 species of ferns have been identified in the forest,wetland, and canyon habitats.

I think it is amazing that I was born and grew up less that a three hour drive from this place and never went there or for that fact, never even knew about it. Mmm, I wonder what I am missing in my own back yard here in north Florida. How about you, have you scouted out your area?

Something Different For Me

I made this a few days ago, it is my first non paper ATC. I must have scanned it crooked but it really isn't. I'm so sorry the felt background which is magenta color does not show that well. This piece is backed with black card stock.

The three leaves are made of beads and sequins. The hardest thing to add was the fibers around the edge. I twisted them so as to get all of the color going. Then sewed them down with magenta colored thread.

There is four different colors, blue,turquoise, purple, and green. This stuff screams peacock to me so I hope to find a project where I can combine the fibers with a peacock.It is to bad this lost it's vibrancy when it was scanned.

Hope to get back to Blogland later today, maybe with another post, I have some neat old post cards from Illinois I would like to share. We'll see how the time goes.

So for those of you making ATCs , have you tried new mediums ? If so what, and which do you like working with the best? This was fun but a lot more time consuming.

Summer Fun

Is summer ever going to get here? And no I do not have two granddaughters the same age. This is two pictures I put side by side, I could not believe how they blended together and looked like one. Mia and paw are cooking hot dogs and she is trying to see how high she can go. You remember that don't you. Swinging has always been something that I could do for hours. In fact you might notice how big the seat of this swing is.....well guess who uses it when Mia isn't here?

Also wanted you to see the ladder on the far right. You can not see it very well but it is an old wooden one that is not usable any more so I painted it, blue, yellow, and hot pink. Then I attached fake butterflies and flowers to it. Yard art, right? Hubby says more like yard junk, his imagination isn't to good. I have never been a great fan of summer as with it comes the heat but it is suppose to dip down to freezing tonight and down to 27 tomorrow night. I know for you from the north that is nothing but come on now we live in Florida. Guess I spent to many years in the Keys where it seldom gets below 65. So what's the temp. where you're at?

Free Ride

I chose to dwell in the dense forest far away from all other humans so as to avoid their constant chatter. My new friends were the song birds and the squirrels and other small creatures that live in the woods. I found much pleasure in watching them each morning that I would take my walk on the old path that seemed like it had been there forever. But this morning something was different. There was a foreboding that came over me as if someone had draped a heavy cloak over my shoulders. At first I hesitated, but my curiosity got the best of me and I followed the usual path.

As I went along picking the wild flowers I suddenly realised things were not familiar. Where had I gone wrong, when did the path become unknown to me? Just when I knew I was lost I heard branches breaking under the weight of something moving. There was something ominous approaching. What do I do, should I run, or maybe hide? I have never known such fear. It became obvious I would not be able to escape. I decided to hide behind a plant with very large leaves and hope that it would pass me by. Then suddenly it was there before me in the path and as I peered between the leaves I saw this great white unicorn, the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. And I heard it say to me, "come on out, I know you are there, don't you want a free ride"? As soon as I was upon it's back it broke into a run and took me to places I had never been

MORAL: Sometimes the very thing we fear is what will set us FREE. by W. Gail

ATC from a friend

I received my first ATC in the mail yesterday. I really love it, it is so me! Anything Victorian or vintage has got my attention. My friend Janet and I have never really had the same taste, I like frilly, dainty, flowery, well you know what I mean

I think I'd be safe in saying she has more of a free style, more modern, real classic style. It can be very difficult when you want to create for someone whose style you do not care for. So this piece is a double blessing for me as I like it and I know how hard it was for my friend who made this for me because she wanted to please me, now that is a true friend. She even made the little envelop out of wallpaper. Thank You Janet.

Pencil Drawing

Do I know what I am doing ...I do not. Never had an art class, or a teacher. Didn't have anything to look at so have no clue about scale... This is just a plain ole pencil and a piece of scrap paper.

So come on now all you art critics, help me out. I promise I will not be offended or get my feelings hurt. What is wrong with this drawing? Maybe I should have put the cabin in the clearing, or left out the nest in the tree. I wanted that thing in the sky to be the moon not the sun....duh!

I was going for isolated,cold, and night. Should I color it or leave it like it is?

COME ON YOU ARTISTS, HELP ME OUT.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

On January 22 1969 at 12 o'clock Lindessa Wennea was born. The youngest of four children, two boys and two girls. She came into this world without much more than normal pain. An answer to prayer as she is the only child by my husband of 40 years. She has his blue eyes, fair hair and skin from his side of the family. She is a third generation L.W.M. her grandfather was Leonard Wilson, her father is Leonard Wendell and so we get Lindessa Wennea. She was a beautiful baby that has grown into a beautiful woman. She is very tender hearted, kind, and generous. A mother of one dear baby girl that is now six. It is very hard for us, as we had never been apart until we moved to north Fla. three years ago. So I am a little sad today that I can not hug my baby and take her out to lunch or have them over for dinner and bake her a cake....so instead she gets a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYNN, I LOVE YOU

2 Very Different

These two came to me at the same time, and of course I like the fairy girl best. I think these two might be the last of these for me for awhile as I want to try some with water color and some with oils, so we shall see what happens. Of course you can not see the vibrant colors on the one on the left or the stone in the left top corner. The one on the right was made with real wings. I found a dead butterfly in the yard and could not bear to see it just disintegrate.Now it will live forever on my ATC. I am a bit rushed in doing this post as I must fix hubby some dinner before I return to church for the evening service. Sunday nights have always been one of my favorite times as it is very informal. Lots of music, sometimes testimony, you just never know, it is not structured to say the least. So what do you think of my two very different girls?

Cracker House Poem

The Cracker House
It's just a little Cracker house
By a dusty road
The boards are gray and splintered
It's nobody's abode.

Ropes of vines encase the porch
Where good ol' boys once sat
Talked of crops and deeds and herds
Then tobacco spat.

The rotted door hangs crooked
It welcomes no one in
For collard greens and biscuits
And then a swill of gin.

The window frames are sagging
The tin roof creaks its woes
Beside the sunken mossy steps
One bright red flower grows.

Here people laughed and people cried
Each knew the other's load
And shared this little Cracker house
By a dusty road. By Katherine Von Ahnen

I decided to type this in as it was so hard to read in its original form. Not sure if you can see it but in the picture up by the front porch there is a circle, that is the red flower growing.

CRACKER HOUSE

I tried to copy the letter to the editor that went with this picture but you could not read it. So here it is:
Dear Editor,
We read the Farmer & Rancher regularly and enjoy it very much. Your April issue had a really good article in it about the Cracker rose. I moved to North Central Florida about six years ago. (leaving out the part about why).
I have been extremely interested in the term "cracker" and have done some research on it. We have several old deserted cracker houses near our place and I am truly fascinated by them. Their stories cry out to be heard. One cracker farm near us still has the edges of an herb garden which at one time grew outside the kitchen door. Though the house is neglected and forlorn, there is one bright red flower that blooms every spring right by the front steps...seems as if it's saying "I'm still here...I'm still here".
When I lived in N.J. , I was awarded the title of N.J. State Poet of the year four times in a row. When I moved to Fl. , the poetry moved right along with me. Katherine Von Ahnen
So this is my post for today unless I finish the ATC's that are keeping me WAY TO BUSY, that's right I have found my imagination again. Don't you just love old places like the one in the photo? Hope everybody is able to read the poem ok. Do you have old "forgotten" places where you live?

The Thirsty Soul

This art work is called Springtime of Life, about 1870 and was done by a french artist, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. It is an oil on canvas, 41 3/8x 29 3/8.

I remember Thee and Meditate on Thee.

Along with prayer and reading God's Word, we should strive to center our thoughts on Him day and night. Remembering God must not be an occasional occurrence, but a repeated experience of looking unto heaven in praise, acknowledging His presence and lordship, and communing with Him. Nothing would be better than that our first thought in the morning and our last thought at night be on His grace, character, love, and plan for us. And when we find it impossible to sleep during the night, we can again turn our minds and hearts to God.

O GOD, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou has been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. PSALMS 63, 1-8

WHAT A FIND

This scan is a little dark but I think you can see enough to see why I was so excited to find this in a box of junk at the Goodwill. Of course the best part was the price, 50 cents.

This is a brooch, hand painted on shell, signed and dated and backed with sterling. Overall size is 1 1/2 by 2 inches.

Also bought two great books, one was a $39.95 book called, Rose Gardens by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall. It is full of art work and illustrations, 202 pages. The second one is not near as grand but it is called Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening Perennials. This book should be very helpful in working in my garden.

As if this wasn't enough blessings for one day I went to visit a friend and she gave me some starts of ferns and lilies.....hope tomorrow is a nice day, I think I'll play in the dirt. So what great things have you found in thrift stores or yard sales?

My Flower

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

This came off of Janets blog:

You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that.

HAPPY CATS

I'm not sure if Momma and kittens are having this much fun but at least they are in a wonderful new home where they will be cared for until they can be adopted. Yesterday I had to drive about an hour to get to Tallahassee where I was able to leave my little four legged family. They were all very good passengers, slept most of the way. I was so thankful when I received a call from Barbara, one of the employees at the Humane Soc. telling me I could bring them in. It was hard parting with them, as we had taken care of them for several weeks, ever since Momma showed up on our doorstep hungry. If we did not already have several cats we would have kept them. I was very impressed with the facilities and the staff. They were very kind and understanding.

Our county is suppose to be getting our own shelter in about a year, I just pray it is as nice as this one was. Hats off to all of the employees and volunteers. GREAT JOB! Now I think I need to have a talk with our Buddy Boy and tell him to stop inviting his family and friends that live around the corner where it is a bit crowded.....I counted 30 cats while sitting in their drive-way, makes me wonder, WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING ? I believe in spay & neuter, how about you?

OLD POSTCARDS

Not enough time today to create anything. As I was searching through some old things looking for some magazines that I have about Florida back in the early days I came across these old postcards, made in Spain. The neatest thing about them is the fact that the clothes are actual material and the head dress and some other parts are stitches with thread. I'm not sure how old these are but if I was going to guess I'd say late 40's or early 50's. I do not know how many might have been in an original set but I have 8.
So have any of you seen post cards like this before? Wonder what they are worth?

I have GOOD NEWS I will be taking momma and her kittens to a no kill shelter Tuesday morning, they called and they finally have room. I'm doing a happy dance now! I posted their cute little faces on a previous blog.

DAYS GONE BY

I'm not to happy with the way these lost color and texture. The one on the left has some peach colors that look more tan and the gold glitter doesn't seem to show up at all. The one on the right has olive green feathers and a black beaded flower . Sorry guys, and I was all so happy with them till I saw them on here. Oh well, such is life.....not to worry , I had a lot of fun making them. My friend Janet said the last two I made seemed nostalgic to her, that's me. I love old things and feminine lacy, days gone by, mmmm I feel a Gone With The Wind coming on.

So to the rest of you making ATCs "ARE WE HAVING FUN YET"?

DAYBREAK & DUSK

I can not help but wonder how much our moods affect our creativity. I may never do anything with these ATCs but they are a lot of fun to make. I think it might be fun to do a theme. It might be hard to come up with several that were all different, yet a set. Anyway a big Thank You to my friend Janet that got me started doing these. I have made little clear plastic bags that hold them and tie shut with a coordinating colored ribbon. Also a big thank you for the nice comments about the loss of my Eli....His sister, Sarah really seemed to miss him today, they hung out together a lot and slept together to keep warm. How many of you out there in blogland have been bitten by the ATC bug ? Let me hear it, I would love to see what you are doing.

Farewell Old Friend

A TRIBUTE TO ELI:
Yesterday was one of those difficult days that we all have to deal with if we have pets. Eli was born in the summer of 1984, he left this life Dec. 10, 2007. He just came to the end of his days.I had to make a trip to the vets so he did not have to suffer as he was having a hard time getting his breath and he could not get up. I stayed with him to the end. He is resting beside his mother that we lost last Sept. We have a kitty cemetery, thank God for three acers
and soft sand. We had graveside services, some of the other cats came to say, "goodbye". Eli leaves one sister, Sarah. She seems to be in good health and is one of the sweetest cats we have ever had. For those of you that do not have pets you are probably saying, "Is this lady nuts"? But for those of you that have four legged members of your family you will understand. Eli you will be missed.

TIME

I just could not stand it, when I viewed the "WISH" ATC it looked gray, it has a blue background with silver stars....and since I'm on here AGAIN I might as well try and show you the one I made that is the wrong size. However the bird is not green. There is a gold wire that holds the clocks, one from the beak and one from the feet. It looks like the one from the beak might have come loose when I scanned it. The picture in the background is a sunset at Horseshoe Beach.

Starlight, Starbright

I WISH I MAY, I WISH I MIGHT.

I wish for more time. Today was a very hectic day, lots of running, groceries to buy, hurry home, put it all away, do some laundry, feed all the cats, and that is no small task. Fix some dinner,clean up and go to a meeting....Whew ! So I told myself, you do not have to do a post, just read a few blogs, leave some comments, call it a day....mmmmm, that didn't happen as you can see. I worked yesterday making an ATC, my second one, I loved the idea and when it was done I was happy with it. Then I found out the BAD NEWS. It is the wrong size. So I just had to try another one. This is it. I like it ok but not as much as the other one. The star at the top on the right is a glass one, sown on.I also made a clear pocket with a hole for a blue ribbon to keep this in.

New Kittens

HOW MANY DO YOU WANT?

Their mother read the sign that our other adopted cat put out by the gate: I think it reads something like this, ALL HOMELESS AND HUNGRY CATS WELCOME HERE. How else do you explain, since we moved up here in 2003, to the country we have had four cats wander in to stay. First was a gray cat, about to give birth. She had four kittens. She seemed like a nice cat so we took her babies to a no kill shelter and got her fixed. She would not let me lock her up at night with our two senior cats, Eli and Sarah which are brother and sister and were born in the summer of 84, yes that's right, I said they were old. We just lost their mother last year. She was the first to enter our little cat cemetery. We didn't have Miss Gray long, she disappeared. Then came our big black and white guy we call Buddy. Got him fixed. A few weeks later a gray kitten found us, she seemed to know Buddy. Well we kept her, her name is Salu, got her fixed. Then this last momma decided this would be a great place to have her babies...now I'm screaming ENOUGH! So last count was Eli, Sarah, Buddy, Salu,Momma and 4, and Cat that is nine and has never been out of the house. So that makes 10, I think about 5 to many, How many did you say you wanted? I've got to take that sign down.

Queen Cat

This was suppose to be posted with the last one but I could not get it to take two pictures.

This is our inside cat, her name is Cat. She is about 9 years old. She was given to us before her eyes were open....her mother left her in a fishing trap on the docks. I fed her with an eye dropper

we didn't know if she would make it. She weighs about 12 pounds and can have a real catitude. I no more finished taking the other photo and she was right in the middle of this quilt. She seems to love to have her picture taken. We have so many of them I imagine she will get her own scrapbook

Anyone out there that is owned by a cat can tell you most of them RULE. I'm sure she will make her way back on here often. The next post might be the new litter, I want to show them off before they leave us. I posted an ad today so we'll see. I'm hoping to find a good home for mom and kittens. Say a little prayer.

Crazy Quilt

I made this quilt back in 1985 but after seeing the beautiful work some of you here in blogland do I decided to add some embellishments. There is plenty of empty space and I have Lots of lace, buttons, and other things. It has muslin in between the top and back,(back is the same satin as the trim) It was all hand stitched, then sewn around the edge with the machine. It is tied on the back side with yarn at each corner. So thanks to everyone out there that has inspired me

Mural at church

Mural at my church

Some time back I mentioned that I had done a mural in one of the Sunday school rooms at my church. Some had expressed an interest in seeing it...I had to take two shots so I could get it all where it could be seen and I was closer on the bottom picture.

We have vacation bible school every summer and I try to help out. This past year it was all about the jungle. Normally we put our scenes on paper and hang them but this teacher liked the scene so much she said, "it would be great to leave it up" and I said, "why don't I just make it permanent and paint right on the wall". So after getting it cleared with the Pastor the work began. First a picture was transposed to the wall using an overhead projector, then came the fun part. It was fun for about the first three days and after that I thought I would never get done. It took almost two weeks. Coming up with the colors was the most fun to me. I had a blast mixing paints.I would have liked to done it slower and made it more realistic but time did not allow. We live in an old wooden house built in 1945 and the front porch has been enclosed making a cute little sitting room when you first come in. I want to take one of the end walls and do a stone wall (old and falling down) with plants, vines, and flowers, what do you think?

Play Day

ARE WE COMING OR GOING?

This is that dear sweet dog I told you about in a previous post...She is not sure if she is coming or going, and that is how I felt about 4:00 p.m. I live in a very rural area and if you want to do any shopping you must drive, at least 25 miles. I know to some that does not seem far but you must remember I lived in the Keys for 30 years and we had one main road, US1.The town was about 9 mi. long and EVERYTHING was on that one street.Sooo easy.

Well I was in the antique shop, the thrift shop, the scrapbook shop, Cracker Barrel, and put about 100 mi. on the van. Whew ! I'm getting tired all over again just thinking about it. Hope no one is offended by this photo! Think I'll call it a day.

Button Craft

TWO CUTE OLD CARDS

Did I make these, not hardly as I would have probably been a teenager at the time these were made. They are little note cards that measure 3x4. Constructed on regular card stock they have a button face with red painted mouth. the eyes and some other parts were drawn, using a gold ink for the dress. the hair is partially drawn but mostly they used real fur, a feather,and a small silk flower. So that's about it, got any buttons with big holes for eyes ? If I had to guess, I would say late forties or maybe early fifties, what do you think?

Old Buttons

HOOKED ON OLD BUTTONS

Every since I was a child as far back as five, I have been fascinated with old buttons. My grandmother, on my mothers side was one of the dearest people I have ever known and was responsible for my love for them. I did not get to see her that much as they lived about a four hours drive from us and back in the 40's and 50's both of my parents had to work. We tried to make it at least twice a year and that was always the high point of my small life. My grandmother knew how to sew, she made clothes for everyone, and she could embroidery and tat.I remember she wanted to teach me when I was about nine but by that age the tomboy had kicked in and I would rather be out in the barn with grandpa. I remember a closet that held her material, thread, and the BUTTON TIN.I would disappear into that wonderful place, get the tin, sit down in the floor and when I would take the lid off I seemed to vanish into a magical place that only children can go.I would sort by color, and then by types, I would pick out my favorites, and then I would begin to create. Finding just the right kind of thread I would place then on slowing admiring each one as if it were a rare and precious gem.Hours would slip by, I could hear the adults talking in the other room and my mother would ask, "has anyone seen Gail"? to which my grandmother would always reply." you know where she is, she's in there in my buttons".She left this life for a better one when I was only 11, I sure do miss her.However I do still have some of her buttons, they went to my mother and then she passed them on to me.Not sure if these are some of them but thought you might like to see just a few of my many buttons.

2006 Down The Drain

New Years eve, 2006, DOWN THE DRAIN.

But let me tell you that's about all that went down the drain. Last night we discovered our kitchen sink was stopped up, and leaking. We plunged, we used drain cleaner, hot water, and then repeated the whole process until we finally gave up and decided to tackle it this morning. Of course everything was closed today. We called our 75 year young neighbor to see if he had a snake as he is a retired plumber, no but he said he would come look at it. Everything under the sink had been rigged, I mean BIG TIME rigged. Our house was built in 1945 by a group of church members as a favor to an elderly widow. So it all had to get torn out, Lenny had to crawl under the house. Yikes, spiders, and who knows what all! Poor guy. We had nasty water just sitting in our dishwasher. Well praise God it took most of the day, lots of patience, and hard work but with the neighbors know how Lenny was able to get it all fixed. We mow their two acres and look after them and consider it a blessing to be able to help them and today they more than returned the favor. So here is a prayer we can all use in this coming new year. Don't you know, PRAYER WORKS.