Little Birdies....

These birds are much cuter than they look in the photo, they have contrasting fabric on their breasts, and they are quite addictive to make.

A friend forwarded the pattern from this website. The birds on the Spool website use much brighter and cuter fabric - we have lots of upholstry fabric scraps, so that's what we used. I will say that it is practically impossible to get a crisp beak using upholstry fabric! Nevertheless they were very cute as part of our Thanksgiving decorating.

Anyway, my daughter was so taken with these birds that she wanted to learn how to hand sew so she could make some for Christmas presents. I am just thrilled by this emerging interest in arts and crafts in my daughter! Our next project will be felted snowballs for the babies on our street.

Stamp Carving and Reba...

I'm a bit obsessed with Reba McEntire these days, after seeing her and Kelly Clarkson in concert in Baltimore, and then pulling out all of my Reba TV show dvds and watching them sequentially (my son and I are mid-way through season 2 right now). She is quite funny in her show, and extremely appealing on stage.

I crave her energy and enthusiasm, as evidenced by the many creative career projects she has going (the latest rumor - she may be back on Broadway in "Anything Goes"). Her public persona is much more of an energetic doer rather than an introverted thinker - and I mean that as a compliment, coming from someone who longs to break out of the over-thinking paralysis I often find myself in. Yes, I know, apples and oranges, but honestly, I'll take my inspiration/motivation wherever I can find it.

Well anyway. So I decided to spend my procrastination time (I should be painting the basement for a houseguest December 19th) by carving a stamp of Reba for my November contribution to a bi-monthly carving swap I participate in.

The image to the left shows the original photograph I used, as well as a carving block with the image transferred onto it and partially carved. I used tracing paper and a pencil to trace the image from the photo, and then placed it face down on the block and rubbed the paper to transfer my traced pencil image.

Finally, I carve the image using Speedball carving tools. The image shows up on the block in reverse, but when you ink it and print it, the image will be shown correctly.

This is the final image - unfortunately the flash on my camera reflected off of the ink I used, so you can't see the details very well.

Overall I'm pleased with how it turned out - I experimented with cross hatching for the shadow of her arm and mic, and I really liked carving her hair and the hand holding the mic. I do wish, however, that I had selected a photograph that looks more like the quintessential Reba. This picture isn't obviously Reba if you glance at it quickly - it was taken at a funny angle and she is pursing her lips together - so the carving looks even less like Reba.

Well anyway. I've been carving stamps on and off for about 7 years. And as for what I do with them - well, sometimes I make a few cards, many times I participate in swaps with other carvers (those are LOTS of fun), but sometimes I carve stuff just for the fun of it....

Garden Update (or, Manuel is my new best buddy)

I was GOING to do it all by myself, honest! These are my before pictures....

front yard....



wooded area in front yard....



side yard...



peonies, roses, and clematis in the back yard....



Other side of my house, standing under the plum tree...


But then when it took me 3 days to clear out one small patch of nandina seedlings, I gave in. I asked Manuel to pull weeds, put down weed guard under the Nandina, edge some of my beds, dig some sod, and mulch. And two days later, I am such a happy camper. Here are the after pictures...

Side yard under the plum tree...


Side yard bordering the woods....


Side yard facing the plum tree.....



Front yard, from my still unpainted stoop....



Front yard, facing woods...


Plant stand in front of my stoop....


BTW, the pictures were taken in late April, I am just getting around to posting to the blog...

Spring is Busting Out All Over!!!

Well okay, just the forsythia and daffodils right now, but I am completely motivated and energized by the sight of those yellow blossoms.

I just love SPRING!

It's a good thing I feel so energized, because spring actually means a LOT of work around the house. For example, there is our front stoop, which desperately needs fresh paint, colorful potted plants, and a new welcome mat.

Then there is the front yard, in desperate need of pruning and leaf-clearing:

Another view of the front yard:

And yet another view of the front yard, under the plum tree:

And the overgrown nandina on the side, which also needs clearing and pruning:

This is the back of the house, more leaf clearing and pruning:

And this is my deck! Even more work, it needs to be cleaned, the new deck furniture I bought needs to be assembled, etc...

I am not usually one to be motivated by the prospect of hours, days, even weeks of work! So what is so energizing about spring? Honestly, I'm not really sure.

Spring is all about new life, regeneration, and beauty, and I just love being part of it. More than New Years Day, I have the sense of new beginnings. More than New Years Day, I commit to resolutions and follow through on them. I WILL make my deck an outdoor sanctuary. I WILL protect my peonies from powdery mildew this year. I WILL train clematis to climb up my arch. And so on.

And massive rewards are just around the corner! Look at this flowering plum tree!

Look at this grape hyacinth!

All around my yard, plants are pulsing with life, pushing their way though the dirt (how I love the red tips of my peony buds), ready to explode with color. The next two to three months will literally be a parade of blooms, and I can't wait!

Making music reduces stress more than exercise!!

According to my doctor, who says that making music is the number one stress reducer. He says it has something to do with the total concentration it requires from a different part of your brain. I believe it! I always am in a much better mood after I practice guitar and sing.

My guitar instructor has another adult student who started guitar lessons at age 50! She almost quit during the sore fingers/cramping wrists stage, but she stuck with it and now she wants to be in a band. I just love that. Right now I am totally fired up about lessons, but if I ever start wondering if I should quit, I'll just remember that lady. If I quit, when I'm 50, I'll be like her, wanting to learn to play the guitar. Whereas if I stick with it, when I'm 50, I'll be an experienced guitar player of xxxxx years.

My instructor is great. I was doing the same drills every single day, and she suggested that I split the drills up and do different combinations every day, so I don't get bored, and so that I'll actually notice progress when I cycle back through the drills. If you do the same ones every day, it's like not noticing that your dog is gaining weight, you won't notice your own progress.

So now when I am torn between going for that 10 mile run (not) or picking up my guitar, I can pick up my guitar in good conscience!

Learning All The Time

Guitar Lessons! And YouTube.....

My New Year's resolution - well, one of them - was to learn the guitar this year.

I tried to learn to play the guitar years ago, in 1988, and again in 1992. I took a few lessons, learned the basic chords like C, A, G, D, Em, and maybe D7, but never really progressed beyond that - in fact, I never really mastered smooth chord changes. I didn't practice faithfully, I never got over my discouragement about barre chords, and I was easily distracted by things like dating, work, going out, and so on. Plus, I was not really surrounded by music. None of my friends or family were musically inclined, I didn't know anyone who played a musical instrument other than one friend who played classical music on the flute, and I actually felt too old to be learning the guitar! Well, here I am, almost 20 years LATER, wishing I had stuck with it back then, and I am not going to waste the next 20 years ignoring this wonderful instrument.

As George Eliot apparently said, it is never too late to be who you might have been. Well, I might have been a guitar player, and I believe George Eliot, it is NOT too late. I am going to do this, regardless of obstacles that life continues to present (I don't have friends who play guitar who can show me stuff and hang out with me; I am a busy homeschooling mom of 3; I am trying to work part time from home; and I am trying to get clutter under control and keep my house from looking like a bomb went off).

And the key to my success this year is going to be...YouTube!! I just love YouTube. I started posting weekly videos on YouTube to sort of mark my progress as a guitarist and to keep me honest about playing. Knowing I was supposed to post another video would make me practice even if I was tired and wanted to go to sleep or knew I should be getting the clothes out of the dryer before they wrinkled.

And then, people started commenting! Nice people! Well, okay, I had one really mean comment that said I sucked and that I was ugly and looked like a man, and yes, that comment was quite discouraging, but that very night I got my first subscriber, and that cheered me right up.

I will probably keep ratings disabled for a year, because I have no illusions about my talent at this point. I'm a beginner, I'm learning, I make mistakes, my voice is pitchy, blah blah blah, I know that and don't need 1 and 2 star ratings to remind me (I've got my husband to do that). But I can't begin to express how nice it is to connect, however briefly and virtually, with other people who are interested in guitar and who take the time to write something encouraging.

Another great thing about YouTube is that so many people post videos! There are people who give guitar lessons on YouTube, or post songs that they write, or just inspire me with their talent! I'm really into some of the fingerpicking bluegrass stuff I've been finding.

That's all for now...

Learning All The Time