Children are the hands....

I recently discovered the wonderful artwork of K.c. Willis. The moment I saw it, I fell in love. I then discovered she offered online classes and I was over joyed with delight!!! More than that...I've come to know her a bit, via the wonderful world of cyber space and she's giving and fun and has this wonderful way of looking at objects that most of us would just toss away. Well...not me! I have more junk, but now I'm seeing it's not exactly the "junk" I wish I had...rats!







As you've probably guessed, I signed up for her collage workshop, along with another class. The workshop was a pre-requisite to the other class. I can see why. There's a lot of information and instruction regarding technique and such. I had to watch it a few times to absorb it all.





My goal with this project was to only use what I have. No more buying! Use up what I have. I thought, "oh this will be easy"...not when you want MORE! lol! I stuck to my guns and this is how it came out....VIOLA! I must admit, I'm very happy with it. I'm sure I had moments where I spent too much time "analyzing" instead of just "doing."


I hope you enjoy the layers of love I put into this collage. You should see the MESS I turned my dining room into, not to mention my office/studio. I can barely walk in there. I'm thankful I have a husband who doesn't mind the mess, because he loves to see me creating again. It's been a long time.



Thank you, K.c. for sharing your gift of collage with me and the rest of the world. You are truly an inspiration!

Along My Way...

I have 3 basset hounds who are out of control. Well, maybe not out of control, but they allow my husband and I to share the house with them. Most people would call us crazy, including me! I've been trying to walk them every day, but it's impossible to walk all three at the same time. They all take off in different directions and I end up in a tangled mess. Therefore, I walk one at a time around our lake. Yesterday, when it was Trixie's turn, I decided to take the camera. The first thing we came along was this beautiful flag blowing in the breeze. Anytime I come across a flag like this I get all choked up inside. It reminds me how lucky I am to be an American.


This is my Trixie Doodle Bug...one happy pup!

Next, were the geese. Ah, the geese! My husband thinks he was a goose in a prior life, so I have come to love them, but I don't talk to them like they're my babies the way he does. I love the beauty of their feathers and the graceful way they float across the water. It makes me smile when I hear their squawks as the fly over our house throughout the day. Once in awhile, we'll even find them in the driveway or just walking down our street. Talk about a crazy sight!



Goose Crossing





I'm sure these sunflowers got my allergies acting up, but they sure are pretty.



The leaves are dropping, but not exactly pretty ones. There's a part I walk that has gorgeous leaves and I need to go walk there and see what it looks like now. May be a little early.



What's to come...



Here's a colorful tree. Being a fairly new resident of the state of OK, I have no idea what kind of tree this is. Didn't have these back in AZ, at least not that I know of. Not much of a tree connoisseur, not around here, anyway.



However...this is my favorite tree around the lake...



So there you have my walk yesterday. It was a glorious day, about 78 degrees with a nice breeze. Turbo, Trixie and Petunia came home and crashed after their journey in the sun. I hope you all find the time to go out and enjoy nature at it's finest!

Shades of Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year. When summer fades and you feel that little bit of crispness in the late afternoon. The sun sits lower. The squirrels are in full force running on roofs and telephone lines dropping acorns along the way. My dogs love to scout for them and eat them.

Today I started looking around me and seeing all the different shade that "fall" into the catagory of Autumn. I have red hair and have seen it metamorphous into different shades over the years. Some prettier than others. That orange shade at 13 was NOT good! I have a huge pyracantha bush in my front yard and decided to cut a couple of branches and put them in this cool old bottle I have. Pyracantha have some very large sharp thorns, so one must be careful. I am NOT one of those! I always seem to think I'm exempt from pain. lol



This is a quilted throw I have on the back of a vintage wicker chaise.



A pumpkin I made from muslin, stuffed, painted, stained, distressed, etc.



Indian Corn...



Need I say more?



Halloween tights and shoes..



Last, but not, least...gourmet apple caramel muffins!



What shades of Fall are you enjoying?