January 2012--A New Year comes to the beach....

Another New Year.....Where did that come from?
What have I been up to?  Well ATC's--Artist Trading Cards and various other swaps on Swap-Bot.com..... I have really gotten  addicted to these little 2.5 x 3.5 works of Art..
They have helped me stretch myself,test myself and grow toward some of the areas of
art I have been afraid to try. Mixed media mostly! I have a love affair with mixed media these days...I started my cards with straight up painting..and color pencil.

And I have progressed to adding bits and bobs...

I have met so many great new friends all over the world!

Sometimes I trade postcards and thats just down right, friendly ,fun!!!

A few of the ATC's

I have made well over 100 ATC swaps and have

filled a 3 ring binder for 2011 and started a new one for 2012.

I still have my yarn and crochet hooks handy...Just

finishing up and baby blanket, hat,bootie set...That was fun..

I have croched several scarfs and some granny blocks for trades.

From my Studio * Toes in the Sand* June 2011

I have been finding time to paint and certainly enjoying it. This is from my lighthouses of

Florida series and it is the Dry Tortugas lighthouse down in the Florida Keys..It is oil paint and I found the weather here a bit of a challenge for oils, I actually find it a bit of a challenge for most paint, because of the heat. My studio is a florida room porch and I love it because I get the ocean breezes but I also get the heat and the cold and the moisture and the sand..I can move it all inside to a climate controled area but I think I will stay where I am ,enjoying the challenges....And I have been working with color pencils, pencils and pastels with no problem.

The Free Form International Crochet 2011 project....

This is my entry into this years book challenge. It is a tribute to Johnny Appleseed...
The theme was Myths, FairyTales and Ledgends..I chose the AppleSeed story because
I wanted to use the red/green colorway for my 2011 project...
You can see the entire online show here ..the Book can be
seen HERE Many talented fiber artists joined in the project and what they each
created blew me away..I feel fortunate to be includes with this wonderful group of people from all over the world!

May 2011

Way to much to catch up on so I will just continue on my way...

I will say I have been in Florida for a year now and I love it!! I

have been doing all things creative..I have just wondered if I want to chunk this blog and start over or contine..the decision is to continue on...and maybe do a little catch up

with photos and a word here and there....

The reason I moved to Florida.....I met Kerry last February ....and since he lived in PCB

I wanted to live here too....

2009--and January has gone....

Some friends of mine have a yahoo group

called Threads of Love and they are knitting

and crocheting and various other handiwork

for favorite charities. They have me hooked and

I have been making *Happy Hats* for preemie

babies... it brings me such pleasure and I hope

along the way they can help keep wee head's warm..

2009 International Freeform Fiberart Challenge

It has been announced.......

The challenge is to interpret the four seasons representing them as you see or experience them where you live. I'm jazzed about that..Anyone who belongs to the

Yahoo International Freeform list can enter (Anyone can join!!)

...I really enjoy these challenges.

I have a couple ideas rolling around for what or how I want to interpret the

lower Alabama seasons....

Click below if you want to go look at whats been done other years!

Previous Challenges

I missed September!!

Becky and I were pretty busy...We were getting some things ready for the Elf Made site and the craft shows she is doing the next couple of months. It has been a blast!! She was working on her displays last week and sent me a couple photos.. I made *happy hats*--as I said in my last post and then decided to paint christmas ornaments ..Since the Elf tree theme this year is "wood 'n shoes" I gut busy and sewed a few different elf shoes,You can see them on the elf made page. Elf Made
Ya'll have got to go look at the wooden crochet
hooks Becky makes..Thats all I ever use now!!!

I finished up my Round Robin *Scrumble exchange" and have them all on the way.

What fun it has been...I have recieved 7 so far and it is VERY exciting!!! They are allso different and so wonderful..I will wait until they are all here and put them togather with a common thread. I'll upload a few of the ones I sent out.

There were 22 of us.

Wow--where did the time go?

Here I am in Alabama....all those visits called my name and we ended up moving here...Nice place to retire to...Love that the Gulf is so close!!! now if the hurricaines will go away so we can cruise down there!!!

I'm still free forming.....

Have been making hats--Happy Hats--specifically..I have about 45 made for

the *elf made* christmas shows....They are fun..Each one is free formed and different...

I joined a scrumble exchange and thats a blast...There are 22 of us..exchanging aprox. 10x10 scrumbles...from all over the world...I have recieved 3 of mine..each so different and so COOOL.... I will join them all togather when I get them with a common yarn..Can't wait ..

I have 16 of mine made mailed or read to go to the po... I will start posting photos of them soon...

Termite made the trip to Alabama with us..

Here he is checking out a WIP lapgan..HE assures me this is already big enough for him..HE is almost a year old and because he is a pill the stash has had to be put incognito...in plastic bags in the crates with holes..I miss seeing it but he just was loving it way to much...

Yea..I'm one of those cat lovin' yarn folks!!!

So---this time from Alabama..where I can feel the gulf breeze gently blow by, Always.Kathie