Thankful for many things

This is a response to SuziBlu's thankful video. She challenged us to do a page on what we are thankful for. This was fun. I layed down a layer of water soluble oil pastels, painted over it with titanium white paint mixed with glazing liquid. Then I used stamps and Colorbox chalk ink and added words and a picture.













This one was in emulation of Kim at Queen of Arts. It was all about being grateful for yourself. It was fun to do. Sometimes its important to celebrate yourself. Not sure why I decided to just do it hand written but it does have a different look that way.

I am so excited I won a painting from Zorana. You can check out her entry to see what I have one. She gave it away to celebrate her birthday. How fun is that.... If you are unfamiliar with her she has a wonderful blog and paints beautiful faces.

Winners of my blogiversary gift are PJ, Sharee, Gemma and Ninnie. PJ and Sharee would you email me your address.

Mail Art Contest Winner

Mahala was the lucky winner of my mail art contest. Above you'll see the package I sent her. It's a combination of painting and collage and stamping. I really had fun making it. I did not take pics of the insides. She got an issue of Art & Life, A beaded necklace kit and miscellaneous papers and napkins for collage.

Judging Time

Its time to judge my mail art contest. I have listed the front of envelopes below with a number. Just leave a comment and let me know which number you prefer. The numbers are below the envelope. You can scroll down to previous entries to see the backs and so forth if you like. you may also click on the picture to make it bigger. I'll wait a few days and then tally up the score and announce the winner.









No. 1










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No. 5












No.6











No. 7

Mail Art Contest

You know every day I go out to the mailbox and all I see are offers from credit card companies or checks from the ones I have. Yes the mail is boring. Hmm how to fix that, well I could join some swaps or have a contest or beg people to send me mail. So here is my idea. I think I would like showcase Mail Art on my blog and then I will have a vote and who ever has the favorite will win a little surprise. I have a copy of Teesha Moore's Art magazine that I will be giving away and I'll add some other goodies to it.

All you need to do is send me some mail where you have decorated the envelope. This is not a Halloween theme just do what you would like. You don't have to put anything inside other than a note that says Hi Kate here is my entry, signed Whoever. Now if you want to include an ATC or something because you just can't send an empty envelope then that is fine by me. Or I will accept any form of chocolate..... I am going to leave the contest open for a month. I will post mail as I get it and set up a way to vote, I am not sure how to do that yet but I will figure something out. I will announce our winner on October 25. Leave me a comment and I'll send my address.

Patchwork journal cover

I saw this on iHanna's blog this morning and wanted to share it with you. She makes a patchwork paper cover for a journal. What a cute idea that was. Go check it out.

Its Officially Spring

One world One Heart

Its time to pick the lucky recipient of the earrings I made for this giveaway. The Winner is Lisa Oceandreamer... I'll pop these in the mail as soon as I remember where I put them... I know they are on this desk somewhere... Thanks to everyone who left a comment, I loved meeting all of you and hope you'll visit again. Thanks to Lisa for organizing this, it was so much fun.


100 things about me

I saw this on my friend Sue's blog and liked the idea. So here are my 100.


1. When I was a child I was a allergic to chocolate, now I make up for lost eating time.
2. I really like white chocolate
3. I can spend hours on the Internet and not get bored.
4. I have more than one studio, one for weaving, the other for arts, crafts, sewing
5. I love books and I buy way too many of them
6. I love to dance but don’t have many opportunities
7. I love English Gardens and am building one in my backyard
8. I have 2 cats, a Siamese named Lucky and a tortoise shell named Eowyn, both strays
9. I have a border collie named Flynn
10. I have a black colored llama named Astro
11. I have 5 Shetland sheep named Emily, Gabrielle, Juno, Titan and Athena.
12. Two sheep are white, one is oatmeal colored, 1 brown and 1 black.
13. The black sheep and the black llama hang out together.
14. I have 1 daughter in college in Montana
15. I have a husband who is an Engineer
16. I live 100 miles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
17. There is a potato field right across the street from me.
18. In late September I go pick free potatoes in the field, they are left behind by the big potato equipment, this is called gleaning,
19. I spin my own yarn.
20. I dye my own yarn and other fibers to sell to spinners.
21. I weave blankets towels, scarves on my own looms.
22. I like to knit sock, sweaters, hats etc.
23. I like dolphins, dragonfly’s, wolves
24. I have 2 spinning wheels and 3 looms and a roomful of yarn
25. I want to swim with dolphins someday
26. I want to retrace my Irish grand parent’s journey and write a book about it.
27. I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers who live in Michigan
28. Sometime I will start cooking something on the stove and go do something else. Then I remember I am cooking and have burnt eggs and have to start over again.
29. I don’t like the wind and I live in a windy area.
30. I like taking photographs.
31. I am interested in Astronomy.
32. I really like the moon
33. I like Sci Fi shows
34. I love birds and love to go bird watching.
35. I went to see The Two Towers and Return of the King in costume
36. I like to drink orange juice out of a wine glass.
37. I like to drink wine out of a wine glass too.
38. I have the best friends in the world.
39. I have been on a spiritual path since I was a teenager
40. I have been asked are you a witch, are you a Buddhist? But I am unclassifiable. I do some Pagan things and some Buddhist things and I go to a Unitarian church but most make my way in the spiritual world by what feels right to me.
41. I often say I am a recovering Catholic.
42. I want to write but I don’t make it my main focus so it doesn’t happen. My own fault.
43. I did write a first draft of a mystery novel last November but haven’t looked at it since.
44. The writing desire never seems to leave me.
45. Sometimes I do so many different creative things that I get overwhelmed on what should be done next or stressed because I am not doing something.
46. I have been working on balance all my life, but I am still of kilter.
47. I love living in the Mountains but someday I like to leave near the Ocean.
48. I meditate in a combination of Zen, mindfulness, Tibetan and other techniques.
49. I love music and am always looking for new kinds.
50. My daughter and I have a real close relationship.
51. I didn’t have that with my mom so I changed the family pattern.
52. I like to read mysteries.
53. I like reading Kris Radish books, I am of that age and love her characters, I always find myself somewhere in her books. They help me make sense of my own life,
54. I have met Laurie Metcalf (she was in Roseanne) and fixed her spinning wheel
55. I love flowers
56. I am starting to love photography; so I am getting a good camera soon.
57. I love going out to lunch with friends
58. I like receiving gifts.
59. I like giving gifts.
60. I learned to sew as a child and used to make my own clothes.
61. I can get really addicted to a television show. like Heroes
62. My favorite sheep Is Gabrielle, she has the sweetest face,
63. I believe in synchronicity
64. I believe there are no accidents.
65. I teach classes in spinning, weaving, dyeing, beading etc
66. My favorite color is purple with teal coming a close second.
67. I like eating breakfast food for dinner.
68. I like Celtic music
69. I grew up near Detroit Michigan
70. I have lived in Michigan, Wisconsin, Utah and Idaho
71. I have traveled to England, Scotland and France.
72. I want to go to Ireland next.
73. One of my favorite things to eat is Spaghetti noodles with butter and parmesan cheese.
74. I like my own spaghetti sauce better than any other I have tasted.
75. I make the best apple pie in the world.
76. My cheesecake is to die for too.
77. I have some friends I talk to every day.
78. I like to use essential oils for healing and well being.
79. I have a Native American style drum.
80. I like to use incense by AIRS, Most of the scents are water scents, makes sense since I am a Pisces, which is a water sign.
81. I have been painting the rooms in my house all different colors, no more white for me .
82. I love doing art.
83. I have taken classes in colored pencil, acrylic and watercolor.
84. I made myself an art studio that I really love.
85. Collage is my latest art obsession
86. I take a journal with me everywhere I go.
87. Sometime I write in journals and sometimes I draw.
88. I would like to be drawing more.
89. I have shelves of yarn that I have made.
90. I am generous with my time
91. Sometimes I think I am wise.
92. I like to sing to music while driving and I turn it up loud.
93. I can listen to some songs over and over and over
94. Sometimes I stay in Pajamas all day
95. I used to study the Course in Miracles
96. Usually I am a night person but sometimes I like to do things early in the morning.
97. When reading on a new subject I like it if the books were written by women.
98. In the winter I will take off my coat and leave my scarf on and wear it in the house, it keeps you in warmer.
99. I wish I could see my mother again
100. I wanted to be a singer but didn’t have the voice


Quote of the Day: "What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible" - Theodore Roethke

They Say its My Birthday

I have to say life in blogland is so rich. I have never received this many birthday greetings in my life. I feel like we are all having this great big virtual birthday party and its been a blast. Thanks to all of you who took the time to wish me well. I sure felt the love.

These are some flowers my friends Kay and Ginger gave me last night. My weekly womens group met at Barnes and Noble last night. I got the flowers and cards and treated to tea and vanilla cheesecake, yummmy.

Last weekend my daughter took me to dinner and bought me a copy of Lady in the Water, so I have been celebrating for days.



















Yesterday I got this lovely card from Anna in England, she included a bar of white chocolate which is one of my favorites. I will savor it, having only a piece a day. It so reminds me of my trip to England in 2004. Sarah and I really loved the white chocolate over there, not to mention all the other candy. We stocked up before we got on our plain but alas it ran out too soon. So this was great.

Tonight D took me out to dinner at the Olive Garden. I had the Tour of Italy, Lasagna, Fettuccine Alfredo and Chicken Parmesan. I only ate the Fettucine and took the rest home. For dessert I had white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. It was incredibly good. My gift is a Kitchen Aide mixer in red. D just drew a picture of it in my card. We will get it sometime in the next couple weeks.

Both my sisters called with their Happy Birthday renditions and said there packages will be on their way as soon as they mail them. Thats quite normal for my family.


The Contest

You thought I forgot, huh! I actually wrote about this in the morning but then lost the whole entry. Anyways remember I am giving one of the dishtowel that I showed earlier. The WINNER IS .................JudiRedhead........ It will be a little while before you get the towel since I haven't finished weaving them yet. Judi I will send a note when I am mailing it. Congratulations.

I actually had a very nice day just staying home and puttering around the house. I finished the card for Talia and I will put that in the mail tomorrow. Its back to the crow book. I don't know why I don't just buckle down and finish it. I decided that the back was not copying well so I will hunt down some more of that paper I used tomorrow. Its time I finished this piece and got going on other things I need to do.

Quote of the Day: "What occurs around you and within you reflects your own mind and shows you the dream you are weaving". - Dhyani Ywahoo

200th post

This is my 200th post so I think that is a cause for celebrations. Plus it's my birthday later this month. To celebrate that I am going to give away one of my hand woven dishtowels. You can see them on the loom further down in the post. I will choose a winner on my birthday February 27th. To enter just send me a comment before that date, or an email if blogger won't let you comment.


I think that after finishing weaving the blanket that was on my loom for so long I am back in weaving mode so that feels so good. There are lots of projects on the back burner that need focus again.















I have been working on the dishtowels a little bit every day this week. My goal has been to weave at least 1 hour a day. I have promised one for my church auction so I need to get them woven. I also like to have some on hand for gifts.














Since I moved the spinning wheel near the window its my cats favorite spot to sit.















Here is how a blanket begins. I am starting to wind the warp for the next one. This is a warping board. Before the loom is threaded all the warp threads need to be wound on a warping board. This makes sure everything is the same length. The warp threads are the vertical threads on a loom.
















This blanket is using all natural colors. I have all the skeins draped across the front beam of the loom. This helps me decide what order I will use them in. I look at them for a while before inspiration sets in. I will move all the skeins around several times to see how I like their arrangement. First I thought I would just do dark to light but now I am thinking about doing light dark light.

Quote if the Day: Great Imaginations are apt to work from hints and suggestions, and a single moment of emotion is sometimes sufficient to create a masterpiece - Margaret Sackville