Gone to Ireland

Our daughter has graduated from the University of Tulsa School of Law with honors. The weekend after graduation she immediately began an intensive study for the bar exam. She said she was only going to take it once. The passing score won't be confirmed until mid-September. However, she's confident that she passed and has turned in her books. YEAH!

So our trip to Ireland is our gift to her. She studied a semester in Dublin and loved it. My husband's family is from Ireland and we plan on visiting many cousins while there. We don't have any set agenda.....just to have fun.

We all are traveling light because we've rented a car to sight-see on our own, staying at bed and breakfast establishments. The exception is that we stay our first night in a castle in Shannon and the last remaining three days in a castle in Dublin.

I have made a sketchbook with Arches Text Wove and taking a travel watercolor set and one pen. Mari Le Glatin Keis convinced me this was the best way to capture moments after I read her awesome book, The Art of Travel with a Sketchbook.

So I'll see you in a few weeks! (The typewriter idea came from Catherine's Blog)

Dad's Ties

My sister Annie made this quilt for mom as a birthday present in 2004. She had used Dad's ties to make the quilt.

After Mom passed away, Annie gave me this quilt! Mom used it as a "dresser" cover and I wanted to hang it. I very nervous about adding a pocket so I could hang it.....so I whined until Annie added it for me.

I finally hung it on the wall in the hall this past weekend. I think of Dad every time I walk past this quilt.



The physician sign is one we gave to my father-in-law when we were first married. After he passed away, it returned to us to enjoy. Now we have both fathers to think about when we are on the phone or just walking past.

The picture that was on the wall was donated a couple of weeks ago. I did not know what to replace it with. I just knew I was tired of the picture. Then when I was in the closet looking for something else is when I came across the quilt Annie had made.

It's perfect! Thank you Annie!

Charmed

I took a class in soldering and I learned a bunch...now I just need to practice...a lot!

I am going to set up a station to work safely on the back porch as soon as the hot weather breaks!

Art Project I'm Finishing

Ever have one of those projects that you begin in a workshop but is impossible to complete in one day? I took this awesome workshop from Rock, Paper, Scissors in St. Charles, Missouri last year. It was taught by a very cool artist, Denise who said that it is a project that will take you a while to complete. I learned all the techniques that I needed in the workshop, but it's the decision making process of putting it all together that takes time!

So each week.....I'd look at my box and think - "I should finish that" - but I have always been working on other art pieces. Yesterday, I decided that I would complete this project BEFORE beginning a new one. Once I made that decision, I have been having a great time putting it together. I will show my completed project SOON! I promise!

Jacob's Ladder Book

This is the Jacob's Ladder Book that is our latest exchange project with the art group I am involved with. Minori lives in Japan and I asked her what theme she would like her book to be. Since she said that she did not have any particular wishes, I decided to make a book about Oklahoma and Tulsa. (She already probably knows more about this state and the area of country I live in than I do but I could not resist)! The western theme goes well with Oklahoma. That's me at age three.....being the cowgirl.

The first stop I made was to the Lyon's Indian Store to purchase postcards. We have the Five Civilized Tribes here in Oklahoma, but they only had postcards for four tribes....darn! I may check back with them when their stock has been replenished before I send the book to Japan. But right now, there is one tribe missing.

The other aspect about Oklahoma is the number of horses we have in this state. Did you know that Oklahoma has more horses per capita than any other state in the U.S.? We have over 300,000 and the variety of sizes and colors of the horse population adds to the mosaic of the Oklahoma landscape. (This information was on the back of the postcard).

I decided to make a box to fit the book. My first thought was just have the postcards mounted on heavy cardstock and there would be enough weight to play with the book structure....but I was wrong. So I had to take the book structure apart and make matboard tiles to hold the postcards. The size of the book was dictated of course by the postcard size....so it is now very heavy - the complete opposite of what I started with!

I purchased a belt several years ago at a garage or estate sale to use later in my artwork. I completely took the belt apart and salvaged the parts that I thought I'd use "someday". Well, doesn't the closure for the box work perfectly with the rawhide strips - completely unaltered!

I really love my new western stamps, too. Stamp Diva has a great selection. So I will now show you the book structure and let you enjoy the photos without my comments.













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