Here's one of the little ornaments that I made - I know, I know - it's past christmas - but I wanted to also let you know that there will be a sale on all my stuff next week - I tried to get the sale going today, but it's just been one of those days that I won't go in to - Just let's say that it's been one where I would rather be on some nice warm beach and enjoying one of those little cute drinks, with the teeny little umbrella in them, and lots of crushed ice and all yummy..

Mainly because I've never had one of those type of drinks, and after a Shopping Trip from Hell today, I'd REALLY like a nice cool drink -

Any way - I do want to say Happy New Year toEveryone ~ ! ~ It's going to be a great new year, I can jus' about FEEL it - I had a less than wonderful '10, so it GOTTA get better!!! ~ And too, I've got a batch of new products that are nearly ready to put into my shop ~ !! ~ And have some Valentines things too ~ !! ~ Whoo - So I have been a busy little girl, and will hopefully get some things ready by monday to post here and let ya'll see what's been goin on in the studio ~

I have just a minute to get this posted, then it's into the kitchen to make sure I got all the things I need for tomorrow - our oldest invited us up to his condo in VA., so I'm bringin' goodies to make and odds and ends to mess up his kitchen with ~ !! ~ Tee Hee ~ !! ~ He can clean it all up, not me ~ Hoo!! ~ Hoo ! ~ !

Have a SAFE and wonderful New Years EVeryoNe~~~!!!~~~


I'm
Gone.......


Lady of
The Tulips

So..no photo today ~ and I am sorry, 'cause I know I probably said I'd get some more pictures on here - but wayyy too many things have gone on, and it's all too boring to post, so I'll just say that we Did have a very Nice Christmas - we went up our oldest son's condo, an' our middle son gabriel & I made the pumpkin pie...oops..but we forgot to add the sugar to the mix..

Ok, so yeah, it tasted uhhmm...kinda good w/the spices all mixed in, but Not So Good without the sugar..tom just poured sugar over the top of his slice, and what leftover we brought home, noah poured maple syrup on his slice of pie. I just can't believe I didn't remember to add sugar..well, w/2 people yakkk-yaking in the kitchen, I mean Come On Now, how do you Remember something like...reading the Directions?? ~ Huh! ~ Maybe next time I'll pay better attention.......

Been making some new clutch purses - and in my shop I'll be doing some new stuff too - got lots of little embellishments all made, and last week before me & Tom went to the truck company dinner @ a steak house (they'd paid!!) I was at danny's condo, and made up some other embellishments for the clutch purses too - So hopefull they'll all get done before the end of the week -

Anyway, yes this is short, but noah is crashing things around in the kitchen, and it's starting to not sound so good, so I better go see what the $^&"$"( is going on....

I'm Gone -


Lady of The Tulips

Here's another ~ !! ~ Look at how sweet this lil' guy is ~ I mean, what could be more Christmas than a little gingerbread boy, all decked out with pale "icing" of pearly white?? ~ He has little dark glass beads for eyes, and 2 pearly white beads down his tummy - Yum ~ !! ~

And the best thing is if you decide to have him w/breakfast, he won't make you gain weight ~ !! ~ What's not to love about that??

Ok, so anyway...I'm in the middle of getting finishing touches on the last of my Christmas ornaments - nothing like waiting for the LAST minute - sheesh - I got wayy behind this year, but now that I'm older and wiser, I know to start these things about a month earlier - So, with that thot, I'm already underway w/things for Valentines Day ~ !! ~ And if my little brain is right, there should be some supplies down Ocean Hwy. that I can use for St. Patty's Day - Hey ~ There's nothing like planning ahead - And for my shop it's all about getting your product out there for the public to see and not to get behind - Competing with the Big Boys is a nightmare as it is, so why make it harder on myself ? - So, there ya go ~ !! ~

I'm so tickled with how noah decorated the house - I'm going to take some pictures of how he did up our little christmas tree - the little thing is only 3 feet tall, but he made it look like a million bucks - It almost made me cry, it came out so good ~ !! ~He's got this eye for things that just has always amazed me -makes the most of every inch of space that he's workin' on...me, I just sorta throw ornaments all over the place an' hope for the best ~ !! ~ Tom knows better than to even try - he is Not The Person to have to get near ornaments, Especially ones that break...like a bull in a china shop...yup, that's him ~ !! ~ So he just sits back an' lets the things get done. Smart guy ~ !! ~

And - now that the day is WARMER...yesterday we had a bout 1 1/2 " of snow, so naturally everything in the county was shut down...unbelievable - I took pictures of Betsey in the snow...poor little Bus..she didn't look at ALL happy...but today the Bus is defrosted, and is looking sharp as ever ~ !! ~ We may have the $$ to buy a heater for her..hopefully next week - got one we're thinkin' about..but it's always having the Money...ugh...drives me up a wall ~ !! ~

Gotta run & get some more weaving done - Noah's outside an' I think he's considering me driving in the slush somewhere...joy oh joy...nothin' like a vehicle w/out any heat...Anybody know what to do with Hypothermia???..jus kidin' ...!!

I'm Gone ~


Lady of The Tulips

With a sweet cobalt blue ribbon, and coordinating blue christmas trees, this little ornament is just too too sweet ~ !! ~ I had more fun making this little piece, I was suprised that it had so much color to it when it was finished ~ I guess the old saying, time flies when your having fun, really did come true for me ~ !! ~

I've also got some other pieces that'll get posted on here later on - tomorrow most likely, as right now I'm in the middle of working out a couple other ornaments, plus a new (!!) clutch purse, so my day looks to be pretty productive ~ !! ~

Even with the COLD - and I MEAN cold we're having - the windchill is somewhere in the mid-teens, and the wind itself is somewhere around 35 mph - I'd considered going to the dollar store, but the Bus must have been sending me those "OH NO YOU DON'T" vibes, 'cause once I really took a look out the window and saw the trees blowing all which-way, that made me change my mind - and with tom's incident with the big ol' deer last week, I'm not in the mood to have to talk with the car ins. company again - But it REALLY is winter-feeling outside right now - I've got the woodstove going into overtime it seems, but I had to finally face facts and close off some of the rooms just so I could concentrate some of the heat in to the studio - I won't be weaving today, so that room is closed off - the windows may leak or something, 'cause it feels like a deep freeze in there - we've got Anderson windows in there, so there really good, but I think there may not be enuf calk around them - Noah's gonna have to take a look at 'em when it warms up a little -

Speaking of noah, he seems to be more cheerful these days - we had a little incident a couple months ago, and to make a long story short, he spent 30 days somewhere...an' now his attitude seems to be better - time will tell if the whole thing was worth all the horrid nightmare - too long to talk about, but let's just say that I survived, he survived, an' that's that -

But for now I gotta go take some pictures and post some other stuff in my studio - And check on the fire in the woodstove - BRRRRR!!!!...

I'm Gone -


Lady of The Tulips

Ah Ha ~ !! ~ Her's another of the fun little Christmas ornaments - All full of color and look so nice when they are hung up - I tried out a couple of them to see how they would look - Not so bad..well, actually they look really good ~ !! ~ And I made them ~ !!! ~



So what else is new?? ~ I got some more thread and yarn at that "Wall" store the other day - ugh - here it was, later in the afternoon, and the place was beginning to get that "OH NO!!" kind of feel around it - What's up with people?? Listen, this may come as something of a suprise, but folks, ___Mart is open 24 hours a day ~ !! ~ AND - they have one of the most huge-ee-ola distribution processes on the PLANET - 'k?? - so, le's not go into Panic Overload now - whatever you want, you can call the 800 number - for real - on their website, an' it can be delivered to the store - ?? - yes..

But THAT'S where I come it - see, you don't have to walk up and down isles looking at weird things that you flat out KNOW you will never do one blasted thing with - No,NO - do NOT but that horrid looking greenish-looking-sparkling-sorta-sweater thing for your grandmother...for real, an' I mean FOR REAL..it does look downright horrid..an' your granny may be getting on in years, but do you think SHE would WEAR that???

So..rather than going thru all of THAT - look - right HERE (well, actually over there...) right on this page, you can see my little ornament, and if your REALLY good, you can go to my shop and buy this ~ !! ~


And NOT have to walk by another one of those horrid greenish-looking-sparkling-sorta-sweater thingie one more TIME ~ !! ~ Shwoo ~ jus' think of how good that's going to make you feel ? -- and the super plus - you don't have to feel guilty, knowing that you are supporting a AMERICAN made, RIGHT HERE artist...and not having some poor 10 year old making 30 Cents a day making 43,502 items to be shipped where EVAH -

So..that's where I am today - And I think just a little while ago I discovered some sparkle paint in my hair..yee gads ~ !! ~ But that's the fun of this time of year - the paint goes everywhere around the studio..glitter appears all over the place, and when you buy one of my goodies, I am not in some far-far away country..tho some of my old friends think where I live in too far far out in the woods to suit them..But that's their problem ~ !! ~

So celebrate the Holidays - Buy American - And remember me !! -

'k, so now I gotta run & see what some of this banging/rattling/odd sounds are just down the hall..sheesh...........

I'm Gone -


Lady of The Tulips

What better way to say Christmas is here, than with a sweet little gingerbread boy ~ ?? !! ~ I sat at my loom and put together this wonderful little guy, and even If I don't mind saying so, he did turn out awfully cute, didn't he?? I sat and thot of how much fun it is to do weaving, and by the time I got him all done, the time just seemed to whip past -

I've got some other pieces to show too - all cheery and very fun - I think personally that they just have to be in everybody's home for the holiday - ! - And they are so full of joy, I can't stand it!! I've had so much fun putting color and beads and collecting up my yarns for these little pieces that it almost doesn't feel like work at all ~ !! ~

Tom's work is slowing down - again - and we're trying not to get scared about it - the truck co. manager at his particular terminal is one of the most difficult people to work with, and it looks like some of the contracts they've had in the past are leaving - a bad reflection of management, but the drivers can't do anything about it - just try and live with less and less work...sigh...an' what a horrid time of year to be losing work ~ !!!! ~ I'm trying not to get discouraged by it, but it's really hard - tom just keeps on keepin' on, and really, that's all one can do under the circumstances ~~

I have to run - tom's already done for the day & is one his way home - it's been a rough week for the poor guy - a deer slammed into the right front end of his honda car @2:30 a.m. monday, then 2 days of short work..he's somehow keeping cheerful thru all this, but don't ask me how ~ !!! ~ an' to add insult to injury, when he was coming home yesterday afternoon, he sees THE SAME DUMB DEER eating along the side of the road, none the worse for wear after messin' up toms car ~ ! ~ Can you believe that??!! He was about speechless when he saw the thing ...dumb thing...

'k - gotta zip away ~~~~~

Lady of The Tulips

ok..OK ~ !! ~ I know it's been nearly a month since I was on here, but I've been weaving away 'till the cows come home..or at least 'till the cows meander over to the feeding trough next to the highway..which is usually what I see them doing down the way. Funny lil' things ~ !! ~

Anyway, since it IS December I thot I'd share some of the Christmas ornaments that I've been working on for these last couple weeks. I got some patterns worked out, and started goin' crazy with yarn, ribbons, beads an' whatever else was within close distance to my grubby little hand - if it sat for longer than a day, it was fair game ~ ! ~ I had all these beads for Evah, an' now they jus' look so sweet on the little tree ~ !! ~ I wanted to see if the yarn would hold up well to a bit of stretching and other abuse...well, maybe that's too strong a word, but I did mess with the yarn, an' by the looks of it, it seems to work well under a bit of pulling. Yay ~ ! ~

I think I'll try an' share one or two of these a week 'till the Big Day - I have some more in the works, an' today I'll be messin' with some paints and some more glue. I've fallen in love all over again with my glue gun, let me tell you ~ ! ~ It has given me new appreciation for all things sticky ~ 'course I hate to think what it's made of, but hey, if it can make up something like this, then I'm gonna turn the other cheek...or at least look in the other direction when it comes to finding out the ingredients for glue...and say Whoo - Hoo For All Things That Glue ~ ! ~ ...at least it doesn't smell bad enuf to make the wallpaper fall off the walls !!!

The truck company tom drives for has been slowing down..again. The owner threatened all kinds of #^&&"+ to the drivers..like cutting pay..releasing drivers...but they've heard all this so many times before that most of the drivers just sorta slept thru the "Important" meeting, an' ignored the hot - air the guy was fillin' the room up with. But it may pick up by the end of the month...problem is that during this time of year, a lot of companies don't do as much in production, so it's gonna be interesting to see what Really Happens. We're keeping our fingers crossed for a decent end to the year!

Must get going - gotta get the warp set up on my loom, an' then I gotta get to the store 'cause we're all out of odds and ends..jus' food, no problem...!!

I'm Gone>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Lady of The Tulips

>> Welll, see what happened iz <<....

I started to get a picture on here of one of my handbags, and then the phone rang..then that conversation ended, then the @^^*(_}!@ phone rang AGAIN...then I got thru w/THAT call..

And my entire line of concentration went out the door and got swept into the ditch along the dirt road, an' now I couldn't tell you what day it is to save my nosy....

BUT other than that - the GOOD news I do have to tell, is that some of the BRAND NEW things that are getting woven are just about ready to get some pretty cool embellishments on them - jus' think of stars, glitter, sparkle and something coming up tha's pretty significant...Tee Hee - tha's all the preview I'm gonna give you for now!!

I've got some pretty cool ribbons ~ ! ~ too, an' found some SPARKLE !!! paints - I am gettin' all worked up over what's gonna be happening around here in the next couple dayz - I haven't felt this good about the upcoming thing in Some Time - guess w/the economy being in the tank for the last 2 years, it's pretty hard to get excited about much of anything these days, but I am beginning to think that its all going to start to turn around, and I'm REALLY thinkin' that some of the things that I'm making can be one of those new and pretty groovy things that'll at least bring some smiles to some people's faces - Did I write that right? - Hmmm..maybe -

But the other groovy thing that happened is that one of my friends took me out to lunch the other day - how cool is THAT?? - We had some shrimp an' hushpuppies and I also had Brunswick Stew - the local seafood place was having a pretty good special so we dug in - boy oh boy, the local seafood is soooo much better than havin' something that's flown in from Wayyy off somewhere else - the shrimp was super sweet, and the hushpuppies were to just fall over for - YUM ~ !! ~ I am glad that I'm workin' on the loom today, 'cause w/all those calories that I inhaled the other day, I'm sure that a good day of exercise will be just the ticket to makin' sure none of those said calories will stick around for too much longer ~ !! ~

We had something of a horrid day yesterday - I still can't wrap my head around the whole thing, but suffice to say that I slept in this morning an hour and a half later tham I usually do - I'll write about the entire incident from the very beginning in a couple dayz or so - It's been an incredible roller coaster for me & Tom - but it's lookin' lilke the worst is over - at least that's what a lot of people involved w/the whole thing are tellin' us - so that's good news -

But I really have to get back to the loom - I've got one piece done this morning, and I have the warp about 1/2 way done for the second piece - I'm prayin' that I'll get 2 done today, then go to town w/ all the other things - Tee Hee - NO - I'm not gonna say NO MORE ~ !!! ~ Hee....Hee... You'll See ~ !! ~

I'm Gone --

Lady of The Tulips

"Blended Amber Handwoven Clutch Handbag" - Spring Grove Handweaving -

Here's one of the fall handbag's that I got done just the other week..I kept meaning to post this but so many things have popped up around here that it didn't get done till now ~ !! ~ I really like the amber, cream and flecks of brown/black on the yarn that makes up the body of this handbag - it reminds me of some of the clothes that were worn up in the little mountain town tom & I lived in way back in the day - Everybody had at least one sweater with this kind of yarn!! So I was glad to find some of it on sale an' Tom grabbed it before I did!! He had a couple sweaters with this style yarn wayy back in the day!! It looked really good on him too..

Anyway, back from the 70's...Tee Hee...I have some new projects lined up - I've been trying to get the warp done on my loom this morning, but tom's been messin' with the stereo & hooking up the cd player...he's one of those type people that has the sound WAY UP LOUUUDDD !!!! so everytime a bit of wire makes a connection ITSUDDENLY GETS WAY LOUD!!! BAM!! HEY!!....so my nerves are definetly shot already today!! I NEED to get weaving, but there is no way till all that $^&()"& gets done out in the front room - YES!! - that's how loud it is - clear back here in the back of the house - that's how SCREAMING LOUD he's got the sound up...

But It's time to make christmas items, so that's the goal for this afternoon - I'm hoping that I can get up at least 6 ornaments & get them into my shop by tuesday at the latest - so many interuptions (sp) lately, an' I've got a ton of ph. calls to make tomorrow an' tuesday too...so wish me luck ~ !! ~ GoodVibes ~ !! ~ whatever you can!!

I've got to take some aspirin...that $^"&"( &*)+ stereo is driving my head into the upper reaches of the sky right about now!!!!

I'm Gone>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Lady of The Tulips

>>So here's a little self promotion, if ya'll don't mind <<

www.SpringGroveHandweaving.artfire.com I'd be pleased as punch if you'd stop by an' see some of my little goodies!!

Gotta run for now --

Lady of The Tulips

One of my little handbag clutches - this color is really fun, and the yarns just seemed to go together so easily - it almost scared me, but the final weaving was just what I wanted -

I found the dark purple/deep violet/pale blue yarn online, and then tried to find something to coordinate with it that wouldn't look all weird - heaven knows there's enuf weirdness goin' on around here - but anyway, the color on the front flap of the bag was a yarn that I found down at the yarn shop and the lady that owns the store was so patient with me - 'course we had to yak,yak,yak about all things, an' then realized that I did NEED to get some yarn while I was in there~ ! ~ So this bag took a little longer to put together than it probably should have ~ ! ~

An' since I've been so busy with gettin' my shop set up over on Artfire, an' gettin' things taken care of around here, naturally I ended up gettin' sick ~ !! ~ BOO!! ~ I hate to get sick, an' it's really been a long time since I had a cold, so this kind of suprised me when Sat. afternoon I started feelin' kinda lousy - I'd been detailing the Bus, rubbin' out some of the old old dirt spots that looked reallly bad..an' when I got done I just figured I felt tired from all that work - well, it WAS a lot of work, but the tired was also cause I was comin' down with the creeping crud!! so I been takin' it easy and tryin' not to overdo things - right now I'm only workin' on one project, so when I get feelin' a little bit stronger I'll go back the usual 3 projects at one time ~ ! ~

And to have more fun - tom got broken down last nite/evening while he was trying to get back into the port from up near the northern most part of the state of Va. - the water pump in the truck went out, and water spewed everywhere - so he had the office call & get a tow truck..anyway, 2 hours later he was basically right back where he'd started earlier in the afternoon - at first the #^#&* manager told him to sleep in the truck, 'cause he didn't want the company to pay for a hotel bill...grrrr....but then the dispatcher over-ran THAT bright idea, got tom a room across from the truck stop/truck repair shop, so tom could stay in a room for the night. Can you bELIEVE that?? - "Sleep in the truck..." - tha's about the 4th time he's done that to other drivers, so I think the dispatcher just got tired of guys quitting 'cause the manager is a dolt!! -

So now HOPEFULLY today won't be so much of an adventure for tom OR me ~ !! ~ I do need to get my project finished over on the table, an' get a new piece ready on the loom, so I should stop messin' around over here, an' get zippin' along ~ ! ~ Wheeee...

I'm Gone>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lady of The Tulips

~~ No picture today (sorry!) but just A quick Hello!! An' to say that I'm up to my ears in weaving projects - I had something of a disaster w/some fabric yesterday (Boo!) but today I am Very Happy to say that I've developed something to fix Said Disaster. Shwwoooo!!

'Course, the projects that Disaster Occured To aren't good now..BOO!!!..but I've got some other things to make up for it - only 2 bit the dust, so that's not so horrid. I DID get quite misty eyed when I discovered that they went Poof - but that's the way some things go!

I'm also glad to say that I've discovered some Beads that I thot went missing. Ha - show's how organized my studio is ~ !! ~ Mercy Me - the things were in another box that I hadn't looked in for awhile, so silly me, I THOT they'd been put in a closet where things go to Never Never Land...or some place where weird things happen..like go into space maybe?? - So, I'm going to go strand some of these beads, and make some other goodies. It seems kinda relaxing to string beads together..Sometimes I get really carried away and then look at the clock and realize 2 hours have gone by - Oop! - So today hopefully that's not going to happen. Well, actually, if it does, noah said he'd make dinner...hummm..maybe he knows I'm sitting amidst projects that need finishing ~ !! ~ Who knowz..

Must go - Tom may be late getting home tonight..he had to deliver some 35,000 pounds of plumbing supplies to a gigantic warehouse this morning. The people running the forklift said they'd get him "Fixed up in no time!"..2 hours later he was still waiting..Get This ~ !! ~ They were having some kind of bbq cook-out on the grounds of the place, so over 1/2 of the employees were over across the grounds, eating bbq!!!! An' left poor ol' tom sittin' in his truck all lonesome an' sad ~ !! ~ "Ma! It smells so good, an' I can't even go over there!!!"....awwwhhhh....

Well - maybe we can have bbq this weekend!! That'll make up for it ~ !! ~ Yeah! That's the ticket!!

I'm Gone ~ !! ~


Lady of The Tulips

Glimmering Teal Clutch Handbag ~

Here's another of the recent handbags that got finished & you can also see over in my shop @ Artfire.com - this was the coolest yarn that I found ~ !! ~ It really DOES glitter and gleam when you turn the clutch just right - that's what drew me to the yarn in the first place. And it came together on the loom really nicely - I added the little beads and goodies for that extra Oomph, and I'm really likin' the way it looks. But tha's just me, so I'm HIGHLY biased ~ !! ~

I was going to finish out some handbags today, but for over 3 hours, I've been drivin' Noah all over creation...livin' in the woods DOES have it's drawbacks, and since it's for EVAH between places here, you just have to realize that it's going to take some time to get from point A to point B..an' just suck up the cost of the gas...The local gas station people can probably retire on what I'm payin them in gas this week...makes me wanna cry, it does ~ !! ~ Wish sometimes that I had a horse & buggy..nahh...that'd only take LONGER..yeee gadzzzzzz.....

But anyway, I'm OPTIMISTIC that I'll get some work done over there..but I'm not sure..As long as the other 2 in the house just don' mind dinner being around 10 p.m., then we're all ok ~ !! ~ Tee Hee - yup, you would be able to hear the NOISE from here with that one now, wouldn't you?? ~~ !! ~~

So it's over to the work table & WORK - 'stead of listening to noah tell me where we need to haul off an' drive to next...Jeesh...tha' poor ol' station wagon...156,000 miles on it, an' I'm suprised it hasn't just STOPPED and said ENOUGH ALREADY!!! - No, noah doesn't like to ride in the Bus, an' that engine hardly has over 9,000 miles on it...

DO NOT LOOK AT MY GREY HAIR....
an I'll be thankin' ya later............

I'm Gone **

Lady of The Tulips

>> Just a suuuuper quick post, as I'm getting ready to add the embellishments to some handbags I wove up - I've got a basic idea of the colors I'll use, but I won't tell you yet..just will say that they are shiney, pearly, and look just right. Naturally I wouldn't want to add anything that would look ikkkeey, so it just sorta goes w/out sayin' -

Took Mr. Grump-A** to a job "interview" - instead of actually having an interview, he spent over an hour filling out forms, making answers on pages (15) of some form..an' looked like the cat drug him in from some ditch along the highway when he was all thru. Good Golly Miss Molly, is this what companies are doing these days to people trying to get work?? - And it wasn't the actual company hiring - sorta - was an agency that only gathers enuf people that fit a particular description of employees eligible for a certain job.

In other words, he filled out a bunch of papers an' maybe will get called back in for a real interview.

Nothin' like wasting an hour & a half here folks....

Well....

So I gotta run - I know I'm not tellin' much about the next handbag - but it'll be a pleasant suprise..how'z that?? ~ !! ~ Tee Hee ~ !! ~


I'm Gone >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Lady of The Tulips

~~ Well ~~

Here's a picture of one of my newer clutch handbags that I have for sale over on my little site @ Artfire.com - Look up Spring Grove Handweaving, and you'll be sure to see this sweet little handbag for sale -
I've just spent 15 minutes trying and trying to figure out how to make the link work, but it looks like it's gonna take me a lot longer ~ So I think I may have to go get a bottle of water and make myself comfortable, 'cause it's probably going to be where I have to sit here for 3 hours before I can get a link to work...I SOOOOO wish I could take classes in All Things Computer ~ !!! ~ What most people think are "Just easy clicks!" for some of us is just a nightmare ~ !! ~ I can't count the hours I've spent just getting these pictures posted - OMG - I am not kidding when I say that I've truly broken out in hysterical crying jags over all this - makes me feel so downright stuiped, an I know I'm not dumb - but Puuhhhleeeeze, you persons who design or (or whatever it's called) these sites, keep in mind, some of us are NOT computer people ~ !!!! ~ Guess livin' in the woods has come back to bite me on the Bee-hind now, hasn't it??

But on a brighter note, I've got a stack ( !! ) of new clutch handbags over on the work table, all waiting for their little embellishments and stuff to get all fixed up - they want to make their debut too ~ !! ~ Jus' like little Debutantes ~ ! ~ HA!! ~ Tha's what they are!! - Lil' sweet things just waiting in the wings ~ ! ~An' ohh...jus' you WAIT to see how they look - I think you'll like 'em too.


But I gotta go an' get to work - can't jus' sit here chattin' the mornin' away ~ !! ~

I'm Gone >>>>>>>>>>>


Lady of The Tulips

Well - I've been blathering for some time now about the weaving I'm doing - and I'm just about ready to reveal some more of my pieces, but first (Just to drag things out a bit longer..tee hee..) I wanted to show my sweet little loom - it's not one of the giant ones that take up a gazillion feet of space - but it's just the right size for what I'm doing, and it creates some sweet things. So what more can ya ask for??

The little corner of my room is rather stuffed right now, but I'm gently hinting to Tom to install some nice decorative shelves above the antique table where all my baskets are - he sez" Oh sure, that sounds like a good idea" - so let's not get too excited about seeing those shelves any time soon!

I'm also glad to say, that since I've been totally hit over the head w/a 2" X 4" in terms of trying to figure out my new art site w/Artfire, that my middle son told me to come up to Va. this weekend, an' we'll sit down an' hash out all things computer that I'm having such a hard time with. I wish I could afford to take some classes or something - but it's a catch-22 - I need to make the money to afford the classes, so I can learn how to set up my computer stuff online, but I need to know HOW to set up the online site in order to make money - so where does it all go/come-from/happen? No wonder I just haul off and burst out crying from stress these days - doesn't take much of a screaming fit from Jr. here to make me just cry away. And I've never been one to cry, so this is just not fun! Hopefully after saturday things will start to turn around!

The other plus, is that tom said we are "DEFINETLY" going to go to the fabric store, and the art store, so I can get the 4 items I need to make my handbags - I told our middle son, "All I need is like $10.00 worth of supplies!" - but w/few choices down here, it's a 90 mile drive to get what I need...yikes! But it'll be worth it when the new handbags are done!

But for now I gotta run - I've had another hellish day, an' my headache is jus' not goin' away - but tomorrow I hope will be better...an' in theory maybe some pictures of my new handbags ~ !! ~

Lady of The Tulips

~~ Just a quick post, as I've got some sewing to do, an' have to check on 2 handbags that got woven last week, and have some lining to get set up inside ~~

I'm workin' so hard at tryin' to figure out a LOT-LOT of new computer stuff..it really shows how backwoods I've been all these years...things like certain programs to enhance the website & how to check some something or other for the number of people checking your work. It makes tonz of sense to everybody else, but for somebody like me who's never taken a computer class EVAH it absolutely reduces me to tears.

And the irony is that noah is a bang-up whiz-kid on all things computer, but refuses to do one teeny thing to help me out. Some people that know him are from the old school, that as mother, all I should be doing is baking cookies, creating cute things from old coke-bottles, and making sure that I know all the Soap Opera stars...nothing wrong with that, if you've got a lotttt of time to waste, but I'm flat broke, and need to generate some kind of extra income, and it's aint easy when I'm behind times in terms of computer programming.

So yesterday I spent 5 1/2 hours trying to get some things ready on my site to sell my handbags...

And I have absolutely nothing to show for it..I'm still totally clueless as to what to do to make it look "professional", and the son who said OH YES - he'd be down here to help..

He went to some club instead an' had a good time.........

Trying not to be so down, but I'm so upset these days, an' I know it's taken a number on my stress level & blood pressure. My eyes are always cloudy an' I'm not seeing good, but I have to keep pressuring myself to get some progress done in terms of learning computer programming..like yesterday would have been perfect.

So this is short, but I gotta run - Hopefully I'll have Good News later on in the week, but for now I'm soo regretting not living in the city for all those years we were in the country..it's come back around to bite me Really Hard>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Lady of The Tulips

OK - so if you glanced at this post earlier, the picture of the Bus was a little different..but this one I like better, so since this IS my blog, I can therefore change things the way I see fit..

Or something like how my mother used to rant when she got angry -

But - I'm not angry, as a matter of fact I'm in quite a good mood - and this little bumper sticker on the Bus makes me feel so happy and carefree ~ !! ~

Even tho it seems that a lot of people around me seem to think it's something horrid an' terrible..but to MY mind, they just need to get a life ~ !! ~

I'm also tellin' you that the Junk Gypsy's have sooo many great things that it makes my brain scramble each and every time I take a look at their site - you gotta GOTTA go check 'em out ~ !! ~

An' I have Good News - my All-Things-Computer-Son is coming down later this evening to help me out on the site that I've been desperately trying with tears sweat and much angst...he knows just what I need to do to get it all spiffied up - ok, so that spelling is horrid, but you get the IDEA ~ !! ~ So I'm lookin' forward to havin' the help that I truly need - it's frustrating not to know how to do things that people say "Its Easy ! " an' here I am, sitting like a toad not getting one bit of how to do that particular thing ~ !!! ~ Yikes and Yee Gadz....

So once all the kinks and blobs and messes are all straightened out, then I'll be able to post some of my handbags an' let you know how you can go and own your very own handwoven handbag ~ !! ~Yes Sir and Yes Ma'am ~ !!! ~


But for now I gotta get some sewing done, an' get some new brads set up on a handbag that I got finished just this last week..it's really a nice fall color, an' the brads that I found are just the right touch for the front of the bag...makes ya wanna run outside an' fling yourself into a big ol' pile of fall leaves...

Well, maybe not FLING...'specially if it's your husband who just raked up said pile of leaves..he'd probably get a little pissy is you hauled off an' made a mess of 'em all....Tee Hee ~ !! ~.....

But it'd still be FUN ~~ !!!!! ~~~

So - now...

I'm Gone..............

One of my special pieces for my upcoming site...

Soooo..what happened waz...I got so involved in weaving everyday, that I have sadly gotten away from all of You ~ !! ~ And it has made me feel terrible ~~~!!!!~~~

So let me tell you what has been happening ~

I've got a whole kit and kaboodle full of handbags done for my new and upcoming site..but there are so many new and difficult things to learn on said site, that it's going to take my computer-whiz son to come down from Virginia to help me out ~ !! ~ I have tried and tried to get the stuff figured out and every time that I Juuuust about get it into my pea-picking brain, then the Other son comes along and starts stomping his foot, slamming things around all over the house, and then comes stomping back down the hallway to make me get off the computer.

See the problem is - around where I live, most wives do not do anything like what I've been doing, let alone what my new and fun handbags I've started to make are...in other words, or in the words of a "friend" - "That's not what we do around here..."

That little bit of fluff means, I'm stepping over the line in what's acceptable around here..and it;s ruffling a lot of feathers...

So now I'm faced with going ahead with my new work..and w/the help of my computer whiz son, I can finally - after many many crying jags..too many tears and general falling-apart-at-the-seams...get my site up and running..and most importantly - selling these wonderful handbags to one and all -

I'm working very very hard at getting my #^^%&) together over at ArtFire.com to get my work ready - wellll, the work is Done, it's getting the computer stuff figured out that's my downfall ~ !! ~ And just about the time I get to where I understand the whole spot where
I need to be..I have to get off the computer an' then start all over again the following day...

I've cried more in the last 3 weeks than I have in 4 years..

Frustrated..

Feeling Incompetent..

Knowing that I will have no help from anyone around here...

Yup - it's been something of a nightmare for me.

But I'm sticking to my guns, and come Hell or High Water (ironically after all the flooding after the last hurricane...) I WILL get my site up and I WILL be selling my handwoven hnadbags ~ !! ~

Even if I get lectured by the locals for not doing "What WE do aroun' here..."

I've never been so glad to have a louse 6-pack of beer in my fridge in my entire life...

So, w/that - I gotta run - it's after 7:30 p.m., an' I haven't even considered what to have for dinner...guess I should go an' see what I can dig out of the bottom of the fridge...the other 2 have cleaned out everything else..

sigh...


I'm Gone ~~~~~~~~~~~~


Lady of The Tulips

~~ I just realized that there were never pictures of where we went for the Bus Festival in July ~ ! ~ So here's a shot of the river where we had our campsite - this particular picture is of when Tom & I woke up early on Saturday morning, and this thin layer of fog was floating over the water - just on the other side of the river, we could hear some animals rooting along the edge of the water, but the fog was too thick over there to clearly see what there was ~

We had also heard some crashing around further up on the shoreline of the opposite side from where we were camping - I'm not sure if it was a large animal or not = But since we had seen a young bear standing in the middle of the road on our way up to the campground (The night we made our way to the campsite..) then we just sort of figured it may have been another bear. Who knows, but it was just fun to sit and listen to the sounds of wild critters doing their thing - No, I'm not talkin' about some of the people camping around us - that's a whole other story - I'm talking about actual CRITTERS - big and small.

But onto other news - I'm still weaving up a storm - as I'm sitting here, I've got 3 pieces that need to have their snaps sewn in, and there are 4 that need the lining fabric set in place. I'm going to post a couple pictures later today - I'm pretty happy with the way these are turning out - and it looks like - if things turn out the way I'm timing things, I should have some of these available for sale on an ETSY spot in the very near future - I'm tryin' like mad to get a good supply available, so that I've got a good stock - It just seems to take longer than I want things to go - And with some very negative attitudes surrounding me as of late, it just adds to what seems like constant delays in my work - family - "friends" - that kind of thing - all just makes me exhausted, and right now I'm scrambling just to get this typed, before noah comes storming back in the door and starts screaming at me for some unknown reason...I definetly need a seperate art studio to do my work in - Keep me in Positive thots in that direction ~ !! ~

Must run - I hear stomping feet...sheesh...


Lady of The Tulips

~ Just a whoosh quick post, as Noah has started crashing around in the kitchen, an' truth be told, I think he's starting dinner..which is fine with me, as I'm getting some finishing touches on a couple new clutch bags ~

We came thru the hurricane with No Damage ~ !! ~ I am so relieved, an' the weird thing, is that we didn't have any wind or rain 'till nearly 8 a.m. This Morning..an' the storm had moved in pretty early yesterday...no idea why it finally did it's thing today, but I am just glad we didn't have any Baaaad things happen..shwwwwooooooo............

I have some pictures that are jus' about ready to pop on here this weekend..I also found some business cards, that I'm trying to decide on for my new venture - I'm torn with a couple that are really nice, and have some good color - the middle son is just too swamped right now to get something done for me, an' that's ok, 'cause I know I can come up with something pretty quick - Then the real nightmare is finding a place that will make the labels for inside the bags - ok, I mean I KNOW there are places that manufacture them, but have you seen the PRICE??? - GGHHHAWWWDDDD...one place wanted something like $50.00 for less than 25...I'm thinkin' Puhhhleeeeezzzzeeeee......But I know every business owner is doing their darn-dest to make some $$ these days, but that price jus' sounds a little over the top...but then, I do tend to be a cheapskate...

Anyway - I gotta check on some work over on the table, an' see if it's tom that just drove in the driveway..he actually did have work today - we were thinking with the hurricane just leavin' the area, that there wouldn't be anything at any of the Ports, but he had work (Yay!!) so that is welcome news - now they have a 3 day holiday..OH NO !! ~ now what am I gonna do with him for 3 dayz??? -- Oh Stop ~ !! ~ Don' look at the new crop of grey hairs that popped out on my head...Lawdy, dealin' with tom some dayz is jus' like havin' a room full of 2-year olds..don' turn your back for a minute...Wheeeee...

I'm Gone -


Lady of The Tulips

Well, would ya lookie here ~ !! ~

I've got to say, that with all of my little goodies, it has felt really good to be working on all of these sweet handbags/womens clutch bags for the last couple weeks~ !! ~

And - Tahhh - Dahh ~ !! ~

Welcome too, to my new studio - Spring Grove Handweaving ~! ~

I've been working away on these, plus I've got a number of other ones that are all fixed up - I'm getting ready to get a spot over on ETSY too - one of my son's is helping me get some business cards ready, plus we're looking into a provider for the labels to have sewn into each of these bags - it's been a busy busy couple of weeks, but the light seems to be shinning into the end of the tunnel ~ !!! ~

I got 2 pieces woven today - I'm going from these wonderful Summer colors, and transitioning into the Fall shades - In the not too distant future, there will be some fun colors that will make you think of cool Fall days, crisp apples and nighttimes where it seems like every star is visible and you don't know which way to look -

Well, at least, that's what fall seems like to me ~ !! ~

We're waiting for more news on that stuiped, and I mean STUIPED hurricane...yup - it looks like the way the storm center is predicting, we're probably gonna Eat It on thursday and friday - naturally, since we just had to fight with the mtg. company, we gave them literally our last dime, so with $13.49 to our name, we obviously can't drive anywhere to evacuate..Yee Haw ~ !! ~ We get to ride this one out, and by the sound of it, it's gonna be a doozey. I can't stand these things, and it's not looking like this one will be a waltz in the park...we went thru hurricane Hugo in '89, and it was horrible. And this one looks pretty much the same.....

So, I'm hoping there is some way we can at least get a couple more things for food, but it aint lookin' too good. And too, I have no idea of what Tom's trucking company is planning, or Not Planning for this whole thing...But, I may just say the #%^&$ with it all, an' jus' go sit out on the porch an' have a good cold beer...

But for now, I gotta get some finishing touches done on a couple of my little ladies clutch purses/handbags, and dig into some nifty embellishments that are crying out to be used ~ !! ~

I'm Gone ....................

Lady of The Tulips

Ok..OK ...OKKKEEYYY...I know it's been a few days since I've been over here, but there have been many many different and all together exciting things happening here that have kept me away from the 'puter...some good, some I shall not go into at this time.

And I hauled off and found some more grey hairs popping up on my head the other morning, so you know how good that made me feel..

But I have some sorta-kinda newz - I'm still working out some "patterns" for some handwoven handbags, and have some made up that are pretty spiffy - I found a yarn shop in the next town down Ocean Highway, so I am thrilled to pieces about that - I was going to order some yarns to use in the weaving - but the online store required all sorts of tricks and games, and believe me, there is nothing that irritates me more, than having to play/work threw some tricks and games, EXPECIALLY online...not worth the time, and most certainly not worth my money. So after talking with the yarn shop owner, I found out that she charges the Exact same price as the shop (s) I found online, and to add to the happy-dance some more, I don't have to pay shipping/handling charges to buy the exact same yarns.

And to add Even More - if there is one yarn that she doesn't have, I can give her the product code/number, and she can have the yarn in her shop in less that 5 days - all the online places said it'd take 8 - 10 days. 10 DAYS ~ !! ~ ?? ~ do they have to do something in the warehouse before they put the products into the boxes ?? - like doing 334,235 sit ups? - Push-Ups?

Well, before I go into a total rant, let's just say that to drive 10 miles to get the yarns I need to make up some handbags is just the bees knees - where I am right about now - And gettin' ready to do a happy dance at the same time -

And on the other news - I'd thot about getting another space to work in, as there has been some major hatred/evil thots and other assorted bad things thrown at me in the last couple weeks - but that didn't work out, so there seems to be something of a holding pattern for me at the moment - it all relates to that "Your not making anymoney" thing with my art - and the fact that where I've tried to sell my work hasn't made anything but headaches isn't helping either.

So I'm still mulling over ideas - locations - places where I can work on some new things in PEACE and not be tormented..I'm just too old to be messed with at this point, so I'm doin' some major thinking right about now.

And the canvas hasn't even been taken out of the antique hutch yet..it
s stilll all clean and pretty - maybe this next week I'll get inspired to do something with it, but for now it's just gonna have to wait.

And I won't even go into the humidity deal again...as I'm sitting here typing I'm feeling light headed all over again..did I mention how I fell out during our trip home from the mountains the other week?? -- well, I had a bout just about as bad yesterday right here in the house..I won't go into the details as of how the whole thing came about - le's just say it was realllllly ugly, and I am still a little off from the whole ordeal.

Dayum - no wonder there are new grey hairs on me little head ~ !! ~

But for now I gotta go - I promise I'll post the one interior of the little handbag I posted on here the other day - butright now I gotta go find some breeze to get covered in - I'm badly melting an' gotta run ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Lady of The Tulips

>> Just a quick post here, as I've got to get the lining inserted into the handbag I photo-ed yesterday..or the other day..and I've got 2 other handbags woven up to take pictures of later this afternoon...there's just something about doing 2 things at one time that just will not go away with me...and here my Dr. told me to slow it down and not get stressed out...ha - shows what that guy knowz...

ANYway...I've got some canvases that are sitting over in the antique hutch that are crying out to me..they are all clean with nothing on them, so they most certainly need something done..I've got some ideas brewing around in my little pea brain, so those will get put to use. I had to go to the gallery down Ocean Highway - not one of my pieces got sold, and the gallery has gone thru some major changes..so my work was just sitting basically in the way..The collages.mixed media pieces were the only ones in the entire space that were Ocean related, and they did stick out like a sore thumb in the place...not like anything else, so there wasn't much enthusiasm over them, and too, the director was asked not to come back for a continuation of her contract..

So for somebody different like me, there wasn't much of a chance for me to make any headway. Ya gotta know when there isn't one word of encouragement in your direction, that it's probably time to call it quits, and go find something else to do.

That's why I got my loom out and started to weave some things again...maybe getting these out in the world will make a difference, I don't know. Things are just not moving in a positive way for me right now, so I gotta find some other way to make up for the negative tha's been surrounding me. The Festival made it clear to me that there needs to be a change for my self esteem, my sense of being an Artist, and a sense that I am in the right place for my going forward ~ There just isn't much in the way of any thing close to encouraging Anything here, so there has to be a change ~ I've got no idea where I'm gonna go, or just how I'm gonna get there, but it looks like there will be a pretty dramatic change coming up.

So tha's what's goin' on around here...uh oh..an' I gotta get off of here, 'cause Noah is rattling around out in the kitchen, so that means that he's probably ready to come stomping down the hall and into the studio to use this..an' naturally, here I am doing something I want to do...damn the bad luck...

I'm Gone.............


Lady of The Tulips

So if we may... Drum Roll Please ~ !! ~

Here is a picture of one of the new little goodies that I've created - a sweet little ladies handbag - handwoven with some yummy soft yarn...the colors are actually "painterly" - as the manufacturer has developed this yarn so that the colors look similar to a Monet painting...they come out so very nice, and with an equally soft yarn for the background, the bag comes out like a sweet little pick-me-up for a nice evening out, or a quick trip to the mall.

This is one of a couple I experimented with to see just how I wanted them to turn out - this will probably be the pattern that I'm going to use for all the rest of the handbags - they measure roughly 9" X 6 1/2 " - just the right size for a bit of money, credit cards and a tube of lipstick..maybe a little coin purse thrown in as well. I love love the color of this one, and the other yarns will be similar, but with just a slight variation in their blending - but they will all have some shade of blue/green/turquoise in them. And a couple will have some soft blues and greens as well...just not the same shade as this one.

I got a couple of people at the Bus festival to take a look at these, and they thot these were really good - that made me feel wonderful ~ ! ~ I'm going to make about 4 or 5 this week, then see where/what I want to do with them...any suggestions?? - I've got a couple ideas, but for now I'm just batting them around...

And the Bus Festival was wonderful ~ !! ~ The road up the mtn. is just breathtaking..the views are something else, and the park we stayed at was right along the New River..it flows toward Virginia, rather than down the state to the Sea..cold rushing water..lots of people out floating on anything and everything..lots of kayaks..canoes...little odd boats of every shape and size..but the river itself is what caught me. I was so relaxed listening to the sound of the water rushing over the series of little falls right outside our campsite. Heavenly.

Course, that was when most of the campers Finally called it a night an' went to bed..lots of party/party/party...shwoo..no wonder some of them looked like something the cat drug in the next morning.. !!..I didn;t take any pictures of the other buses..just some of the scenery right out along the campsite. I'll post some of those tomorrow. I hate-hated coming back home..especially when the temps coming off the mountain were in the 100 Degree range...I very nearly didn't make it...what with the Bus having no air conditioning...and the heat off the interstate...shwooo...don' wanna do that again..well....cept till next summer ~ !! ~ We may go to one of the Festivals in the fall, but we'll have to wait an' see about the $$ for that....

We are now back to the grind...I'm gettin' ready to weave up 2 new bags in the morning, and get some work done on a canvas at the same time...don' wanna just sit and be bored..no No ~ !! ~ an' it's back to hearing noah bellyache about Everything Wrong and other daily thangs...lawdy my hair's turning grey ~ !!! ~

Gotta go for now tho ------ le' me know what ya'll think of the new little handwoven bags...

I'm Gone ******


Lady of The Tulips

~ "Relax...Enjoy The Good Life" ~ 2010 Spring Bay Studio

Here's a little something that came along just when the weather started to turn a little warmer...I was thinking of going fishing for about 4 days, but then realized, that for whatever reason under the sun, noah hauled off and threw out all the old tackle and tackle box...no advance notice to me...so it was a good thing that I didn't just go over to the edge of the water on the next street over! ~ The Fish & Game people would have had a field day with me - no license? - No tackle? - look lady..just what are you doing over here?? ....sheesh, I can see it now..

So instead of risking Life and Limb, I made up a little something with a fish in it..along with some tropical goodies just for giggles. I love love the 7Gypsies papers, and any more I'm getting to where I always start a piece with at least one of their papers included in the work. Force of habit almost. The texture on the background maybe doesn't show up too much, but I had to wait for an afternoon for the stuff to dry ~ And I didn't even make it as thick as I was going to! ~ Next time I'll make it up earlier in the day so I don't have to traipse back and forth from the kitchen while making dinner, then go down the hall to the studio to check on the canvas..poor timing on that one~ !! ~ Oops..~

So I can't make this too long - Tom has his first day off today, so We're gettin' the Bus ready to head up to the Blue Ridge - he and noah "had" to go to the hardware store to get some stuiped thing or another...always ALWAYS that boy has to get to the hardware store...I asked him if he is considering buying stock in a couple of those companies, 'cause by GAWD with all the money he spends with their products, he sure as #%^%$& should get something BACK..

Sorry- minor rant...

Anyway, I gotta print out the directions so tom has something more to go on than just looking at the map...he knows 90% of the route to where we're going, but these GUYS ~ they have to have it printed out. Any reason ANY body knows??? - And Do Not Ask for directions...EVAH...
I see something smoking around my head in the near future..Oh! - it's my last good nerve twinging at Tom saying, "OH! I KNOW where we're suposed to go!!"....(this from the guy who once drove us thru a residential neighborhood in Lincoln Neb. in the tractor trailer...he "knew" which part of the street to turn down, but went the opposite way instead...to say the people running out of their houses to stare at us was a bit uncomfortable is an understatement...)

So, yes, I'll print out the directions for the guy..heavens to Betsy!!

I'm going to post some of my new little goodies probably when we get back - not enuf time today to get those on here...I think they are kinda cute..an' I usually don't want to make too cutesyy of things, but they are!

You'll See ~ !! ~

I'm Gone>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Lady of The Tulips

~ "Love Is All" ~ 2010 ~ Spring Bay Studio

Here's the piece that I was talking about last week...I know, I know...it took me like For EVAH to get it posted on here, but the last week has been one of those times that I'd truly rather forget...

Actually it hasn't been all THAT bad - just some irritating things from the-son-who-lives-here...basically running his mouth at the most IN-appropriate times..(lawdy, an' speak of the devil, he just came slamming in the back door...)

But the weekend made up for any bad and negative things that happened earlier in the week..matter of fact it happened to be Tom & my 34th wedding anniversary..an' no, he didn't go and buy me any great big ol' anything..but he DID get a couple steaks that were to DIE for...and cooked those suckers up just right and tender...makes my mouth water all over again just thinking about it - we didn' do anything in terms of celebrating...I played hookie from church, so tom made me some belgian waffles..ohhh YUMMM -- totally NOT what I'm supossed to be having, but they were so slap good, I really do not care how bad the Dr. would have yelled at me...it wasn't HIS anniversary, so THERE ~ !! ~

So now there is a TOTALLY different project nearly done over on the work table this afternoon..nothing to do with painting, canvases or anything like what I "normally" do..not something close. However there are some beads involved and some other things that I have been known to use..so those are still around..

An' no, I'm not going to give out any other secrets 'till I post the picture..an' I'm not sure when that's going to be, 'cause tomorrow Tom and I are going to start packing up the Bus ~ !! ~ We're headed up to the mtns., where it will DEFINETLY be cooler...and the exciting thing is that there will be a weekend BUS FESTIVAL ~ !! ~ Whooo - Boy ~ !! ~ The guy who sold us the Bus told us about it, he'd gone to the festival for 3 years in a row, and he & his friend both told us that we absolutely HAD TO BE THERE ~ !! ~ so that 's that, don' ya know?? !! The info. that I've read about the campground sez that since it is up in the Blue Ridge Mtns., that it does get chilly at night (whodda thunk after steaming away down here>??) and that we need to bring some warm clothes...plus there is a Big Ol' river running alongside the whole place, and I remember from camping alongside a similar place in the mtns of Arkansas that it got REALLY cold at night..so even tho outside right now it's 98 Degrees w/ a heat index of over 102..up there it's nearly 20 degrees cooler, and a lot more at night..

WHATTA RELIEF ~ ! ~ it's gonna be realllllly hard to get me back down from there, I'm tellin' you right now !!

So I'll get my little project photoed (is that even a word..??) an' then it'll make it's debut ..later...not sayin' when...

But for now I gotta go get some laundry done so I have some clean clothes to wear..yee gads...I didn' even remember to do that till almost too late...tha'd a been nice...all the way (over 400 miles) up there an' discover I don' have any clean clothes....oooppppssss............


Lady of The Tulips

>> Just a quick note here, as it's getting hot outside, and now the breeze is blowing in thru the studio windows..which is how I know that it's getting hot outside ~ !! ~ <<

I've got one piece finished over on the antique hutch, and have one canvas with the first coat of paint - nope, make that 3 coats of paint on it - I got a little paint crazy the other day..le's see...yesterday and the day before. Something just MADE me do that! So I went with it, and made something pretty snazzy ~ ! ~ I'll take a picture of the finished piece later this morning, but for now I wanted to say that we FINALLY HAD A GOOD RAIN STORM ~ !!! ~

Whoo - boy~ ! ~ It really came down early this morning - naturally right when Tom was gettin' ready to go up to virginia - but he didn't mind, as it's been so awfuuuul dry and the grass was starting to crunch under foot when you walked across parts of the yard - yikes ~ ! ~ So it was a welcome rain - lightning - thunder - the whole 9 yards. (why nine I got no idea, but you get the gist...) And the breeze comin' in thru the windows was so wonderful - that great smell of rain..wet grass...pine trees...ahh, a good way to start the morning ~ ! ~

That, however is NOT to say that @ 3:00 a.m., I am up and doin' stuff around the cabin - OH NO ~ ! ~ this lil' girl has a great tendancy to just roll over an' fall right back asleep ~ ! ~ An' with the breeze that was comin' in the window right over the bed...absolute heaven ~ !! ~ And I could hear the tires on tom's little honda car, crunch-crunching along the dirt road...slowly makin' it's way over to the next road...('course that's not to say that he was driving slowly 'cause of the rain..he ALWAYS drives slow...much to the irritation of ME an' who-ever else has the luck to come up behind him ~ !! ~ ) Quite peaceful.

So now I'm up, workin' on a the newly painted canvas..I've been listening to some old old concerts from Grateful Dead...70's shows, an' some 80's mixed in. And the weather is just turning warmer, so I need to get my stuff finished before it gets too hot in here - Oh, and right now I can hear the pair of Ospreys that live somewhere down in the farm across the street from us - the farm's been there for over 100 years, and it goes straight to the edge of the water...so the pair of birds must have their next in one of the old, old trees along the shore. It's so great to listen to them - they accend (sp) up from the water after they catch something..their little cry drifting over the trees. Every once in awhile, one of them will fly above the dirt road...looking like they are using the dirt road as a guide to where ever their headed to - and LOW too - kinda scary when I happen to look out the window an' see this BIG bird flyin' along...LOOK OUT ~~ !!! ~~

I'm tellin' ya, never a dull moment around here...

An' did I ever mention the HUGE turtle that Noah an' I had to drive AROUND?? This big ol' DINASAUR (oh hush, it's spelled bad...blah...) lookin' thing..walkin' down the road like it OWNED the place...noah told me to slow down (as IF I'm gonna go racin' past this big ol' thing...) an' when I did, he said he could hear the nails of the critter crunchin' along the road...LAWDY ~ !! ~ I actually got kinda scared..I DID NOT want to get NEAR that thing ~ !! ~ What if it decided to try an' take a bite outta one of my tires?? what if it wanted to take a bite outta ME??? --

I'm Tellin' Ya ~ !! ~


Lady of The Tulips

"Untitled" - 2010 Spring Bay Studio

Another little something that happened along while I was looking out the window...

I've had fun changing up colors - using shades that I "usually" don't apply onto anything..the paint jars just sit by themselves feeling alone and blue..then they haul off and get all dried out in their little plastic homes.

Nothing drives me more batty than to realize that my paints have dried out! - I was going to do some cleaning out at church where the library shelves share storage space with old paints, papers and assorted goodies. I mean, one woman told me that the paints were in the storage cabinets when she moved down here in 1994...yet when I was talking with another woman, she very loudly told me, "Why! There's nothing wrong with those! Their perfectly fine! Those aren't toxic, and their something we use with the children! You just leave those alone!"...and while I take a quick peek at the jars, you can see where the paint has dried out and left spots of dry paint on the sides of the jar...yuck...

But my paints aren't that old! I have used most of mine in the last year, and actually am getting ready to go by more! - Well, not right away, but within the next couple weeks. Gotta make sure bills are paid first! Then it's time to order some nice shades and go from there...

I've been told this morning that I "have to" go get some sodas from the grocery store for Noah..his father was going to pick them up yesterday, but for some reason left them at the store..the things didn't even make it into the shopping cart! ~ And I'm suposed to buy some Fava beans to plant for fall..now, I love love to buy seeds to plant, and then the harvest is wonderful in the late fall/early winter. But for the life of me, I have NO IDEA of what fava beans are..?? Anybody help me out here?? Are they soup beans? Fresh Eating Beans??? do I dry them on the plant? Hang them to dry? Do I leave them alone and hope they'll hop the next freighter outta New York for parts unknown????

Well anyway, I better get some things finished up an' get outta here before The Wrath Of Noah comes slamming in the back door...I swanny, that poor door...I should shake the hands of the people who put that sucker together...it gets slammed more times during the day than anything autta get slammed...poor innocent door...

I'm Gone -


Lady of The Tulips

"Gleaning Memories" - 2010 Spring Bay Studio

The piece that had been on my work table the other day, that kept altering itself it seems, by the minute. When I thot that it was just about "done", then some other thot would come in my head telling me, Nope, add this...hold it - change this around...By the time I finally got the last bit of paint added, and the last of the beads set, it felt like I'd worked on this for the last 3 months instead of just over a week.

And why does it seem to take so long? - I read of people who just whip work out on a canvas like there's no tomorrow - 5 in one day, 7 in a matter of 3 days...WHAT??? - How the tar do these people do this? - Do they not have nagging family members who bother them with irritating babblings..getting them sidetracked every other hour??? Do they not have a husband who insists of rattling their last good nerve, by calling 3 times in a row, 'cause the bum is stuck in traffic, and has to call 3 said times in a row, telling about the rotten kids stuck in a car in the next lane...screaming and bouncing around the inside of the car, tho they should be safely secured by a safety belt???

Well, obviously it looks like I must be having much more fun than I thot, 'cause I'm the one getting the off-the-wall phone calls...have-another-person-living-here driving me all over creation and back..then over somewhere else. By the time 5:30 p.m. rolls around, there are days where I'm about slam exhausted and ready to go to bed.

But anyway -

I just take longer to work out something on a canvas than other people, thats just all there is to it. But at least I'm satisfied with the results, and don't go grumbling about the house, saying, well, I SHOULD'VE done this...REALLY should do THAT on that length of the canvas...

Nope.

Once it's done, buddy, it's DONE!! - An' there's no turning back...well, cept maybe to polish up a bid of smudged matte medium (I discovered a blob on a piece the other day ) but tha's all. For the overall work, it's fini.

And there is yet another piece that will make it's debut hopefully tomorrow - maybe monday, 'cause I just remembered that tomorrow is saturday, an' once The Husband is home, there's no telling what kind of mayhem he may rake up around the house...certainly not as much as a friends husband...who one day suprised her, by having his girlfriend show up at their house, just before he got home from work...

Yup - that'd rate right up there with MAYHEM written all over it. The ensuing battle was pretty interesting too, with tha couple..and believe it or not, their still married ~ ! ~ Wears me out is what it does, listening to things like that ...

But for now I have to go do a quick read of a couple theology books that I bought for the church library...sadly 2 of our members have passed away in the last month, and I need to make some donations to the library in their memory. And with that, are new additions to the non-fiction portion of the shelves. The books look very very good, and if I can remember, next week one day I'll make sure to post a comment about them.

For now tho, I have to get to where there is either an open window where a breeze is coming in, or find a spot under the fan...80% humidity today, light rain...but for the moment all the breeze has stopped. And I'm slowly melting into my office chair...uh-oh...this may not be healthy..If I melt, who's gonna fix dinner???


I'm Gone ~~

Lady of The Tulips

Within The Sea - Spring Bay Studio 2010

I know I'd talked about some new work that was over on the table..lets see..clear last week, but as things happen, Life Happens, and there suddenly went the week ~ ! ~ I honestly have no idea where the week went, but I think there was a holiday somewhere along the line, some sitting around the house doing absolutely nothing, and then too, some Buying Things Related To Art...

So it's been the kind of week where you finally get a chance to sit down and say to yourself, Well, just what the #*^*)^ happened here? -

So, this picture is at least one of the things that did happen - not like what I usually work out, and that's what made it something of a challenge for me - I don't remember the last time I used a lot of green in anything, let alone yellow - but this evolved into a Sea Wave of sorts - moving along and within itself something like the currents out offshore do - I took my time with this, as each color needed to make it's presence known, and I didn't want to rush with it. I had the most concentrated time getting the blending and attacking of the colors - sometime along about the 3rd day of painting, and changing this that and the other, I finally felt like I could go ahead and layer the papers.

Tom was very suprised with the color - at first it didn't have much else besides green..."It's veryyyy green...", he sez while popping his head into the room...

I sorta stood there looking at him with my paint pallette in my hand, asking jus' what the #$%&)(+ that was supossed to mean...he just said, "That's all..."

Is there a way that any of you know, that I can either invest some money into the manufacturer of Tums, Rolaids, or any of those companies? - Or, if not that, maybe have a nice sweet truck driver deliver a full 53' trailer FULL of any of those wonder products???

'Cause my husband is about to DRIVE ME OFF THE DEEP END...

'k - tha's my rant for the morning..

But I do want to say, that despite The Husband and Noah rattling my last 4 nerves to their breaking point, I also have managed to paint and paste and glue and cut papers, attach beads, ribbons, stickers and some other innocent bystanders onto some other canvases that I'll show starting tomorrow - I've been busy in spite of all the running around that I seem to find myself in day after day...

But now I'm wondering what the weekend will hold in store for me..we went up to the city on the 4th for a big ol' BBQ at Danny's condo..he stuffed us again with some steaks and some goodies...I probably gained 15 pounds just from that one dinner. Then on monday Tom took me over to the dreaded Wal-Store, 'cause I was totally out of canvases. And I needed, of all things, one stuiped bottle of white paint.

You'd think that finding these things would be easy..yes? - HA! ~ I walked up and down what's called the "Craft" isle, and looked high and low for what I needed...the amount on the shelves has been cut by at least 75% in the one store closest to us..it looked like somebody had to really think hard on how to stretch out what few items there were, to fill in the long shelf near the floor in the isle. I was, needless to say, Unimpressed....And since that store is one of the least liked stores for me, it made it all that much more of a headache...

Then by the time I finally found close to what I needed, I had to hunt tom down...naturally he was over in the automotive section, ready to pay $30 for some part that he insisted we needed RIGHT NOW, for his honda car....

Remember the above request for the trailer load of tums/rolaids///....

Yeah..the sooner the better...

So, I am happy to say that we walked out with just the art supplies in hand, minus the $30 car part (it's not needed after all...just a bottle of gas treatment did the trick...at .99 cents...) - And now I'm going to try out the new canvas.

It looks so sad all empty..clean...nothing all over it...

Whoo- Boy ~ !! ~ That's gonna change in about .1247 seconds ~ !! ~

I'm Gone.............


Lady of The Tulips

"Untitled" - 2010 Spring Bay Studio

Another one of the pieces that I've been working out over on the table - this happened kind of in fits and spits, but it wasn't as difficult as I thot it was going to be when I started out -

I got all worked up over some of the paper, and when I started working on the texture, I thought I'd really taken on more than I'd bargained for. But once I decided how I wanted the color to go on, then it started to get a little easier for me to add the other elements.

I got some of the paints buried (I keep doing that - buying bits of paint here and there, an' being REALLY good, I put them away, planning on using them on a later day...) and discovered them when I was looking for something totally different - Does that ever happen to you? - Go to look for one thing, an' lo and behold, there is something else you'd forgotten about..yikes...drives me crazy!! `

But anyway - here it is - an' it is just a little different from other things I've done - an' it's kinda fun!! ~ Plus, the one that's just getting dry on the antique hutch is done with colors that I don't normally use - with some of it being brushed on a little thicker than I'd do with other pieces. It felt pretty good doing that, too - Really slapping the paint on, making a mess of me, the work table, and whatever else happened to be in the line of fire...weeeee!!!

And now, right when I was in the middle of having some work getting under way, noah meanders in an' tells me we have to go to lowes RIGHT NOW - or else the earth will cave in, time will stop, and certain parts for the well house and pump ABSOLUTELY have get bought NOW~~~ And he did a fine job of totally derailing my train of thot...#$%^& - an' here he comes in again....grrrr......

So -

I'm Gone.................

Lady of The Tulips

"Untitled" - 2010 Spring Bay Studio

One of the pieces that I'd mentioned last week..been playing with the background and finally when it looked like what I wanted, then I got the fish and other pieces dug out of the file folder - There was some deciding on whether or not to add some elements to the bottom, but for now, it seems ok to me as it is - I may add something over the texture, but for now this be it.

I've got another larger piece that's not quite like my other canvases - well, wait - it's sorta-kinda-like some work I did not too long ago..somewhere during last winter I think. I had started in one direction, but as the texture on it started to change shape, then it took on a life of it's own. And even The Husband liked it - so that's quite a thing for me!!

I've got to order some new canvases, as the last ones that I bought at that "Mart" place were really a nightmare to work with. I have no idea of what kind of material they were manufactured out of, but they were quite the box of rocks, let me tell you. I fought with those things an' very nearly threw them away. But with lots and lots of gesso added, they finally got used. Nearly wore me slam out, but I made it!! I need a couple paks of things, so on payday Tom may be somewhat suprised to see what I'm ordering. He'll get over it..that's what he always says to me when I get all a-tither over something.."You'll get over it..." - makes me feel like a dump truck just ran over me..but that's a whole other story...

So I'm getting some papers added to a canvas on the work table right now...the color's are not anything I remember using before, so it's quite bright - No, I'm not going to give you any clues as to what they are..just something different..NO! ~ No purple or orange, so there!! ~ You jus' gotta wait!! ~ Tee Hee ~ !!!! ~

So, while it's still cool (we finally had rain last night & this morning..much much better w/temps @75Degrees!!) I'm going to get some work done, so it'll be dry in a New York Minute ~ !! ~ Whooo..............


Lady of The Tulips

Ok -

So, Here's what NOT to do when running the dishwasher in the kitchen...

See, Noah tries to "save" money by using regular dish liquid in the little dispenser portion in the door of the dishwasher...figures that it saves some $$, an' in his words, "Works jus' fine, it's ok.."

Well, here is a picture that shows what happens when Le Ma tries to do the same thing...uhhhmmm...

I guess what Noah does is something entirely different than what I did, when I wa trying to use dish liquid instead of DISHWASHER liquid in the dispenser ditty in the door...I thot jus' a tad bit would get the dishes ever so clean, an' everybody would say, Oh, aren't you wonderful for doing such a nice job..

Ha!

Well, I did a nice job of making a MESS - what for me was jus' a little tad was way WAY too much for the machine to handle - an' the results went on like this for some time...What Noah neglected to tell me, was that he just sprinkles a little bit of dish washing liquid sorta over an' around the dishes, then starts the machine up.

See...he sorta/kinda/never did tell me that...'course 'till way after all this charming mess happened...

But let me tell you how clean that kitchen floor was ~ !! ~ Whoo - Boy-Howdy!!! That sucker couldn't stand itself, let me tell you.

But I'm going to stick with the CORRECT liquid for the machine from now on, you can totally believe that.

I had planned on showing the 2 new canvases I finished just this week, but Noah hauled off an' took the batteries out of the camera, an' put 'em to use in the remote mouse for the computer..an' naturally didn't tell me BEFORE I'd gotten my canvases all set up to take pictures of out in the dining room..it kinda freaked me out, 'cause I'd gotten the stuff all ready, got the light just right in the room, an' when I went to puch the "On" button on the camera....

Absolutely nothing happened.

So, being the mechanically inclined person that I am, I pushed the button again...

And absolutely nothing happened - AGAIN -

Tha's when it hit me, that the batteries were off doing their thing in another space and time, an' here I was waiting for my ship to come in..or something like that.

So tomorrow when I gotta run errands an' do my waiting for the 1 "Customer Service" person at our bank ( bad enuf you gotta wait for one lousy person to help ya out, an' then adding insult to injury, the woman is one of the most arrogant, demeaning people I've had to do business with for a long, long time. Maybe she's changed banks, an' I won't have to see her ~ ! ~ ) - I can't use the tellers at the windows, or use the drive-in part...I gotta go inside, an' wait for this one person to help me out.

Ever so Convienent ~ !! ~ or however tha's spelled...

So - anyway, tha's what's gonna happen tomorrow..OH ~ !! ~

I nearly forgot - Whoo - Noah got a part time job down Ocean Highway, working at a warehouse - I'm not sure how many days it's gonna be, but at least it's SOMETHING ~ !! ~ An' he seemed pretty jazzed about it - Unfortunately the weather is going to be another scorcher today, so I hope they have lots and lots of fans inside the building - most warehouses don't have air conditioning inside, so it's always scary to think of how hot it get's in them. But noah's been working in the heat all week, an' doesn't seem to mind it..

Where I jus' about fall over an' make a puddle of myself...

So - I gotta run an' check some papers - It's so nice now inside...jus' started up the air conditioning...shweeooooo - whatta difference. 11:00 in the morning, an' it's already 90 Degrees.an' no, I'm too chicken to see how high the humidity is ~ !! ~ Tee Hee......

I'm Gone -

Lady of The Tulips