a giveaway announcement and a new orchid

there's a new orchid in the house~!~ 

 

 

 isn't is beautiful? it's an oncidium "twinkle fragrance fantasy". whenever i get a new orchid i wonder if i will be able to keep it growing, and even better, get it to re bloom. i have failed more times than i have succeeded but my phalaenopsis (moth orchid) is just now beginning to present a stem with a few buds so apparently i continue to succeed with that one.

 

 

 

 i decided to use a crop from the above photo for the Photo Art Friday challenge over at Pixel Dust Photo Art where the optional theme/challenge this week is to share a piece of photo art based on any of these words: connected/connecting/connection.

Bonnie has once again freely offered up one of her beautiful textures for those participating. this one is called "Scratched Lens Texture" and i thought that it was very pretty. 

Scratched Lens Texture

Oncidium Photo Crop

 

Photo Art Friday
connected challenge

i cannot remember exactly what i did with the various blending modes but i am happy with the final image.

it feels good for me to be 'connecting' with the PAF group once again.
:-)
maybe you would like to see some of the other submissions to this weeks' challenge? there are many talented artists submitting to the theme and it's well worth a few minutes of your time if you are interested in photography and/or the image artwork created from it.

february's postcard for the wonderful daughter has been received and so i'm once again sharing those results.


there is a small pocket made of a torn bit of wax paper stitched onto this card. the pocket holds a tiny metal key charm, dried lavender buds, a piece of sheet music with a small red heart shaped bead stitched onto it and a tiny fabric/paper tag. the tag has been embroidered and written on (both sides) and is attached to the postcard by way of that small pink triangular button and some pastel thread.

i've been working on my little 'Abundance' doll quilt and although i don't have any 'master' quilting plan in place it seems that i've been able to come up with a  design for each area as i get to it. i like the look of the playful childishness of this approach and it's all coming together nicely. 
i hope that you were able to see some of the other cute doll quilts made from this most recent quilt-along at Lori's Humble Quilts blog.

Cathy at Big Lake Quilter is hosting a generous give-away of a book by the Country Threads team called "Dear Emma". i love the look of all things Country Threads and if you do as well you might consider hopping over to Cathy's for a chance to win yourself. 

 

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

painting done by Torrie Smiley
 

• restful nights in a bed that i feel comfortable in
• word from Honduras that the wonderful daughter's host parents are doing well
• the joy and appreciation that i feel for my capable hands while i stitch or hold a pencil or pet the dog . . .

Abundance quilt-along linky party

is it just me or does this shot make you want to weep with happiness too?!

okay, maybe it's the drugs . . .

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.
Henry David Thoreau

 

my big rex begonia is beginning it's annual flowering event. every year in early february it blooms and blooms and blooms. by the 14th (valentines day) the floor underneath of it is constantly filling with these tiny petals of pink confetti. it's messy but i LOVE it~!!~

i'm a little late joining in but here's my little Abundance quilt-along flimsy in it's entirety.

 

 

i like having most of my doll quilts finish up in a rectangular shape rather than a square . . . i guess it seems more like it's going to fit some sweet small dolly bed that way. . .   

anyway, i went a bit renegade (;-O) and added a border onto the top and the bottom of mine to get that preferred shape. it just so happened that i had a chunk of that (green with larger red flowers) fabric left on the table after getting all the rest of it  pieced and as it also happened to be exactly the same length as i needed i took that as a sign and simply cut it in half horizontally to get one piece for the top and one piece for the bottom. easy peasy and all done~!

it currently measures 16.75 x 12.5 inches.

 

this is the backing that i stitched together for it.

i used pieces left over from making the front to piece it together as well. none of them had to be adjusted in width and only one had to be trimmed in length.

 

 

the quilting will soon commence.

 

this was a really quick and a really fun little quilt-along hosted by Lori at Humble Quilts. if you've not had the pleasure of visiting her blog before i highly recommend that you do so. she's delightful in every way and a very active and talented quilter. if you have an interest in quilting you won't be disappointed.

 

today i'm linking up to the dolly quilt-along linky party there. there's bound to be many other sweet little "Abundance" quilts for you to admire should you decide to take a peek. i know that i can hardly wait to see what other interpretations have been created~!

 

 

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

• feeling the love from all who have helped to care for me as i recover from my hip replacement surgery
•  a gap between snowstorms as i travelled home
• plenty of time to take all of the long sleepy naps that i need as my body heals
• being 'greeted' by so many sweet comments on my blog ~ thank you~!!~ 

 

 

~!?~Really~?!~

 

a groundhog gets to decide~!?!~

Did the groundhog see his shadow on Saturday?
Punxsutawney Phil  announced, on Twitter no less(!), that he did not see his shadow on Gobbler's Knob on Groundhog Day, February 2, 2013.
so, if a prognosticating groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil is to be believed, it looks like spring will come early this year.

okay, i'm not complaining about spring coming early, that's all good. in fact, that's very good and i don't have a problem with groundhogs in general, but are we really going to let a groundhog decide how much more winter we have?




this is my Abundance quilt top after i added the step 2 pieces.

i did decide to add some borders to mine (top and bottom) but i'll show you that another time.

i'm sure that Lori (Humble Quilts). is going to have a linky party very soon and you will be able to see many of these cute little doll quilts~!





this is the wonderful daughter's january postcard. i used an old calendar card, a couple of small pieces of that bunny fabric that i love, a canceled norwegian postage stamp, a leftover piece of colorful fiber art that i created for some other project, pieces from a color catcher that i thought looked sort of leather(ish), a small snip from the scrap basket and a tiny piece of sage colored linen. of course i also added some spontaneous and quick embroidery stitches and to finish it off i bound it with a cotton linen look fabric.
the wonderful husband thought that this was not my best card but i think it's one of my favorites (maybe it's that cute bunny fabric) . . . what do you think?

while i'm on the subject of the wonderful daughter (i was, wasn't i?) i will show you a shot of my newest "grandpets".

yep, i'm now the proud grandmother of two baby/juvenile rats.
the black and white one has been named Norbert and the light tan one is SirEd.
 OOPS. CORRECTION.
 the black and white one has been named FurEd and the light tan one is Norbert. i've met them and although still a bit on the shy side they were quite sweet little fellows.
i hope to get more photos of them to share as time goes on.
btw: are you okay with pet rats?





recent gifts include:

• feeling the warm sun shine on my skin
• flowering houseplants bringing me smiles
• the loud honking of the geese as they flew low over the house this morning

i will be much slower in my responses for the next few weeks but you should know that i appreciate every comment and visit that you make.