Christmas Sign Party

The first week in December, a creative neighborhood event was held on our street.

~ THE REASON ~

A good portion of the streets in our 55+ community pick a Christmas theme for their street, and agree on an item that they will all purchase to decorate their yards. Of course, yards can be decorated with unrelated items as well or no decorations at all if someone chooses to do so. 

Our street (nine homes) was without a theme because folks (like us) had been slowly moving in over the last year.  The street is full now (or as full as it's going to be for awhile yet) so it was time to pick a theme.  

We opted for a snowman theme and decided that they didn't have to match.  We could buy whatever snowman tickled our fancy!  Turned out, some of our street's frosty folks did match and that was quite alright. No stiff rules here!

~ THE IDEA ~

Sandra, the fun neighbor across the street, came up with the idea to create a sign for the street.  It would have our names on it and be similar to the whimsical & colorful wooden signs often seen on tourist islands with arrows pointing in various directions.  In this case, however, each of our arrows would point toward our home.  

~ THE PROJECT ~

Hubby Geo and Dennis from across the street cut boards into various sizes with different style arrows on the ends. 

After the boards were cut and distributed, we all had a few days to prep them.  Once prepped, a pizza and painting party was held in the street where we all painted our names on our boards--last names on one side and first names on the other.  A board was also painted that dubbed our street Snowman Way.  

It was a good time and 

everyone did a fantastic job!

Dennis also created the pole for the signs.  He painted it, added red stripes as well as stability at the bottom.  

He did a mighty fine job too!  

Excellent in fact!

~ THE COMPLETED SIGN ~

Several views.

As you'd expect, the sign is now hibernating until next year.  

And by the way,

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL!

May your year be 

filled with an

Abundance of Love, Joy, and 

Peace that surpasses all understanding!

See you soon.

Smiles,

Donna

Happy Potters

You may recall (or not) that my last post was 5-1/2 months ago but life happens and it's easy to get sidetracked!  Just dangle something that shimmers and shines in front of me and I'm off!  😁  

I really enjoy blogging though so I'm going to try my very best to post regularly on this blog (or my other one, Smiles For Many Miles,) at least every week or two in the future.  

~ A Pottery Class ~

Our new home is located in a 55+ community that offers a huge amount of events and activities.  Pottery is offered so Hubby Geo and I signed up to take it.  There was a waiting list but after about six months, we were happy to finally get the call.  

To start, we had to commit to a three-week, morning class, twice a week to learn the basics of pottery making, as well as where supplies are located, where in-progress pieces are stored, and the like.  

Once the class ends, we're on our own to come and go as we please, and make anything our little hearts desire, but only on Mondays and/or Thursdays as those are the days when the room is reserved for the Happy Potter's group.  Yes, that's our name! 

~ Happy Potters' Pottery Class ~

Day 1:  

The project was about 

pinching clay to create a Pinch Pot

 (no pics yet)

Day 2:  

We made a bowl.

Bowl-making George.

My attempt at it.

Day 3:  

We made a plate 

(no pics yet)  

Day 4:  

We started on a vessel.  

It is, by far, my favorite project 

although it is the most challenging! 

There were six students and we're working on our vessels. 

The vessel class ended up requiring that we return in the afternoon and on the following morning.  Unfortunately, we had to miss class the next day due to an unplanned vet trip as one of our sweet canine owners was not feeling well.  

~ The Solo Duo ~

This coming Monday, Geo and I will make up the vessel class that we missed.  Normally, we would have an instructor there to help us out but our three instructors and some of the other Happy Potters (16 total) are attending the 30th Annual Texas Clay Festival this weekend in the historic district of Greune, Texas.  Good for them!  It sounds like a fun time, and might be an event we'd want to attend in the future.  As a bonus, Greune is a super cool and small Texas town.  They will undoubtedly have a grand time! 

With everyone gone, that means we'll be on our own on Monday...

alone...

all by ourselves, 

unsupervised, 

unaccompanied, 

unguarded, 

uncontrolled, 

undisciplined, 

uncertain, 

unbeknownst, 

possibly unhinged 

and 

hopefully uncut!  

I'm sure many other "uns" would apply as well. In fact, there could be more in this very blog post. Consider yourself warned!

So Geo and I will be a solo duo, and there's no telling what kind of a clay frenzy we could get into!  Ah, but clay frenzies are merely a normal part of life.  

Aren't they?  

No, wait!  

Perhaps I'm thinking of 

Play-Doh!  

Yeah, that's it!  

So never mind.

~ The Last Classes~

We have one more project class next week, not counting this upcoming, unpredictable Monday.  (Whoops, I warned you there might be more.)  After that, our final class (at least I think it's the final one) isn't until November 14th!  That's when we'll learn glazing and I'm guessing we'll glaze all of our pieces at that time.  I'll be curious to see the end results!  

Even though the learning part of the class will be over, we're supposed to take a couple of field trips--one to a pottery supplier and the other to learn Raku, a process where pieces are taken from the red hot kiln and thrown into organic materials that will catch fire like sawdust and newspaper.  Our instructors mentioned they use horse hair.  It should be interesting!  

~  Funky Pottery Ahead?  ~

Maybe so.  

I do not think that pottery making is a craft that I will heavily pursue (I still adore fabric & paint), however, I think I would enjoy making funky pieces like the one below.

I don't know whose it is but it's not from our class.  It was sitting on a shelf behind me and I love it!   

In the past, I have seen some pretty cool, funky pieces on display in the hallway display window, and loved every one of them!  I may just have to give funky a whirl every now and then.  Wonky & catawampus are right up my alley!  No rules baby!  Well... not too many anyway.

Tootles Y'all!

Donna

Project Thread Holders

As we pulled the studio's new digs together, I realized that there wouldn't be room for the long thread holder that I'd been using for a great many years.  That's when handy dandy hubby Geo put on his cape (which looks exactly like a tool belt) and came to the rescue. He cut it into two unequal but appropriate sizes for specific locations on the new wall.  

The original spool holder in it's previous home.
above, left.

The thread holders needed something more though--some personality, pizzazz, oomph--if you will! And it needed to be a quick and easy fix with something already on hand.  

The logical choice:  

a fabric backing  

The smaller spool holder is 

ready for the fabric backing. 

Doesn't that fabric 

look sort of outer spacey?

In getting rid of so much stuff when we moved, we didn't have a staple gun so Geo made a quick run to Home Depot.

He returned with this cool gadget!

It's perfect for the studio.

Compact and cute!  

Now I'm packing!

Let the quickest StapleFest 

in the wild wild west begin!

Pull it taut...

...and pull the trigger!

Repeatedly.

Once secure, hubby trimmed the  

fabric from the corners to reveal 

the screw holes so it could be hung. 

And we were finished in no time.

The longest one ready to hang!

Now the thread holders are all 

cozy and hung in their places with

visions of thread all over their faces.

What?  

You didn't know thread holders 

have those kind of thoughts, 

did you?

Me neither.

The locations allow for easy access 

because I mainly use the 

sewing machine closest to them.

When we moved, I got rid of almost all of the thread that was on the long thread holder in the first photo.

The only threads to make the cut were metallic threads which have been added to the bottom of the longest thread holder, along with a couple other non-thread items.  

I also have two containers of embroidery threads which were acquired before we moved. They made the cut too because I use them for almost everything.  I love 'em!  No rules here.  I use what I like.  

The small thread holder is 

a rather Lonely Lady though. 

 For now.

I wonder what she is thinking?

Perhaps:

Fill me up, 

fill me up, 

buttercup, 

don't break my heart!

That's an oldie.

Do you remember it?

In any event, I'm sure Lonely Lady will host some threads in the future as well as her longer, metallic wearing friend, Shiny Sheila.  

You didn't know that 

thread holders had names either, 

did you?

Me neither.

Tootles,

Donna

New House, New Studio

After 15 months of RV living while waiting for our house to be built, we are FINALLY moved in!  Yay!  Closing day was January 27th, and we started moving the second the papers were signed. 

At this writing, I can say that we are finally feeling comfy and cozy in our new digs.  It has been a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race kind of a process from buying the lot until now.  Every day that we inched closer to being settled brought another sigh of relief.  I can't help but wonder if our sighs could be heard for miles around like the whisper of a distant wind.  

Fred, do you hear that whispering wind? 

Yes Blanch, but it's just the Kellers.  There's nothing to be concerned about. 

My new creative space is about half the size of my previous workspace, if not smaller, and I'm in love with it!  I am looking forward to starting projects as soon as a few other things are in order but it won't be long.  

The New Studio

Starting out, the walls were a very light tan, almost white. For a color-loving gal, tan does not do the job.  Being anxious to get settled, I didn't want to delve into a big painting project so we opted to paint one wall pink.  When I say "we," I mean that I opted, and hubby Geo painted.  He's an awesome fella!  

Actually, he told me it would be faster for him to paint rather than both of us.  He's good at it and it means only one set of brushes and rollers to clean up.  

Well, if you insist!  

After all, there were plenty of other things for me to do... like take pictures!  

Both of us painted the 

fat-quarter shelves yellow. 

As I pulled the fat quarters out of the tub and began to sort and organize them, I found great joy in being reunited with each and every one of them.  It was fun!

Pulling the room together, 

I kept the following quote in mind:

"A place for everything

 and everything in its place!"

My aunt helpfully conveyed those words of wisdom to me when I was a teen.  I never forgot them, and the older I get, the more I adhere to them.  

Of course, in this case, things only stay in place until a project is started. Everything goes awry after that!

The Finished Studio

Come on in!

This is the sewing corner...

...and here's the 

painting & mixed media corner.

The entire sewing & painting 

side of the room.

The computer and other furniture 

sits across from the sewing & painting areas.

I'm very thankful for this room. 

God is so good! 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It appears that our sweet 

canine kiddos are departing. 

Chewy (front), Elmer (back)

I guess that's my queue to finish up as well.

Have a blessed and beautiful evening.

Be back soon.

Tootles Y'all,

Donna

Beautiful Word, Jan. 9th - 12th

Time for another Beautiful Word Devotion post. My two pages are certainly not as beautiful as the Word.  Not even close.  Oh, but nothing is as beautiful as the Word, is it?

So this is what snowmen 

do when we're not looking!

Both pages

It appears he's having a good time!

My page

As you can see this one has a major bleed through on the left from my page above.  Yikes!

Both pages

La-la-la-la!

Sing in your heart 

or sing out loud 

but just sing!

My page
Fabric, a sticker and watercolor brush markers.

As I do these pages, a variety of art mediums and ideas that I'd like to use come to mind.  I look forward to trying them out... eventually.  

Have a most delightful day folks!

Tootles All,

Donna

TBWD ~ January 5th - 8th

Here's the next four days of journaling in The Beautiful Word Devotional.

These first two pages are 

the final pages from my 

2019 Six-Day Journaling Marathon 

mentioned in my last post. 

Marathon?

(😂) 

You may notice on the left, the red ink 

that bled through from the previous page.

On these last two pages, you can see 

that the outline around the heart above

bled through onto the left page below.

I'm calling it The Mighty Bleed Through of 2019.

I seek to eliminate bleed throughs in the future.

The right side is my 

First Official 2022 Journaling page.

As you can clearly see, 

this endeavor is not about perfection! 

LOL

I started out messing up which created various ugly issues. After some thought, I decided to cut a piece of paper, journal on it, and then glue it over the unsightly mess with Modge Podge. It's still not what I'd prefer but it's done and I had fun.

So what is it about, you ask?

It's about:

Reading and absorbing the devotions. 

Letting go of trying to create perfect pages.

Challenging myself.

Completing each page in a reasonable amount of time. 

Learning new things and

growing in the familiar ones.

Using many types of media, such as 

colored pencils and other markers, 

stencils, watercolors and other paints, 

paper collage, 

fabric, yarn and other fibers 

and anything else that strikes my fancy.

And last but not least...

It's about having fun!

I will have access to all of my art supplies when we get into the house. They're currently in storage. I got rid of a lot but kept a lot. I can't even remember what all I have so opening them will be like Christmas. I'm certainly looking forward to it!  

That's my post for today.

Tootles Y'all,

Donna

P.S. I just updated my other blog, Smiles For Many Miles, with the latest house info if anyone is interested.