The Art of Picture Taking in an RV

You may have noticed (or not) that I haven't posted in ages.  Well, it's high time for a post!  I sewed up more quilted & cuffed sunglass cases awhile back so I thought I'd share them.

Finding places to take good pics 

in an RV can be quite a challenge. 

In fact, it’s a delicate art that 

I have NOT mastered  

but I gave it a whirl. 

I named these pics...

just because I could.

Dumbo

Topsy Turvy

Why The Long Face?

Bad Hair Day Disguise

Cover One Eye and

Read the Bottom Line:

d  o  n  n  a  i  s  a  n  i  d  i  o  t

Half a Nitwit!

Not saying which half.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

See! 

Not good pics!

Surely, I can do better.

Here goes: 

The coffee can group view. 

Three at a time.

Three more at a time.

All six hanging out together!

For the background on this 

second set of photos, the 

watercolor paper and dish towel

method was used. 

It was combined with the

under the light, 

on top of the stove 

method.  

I am quite certain that these  

methods are extremely popular. 

Somewhere. 

Perhaps in a country with lots of 

watercolor paper, dish towels, 

a stove with a good light, 

and 

a wack-o-doodle photographer.

See you soon.

Tootles Y'all,

D~~~~

Delighted to Be Sewing!

It’s been awhile since I took to stitching. I’ve got several pair of sunglasses that need cases so  it wasn’t hard to figure out  what to make. I’ve only made one so far but I’m very happy with it.

I love the colors!

It’s perfect for the pink, 

polka-dotted sunglasses.

I apologize for the not-so-good photos. 

One of  these days, I’ll tackle 

learning how to improve them…

but not today! 

😁

Tootles For Now!

D~~~~

A Sunshiny Mug & Weather

In my last post on July 17th, I showed the mug below that we purchased in Gatlinburg, TN at Alewine Pottery. It was acquired in lieu of the sold out blue and yellow mug that my heart was set on. 

I love the sentiment!

I find that, no matter what, there's always 

something to be grateful for.

How about you?

After getting back from G'burg, an e-mail from Alewine notified me about some brand, spankin' new mugs.

And there it was...

the blue & yellow beauty that I'd been seeking. 

I ordered it and here it is!

You are my sunshine! 

It causes me to hear John Denver singing, 

"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy!" 

It sure does.

I am truly a very happy camper!

🌞 🌞 🌞 🌞 🌞

Speaking of sunshine, it's a beautiful, sunny day here in North Texas with temps hovering around 88. Very late in the afternoon too! Highly unusual but delightfully received by this blogger even if it is accompanied by higher humidity than is ideal. I'll take it and I suspect there's lots of other Texans that would agree.

It appears that our usual near and above 100 degree temps have been highjacked by the northern U.S. Perhaps "highjacked" isn't the best word. I'm sure it's more like "loaned out." While my heart goes out to all those up north experiencing the dreadful weather change, I can probably speak for a huge majority of Texas when I say, we don't mind if you want to borrow it every year! 😁 😁 😁

Tootles,

D~~~~

Gatlinburg Art Loop

We recently made another trip to one of our favorite spots. We love Tennessee, and especially the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains area.  You may already know that but I'll say it again just in case.

One event we enjoy when visiting the area is driving the eight mile, Great Smoky Mountains Arts & Crafts Loop. Below are three of my favorite places along the way.  (Two have been must stops for a few or more years now, and one is a new find.)

First up is the quaint art gallery of watercolor artist A.Jann Peitso. What a joy! Her art is whimsical and colorful! It puts a smile on my face every time.  I've been a fan of Jann's work since discovering her booth at the Gatlinburg Craftsman's Fair years ago. 

Jann publishes her own artwork so that the reproductions are readily available to collectors at reasonable prices. Nice!  She also teaches workshops. I definitely see one in my future! Hubby Geo says he may even take the workshop with me! I hope so. 

This visit, we purchased another one of her fun rooster pieces. Now we have three. I look forward to hanging them in our home when it's complete. 

A lovely view of an entrance 

into this particular area of shops.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Across the road and around the bend is 

Alewine Pottery. 

Another fave!

It's family owned with artisans 

spanning three generations. 

Last year, after purchasing this 

stylish Rebekah pitcher, 

I knew I wanted to collect a few 

more from Alewine Pottery.

Don't you just love that unique handle?

It's called a "high handle."

And that's a real leaf too!

I was captivated by the Rebekah pitcher for various reasons.  For one thing, it's very cool! 

Another reason is that my grandmother's name was Reba, and I thought Reba was short for Rebecca.  After doing a bit of family research, I'm not so sure Rebecca was her full name. Further investigation is required but Reba is short for Rebecca / Rebekah and that's close enough for me.  

Also, I wondered if the pitcher was named after Rebekah in the Bible.  Google says yes over and over. 

I also learned that the Rebekah pitcher had other styles of handles. This high handle is by far my favorite though!  Knowing the pitcher was named after Rebekah in the Bible made me even more curious! 

Who was she? 

What's her exact story? 

I was a little bit familiar with her but not enough so I went to 

Genesis 24. 

That's where her Bible story is told.  She's first seen after coming to a spring to fill her pitcher with water. That's the only time the pitcher is mentioned but her full story is quite interesting from her courage to go with a stranger to meet the man he says she's to marry all the way to her deceitfulness later in life.  It's a thought-provoking story! 

This website also provides info about her family, her character, her deception and more.

Anyhoo, I digressed but I was so captivated by this pitcher that I wanted to share my thoughts with you. If you choose to read about Rebekah, I hope you find her as interesting as I do.

Back to this trip--I planned on buying another Rebekah Pitcher but they didn't have any!  I saw one last year in a gorgeous blue and yellow and that's what I was after. It's my favorite combination of colors that Alewine offers. I'll try to nab one next time or put in an order for one. 

Since I couldn't get the Rebekah pitcher, I thought I'd get a blue and yellow mug but they were out of those too! It's a popular color combo.

I opted for this sweet mug instead.

Love the sentiment so much!

Gratefulness--you can't have too much of it!

Yesterday, I got an email from Alewine Pottery showing some new, freshly made mugs. The blue and yellow one that I have been eyeing was one of them! 

Yep, I ordered it.

I'll show it to you when it arrives.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Last but not least, we discovered another shop. 

It's called: 

Love Life Live Life. 

Great name!  

The very kind artist, Kimberly Bylo, 

creates Fused Glass Jewelry 

as well as other fun pieces of art. 

Not the best photo but I didn't
know how to get rid of the reflection.

When we arrived, Kimberly was working on a colorful shimmering necklace.  She was kind enough to tell us about her process and it sure seems like a fun craft!  Fusing the glass produces some very pretty results!

I was admiring the piece she was working on, so much so that hubby asked me if I wanted it. He didn't have to ask twice!  We ended up buying the necklace and matching earrings as well. He's awesome and I love them!

I also love supporting these wonderful artists! The Love Life Live Life shop will always be another stop I'll look forward to on the loop.

If you're ever in Gatlinburg, check out the art loop. There's lots of cool stuff there and creative inspiration too! 

 Tootles Y'all!

D~~~~

Catching Up

Jane the Janome, is back at home in her sewing table, and I have things in mind for her to do. 

I haven't blogged since August 2020, so besides sewing and blogging again, here's a quick update: 

We had a really loooong winter (for North Texas) with lots of wind, ice, and low temps of epic proportions. As a result, there was a lot of shivering and hibernation goin' on 'round here! 

We're living in our RV too. The pandemic caused us to re-think our plans for full-time RVing, and we decided that part-time would be better. 

We also opted to build a house. We put money on a lot in October 2020, and went thru the design process the last week of January. Due to record home sales (and other factors) throughout 2020 in the community where we are moving, the entire process is taking longer. Finally, a few weeks ago, we saw some action on our lot! Woo-hoo! 

The lot was cleared...

...and we have foundation forms! 

😄

From the back right corner.

From the back left side.

Unfortunately, we've also had 

a lot of RAIN since then! 

😞

Ho-hum. 

Yawn. 

So we anxiously wait... 

I’ve also been reading quite a bit. In fact, I'm reading more than I ever have in my life! My current read is this book...

Whisper 

by 

Mark Batterson 

He’s the Lead Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, and owns a coffee house a block or so from the Capitol. I’ve seen him on several Christian talk shows. He’s a very neat, insightful and interesting guy, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the book! 

That's about it for the moment dear friends. 

Be back soon. 

Tootles!

D~~~~