WooHoo, we got rain!

Can you believe it! We got one whole inch of rain last night. I got so excited because it was the first measurable amount of rain we have received since last September. I took a picture of the rain pouring out of the gutters and the downspouts! LOL Crazy huh! I felt like dancing in the rain!!! The rain dropped the temperature from 103 down to about 91 which felt pretty cool actually.
Today the temperature only got up to 92 degrees, which felt pretty good to me. We are supposed to have a few days like this, then back to the normal high 90's for a few days. September is here, so we should start cooling off...I hope.

My DH and I just sat out on the patio and watched the rain come down for about one hour. It was so nice. The electricity went off all over our little town for about 2 hours, but we didn't mind. We just sat outside on the patio and watched the fireflies in the yard.

Things in the Mail

Look what I got in the mail this week. Isn't she beautiful. This goddess doll came from Brenda Arnold, an online friend. She did lots of handwork on this what she called "stump doll". The fabric is gorgeous and the embroidery is wonderful. The little face is embroidered as well. The hair is a very silky yarn and the star hair ornament looks like mother of pearl. Thank you Brenda! I just love her. Look at the detail of the bottom of the doll. Isn't it wonderful!

Brenda said some of the work was done by machine and the arms are a wire armature so they would hold up. She put weight in the bottom so she stands up very well. Very nice.

Brenda's Flickr site is http://www.flickr.com/photos/20091875@N00/ so check it out to see what else she is doing.

Below is a pc I got in the mail from Bea up at Dog in the Hole Studio in WI. I love the colors and when I received this pc I knew I could learn a lot from how it was made. Thanks Bea! Check out her blog at http://dog-in-the-hole-studio.blogspot.com/ to see what else Bea is up to these days.

This colorful pc below is from Susan and I love it as well. She used angelina fibers in making the hearts and the fabric is some she hand dyed herself. Very nice. Thank you so much Susan. I love it. Susan's blog is http://www.wheniamlaughing.blogspot.com/

Now that I know how to make pc's I will be sending out more of them. As you can see they are small works of art. I will try to post a tutorial when I make one so you can make one too, so keep watching my posts.

Angels Trumpet

I can hardly believe with the bad drought we are in that I have something blooming. My angels trumpet bloomed today, with 5 blooms! They are gorgeous, but I'm not sure how long they will last with this heat we are having. A cloud did come over and we got about 20 drops of rain. I don't think that will help. Lots of neighboring towns are on watering restrictions now, but so far we are not. We are hoping that a tropical depression comes our way. We need it badly! Everything is drying up with this 100 plus heat and wind. But, there is still beauty if you look hard. Maybe my Angels Trumpet is telling me something.

Face Cabachon -- Goddess Doll

This is how I make a polymer clay face cabochon. I learned this way from stone brash creative dot com. Sometimes I also add acrylic eyes. But this tute will show you with clay eyes only. Stonebrashcreative.com is a great website. They make beautiful jewelry and more. So go check them out.

I start out with a round ball of clay and put it on a piece of tile to keep it cool. I flatten the ball of clay out a bit. It is more of an oval shape actually, like a face.

Then I make indention for the eyes. I make a rope for the bridge of the nose and 2 small round balls for the nostrils. Then blend those in.
Make 2 round balls for the eyes. Make a round ball for the eye lids and then flatten it out and cut it in half. Place each half over the eyes and blend in only the top part of the eyelid. Make a triangle shape for the upper lid of the mouth and a smaller barrel shape for the bottom lip and place those at the mouth area. Shape the mouth like you want. Blend in all parts of the clay. Add more clay to the cheeks and chin area and blend well.

Keep blending until you get the face you want and add clay where you want it till you are happy with the outcome. Bake as directed, usually at 275 degrees for every 1/4 inch of clay. NOTE: I also put a hole on each side of the face so I could sew it onto a fabric doll body if I wanted to...before baking. I will also glue it down to the fabric body with E6000 glue.

I painted the face with acrylic paints and then glued and sewed it onto a stuffed fabric (goddess doll)body shape.

The fabric is my own hand dyed fabric. I then added some embellishments to the body... recycled sari fabric for the hair and couched on sari fabric for the spiral. Also the front top piece is an old earring that I glued on with E6000 glue. At the bottom of the doll I sewed on some beads from a broken necklace I once had. Lastly I also sprayed her face with an acrylic sealer.

She is 8 1/2 inches tall.

That's it.

Sunday Citar

Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.---Rumi

My 6 Words for Today

Can You Describe Your Life Today in just 6 Words???

"I zigged when I should've zagged!!!!"

How about you, what are your 6 words????

Wishing you peace whatever your life is like today......

Yvonne

Art Doll Coolaberation Doll #2

This is the journal for doll #2 for the Art Doll Coolaberation Project that I'm in. It was made by Robyn in California and is an accordion type journal. It went to Susan in WI who unfortunately had to drop out of the project due to personal reasons. I will be the first to work in Robyn's journal. You can see what her doll looked like originally when it left California.

When Robyn's doll got to WI Susan just had time to add this great hair and the flowers arounds her face. She does a great job and we hated to lose her as a player. But now it is up to me to add something before this doll goes on. And, by the way this doll came to me with no name.

Robyn gave us a quiz... and to make a long story short... I guessed the answers. "Camille" was the answer to one of the quiz questons. I ask Robyn if I could name her doll Camille, which is a French name, and she said YES, so Camille it is!!!

Now can YOU guess the name of the movie we had to guess???? It was made in 1942, starring Betty Davis, and the famous last line, which we had to guess also, was partly, "...we have the stars!!" Another actor was Paul Heinreid.

So, meet Camille everyone!!!!!

Now I'm just waiting for her to tell me what she wants next!

Bleach Discharged Art Quilts

These are three of Miss Shirleys Bleach Discharged pieces. See likes to do petroglyph designs from Hueco Tanks here in Texas. She turns them into small art quilts, adding quilting and beading etc.
See the previous post to see how it's done.

Bleach Discharging Fabric Day

A few of us got together at Shirley's Studio and did some Bleach Discharging today. Here are some photos of what we did. The first one above is Joyce who created some wonderful designs to try out.

Below is Ann... happy with one of her pieces... after rinsing the fabric in clear water and then in vinegar water to stop the bleaching action. Can you see the rabbit design on the fabric? Well, scroll on down and you can see how it was done.

Start out with black fabric...the cheaper the better, 100% cotton. Make a freezer paper design and iron it onto the fabric. We hung our fabric on a clothes line in the garage so we would have good ventilation and also to prevent the bleach from pooling. Ann also has another design as you can see here below. She used black fabric for one and blue for another. You can use anything really, but it's a good idea to do a test swatch first to see how it will bleach out.

Now, this photo below shows Joan, who is wearing a mask to protect herself from the bleach vapors, in front of her designs.

Every one's fabric bleached out differently, some to a rose color, some to a tan color and others to more yellow/orange. You can leave the bleach on as long as you wish, to get the result you wish. We sprayed the bleach water mixture onto the fabric with spray bottles using a mix of about 3 to 1.

Below is one of Shirley's designs. Very nice, isn't it.

Next post I will show you some finished pieces that Shirley has done!!!

Goddess Doll

This doll is one I made from the book I won recently called Art Doll Adventures. The fabric is my own hand dyed fabric.I painted her face with acrylic paint and then used sari yarn for the hair. I embellished her with a shell necklace, a feather earring and she is holding a faux crystal from a chandelier. Her arms are clothes hanger wire that is wrapped in black nubby yarn. Close up of her face.

Colorado

My trip to Colorado was wonderful! I visited Colorado Springs and surrounding areas...Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods and of course the Royal Gorge. My friend Jackie and I had a great time and her family is very nice and made me feel right at home.

I have tons of photos but just showing a few here...

This is our hosts back hillside garden/yard in Colorado Springs. They have all kinds of herbs, flowers and plants with pathways in between. There are sitting areas here and there for relaxation, which really adds to the ambience of the garden. It is landscaped beautifully, and this photo is only a very small part of it.

One day we went to a Farmers Market. The smell was out of this world. I could smell all kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. One vendor had beautiful plants for sale. I wish I could've brought some home with me. I also saw cantaloupes bigger than I had ever seen before. Fresh pastries were popular that morning too. Another vendor had goat cheese and goats milk soap. There were all kinds of things and I did come home with a few pleasures.

Another vendor was roasting peppers. It smelled soooo gooood!

Had to throw in this picture of me sitting in a chair at the Royal Gorge. This is on the other side after I rode the aerial tram (world's longest single span aerial tram by the way). Then I walked back across the bridge over the Royal Gorge which is the world's highest suspension bridge.

One evening we visited a couple who had gooseberries growing in their backyard!!! I had never eaten a gooseberry. Isn't it pretty and it taste good too! We had a wonderful dinner that night along wiht a great view of the mountains.

I hope to visit Colorado again one day!!!

Gatherings

Well, I just returned from Colorado and found out about a great giveaway at Pat Winters Gatherings blog. It is a wonderful blog about crazy quilts, beach combing and much more. You will love it as much as I did. Go to http://gatherings100.blogspot.com/2009/08/time-for-small-giveaway.html to find out about the give away!!!! It's a beautiful bird nest pendant with blue robin eggs...gorgeous!!

Our Prayer Labyrinth

Today was Labyrinth Day at the Church! We had a group of kids come down from Austin and some from Kingsville, who volunteered their time (and a few adults too) to come help build a labyrinth. They are also helping build an awning at our clinic. Awesome isn't it!!!
Last fall I had an idea to build a labyrinth as part of our centennial celebration which starts in 2010. We got the rock donated, the rock was hauled by Gene Hickey, Mike McConnell has put in time helping a lot and then we got the labor from the kids and their parents. We also have had members step up and donate food to feed the kids and donate bottled water and more. It's just been great!  We don't have many members in our church, only about 8 active members, so it was truly a blessing when these people came to help us.

This first photo is of me and my friend Michael. 

First we had to figure out which design we wanted to create.

We layed out the design of the labyrinth with a stick and rope,

making it quite easy.

Then the rock was delivered and the work began.

They dug a shallow ditch to put the limestone rocks in so they would be stable. The paths are 2 ft. wide and it measures 36 ft. in diameter. It is on church grounds partly under shade trees and we will have a picnic table and 2 benches around it for people to enjoy too.

This is Pastor Cindy Layton, the first to walk our labyrinth. We hope there will be many more to walk it. We are planning a dedication later on when we get a sign to tell people all about it and how to use it as a prayer tool.

Yvonne

Comanche Cliffs

I enjoyed my visit to the hill country this weekend. It was primarily for my nieces wedding shower. She is getting married in September to a very nice guy and I am very happy for them.

It was quite a bit cooler up there, compared to here at home. The purple sage was in bloom. Some say that is a sign of rain to come within 72 hours.
I did take some time to go down to the creek at Comanche Cliffs and take a couple of photos. The lake is down but there is still some water in the creek and river. I saw Drummond Phlox growing all along the creek beds. It is a very pretty little flower.

This is looking down the river and you can see the cliffs in this photo. It was very nice just hearing the sound of the water flowing down the river through the rocks.