Junking Treasures

It's been awhile since I've posted

about my junking treasure hunts.

I go to estate sales,

garage sales,

flea markets

and thrift stores

when I can...

not as often as I used to,

but I still have fun with it!

I found these magazine holders

at a going out of business sale.

I got a lot of them for one dollar.

This is what they looked like

when I got them.

After I had them for awhile

I decided to do this to them...

They are turned around,

 (magazines are still in them),

painted black,

and stenciled with gold paint.

Looks pretty good on my book shelf.

My entry now has...

 this chair that I found at a flea market,

for one dollar,

AND

 the bamboo hat rack

 I found it at the thrift store

for 6 dollars.

I wear lots of hats,

and collect walking sticks,

so this was a good purchase.

I may redo them later on....

who knows. LOL

But my best find was....

an oval wooden table for 10 dollars.

(I forgot to take a before photo)

I had my DH cut it in half

and mount them to the wall in 2 rooms.

Now I have 2 half tables,

that I painted black,

costing me 5 dollars each.

This one above is in my dining area

covered with family photos.

The large basket under the table

and the smaller one on top of that

came from the thrift store too.

Large one for one dollar

and the small one was 50 cents.

Great storage.

Here is the other half of the table.

It is in my entry.

The painting above was done

by my daughter Amy.

The lamp was here in the house

when we bought it last year.

The metal cross was found outside on the patio

when we moved in.

The gourds in the basket

came from a local garden.

I could probably have another blog

about my junking adventures.

 I try to repurpose items,

save them from the landfill,

and make something useful out of things

that someone else didn't want.

It helps save the environment...

reduce, reuse, recycle!

You know how to do it!

So, that's another way that I...

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Full Moon Art Doll---April

The full moon is tonight,

so try to get out

and enjoy it's beauty.

The Native Americans name their full moons.

For April it can be ...

full pink,

full sprouting grass,

full egg

or full fish.

This is my

Full Fish Moon art doll 

for April. 

She is made from polymer clay,

with a brown sienna wash on her.

She stands about 7 inches tall

and is adorned with shells

from our local beach.

She is holding the full moon

and a jumping  fish.

Bea at Dog in the Hole Studio

is posting all the participants photos

in this Native American

Full Moon Project.

Some are doing fiber art pieces

and others are doing art dolls.

So go check it out sometime!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Creative Carmelina

Creative Carmelina

 is having a wonderful giveaway.

Please go visit her...she has 2 blogs BTW,

and enter to win her wonderful prize.

My blogoversary giveaway will be announced soon!

So, keep checking back with me!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Arbor Day Palms

Arbor Day in Texas is

 the last Friday in April.

Do you know when it is in your state?

If not, go here to find out.

My DH and I already planted several trees

in honor of Arbor Day this Friday.

This palm looks great in our backyard.

It is viewed from our patio

and will be near a future fence

we plan to build one day.

It is the kind of palm

 that grows about 10 ft. tall

and spreads about as wide,

with multiple trunks.

This one is now planted

 near the back corner

of the future fence.

It is a sago palm.

It is called a "palm",

but is actually a "cycad",

one of the oldest plants in the world.

It can live to be hundreds of years old.

We grouped the sago with 2 fan palms.

The fan palms will grow very tall.

I will eventually add many more plants in this area.

It is a sunny area,

away from the mesquite trees,

so hibiscus or oleander

 would do great.

I want something with flowers,

of course.

The area you see between the palms

and the patio is where

my labyrinth will be one day.

All of these palms were part of

our church Palm Sunday/Centennial celebration in March.

 They were being sold afterwards to

whoever wanted some.

 We purchased these 4,

as there were no other takers.

So, now I have a good memory

connected to these trees.

Plant a tree in honor of someone,

or something.

What are you doing for Arbor Day

in your area?

When is Arbor Day where you live?

Would love to hear from you.

There are many ways to...

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Garden Update

We have been blessed by rain this past month.

Sometimes it was raging wind along with the rain,

but at least we got rain.

Last year at this time

we were in a very bad drought,

so I never complain about rain.

I started my garden toward the last week of February

and more seeds again in March...

planting by the moon,

like my dear old Granny used to do.

Well, this is my garden this week,

a little beat up but recovering

from the high winds and beating rain we had recently.

The cabbage plants are coming along,

each probably about 2 1/2 ft. in total diameter.

 

The bell peppers have blooms on them.

I'm already using my thyme for culinary purposes.

The swiss chard is very prolific

and I'm already sharing it with neighbors.

I was not raised eating swiss chard,

but I prefer it over mustard or turnip greens.

There are some very good recipes out there for

any kind of green leafy veggies you wish to grow,

and we all know how we need fresh green veggies

in our daily diet.

The lettuce is ready

and oh so good in our daily salads.

Tonight I will pick the first harvest of lettuce,

and with our fish and potatoes

the fresh salad lettuce will be wonderful.

We just use a light vinegar, herb and oil dressing,

as we finally got away from Ranch dressing.

My first tomatoes of the year!

Right now they are small,

but I have high hopes for these little fellas!

My DH made me some great tomato cages,

much cheaper than buying them ready made.

We bought a roll of wire

and I'm using it for the tomatoe cages,

the cucumber trellis,

and other projects.

My cucumbers are just about 3 inches tall right now,

but soon will be climbing all over the trellis.

I will show photos when they are climbing.

This is an heirloom tomato plant that a neighbor gave us.

It originated many years ago in Yugoslavia.

He ended up with some seeds,

germinated the seeds,

and gave us a plant.

He also gave us a German Pink

shown below.

Hopefully I can pass on these wonderful

heirloom seeds to someone else.

On both of these tomato plants

I pinched off the bottom leaves

and planted them deep in the ground,

so they would produce a good root system.

I just know these heirloom varieties

will out do and out taste the others.

This is the base of my Peace Pole,

in the center of my garden.

The prayer stones at the base

 are growing in number.

 Many of the stones came from different states

and were carried a long way

just to be placed here.

I want to thank everyone who has placed a stone here.

More about my Garden .....

Well, I still have corn growing in my three sisters mounds.

Read about the 3 sisters on my blog here.

The corn is now up about 10 inches

and almost ready for me to plant

 the bean seeds

around the base.

Then after the beans are up,

in will go the squash seeds.

I can't wait for that

because we love shrimp stuffed fried squash blossoms.

You can find my recipe here.

The basil is coming up,

and the okra is up now too.

My poor potatoes were just about beat to death

by the rain. 

I'm not sure they will make.

Time will tell.

Photos of all these later, when they get a bit bigger.

That's about it for my garden update this month.

Next  time I will show more updated photos,

tell you how the harvesting is going

and give you recipes to boot!

Savor (or savour) the day...

take pleasure in all the little things

each and every day,

and you will find joy!

Yvonne

One Bucket Dyeing

Hand dyeing fabric is so much fun!

There are a ton of techniques out there to try.

Several friends and I got together

and did a few pieces of muslin

with Procion MX dye.

We are always experimenting,

as that's part of the fun.

This time we did the usual techniques,

but also we tried

One Bucket Dyeing,

as seen in the next 3 photos.

I first soaked some muslin in some soda ash water,

as per the soda ash instructions.

I soaked the fabric for about 15-30 minutes.

While that was soaking I mixed up the dye colors...

yellow, green and purple.

I crumpled up each piece of fabric,

put the first one in the bucket,

then poured more soda ash water onto the piece,

and followed that with pouring some dye onto the fabric.

Then I added another piece of crumpled fabric on top of that.

Added more soda ash water and more dye.

I continued layering fabric, soda ash water and a different color dye.

I only did a few, because

I didn't know how it would turn out.

But I love the mottled look

of the fabric.

I think next time I will do more pieces,

but very gradually use darker and darker colors of dye.

I will go around the color wheel with color choices,

in this One Bucket Dyeing method.

Next dye day I also want to try using some instructions

from Mickey Lawler's

Skydyes book.

I love what she says in the front of the book.

"There are really only 2 things

 you need to remember

to successfully complete

the paintings in this book,

and you probably learned these

by the first grade...

64 crayons are more fun than 8

and

Recess is the best part of the day!"

She also says...

"What is required is

that you simply suspend

any desire for total control,

accept a playful attitude toward your work,

and allow a sense of awe

to be your daily companion."

Abstract Art and Blogoversary

Bea, at Dog in the Hole Studio,

 has been teaching us about abstract art.

If you have been following the process,

maybe you learned something

as I did.

 Her next instructions,

for this piece,

were to use stick like rectangles

and march them across

the horizontal area.

Use a color that will show up.

Here is my fiisihed piece...

This piece is paper and paint,

but

I would like to try this process

in fabric.

Remember,

your color wheel

is important.

I wanted to show you this same piece,

except upside down...

Does it work?

Try abstract art...

Reminder...

I haven't forgotten about my

blogoversary on May 5th.

I will be having a giveaway,

and will be posting about the details

by May 1st.

The drawing will be on May 5th.

So stay tuned!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Flower Blocks

 Well, I won the theme blocks

at our quilting bee again!

This time the theme was

wildflowers/flowers.

Here are the blocks I won...

Bleach discharged flower

photo transfer with free motion embroidery

hand dyed fabric with fussy cut flowers

shibori with fabric painted and fussy cut flowers

Almost every time we make blocks,

everyone is staying away from

the traditional pieced block

and using their creative imaginations more.

All of these may not be put together

 into one finished piece,

but into separate art quilts.

Now I have to use MY

creative imagination!

Next theme is...

funky rooster!

This should be FUN!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Art...try something new!

Here is my next step for the

Fiber Art Society exquisite "lady" project.

That's what we are calling it,

instead of exquisite corpse,

because some of the ladies in the group

do not like that word...corpse.

So, out it goes!

Anyway,

for my block there are pieces in the background

that I fused onto the fabric.

I will be doing some free motion quilting

and adding embellishments to these.

My last step will be to add the hair.

I know she doesn't look like much now,

but wait till you see it all put together...

all the blocks,

each one done by a different artist.

It's exciting!

Oh, I'm doing the head

because this project was my idea,

and it was decided by everyone that the head was mine!

Now on to some abstract art!

Bea at Dog in the Hole Studio

has given us our second step

in the process.

But before that....

While I was waiting on the second step,

I decided to add more color

and some texture to the 2 colors

I had chosen.

I added some tissue paper,

sort of like I do when I make fabric paper.

Now, here is my completed step 1.....

 

Step 2...

was to use squares and rectangles

from the 3rd split complimentary color

and add them on the horizon line

and an angled line that crossed over the horizon.

So, here is my completed step 2...

I have no clue how far this thing is going

or what the next step is.

If you want to try some of

Bea's challenges,

go see her here.

She is celebrating her 800th post too BTW.

I'm getting nearer my one year blogoversary date

and also my 300th post,

so I am still thinking

 of what to do to celebrate.

I will be announcing something soon!

Something new I'm trying----

I used to work with watercolors a bit.

Now I'm trying to learn to use watercolor pencils.

I found some loose hymnal pages

at the thrift store,

in a baggy for 10 cents.

I thought maybe I could paint

on them.

A neighbor said,

"If you can paint Mary and baby Jesus

on one of those hymnal pages,

I will buy one."

So, I gave it a try

and she just bought it.

Here it is.....

I mounted it on watercolor paper

to make it stronger.

I suggested framing it

with burlap or something rustic

as the mat, with a black frame.

I'm glad she loved it,

and glad she gave me the idea to do it.

I think I will try this again.

So, don't be afraid to try something new...

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Earth Day

 Happy Earth Day everyone!

The earth is us....we are the earth!

"Treat the Earth well...

it was not given to you by your parents,

it was loaned to you by your children.

We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,

we borrow it from our children."

ancient Indian proverb

These pictures were taken on one of my vacations to

New England.

On my travels,

I am always reminded just how beautiful

the Earth really is....

and how fragile it can be also.

Earth Day has been around for 40 years,

and there is still so much more to do.

Don't take your Earth for granted.

Every day should be Earth day.

Please visit your EPA website.

There you can find out

how you can easily take action.

Teach the children just how important

it is to protect the environment.

It takes all of us!

Savor this Earth Day!

Yvonne

Blogging for One Year

Pretty flowers at the botanical gardens!

In a few days I will be at a milestone.

I started this blog almost one year ago

and have almost 300 posts.

 I have met many online friends,

and have greatly enjoyed seeing

photos, 

entering challenges,

learning from you,

 and just reading

all of your interesting posts.

I feel like I've really gotten to know

some of you.

Tulip time!

 I will be thinking of what I will do

to celebrate my one year anniversary

here at Inkspillers Attic.

In the meantime,

I want to share with you

some of  my favorite flowers at

the Grapevine Botanical Gardens.

My koi fish header photo was taken there also.

Some pretty faces!

Snowballs in Spring!

A beautiful climbing yellow rose.

Food for the  wildlife????

A happy couple!

(Heart made by hands of

 my daughter Amy and her fiance Jim.)

 Stay tuned to find out more about my

anniversary happenings

in my next post!

And don't forget to...

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Convictions of an Artist, and Wall Art

 "The artist does not draw what he sees,

but what he must make others see."---Degas

I wanted to share with you

some simple yet elegant free hand 

wall  art I have seen.

These are not stencils!

Hope they inspire you!

This first one is a very large wall

that has been painted to look old

and then the very large design added.

7 elements of art...

shape, size, line, direction, texture, value and color

The next 2 photos show wall art

on a staircase wall.

I think it looks very elegant.

Convictions of an Artist

1. 
   
   motivation precedes action...create possibilities
2. 
   
   art is deliberately designed
3. 
   
   art interprets experience
4. 
   
   art is a creative action
5. 
   
   the artist must respond to fresh impressions...marvel
6. 
   
   the job is to communicate life
7. 
   
   the fun is the activity itself
8. 
   
   the quest for beauty requires craftsmanship
9. 
   
   the artist lives by wits
10. 
    
    don't wait to be noticed
11. 
    
    a work of art is a symbol
12. 
    
    each artist is self taught

Savor the Day!

Yvonne