". Arranged Words: January 2019

22 Jan 2019

Watercolour Skies


                               "Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet."
                                                                  Stephen Hawking

 The other day, I stood still in the woods until my hands got very cold, staring at a changing water colour sky. Looks like a light indigo, or French ultramarine and a light phthalocyanine blue. Gorgeous!

This morning I was up before dawn, hoping to catch a glimpse of Venus and Jupiter in the eastern sky. It was worth it!
 I also wanted to watch the recent eclipse of the moon, but the weather had other snowy plans.


               And the sign says: Do not fed the wildlife. It's clearly overlooked and overruled.


More gift tags. Some people also use them as bookmarks. They are time consuming to make, but I love to paint them. I think it has a lot to do with the colours.

                                                      A bevy of Easter colours. Tres uplifting!

                                        I've also been painting tulips this week.

I am not sure if I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I am currently forcing tulips and snowdrops. I've never seen a real live snowdrop. I can't wait! The bulbs are in a neighbor's extra fridge because they can be cooled anywhere near fruit; that creates ethylene gas and that impedes flower development.
I've got my fingers crossed!

On the needles...


                        Beginning a pair of socks. Pattern Lydia Bennet Secret Stockings
from Jane Austen Knits magazine 2011. Yarn from Tanis Fiber Arts.  I love the picot edging.

                                                     Thank you for reading along.

                                                 'Til next time...Cultivate Your Dreams!

1 Jan 2019

A New Day




Hi there,

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year!
We had a wonderful time.

Below are two projects from last year that I wanted to finish before the clock struck 12:00. And I also wanted to ring in the New Year with a blog post, so I am nearly there.

There were a few personal milestones that I had planned to complete in 2018. Check. I never was much of a list maker, though I find lists really do help keep me on track.

I'll spare you the personal milestones, however I did finish a small knitting project, and I did have bird cards printed. I didn't paint and draw as much as I would have liked to last year, but it's a new day.


Long ago (say September- you may remember) I started knitting a hat named  Bough. I used Brooklyn Tweed's yarn named Shelter. I contemplated using a bold, zingy colourway. Somehow that thought vanished. So I chose: Pumpernickel.

Anyway the finish line finally arrived, so yesterday we went off to the woods to take a few pictures.

Just look at that! Canada in January ~ sans snow. One gets the feeling it might be early spring. A florid illusion, I reckon.


A pompom too. How daring! But, then, one should live a little.


 Cables add texture and beauty, and they are easy to make. Wishing my hands liked all that yarn twisting. However, knitting slow, like a tortoise might if he could, does eventually get you there.


While I was in the woods, these tenacious leaves and the pine needles below caught my eye.


 The "Fashionista" bird cards are printed and will be listed in my Etsy shop by 4 p.m. tomorrow.


For those of you who are not on Instagram, there's a program called "The Best of Nine." You enter your user name and voila the program calculates your most liked photos for 2018.
Call me fastidious, but I do want to straighten out that blue painting.
 

(Signo white gel pen on Strathmore Artagain 400 series.)

Wishing all of you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year filled with love, and good cheer!

Cultivate your dreams!