Photographing Your Art

How to photograph your art from Tyler Stalman on Vimeo.

I am constantly struggling to get good, or even better, great pictures of my work. The tips from Tyler's video will help me so I thought I should share. 

Knitting - Beginner Level



The Perfect Belt or Skinny Scarf for Any Season


I've been under the knife and have had to curtail being very physical...has really cut down on my "gotta go, gotta go, gotta go go go" frame of mind!   So knitting has become my favorite pastime of the day. 

Come sit a spell with me:  Gather 1 cone (108 yd) fingering weight yarn...I used a silk and size 8 (5mm) needles.  The author of this pattern used Lincatex's gold rush metallic yarn.  And here emphasis added....this is not a marty mason original pattern, but I cannot give credit where it belongs 'cause all I have is a picture of a picture of a pattern!! 

Instructions: 
Cast on 20 stitches, leaving a 10" tail.
Work in straight stitch until there is about 10" yarn left.
Thread the yarn into a tapestry needle and pass through the remaining stitches twice, gathering them tightly together.
Weave in end.
Thread the beginning 10" tail into tapestry needle and pass through the beginning stitches twice, gathering them tightly together.
Weave in end.
Tie ends of the scarf in overhand knot.

And the beat goes on.....an art quilt

I was in a toe-tapping good mood as I stitched up (in chartreuse) this art quilt.  And the binding has a beat of its on!    It's listed over at The Shop - Marty In Motion.

Precious Time

Great up-beat version of one of my favorites of Van Morrison.  Previous Time....all the way to the last note!

Handmade Book - Pics out of Port Townsend

It's okay - click to enlarge me!

Finished another book....the cover is a painted-over picture of a bird on a rail in Port Townsend, WA.  The painted-over-picture process...well,  I learned how to do that in  DJ's Pettit's workshop while in Orvieto, Italy, last month.  Here's a view of  Orvieto from Toni DeBella:  It's her story.  How to make a picture collage - with lots of stumbling, that's a little trick I  learned on my own!   


My original picture....isn't he a handsome guy....worthy of a paint-over!

Fennel - It's a Good (Butterfly) Thing.....

I plant fennel every spring - and this is the thanks I get! 

Butterflies love laying their eggs on fennel and this year I found nine caterpillar.  Just one problem (well, maybe two).  In this, the caterpillar stage, their focus in on eating and the vociferous little devils are munching my fennel plant down to the bare stem, then as they slowly back down, eat the stem as they go.  But, that's not really a problem....the problem is that I'm not the only one who sees these bright spots in the garden.  The birds do more than watch - they also pluck and eat! egad.....and then there was eight! 

This is stage two of the Monarch Butterfly - read more here about the butterfly life cycle. 

Filled with Flowers!

Life should be filled with flowers and I need more time on my hands!   I needed some fabric stamped with flowers.....except I don't have a flower stamp just like this.  I wanted orange flowers.....just orange!  A little dab of orange, a spash of green and my black water color pencil.  Wow, the vase was filled in no time! 

Linked to The Creative Exchange.....Lisa talked this morning about the little things (in her case, capturing a little hummingbird on camera).  Yes, it often is just the little things that make me happy.....orange flowers painted on muslin....something money can't buy! 

A Cushion Collection:

What I love about shopping online..... is finding this cushion cover.  Heather Moore's design label is Skinny LaMinx and that's the name of her Etsy Shop!  The cushion collection is one to go see. 

Rear Window

Rear Window

I painted today!

If I had a House.....

The houses go all the way to the top of the mountain.....if I had a house like this I wouldn't have to mow grass!   It's hot as blue blazes here in Louisiana so these mountain homes, with natural air-conditioning, make me yearn to be there again. 

Buzz Word

The buzz word for the day - Busy, yes, busy as a bee!

A page out of one of my handmade books...altered just a tad in photoshop. 

Invitation: Not a requirement!

I just had to do something to lighten my mood!  So, just what prompted this musing?  You see, it's because we live in a pleasant neighborhood.....

But let me start from the beginning.  Several years ago the elderly lady who lived in the corner house next to me passed away.  What a loss.  She was a dear person and a great neighbor.  As inherited property goes, it was sold by her children...to a single lady who had three children.  As the years slipped away, this owner's  children moved on so she decided to follow.  Yep...that left the house for sale....for two years.  You can imagine our dismay at this point.  The house finally rented  last year to a lovely couple, but, now they too have decided to move on.  The house is vacant again.

I trespassed this morning.     No, I didn't have an invitation....well, I kinda did.  The back gate was open  and since curiosity had gotten the upper hand of my sanity and better judgment,  I ventured into the back garden!  Should not have done that -  it was a mess.  Now I'm having visions of living next door to a vacant house again.  I can't imagine that it could sell or rent in its present condition.   I'll just end with my muse:  absentee property owners do not good neighbors make.   

Not an angst-ridden sculptor!

Art of Craft | Peter Kiss from Resolve Design on Vimeo.

I was intrigued by the work of Peter Kiss.    My favorite of his pieces - red red fish - entitled "We've got the paddles - where's the creek?" 

July 2011 Quilter's Calendar

July 2011 Calendar (as if you didn't recognize it!)

My 7th in a series of 12 calendar pages ready to be downloaded.  Just go to my Flickr page - actions - choose size to download - right click - set as background - enjoy! 

I'm a couple of days early, but I finished some of the house cleaning and just had to play.  The background is a quilt made by my good friend Ethel Moore.  I love her Americana quilt and am happy to find a good use for it here on my computer (since she won't let me have the real thing) she at least is helping me keep the spirit! 

When one or two (books) just isn't enough ~

A friend gave me some of her green and red cotton velvet this week and I couldn't wait to get it home and put  in one of my book covers!  Stitched with lime green thread.....lime is a neutral, isn't it? 

And as if that wasn't enough books.  It's just as easy to be painting on one as it is two and sometimes easier to be painting on three at the same time.  Duh!!! Paint has to dry in between coats.....

My inspiration picture - taken in my back garden.   This little garden angel sits in a displaced chair behind the potting shed  and ponders what each day might bring - and without fail - gives me great pleasure as I round the corner each morning with my coffee cup in hand.   I continue to allow  the simplest of things fill my life with joy!

Asterisk Quilt update

The asterisk quilt is finished.  It's bound, measured, described, photographed, priced and ready to ship.
Are you looking for a fresh modern quilt?  Here's one looking for a home.   Yes, it's for sale!

Coneflower - printed on fabric

......x 4 - ready to put into fabric covered book/journals!

I've been wandering ~

Finished a few quilt projects this week but, thankfully, we had rain so picture-taking was delayed!



Linked ~ Mod Table Topper





Linked ~ Highway # 1

 



Down Mockingbird Hill!

Click on pic to enlarge and grin with me!

~ When the sun in the morning peeps over the hill

           And kisses the roses 'round my windowsill

Then my heart fills with gladness when I hear the trill
Of the birds in the treetops on Mockingbird Hill

                                      tra-la-la twiddly-dee-dee-dee it gives me a thrill
                                     To wake up in the morning to the mockingbird's trill


                   Tra-la-la twiddly-dee-dee there's peace and goodwill
                   You're welcome as the flowers on Mockingbird Hill ~


Guess what???  Kitty isn't feeling the 'peace and goodwill' !

Summer Salad - A Recipe



cucumber and mango


A favorite summer salad at the Mason dinner table - very simply - chopped cucumber and mango....no dressing required.  I chop early in the afternoon and let the cucumber and mango bond.  They fall in love within a few hours.  Serve up on a chilled salad plate or in a martini glass sans the liquor!  It's delicious. 

We'll serve it up with baked tilapia and I'm thinking egg noodles.  No, then perhaps green beans or broccoli.