National Teasures

The Scoop on the States!

Between May 25, 2005 and October 25, 2006...I researched , and created these small State ornaments for my wholesale line , adding DC and a tree top ornament. It was a real eye opener the flowers and birds...and the birds that some states have in common as their state bird . Their was a wonderful resource on the web ,that had a great deal of the information i was looking for...flags and flowers...what did people do before they had the web at their fingertips?.....

The ornaments are small ranging from around 6 to 4 inches in any direction, depending on the state...some shapes were hard..like Hawaii...the boxier ones very easy .......at one point I thought I would never finish them...fifty plus DC ..they seem to go on forever....but in the end they make a nice little series....you can see the Squiggee influence in size ..but no beads or do das...not that you couldn't add them yourself...

Thought for today...your pick !

You never know what you will find!

This morning I was making a disc of custom work and I came across this Birthday pillow marking President George Bush's 80Th birthday......he jumped out of a plane....I am sure I was told all the particulars of the order at the time and the meaning...but like so many custom pieces I have done..who knows...I looked up the 41st President and ...now I get it...He was a Naval Aviator during WW II...and during one terrible time had to bail out of his plane with another , saving both their lives....very cool. He was also at 18 one of the youngest Naval Aviators on record at the time...interesting...anyway.....this helps me know what the custom piece was about...celebrating a part of his life that was special........you learn something every day...

Ready to go...!!!!!!

I HAVE BEEN GATHERING ALL MY PROJECTS THAT ARE READY TO GO TO THE FINISHER FOR VARIOUS FINISHED MODELS FOR THE TNNA SHOWS....THIS BATCH IS READY TO GO...AND YES THE SHELLS ARE WORKED PLUS ONE..I JUST DIDN'T HAVE PHOTOS OF THE WORKED SHELLS....Mr. KEN IS WORKING HIS MAGIC ON THE OTHER PART OF THE PROJECT...AND ALL WILL BE READY FOR THE BIG JANUARY SHOW......
i JUST GOT A FINISHED PILLOW BACK FROM THE FINISHER AND WAS THRILLED AND WILL TAKE PICTURES TO GIVE A SNEAK PREVIEW, BEFORE IT IS OFF TO TEXAS FOR THE September SHOW IN ST. LOUIS ...i GUESS THIS IS MY LIFE ..PLANNING FOR SHOWS AND OF COURSE MY FIRST BIG SQUIGGEE TRUNK SHOW AT THE NEEDLEPOINTER, EVERETT WASHINGTON..IN OCTOBER.....THE SHOP IS ALSO HAVING ONE OF THEIR ANNUAL RETREATS MID OCTOBER....BUSY BUSY.....SQUIGGEE IS THRILLED TO HAVE HER FIRST TRUNK SHOW AT THIS WONDERFUL SHOP.......LIFE IS GOOD HERE IN SQUIGGEELAND

Unique Custom

It always amazes me what people come up with for custom work....very personal and a cleaver way of expressing yourself and having a very unique take one a gift ....a logo of a shop or business, a business card or a scrabble broad with the family names...these are just some of the more unusual projects that I have done for customers....of course, I love this type pf design on needlepoint...it actually takes advantage of the grid that needlepoint canvas is...and makes for a very crisp design ....something other than flowers...don't get me wrong...I love flowers but...I have always liked a variety in my painting....

the unique canvas is always a treat...

Not Everything has holes !

today I came across these pictures of some dogs I painted on hardwood.....sometimes I forget that
I was first and foremost a trained artist.....needlepoint came along and I decided I could use all my commercial and fine arts training to produce a finely stitch painted canvas.....my whole world seems to have holes in it, and I forget how nice it is to just paint without regard to the single stitch...blending paint and using your brush to get different textures.....if life was perfect, i would need no sleep and would have time for everything I love.......lol...bottom line a am an artist first before we branch off into different categories....FYI I do love dogs...if anyone has any doubts...

Wednesday's Child

How often do I have a new custom piece I have just painted that has it's own day to be posted....

This is a custom piece I just painted for the Busy Needle in AZ....it is 7 sq on 13st....I love custom

...the last piece I did for this same customer was a big black Harley......truly a well rounded stitcher..lol.......with varying taste

Sisters

Even though our dogs are not related by blood...they are sisters....raised by one mother, me, since they were old enough , 8 weeks, to leave their biological mothers.....and sisters they are in every sense of the word as we can relate to the dog pack.....it never amazes me how close they are, both needing to know what and where the other is at all times and what they are eating and how much attention they are getting from us.....the other day I just laughed out loud at their antics...

I was picking the the chicken off the bone, something I have done since our Boston was little, she can't eat dog food so she has always been on a diet of lean meat, rice , vitamin and oil . When our Jake died around five years ago and there was only the two left..Miss Bubbles , our Springer-lab mix and little Squiggee-buns ,our Boston. It was then that Bubbles decided she was not going to eat dog food, but eat what Squiggee was having....so the routine of cooking and boning chicken has become a staple of our life....the "girls" Bubbie & Squig, are always in attendance when I perform this ...waiting patiently for a tidbit....well the other day I was giving them little pieces as I worked...I must have missed Squiggee and a piece of chicken landed on her back......she went around in a circle trying to find the piece that got away.....and before I could reach her...her sister leaned over her, ate the piece of chicken right off her back and licked the spot clean....no fuss or mess and Squiggee acted like it was nothing.....how close is that...then the two continued to beg for another little morsel.......now, I have two sisters, and even if our life depended on it we would take a pass on this act .......maybe when we were very small , we might share an ice cream cone but only the cone , not the ice cream that dribbles down your hand....please....our dogs are simply so natural in they way they interact with each other....

no guile , no wondering what others think...they simply love the mere fact that each other is there.

Time Marches On in Squiggeeland

Funny how sometimes time just escapes , gets away from you, one day you are twenty and the next fifty.....wossssssssh...just like that....well when I got these pictures of finished Squiggee mini stockings from my dear friend Cheri, it didn't occur to me that Dawson ( the Rudolph mini) might be getting a little old for a gift like this....after all ,I did a Birth Announcement piece for Cheri, his grandmother when he was born...well after a conversation with Cheri the other day and I asked about Dawson and his sister Elena...I was snapped back to the present ...he is 16.....oh my...I guess the little ornaments and cute Squiggee I send every Christmas ,will become part of his families tree and then his family...but oh my , the thought of a sixteen year old opening this gift, makes me laugh...he must think I am just one of those crazy old ladies that thinks he is still a little boy....and truth be told, I do think of him as a little boy....get a grip lady I say to myself...
well, Dawson will have a collection of his own needlepoint ornaments when he marries...a nice thing to start his own family tree.....at least I haven't been sending him stuffed bunnies...
it amazes me how time rushes on in some parts of your life but drags in others...I guess it all evens out....sometimes it doesn't really matter because I can't remember what I painted two weeks ago....but then I have had this problem since my 20's...I paint so much, it is all becoming one big ball of work..lol...at least I still know where my shoes are......this morning!!!! you never know what tomorrow will bring...

Updated slide show of Jacob's bells

A gift from the heart....

This is a custom piece I did for Margaret...a gift from her to a dear friend, celebrating all the elements that make her so special to . I just love that people like Margaret have such a sense of generosity of spirit, and I love playing my part . Margaret is always so giving with her needlepoint skill, all year long making wonderful projects for others with such love in her work..literally stitched with love......a true sweet soul...