Happy New Year Funky Monkey!

A Happy Heartfelt New Year to all my Friends!

This Funky Monkey and his book about monkeys jumping on the bed is a present for my sweet grand neice, Madelyn! I finally completed it last night and will be delivering it to her tomorrow!

This is also a little peak at my sewing area! But I can still produce art in amongst all the clutter!
I've made a few challenges for the new year:
1. Susan Sorrell's monthly challenge to try a new technique each month
2. Complete 2 projects for juried shows, coming up soon
3. Do my blog every week, none of this catch up stuff!
4. Work on writing articles for magazines
5. Have fun at my stitching guilds and continue with my volunteer work
6. Complete a few UFOs and prepare for gallery sales ahead of time
7. Take a few classes during the year, to get stimulated with art
8. Start a new sketchbook for 2010
9. Meet with my group Material Girls as often as possible and play all day
10. Spend time with Oatie, every day

That's it friends, Happy New Year! Best Wishes to Maggi in the UK! My most loyal follower! Hugs from afar!

Another Sale!

Walk this Way!

I have a small show at a local chiropractor's office in Milton. Another African like fibre art piece, called 'Walk This Way', sold just before Christmas. This one is based on Diane S. Hire's piecing techniques. It is pieced, appliqued, machine quilted, embroidered and beaded. The lady who bought it, is giving it to her daughter and son-in -law. Whooohooo, its been a very good year!

A Belated Merry Christmas!

Our little Christmas Tree with mostly handmade ornaments.

Matthew and Oatie

Oatie with his new toy! Raffi!

Me with my Tim's coffee!

Jamie, happy with his present!

Christmas came late to our house this year. The flu came just before! I must admit I look pretty good after two days sick in bed. We spent our very first Christmas at home, away from family. I was just glad to be feeling better! Only hubby avoided the dreaded flu!

My Little Fat Bluebird and bad puppy!

This is one of my new stitcheries inspired by Quilting Arts magazine! Marker lines, painted areas and embroidery.

Yarn spread throughout the living room!!!




The bad puppy trying to ignore me!

A small landscape for the AM Gallery.

These are six more bookmarks I made for the gallery and my friend and fellow artist, Sandra Spagnuolo. The chicken one is just for her. We traded art and now I own one of her little house collages. I love trading with other artists!

A Big Sale!

A Taste of Africa Quilt

Just before Christmas, I had great news! My quilt was in the Oshawa Show and had enticed a purchaser and all I had to do was decide on a price and did I want to sell it! After speaking to the vice president of a Scarborough company, I realized this was the perfect person to have my quilt. It was to be a gift to the President of the company who is involved and dedicated to doing charitable work in Africa, such as providing clean drinking water. The price negotiated was secured and a courier delivered a cheque and off my quilt went to a new home!

Close up of A Taste of Africa


Another Close up

These are the last photos I took of my quilt, in case I want to make a second similar quilt. This Christmas I decided to part with some of my more traditional quilts as gifts to appreciative relatives. I don't know what I have been waiting for by storing my works in a big chest! Time to share my art!

More Art at the AM Gallery

Bookmarks for the Gallery

A new show opened at the Arts Milton gallery for December. This time we have 20 artists showing and selling their art! It is so exciting because we are actually selling our art. Some of the purchases are small but it is a start. The show is colourful and varied from oil paintings to photography, pottery, wood turning, mixed media from nature, paper art, fibre art, acrylics and watercolours.

My bookmarks, which are reasonably priced are selling out and I am hoping customers will come back for more expensive items. Above is my Doddle Dog edition, fibre collage.

My other popular theme is the environment for book marks. I love these and they are a lot of fun to make recycling my own scraps. My fish and bird in a nest are also sold out. I love meeting the other artists in the show and supervising the gallery and meeting the public. We have updated the gallery with a debit machine and gift bags, next a real cash register!

This sweet little needlecase sold to a lovely lady from Mexico living in Milton. It is going to make its way to Mexico as a gift for a needleworker.

Finally, I have been making frameable cards from a Jane Wild technique in a Stitch UK magazine using brown paper, stitch, lace, paint and shiva stick sewn onto my own handmade paper.

Its been a busy time of year, teaching at Chris Hadfield school and sewing for the gallery. I have been enriching the kids at school showing them how to make Zentangles. Such fun! www.zentangle.com

Until next week, I hope you are not stressing about the holiday season.