Wecome to Cedar Key!

This a view of the Gulf of Mexico from the main island of Cedar Key. This is the north west part of Florida. We happened upon this small fishing village in rural Florida just by happenstance. It is a little piece of paradise!

This is the view of our accommodation from the water. We are on the third floor with a loft bedroom at Park Place.

Oatie is making his way back to the motel, which is very pet friendly. The motel cat is called Bella, a lovely black and white feline!

Oatie loves to sunbathe in front of the sliding door or out on the balcony.

This is our view every morning.

From the balcony!

The downtown is truly unique with antique and second hand stores and ART galleries! I loved the Cooperative gallery and Deja Vu Consignment shop. I bought a bunch of DMC embroidery floss and a quilt for my sister made by a local resident, Laura who passed away recently. The people here are so friendly! We met Anne at the Historical Museum today, who is a transplanted Canadian and a former teacher too.

Inventive Art is everywhere!

I've been taking interesting photos of doors and old buildings. This is one of the doors on 2nd Street, the main street of Cedar Key. More of Cedar Key to come!

Creating on Vacation

Creative Cue ODD

I was inspired by odd socks of which we have many in our family. My son calls them socks without friends!

This week`s cue is TIE

I was inspired by different kinds of ties and decided to do a Zentangle of ties and knots in my sketchbook.

I continue to work on my class lessons for Fertile Earth. This is Lesson 4 still in progress. I am loving the look so far.

Close up of Ginkgo

Close up of stitching on Lesson 3

For lesson 3, I used Creative Chick`s photo of mushrooms and followed her stitching as well. I have now applied all the painted organza circles and I am adding the sequin waste as well. I love how Susan creates her layers in her stitcheries.

I spent today hunting for treasures at an antique flea market in Fort Walton Beach! I sleuthed out 2 vintage chiffon scarves, ribbon, a vintage hankie, dyed green cheesecloth, paper images of vintage photos and a 1950`s sewing pattern still in tact! All the fun is in the hunt and trying to spend as little money as possible. All this for $11 US!

A Tribute to Sweet Bailey

One of our beloved furry family members was sent to doggy heaven on Friday, February 5Th after a brief illness. Bailey had lived 15 years with my sister, Brenda and her family. Emily, my niece grew up with Bailey. She shared all her chocolate chip cookies with the Black Blaster, our nick name for Bailey. He is now in heaven with our dog, Oskar. We called them cousins since they came from the same breeder in Welland.

I took these photos of Bailey at Christmas time, 2008. He was a very energetic dog even in old age. He loved to run around the house with his stuffed moose in his mouth. We called it the Moosey dance!

Goodbye, sweet Bailey! We have such happy memories of you. We will miss you dearly! Love from Oatis!

Crystal Beach, Florida, Brrrr, Cold!

Yesterday, I went out to take photos of the surrounding area near our little cottage in Crystal Beach near Destin Florida. I just loved these lacy cabbage-like plants outside our motel.

I have been reading Judith Baker Montano's book called Fibreart Montage. She has a great chapter on photography. I went out and took photos following her advice. Here is a view of the beach at the end of our block. It was about 59F when I took the photo!

This is our little old cottage, part of the Old Pier Motel in Crystal Beach. It is certainly old style! The monster cottage next door is typical of the surrounding cottages, all 3 stories tall with for rent or for sale signs on the lot. It is a very quiet neighbourhood with few people around. That's because it is too cold!

This is an interesting photo I took in Valdosta, Georgia of a very tall Juniper shrub. Compare it to the car beside it. We stayed in the worst Motel 6, ever! Beware of cheap motels and ask to see the room first! Lesson learned, I am seeing every room first.

Here is Oatie on his master's lap chilling at the local Starbucks in Destin, Florida. And we were very chilly! Now who picked the Florida Panhandle as our destination? On Sunday we are heading south, after we travel east to I95. Unfortunately, I did all my shopping at The Fabric Art Shop in Lake City already. I picked up some yummy dyed velvet cotton, fabric,threads, and books. This was the highlight of the trip so far for me!

Creative Cue and more Fertile Earth Lessons

This week's Creative Cue: Rolling

Completed early in the morning, when I was having trouble sleeping. Might as well be creative!

Lesson 2 Fertile Earth: Buds and Flowers

Preliminary stitching on a background of fabric, cheesecloth and tulle. More to come!



Lesson 3: Fungus and Weeds, Painting on Organza



Lesson 3: Painting on fabric and cheesecloth, free motion circles, hand stitching is started. I can't wait to see it all come together!

Lesson 4: Trees and Shrubs, my Ginkgo leaf painting through chiffon.

Lesson 4: Thread Sandwich, free motion stitched

Are you curious?

I am preparing all my backgrounds first to take with me on my trip to Florida in a week. I hope to do lots of hand embroidery while sitting around the pool. I am finding each lesson very exciting to undertake. When I think I know what I am doing, Susan ( Creative Chick) surprises me!

My friends and I have joined a teaching Embroidery Guild in Guelph. I am enjoying the cheerful camaraderie and the new friends I am making. This term's project is Mini Landscapes. Ruth is the teacher and a very talented embroiderer. This photo shows the landscape I have chosen to attempt.

Here is my beginning diagram, to create a pattern to begin my stitching.

I had delightful play date today with the Material Girls. We were carving our own stamps from erasers and soft lino blocks. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to do relief printmaking. Next time we will use our blocks to print on fabric. I am getting excited about our upcoming holiday and leaving the brutal cold behind! I've checked out the locations for shopping at Joanne's fabrics. One store is very close to our destination. I will also make a stop at my favourite shop, the Fabric Art Shop in Lake City, Florida. I can hardly wait! Until next time, happy stitching!

Track not Target

So much for remembering words exactly! I misread this last week Creative Cue! Above is my art work for the word 'Target'. I was inspired by the book, Journal Bliss by Violette.

New Technique for January 2010

I joined Susan Sorrell's Technique of the month Challenge. This is my new technique that was shared in my little fibre art group. I used a brown paper Bag to start with. I then added designs from a Australian Aboriginal art work I found on the Internet with oil pastel. I washed it with acrylic paint. I then added drips of wax candle or covered the surface with wax candle. The reverse side of the papers were painted with acrylic coloured gesso, to create a textured surface.



The ends results were ripped, hole punched and embellished with stitches. I really liked my sketchbook page more than the larger piece. The assemblage certainly was a challenge! I think I will use the papers in other projects. I had a fun day playing with my friends.