With Love From Skeelhaven

Immerging

2012-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

Well it’s been nearly half a year since my last post, the dark side held me captive with health issues of one type or another most of it, but now I am looking towards Spring (I know it’s early but I am looking forward to the sun and my garden blooming). Till then I’ve been drinking oodles of tea.

Low and behold this morning I heard of a new to me brand of tea and they were doing a drawing for a free gift of tea. I was reading this lovely post on a blog called “Eat Drink and Be Aware” and learned about the Steven Smith Teas. Anyone who’s been to home has seen my collection of teas, and some teas I have on hand only because they are a certain friends favorite, but most teas I buy are for me. It helps to have a son who works at Starbucks who gets to taste new Tazo teas and a DIL that loves to go out and try new flavors of everything else to introduce me to as well. And yes, I do need a larger shelf!

Anyhoo, Eat Drink and Beware is offering that 1 lucky reader will win the “Steven Smith Teamaker No. 1626 Smith Variety Tea Pack,” which is 1 tea bag each of 12 different flavors so you’ll know what you love when you place an order. And by the way I think the thing that impressed me most is that Steven Smith was the founder of both Tazo and Stash teas, and several of each already occupies my shelf. Needless to say, this tea-totaler entered that drawing!!!

New Workshop!

2011-08-09T08:45:00.001-07:00

At last my Harvest Queen is complete. She's a 3-Dimensional mixed media canvas based textural collage and will be offered for the first time as an on line workshop at Joggles October 13th. Now I have to figure out how to mount her to a frame or shadow box because I can't wait to hang her in my kitchen! Well... as soon as those clouds across the moon dry completely anyway...

She looks extremely complicated but only because there is so much going on. Broken down into steps and done bit by bit, almost any skill level may complete this project. I offer a template for the face as well as a face lesson so don't let that frighten you off. And you can always change the color scheme... So many options... so many dreams... I hope you'll come and play with me at Joggles.

Harvest Queen in Progress

2011-08-08T05:54:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been working on this canvas board collage creating the Harvest Queen for a new workshop to be on line this fall at Joggles.
The Queen is a handmade "paperdoll" placed over the textured and colored background with 3-D hair and embellishmnets added. She still has a long way to go. She'll be holding a golden challice trimmed in copper, still needs her "make-up" including eyelashes, lipstick and nail polish as well as majestic eye shadow, and a few mini swarovski crystals on her tattoo. I expect I'll add more bits and bobs to her hair as I go as well because she just keeps commanding me to give her more. Courteously, as she is a kindly Queen, but she is still royalty after all. Who am I to argue?

I also think the harvest moon need a touch more red/orange and maybe a cloud or two drifting by...

Discworld Was Divine

2011-07-21T07:25:00.001-07:00

My Son Shawn and I took a week and went to Madison, WI for the North American Discworld Convention, stopping by my sisters near Chicago to brake up the nine hour drive to and from NADWCON. Miles and miles of windmiles are pretty but one's butt gets sore and eyes get really tired after so many hours, you know? I had created Errol, my Swamp Dragon as a prop for my costume and learned we had to do a mini skit for the masquerade. You can see Shawn's fabulous work below, his leather legionaires skirt, leather vest, leather pouch and leather wossname for his sword to slide into. Yes, it's a real sword, he collects them. He's also a leather smith and made his whole costume. But since his character, Sam Vimes, the Captain of the City Watch wears a steal breast plate he had a friend teach him how to make that out of real steel as well. He detests fake costumes. Shawn helped me char up my apron for Lady Sybil Vimes, who is an Aristocrat but thinks that's hogwash and would rather raise swamp dragons, which she does and lets the estate get over grown. My hair is a mess, I have charcoal rubbed all over my clothes and face and the apron is burned and torn. There is actual blood splattered on the apron from where I had cut myself in the hotel room so I flicked blood all over it when the bleeding wouldn't stop. This added not only color but nice character since swamp dragons are notorious for periodically blowing themselves up when they hiccup and such. We won an award for workmanship, and were quite thrilled since it was our first con!
Discworld is a book series created by Sir Terry Pratchett and quite a funny SciFi/ Fantasy realm where just about anything can happen and does. He offen takes a commonly know story like Shakespear's Macbeth, and tweaks the snot out of it and twists it all around so you don't know which end is up and you laugh so hard it really doesn't matter. I took a group of dolls to NADWCON made by different artists from members of DOLL STREET representing characters from any of the 40 books in the series and 1,000 attendees voted for peoples choice. There were some fabulous representations there. I felt quite honored when my Errol got the most votes. Needless to say getting that and the masquerade award helped me to enjoy NADWCON even more, but it was awesome all by itself. I suggest that you check out the books if you like humor and don't mind a parallel universe that may include wizards, witches, trolls, werewolves, vampires, and other human variations. It's a great way to talk about things such as racism when the group for dwarves is called the "league for equal heights." No one is offended and yet the point gets across to all the readers clearly. See what a mean?

I suggest you might begin with, "Guards Guards" as a first book. You don't really have to read them in order, but it's a great place to start. And Errol is in it so he thinks so too.

Ta Da!

2011-07-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Presenting Errol! Finished in plenty of time to get a full nights sleep before packing and driving to WI and the Discworld Conference. He's currently hanging upside down to let his eye brows stiffen upright. He's on the back porch airing out from the spray sealer. Errol has three different leathers, a variety of paints and his browns are made of Tibetan Lamb stiffened with Spiking Glue my son left when he moved out. His brows really are almost as big as his wings! This has been a blast to construct but my next dragon will be much smaller.

Original Errol

2011-07-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

This rendition of Errol was drawn by Paul Kidby, official artist of the Discworld books. I used his illustration for reference when creating my leather Errol for the Discworld convention.

Errol Continues...

2011-07-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

Errol is getting his skin. I bought a supple, thin lime green leather at Tandy for his belly and underlayers and his face. I am totally in love with his face! Because of all the nooks and crannies I had to apply the leather in sections so he appears to have jowls and smile wrinkles around his eyes and other litte serendipitous surprises I didn't plan for. The process has been like riding a bike - though I've not created in a long time it's all coming back naturally flowing out of me. I'm so excited about the process and the upcoming convention where I can share him with others who will recognize him.

Unfortunately dragons can be harsh beasts and I shan't make one this size again. The armature wire was painful to bend for my arthritic hands and still his hind legs are not as strong as I'd like them to be. So he won't be begging at someone's lap as much as I hoped. C'est la vie. I used Apoxie Sculpt over armature wire for the claws and either it was old or my hands are (or both) because it was also a challenge to work with and I alwasy thought it to be easy in the past. Stretching and pulling the leather into a snug position takes more effort than I planned as well.

But maybe this is like child birth. You forget the pain when you finally hold your precious baby in your arms. With a face like this one that's a good posibility... as long as I won't need my thumbs. LOL!

2011-06-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

I leave in 6 days for the 2nd North American Discworld Convention, a gathering of 1,000 followers of the hysterical fantasy book series written by Sir Terry Pratchett, who will also be in attendance. My son Shawn will join me. We selected characters for the Masquerade and his costume is fantastic and practically finished. Mine isn't started. I chose Lady Sybil, who raises Swamp Dragons, which are about the size of a lap dog, give or take, depending on the breed. She'll wear a simple Victorian style dress, so no biggee pulling that together, and boots for mucking out the pens, but I'm focusing on creating one of her dragons. His true name is Goodboy Bindle Featherstone of Quirm, but was named Errol by Nobby Nobbs, because he lookes like his brother. Errol is a freak, even by swamp dragon standards, with a face like an anteater, gigantic nostrils, a pearshaped body and his wings are about the size of his abnormally large eyebrows.

I created a wire armature head, wrapped it in batting and made a functional jaw, then a wire spine, hips and shoulders and limbs with joints so he could stand and be posed. His eye balls were made seperately and will be permanatly set later when his skin is on. He currently has an underskin of muslin which I will cover with 3 different leathers to vary color and texture and I will start with the head to allow the Apoxie Sculpt I added to the claws this morning over the wire and muslin to harden. Hopefully more WIP photos to come and a finished photo before I go.

I will also be taking a doll display with me including about 25 dolls from my on line club Doll Street from a challenge I hosted featuring characters from Discworld. You can see many of the dolls there in the Art Gallery there, though a few new dolls have been added to the challenge.

Been Tanglin'

2011-06-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

You never appreciate your health until it falters. I love waking up now. I love getting up and seeing even rainy days and feeling achy, arthritic joints because I'm still here. The last several months I've been blessed with rather large helpings of chemical depression and chronic fatigue - great illnesses that no one can see. Folks say "Just take a nap and cheer up" but there is so much more to it and I won't bore you with it here.

Now that my arms are working again I've been playing with some Zentangles. It's really the same doodles I did as a child only some brilliant chick gave it a title, copyrighted it and is making a fortune off of folks like me who need inspiration because they've lost their Muse and need to look at someone elses circles and squares to remember how to draw those simple shapes together. But it's working and in the past week I got a few drawings done on 3" square cards. That seems like a small canvas but this is tedious work particularly for someone who couldn't easily raise her arms a couple weeks ago. Some are better than others, and I don't recall the order of creation but, if anything, it kept me from lying in bed all day. I hope you like them. It's all done in Micron pen and pencil.

More Valentines

2011-02-13T05:41:00.000-08:00

This has been a blast creating Valentine Postcards for the Doll Street Swap. The one above has a winged heart made with an old brown bag and white glue technique to create faux pewter.Using paper foil rubbed over a special tacky glue I created the vines on this parchment heart above. Crystals are spaced on the border.

I used Paper Foil again to create this purple heart with butterfly wings. The dot's on the wings are another layer of foil.
This last Valentine combined fabric, paper, a crochetted doily and peel and stick letters all covered in pale pink organza fabric. I hated to send these beauties all away because I loved them so much but I can always make more! I finally understand the craze of creating fabric books!

More Valentines

2011-02-01T06:28:00.001-08:00

Creating fabric postcards for Valentines has been a blast! The one above has hand dyed fabric, treated with salt for texture and the lacey hearts are created from Tyvek, painted, brushed with Perfect Pearls and topped with a light touch of gold Rub n' Buff to accent the raised surfaces. A little embroidery with cotton and silk ribbon top it off to create a vine of bleeding hearts framed with lace appliques colored gold. I'm having trouble sticking to which Valentine is my favorite!

This black and white print in French and English was too wonderful to hide so I topped it with layers of Organza hearts hand stitched in place. Lots of hand stitching time but hey - what are good movies for?

This last Valentine (not FINAL, just last this week) was created using a stencil, oil PaintStiks, sequin waste and a collection of bits and bobs for embellishments. Since the finished postcard must be no more than 1/4 inch thick I had to use only flat embellishemnts and even stacking and layering some this will be able to be mailed. All bits are glued and sewn in place to make sure it arrives safely via the post, even without an envelope. The class is still running at Joggles and a total of 12 Valentines are in the lessons, but I don't think I'll be able to stop making these. I may have to create a little fabric book for myself... they are just wonderful eye candy! To think I can add a message of love and snail mail them to a loved one makes them even better! What in the world took me so long to catch this fever?!!!

Valentine's!

2011-01-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

Fiber Delight! Valentine Postcards is a new workshopI'm teaching at Joggles just in time to create some homemade love for those special folks in your world. In this modern age of instant technology it's incredibly special to receive a card via post, and when it's handmade it's a treasure to cherish! The workshop teaches fun techniques anyone can learn and requires no special skills to sign up and each card can be sent through the mail with no envelope to your Valentine!

Twleve different designs will be taught using fabric, paper and assorted bits and bobs of embellishments incorporating stitching, fusing, painting, dyeing and distressing to name a few techniques. I've had a blast building this class and can't stop making Valentine postcards!

If you prefer, work your designs into a quilt or a mixed media journal and keep these treasures for yourself. I'm finding myself very attached to these little creations and wondering how I'll ever be able to mail them away. I guess one will do anything for love! C'est l'amore!

Valentine Workshop

2011-01-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

In this technological age it's sad that old customs like Valentine's delivered by post are considered rare and special. Folks used to handmake all their Valentines and send one to each of their loved ones. "Valentine Postcards" is my new mixed media workshop at Joggles beginning January 18, 2011. Each lesson will focus on several fiber based postcards adding tetures and techniques to dazzle your Winter Blahs. This workshop will guide you to create a dozen unique cards, and if you choose not to send them each will be suitable for framing, working into a one-of-a-kind quilt or handmade book. No matter what you choose to do with your creations, each Valentine will be full of fun creative techniques and lot and lots of love. I hope you'll check it out at Joggles and join me for some fun!

New Workshops!

2010-11-15T09:01:00.000-08:00

New Workshops begin November 16th at 2 sites! Faerie Couture begins at Cloth Doll Artistry and Lady Zen at Joggles. Both projects could make wonderful holiday gifts so if you are looking for something special check out my classes. These will be my last two workshops on line this season so I hope to see you in one or both workshops! Happy creating!

New Family Member

2010-09-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

We welcome to Skeelhaven our newest FIC (Feathered Kid) Beaker, a grey and white cockatiel. Beaker came from the same bird rescue as Pellenore, who we selected in December) and they are actually just about the same age, which is 18 months. Their expected life span is 12 to 15 years and they share a cage as tiels are social creatures. They so far tolerate each other but have not bonded as best buds quite yet and are still trying to determine who is "Top Bird." It's taken a few days for each of them to begin singing again, and relaxing with each other, though Beaker is a sweetheart and loves to be pet when we are one on one. Pelly never liked fingers much so we hope he'll learn from Beaker. Right now he watches us pet Beaker with caution and seems to stand by to protect Beaker in case the dreaded finger inflicts the pain he imagines it will, but hopefully he'll catch on. Pelly hasn't wanted to snuggle with me since the arrival of his new "brother" but they will each sit on one of my shoulders, play pin ball with me or hang out in the studio together while I work. The cooler temperatures of late have been ideal for them to share a perch in the front window and watch the world together with a gentle breeze in their faces, as they are in the photo above. They also adore the screened in back porch. I think it will all work out wonderfully and am thrilled Pelly is no longer alone in his cage.

Another New Workshop!

2010-08-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

Fiber Face Collage has just officially been finished... just in time, too as the last lesson was posted on Joggles today! But the class will run again September 15th at Doll Street. Here are some finished photos of faces created for the class and put on fabric journal pages. Above are Cate and Jasmine, each created from photos.Rose and Celeste are above. Rose is created using all printed fabrics and Celeste actually wears fake eyelashes! Jane and Bonnabell are next. Jane is a flapper and Bonnabell is just a beautiful chick.

Viola shows techniqes for making wild faces with unusual skin tones, where Ako shows Geisha style makeup.

This last one was the original piece and not completed the same way. The fabric colors show through the face a little but I loved the pattern and include it in the class as well. There are 10 face patterns, as well as instructions on how to create a unique face from scratch or from an existing photo for your fiber arts. I had a blast creating this class! Join in on the fun at Doll Street. Look for Creative College.

Faerie Couture

2010-08-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

I just finished samples for a new class! Faerie Couture will feature not one but TWO projects; the Faerie of Light and the Dark Faerie. From layered painting to create faux marble on a mannequin through layered and distressed costumes and wings these two pieces are a blast to create! Faerie Couture will premier at Joggles October 19th. Additional workshops at Joggles this session include Altered Fabric, September 22 and the new mixed media Lady Zen is scheduled for November 16th.

Fiber Face Collage

2010-08-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

I've been working on collage faces made of fabrics for an on line workshop I'm teaching called Fiber Face Collage and decided to include how to do a collage based on a photograph in the lessons. I created 2 from photographs. The first, which is above, I call Jasmine and she was a beautiful face I found on the internet and fell in love with. She'll get a curly fabric as hair later. Here's her original photo.

Next I used a photo of a friends beautiful daughter, Cate. I loved the pink and blue tones in the photo and hand dyed the skin tone fabrics with Dye-Na-Flow. Her hair is create with 8 different prints including calicos and batiks.

Here is Cate's original photo. Cate is currently on a trip to Atlanta so I can't wait to hear what she thinks about this piece using her as my inspiration. Her mom loved it!

New Sketches

2010-07-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

I'm in my second SuziBlu workshop, "Goddess & Poet" and working on sketches. The first I did looked terribly out of proportion to me though I thought I measured appropriately. More than just a Streisand nose, she had an elongated face. The next one, with the same proportions still seemed long to my husband, but Elvish to me. She is graphite layered with Prismacolor pencil and the photo above.

So I tried again dividing the lower face into thirds not halves for the nose and got a much younger face. I've done this type of face on dolls many times so didn't wait to color her before moving on to the next face.

My fourth face compromised the measurements and seems to work though at the moment I feel her eyes are too far apart and the color looks too yellow in the scanned image but I didn't see it on the drawing. All of these are just preliminaries, to be layered with Golden translucent paints, and whatever other mixed media techniques Suzi throws at us. This goddess is in a jounal and we are to work on writing poetry as well... something I've not made time to do for years. I'm not into the whole "goddess thing" as far as religion goes, but Suzi explained it more on the level of celebrating all womanhood and the natural femininity we seemed to lose when fighting so hard to be equal to men who used to place us on pedestals and think of us as goddesses. Given my personal Rubenesque shape I think I could be a lovely goddess... LOL!

Suzi's classes are all done on video on her Ning network and though she gets a little off topic and wired sometimes it is really a good series of classes and fun. Goddess is teaching stylized faces though more advanced than the Petite Dolls class I took first. I hope to fit in Angles and Piety before September and ban my apprehension for the paint brush altogether. It's good to have a dream...

Finished Painting!

2010-07-02T14:13:00.001-07:00

Lady Zen is now complete. She is not perfect, but then, neither am I! I used gold leafing for her collar and shaded it to show the texture. I added shadows to her costume, and dimensional crystals to her neckwear. I finally got the angle right so the metallic paints didn't confuse the camera lense and wash out or alter the color, alas you can't see the sparkle and shimmer as well. Refer back to the last sample of this work in progress and imagine merging the two backgrounds and you'll know what she really looks like. I'm working on mastering mixed media paintings not photography. For now, anyway. LOL!

Anywho, she was a blast to create and I will be offering her, or a sample very similar to her, as an on line workshop on Joggles, hopefully this fall.

Lady Zen Again!

2010-06-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

I've been working on Lady Zen again today. She is mostly done. The camera was readjusted so the colors aren't exactly right but you get the idea. Her collar was done with gold leafing. Now just for the record, in the past I have always been afraid of the paintbrush but this technique was so easy! I love mixed media! I'm a new addict but have to stop and finish writing a class!

WIP: Lady Zen

2010-06-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Well Lady Zen is bopping along and demanded I play with her today instead of doing what I was supposed to do. I suppose I should be grateful my Muse is popping in again to push me. Anywho, without further ado, I present the current status of my Lady Zen, still a work in progress. The background makes me mostly happy so next I will focus on the lady and try to make her more respectable (in an artistic way... I've nothing to do with her knickers!) and then I'll see what's next.

A close up shows you the lacey textured underlayer as well as the pressed and printed blooms.

As A Student

2010-06-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

I've been taking an on line class with Suzi Blu for La Petite Dolls. I thought it was all painting but the paper doll is done with colored pencils and the background is mixed media so it's still fun and not too far from my comfort zone. My first drawing is below. This is a stretch for me as the doll face was supposed to be really simple and I've worked at shading and highlighting for years. It's not as simple as it's supposed to be, but simple for me. When the drawing is attached to a canvas she will be dangling from a bunch of balloons.

My second drawing is my own style. I used the Zentangle method of drawing to decorate her head piece and am working on the back ground with lots of textures, colors and flowers so she appears to be in a garden. My own garden is such a lovely place these days. Hopefully it won't be long until I get to post the new gazebo Craig is building for me. He'll eventually screen it in so my cockatiel Pelly can visit outside while I work in the garden. He'll love talking to all the birds out there!

Anywho, Lady Zen, as I've begun to call her, will have a torso to just past her waist with a bouquet in her nonexistant hands. Suzi doesn't teach hands in La Petite Dolls and I'm in serious need of drawing and painting skills before I do some one my own worthy of posting here! So both these drawings are still a little rough with the intention that we add to them after mounting them to the background. Hopefully I'll find time to work on them theis week but first I need to focus on the workshop I am still writing!

Fiber Face Collage

2010-06-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

My newest endeavor has been to work on flat collage faces made of fabrics and fibers for fabric journals. I'll be teaching this on Joggles late in July. So last night, working on a beginer level piece I struggles like the Dickens. I kept losing pieces. Things like eye brows would just vanish from my workspace. Then I learned why.

It seems that my lovely little cockatiel, Pellenore was helping himself to bits as I laid them in place and went to focus the camera. Caught in the act, my little man was sent back to his perch six times! He wasn't happy with scraps I gave him, he much preferred his life of crime. So I laid a piece I didn't want where he had been stealing my needed bits and he absconded with a scrap thinking he'd won. Pelly is in his terrible two's, we have decided, but I do like having him in the studio with me. We just need to work on the rules and obedience stuff I guess.

Anywho, here is the finished face, after I remade one eye lid that I never did find. The lashes were trimmed after this photo, and are loose fibers. The workshop will teach the faces which can be later attached to clothing, bags and other spectacular places, as well as the fabric journal I am making. Just wait till I show you the highly detailed faces! You'll love them!

More of My Garden

2010-05-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

The above photo shows a cluster of plants in the shade. The large pink blooms are a geranium, while the pale smaller blooms are bleeding hearts. Above is a varigated hosta draping from a raised bed and the long leaves belong to a yellow bearded iris that was stunning, but needs relocated due to the lack of sun. Creeping sedum covers many areas of my garden and is the bright green low in the photo.

Behind the house we built a gorgeous area of various levels of raised beds. This triangle bed is the upper level and the grass path goes down hill two feet from this point. Can you see my fairy scampering to get out of the photo?

This is a rear view of the same triangle bed with an assortment of perrenials and a few annuals to fill in till things grow. The raised beds in the distance are vegetables, herbs and the boardwalk runs just behind the house from the drive to the studio doors.

This view shows the very back of the triangle bed and the lower level of the raised beds. White lights line the beds as well as the two arbor seats my wonderful husband constructed last summer. It's beutiful after dark as well.

Across the stone path from the triangle bed you can find my delpjiniums in blue, lavendar and white. I'm still looking for a pink one and a dark purple one to replace the plants I lost to deer years ago. With all the new housing devlopments near by the deer don't bother my garden as much, however they did find all the young fruit trees and we had to add fencing to keep the trees from being destroyed. The lattice work you see in the distance is the trellis side to one of the six foot long arbor seats. The seat is hidden by the bloomsThis view of the pond and beyond shows part of another arbor my husband and son built years ago, as well as the back path into the north garden I showed you yesterday. I just love the moss on the stones! Can you believe I transplanted it from the garden a few years ago as a 2 inch square on one stone?My little stone bunny sits beneath some roses across the path from the pond. Some of these roses also climb the arbor in the pond photo.

This last photo shows the end of the boardwalk. Three steps down are my studio doors which I love to prop open while I work. The birds are lovely to listen to. Now I have my own little bird Pellenore, a cockatiel. He visited the studio while I worked over the winter but I'll have to get him a harness or a second cage if he will vist while the doors are open. He loves talking to the birds through windows but even with clipped wings I'm afraid he'll want to go and party in the garden with the birds and fly away. We're thinking about adding a gazebo behind the raised beds and plan to screen it in to make him his own aviary. The porch swing in the gazebo will be so we can visit him. It's all about the bird, you know. LOL!

The Joy of My Gardens!

2010-05-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have been so blessed! My garden is overflowing with peonies, roses and other beauties. I'd like to share some photos I took today. My goldfish pond has a stone waterfall I built a few years ago and moss has graced the stones that get damp from the mist. I'm hoping the waterlily will finally bloom this summer.

This is the old driveway which shows a nice view of the north cottage garden and the edge of the boardwalk to the stairs and front door.

We built a garage on the opposite end of the house last year so have a concrete drive there and recently added a loop between them. Flowering trees and shrubs are along the side closest to the road. When they widened the road a few years ago they removed most of our shade trees and a beautiful blue spruce as well as a forsythia hedge, all of which helped to block road noise. Now we have a new hedge sprouting, alternating lilacs with the forsythias which was at my feet when I took this next photo. The house looks a lot smaller now that it is divided up like this. The dogeared fence hides the private hot tub garden.

I took several shots of the north garden which spans the width of our home while standing on one spot and then merged the photos for a quasi-panoramic view. Pathways wind through for access and raised beds next to the house create a nice shady place to sit most of the year. The landscape timber in front borders the driveway and actually follows a straight line, but if you stood across the drive where I stood this is how it would look as you visually scan the beds.

More photos tomorrow... I had camera and computer issues today and can't access them yet! Come and visit - you can see it all in person and sip some cinnamon iced tea!

In Memory

2010-04-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

In Memory of my Dad, Don Dildine, who passed last week...

I am one of Don’s four children and I’m here to share a few a few things with you about my dad. Dad wasn’t a super hero, a billionaire or a Pulitzer Prize winner. He was just an average, meek guy who loved his family and did the best he could with what he had.

Growing up Dad loved to take us on outings. He often wouldn’t tell us where we were going. Sometimes it felt like we were lost, just driving aimlessly or that he had no clue where we were going but we always seemed to come out with an adventure. We might end up on a stretch of road by the airport to pick bittersweet or at Lynds Fruit Farm to buy fresh apple cider. Then Dad would jingle his car keys and we knew it was time to head for home.

Dad had amazing patience. A good example is when I was a kid we had Aunt Donna and her family come and stay at our house for a couple weeks when they moved back from California. While they stayed with us I went with my two cousins and picked black berries. I carried the ones I didn’t eat home cradled in my pretty pastel shirt, which as I recall was probably new. Needless to say, the quart of berries made a royal juicy mess that I as a kid would never have observed on my own. When I excitedly showed the berries to Dad he ate one with a big grin on his face and then whispered to me, “Take this shirt to Aunt Donna right away so your mother doesn’t get mad about the mess on your shirt. Aunt Donna can get that stain out for you.” Years later when I was just 18 and driving his car, I had an accident. His response to me was not one of anger. He simply said, “Well, you had your shot and you muffed it. But we’ll work it out.” And we did.

Dad loved good food. There was never enough lemon in a lemon pie, never enough dessert and he always had a candy stash by his chair, which he shared with the dog. We all lived to eat whatever he cooked on the grill. He made these fabulous burgers by placing tomato, onion and all the fixings between two patties and then he pinched the edges closed. He always had hickory chips on the charcoal for an extra smoky flavor. Just yesterday my sisters and I agreed any time we smell a charcoal grill we think of Dad’s out door cooking. We all knew food gifts were great and it wasn’t unusual for him to get several boxes of his favorite chocolate covered cherries at Christmas.

Dad always knew what his gifts were before he opened them. He’d pick up the gift, rattle the package and say, ‘Thanks for the cherries, or the neck tie or the beef stick’ and then would only peel the paper far enough to prove he had guessed right. He was a tough one to fool no matter how we wrapped things and we tried hard to disguise the packages for many years.

Dad celebrated the simple joys in life. He would take us to parades and even before he rattled his keys we always knew we had to get back in the car as soon as the last float was in view so we could pull out and follow the street cleaners down the road,. He assured us we would be home working in the yard long before anyone else got home. Dad also loved inviting lots of friends, neighbors and family to the house just to sit on the patio for an evening to watch the night blooming Cyrus in the garden bloom and wither in between dinner time and midnight. We had lots of gatherings like that on the patio.

My Dad gave me my quirky sense of humor. My favorite times with Dad were when we would be alone in the greenhouse or garage and watch shows like Benny Hill, Monty Python or Bugs Bunny. He loved to tease and wing puns and insults back and forth just to pass the time, which has turned into a pass time with my own children. A rule at our house is, “If we don’t insult you, we probably don’t like you.”

If Dad had ever visited your home he more than likely worked in your garden. He simply could not walk past a marigold without popping off the dead heads, nor could he walk past a weed without pulling it. He would stop by our home in Westerville on the way home from the golf course and we’d sit on the edge of a flower bed and chat as he pulled weeds I hadn’t gotten to. Frequently he showed up with plants or bulbs or shrubs that he found somewhere for next to nothing. He was a big advocate for trading plants and buying seeds for the cheapest prices. In his garden lectures he always said all seeds were made by big companies and that some were packaged cheap as off brands. The “high class” gardeners spent their money on the expensive seeds assuming it meant they were the best while the “smart gardens” spent their money on the same seeds at a low price so they could afford to buy more seeds and raise more plants. If you ever visited my Dad’s garden you more than likely took home an arm load of vegetables because he planted all those extra seeds really close together to choke out the weeds and always had more food than we could possibly use. He was very generous with his vegetables and his garden tips. If you watched the video when you came in you saw photos of his garden.

I have the Bible that was given to Dad the year I was born and have been reviewing the highlighted verses over the last few days. There was a recurring theme. Dad believed in being like the lilies of the field, that simply had faith and don’t worry whether God will tend them or not. Phrases like, “Do unto others”, “Trust in the Lord”, “Delight thyself in the Lord” and “The meek shall inherit the earth” were some of his highlighted verses, as well as Job 21:21 which says, “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace; there by good shall come unto thee.” Dad always knew one day he would see the pearly gates.

Over the last few years as Dad’s health deteriorated sometimes he didn’t have much to say. But as we ended our visits or phone calls and told him we loved him he would say, “Daddy loves you too.” We didn’t want to see him go and but we didn’t want him to be trapped in his weakened body any longer either. He had many good friends in his life time, a family that loved him and he was tired. All four of us kids made it to the hospital to say goodbye and to let Dad know we understood that he was ready to go. Last Wednesday night God jingled His keys to tell Dad it was time to go home.

Lady Paisley

2010-02-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

New Doll! New Doll! Okay, a variation of my Paisley Praise. I taught this in Georgia a week ago and didn't attach her wings before coming home. Then a doll club asked if when I teach their club if I could offer an alternative to creating an angel as some members don't "do" angels. So, I left the doll without the wings and will adapt the pattern to include the doll seated with her hands in her lap as she cradles a small bird or some similar lovely.

Let me know what you think. I think these colors are scrumptious!

New Family Member

2010-01-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the New Year! In December I adopted a third son... Pellenore is a 10 month old cockatiel and hopefully he will learn to talk as he keeps me company when I create. He's content out of his cage and loves to watch movies with me. Pelly also swings over my desk from a branch that we mounted to his cage. He still is quite shy and doesn't like to be hand held but we're working on that a little bit at a time. In the spring, when it's warmer in the studio he'll join me there, for now, he supervises me as I work at my desk editing on line classes and patterns. I'm sure he'll inspire a new doll... eventually. Right now he is more of a welcome distraction than an inspiration but we're still training me too.

New Lessons!

2009-11-18T07:39:00.000-08:00

I've been working away here finishing new lessons for on line classes and creating some fun stuff! Two current classes include Creative Beadmaking and Altered Fabric, both still available at Joggles.com and because I got behind when I was ill over the summer I have been putting finishing touches on the lessons lately. I want to share a few photos!

This necklace was created with heat distressed Kunin felt beads and a gem stone bound with a wire casing, all part of the bead class. Matter of fact, it's the final project!

Marbling is my favorite technique when altering fabric. It's very addicting and you never know what you'll end up with! I could have wrtten an entire class just on that!

This blue piece holds a combination of techniques including painting with bubble wrap. The base fabric was gorgeous on it's own, but I think this kind of stuff is spectacular! If you are interested in any of my classes check out my web site at http://www.skeelhaven.com/ . I'll be posting January workshops before too long but my classes are all still open.

New classes

2009-10-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

I have scheduled several On Line Classes to start over the next two weeks. Each class has loads of step by step photos and the details for each are listed at the links above each photo. If you have never taken an on line workshop before, it's easy! The lessons are posted weekly, and each site has a system to either email or post messages back and forth so you work at your own pace and on your own time schedule. There is no official class time, but every student can see the other students comments, questions and posted photos and benefit as if they are in a classroom together. This is especially great because students from all over the world can (and often do!) participate in the same class. It's okay to sign up a little late, too, so go for it!If you are interested in any of these workshops the links and a quick peek for each is here. Follow the links for detailed information on each workshop, including number of lessons, price and additional photos.

Yesterday I started the Artistic Bead Creating, at Joggles. Create an assortment of original beads to match all your projects.October 30th I begin the Queen of Hearts at Cloth Doll Connection. She was created with absolutely no sewing machine . October 30th I begin The Harpy at DollStreet. Learn to adapt the techniques to create a Harpy as you imagine her; a beautiful goddess, angelic or an evil temptress.November 11th I begin Altered Fabric at Joggles. Begin with plain fabric, add dyes and paints and end up with fantastic pieces of original cloth for your own projects.

I hope you will join me for loads of fun in one or more classes soon! Till then, Happy Creating!

Paisley Praise

2009-10-05T05:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a long summer but I am finally well enough to create again and have my first new piece since May! While in the hospital with pneumonia and in really bad shape because of my compromised immune system I felt the hands of angels caressing me when I closed my eyes, giving me comfort and peace. During my 2 week hospital stay and the months of recovery following I continued to feel angels praising God, thanking Him for my healing and keeping my spirits high. This ordeal inspired "Paisley Praise." Her name comes from the paisley fabric on her upper sleeves, which was intented for the Hoffman Challenge (http://hoffmanchallenge.com/2009challenge/winners09/dolls2009.html) but as I was ill I missed the challenge deadline. I am nearly recovered, just working on getting my stamina back and avoiding germs as best I can, and now I am thrilled to share photos of my new piece with you. I will ship her out today as I finished her just in time to go to the Celebration of the Doll Exhibit held next weekend at the Houston Quilt Festival and I am already scheduled to teach her in January, 2010. I hope you like Paisley Praise as much as I do!

Paisley is an all cloth doll with articulated hands and a needle scolpted face. Her wings were created with layers of fabric feathers embellished with free motion embroidery. She is kneeling in her Renaissance garments giving thanks.

Twilight Sculpt -Work in Progress

2009-05-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I spent at the lovely home of Annie Hesse taking a class with Tasmainian artist Susie McMahon, who was wonderful. I've not done much sculpting in the past and never attempted a realistic figure in paper clay. It was soooo much easier on my hands than needle sculpting fabric. Below are photos of the actor Edward Pattinson who played Edward in the movie Twilight. I wanted to recereate his chiseled jaw line but seem to have done a decent job at capturing more than that. Not bad for my first attempt! I need to work on my painting skills, since I've not done much painting but I think I may have found a new love, and I don't just mean Edward! I'm looking forward to adding that wild hair and the manly eyebrows to complete his face to see just how similar they are.

So did I come home and start the body for this Edward doll? No! I started collecting photos for a new sculpt... Robert Downey Jr. will be my next sculpt attempt. There is a ton of character in his face and it changes drastically when he smiles so I expect it to be a much larger challenge... but where is the fun if there is no challenge?

Renovating the Yard

2009-04-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

Our oldest son Brian is marrying a wonderful girl named Alisha this coming Labor Day weekend. For the rehersal dinner they requested a cook out here and in our party barn. We didn't think that was fancy enough (- that's our excuse and we are sticking to it!) so we are renovating the back yard. Craig hopes to never have to mow a huge yard again and thinks gardening will be easier. We'll see about that! So he bought a baby back hoe and a dump truck for the project. He built some raised areas using landscape timbers and we are giving the yard tiers. This is a diagonal view of the yard. Using 720 red brick pavers we created a 17' across patio around the new fire ring so we have a great place to roast marshmallows now. I laid all the brick except the ones Craig had to cut to fill odd spaces. So here is an in progress view of the fire ring in the rear with Craig, my mini-greenhouses in the center (with the covers off so the seedlings get sun because it was in the 80s today), the new stone walking path and closest is the stone raised bed with azaleas. The board walk, deck and porch were projects a few years ago. The wood wall is further out and extend across almost half the area side to side. It's wonderful being married to a man who can do anything but boy are we tired!

More Beads

2009-04-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have had so much fun creating beads I had to share more. The leaves are finished here, and ready to string. Below are a few jewelry pieces created using my hand designed beads. This is going to be a wonderful class! I hope you like them too!

String 'Em Up!

2009-04-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

I strung some of the beads I've been working on. This batch of greens are complimented by some gold toned beads from my stash. Flat spacer beads cover the large holes in the round beads and an occasional green glass bead adds a little sparkle. This is a lightweight necklace and comfortable to wear! The red set includes a bracelet for a nice matched set. Very classy looking and I have just the outfit to wear with it!

These pressed polymer beads were fun to make and just popped out of my oven. I'm waiting for them to cool to add accent colors, but I think they are pretty cool already!
Okay, my favorites of the day: Marbled leaves. I began with polymer clay and have a little more to do to these puppies to finish them with pizzazz before stringing them, but I love the curl to the leaves. The curl held beautifully while baking too! They will look awesome on a finished piece. Who knew writing this on line class would be this much fun?

Bead Crazy

2009-04-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Well here is another fine mess of beads!

These were sooooo simple to make I feel guilty putting them in an on line class so I'll tell you what I did here to releve the guilt. Hmmm.... I wonder if chocolate guilt can go away that easily...

First I started with wood beads that had a 1/4" diameter hole. A big hole is essential for this! Then I painted the beads gold. Then I used a flat yarn and wrapped the beads keeping the yarn from twisting. This yarn has gaps, which is way cool at letting the gold wood bead show through but I did another bead using krinkled eyelash yarn and got a totally different bead look.

The bead above is the same concept, same wooden bead with a large hole. It had a walnut stain and I didn't even paint it! The hole is much tighter now, obviously from the bulky fibers but can still be strung and hung!

I'm headed back to the studio to play with more beads and maybe create some new jewelry!

BEADS!

2009-04-02T06:34:00.000-07:00

This week I'm working on making bead samples for an on line class where I will be teaching how to make an assortment of beads for various projects. Here's an "in progress" bead. It's a little bit of tweaked and fried Tyvek and still needs "embellished" but it's looking good so far. I love the textures!

Here's a gaggle of embellished felted beads. My next step with these puppies is to create a project using them. I'm seaching for just the "right thing" to compliment them.

I've got too many fun ideas swarming in my head again so I plan to spend the afternoon in the studio with the French doors open to warm weather, daffodils and singing birds. That should make everything work perfectly! Don't you just love Spring?!

To Florida!

2009-03-12T06:37:00.001-07:00

Well after a 6 month Sabbatical for health issues I am finally back to traveling and teaching. Tomorrow I leave for 12 days with the Fabric Floozies in Jacksonville Florida - my favorite doll club. First we have a three day class making Destiny (pictured above), then an UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) and then two days of Altered Fabric (aka Abused Fabric). They have planned outings for me, and lounging by the pool and I know it's my job but it will feel like a vacation! The weather has been decent here in Ohio but I think I could deal with 70 to 80 degree days for a couple weeks!

Memories

2009-02-18T06:21:00.000-08:00

I think of my memory as a filling cabinet. Some drawers are pristine (not many!)and some drawers are poorly filed so finding things is a challenge, but at 2 in the morning I may sit up with an “ah ha!” and can finally let a question go. My filing drawer for remembering names seems to have developed a large hole in it and things just piddle back out of it. When I meet someone new I may forget their name in 10 seconds no matter how much they impress me. They say this is an old age thing but I don’t really qualify for that in years. I think my brain is full. This explains all the miss filings and why I can remember the stupid stuff like what I ordered at a restaurant while discussing a certain topic with my husband… although I may not perfectly recall the actual conversation. It drives him insane! And since that is my job in life, to drive him insane, I shall continue to do nothing about it. Here's an oldie but goodie in my doll collection: Angel Fish, the Mermaid Bride. She's a favorite workshop for me as well as clubs that invite me to teach. Angel fish collects riches from ship wrecks and has embellished her wedding gown with her treasures. Free form embellishing techniques on her wedding tail veil include silk ribbon embroidery, ribbon and fabric manipulation and incorporating beadwork as well as creating lace unique embellishments from lace. In this photo Angel admires her new Marcaset wedding band embedded with miniature swarvoski crystals on her elegant articulated hands. She's been sold for years and yet I remembered all that.

First Post!

2009-02-15T16:15:00.001-08:00

One is only 49 once and I say, just having passed that milestone it is time to move to Blogger and finally set up a blog all veiwers can access easily. So, here I are, if I had a hat it would be in my hand, but that would most certainly slow my typing, so it's just as well.

Oddly, I was only 29 a year ago, but decided to accept the white hairs, arthritis and failing memory issues and get serious about being a child for the rest of my life. I plan to play in the garden more, searching for faeries more often than weeds, to accept blooming weeds as wild flowers and to covince all guests that the fuzzies in the corners are not cobwebs but faerie nests and that they should get used to them because life is too short to hold a dust rag too often. I plan to play with art more, expanding my media range and care less about the mess than the mystery. And I plan to eat dessert when I want to, despite the shape of my hips or thighs.

That all being said, here is my newest creation, still a wee bit of work left to do. The Enchantress will be photographed and posted again as soon as her throne is embellished, when her AWOL crystal ball is mounted to the throne and when her newly arrived mini Tarot cards displayed. I hope you enjoy her!
The Enchantress is dressed in hand painted silk, wears a beaded pigskin leather corset, and dons 10 inch mohair locks. The tattoos on her face and breast are completed with 3 mm swarovski crystals. Her staff is draped with her favorite symbols of power: a crescent moon, a key and a celtic cross, and is topped with an azure swarovski crystal. The textured gilded throne displays an open crescent moon in the chairback and has a cushion for comfort during extensive readings. Some day I hope she tells me her name so we can be a little less formal. I mean, seriously, what does it take for that? I've already seen her without her underwear!