Before and After

Once in a while as a parent I find myself getting into the habit of saying "no" before I even understand what my son is asking for. But it's really not that important that his clothes stay clean or his feet stay dry. Sometimes you just have to have fun and explore the world. These photos are the before and after of a 90 minute adventure scrambling over rocks along the shore of very shallow, but very cool lake water. At first I warned him not to step in water deeper than the top of his boots, but once he did the fun factor skyrocketed by 100%. Love that kid!

May Long Weekend Camping

There is nothing better for this writer's heart than to toss herself into a world of pure family secondment. An escape from reality. A way to live in the now. For my family that is camping. And I don't mean car camping or campground camping. I mean deep woods canoeing and camping. Everywhere we look, there is something new and wonderful to just feel and see. Ten different bugs, the colors of rocks, the leaves and pine needles, a water filled boot, a fish hooked in the eye, the dog's bug bit lip, our first wood tick, the comfy down sleeping bag, a lightning storm at night, the burnt lost marshmallow, and a cool piece of driftwood. Even though we've seen it all before, it's like a brand new experience every summer. The highlights of this trip were:
# 1 Gavin having to wear the same clothes for 2 days because only his bag got soaked in the overnight thunderstorm. He was just thrilled to be his filthy little self but he never did stay too dirty because he actually swam both days in the freezing lake. Brrrr!
# 2 Cooking corn on the cob over an open fire for the first time. Maybe because it took 20 min. to cook, but it was the best corn we've ever tasted.
# 3 Forgetting the big marshmallows and watching the boys try to roast the mini hot chocolate marshmallows. Gavin called it the Harry Potter technique because Daddy was dipping the marshmallow and stick like a wand into the fire for one second at a time. After about 6 dips it was perfectly magically browned.
Happiness is camping!

Well, I think it is time for a bit of an overhaul of my website. I've had it up and running since September of 2009 and I've only made a few small changes here and there. So now I'm going to take the next week to review every aspect of it and spiff it up a bit. I can't wait to add the new info about the Woodlands Gallery. I'm also going to organize my web gallery into works for sale, and an archive of sold pieces, private commissions and family collection. I'll also remove the patterns. I had such high hopes of creating all kinds of patterns, but I've found that every time I make something I just move on to the next piece instead of making patterns. If you have any comments or suggestions about my website and its navigation or flow, please send me a note through the blog comments. I'm always open to new ideas. This fibre art landscape brings a smile to my face because I was just inspired by buttons that day and it worked so well with the frayed linen behind it. It is also the first fibre art piece I ever sold. I think I hugged that poor fella. He never saw it coming.

Tracking Triple Seven - A Novel

What a fantastic book! I read this young adult novel by Jamie Bastedo over the last few days on a recommendation from a YA Fiction teacher named Anita Daher whom I met last week at the School of Writing at the CMU. She also has her own book that I love for teens called Spider's Song. We had a discussion about writing a book with two protagonists, one a human and the other an animal. She recommended Tracking Triple Seven and it was a lightning fast read. I was so pulled by the adventure that I could hardly put it down. It followed a tale of a young boy, the son of a diamond mine owner and a grizzly bear mother fiercely protecting her tiny cubs. Keep in mind it is a fiction for teens, but it was very engaging, especially if you want to write in that genre.

Woodlands Gallery!

Wish it, dream it, do it.
This saying is on the wall in my studio.
Your only limits are the ones you choose.
This saying is on my business card.
I truly believe that you need to surround yourself with good people in order to be a good person yourself. I spent some time with one of those good people today at the Woodlands Gallery. I am so excited to announce that today I signed the papers with Gallery Owner Jenny Tasker to have my fibre art displayed in her gallery. A real gallery. A major gallery. For me, this is a dream come true.

Poetry Writing Workshop

Well, my wonderful week of learning and writing is over and although the term "life changing" is grossly overused, I have to say that I savored every moment and my writing will never be the same. I am about to start the journey of my book. And even though I am excited, inspired and brimming with ideas, I will never speak of the genre or content of this book on my blog until it is firmly in the hands of some unknown but brilliant publisher because they chose me. To all of my classmates, it's been a wonderful experience! And to Barbara Nickel, you are pure sweetness!

Quote of the day

I have the most brilliant poetry teacher for this weeklong workshop. Today she gave me some one on one advice on a poem I wrote. She said the imagery and line breaks were there, but it left her wanting so much more. She was not getting enough info to clearly get my message. She wanted to know what I was hiding and who I was hiding it from. The quote of the day from her is "Write what you know. Be completely honest. Write as if the person you are writing about is never going to read it." This was the best day of class yet.