It's Fall Fair Time

It's time for The Woodlands Fall Market and Fair, October 22 from 9 am-4 pm at Christ Church United Methodist Church.

I'm busy getting boxes filled and my truck packed, so these quick snaps with my iPhone (and lots of reflection in glass) are going to have to do.

Come to the Market to check out some of my new adventures in iris folding!

Or my new line of Fashion Statements...

Or maybe you need a turkey. 

See you there. 

Take My Heart For a Spin

Today I did something pretty silly. For the past several years I've had this table in my craft room. It holds my Silhouette machine and my laptop. It's a nice table, but it's really, really low. Whenever I had to use my computer or feed my machine I had to scrunch over.

I finally decided that I needed to buy a real big-girl desk, so for the past couple of weekends, I've been scrounging for one. I finally made Captain America take me around in his pickup today so we could bring one home. And we did.

So I got home, and I went upstairs to move the table out of the way, and it was at that point that I noticed that the legs were expandable, and tje tab;e could stand as high as all my other tables and my new desk.

I kid you not. Sometimes I can be so dizzy!

Speaking of dizzy, I've been folding books like crazy the past couple of weeks, but in between I managed to make this swirly, twirly heart.

There is something about iris folding that just makes me happy. My eyes keeps following one swirl and then find another one and go off in another direction.

This one made with pages from two different dictionaries and two atlases. I love the subtle colors and how they all blend.

In the middle of my heart is you...of course. What else would be there?

If you're looking for a gift for an anniversary, wedding, or your Valentine's sweetheart, it can be yours. Go ahead. I can make more. I have twice the table space in my craft room that I used to. Doh!

Go Big!

Last week we celebrated the lovely Miss Holly's birthday with some southwestern fare in downtown Dallas and...

...iris folding!

Holly had requested an iris folded U.S. map several months ago with a special ask--she wanted it big! This took a little thinking on my part. I needed to find a frame the right size and then I needed to figure out how I was going to cut out a map that big.

How big, you ask? Well, if this is the size of the original iris fold map I did...

...THIS is the size of Holly's map.

I eventually ended up using my Silhouette Cameo to make the map out of two 12" x 12" pieces of cardstock and pieced them together.

Then came the fun part.

I used paper from two different atlases. 

This one...

...and this one.

And two different dictionaries, too. 

A mat and a frame later, and Holly got her big map.

Interested in a giant iris fold for your house? Give me a shout. I have lots of atlases waiting to be swirled.

Why Do I Know So Many People From Woodward, Oklahoma?



I know a lot of people from Woodward, Oklahoma. I'm not sure why that is. I mean, obviously, it's  near my hometown so there's that. But there are lots of places near my hometown where I don't know anyone.

 

So I'm stumped. But the nicest people come from Woodward.

 

There's Patti and Merlene that I met when I was in high school.

 

Then there's Eleanor and Terri that I met when I was in college.

 

And then there is Janet who walked into my church in Spring, Texas, one day and announced she was from Woodward. Go figure!

 

Janet is a big fan of my iris folded maps and she has commissioned several including, the map of Texas which helped decorate her daughter's wedding, and...

 

...this beauty of Louisiana for her daughter-in-law.

 

Finally, she broke down and bought one for herself. So here is Woodward, Oklahoma, looking like a chocolate and vanilla swirl cone with a bright red sprinkle in the middle shaped like a heart. Isn't it delish?

 

 

Want a map of your hometown? Order one on Etsy!

 



Swirly Twirly Louisiana

I've been learning some interesting things about iris folding these days. Remember this guy? The swirls and twirls that you get depend on where the iris is.

 

 

And whether you twirl right...

 

 

...or left.

 

Book Review: We, the Drowned

Title: We, the Drowned
Author: Carsten Jensen
Format: Kindle
Reading Dates: 1 Apr 2014 - 13 Jul 2014
Rating: ****1/2

I have decided that 2014 is not going to be the year that I try to get twenty books off my "to-read" list. It's going to be the year that I read long books. We, the Drowned is the first of my epics, and it is a dandy.

About a year ago I was sequestered in a hotel somewhere in LA waiting for Brian to audition for The Voice. There was a lot of down time and a lot of together time with Brian and at one point he said that he was ready to read an epic. Coincidentally, We, the Drowned was the next day's Kindle Daily Deal and it was described as a story "spanning over a hundred years," so I bought it for both of us on just that recommendation alone. It took me 10 months to start it; I shouldn't have waited so long.

The book is the story of the Danish town of Marstal and its people, many of them sailors whose livelihood depends on the sea. But the sea is fickle and many never return. The story begins in 1848 as Denmark and Germany go to war and for the next century follows the fortunes of men who board the large ships that leave Marstal and the women left behind.

The narrator of the book uses the pronoun we to tell the story of these men. At first I found that distracting but as the stories rolled on I began to see the point and by the end of the book I loved that Jensen used that technique. How else does a town refer to itself?

This book really grew on me. I had trouble finding the rhythm of the book at the beginning and then about a third of the way through I found myself wishing for free time with my Kindle so I could read some more. When I finished I went back and reread the beginning (that never happens) and I appreciated it so much more than on my initial reading.

Really great book! Highly recommended!

Love is in the Air - Texas Style

I've been iris folding again. This time for a Texas wedding.

 

 

A few pages from an atlas. More from a dictionary. All centered around Houston.

I can't remember making anything that involved glass before. I need new techniques for taking pictures.

But you can see how it stacks up against my earlier efforts.

Oooooooooooklahoma!!

I went back to Oklahoma the other day to see my BFF from high school, Laura. Here we are about 10 years ago when we were leaving high school. (Ok, maybe 15 years ago.)

And here we are the other day. 

We're all dressed up because Laura was becoming a mother-in-law. Check out her gorgeous daughter, Lauren!

And check out the beautiful scenery behind her. We were in Cheyenne Valley and those are the Gloss Mountains. (OK, you Colorado friends, quick snickering at the word mountains.) They provided the most remarkable backdrop for a lovely, lovely wedding.

My hometown sits just beyond these mountains, and like most things that you see as a kid all the time, you really don't notice them after awhile. But at the wedding I couldn't help reveling in them. After so many years, the red dirt, green grasses, and white gyp capstone layers just took my breath away.

So when I went home, I decided to make an Oklahoma.

The technique is called iris folding and it's something that caught my eye on Pinterest. 

It done by layering different kinds of paper in a spiral pattern. There are all different kinds of patterns you can use. This is one I made myself based on a quadrilateral.

I used pages from an Oklahoma atlas (look, there's Wakita, where our farms are)...

...and dictionary pages (of course).

Then I added a sparkly star on top of Fairview.

Actually, the sparkly star is probably closer to Seiling or maybe even Taloga. 

But still. 

Close enough for a first try.

I do think I'm going to try more iris folding. It really is fun and all the possible combinations of paper and patterns makes me giddy. Seriously, do a search on Pinterest and see all the cute stuff.

And speaking of cute, is this the cutest new family or what??