More....

Would you buy this card?

In preparation for a "one stop shopping" evening with vendors at a local church on November 21, I have been diligently creating cards to sell. I am over 100, and feel as though I should have at least 500 in order to offer variety to shoppers. However, I wonder if the ones I have made are marketable - they are "crafty", not exactly art. So I am posting pictures of them and would appreciate your input - are they marketable?

Please comment here, or to my email, and know that I am grateful for your honest opinion.

To the critics of the world....

In this time of criticism of public persona (whether it be teachers, principals, or the like), here's a quote worth thinking about, from Theodore Roosevelt, "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Beauty in the swamp

I just HAD to visit the Six Mile Cypress Slough today. Every other time I have gone was during the dry winter season, and I have been pining to see it wet. And see it wet, I did! While it was raining, part of the time! Everything was so much different - there were no creatures to be seen - no otter, alligators, squirrels, snakes.....very few birds were visible, although we heard more than we saw (an anhinga and 2 ibis), and the cypress knees protruded amongst ferns that went on forever! Every body of water was very smooth and glassy, and some were quite full of beautiful plants and flowers. These are just a couple of my favorite pictures from today's visit. Those clouds are actually the reflection of the clouds in one of the ponds, and the grasshopper posed for me on the way to the car.

More studio shots!

Here they are! My friends on Facebook have already seen these, but not all of you follow the FB thing, so I want to share some more. Remember, you can click on the photo to make it bigger if you want to see something closer; however, it's not THAT clean, so be careful!

Studio tour

Here it is - my studio in the sky! Clean, no less! At least, as clean as it will ever be. When we first planned this addition, I requested lots of windows for the light as well as the feeling of being surrounded by the trees and sky. Aren't they wonderful? As the building was erected, we were able to climb the stairs to the "floor" of this room, before the walls were built, and watch 4th of July fireworks. It felt like a tree house then, and still does today. As a tree climber from way back, that's one of my favorite things about it.
I'll be posting more pictures - stay tuned!

Can't stop myself....

from creating with wax! This pine desk set has been sitting in my "to be altered" drawer for over a year. I used gold and natural beeswax, two thin handmade papers I had stored, some bling and such I had stashed, and pretty heidi snapp tapes to pull it all together. As I was making it I was thinking of my daughter, Stephanie, but that doesn't mean she will receive this as a gift....in case she's reading this.....
Thanks again, Suze Weinberg, for giving me the skills to use this terrific medium!