Family

Here is the family celebrating my 66 years of life!! Laurie and her family are on the left, Tiffany and Leslee's family are on the right. Leslee and Rich have 2 little ones, and 2 teenagers from Rich's previous marriage, although only one, Myranda, is in this picture. Three fun, beautiful daughters and great son-in-laws, and 9 cute grans.

My oldest Grandchild Andrew, with my youngest Grandchild Claire, enjoy the music together.

Christmas 2010

Decorations in Wichita, Ks.  (not my house)!

October Already!!

Really, October is almost over.  Where did this month go?

I finished with the cabinet's, painting the walls, and moving the fridge from
one wall to another!!  I will take pictures the end of the week after I hang
some of the goodies I bought at the antique show this last Sunday. 
Now it is cleaning and getting ready for 3 days of out of town company.  I cant
wait to see Dick's cousins from Minnesota.  I will be baking and freezing goodies
tomorrow in anticipation of their arrival.

Have a wonderful cool fall day in your neck of the woods:-)

Remodeling

I have been so neglectful writing and posting pictures on my blog.
Actually I have been remodeling my kitchen/family room so I can
sell my home. I want something smaller and easier to take care of
so I can just relax, create, and watch the gardener do his magic!!

Not sure where I am going...but I found a wonderful blog with
pictures of cottages that are stirring my soul...

more to come...http://decordeprovence.blogspot.com/2010/09/charming-cottages-from-around-world.html

Middle of the Week musings

Finally the heat has broken, and it is cool in Kansas this morning.
A hint, just a tiny hint of fall on it's way.  The dead leaves are not
from the onset of fall, but from the intense heat we have had for
several weeks.  I grabbed my camera to take pictures of dead leaves,
but the lawn service swept them all away.

I will enclose a nice picture of cool...from inside my studio last winter. Ahhh that helps.

My dear friend brought me 2 cases of Colorado peaches this week and immediately I knew what to do.  I was hungry for a peach cobbler and the package arrived right on time!!  Imagine that.  I am so glad the Universe can read my mind.

Aren't these the most luscious peaches?  They were huge and just the right firmness.  I had juice running down my arm when eating one...

Sugar, water, sliced peaches.  Opps, I should have taken a picture of the batter;  flour, sugar, lots of butter and milk.

Well, here is the finished product, right out of the oven.  The brown on top is cinnamon.

My two helpers in the studio.  This was taken about 5:30 am today.

Finally I finished my first "funky" purse.
No rules...just let my mind flow with all
of the paraphernalia I had gathered. It
was fun and easy sewing.

This piece of fabric reminded me of a bee hive.

"zee label for my work.

I would call this the front of the purse. This is made with re-purposed materials that I have picked up here and there. Any lace used is from France, and the linen side is linen purchased in an antique shop that was going out of business. A small bitty place with treasures. I could kick myself for not buying sheets and sheets of old monogram patterns for the alphabet. They were use to embroidery linen sheets. Guess I will have to go back!!!

the other side of the purse. Lots of fun things to look at.

..and finally the handle. It is four different color and type of ribbon.

I am working!! Just can't show you what it is until I finish.
It is so hot here..107 today, that I have to keep telling myself
to keep moving.
Something fun for the last two week; five artsy gals are getting
together in a wonderful studio (one of the five) and creating
something new each week...or at least finishing a project that
was started. Her place is in the country and contributes to the
mind set of possibilities. A little bit of heaven on earth.
Her studio is out of this world big and full, I mean full, of
wonderful everything; antiques, huge tall cabinets filled with
lace,ribbons,fabric, paints, jewelry, you name it, she has it.
Maybe she will post a picture of her studio on her blog.http://nikisfragments.blogspot.com/

Have a great Monday.

Niki's Fragments: Hand Dyed Silk Velvet

Niki's Fragments: Hand Dyed Silk Velvet

न्यू Project

The beginning of a new shoulder bag without a pattern. Making it out of "stuff" found at thrift stores, in France, etc...

My newest find is this antique sewing basket made in Germany. It will be in my studio along with antique pin cushions that I like to collect. This beautiful basket has beautiful glass beads on top
and has been lovingly used...a lot!

I love the rounded corners.

The inside is very tattered, but one can still see the beautiful silk lining. I wonder who used this? Did she live in Germany or was this bought in the States??

The stamp mark on the bottom
reads Germany

This weekend I moved my potter from high in the kitchen, to a old cabinet I had in the dinning room. This is Frankoma Pottery and what makes it special to me is most of the pieces I have collected have been made with Ada clay, which is indigenous to where my people come from. My biological Mother lived in Oklahoma all of her life and Ada was her home most of her years. Two of my sisters live there still.

Thought for today since I don't have any pictures just yet. Tomrrow I will.

May those who love us love us, and those that don't love us, May God
turn their hearts; and if he doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn
their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.

Lace I bought in France and 2 of my beautiful antique card. I went crazy buying these old cards.

Keeper of my lace and trims...well not all of them!!!

Lovely communion arm band from France.

OHHHHH, how I love this piece of lace!! I bought this in Avignon France, when we five were antiquing with Corey and Yann. It took a while to decide where to hang it...but the hallway was just perfect. I can see it from my studio door.

Finally I have something accomplished after coming home from France.
I wanted to make a skirt ( to hide stuff) around my work table with
gunny sack material trimmed in old sheets from France that I purchased.
I love it, and the stenciling came out just the way I wanted.
Now, I have to get busy and create.

Suzanne sitting on the rocks by the sea. Such a beautiful town, and port. Miss being there.

This is the "candy man" at the Roussillon market in France. I bought much candy and brought home to enjoy with family. I forgot to give it to family! Sure was good....hahahaha

Suzanne saying goodbye to our France home. I should have taken pictures when we got there..the place would have been cleaner!

This was part of the living room looking into the kitchen

This was the kitchen in our apartment in Apt, France. It was roomy and we had some fine food to eat in there!!

We are the USA Girls headed over to France to be French for just 10 days!! We are at the airport in Wichita, Ks ready to board the plane for a wonderful adventure.

more...

A day at Cassis on the Mediterranean shore. We hired a taxi to take us from Marseilles to Cassis for a few hours before we left for the USA. We had a nice
long lunch at the outdoor cafe and dreamed about owning one of the many boats that
were along the pier.
The water was wonderful, but the beach is very rocky, so not much barefoot-in!!
more to come.......

The markets were so much fun and there were so many things to buy!! The smells, the flowers, the olives, the clothes,shoes,scarves, and the delight when we would stop and eat in a cafe. The food was perfect.

We sure got our exercise climbing these stairs 2-3 times a day. I kept thinking of the Nuns who lived there many years ago..and the many times they must have climbed those stairs.

We stayed in Apt France in an old monastery that has been restored. The owners, Nathalie, and Jean Bernard have done a beautiful job. This is a picture of the outside from across the street. We stayed where the window shutter are wide open on the 3rd floor...

Our trip to France in May 2010

We did it!!!
Five adventurous women set out from Kansas to discover the wonderment of southern France. We were not disappointed!! The shopping was out of site at all the little markets we sauntered through in Apt, La Marouin, Rousillon, Avignon (the best for antiques), Bonniieux and for wine we visited the Chateau La Canorgue in Villenevri, then to I Isle sur le Sorgue, Aix en Provence and Marseilles and our trip to the Mediterranean and the little town of Cassis.
We had lunches and dinner at little cafe's though out the region and the food was
always delicious. The coffee was heaven.
Each market was filled with sensory overload in sight and smell. Yummy breads, fruit that looked fake, but, oh so good to the taste! Flower vendors, candy, cheese, fish, clothes, scarves, shoes, handbags, baskets, jewelry, tablecloths, etc. The fish was a little fishy and I usually moved right along!!

more to come.................

And..the baby always hamming it up for the camera. Usually it is her older sister doing that!

Happy Mother's Day to all the women in the world whether your skills are given to 2 legged or 4 legged beings, we all Mother something.

Photo of the cooks...one is missing, talking, or just roaming around.

Yesterday was May 5th or what would have been my 48th wedding anniversary to my soul mate, but 8 years ago, destiny had a different plan, and he went ahead of me to the wonderful world waiting for all of us. I have healed.

It is beautiful in Kansas this morning and I thought I would share my finished projects that I am trying to catch up on before I leave for France. It feels really
good to accomplish something that has been waiting for weeks...ok months, to be finished and on it's way to a wonderful person.

Well it has been weeks since I looked at this page!! Hasn't changed much.

But this is my excuse! I have a new resident. yes...I will call her Madame A.
She slipped in the house 2 months ago and decided to sit on my shoulders!! She burned with desire clear down to my elbows! I would try to shake her off with bits of white stuff, but she would not budge. Then she kicked me in my butt!! REALLY, I am not kidding. ENOUGH, I said!!

I tried to pawn her off on my Doctor, but she would not take her and sent me to the
"see through your body place." They did not want her either. Finally, I found a special Doctor that invited us in and said; Fear not, I can help get her off your back.

I was sooooooooooo happy. He sent me home after much testing and gave me more white stuff to feed her, and she slid off of my shoulders, patted my butt, and left my house to probably go visit someone else my age.

Her real name is; Polymyalgia Rheumaticia. I hate to say this, but she is one mean critter. Each day is going to be better and better!!

This is the view out of my studio window.

Just a look at what the last few weeks have been like here in Kansas.
Cold, snowy, and beautiful. The Cardinal's almost glow on the limbs
next to the snow.

This is the angel that keeps me company while I work in my studio. I change her accessories frequently, depending on the season. Her name? Well someday's it is Mary
Catherine and then other days it is Mary Elizabeth Anne Marie. I don't know why it changes...it just does.

Good Morning from inside the freezer!! It is cold in Kansas and I am writing this in my pj's and warm socks.

This Blog thing is new for me, so my page is in progress as I search for pictures of all of the goodies I have created this past year. Having three daughters, 5 granddaughters, ages 2 1/2 to 22, and 4 grandsons, ages 4 to 26, I can keep really busy making the "new look" in pillowcases and repairing broken zippers to ripped jeans!! (I thought ripped jeans were in??)

My friend Dana, who lives in Utah, does most of my machine quilting. We share ideas and sweetly compete to get things done first!! We get together once a year for "Quilt Camp." Her sweet husband Steve takes good care of us as we spend our 2 weeks sewing, shopping, laughing, and actually finishing projects. I will share some of these on my page.

I love to embellish any fabric with everything I can find. Pictures to follow. (I sure wish I would have been more organized of pic's I have stored on my pc and cd's).

This is the beginning. More to come.
sharon