Happy Velentine's Day and Great Backyard Bird Count

These are the beautiful roses that my husband gave me for Valentine's Day. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. It's snowing outside right now so we're in for a cozy weekend at home although we are going out for a Valentine's meal tonight at one of our favorite restaurants. Below is the bracelet I have been working on this week. It is named "Winter Beach". I love the beach in winter. So quiet and peaceful. Check out my other bracelets in my etsy shop: http://pdlugos.etsy.com.

One last note, for all you bird lovers out there, this weekend is the great backyard bird count. So if you want 15 minutes of fun check out the website: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

Wet Felting

Yesterday I took a wet felting class at Table Rock Llama Fiber Art Studio in the Black Forest area of Colorado Springs. It was a wonderful class taught by Marlice Van Zandt. I have done a lot of needle felting, but this was my first attempt at wet felting. It is a fun process that has lots of possibilities. I love it for all the textural qualities and possibilities for embellishment. For a first try I think it turned out pretty well although I wish we would have had more colors to choose from. Of course, I had to make it difficult for myself by trying to do a landscape which requires lots of color variations. I think I will do some needle felting on top to even out where the black background shows through and then do some hand embellishments with stitching and beads.
Can't wait to start another piece so I know I can do it on my own.

New Year

So it's the start of another year. Can't say that I get all revved up about the new year. And the frigid temperatures have turned my daily walks into walking the treadmill--BORING! So I am suffering with a bad case of the blues. This time after Christmas really gets to me. It's at this time that I wish I still lived in New Orleans and had Mardi Gras to look forward to right around the corner from Christmas. Manitou Springs does have a Mardi Gras parade, but it is a sad imitation of the real deal. Parade takes about 10 minutes to get through town, no floats, just people getting dressed up acting goofy and no good music. It's so sad it is funny. But oh well, at least it is something.



One of my favorite blogs is The InspiredRoom. Yesterday's blog was about adding textural interest to your home during this spare time of year. She had some lovely photographs of ways to add texture to one's home so I'll share it with you here: http://theinspiredroom.net/2010/01/06winter-home-tip-warm-things-up-with-bits-of-texture. Enjoy.

The Light of the Moon and the Stars

LK Ludwig's photo prompt for today is the light of the moon and the stars. I scanned a 1926 illustration of H. Willebeek Le Mair from my children's copy of A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. The illustration goes with the poem Escape at Bedtime:

The lights from the parlor and kitchen shone out

Through the blinds and the windows and bars;

And high overhead and all moving about,

There were thousands and millions of stars.

There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,

Nor of people in church or the park,

As the crowds of the stars that look down upon me,

And that glittered and winked in the dark.

The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all

And the Star of the Sailor and Mars,

These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall

Would be half full of water and stars.

They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,

And they soon had me packed into bed;

But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,

And the stars going round in my head.

The Light of the Ordinary and the Everyday

LK Ludwig's photo prompt for today is THE LIGHT OR THE ORDINARY AND THE EVERYDAY. This is sunrise at my house on an ordinary day. Same scene everyday, but oh so beautiful. An ordinary day--extraordinarily beautiful.

The Light of Winter (L.K.Ludwig's photo prompt)

L.K. Ludwig is hosting a photo prompt, titled the Light of Winter, on her blog, The Poetic Eye. Here's the link: http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/the_poetic_eye/2009/121-the-light-of-winter.html It started yesterday, which I missed, but today's prompt is "The Miracle of Light".

Below is my photo. It is a photo of Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. GMF is a tiny town nestled underneath the mountains which rise high around it on 3 sides. Winter here can be terribly dark especially now when we are so close to the solstice. Sunlight on the pond at the center of town lasts from about 10:00a.m. to 2p.m. Being in GMF during these brief hours of sun makes the sun seem like a miracle. It is truly a sight to behold.

Cabin Fever

Finally the sun has come out and this is the view out my back window. Those rocks in the distance are the Garden of the Gods. To tell the truth, I really love gray, snowy days. I love the change in light. Living in Colorado we have so many days of sunshine and it is bright bright sun--no filtering by clouds or humidity. So when we get cloudy days I just enjoy the change. But after shovelling a foot of snow and the bitter cold temperatures even I was glad to see the sun. Here's what I have been working on while snow bound.