Tuesday Morning Thoughts

I've worked added more scraps and blocks to the studio shirt while watching Netflix and Amazon shows.  Scrappy additions, and I'm not too concerned about being neat, but adding patches while I watch Grimm and other shows, keeps my hands happily occupied.  It gets even sloppier when I'm watching foreign shows with subtitles!

Adding smaller, approximately 1" squares

  Incoming mail from the last couple of weeks

Outgoing

Used some envelopes I found in my stash

for Connie's and Annie's

 found the pic of the Bronte sisters in a magazine

 tracing paper made this one so sheer,

I had to use a tissue paper wrap for the letter!

 gelli prints on deli paper;

the borage sticker was from Naomi Bulger

 I love the international stamps

I saw this Memorial for Undelivered Mail

on Donovan's blog.

Postal workers erected this monument at the Zenkoji Temple in Nagano, Japan.

 It stands in memorial to the spirits of lost and undelivered letters.  

I love the idea that the spirits of lost 

and undelivered letters have a memorial.

It was raining again this morning, but the sun just came out!  I love rain, but you know, only for a couple of days at a time.  Now, I wait for the garden to dry out again.  The rain was a blessing for the shrubs and trees that are in full bloom right now, and who knows what will be next--flooding? drought?  So in the moment, it is best to appreciate the beauty of a nice mix of sun and rain and plan to get back to the garden in a day or so.

Just one more thing--

I love these photos, and thought you would, too!

source:  White Wolf Pack has more pictures of these unusual companions.

Saturday Update

Snail Mail:  I've mailed six letters this week as I try to catch up on neglected correspondence.  Have more to go, but at least a start on responses makes me feel better.

Reading:  I read a lot more than usual in 2016.  Keeping up with reviews over at my book blog has been a challenge.  Not that I review all of the books I read, but I make every effort to review books from publishers so I will keep getting free books!  Most are reviewed over at A Garden Carried in the Pocket, but some of my favorites are scheduled for later in the year.  When I receive AR copies from publishers, I schedule books closer to publication dates and there are 17 reviews still scheduled to post in 2017.  

Studio Shirt:  I continue making new in-roads on the shirt.  Especially, when I need peaceful meditation, I add more embroidery and more blocks.  It doesn't matter that these additions aren't planned or careful or neat, they are more like ad libs--just stitching to keep my hands busy.  It is a work in progress since 2014, adding a little at a time.  New additions since September:

At 8:00 this morning, the temperature was 19 degrees.  Almost unheard of in Louisiana and last week was like Spring!  Weather app shows us back in the 70's next week.  

Hope all of you in colder states are surviving the arctic freeze and snow! 

Recycled, Repurposed--What Fun!

I've been using one of Fee's old shirts as a summer cover-up for chores or when the air conditioner cranks up. I bemoaned the lack of pockets for a while, but was too lazy to do anything about it.  (This isn't the same shirt as the one I've embroidered all over, although I keep it for the same purpose.)

So after kvetching about no pocket, I found myself  in the studio, just looking at some of the things I'd made that had no purpose whatsoever, when it occurred to me that one of the eco-dyed, leaf-printed pieces I'd embroidered on a couple of years ago, might make a good pocket.  The piece was already backed with muslin, so I sewed it on the shirt.

Next, I cut off the badly frayed collar, and pinned one of my embroidered fabric brooches over the other frayed portion.  Hmmm....and there was the little blue & white patchwork piece, and some embroidered linen.  Two more pockets.

 What next? 

 Some of the fabric brooches I'd made several years ago?  

Some of the newer things I've embroidered to keep my hands busy?  

All of a sudden, the choices were plentiful, and

the shirt has become a canvas for items 

that had no other use.

Other possibilities:

 I originally planned to use the hearts

on something else,

but they may go on the shirt, too.

I love Julie Arkell's textile pins all over an article of clothing, a Mermaid's Tale used a child's robe to display her brooches, Diane Savonna's  (Treasure) Hunting Jacket that is heavy with artifacts, Mandy Patullo's creative whimsey, Jody Bloom's Mourning Jacket, and Jude Hill's work that includes this shirt.

And two Etsy shops with similar items:  SistersRoseandRuby and Fleurbonheur.

Since I've made a foray into the studio, maybe some of the other things I've planned to work on may come to fruition.