Family and Pets in Denver

I've just returned from 10 days in Denver with family. Within the past year, my son moved there and so did my sister and her family, so now it's a place I visit, whereas I'd never been there before a year ago!

I'm just going to dump in a bunch of photos with a little commentary here.

First of all, my son Kyle is very camera shy, so I only got two good shots of him. In one of them he's squinting from the bright sun on the snow, and in the other, well, you see how he loves having his photo taken. We had a really good visit, and it was fantastic to see him after 14 months!





My sister's kids, on the other hand, are little hams when the camera is pointed at them. And their dogs and cat are pretty photogenic too!











We had one good snowfall while I was there, and this Cali girl had to get a few shots:







The day after the snowfall, we went out to the ranch where my sister keeps her horse. It was just gorgeous out there, but sunglasses were a must:











Jen's horse, Flint, is a bit of a ham for the camera as well.







Nephew Ryan has joined scouts, and I got a good shot of him before a meeting. I also made it to his first-ever basketball game, but I forgot my camera!



I had grand plans for all the knitting I was going to do while I was there, but this hat for my sister is the only item I finished (doesn't it look great with here eyes?). I started a glove but ripped it out because it was such a mess, and am halfway through a lacy scarf too.



That's it for my vacation photos. Enjoy!

My First Assemblage

At the request of my former collage teacher, I agreed to make an assemblage incorporating a paper maché heart for a charity auction. After a few fits and starts, I decided to base the piece on a metal sign from an aircraft carrier that says "Ice Cream Room." Thus the ice cream colors and the attempts at coating the elements with "ice."






















The ice is made from a product called "Frozen Opals" plus layers of "Glossy Accents." I found that if I squeezed on the Glossy Accents, let it drip just a bit, then hit the drips with a heat gun, I could capture the drips.

Once again, I've run up against my limited photography skills, but you get the idea!

Last Postcard of 2007: Gossamer Curtain

December's postcard exchange colors were "on gossamer wings." I decided to do a gossamer curtain instead. I made the curtain fabric using water-soluble fabric and lots of different fibers all sewn with metallic thread. Here's the whole piece of fabric when it was done. You can see the fibers more on one side than the other.





Here are a couple of close-ups. This stuff does NOT photograph well!







I'm not sure how well I captured the theme, but I'm kinda partial to these cards, which look waaay better in person, as you can see through the fabric.

Huntington Garden with Nona

Last week I visited Huntington Gardens with my art friend Nona who was visiting from New Zealand and does research there along with her professor husband. I got a few good shots at the Japanese Garden so I thought I'd share them here. It was an overcast day, which made shooting photos kind of interesting. As you can see, I love the Japanese icon sculptures.

Xmas Hats

I was stoked when my sister and her family moved to Denver. Not that I wouldn't miss them terribly, but it gave me four people to knit for who would actually need warm stuff! I made them all hats for Christmas.











Here's Jen wearing Lexi's hat:



And in this one Lexi was way too interested in pumpkin pie to cheerfully have her photo taken:



Who wants pie?