Aug 31, 2009

A higher level...


...of water, that is!
Over the weekend we had many inches of rain dumped on us from tropical storm Danny as it skirted by us.
Our pool level became soo high that we had to actually drain water out. A pretty rare thing to happen in Aug.
But the dock!!
When my husband and I got done with a little trip around the pond in the peddle boat last night we took a few photos to show just how high the water level was.
As you can see....the dock is very nearly level with the water. As you walk over it you can see the water seep over the edges and between the boards. I felt like I was sitting on the surface of the water.
Under normal conditions there is a pretty decent space under the dock.
Just thought I'd share the visual. I haven't seen the pond this high in the ten years that we've been here!

Aug 28, 2009

Fenway

Last week my husband and I went to Boston for a Red Sox vs. Yankee game.

This was big time for us. Even living only an hour away....it's not something that we normally do. This time however, we were lucky enough to have been given a great pair of tickets to the game from one of my husbands clients!!
It's soo different to see it up close. The field looks sooooo big on TV...but in person it's actually much more intimate in size. It's also a bit surreal knowing that it's in the middle of a city like Boston and seeing the tall buildings in the background.

Yes...we did take part in the dinner of beer, hot dogs, and peanuts. No crackerjacks though.

I did take more pics than I could ever post here...but these are just a taste.
The two action shots I have here are of one great pitching movement with (I believe) A Rod in the background....and the other shot with the player on the ground is Johnny Damon, who, being I believe the first player up that night, started off by crying that he's been hit by the ball. Big baby!

Yes....of course I'm a Red Sox fan...lol


Aug 27, 2009

Haunted chunkies

On my favorite swap site I'm involved in a swap for "haunted house" chunkies.
I decided to put some of the rice paper to use that I've been painting for my other artwork. I think the blends of colors made for great background papers for these houses.
For the couple with ghosts, I did the ghosts in alcohol inks on clear acatate then cut the shapes and attached.
The skellie folk are all done on clear acatate as well so that when I attached them they could be seen through.
I had sooo much fun with the skellie folk that I decided to make charms from them.
The charms are done with a skellie stamp onto shrink plastic and then varied heads applied to that.
Just cut them out, punched a hole, and shrunk them! They are soo darn cute I got carried away and did far more than needed.
Guess I'll be ready for more haunted projects!

Aug 21, 2009

Paper Goldfish Painting

Finally.....I finally finished another piece that I had been working on for a while. I enjoyed doing the Koi piece that I had done earlier and thought that maybe I'd do a bit more with fish.
I really like the way this one came out. Each time I do one of these there is a whole new learning curve...but I guess that's the fun of it.
I got to use a number of painted rice papers that I created special for this one.
Guess I'd better get the next one in the works!

Aug 15, 2009

Altered keys

In one of my art groups we have having a challenge for an altered key. Having never done that before, I thought it would be fun to give it a try.
I ended up doing two...and before I knew it..they seemed to have a theme....Spring & Autumn.
The "spring" one was done with a silver key and I wired beads to it and made a batch of shrink plastic flowers for the top. I also added a pin back to it since it seemed so wearable.
The "autumn" was done with a gold key. I put an old jewelry finding at the top, added beads, then wired up and added the square beads to that. The lovely yellow autumn leaves were again done with shrink plastic.
The backside of this one is completely smooth so I left it the way it was so the person who receives it can decide if they want to add a pin or magnet or turn it into a hanging piece.

Aug 11, 2009

Mother & daughter weekend

One of my very favorite things to do is to spend some quality time with my daughter. This past weekend I had a chance to do just that!
We both had a weekend with available time to get together...so I drove up to her place to stay the night. On Saturday afternoon when I arrived it was such a beautiful day we decided to go off to the Marketplace Festival that was being put on by the MA. Horticultural Society.
It turned out to be an even bigger treat than we'd expected.

The festival was beautifully put together with some real quality crafters and great baked goods and farm fresh items.
Along with that there were some spectacular gardens. After we shopped around a while...we went off to discover and take pictures of all the wonderfully colorful flowers. The pics I've got posted here are merely a few of the many I took that day.After a long day of play at the festival we went back home and had a lovely dinner and watched movies together.
A leisurely morning with a great breakfast, cooked by my gal, and a
visit from another friend rounded out a really nice time.

Sarah...thanks for being such a great hostess!!

Aug 6, 2009

I like to fly

Finding art time these days is becoming harder and harder. I guess that this is why I enjoy trying to play in the monthly challenges at my favorite art site.
These challenges are for "one" item in a certain format and theme. Let's face it....during the course of a month I should be able to get one item done.....and I need to do art....so this gives me a good reason to escape to my art room!
This months challenge for a postcard was using at least three different medium and a theme of "I like to fly". Well....this little guy is what happened!
I used watercolor for the background, ink for the buildings and outlines, acrylic paint for the birdie, and circles of paper for the balloons!
I think he's pretty charming!