New Shop

I've just opened a new Etsy shop, diaimage. Right now it is just photos, some altered and some not. I'll be adding some other items as time goes by. The rose is one of my photos from the site.

collecting

I had a great day yesterday, I helped my husband cut wood (he cuts and I load) which meant I got to get out in the woods. The weather has been so nasty it's been a while since I've been out. The weather was cold but still, in the woods anyway, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

He cuts deadfall, and a lot of it has been dead long enough that the bark is peeling off, which means GOODIES!!! Which in my case means beautiful pieces of lichen and bark to bring home. I brought home a few pieces, but there are a lot waiting for me when I go back.

 

 We're supposed to be getting 10 to 13 inches of snow tonight, so it may be  a few days until I can go back.1

I finally got up the nerve to cut into my big gourd

I have an idea of how I want to proceed but of course it will change several times.I Never end up the way I started. This is actually the back. Cutting was  was the hardest part, now I'm cookin'.

I'm working on opening a second shop on Etsy, I hope to get it started tomorrow. I want to use it for photos and other things that don't fit into the theme of Beantree Designs. I'll post it here when I get it going. 

Blessings.

 

More Goodies

 I had planned to spend today in my studio, but as often happens with me plans didn't pan out.. Instead I spent the most of the day on the net, I hope doing productive things. I'm going to say I did, anyway.
One thing I did was look back through my Etsy favorites again, which of course sent me off looking at other great things.

ara133photography

RozArt 

  

NewCreatioNZ









TotallyCrosses

I went outside today and took some pictures of the ice that was coating everythnig from the freezing rain we've had yesterday and today. it was starting to melt and drip and I think I got some cool pictures.

Sometimes I worry myself. As I was going arournd the front yard I thought "wouldn't it be great to get a picture of the birdhouse with ice on the plant", kind of a partner to this picture, from my Etsyshop.http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=37421520 

Anyone care to guess where I'm going with this?

IT'S WINTERTIME. IT'S COLD. THERE ARE NO PLANTS
FOR THE WATER TO DRIP OFF OF.
Duh.

Oh well, I did get a lot of cool pictures of the bare branches

I saw a Bluebird!

I saw a bluebird a couple of days ago. I was thrilled, and of course I didn't have my camera. It's early for them to show up here, usually they don't come back until mid to late Feb. So it was really nice to see one before winter sets back in. I got a 2 mile walk in the same day, and it really felt good. I've been slacking BAD, I was walking two or three miles a day untill about 4 mos ago, then I started only walking 3 times a week , then 2, until I completely stopped. It's been about two mos now since I stopped and I can really tell. I have some Leslie Sansone Walk at Home DVD's that I enjoy during bad weather, I haven't even been able to bring myself to do one of them. So I felt really good about my walk Monday. Of course, it's Wednesday now and and I haven't done it again, but I WILL get started again. Really.

 I posted a picture of my workspace before, here is one that's just a little more realistic. I got enough nerve to dye one of only two larger gourds I have. Since I grow my own,and because of our growing season, most of my gourds are smaller.I'm figuring out how to help them along, starting seeds indoors before season, watering, etc.  This one is one I have been putting off starting  because I didn't want to mess it up. I like the color so far, and I have an idea of how I want to go forward.

I'll keep posting on the progress of this one, I think it may take a while!

Etsy Goodies

I've been lurking on Etsy for a long time, but since I started selling last month and started learning how the site really works, I've gathered a LOT of "hearts" for items I would love to have and artist who have talent to spare.
For the non-Etsyite, you chose to Heart a shop or item that you'd like to buy later, or find later, or just go find again to drool over and admire the talent.  Here are just a few of the many wonderful things I've found. 
Click on the name to go to the Etsy shop page.

TCaponePhoto 

villageofone

visionbydean

ellejewels

jewelrybycarie

Pattern?

Can anyone tell I'm a spring person by my previous posts?

keeping up....

I've found that the most daunting aspect to having a blog is keeping up with it. And the reason for that is...
What exactly do I do that anyone cares about?
I have thanked God more than once for my nice boring life. When I hear the drama-trama that so many have in their life I'm grateful  I live as I do. But I feel like it makes a pretty boring blog.
Then I thought , I have the gift of gab. I love to talk! But I love to talk to people face-to-face. I don't  use the phone much, just to keep up with family. So I need to get used to typing and hoping my words get my thoughts and feelings across to anyone reading the post. My mind rambles constantly, the trick is corralling the thoughts into a cohesive paragraph.
Wow, I need to learn to type faster. And better. And pray that spell check works REALLY well.
We finally have some decent weather here, we've been able to go outside without 19 layers of clothes. But I realize we have more winter coming, We just need this break!

Dreaming....it will return!









I love nature all times of the year, but it sure is easier to love when it's colorful and warm



Till next time,
Diana

No NCIS tonight

I'm a little ticked, our local CBS station is running a ballgame instead of NCIS tonight. There aren't many tv shows I watch, and I hate to miss one of my favorites. Even my husband is upset, and he likes college basketball, which is what they're playing! Oh well, I always have other things I can do.
  I finished a couple of gourds yesterday, I would have finished them over the weekend but we kept our granddaughter, and at 3 years old she gets all my time when she's here. We love having her, she is a ball of fun.
  We're still having bitter cold weather, and I'm still tired of it.

Maybe this will help:








Yeah, it's a weed, but it's GREEN and YELLOW
and it was WARM when I took it!


This, too, shall pass, and it will be warm and green and yellow and blue and spring! soon.
I've been doing a lot of looking on Etsy, and this weekend I hope to post some of my finds here. There  tons of wonderful things there.
Till then. Adieu.

I know that a lot of places are a lot colder, with a lot more snow than we have here in Virginia, but I sure am tired of it already.There seems to be a layer of ice and snow that just won't go away. It's been too darn cold for it to melt any. We've had a lot more snow than we usually have by this time of year, and colder earlier, too. It reminds me of the winters we had when I was a kid,which has been a few years ago. Quite a few.(don't ask.)
I've been working on a couple of projects with a new design, I almost have them finished so I'm excited about that. I'll post the to my Etsy shop as soon as I've finished them. Sometimes it takes me a long time to finish something, I'll set it up and keep looking at it until I have an idea what will make it complete. .
Here's part of my "studio" (which is also my storage, junk and exercise room and is converted to a bedroom when my grandkids come to visit.)
I'm the type who has everything thrown around me while I work, where I can reach it if I want it.
This is quite a bit neater than usual.
Everything gets put in boxes and under tables when the conversion to bedroom happens.

















These are items that are "glued up" waiting for the glue to dry. I found that sugar, rice, and popcorn in bags make good weights to hold things where I want them while they dry.






This is my light tent for photos. It cost a total of about $20.
Tablecloths from a clearance table for $4 each and a plain
white sheet give me a choice of how much light to let
through. Clip-on lamps I already had and GE Reveal 100
watt bulbs. Works great for a shoestring budget.

Enter

A new year. Every year as I get older it comes faster, is a little harder to believe,and sound a little stranger. 2010? Twenty ten. I guess it will be even stranger to say twenty eleven. Oh well.
I've been spending my time over the past several weeks entering into what has been a dream of mine for years, to open a shop online to share some of my projects with everyone hoping that they will enjoy them. I can't remember a time I haven't loved making things. I learned to sew and crotchet as a child, loved to draw and paint and collect rocks and watch bugs and birds and grow plants, and I haven't outgrown any of it. My husband and sons have a running joke about my "rocks and sticks". Why else would God make me love them so much if he didn't want me to bring them home with me? And if I love them so much, isn't it logical for me to want to share? Although I will admit logic isn't always my forte.
After a while I started to try different ways to bring all those things together, so that maybe other people could see the beauty in them the same way I do.
I do some beading, polymer clay, glass fusing, and am trying to learn (off and on) lampwork. I think digital cameras where invented just for me, because I have loved taking pictures since I was a kid , too. Now I can take as many of one thing as I want and pick out the good ones to keep. Of course, the collector in me doesn't want to delete the bad ones.
I want this blog to be something others will enjoy, also, and would love to hear what you think. I will make a real effort to stay up-to-date.