Look back at 2016

I started off this year quilting on my English paper pieced quilt, inspired by the passacaglia quilt. I will post a photo of it soon....where I hope to pick it back up and start again.


And then I worked on a future mandala e-class that never came to be because I lost the videos of painting 6 mandalas when my computer died. Took me most of the year to go replace the dead PC with a mac (that I still barely know how to use.) I use my new iPhone instead.







I did finish my children's picture book; the Bee Queen's Message and self published it. I offer it in my Etsy shop.
I also offer the other book of mine that came out this year; Mandalas for The Inspired Artist.
And
I had a mandala tutorial and interview in the on line magazine heArt magazine!
3 big things from my bucket list!!!!

I started a second children's picture book; an alphabet book.
I made a lot of progress before getting inspired elsewhere. It is on the list to finish in 2017, along with the novel started years ago.



















This year I made a daily list of things I was thankful for; the first post was Here...I did keep it up all year.

I put a lot of art in my sketchbooks....







And I designed a lot of fabric, my main seller being a doll... the Bee Queen.

























I designed a logo and new headers for my Etsy shop, blog and the new website I created then let go....

I created a few tutorials for the blog....Hombre garden tags
And
Designing your own fabric
And
Butterfly wall art

I have book proposal out that I have high hopes for in 2017.

I started a new series of blog posts about finding small magic on life. The first one is Here

I worked on designing monsters and will create some projects with the final designs in the year to come. I also designed and created some new items for my etsy shop: textile embroidered and painted pieces, little penny dolls, mini books, a pouch of story rocks, and a pouch of meditation cards. Then I ended the year sewing again, this time on little ornaments of felt.

Other than art wise.... I had grown kids move out and back in. The house has been a bit crowded with the now adults and all the pets, but it is still nice having them home.
They are all so different, I have no idea how they are all mine. Here's the oldest , Brandy on one of her many hikes in Arizona...







And here is Jesse, next in line, a hippy who loves pets and is nothing at all like Brandy's athletic personality....







Next there is Wade Whiskey, who turned 21 and who is now a Nihilist, (I know, he doesn't look it but what actually does a Nihilist look like?) and the only photo I have of him all year is this one his sister took on his birthday....







My youngest had a growth spurt and now towers over me at 5'9" and 240 lbs at 14 years old. Thankful his violent tendencies have gone down as his weight has gone up! He is a sweetheart still...







We went back to "our" cabin at Gilbert lake again his year and had a nice quiet week there.
And I enjoyed my garden again this year, even though it was a hot dry summer.







That pretty much covers my year, everything I can think of at least.... now off to make more plans for 2017!

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My 2016 in books

In 2016 I joined Goodreads challenge, and decided I would read 24 books, I managed 26. (Half read and half listened to on audible)

Click here to see my list

If you check out the list you will see it is fairly varied but there are two themes that run through my choices this year; (although I would be hard pressed to come up with the reason for these criteria)
1. Books set in bookstores or libraries
and
2. Books set in Scotland
(One was even set in a bookstore IN Scotland!)


My favorite genre of novel is magical realism, with time travel being a close second,
and
My favorite authors are: Alice Hoffman, Sarah Addison Allen, Sue Monk Kidd, Bill Bryson and Tom Robbins, and now after this year's books I have to add Kate Morton and Susanna Kearsley.

I tried but cannot pick a favorite of the books read this year, I loved almost all of them for different reasons. And I could never be a critic because I feel bad admitting there was one I didn't enjoy....I would be crushed as an author to read a bad review so I wouldn't want to be the one to write one either. But, OK, I really didn't care for the writing of 'Christmas Kiss', and I am usually a sucker for any Christmas book if it's read in the weeks before Christmas. This one just was all tell, tell, tell not "show". (But don't tell L.L.Muir I said that.)

Wildwood was one of the last books I read this year. I picked it up in a free bin because of the cover art. And as a bonus it had an illustrated map or two or three in it. (I am always a sucker for a book with a map of it's setting.) This is a middle reader book and I did enjoy it, and plan to get the sequel. It is the kind of book I would like to write and/or illustrate.....



















'Mr Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore' was the last book I listened to this year. It was narrated by Ari Fliakos, who does a great job at using multiple voices. It was the second book about books that I listened to narrated by Ari. He is perfect at reading slightly sarcastic oddball lines like.... "I can never go to any parties because my shift at the store starts at precisely party o'clock" and "this is gerritszoon display, suitable for billboards, magazine spreads, and apparently occult book covers, see it has pointier serifs. Matt nods, the serifs are pointy indeed." And when he reads them they end up sounding clever and sarcastic, but not geeky. I really enjoyed it and have put the sequel on my 'to read' list.

And lastly...






I got a ton of art books for Christmas so I thought later in another post I would show my full stash of art books and pick my all time favorites.

See ya in a few more days with a 2016 look back!

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Merry Christmas

At work,we chose to donate to the Bath National Cemetery for the laying of the wreaths instead of exchanging gifts. Here's some photos of this Cemetery. I didn't attend the wreath laying ceremony because we were picking my daughter up from the airport but I believe volunteers who help lay the wreaths speak the name of the veteran aloud and take a moment to thank them for their service......





















Merry
Christmas
everyone!!!!!!!!










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A glimpse in my sketchbook

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Countdown

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Countdown

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Feeling better

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Countdown

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My new wonky word of the year ornaments

Not really meant as Christmas ornaments, these are more to hang where you can see them all year, over a desk, by the sink where you do dishes, next to your work space....

They have a bit of fabric machine sewn, and a bit of felt hand sewn, and a bit of watercolor paper tied on. Too much fun to make only three, more to come I think.

(And the felt is made with 100% post consumer recycled plastic bottles, and they are stuffed with recycled plastic grocery bags so you can hear them krinkle a bit.)




























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Practicing lettering on my sketchbook

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Another felt ornament

Just finished.....





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