Handwork, Snow, and Sheer Joy

This is a small case that I made for carrying some of my needles, small scissors, etc. for my hand-stitching projects when I travel. It was very helpful on my trip to Colorado last week. I suspect I will look on it fondly as my web and buttonhole stitches improve with practice!

There was 36 inches of snow in Aspen in 24 hours. While it created havoc with my flights, once I did get there, the snow was just beautiful. I got out to take some photos on my 'morning off' from child care.

The most precious part of my trip was sharing a week with my granddaughter. It is impossible to spend time with a two-year-old and not be reminded of how great it is to be able to be 'in the moment' and experience sheer joy in just being.

Check out Off the Wall Friday to see what others have been up to.

Sketch Week!

Last week I was out with my beautiful granddaughter and her wonderful parents. I treasure these visits and am gradually learning to adjust my creative work for 'weeks without sewing machine'. This time I did a lot of sketching. Alisa Burke had a great post earlier in July about sketching on the go. It struck a chord with me, possibly because I recently started following Dawn Giddings' blog. I met Dawn a few years back at a SAQA Conference and have been in awe of her sketching abilities ever since. She is posting her drawings regularly on her blog and that is enough to inspire anyone!

For my trip out west, I took that handy portfolio that I had made earlier this year and had been sitting empty in my closet and filled it with some of the supplies that Alisa suggested.

Every morning I took some time to sketch a bit and found myself really enjoying the process. Typically I would start with a sketch of an object within sight and then elaborate.

These were some rocks outside my window that evolved into the start of greater landscape.

Would you believe this started as the side of a running shoe?

This carried the same idea in a different direction:

While I thoroughly enjoyed my week of sketching and hope to continue the practice at home, I can't say it was the highlight of my week. Someone else definitely took that spot:

Grandmama reading a bedtime story