T'art

Poetic Endings

Birdsong

A bird with a voice like dripping water begins,
drop by drop, to fill up my head.

A bird with a voice like a car alarm
unlocks my gift of song.

A bird with a voice like a lawn sprinkler
showers me with love.

A bird with a voice like a cell phone
calls me out of my reverie…

Everywhere, all around…the Birdsong.
Mellifluous, ululating:
a raw cry.

A bird with a voice like a hyena
makes me giggle.

A bird with a voice like a fart
reminds me to smell the flowers!

A bird with a voice like a buzz saw
cuts off all thought.

A bird with a voice like inexhaustible longing
reminds me of you…

-Eric Lee

Published in Voices de la Luna – A Quarterly Arts and Poetry Magazine, Volume 21

 

Every Friday I am posting poetry by my brother, Eric Lee, under the title of Poetic Endings.  I feel reading a poem would be the perfect end to a week and a way to start the weekend on a great note.

 

Pink Heart Button Bag

While I had my buttons out I covered this pink heart bag.  I love turning something practical and industrial like buttons into beautiful works of art.

 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month-Pink Button Bracelet

 I was quite lucky to be a part of the Westcott Brand sponsored October Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop! 33 designers created projects for this on-line extravaganza! Being that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, the theme of the project challenge is… PINK!

When I was young I did not have access to the complex and elaborate games that my sons have today.  An afternoon's entertainment was stringing buttons from a huge jar that sat on my Grandmother's windowsill.  My Grandmother told me about a lovely American folklore tradition; the button string.  In Victorian times women in the USA collected buttons and strung them in lengths known as 'button strings'.  Being given a button was considered good luck.  The goal was to string 999 buttons because the 1000th button would be given to her by her true love.  Unfortunately, the tradition went out of style around the turn of the century.  I love to string buttons into bracelets.  The most common color is white but I scrapped enough pink buttons together to make one for a friend who has survived breast cancer. 

 

Poetic Endings

It's a beautiful day, sweet with the promise of love.

The sun shines within my heart, greater than the one above.

The wind whispers, the birds chime that all is as it should be.

And love shall have its perfect time - alive to all that could be.

-Eric Lee

 

 

Fresh Vintage Leaf Mobile

Eileen Hull - It is always a pleasure to get mixed up with Eileen Hull, her dies, and her Blog Hops.  This Fresh Vintage Mobile utilizes the Sizzix Bigz Die, Leaves #657119 by Eileen Hull and baker's twine from The Twinery www.the twinery.com.

A mobile is a type of kinetic sculpture constructed to take advantage of the principle of equilibrium.  They are most commonly hung over infants cribs to provide visual stimulation. I love mobiles because I like the idea of hanging your art from the ceiling. 

 

Except for, maybe Arizona, it's Fall and the color of the landscape is changing in the country.  It's the fascinating fall contrast of the quiet simplicity of leaves awash in a riot of fall colors that intrigues us about this season. For this project I cut leaves out of wool felt in greens, browns, red and yellows.  The die allows you to cut leaves in several different sizes and you can use them with or without the stems.

   

To tie the leaves, buttons and bird into a mobile I used Baker's twine from The Twinery. The Twinery at www.thetwinnery.com makes their twine from 100% cotton, it's eco-friendly and made in the USA. The baker's twine comes in 14 colors and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue.  I honestly have never used anything better!!!

Supplies : Sizzix Bigx Die, Leaves #657119 by Eileen Hull, Bakers twine from The Twinery in cappuccino, honey dew, and pea pod, 3mm pure wool felt in olive, forest, apple, light brown, and brown, 2mm polyester craft felt in gold, olive, kelly green, cashmere, and brown, vintage button, Fancy Bird by Maya Road.

Visit: Ohmycraftsblog for a chance to win a die!!!

Husk Cherries

 

On of the newest additions to my garden this year was husk cherries also known as ground cherries or cape gooseberries.  I  harvested nearly half a bushel last week as the plants have really thrived in the Colorado climate.

Husk cherries actually belong to the deadly nightshade family and are a cousin to the tomatillo, they actually look like tiny tomatillos.  It is speculated that the pilgrims made pies out of this fruit for the first Thanksgiving.  The plants grow low to the ground on strong, wild-looking runners and their delicate, papery husks turn yellow when they're ready to be harvested. When you peel back the husks, the glossy-skinned, raspberry-sized globes roll out.

The flavour is definitely unusual. The first bite releases a pleasant tart acidity, followed by an intensely fruity almost floral taste. I would describe it as a cross between a strawberry and  watermelon. Wikipedia lists both tomato-pineapple and tomato-strawberry flavours. I agree with all the combinations, the sweet aspect of the cherry is intriguing and difficult to identify.

A chef friend mentioned that husk cherries are being touted as a fabulous addition to salads.  I may try adding them to salads but I'm definitely making them into a pie for Thanksgiving.

Pink Project-Hello Kitty Clipboard

 

 

Westcott Brand is proud to be the official sponsor the October Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop!There are 33 designers who are creating projects for this exciting online extravaganza! Being that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, the theme of the project challenge is… PINK!

One of the items that I continually find at Thrift stores are clipboards.  I have been searching for a way to update them. They are light, portable, and made out of a variety of materials. Although we live in an age where you can schedule your life with the touch of your finger on a phone, traditional clipboards can still help you organize your daily life.

Prime your clipboard and select one of the many new colors or patterns available from DuckTape brand Duct Tape. This one is Hello Kitty.

Adhere strips of DuckTape be careful to line up the image and rub down so that there are no air bubbles, creases, or folds.

Trim the excess tape with Westcott scissors.

Paint the other side or cover with more DuckTape.  It is best to apply several coats of varnish to seal the DuckTape and give yourself a smooth writing surface. Clipboards can be used for recipes, meal planning, and grocery lists. Photos and children's artwork (makes it easy to switch out their little masterpieces), and mail and form organization.

Fresh Vintage Halloween Treat Tray

I welcomed the opportunity to use Eileen Hull's Scoreboard Vase Die which is part of the Fresh Vintage Collection by Sizzix.  Scoreboard dies hold up to being glued, sanded, inked, distressed, painted, and varnished.  And Halloween is the best holiday to use tarnished silver and, if your feeding a crowd, several of the vases come in handy.  After all, who doesn't love Halloween candy?

Supplies: Sizzix Scoreboard XL Die-Vase, 3-D #657125 by Eileen Hull ,  critters-Recollections,  Halloween ribbon-Celebrate It!, paper- Midnight Spell Stacks-DCWV, clear crystal stickers- Elements, black scoreboard, tray, skull, assorted candy, Sizzix Scoreboards XL Die-Cupcake Holder, Ruffle #656142 by Eileen Hull.

     Visit: Ohmycraftsblog for a chance to win a die!!! 

Instructions: cut five vases from scoreboard and one cupcake holder.  Note: it is easier to adhere the paper to the scoreboard and cut the die then to try and line up the paper and scoreboard if you were to cut them separately. Assemble vases and cupcake holder according to die instructions. Make one of your teenagers crawl up in the attic and get a skull votive holder.  Arrange vases on tray, fill with candy.  Use ribbon and extra candy as decorations.  I cut straw flowers from my garden as they don't really require water.  Dried leaves, straw, or corn husks would make good filler too.

          

 

 

A Halloween card and the last of Aunt Edna

 

     Due to an unfortunate hacking of my Typepad account I am re-posting a card I made using Karen Burniston's Spider Web Die.  Of course, this blog should be about the card and the die and it will be, but it's also about something deeper and more hilarious.  It's about Aunt Edna.  You see, Karen and I share a maternal aunt, actually the sister of a second cousin's grandmother.  One might be tempted to use the uber-hackneyed expression 'twice removed' but that phrase just pops up in conversation TOO much. Aunt Edna is simply 'the family we never talk about'.  And I've got more of those down in central Arkansas...you know the relatives that have more letters in their names then teeth like Cousin Rube...but I've completely lost contact with that side.

     Anyway, Aunt Edna wore crazy hats and cargo shorts Year Round!!  She raised spiders in an old barn behind the house.  I secretly suspected she would have preferred to raise them in a Roller Disco-but they're not quite back in style.  Things would have gone on this way for years if she had not read...'the magazine article'...while waiting for coffee at the Mud-in-the-Bucket Cafe.  It seems scientist have found a way to implant a gene in goats that allow the goats to produce milk that contains spider silk...Yes!.. Silk Milk...with this particular herd of goats.  Because, obviously, milking a spider takes a long time and goats are just easier.  Also, spiders tend to eat each other and cannot be effectively farmed.

     The Silk Milk is actually used to make artificial skin for burn victims, body armor, and air bags.  Spider silk is five times stronger than steel and much more flexible.  When Aunt Edna thought about the future she saw thick bridge cables on suspension bridges that weighed next to nothing and cool Super Hero costumes that would allow drunk college students to leap out of tall buildings with no fear.  I used a bit of spider silk to construct this card which made it so strong it can double as a tornado shelter.  Aunt Edna would have been proud had she not traded her spiders for a molasses plantation in South America...I recall Karen received that one last postcard from Cochabamba....

 

Supplies :  Sizzix Bigz Die - Spider & Spiderweb 3-D (Pop-Up) by Karen Burniston

 Midnight Spell Stack Set-DCWV, black fringe ribbon-Recollections, Journal stamp, Staz-On black ink, charcoal colored twine-The Twinery, Martha Stewart Halloween Borders.

 

DCC-Halloween

Sizzix Spider & Spiderweb die:

The Twinery baker's twine: