Morning Glory Studio

stories of me: A - Z | K...Kintsugi - 金継ぎ

     Nearly twenty years ago, my friend AJ took a potting course and gave me two bowls she threw. I have treasured and used these bowls over the years. When we "moved house" in January, i.e., rearranged the function of the dining and great rooms , I accidentally broke both pieces. The smaller one was sitting inside the larger one and so they both fell as one. I was heartbroken and bummed.

Several days later, I read about kintsugi in Patti Digh's Your Daily Rock: A Daybook of Touchstones for Busy Lives . Kintsugi is a Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with "seams of gold." A light bulb went off! I could glue the pieces together and paint the seams with a gold metallic marker - since I didn't have any gold liquid lying around. And so I did!

I like the concept of kinstugi - of embracing  and seeing the beauty in imperfection. I have a tendency to sometimes stymie myself when I seek "perfection" in a creative piece  I am making. My kinstugi bowl and rock are great incentives for me to embrace the process  and move on.

Cheers~

 

 

 

 

Kintsugi - 金継ぎ

watercolor wednesday | fun...

        Intrigued with this building? Wonder what's inside? Well, curiosity got me too! About a year ago, I discovered this building on one of my walks.

And  so, being nosy - 'er, curious -  I investigated. Inside are art, craft, knitting and sewing supplies. All 2nd-hand. A gold mine!

And a great place to donate my  art, craft, knitting and sewing supplies!

Cheers~

PS. The shapes and colors are great inspiration for another quilt…someday!

ten on tuesday | blueberries ...

 

(look closely; there are blueberries sort of hidden at the front) 

        I  generally always have blueberries in the freezer and eat them most days…but, I must admit, I hadn't stopped to give much thought on all the ways one can fix, eat, encounter blueberries…and by golly, there are quite a few.The first thing I did was brainstorm:

1. eat as is, straight off the bush, especially when being picked...
2. sketch…they really make interesting subjects ...
3. mix and serve with other berries: strawberries, raspberries and blackberries...
4. create a July 4 dessert of the above, topped with whipped cream or ice cream ...
5. make jam or ...
6. preserves or
7. syrup for pancakes or ...
8. bread or scones or ...
9. cobbler - yum!… and then I
10. visited the Driscoll berry site for 86 more ideas! Who knew?!

Another fun and informative prompt from Carole for your Tuesday. Go here for more ideas. And enjoy a blueberry or two. And oh, btw, blueberries are great for you. Indulge! 

 

Cheers~

 PS. There's more to blueberries than meets the tummy; go here to learn more!

Christmas in July...

    Yes, those are poinsettias! I shared the Waterlogue version last December…and thought I'd revisit, today…with the temperature a cool 88 degrees, Farenheit!

I am neither rushing  the season or cold weather…just thinking that we'll be in the throes of both before we can say Christmas  is comin'. Click here to find out in just how many days! Just sayin'.

Cheers~

 

me: A - Z | W

 

 

Weather: the one thing we all have in common, regardless of who we are or where we are. I've said this before, in fact, just yesterday (7.23-2.2015) that my favorite temp is the mid 70s - low 80s with low humidity, 53%-55%. the one thing I like least about living here in Washington DC : summertime with its hot and v-e-r-y humid weather. Yuk!

Washington DC: my first trip here was circa Fall 1970. Tho' a tad rainy…and humid… I was attending the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History 's - now the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History -   annual conference, held at the Woodley Park Hotel in Northwest Washington DC…if you've visited here and have gone to the National Zoo, you'll have some idea of the area. I was totally smitten and mesmerized by the area and  the great African-American historians and thought leaders, whom I'd only met in books and magazines - who were there, in the flesh! Never did I think I'd live here…but, in 1974, I moved to Maryland and in 1981, became a District resident.

Windows: we're going to play a game but you need a  partner and the rule is you can't close your eyes. Why? Because your partner has to see whether you look up, side-to-side or down. The direction of your eyes determines what type of learner you are: visual, auditory or kinetic. So, quick! find a partner! How many windows are there in your house?  Keep your eyes open and count on ! I shared this  because it's a glimpse into the windows of my mind:  learning and how we learn intrigue me…and the game is just plain fun! *

Write and Walk: I write in my journal every.single.day. Doesn't matter what time my day has to begin, I get up early enough to have 30-45 minutes to write in my journal. Wish I could say the same for Walking…too often, my venturing out to take a walk is contingent on the weather: if it's too hot or too cold, I'm housebound. I will say, in my defense, that I walk outside more days than not…and my daily steps count is increasing. WTG!

Weekend by the sea enchants me and is on my bucket list…not this weekend tho', or any in the foreseeable future…but it is nice to dream and recall the week I spent in Aruba in 2009. T'was lovely…and speaking of weekends, Enjoy!

Cheers~

 *BTW: There are 26 windows in my house and I am an auditory learner  - my eyes move from side-to-side.

watercolor wednesday | hibiscus...

    …and so, my plan for today was to share something different…and then, we had no wifi! Just got it fixed so I'll postpone til later this week. Know that we've had a weather reprieve: A/C off; windows wide open and low humidity …as close to a perfect day as there is. 

Continue to enjoy the rest of your day!

 

Cheers~

slow stitchin' sunday | needle case...

 

     Once a month, several friends and I gather for some friendstitching. We eat brunch, catch up on and with one another and spend a leisurely time sharing and stitching - knitting included. We look forward to these Sundays:  what better way to unwind from the week before  and prepare for the week ahead than with good food, good friends and good stitching? Works for me!

Yesterday, I stitched on the above needle case.  Made of wools,  it features new-to-me and/or I've forgotten how to make all these fancy stitches… 

When it's finished, it will fold up like this:

I will add a decorative button or some type of closure.  I think my needle case is fun and  it compliments my "Lion King" inspired fabric appliqué lap-stitching pillow, that I also made. 

And now that it's Monday, I think it's time for me to get on with my major project for the next couple days: destashing my stash - primarily scrapbook supplies. A good project for this week's  95+ degree  days, with, of course, some slow stitchin' thrown in every few hours… 

What's on your agenda this week?

Cheers~

stories of me from A - Z | P...

    I  spent  40 minutes or so looking through my 13,000+ photos trying to come up with some ideas for today's post…The letter P doesn't conjure up much excitement or depth for or about me. Oh, I have a list:

Panache… I just like the sound of that word...

Petunias … one of my fave flowers---they're especially hearty in the hot summer sun...

Pitchers … I like and I have a small collection of cream pitchers, mostly clear glass and a handblown one by Dominick Labino...

Pizza … absolutely one of my most fave foods, especially with a flute of cold champagne; I limit myself to eating pizza no more than once a month - tho' I could probably eat it every. single. day...

Playfu l… I dance in the grocery store and I like to wear crowns...

Process … a series of actions to achieve a result; I continue to focus my energy on creating habits and a routine that support  those  efforts, especially to overcome...

Procrastination … which really does kinda interfere with making ... 

Progress  … on the gazillion...

Projects … I have going at any one time!

Cheers~

P.S. Don't tell anyone but I'm trying to restrict myself to 10 projects, tops, at any one time - ha! 

Isn't the photo amazing? It was a mirror at the car dealership! 

 

simply a moment | july 2015

wednesday 15 july 2015        7:15 am         72 degrees

 

        And oh, what a lovely morning it is! I'm settled in for MSQT; it has become quite a production these mornings: in addition to the place mats on the table, I also place a couple Mama wove. One holds my iPad; the other, my journal as I write.

I make tea and fix a nice cup of iced H2O; gather my 'rock' and what other book I'm currently reading; my sketching supplies - though I must admit that of late I've been quite remiss with seeing/sketching exercises - contemplating changing the time of day to after lunch….

The deck door is open ~ enjoying the cooler AM breezes and the sights and sounds of birds as they flit from telephone wire to tree branches. Spread before me are my Circa Journal - my mainstay;  my gettoworkbook, pens; my phone and a few assorted other items. 

I read today's  Your Daily Rock entry:  process - not product and smile: seems that most of my daily activities, wanna-do-s, etc require action, steps … process. Mama's weavings - tho' few - are priceless to me because they are vivid reminders of how process oriented she was. Her goal was to experiment, try stitches and techniques out; to explore. to learn.

Patti asks us to "imagine a day without waste - everything going somewhere."  And I look at the clock and think, it's time for me to go for my AM walk. The grass is literally growing under my feet. Time to get a move on! 

I trust the balance of my day… and also, your day… is filled with learning.

Cheers~

 

ten on tuesday |ice cream ...

(photo, circa aug 2013, me eating raspberry flavored ice cream cone)

    Summer is the time for ice cream, especially in a cone, on a hot day. Today's 10 on Tuesday prompt invites us to list our favorite ice cream. Well now, that's truly a challenge for me because nowadays,  I don't eat much ice cream, contrary to the above photo. However, when I did eat ice cream, these were my faves:

1. Butterscotch.  For years, well into my 20s, I loved me some ice cream and then,
2. Chocolate was #1.  About age 27, I discovered
3. Lemon Custard (Baskin-Robbins; yum! to die for -  in fact, recuperating from surgery, that was about all I would eat). Then, for some strange reason, I fell head over heels for 
4. Raspberry! 
5. Raspberry! 
6. Raspberry! 

Raspberry, in fact,  is my flavor of choice for jams, yogurt, fresh berries, scones, waffles, pancakes, syrups… Occasionally, I'll have a vanilla frosty, only because it's not available in raspberry or a scoop of vanilla at home over my raspberries. 

Lately, I've been drinking Starbuck's Green Tea w/lemonade and two shots of peach syrup; kinda tasty. Wonder if they have raspberry syrup; hmmm, must ask!

What's your fave ice cream? 

Cheers~