"Where Women Create"

There's a magazine called Where Women Create  that celebrates artists' studios and spaces. 

Rosy, Tracie, and Becky are all creative people and have designated spaces in their homes where they create.  When we got together last week it was fun touring their spaces and sit around Tracie's table while we visited, stitched, painted, clipped, and glued.

Tracie's space is clean and calm....exactly the kind of space she needs to paint and create.

My heart overflowed with joy when she showed me the 100 day project she started inspired by reading my blog. Tracie is doing a small watercolor painting every day and mounting them on cards with coordinating colorful strips of card stock. 

Her paintings are just delightful!

The colored strips are a lovely addition....can you imagine what the box is 

going to look like when there are 100?  I can....and I'm just giddy.

Rosy's space is a cozy corner of her basement and is filled with inspiration, supplies, collections. and memorabilia.  

Now a retired elementary teacher Rosy repurposed her school bins for her own storage and I absolutely loved her labels: magnificent scraps, delicious miscellany, useful junk, high impact stuff, clever salvage, curious items, assorted ephemera, and wondrous supplies.

There's nothing more fun than a table full of color, textures and creative projects.

I had been admiring Tania Lissova's tiny plants on her Instagram page. So I collected some papers from Becky's stash and gave it a try for one of my cards.

Then....using a background of catalog pages that were collaged and stitched from my stash I brought from home...I used some of the paper scrapes and created another card. Something old and something new....that's my theme.

While I was at Becky's we spent a couple of evenings in her creative space.  It's a lovely room that I helped her put together over several visits and it continues to evolve.  I've written about it a couple of times:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2016/07/periwinkle.html

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2017/03/bearings.html

Becky has been collecting some of my little rainbow photographs in 4 inch frames and I brought her a new one of my found plastic objects.      

I absolutely love seeing where women create!   

Home....

...is where the hydrangeas are.

My day started early with a car to a bus to a plane to another bus to a subway train to another bus and finally my own two feet....and over 1000 miles and 9 hours later and I'm home. 

Before I did anything I walked the yard in Lexington....and this homecoming was all about the hydrangea.  The Oak leaf are in full bloom along my screen porch...

...and the blue lace cap in the back garden are doing their thing.  The lace cap is my favorite.  It's good to be home.                                                                                                       

Inspiration

Today was my last full day in Wisconsin....it's been so nice spending time with friends and family.  I'm going to do a little catch up for a few days on some of the things I didn't have time to share....starting with this.

Becky and I spent a lot of time talking about art....and the artists who inspire us.  One of the evenings  this last week we sat in her amazing creative space and worked on projects inspired by a couple of those artists.

I have always loved the loose watercolor bouquets by  loulei & lorra on Instagram. I think they would be a sweet insert into a card or note and have wanted to try it for quite some time.

  


So...inspired by this little matchbook bouquet  I gave it a whirl. I'm not very good at "loose" but you never get good at anything unless you practice.

Using Becky's watercolors and paper....I started with some random splotches. I drew in random flower and leaf shapes and loosely cut them out.  

I ended up with enough watercolor paper to make these two little matchbooks....not too bad for my first attempt.  I know how I could improve my approach....but thats why your practice.                     

 

I passed them on to Rosy and Tracie when we were together....and I'm certainly going to try it again.  Other artists are such an inspiration to me.

 

Colors of the Farm

When I was helping my sister LaVonn pick hosta leaves for bouquets and do other outside tasks....I borrowed her chicken boots.  I may sneak them into my suitcase because I liked the way they made me feel like a farm girl again.

Every year my brother-in-law Tim plants sunflowers along his busy road.  There were just a few that were open but you can just imagine the showstopper that it will be....or should I say car stopper. I wrote a post about it back in 2015....you can read it here and see many more flowers in bloom.

 

It's always good to see the mother plant that my rain lilies came from....and I find it charming that they are planted in a calf feeding bucket.

LaVonn's welcoming day lilies were also just starting to bloom.  I love the colors of the farm.

Ben and Sarah

Last night was a picture perfect evening for Ben and Sarah's wedding celebration...and today was another beautiful day with family and friends.  

During the preparations at the farm my sister and brother-in-law discovered this log that looked just like a heart. When split...the two pieces made for perfect markers for the path that led to the large tent around the corner behind the barn. 

My siblings: me, Angie, LaVonn (mother of the groom), Marilyn, Nancy and Doug

View From the Road

I spent the day helping my sister and brother-in law get ready for my nephew's wedding celebration. I love this view of the field across the road from their farm.....the wild black eyed Susan and chicory take me right back to my childhood. 

Book Club

When I lived in Madison almost 10 years ago I was in a book club with these three amazing women....Becky, Tracie, and Rosy.

Today was a book club girls' day...we toured gardens....ate good food...and worked on creative projects around Tracie's table. We even talked about a couple books. There are so many things to share about the day it's hard know where to start. For this post I'll celebrate their outdoor spaces and save the rest for another day.

Tracie has beautiful gardens all around her house....one of my favorite plants was this delicate butterfly plant. The color and detail were amazing.                                                                           

I was quite take with Tracie's homemade bee houses made from native plant stems for bees that preferred solitary living.

 

Rosy's backyard is a shade paradise with all kinds of hosta, ferns and interesting found objects.

 She has placed a mirror along her fence which adds an interesting illusion of a window into another yard.

I've never seen old plates used as a border....there were touches of whimsy everywhere.

So glad I got to visit these beautiful and creative outdoor spaces!

Shared Coloring

Becky's shared some of her past coloring projects with me to cut up for my 100 day project.....a fun way to continue with my theme.

For one I used some of her stamps for the background...and another some doodles.  Boy....do I have a lot to learn about stamping!  The idea is good...the execution is questionable. 

I punched this sheet up into squares.

I've got several cards to add to my project...I'll do some finishing touches and number them when I get home. There might even be time for a few more.

David's Kitchen

Another thing I know for sure when I visit Becky...there will be good food.  Becky is in charge of the gardens and David is in charge of the kitchen...and the grill.  We eat well.

Day one David made Karbonade which is traditional Norwegian pub fare of hamburger with grilled onions topped with an egg.  An unusual but amazing combination! 

Day two we were treated to beef bulcogi with sautéed carrots and pickled cucumbers. Amazing flavors! 

Today...day three David made bacon wrapped chicken filet cooked sous vide style. (vacuumed sealed and slowly cooked in a water bath then seared on the grill)  Moist and decadent!  

Becky's Flowers

One of the things I know for sure when I visit Becky....there will be flowers.