The Beach!

The beach....why do I love an oceanside beach? I am not a swimmer of note and although I have been to many beaches in different states and countries, I am a bit chicken in the water. But I love the beach...the sounds, the textures, the smells, the feelings, the treasures. I love shells and rocks and all the foods associated with the beach. (I hate what the humidity does to my hair, but that's another post.)I love the sunrises or sunsets, depending on the beach. There's such vitality and life to a beach and yet such calmness and serenity. My heart is breaking for all the coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico where there are some of the most magnificent beaches in the world. Those areas are changed forever.
But I digress...I live at least 3 1/2 hours from a beach and without premeditated thought, I wound up creating some things this weekend to bring the beach closer to me....or anyone else who loves the beach & can't get there as often as they'd like. Or for anyone who wants a remembrance of a beach trip. Or for any lucky souls who can step outside their door and breathe in the salt air....ahhhh!

Pretzels and Baseball

I love soft pretzels and I love baseball...there, it's out in the open! I was thilled when we discovered soft big, NY style pretzels at the Little League complex. I got one every game we went to and the big boy's team won.
This was quite the week of baseball. The boys each had end of season games and the big one and his team were in the playoffs. Now this is my 2nd time around in Little League and I just don't recall such nail biters! First game was Wednesday and I had my pretzel. Our side was winning with a serious threat at the end by the other team. We pulled through.
Thursday we were to play against a team we (sure,'WE', like I play!) had seriously trounced a few weeks ago. Starting off with a serious deficit, our guys were creeping back and the coaches decided to go extra innings. We crept, they strutted, we trotted, they ran. Ultimately, we lost but it was fairly close. I was so proud of the boys-no thrown bats, no tears, no foot stomping except, well, maybe a little by one of the coaches. Obviously disappointed when his world series dreams were squashed. Even men in big bodies have little boy dreams. And as the mother of the coach, I remember them well.
Oh, and Thursday night, they ran out of pretzels.....hmmmm!

Why I'm Not Creating This Weekend....

Imperfect Perfection

I ♥ handmade. I embroidered a piece that said so;


That piece sold and I decided to make another since I ♥ Handmade.

Well, this time I purposely off centered the words and had the last letters as if they were falling down and I left a thread hanging.
Handmade is not perfect. We've all had disasters, throw aways, rip outs, smudges, splashes, dropped stitches, broken wires, frayed threads, tears....I could go on and on. So this piece is not perfect but that is why I ♥ Handmade!

It just happens....

The other day I went into the studio with the intent to clean up and put things away. First I cleared off my chair and a trio of cotton fabrics were there...hmmmm! One struck me as great colors (which is why I probably bought it in the first place!) and I started to think of how to use it. I wanted to do another hoop embroidery piece but this fabric isn't quite right for that. I put the fabric down and went back to cleaning up and a large piece of wide ribbon was stuck under a box....the exact colors of the fabric...hmmmm! I put the ribbon near the fabric and continued my boring clean up quest. And there-you guessed it!-was another ribbon with coordinating colors. Someone telling me something? Finally, I gave in, sat down (the chair was cleared) and here's the result, totally unplanned, unintended and I think,unusual. And no, I never finished cleaning...maybe later!

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Blue,Purple and a touch of Pink

Part of my garden...so far!