One last artsy blast before school starts!

Yes, the start of the school year is looming. I've spent the last few days playing with artsy things (or, as some might put it - avoiding doing work!) and thought I'd show you some of the results. It all started with Adele coming over one day to make fabric paper (basically, a muslin base, with lots of glue and scraps of paper and paint layered on top of it) and issuing a challenge that we should actually make something using the fabric paper!

You'll be stunned, I'm sure, to hear that I decided to make one piece of paper into ... yes, a prairie landscape!! (I'll pause for a moment while you get over your shock!)

And here it is ...




I cut up another sheet of fabric paper and used it in this little piece, which also uses some of the charms I've bought:



I've also been making little books (based on an idea in the latest Sew Somerset magazine). It's a fun way to use up some of the paper I've been accumulating, and I like the way it combines paper and stitching and rubber stamping and pretty much whatever else you want to include! I'm not sure what (if anything) I'll use the books for; maybe they're complete as is.

Here's the cover and a few pages from my first attempt:










And here's my second one:








And, finally, a little accordion book, which uses up some old Artist Trading Cards I had lying around (sorry about the slightly blurry pictures!):



And now, it's time to start doing some work. No, really!

Hello! I'm back from my annual visit to Winnipeg. As usual, I spent lots of time driving around enjoying the landscape - and, as usual, taking lots of pictures! Here are a few. (I'll post some black-and-white shots to my other blog, too - see the link at the right if you're interested.)

First, some beautiful flowers. These were taken at some of my favourite places, like Assiniboine Park's English Garden and Sculpture Garden.











This statue is in one of many by a sculptor named Leo Mol; there's a garden containing a collection of his works in Assiniboine Park.





And now .. the usual prairie landscapes. Ho, hum, more beautiful scenery. I never seem to get tired of it! Hope you still enjoy it, too.









Here's a little cemetery in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. What a peaceful place to rest.



I had to take a Rufus with me, of course. (His brothers went to stay with their friends, the Rufi, who live with their person, Jackie.)

Here he is enjoying a nice healthy dinner (I'm sure he was the happiest naked mole rat in Winnipeg!) and surveying the view from his perch on the dashboard.




I always go to Gimli when I'm in Manitoba. It's on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg and it's a nice little beach town with a stony beach and a few cute little shops and a restaurant where I always have a pickerel dinner! (Me, a creature of habit? Nah!) This trip I went for the first time to Grand Beach, which is on the other side of Lake Winnipeg. It's a provincial park; no shops but oh, the beach! Beautiful white sand. Shallow water - good for wading. I walked for about an hour from one end of the beach to the other. Here's a picture of the sand dunes, and of some interesting tracks in the sand.



I enjoy walking the trails at Assiniboine Forest and Fort Whyte Alive (a nature centre). Here's a view of the forest.



So that's it! Another wonderful trip. Can't wait to go back next year!

(Check out Jill Blogz for some black & white shots, too!)

Thanks for stopping by!