Karen's Muse and Musings

Oh My Aching Back!

Have you missed me? I've certainly missed you. I strained my back preparing for Thanksgiving, and I've been down for over a week, but I'm gradually recovering. I'm longing to create something — anything!

Do you remember the handbags I made? It's time to make the announcement. I will be selling them on Hyena Cart in a congo called Collage.

This is a collaboration with an amazing group of talented women, all offering unique, wonderful handmade items. The store will go live this Monday, the 3rd, at 12 noon Eastern time. I named my store DulcieLee, after my paternal grandmother.

I hope you will be there at our opening. Ciao!

 

Quickly Checking In

It's an interesting day here. Here we are two days before Thanksgiving, and it's 74 degrees outside. Inside I'm preparing for the 20+ crowd coming here on Thursday by cleaning house. I have the windows open since the weather is so nice, and I'm listening to Christmas music on my iPod. The music can actually make washing windows fun — even the window that I have to crawl under my piano to get to.

I have a couple of photos to share. I found a little tree growing in the back corner of our yard, and a tree that has gone unnoticed before has burst into the color of flame.

Even a solitary leaf on the ground is a spectacular sight.

I love the play of light in this photo.

Back to housecleaning. I must get it done, so I can start the fun part — cooking! Ciao!

Purses, Clutches and Handbags — Oh My!

Over the weekend, I've made 3 more handbags. The one above is small — about 6-1/2 inches tall. Below is a little clutch that is 7" wide and 5" tall. It's black on black with black rose ribbon trim.

Last is my personal favorite. I quilted the cover and trimmed it with a black fabric band and old buttons from my collection. It measures 11" wide x 7" tall, not including the handles. There are 8 pockets inside to keep pens, phones, lipsticks, etc. organized.

Okay, it's time to announce that I will be selling these bags, along with other creations, at Hyena Cart. Along with several other friends and artists we have started a Congo called Collage. We are not up and running yet but will be very soon.

Ciao!

Autumn Glory

We are at the peak of autumn color in the Atlanta area. I was worried that our extreme drought would affect the leaves, but Mother Nature has prevailed in a spectacular display of riotous golds and reds. Wednesday night we did get a little rain followed by windy, colder weather. I picked up a bunch of splendid leaves on my lawn, arranged them on my scanner, and created the above piece of digital art.

Yesterday morning, I pulled my car off the road to capture this beautiful line of trees with my camera. At home, I was struck by the light coming through the canopy of yellow leaves on our huge ornamental cherry.

Last night we attended a charity function, The Experience, sponsored by Code Red Atlanta. Code Red raises monies for Atlanta children with HIV/AIDS, and not just money because these young professionals actually get involved with these children at camps and days at the park. I'm very proud to say that my stepson, Buddy (Warren IV), is very active with this wonderful group. In fact next year he will be the chairperson. We're so proud of you, Buddy!

Wednesday Stamper — Chair

The theme for this week is chair, a very different and intriguing topic. It wasn't as difficult as I first thought it would be, thanks to the abundance of vintage images of children with chairs. I chose Henry from my own collage sheets because I think he is so adorable standing on that chair. Here's my collage.

I thought of Henry standing on a chair trying to claim a prize that was out of his reach. I think I was very lucky to find this quote by Karen Ravn as I searched for quotes with the word reach in them.

Let Your Heart Be Your Guide

This is my entry for this week's Gothic Arch Challenge — Text. I knew I wanted to search through my favorite quotes to use for the text, and I found "Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely." Then as I looked through my stamps to use on the background, I found a newly-purchased Tim Holtz stamp that reads, "Listen to your heart above all other voices." I'm thinking someone's trying to tell me something.

By the way, the woman is Laura, one of my collage sheet people. I've adopted these faces as family and given them personalities, or perhaps I'm perceiving their personalities that were always there. Tonight my husband asks, "Which one is Laura?" I said, "You know, the one with inner beauty as well as outer beauty."

Ciao!

More Handbags

I am still on my sewing kick with another large quilted handbag and two smaller purses. Here is the large handbag, a good size for knitting or for a day trip. I love this color combination although I'm not usually a pink person. The button is shaped like a rose, a recent eBay find of mine.

Next I made a dressy little black bag decked out with feathers (imagine that — I used feathers!) and a sequin trim.

Finally, I dug into my fabric stash and found this fabric which has a southwestern look to it and added a wooden and glass bead trim.

Why am I making so many of these? Stay tuned!

Wednesday Stamper

I love this week's Wednesday Stamper theme — leaves! Here's my entry.

I used a Fred Mullett stamp and clear embossing powder for a resist and then stippled inks around the leaves.

Ciao!

It's in the Bag!

   

I've turned my attention to textile arts recently. This is the second quilted handbag I've made. It's a large bag, perfect for knitting or a travel bag. Inside there are lots of pockets. I filled it up with some of my knitting stuff. Here's the inside.

That's my precious Misu helping me show off the bag. Actually I think she was hoping there was some candy or breath mints in there.

Ciao!

Almost as Good as Grandmama's

I remember waking up in my grandmother's house with the aroma of fresh-baked biscuits wafting into the bedroom. Oh, did they smell good! There was the extra smell of kerosene which heated the small house, probably not a pleasant smell for some, but for me it evokes happy, comfortable, loving memories.

Grandmama, as we called her, would get up every morning at some ungodly hour and make 6 or 7 dozen biscuits. When I was young, she still had 6 children at home — only my mother and her next sister had left. Four of those remaining  were boys, so she had to fill them up. Then there were leftover biscuits as well to eat throughout the day, and the ones that were finally left at night were put outside for the cats. (You know, I don't think my cat would even touch a biscuit, but these kitties weren't spoiled housecats.)

When she made the biscuits, there was no measuring cup because it was all done from touch and sight. She knew how much flour she needed, how much shortening to add, and she added the buttermilk until the mixture was just right. I used to be able to pretty much do the same thing, but I quit making biscuits on a regular basis years ago, mainly from lack of time and my expanding hips.

This morning I made biscuits. It's time change day, so I felt like I had an extra hour to kill. A couple of weeks ago as I read the new November issue of Southern Living, I spotted a new biscuit recipe. The authors said they were the best, flakiest biscuits ever. There was nothing unusual about the ingredients — self-rising flour, butter (not shortening or lard) and buttermilk. The difference was in folding the dough similarly to making a croissant. So, I thought I'd give them a try. An hour later I had the best biscuits I've ever had that weren't my grandmother's. An HOUR? I thought about that. If it had taken Grandmama an hour to make biscuits, she'd have had my grandfather and a whole passel of clamoring children glaring at her.

Still they were delicious, and I froze the leftovers for a quicker treat another morning. Sorry, kitty, none for you!