Shopping and Stuff

There has been some interest expressed in wondering what I bought at Houston. A better question would be what DIDN'T I buy at Houston? I bought a lot. It would be safe to say that I was single-handedly trying to save the economy. If spending was the key, it would have been saved, believe you me. :)

I have never been able to pass the ArtFabrik booth without buying a yard or two of Laura Wasilowski hand dyes. I bought two. Plus a 1/4 yard of Laura's hand-dyed silk velvet and some of Frieda Anderson's hand-dyed silk ribbon. I also came home with this sampler pack of Kreinik threads. I read about them on Allie's blog all the time. I figured I should see what all the fuss is about. The two balls of perle cotton are variegated Valdani.

I found this hand-dyed velvet ribbon. Surely it will be useful for something? The hand-painted grape lace was from a different vendor.

Vintage trims? I need some of those. I need some modern day trim (right side of frame) as well, don't I?
How about charms? Bunnies come in charms and buttons. Too cute!

I really thought I would be able to make it past the bead vendors. I was unsuccessful on the last day. I smiled all the way to the register, and all the way home. I'm still smiling.

For some reason I thought I might need to start stamping on fabric. I bought some stamps, just in case. The blue foam surface was recommended as the perfect thing on which to stamp fabric. I was advised to use fabric paint, applied with a sponge, for perfect results. One of these days I will try them out.

Hand dyed silk ribbon? I need that too... (The variegated is from Frieda Anderson.)

And then there was the hand-dyed silk velvet. ooh! aah! I need LOTS of it, don't I?

It rained over the weekend, which meant this morning we woke up to fog. Can you see the two bicycle riders on the right? Driving in the fog is a learned art. I've been doing it for 25 years. So far, so good.

By this afternoon, the fog had burned off. Brilliant!

The rain and the cold spell knocked a lot of leaves off the trees. That's not all they knocked off.

Let's play "Where's Walnut?" Do you see?

He's hiding to the right of the bend in the stick, under some leaves.

Where's Walnut?

He's 8" from my toe!

I must say that as a child, my father believed in raising us to have "highly tuned visual detectors." For the lay person, that would mean LOOK CLOSELY! You might miss the treasure!

What did he consider treasure? ummm...Marlboro miles. He didn't smoke, but he collected miles and enlisted all of us in the pursuit of one man's trash. He redeemed them for tents, duffel bags, fishing rods, jackets...yep. Trash to treasure, in an amazing magic act.

I think I prefer picking up walnuts.

And that's it for today. Tomorrow they pour the footings, on Wednesday they pour the slab. woohoo! I think there will be more pictures for you in the not so distant future!