HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is a little treat for you. I hope 2010 brings you much joy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I wish you all a wondrous holiday.
Peace

New Product

I had an idea last month on how to up-cycle beloved sweaters that were either too small or too itchy to wear, but so beautiful they were hard to part with. I was so excited by the idea that I made five ensembles for the craft fair last weekend. Natasha is the beautiful model in these pictures. I do believe I have found my knitting niche!

My First Fine Arts Craft Fair

Last weekend was one of firsts. The very first (hopefully annually) Best Coast Fine Arts Craft Fair was held at the beautiful Marble Mountain ski lodge, a first for Marble too. The lodge was decorated with garland and glittering lights. There was a huge Christmas Tree and a crackling fire in the central fireplace. There were beautiful works by fine artisans from all over Newfoundland and Labrador and we had first class musicians helping to make it a magical event.
Thank-you to all who helped to make this Best Coast Fine Arts Craft Fair happen and a big thank-you to Humber Valley and Bay of Islands for making this a huge success for all!!!
More pictures to come.
Oh yes, A Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends in the USA!

Human Rain

It is amazing what our hands can do. Listen!




and I want to show you some hand-work of a different nature...






These two portraits were shipped off to Flowerbrook Pottery located in Dorset, Vermont. Thank-you, Janno, for your continued encouragement and support! Check out Janno's web-site www.flowerbrookpottery.com

Peaches in Newfoundland?

That's right, there is a peach tree growing and producing fruit in Steady Brook, Newfoundland. My dear friend, Janet Manuel planted the tree about fifteen years ago. She tells me that it just started to produce fruit three years ago, with this year being a bumper crop. I actually picked a peach right off the tree and when I bit into the fruit it was sweet and juicy, just as you would expect a peach to be. Janet has been busy making peach chutney, peach marmalade and peach preserves. Luckily for me she is generous. Thanks Janet!

Time After Time

I just discovered the beautiful voice of Eva Cassidy. I was heartbroken to learn that she died in 1996 at the age of 33. This is a live recording. Amazing.

A Wonderful Summer thus Far!

The last month has been glorious with perfect summer moments! Like doing yoga outside under a large canopy of maple leaves on the Majestic Lawn Park in Corner Brook,in front of God and everyone, without feeling self-conscious even with my butt in the air more than half the time, and no bugs to be seen or felt, just blue skies and warm air and the feeling that all was right for the moment.
Like being grateful that yoga has come into my life at just the right time. Thanks Robyn!
Like being a part of the first Farmer's Market in Corner Brook. It has been really satisfying to see people come together and celebrate hand-made products and locally grown plants and produce. I can hardly believe how sweet it is that people appreciate what I make and are as enchanted with my aprons and felted soaps as I am. Some of my friends are at the market selling their work for the very first time. Joy Burt makes awesome driftwood wreaths and Heather Smith is making beautiful beaded necklaces. The West Coast Collective, of which I am a part, is well represented and will be throughout the season.
Perfect summer moments,
Seeing tan lines on my feet while I'm in the shower.
Drinking a very cold beer in the heat of the day.
Jumping in the ice cold water of the Gillam's river.
Eating the very first peas from plants I grew from seed.
Frozen strawberry yogurt.
George.
Progress on my unfinished house and grounds.
Spending time with my cats, Annie and Hobbes, and my dog, Moses.
Hugs and Kisses from two very special people, Sage and Malach.
Getting two portrait commissions from a repeat customer.
Beautiful sunsets, good friends, new friends, knit night and so much more.
And just think, we have a whole month more of Summer! Sun kisses to you all!

The Osprey are here!

I have been trying to capture the osprey on the camera for a few weeks now. This morning we had three osprey hunting in our bay of islands. I think I got a few good pictures finally, but I am not completely satisfied. They fly so fast out of the camera frame it is hard to stay with them and to complicate matters even further I had black flies trying to get into my eyes. But my, aren't they beautiful!

We also have a family of starlings living in the eaves of our house. I can't see the babies but I sure can hear them. I took some pictures of mama bird through the bedroom window. She could sense that she was being watched and several times she swallowed the worm and flew away.

Drawing in black and white

I get a great deal of satisfaction drawing my orchids. They truly do float high above their roots and leaves. Although each blossom only has five petals, they are quite intricate to draw. I like to challenge the pencil, find out what it can do, what I can do. I don't have photo shop so what you see is pretty well it.

Links are fixed

After literally spending hours trying to fix the link to my web-site and losing most of my hair, I finally stumbled onto the solution and I do believe it is working now. http://www.shannonann.com/home Let me know if you have any trouble with it.

This and That

Today was one of those days filled with little projects. One of those projects was making paper pots. There are several ways to make them but I like the origami method the best. It does take a bit of time but the end result is too cool!

This video is the best one that I found on youtube. Enjoy!

Can't you just feel the spark?

I love the look and feel of fabric. It doesn't matter if it is a crisp new fabric or soft and cuddly like a well loved t-shirt. It always makes me wonder, "What can I make with this? How will it feel against my skin?" This fabric is 100 percent cotton and the colours are bright and fun.

I feel some aprons a brewing!

Beautiful Colours

While we are waiting for warmer weather here in the deep-freeze I thought I would share some more colourful pictures of felted soaps and boxes.

For some colour of a different note, here are some delightful glass works by Urve Manuel http://astonesthrowglass.blogspot.com She is doing some wonderful things in her new studio. Check it out. Here are some of her birds for the garden. They are called Jigglies. I can't wait for the weather to be warm enough to put them in the garden.

On a technical note: I am having trouble with the link to my web-site. Hopefully I'll have that sorted out today or tomorrow for those of you who have been wondering what's up with that.

Little Treasures and Bigger Ones Too!

It has been cold and rainy here in Newfoundland the last few days. A good time to stay indoors and do some felting. I used the wet-felt technique and I'm starting to get consistent results. There seems to be something very comforting when working with fiber, a grounding of sorts.

I love these treasure boxes with the matching soaps. The accent yarn on this box and soap set were hand-spun on the drop spindle. It was my very first successful attempt using a drop spindle. Thanks go to Shawn and Krista and Niki.

There is an element of surprise while wet felting these boxes because the wool moves around a bit and nothing is exactly the way it was put down. I find that to be delightful. You never know what might come through.

Felted soaps are truly little treasures. You take it in the shower with you and use it like a washcloth. The wool is a gentle exfoliator and leaves your skin feeling smooth and clean. Once the soap is finished you can either cut the remaining felt open and make a little change purse, or you can fill it with small slivers of soap, or just use it as a scrubby. I have given lots of these soaps away. They make great gifts.

All in all I had a really fun day and to top it off I received some pictures of my friend Colby wearing his special birthday apron. Colby's favorite thing to bake is banana bread. Yum!

Birthdays, Aprons and Felted Things

It all started with an apron I made for my wonderfully wild, one of a kind, little friend, Sage. Her mother, Niki, (awesome in her own right) liked the apron so much I thought mmm, maybe I should make some more of these and so I did. Just about everyone I know with Birthdays in March and April received one-of-a-kind aprons. This particular beauty is for Hopie. It is completely reversible with pockets on both sides. The fabric is 100 percent cotton and it has a nice feel and weight to it without being bulky.

But that's not all.

I had already started making small felted treasure boxes during the winter months and I thought if I made a box big enough for an apron how cool would that be! I then felted two matching gentle goatsmilk soaps for her. She'll never guess there is so much in that box!