Hi she is very good. Try to get her to show us more of her artwork. I really like the tiger pattern. Very nice.
Sue

Oh, I thought I posted to this already. Very pretty. She did a great job reworking the lamp. I love how she incorporates the different patterns in there and ties them all together. I bet you do wish she lived nearby. ha It's always fun to have someone to paint with and to exchange ideas with, and get painted gifts from! ha Pass on my compliments to her and congrats on the great gifts! ~Anj

Love the way she was able to incorporate several designs on each project. Sort of reminds me of how Mary Englebright does her designs. She did a great job on that tiger pattern, it looks so good.

So how have you been Alisande? Are you still painting? Come by and chat with us when you have time, okay?

Luvs

WOW - beautiful work!!!

Thanks, everyone. Luvs, I haven't been painting--mostly because I've been in the garden. I said I wasn't going to do as much gardening this year . . . boy, was that a misstatement! So far I've planted five new roses, 14 perennials, a few annuals, and a bunch of vegetables. Plus I have 15 new irises on order.

Then this weekI had surgery (real, operating-room, anesthesia surgery) to remove a piece of rose thorn from my hand. It had caused quite a problem. Actually, the surgeon removed two thorn pieces because in between seeing him and having the surgery I managed to get another one stuck in my hand. Most people (including me until recently) don't know that roses can be dangerous.

So no painting for me for a while. It's all I can do to type! But I will certainly drop in here often, painting or not. Thanks for asking.

Oh, and another reason why the painting has been on hold is that I started rug hooking again after a lapse of 11 years. I found this table mat I started in 1997, and vowed to finish it. I'm almost done. It depicts the seven cats we had at the time. One one, Princeton, is still with us. The round metal things are thumbtacks, BTW.

You have been busy! My goodness! Just think how pretty all those flowers are going to be. I think maybe you need to invest in some heavy duty gloves around those rose bushes! I get scratched and stuck while working on mine allot too--but never had a thorn get embedded like that. Love the cats on your table mat--isn't it going to feel good to have it all finished up? Way to go. Luvs

Wow~ somehow I missed this. So sorry you've had such a rough time with the roses. I've had the area get really sore when I've gotten stuck, but never gotten a thorn enbedded in there before. I'll make a note NEVER to do that! ha
Your rug is so pretty. I've wanted to learn how to do that. How did you learn? My SIL just gave me a latch hook rug kit to do, but I doubt it's anything like that.
I just set up my cross-stitch holder to work on at night while I'm watching tv. I have a Christmas cross-stitch that I've had on hold for about 2-3 yrs now. ha I love to paint, but I've got to keep up on my other interests as well. It's hard to have time to do everything we want to do sometimes. Feel better. ~Anj

Hi Anj - As a child, I watched my aunt hook rugs in New England, where the craft is fairly popular. Seeing her work, and much later inheriting her rug frame and collection of woolens, piqued my interest. But I actually learned from books, mostly the late Joan Moshimer's, and Joan's newsletter. Rug Hooking magazine is also very inspiring!

You're rightÂtraditional rug hooking is nothing like latch-hooking. I hook with strips of wool that started out as old clothing.

I used to love to cross-stitch, but I'm not sure my eyes are up the task anymore.

It is definitely hard to have time to do everything we want . . . especially this time of year when the garden calls.

Susan