THE GIFT

LAST NIGHT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING NIGHT... Last night seven close friends got together for a wonderful Christmas party.  We had great food, great presents, and GREAT FRIENDS. THE MOST IMPORTANT PART WAS THE FRIENDS.

I think, no I know, that a more talent and amazing group could not be found.  Two of our group couldn't come to the party and I missed them very much.  And they missed quite a good time.

                                  I LOVE THEM ALL.

I don't have pictures of the party girls, we were so excited that we didn't take any, but I have pictures of the gifts they each gave me, that I took this morning.  I got to relive the fun...
                 WELCOME TO THE PARTY.


The party started at 4 pm and It took me until 3:31 to get all of my gifts ready.  I wanted them to be perfect for my friends and of course I waited until the last few days.....so
                      NO TIME TO CLEAN UP.

                                                    

AND YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FLOOR

When I work, that's all I do, I don't clean.

So here I am at 3:31.

ON TO THE PRESENTS...

 

                                           

                                        This is how I presented my gifts.  They are always all wrapped the same, but the colors of the ribbons did change to white.  This one is still waiting for Elizabeth.  Elizabeth, we miss you.  Connie we miss you too.

Mom outdid herself on
her presentation.  Each of her gifts had a different gold ornament attached.  She made each of us a special fabric dish and when we asked her how she made them stiff and formed them, she just smiled and told us of a "SPECIAL" interlining.
 Each bowl was different.  Personally I think mine is the best.  How "SPECIAL" our 97 year old Mom is.

When it was Diane's turn to present her gifts, she had us play a little game.  One person drew a name and then that namesake got to draw in the gift basket.  I drew this beautiful watch with a shiney black band and a face circled with crystals.
                       IT WAS PERFECT!
Each watch was different and each was a random pick.  I THINK MINE WAS THE BEST. 

Francie was up next and her gifts were in beautiful gold foil bags.  Francie had gone to the Houston quilt show and spent time at the venders buying gifts for us all.  A LOT OF TIME!  She got each of us a cute magnet that caught each  personality in a funny way.  GLAD I'M NOT NEEDY!  She also gave us fabric and a finger stiletto.  Now I guess I need to be educated because I thought stilettos were 
something I used to wear on my feet.  Oh the wisdom we get as we get older.   So much to learn and so many years left to learn it...RIGHT MOM?

Margaret was thinking about our fingers too.  She got us all the wonderful products we can use to keep our hands soft so we don't "snag" the wonderful art we make.  I'm sorry I use the word wonderful so much...BUT EVERY THING IS!   Just look at that cute cuticle scissors...    WONDERFUL!!!!!

Margaret took BROWN BAGGING IT to another level.  So did Betty.

    WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT...LUNCH BAGS AT THEIR BEST!

Betty gave me these two wonderful bracelets.  I happened to walk up to the check out stand when she was buying the cuff.
I told her I sure hoped it was for me.  I AM NOT SUBTLE.   I seem to recall seeing the other one at her house and telling her "so and so won't like that."
                BUT I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How bad am I?   Don't answer that.

I'll show you how good I am... Susan, our newest friend made homemade cookies for us.  As I opened mine I told her If I didn't want my husband to get them I would have to eat them all now (at the party).  Well I didn't and HE DID.... I did get a couple.  GOOD!

What did I give the girls?...

WHAT DO ALL GIRLS WANT?
Shoes, lots and lots of them.  Everyone got a different pair of shoes for mailing.  They all said they loved them, and Diane, who is a shoe horse, said, "Why didn't you give me these to wear them?  I just told her they were ... "KILLER SHOES.", and smiled.

Now I've talked about the presents a lot, but I know, and they know, the best gift is their
                             FRIENDSHIP...............

ANYONE CAN GIVE AND GET PRESENTS, BUT I CAN NEVER THANK MY FRIENDS ENOUGH JUST FOR THE SIMPLE GIFT OF BEING MY FRIEND.

  WITH THIS LETTER, LOVE IS THE GIFT I AM GIVING YOU...REDFOX  





                                            
      

 

 

 

                                                    

BEYOND THE BIRD.................

HELP! I AM LOSING MY FRIENDS...

I DON'T MEAN THIS IN A LITERAL SENSE.  IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK. MY FRIENDS STILL LIKE ME, IT'S JUST THAT THEY ALL SEEM TO BE LOSING....THE DREADED WORD............WEIGHT.


Yesterday Betty came over to borrow a pet cage for her new dog Curtis.  She had on form fitting black jeans and she looked stunning.  Betty eats 1 meal a day and it is all carbs...well almost.  I gave her the cage and told her to go home...
                               TO EAT!

Diane is looking really wonderful and she looked great before. What is her secret?  She went to work at Kohls.  Can you believe it?  They love her there because she really works...works...works.

I guess I could go to work,
                   BUT THAT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!

Now take Connie.   I don't know what she did, but the 
last time we all got together at the ice cream store, she didn't order ice cream.

            WHAT KIND OF DIET IS THAT?

Margaret is losing weight too.  I know what did it for her.  She got a new boyfriend.

                   BUT THAT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!

Elizabeth, Francie, and I seem to stay about the same.  ALRIGHT,  I GAINED A BIT!   And Mom, Mom is always perfect.  Even if she had gained weight, I think you are allowed to at 97.

THE GOOD PART IS THAT , WHATEVER OUR SIZE, WE ARE ALL BEST OF FRIENDS.

AND I WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY............REDFOX 

READING THIS BLOG IS LIKE WAITING FOR THE FIRST SHOE TO DROP.

VENI, VIDI, VISA  (We came, we saw, we shopped)

Tonite I want to tell you the rest of the story... it went like this.

I LIKE THESE SHOES.
BUT I LIKE THE OTHER ONES, TOO .
HMMM.
THAT GIRL JUST PICKED UP
THE ONES I LIKED FIRST.
NOW, I THINK I LIKE
THAT ONE MORE.
I'LL JUST WAIT...JUST WAIT...
UNTIL SHE PUTS IT DOWN.

THEN...
                                THAT'S WHY!!!

 Are these not the cutest shoes ever?
                     I DO CUTE!

A picture I culled from a magazine was my inspiration.  I added the dots on the toe caps by punching out paper circles and decoupaged them on with varnish.  I printed the phrase...POOR CINDERELLA...over and over for the insole.

"I DIDN'T LOSE MY SLIPPER

AT MIDNIGHT BY ACCIDENT;

I KNEW ALL TOO WELL THAT 

SUCH A TINY FOOT WOULD

MADDEN THE PRINCE WHO WAS

LOOKING FOR A WIFE...NO

ONE HAS YET SEEN THAT SIDE

OF ME, 'POOR' CINDERELLA."

       ...LUCIANA BOCCARDI

I love that quote and use it often in my altered books.  It puts a whole different slant on the Cinderella tale.

IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT I LIKE DIFFERENT SLANTS...SOMETIMES I LIKE TURNING THINGS COMPLETELY UP SIDE DOWN. 

After I had establish my Cinderella theme, the rest all just fell into place.

Into the first shoe I glued a red and white bird.  It was a brown and white bird, but remember that Charlie Brown tree?  This was a Charlie Brown bird.  Red paint and a black marker trimmed that tree.

Why put in a bird?  Remember the Cinderella story.  The birds all fluttered around and helped make the dress for the ball.

                                          

                                         

 I had planned on using red lace around the shoe opening until the shoe itself told me... LESS IS MORE.

I know some of you are saying, "less is just less", AND YES, THE SHOE DID SPEAK TO ME.  

Always listen to your work...if it goes south you are not listening.

 

Remember the mice in the fable?  Or maybe they were rats.  Anyway they were turned into coachmen.   

They told me something too.  They told me there should be two of them.

 The coachman has a beautiful red coat, as any coachman should have when he is taking a princess to a ball.

"GOOD TASTE IS THE WORST VICE EVER INVENTED."

...DAME EDITH SITWELL

ONE TWO BUCKLE YOUR SHOE

 I NEEDED A BIT OF BLING THERE......................

I hope these shoes lived up to all the hype I gave them.  I didn't really almost wet my pants.  But I did have a lot of fun.

WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO FIND THESE IN YOUR MAILBOX?

     A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME YOU MIGHT.........REDFOX 

DISTRUST ANY ENTERPRISE THAT REQUIRES NEW CLOTHES...THOREAU

I told you I would write tonite about my adventure to the Goodwill store, or as we lovingly call it...GW.
I was about to tell you it was a bust, I only bought a pair of shoes to alter, but then I thought somemore about those shoes.  They were Cinderella shoes, or at least the ugly stepsister shoes.

 What attracted me to this pair of shoes was the black and white herringbone pattern.  Black and white are my signature colors.  I could do something with these shoes...
       
      BUT WHAT???

These shoes are not only ugly stepsister shoes, they are CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS TREE SHOES.

All these shoes need are a little love and a lot of brainstorming.  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Plain black sole.....Herringbone..........Does the name LOUBOUTIN come to mind?

INSPIRATION

Now I am getting excited.  With my game plan in hand I am going to decorate that TREE.  If I can dream it I can do it......................

"TO BE CARRIED BY SHOES, WINGED BY THEM. T0 WEAR DREAMS ON ONE'S FEET IS TO BEGIN TO GIVE REALITY TO ONE'S DREAM."     

Ok, I am getting a little carried away here.  Now I have to make sure these get turned into really great shoes...................

"AFTER ALL CHARLIE BROWN IS DEPENDING ON ME."    

                                              ...REDFOX

  

 

MY SISTER'S CHILD

TODAY I RECEIVED A WONDERFUL LETTER FROM MY NIECE DIANE.  DIANE TOLD ME BY WORDS WRITTEN AND WORDS UNWRITTEN, HOW MUCH SHE LOVED ME.

DIANE IS THE CHILD OF MY OLDEST SISTER ALICE.  BUT DIANE IS MUCH MORE THAN A NIECE TO ME.  LET ME TELL YOU THE STORY OF MY SISTER-NIECE AND ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS.

                                                                                     

Diane is only a few years younger than me, but it was enough that I thought of her as just another child.  My mother died when I was seven years old, and I lived alone with my father as all my siblings were older and gone from the home.

I used to spend my summers spending a week or two at each of their homes and played with their children.  I didn't know until the adult Diane told me that she used to really look up to me. 

SHE THOUGHT I WAS THE CAT'S MEOW...

Then all too soon I was a teenager and thought I was to old to play with the kids.  I really don't remember too much of Diane's teen years and certainly not her collage years.

I married very very young and had a child by the time I was eighteen.  Diane and I kinda lost track of each other along the way.

I divorced, remarried and moved to California.  Diane moved to Oregon and met Howard.  They married and had two children.  We met up again when their youngest was two.

They came to visit us and visit Disneyland.  They had Miles and Erin.  Erin was blind since birth and I was amazed at what wonderful parents they were.

                      STRONG

We didn't meet up again for quite a few years.  Then that one special year came and my Husband Jerry and I were going through their state on our way home from a Canada vacation.  I took a chance and called them.  They said come on over just like we had been there yesterday.  We stayed for five days and by the time we left all the years had just melted away and we were kids again.

We were more than niece and aunt, we were

                      SISTERS.

Fortunately Howard and Jerry love each other too and now we make it a point to see each other every year.  We both came home...................

HAVING A PLACE TO GO...IS A HOME.  HAVING SOMEONE TO LOVE...IS A FAMILY.  HAVING BOTH IS A BLESSING.
                 ...REDFOX           
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY

THEY SAY YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT, IF YOU WANT IT BAD ENOUGH.  THAT IS WHY I DO MY ALTERED BOOKS.   IN MY BOOKS I CAN BE ANYONE AND DO ANYTHING THAT I WANT.

        IN MY BOOKS I CAN FLY..............

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY PAGE FROM HALF MOON AND EMPTY STARS

  An altered book is a book that I take and alter (change) into a book of my own making.  I cut out pages, sometimes add new pages in, fold, staple, glue and rivet until I have a completely new product.

 It really started because I liked to decorate the covers of the books.  And who would buy a book with just the cover altered?

So it follows that I had to change the whole book.






Once I began altering the books it became a game to see just how much "hardware" I could use in the books.

RESEARCH PAGE, LILY WHITE

This page is held on with a metal fastener and I used a bottle cap as an accent.  This is a page from the book Lily White, but I think the young lady, and I use the word LADY lightly, is Rose Red.   The page lifts up and I'm not tell you what is under it...after all 
                        I AM A LADY...........

CENTER SPREAD, HALF MOON...

  I always do this center spread in each book.  The books are totally interactive with lots of cards to pull out and hidden messages behind things.

hidden meanings

suggestive
phrases

 

ENDING, HALF MOON......................

Sometimes the images are a little risque.  I DO LIKE THAT WORD.  RISQUE, RISQUE, MUCH BETTER THAN NAUGHTY.

I like to hang all kinds of charms from the pages.  Half the fun is shopping for the 

 STUFF,
LOTS OF STUFF

                   

 

IT IS VERY LATE AND I HAVE BEEN USING THAT ALLIGATOR CLIP TOO MUCH.   IN THE BOOK, I HAVE BEEN USING IT IN THE BOOK.

As I said, I CAN BE ANYTHING I WANT AND RIGHT NOW I WANT TO BE ASLEEP...

        IF YOU GET MY DRIFT...REDFOX

 

GIVE A GIRL THE RIGHT SHOES AND SHE CAN CONQUER THE WORLD...BETTE MIDLER

"WOMEN'S STYLES MAY CHANGE, BUT THEIR DESIGNS REMAIN THE SAME."

Today I happily spent the whole afternoon designing shoes.  Well not really designing the shoes, but more like altering them.  I turned the shoes into letters..literally!

This pair of shoes was a bargain find of mine from the local department store....NOT A BARGAIN!!!   They hurt my feet so bad that I never wore them, but I just couldn't throw them away.  So I turned them into letters.  One of them will be sent through the mail and the other will be given to the same friend for her to mail to a friend of hers...A FRIEND OF A FRIEND!

YES, YOU CAN SEND A SHOE THROUGH THE MAIL.  JUST LIKE IT IS, YOU DO NOT HAVE T0 WRAP IT.

   JUST HAVE IT WEIGHED FOR POSTAGE.

In order to mail it, you can not have any parts that might come off and hurt their machinery.   This pair had a flimsy ankle strap that I had to cut off.  I traced the insole on blue paper and typed a letter on it.  I also added a fox charm, making sure it was secure.  I turned it over and after tracing the sole, I wrote to and from.....then all is left is to take it to the post office.

I signed my letter with the initials R F for Redfox and used crystals, but you can just sign it in your own handwriting.

TIP:  I LIKE TO BUY PRETTY STAMPS FOR THE POSTAGE AND SO I DON'T LET THEM METER IT.

FRIENDS... YOU'RE NOT LOOKING ARE YOU???

This is another pair that I bought and never wore.  I love shoes, but my feet don't.  It was really fun to figure out how to make sure the birds and nests would stay put.

Getting them to stay in involved a lot of glue  and a wire going through the sole.  I covered the wire with the address label.

I glued a poem on the insole.

THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!

The baby bird plays peak-a-boo out the side.  I added the blue dots with craft paint and the wrong end of a paintbrush.  I can't draw, but I'm a great dot maker.

THINK HOW GREAT THESE SHOES WOULD BE IF I COULD PAINT...

THIS TIME I GOT SMART... I FOUND THE SHOES AT

                                    GOODWILL.....................

Our favorite Goodwill has tons of shoes that are straight from the stores...never worn.  Those are the shoes I will use from now on.  I sent a shoe like this to my Granddaughter Elle .  I slipped a birthday check in the zipped part.  I just traced the sole out of fabric and sewed in a zipper.  The lettering on the shoe are brads.

 

     So get your stuff together and start designing.  I sent my friend Connie a get-well shoe in the mail and her mailman stopped and wrote a note to add to her mailbox.  He said that shoe was the most fun he had ever delivered to a mail box.

LETS KEEP THOSE MAILMEN HAPPY.

                                  ...REDFOX         

              

  

 

VIRUS...DID I SAY THAT OUTLOUD?

Tonite I'm going to talk about the word no blogger wants to hear.  VIRUS.   But this virus is different.  This virus is an art quilt.

VIRUS

This quilt  is one of the first art quilts that I made.  It is the first one that I free motioned on.  I don't show it too often because it is really not very good, but it looks kinda cute  in the picture.

The bugs pictured on the quilt were made using metallic paint sticks and rubbing plates.  I have a little story I need to tell.

I made this quilt at a time that I was just beginning to use the computer.  I wasn't any good at it and I'm still not very computer literate.  Anyway I finished the quilt and took it to show my Hubby.  He asked me why the "insects " were on it.  I proudly used my new computer lingo and said, " You know, computer bugs."  He, without even a grin said, "You mean Virus." 

Well, I did mean Virus and that is how the quilt got it's name.

 What I like best about this quilt is the rubber mouse I used.    I went to the dollar store and bought a package of Halloween mice and a computer cable .  

GENIUS IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.

Just recently I entered this quilt in the Phoenix Airport call.  It was  a call for insects and birds.  It was the only insects I had and I thought just maybe they would see the humor in it.

THEY DIDN'T...

So much for tongue and cheek.  Betty and her (our) Mom entered also.

MOM WAS THE ONLY ONE TO GET IN.  I GUESS THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS...  

 

                   MOTHER KNOWS BEST!!!

                                     ...REDFOX

 

COMING HOME

How come the best part of a road trip is always getting home?  It's not that we didn't have a wonderful time in New Mexico, we did.  It is just that I always like the getting home part the best.

We did have a great time meeting up with friends new and old at the quilt show.  I have this wonderful photo that Betty Busby took to prove just what a fine time we had...FINE!

TWERKING?

This is Betty and me strutting our stuff...yes, we still have stuff.  I MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN READY FOR THE RED CARPET, BUT I COULD SURE KNOCK THEM DEAD AT THE SENIOR CITIZENS CENTER.

All kidding aside, it was a very good show.  The theme was A COLOR RUNS THROUGH IT, and every quilt was done in black and white with one other color.  The show was well hung and the company was terrific.  It was wonderful to see other artists we knew and to make new friends with those we didn't.  This was a New Mexico Saqa show and those SAQA girls are friendly.

There is a special saying...

"THE ROAD TO A FRIEND'S HOUSE IS NEVER LONG."

Well that road to New Mexico was very long, but every mile we traveled was worth it.

 

 New Mexico SAQA...hats off to you and we will return to twerk again.

                                          ...REDFOX 

REAL FUN IS NOT HAVING NOTHING TO DO...

Real fun is not having nothing to do.  Real fun is having lots to do and not doing it!

If that is true then I must be really having fun.

Tomorrow morning Betty and I leave for New Mexico.  it is now 2 minutes before ELEVEN o'clock and I am sitting here blogging.  No hair washed, no clothes packed, and lots of dirty dishes in the sink.  But I have been doing important things today.  I did go get a book for the trip and I did get my art quilt for the SAQA Silver show started.  I had been putting it off and then putting it off again.  I want so bad for it to be good that I'm afraid to start.

Here is a quote that really fits the situation.

" PERFECTION IS SPELLED PARALYSIS."

I can't show you the quilt as the rules say it can't be shown before the show, not even on the net, but I can give you an example which will show you that I am the 

                            PROCRASTINATION  QUEEN.

   This painting leaning up against the wall, was done for me, by request, by a very dear friend of mine, JOAN RAMSEY.

I had seen a smaller version of it on a wall in a room in a magazine and fell in love with it.  This was many years ago.  The lake home that I had a place for it was sold and I didn't have a spot in the new house, so it hung an a wall no where near a door.

Two moves later I have a spot, but not a door, certainly not a perfect door.  Not even close.

So again it leans against a wall.

But I love that painting and some 

day, when I figure out what I want to do, I will have the perfect door.  In the meantime I will enjoy the painting and the anticipation of the fun I am having...         

   NOT DOING IT.  

           ... Redfox