Vista House #1

Five years ago I altered a photo of the Vista House at Crown Point (about 24 miles east of Portland, OR) to look like a vintage postcard and used iron on transfer paper to put the image on white canvas in order to make a tote/purse. (Notice I also removed the trash bin and fence) I bought Blue canvas and a blue batik for the sides, handles and lining. Then I got interrupted. The project was packed up, surfacing only long enough to dole out some guilt from time to time.



Recently, I pulled the picture panels out. My regular purse broke and I thought this would be a great excuse to finish the Vista House purse. Unfortunately, I could only find the photo panels and the lining. I don't know if I used the canvas for another project, gave it away one time when purging my stash or if it is still amid the clutter strewn about as I continue renovating my studio.



I gave up on the canvas and decided on recycled denim instead. I actually think I'll like this better. I need to complete the machine and hand embroidery, add some embellishments and finish construction, but it's started. (I had to put it on hold again when I realized that April starts this week and I have an artist deadline at church on Thursday for our Easter exhibit!)

Time flies...

Wow. I cannot believe it has been over 3 months since I have posted!! Yikes! First, it was the holidays, then my away-at-college daughter came home for a few weeks in January. Busy times at work and before you know it, 3 months flies by!


I've been inventing recipes. (These are my stuffed mini-peppers.) My goal is to lose a total of 65 pounds this year (I've lost 12 so far) and I'm tracking my water, nutrition and fitness goals on SparkPeople.com. I can make my own recipes and SparkRecipes.con will compute the nutrition per serving. It makes me much more conscious in my decision making.

I took my daughter and granddaughters to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Lots of great photo opportunities; took mostly video.


I did do some art. Here, I took one of my painted hearts from 2007 and altered it in Photoshop to make a digital valentine to post on Facebook.

Mostly, my free time (when I have the mental and physical energy) is still focused on the seemingly never-ending job of renovating my studio.
All this and much more came out when I painted and assembled new storage. My rule has been that until it has a designated and organized "home" it doesn't go back in! I did well early on, but when my older daughter and granddaughters house sat for me over Christmas break, I had to "shove" many things back into the room temporarily. Now, I'm taking things out and sorting again. It is overwhelming much of the time, but I am making progress.