Monday, September 19, 2011

Journey Wheel Sold!

I cannot believe that I sold and shipped my wheel within 24 hours! It is off to it's new home in Oklahoma. I will miss it, but I want to buy a new wheel to specifically create art yarns. When the new wheel arrives, I will post a picture here, as well as the yarns I create with it.

Two weeks is such a long time..........
Anne

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Journey Wheel Double Treadle Spinning Wheel for Sale

I am selling my handcrafted Journey Wheel double treadle spinning wheel dated October 2005. This wheel has been a beautiful, portable, very functional wheel, and I have enjoyed using it. I have thought long and hard about parting with this gorgeous wheel, but I must. New wheels are selling for $1625 and not available until fall of 2013. I am selling my wheel for $1425, shipping and case included. If you live in the Washington, DC/Maryland/No. Virginia area, I will discount it by $75 if you pick it up.

The wheel is in excellent condition. Here are several photos of the wheel.






There is no darkening on the treadles - that is just the shadow of my arm :)





The only flaws are two small dents on the wood where I mistakenly left a peg when I opened it. The wheel is working smoothly and has been well kept. If you are interested in the wheel, please leave a comment with your email address (which I will delete from the blog) or, look me up on Ravelry as Dancingturtles.

Thanks,
Anne

Sunday, September 11, 2011

9/11 Ten Years Later

Today is a very difficult day for many people. Emotions, long hidden, rise to the surface, creating unease and imbalance. I walked the University of Maryland's new Labyrinth today with a very dear friend. We lost a family of friends ten years ago when their plane crashed into the Pentagon. Leslie Whittington, Charlie, Dana, and Zoe Falkenberg were a loving and generous family missed by many. I walked today for Dana, who was only 3 years old in 2001, her life barely begun. She was always smiling and laughing, and that is how I will always remember her. Zoe was bright and full of energy. She was a friend of my daughter's and only 8 when she died. Leslie and Charlie were supportive members of our community, friendly, kind and always giving of their time. They were on their way to a three month Sabbatical for Leslie in Australia.

I also walked today for four other people whose names were given to me by the University. They all died at the World Trade Center in New York. They were: Donald J. Burns, Kazushige Ito, Justin McCarthy, and Goumatie T. Thackurdeen. I am thinking of them and their families today.

As I walked the labyrinth, I could not help but think of all the people impacted by this horrendous event. I felt the weight of the suffering and almost could not bear it. I was tempted to walk fast and get it over with, the pain was so great. But, I forced myself to walk slowly. It was the hardest thing I have had to do in a long time. My mind raced around in circles, to the Falkenbergs and the others that I was walking for, to others who died that day and their family and friends, to my own emotions and personal realization of loss that day, and to the continued suffering from anger and killing that continues today.

Here is a photo of people walking the Labyrinth this morning, with a little editing on my iPhone:



This afternoon I will go to a service at our own University Park Memorial for the Falkenbergs and for Sheila Hein who worked in the Pentagon and also died that day. I am not sure if I am ready for yet more emotion to pour out of me.I do not understand violence and hatred.

I wish you all peace,Anne

Sunday, June 5, 2011

50 by 50 Weeks 17-22

I have become hopelessly behind on my postcards once again. May is a month that gets away from me each year. There are always so many activities, and we were gone for a weekend. Add to that some computer issues (with the result being a new Mac Book), and I just haven't had time for any art work. Now I have finally gotten caught up on my postcards and am posting six weeks worth at once.

For the cards from weeks 17-19 I have use images of Gladys Cooper, a British stage and screen actress (born 1888, died 1971). I love the photos of her from the Edwardian period and have several postcard images of her. She is stunningly beautiful and has such wistful expressions.

Week 17





Week 18





Week 19





Week 20





Week 21





Week 22



Tuesday, April 26, 2011

50 by 50 Week 16

Well, this week has been busy. Spring has definitely hit the Washington DC area. The temperature has been in the 80s the last few days, the azaleas are blossoming, and everyone is sneezing! Here is the postcard for this week:





Also, I made a major purchase recently. I had not bought a new car in a very long time. My first car was a '77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo - my parent's old car. Then, I bought a new Honda CRX in 1984. I went from huge to tiny. Then, just before I married my children's father, we bought a new, 1991, diesel, VW Jetta. When that died in 2002, I bought a four-year-old VW Passat. I loved my Passat - a manual shift, it handled well, but required a fair bit of upkeep. Last Wednesday, my son went with me as I bought a 2011 Mazda 3. I think that I am falling in love all over again.

Farewell...........



Welcome



Zoom Zoom Zoom

Sunday, April 17, 2011

50 by 50 Weeks 12, 13, 14, and 15

Today I was about to let this project go. I am irritated with myself when I can't keep up with something that I set myself to do. Life often intervenes with other things that take priority. But, I thought I would give it another try and catch up four weeks in one day. I thought that it would be fun to play with Photoshop, so I made each postcard digital. The cards are more basic than I would like, especially the backs, but I have them done! And, there is a lot to be said for getting something done and keeping a commitment with myself. I can get fancier when I only have one at a time to do.

Week 12:





Week 13:





Week 14: Artemis took a break this week, and, instead, I used a quote from my son Nicolas today. The picture is one I took of a Rose Parade float from 2009 of the Mad Hatter.





Week 15:





I have some new work to post soon as well.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

50 by 50 Weeks 10 and 11

Still trying to catch up..... still a couple of weeks behind.....

This week I have been playing with digital images. I have always used Photoshop Elements to touch up photos and so forth, but now I am having fun learning to create digital collage. On this blog I showed some overlays that I created a few months ago. This week I downloaded some free digital images from DeviantScrap Designers especially for Somerset Digital Studio readers.

They have some fun images and backgrounds. I am learning how to add many different layers, re-size, change the colors, the opacity, and generally play with the images. I next want to learn how to make shadows to create greater dimensionality.

Week 10






Week 11