CIRQUE DU FLEUR

She is still on the stretcher bars, but I couldn't keep her to myself.

CIRQUE DU FLEUR

The first stitched version of a new design is always a mess. This one in particular because I didn't compromise on design and kept ripping and ripping, until I got it just the way I wanted. I am so very happy with Madame.

I hope to get this Cyberworkshop to you within the month. Clear off your needlepoint calendars because this one is sure to be a real treat!

I am now working on a second colorway. I am using one of the new Zweigart overdye 18 count canvases. The colors are magnificent. I'm not a big colored canvas designer. I mostly use brown, however, who could resist?

The unfortunate news is that I may have to resist. After speaking with the manufacturers, it turns out that the first step in the process of hand dying canvas is to take out the sizing so that the color will adhere. There is no way to bring the stiffness back to the canvas once it's been dyed. The result is that the canvas pulls, it's very flimsy and most of all, the holes expand with every stitch that's a bit more intricate.


What's a girl to do? Let me know what you think. Should I continue using the canvas for this and other designs, (says she, after ordering yards of various colors...)?

Dilemma!

Stuff is good!

Being materialistic is not a nice way to be, I agree. But having stuff is getting a bad rap. I love stuff, not only for the beauty of the stuff but mostly for the memories. I have stuff I've collected over the years, through all the different times of my life, from all the fascinating places I've visited. Some of the stuff is really insignificant in terms of the value or aesthetics. Usually that's the stuff that means the most to me, otherwise why would I keep it?

I love stuff and I'm proud of it!

This little Pinocchio was purchased on our first trip to Italy with Nina. He's only a two inches tall but is quite charming.

Nina has four small shelves of stuff, most of which we collected before she came home to us. It made the months of waiting for her easier to cope with. I hope they become meaningful to her as she matures.

These Kosta Boda glass animals are part of her "stuff" shelves. We bought them for her the week we found out that she was waiting for us to bring her home.

Kosta Boda glassware has always been a favorite of mine.

These masks captured my heart years ago.

When Shiri went off to college at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor became a fun place for us to visit. This piece is from one of the many lovely galleries in this university town.

This enamel work was done by a lovely lady on a Kibbutz in Israel. For years we would go back to her studio to buy gifts for our friends.

Reid collects boxes, small treasure boxes. He puts coins in the boxes, each box with the coins of the country the particular box has come from.

For Hannukah I bring out my Menorah collection as well as my small ceramic dreidels.

These "finjans" are used to make strong Turkish coffee, the kind that you cook over a fire. After you pour the coffee into small cups, you wait until all the coffee grains sink to the bottom of the cup. It's usually a very sweet cup of coffee, black and syrupy. If you dare, when you're done drinking, turn the cup upside down onto a saucer and let the coffee grains slide down the sides of the cup. Turn your cup over again and find your future in the pattern of the coffee grains...








and when I want tea, these little kettles have been collecting on my shelves since I first came to the United States.

GOOFY WITCH!

Here we are again, October 31st.



This year I took things much easier. Not as easy as I thought initially, but still much easier.

It started with a skirt and hat that Nina saw a month ago. She begged to be a witch. I said yes, sure, and immediately bought the two items paying much more than I should have.

All was well until yesterday. I woke up and panicked. My child in a store-bought costume? What kind of mother am I? I dropped Nina off at school and was at Jo-Ann fabrics by 9 am. An hour later I was on my way, leaving the store with fabric and trims.





The hat has lots of embellishments that aren't showing in the photos.





Unless she is wearing her good shoes, I love this stance!

HAPPY!

I'm feeling soooo much better.
Thank you for all your wonderful wishes.


(I'm off to embellish Nina's Halloween outfit. So much for this year I'm buying. More later with photos.)

Sad

I've been away from my computer and from you, my friends, due to an eye ailment. I woke up one morning and felt something in my eye, so I went to the mirror and started my search. I looked right, left, turned my eyelid inside out, all sorts of scary stuff, but nothing. As the day progressed, it got worse. Now it was both eyes and it felt as if someone was sitting on my upper lids and pressing down, sort of like when you sit on a suitcase to make it close. It was Friday and too late to see a doctor. The weekend was really bad and the whole time I'm thinking, not my eyes, please not my eyes. My eyes are everything to me. I know this must be true for everybody, but you know how when we were kids we used to ask, "if you had to loose either your eyesight or your hearing, which would it be?". For me there was never any doubt, I would keep my eyes.



To make a long story a little shorter, I finally got to see the most wonderful doctor on Monday afternoon and he diagnosed the problem as Meibomian gland dysfunction. While it's not life threatening, it can be very difficult to live with. Imagine sand being dumped in your eyes while the guy from the suitcase (see above), is trying to get your eyes to close. There is no magic cure, just lots of tear drops and bathing your eyes in Johnson's Baby Shampoo. It is hard to beat since it can become chronic but I am determined to be among those that beat it!



Oh, and did you know that when you are at the computer you blink much less therefore your eyes dry out more and therefore, if you have this condition, you should try to limit your computer exposure. I'm not going away, I just may have to make my visits shorter.



xoxo


me and my eyes.

Autumn BLOWOUT!

Now that it's getting cooler out, isn't it nice to have plenty of projects to keep busy while you stay cozy indoors. Since I know you all don't have enough needlepoint projects (ha ha ha), I thought I'd tempt you with more...

For every Mini Wishes or Taltul Kit you purchas, we will include a FREE instruction book for one of the other Wishes designs. Each Mini Wishes kit includes the instruction book, fibers, and beads you will need to stitch one colorway.

Taltul is a special design that can be worn as a pendant or brooch. Each kit also includes the instruction book, fibers, and beads needed for one colorway.


These projects are sure to keep you indoors and happy at that!

Check it out!

Teaser

a new feature on Ornaments/designs by Orna...Cyberworkshops.

Back in 2000 I taught one of ANG's first cyberworkshop for my piece Jerusalem 2000. It was a daunting piece and cyber studying was quite new. I loved the contact with people from all over the world (!) and I look forward to teaching another cyberworkshop for ANG in 2011.

In the very near future we will be offering a cyberworkshop on our very own website! You will be able to participate in a class and have access to detailed lessons, videos, a chatboard dedicated to the class, (and as the King of Siam would say), etc. etc. etc.

I'm loving this design, brand new for our very first class.


These are teasers.

The Gardens at Longwood

It's been about a month since we took our first trip to Longwood Gardens. It was a spectacular day, warm and muggy, but still beautiful. Nina loved the gardens, running from one section to the next. Later we had tickets to an outdoor concert and listened to the music and the crickets at the same time. Lastly we went to see the water show, huge fountains spurting water to classical music with displays of color bursting in the sky. Quite something!

Here are some photos I took that day...

and a glance at the flowers in my studio garden.













and the prettiest flower of them all...






I found this photo from back in the wedding prep days. I thought I'd share this with you as well.

Flying Horses

Saturday morning and I'm home alone. I spent the past two hours working on this color interpretation. Can't make it happen. The horse was a gift from Shiri and Orin brought back from a trip to Mexico.

While I do think I'm pretty close in "real life", the colors in the photo aren't right. One of the hardest colors to find was the blue in the mane. I don't have a single fiber in that exact color. The color made me think of a chalk blue. I found the pastel crayon and the colored pencil, but still not right.

UGH!!

So, two hours later I decided to present you with one I couldn't do. Anyone want to give it a try?

UPDATE!

That's better, just needed to take the photo together, flying horse with fiber.