Eureka Springs School of Arts

In July I had the wonderful opportunity to take a workshop in Eureka Springs...I stayed with a good
friend...Becky Ross...in their beautiful lakehouse on Beaver Lake. The workshop was making a
Shaman Doll...was not real sure what that was...but turned out to be perhaps your Spirit Doll???
Really anything you wanted it to be. I surmised that it was to be somewhat of a personification of
you...meaning me...so I proceeded do some prep work ahead of the class...what I eventually came up with was not really anything like that...but an offshoot of my original plan. It was very inspiring..there were 10 people in our class...one man....everyone had their own vision...Becky ended up making an
Alaskan figure....complete with wonderful mask...another friend of mine brought a turtle shell and constructed a figure riding a conch shell with wheels...Cynthia made this and finally I understood what
the whole gist of the class...using found objects to do what you saw in the items.
I was inspired...and said "I get it!"...  Our teacher was Valerie Damon...a renowned artist who used to work for Hallmark but many years ago she and her husband moved to Eureka Springs....bought many acres on top of a mountain and live in a log house...grown their own food...do everything very naturally...even composting toilets....she has long dreadlocks and is quite wonderful...by the end of the class I told her we were kindred souls!! I enjoyed every minute of my time there and wanted to share
my creation.....came home and started on several more....My title for the "BOX" ...is "She's trying to

think outside of the Box!"....which is what the class did for me...I needed it.....the little felt doll I just
finished...she is 7" tall and was very fun to make...found the pattern on Pinterest...

Recent Photos

It's been a LONG time since I have posted a new blog....what a busy time since January...John and I spent 3 weeks in India in January...incredible experience....more about that in another blog... returned to Florida....spent a week or so getting back in the groove!!!   My son Mike had injured his hip years ago...he is 43...and it had progressed to where he needed a new hip!  I volunteered to be his nurse! We flew back to Kansas City to have his old college room-mate do the surgery. His name is Scott Cook and is quite re-nowned in the medical field. Operation went well and recovery was painful but his young years were a benefit....after 2 weeks we flew back to Florida where he lives and we visit. We also had his little tiny Dog Luli...and my dog Dory on the plane with us....but we made it and as we speak he is doing quite well. Amazing Grace is all I can say for the wonderful advances of medicine and the prayers for his recovery. Some recent photos to share.......!!!! Grade school art is a wonderful poster of children's art done by a friend..great idea to save special art!!   Another braided mat done with
wool strips....however  in the center a design is hooked...love it!   Francine and Henry are the two doves who LOVE our house and yard... they spend lots of time in our gardens and our porches!!
So fun!    The furniture piece is a cast-off from my daughter...she called and said if you want this come get....of course you have to run right over or it will go out on the curb!!!  I wood-burned the drawers...painted...then painted the whole piece black...I am pleased with it!!! And of course my best
little friend Dory!!!

one of my Hand-made Boxes!

One of my favorite things to do ....(among many!) is to make a box from pieces of cardboard. I am always on the hunt for wonderful papers to use. I am in a bunko group that we have had for 30 years!!!! Sounds long and boring but it is really all about getting together once a month...old friends that have been "friends" for so long. We have a Christmas party every December and exchange gifts. We use the fun method where you choose a gift from the pile and open it. The next person can pick another or "steal" your gift...it gets very serious to say the least. This is the perfect opportunity for me to make a special box! On the top of the box is a gathered fabric flower that my friend Suzanne showed me how to make. SO FUN! Inside the box was one of my glass Snowmen!!!

Little Braided Mats

This year (December 2011) at our annual rug-hooking Christmas party a friend (Carol Lawlor)

showed us some little braided mats using the strips of wool we use in rug hooking. As there are many strips left over after completing a rug or a hooked piece....you soon accumulate quite a stash of random width strips....various colors. I had heard of these little mats and one day tried to make one...not very successfully. Tossed it aside and forgot about it. Carol told us she was going to give a demonstration ....How-To...at the next Guild Meeting. Since I would be gone I was not happy to miss the demo. They were SO cute...looked exactly like a larger braided rug. She said they required LOTS of steaming so the next day or so I attempted again. The braiding went well but hand-lacing them together was very tedious....frustrating! So I attempted to zig-zag on my sewing machine....a very wide zig-zag. It worked beautifully....any distortion was corrected wit heavy steaming. I did back them with a piece of felt..also zig-zagged ....gave them more stability. I have to say "Thank You Carol."...I have now made 6 of them..my favorite one is the one using one of Anita's (our rug hooking teacher) crazy spot dyed pieces with wild colors.