Ride on by!

 

I am INSANELY jealous of this bike! Look at it. It has polka dots on it. And it's so stinkin' cute. My pal Patty had been out for a ride the other day on her day off ... stopped by because she knew I'd love this bike as much as she does! Her daughter has one too so now I've got a double case of envy.

 
Even the name is cute! Electra. It speaks to me!! Look at those daisies ... back to the 70's ... a perfect time of life.

 
Look at that seat. It's beautiful!! And its not one of those skinny little seats. You can actually sit on it and enjoy the ride. Patty told me her bike has a name ... Jenny. Her daughter's is Betty. Who names their bike? Well ... apparently ... those folks at the Electra Bike Company do! The women's cruisers have these adorable names but frankly, I think Patty and her daughter have the best ones. There's a shop locator on the site. I'm taking a trip over to Minneapolis soon.

 
Lookit. The bike has a matching bell. And a basket too. Wait til you see the one for the Jenny bike. Kill me with adorableness. Patty said she's going to get that next so she can come to town and shop when she retires. (Oh ... that's the other thing I love about her ... she's counting down to retirement by how many more Mondays she has to work. Cute bike ... terrific sense of humor!)

 
It has those higher handlebars that help you sit up straighter when you ride. Not like you're racing from start to finish ... its an entirely different girly kind of ride. She says lots of people look at her when she rides by ... she's hoping it's cuz she looks so great as she does ... but nah! it's all about the bike. (Sorry girlfriend.) And so as Patty pedals off into the distance for a nice little jaunt around White Bear Lake ... all I'm left with is memories ... and a scheme about how I can justify buying one of my own!! Ride on girl ...

 

Textures

 

I take pictures all the time ... often of odd and unusual things that catch my eye. So when I was cleaning up my photo file today, I noticed that I had a lot that had a texture feeling to them. I created a file and started moving them into it. And now I have this really cool portfolio of pix with a lot of depth ... and well ... texture! Here are a few ...

 

 

 

 

The pretzel pic was tossed in to see if  you were paying attention. I hate to toss things in the garbage if its something the birds or squirrels can eat. Sometimes they get snacks!

 

 

 

 

Have you ever noticed how close the clouds look when you view them through an open sun roof?

 

 

 

 

I kind of go in streaks when I see a lot of them in one place.

 
Sometimes graphics provide the texture, too!

 

Not that I would make an effort to eat asparagus but it sure looks nice at the grocers!

  

 

These white die cut flowers are probably one of my favorites!

 

 

So what kind of cool textures are lurking inside YoUr camera??

Tune in for Pat Sloan's Creative Talk Radio!

 

I'll be sharing the microphone with Pat on Monday, July 12 ...  three o'clock central standard time where I live in Minnesota ... four o'clock Pat's time on the east coast in Virginia. If you're in Billings it'll be at two o'clock and LA ... you can tune in at one. Ok? Everybody got that?

I'll be on in the second half hour. Pat and I will be talking about why creative people enter competitions ... like the Minnesota State Fair ... we're going to talk about orts ... and if you don't know what those are for sure you're gonna want to be listening in! And then if there's time, we'll be talking some more about organizing our fabric stash.

Whew! You'll have to sit back and relax and listen to us on the Toginet Radio network!!

 

Ok ... a little more craziness ...

 

There were just too many pix for one post. Look ... and be inspired! Anyone is welcome to join our Wool Crazy group at any point ... it's an ongoing project and a visual delight each time we meet. Some people are coming to the morning and evening group because they can't get enough!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crazy art!

 

I'll tell ya ... if you want to be totally inspired by how creative people can be when left to just do something, then you need to come to our Wool Crazy groups on the first Wednesdays. These women blow me away ... I'm jealous at all they do and how fearless they are! Some are completely done with the first block and are working on a second one ... others are just beginning ... some are totally finished and happy with one. Their work is amazing!

 
Londa has just begun ... took her a couple of times to get her background done and now is beginning to stitch a Summer garden. She was using a bright coral to stitch the base of the cone flower using small cross stitches. It looked wonderful!

 
Joyce and Katie ... a mom and daughter duo who share a common love of this project and their wool stash ... this is a corner of Joyce's. Joyce has begun a second block and she and Katie did a fan on their second blocks ... I think about that layout all the time.

   

 

Their Santas ... same applique pattern ... totally different look.

 
Look at Val's houses ... the wool she used looks like the Northern Lights. She planned it that way ... wink wink. She adapted the crow in the book to become a cardinal and it looks terrific. This is Val's first block and it's all Winter ... she's going to begin a second block soon and wants to do a Spring look because she doesn't like working with softer colors and wants to challenge herself. Each of her blocks will have a season on them ... it's going to be adorable!

 
She put Christmas lights around her stocking. One's burned out ... there are two of the same color next to each other. Love her sense of humor! And look at the stitching on her mittens. She was working on a pair of powder blue ice skates cuz she always wanted a pair when she was a little girl.

 

 
Everyone loved Bobbi's flower and crow she was working on. We brought out the tracing and freezer paper so she could share the design with a few others. I love that everyone is generous ... with their appliques and praise and advice. Her houses are really darling ... bright colored doors and windows and the smoke coming out the chimney ... sweet touch!

 
And then there's Chris. Every.single.thing on her block has some kind of meaning for her. I thought the angel was sweet ... its a tribute to family members who have moved on. She made a legend that she stitched to the back so others would know the meaning of pieces. She said she was beginning to worry about an OCD issue because she couldn't stop thinking and working on this block! I'm trying to convince her to enter it in the State Fair.

 
Not everyone was working on crazy projects ... Elizabeth is making this for a wedding gift. Lucky bride! It's beautiful!!

This last pic gets the cleverness vote ... Katie laced the 2010 through a flower stem! I'm jealous that I didn't think of that.

   

Who's laughing with Louise now?

 
We love it when Janice stops by because she brings her friend, Louise. And we love it, too, when OUR friends stop by so they can meet her! Here's Celine on the left and Sherri on the right when they were in town for MarketFest! Live ... love ... laugh ... that's our motto!!