April Bday Block

Can you believe it has been almost a year since Kate started this swap on about.com! The Birthday Block of the Month Swap has been challenging and fun! May is the last month...and the theme is Mardi Gras, so i may try my hand at some applique....but i digress...this is the block for Miss April, which just happens to be Kate. We could make any block size and any block style, with a black background and tonal brights. This is the open boxes pattern from quilters cache, i love this patern, though it is paper pieced, and i hate peeling off the paper! I made one back in January but it had a white background, so i was curious to see it in black this time. I like the way it turned out, and i hope Kate does too!
On another note...being Colorado...it was 83 degrees yesterday, but dont get too comfortable...today the high was 27 and it snowed all day! Looks like another snowman in our future!
Happy Quilting!
lisajo

Quilt Angels...

I ordered these cute little angels on etsy.com, and they arrived over the weekend. I bought them as a gift for a family member, but i love them, and may end up keeping them for myself :) They are sooo cute...10" tall and made out of vintage quilt squares. What a clever idea for tattered old quilt squares that are too small to work with otherwise! Hmmmm....the possibilities!

I had big plans for the weekend, but we were inundated with guests all weekend, so i didnt get to any of those big projects i was thinking about :( The company was great though, and since the weather is starting to clear up, we can expect to have visitors again. We like to call them our fair weather friends, because no one wants to make the trip during the winter, so we only see folks about 6 months out of the year :)

To think only four days ago our house was cloaked in white, and sadly this is the remains of our snowman today...


It's a gorgeous 70 degrees today...but thats Colorado for you! Theres a saying...
"if you dont like the weather in Colorado, stick around!"
How true!
May your day be filled with creative joy!
lisajo

Lovely Quilts

So my cousin (aka my best friend), moved to Washington (near Seattle) last month and went to a Quilt show recently. Im not sure what the name of the show was, but she took some wonderful pictures while she was there...Im including two, but if you want to check out the rest, be sure to stop by her smugmug page. Wish i could have gone to this show...the work is amazing!

On another note...I received the information on the person i am making a doll quilt for in Kate's swap, ALQS. I have three design ideas running thru my mind, so once i decide on that, I will be anxious to get started! I am thrilled with the person i was paired up with, so i hope he/she likes what i create for them! If you havent figured out by now, its a surprise...so while i will keep you updated with my quilting progress, i will keep the rcvrs name a secret.

As for the person who rcvd my name...if you are reading this blog...remember, im easy to please...i love just about anything, and i have no doll quilts to speak of, so any creation will be much appreciated :) (so dont stress...just do what you love!)

More Corel Painter Fun...

Quiet Spot by the River

As Promised...

Yesterdays creative streak really paid off.....what do you think? :)

Digital Painting...

Well, as i mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, one of my resolutions was to learn Corel Painter. I purchased the program almost a year ago, and have hardly had any time to learn how to use it. Im a Photoshop junkie, so Painter intimidated me a bit...but ive made it thru disc one of the tutorial and was inspired...so i created this piece,"Red Dancer of Light". I took this photo of my friend Sarah, about 3 years ago, and manipulated it in Painter to look like an oil painting. It was a lot of fun, and i hope to delve even deeper into the program.

Now for those of you that are family and/or quilting friends, i hope you do not mind my occasional blog about my photography and digital artwork...i considered creating a separate blog for each...family...quilting...digital art...however, its easier for me to have one place to chat...besides, they are all interrelated, since they come from the same mind...mine :) (how scary is that)

So there ya have it! Feel free to skim past the particular entries that dont interest you...after all, i may be assuming any of this is interesting, and perhaps it isnt at all :) hehhehe

thanks for stopping by~
lisajo

April Morning at the Blackbear Cabin...

Just when you thought it was safe to pack the snowsuits...

We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning, and even though i am anxious for Spring, i couldnt help but think it was beautiful outside! Spring snows are best for making snowmen too...i know what jordyn and i will be doing this afternoon!

Whats the weather like at your place?

Another Little Quilt Swap

Hurrah...Kate is hosting a small quilt swap and for the first time the deadline works out perfect for me! Ive wanted to participate in one of these for a while now. Instead of ending up with a bag full of quilt squares waiting for you to finish or add to your UFO pile, you end up with a finished quilt to hang on your wall (or do whatever you like with it). There are several woman signed up already, and from all over the globe...so thats exciting! If you are interested, check it out...there are still several spaces left! Thanks for hosting this Kate!
See you in blogland!
lisajo

All Art Saturday!

I had my first "girls night out" since Jordyn was born, and it was a blast! Justin stayed home with the little one, so i headed to town and met up with my friend Kendall. Ive always wanted to check out the mask exhibit at the MoCa, an annual fund raiser, and since Kendall had a piece in the show, we decided that would be our first stop.

Everyone starts out with the same mask, and then they sculpt and paint it anyway they desire. There was a large variety of designs there, and the show was very inspiring! I hope to participate in it next year. Ive already got some ideas brewing for it. What i love, is that anyone can participate...and some of my favorite pieces were actually created by high school students.

Since the sun had not quite set, and it was such a beautiful night, we decided to walk over to the Crown Pub for some dinner out on the patio...thats right...i actually got to enjoy my dinner outside on the patio. The restaurant is located in old town, among a lovely strip of unique shops and eateries. We enjoyed a few beers on tap, fish and chips, and non-stop conversation. Guess its obvious we are both stay home moms :) Kendall and i rarely get a chance to visit away from the kids, so apparently we both had lots to say! After dinner we headed over to another exhibit...

This exhibit was lovely, though i must say i was disappointed in the lackluster reception. Most art receptions provide wine, cheese...even coffee and tea...this reception had none of that. Perhaps they had things out earlier in the evening, but we were only there an hour after it started. Never the less, it was a fun time, and im glad i went.
The night was still young, and we were still chatting up a storm, so we decided to stroll along the avenue and check out a few of our favorite shops. I purchased some new costume jewelry at my favorite India imports store...blue earrings for me, and some bangles for jordyn. We also perused a popular newsstand, where i purchased some silly postcards and the latest issue of International Artist Magazine...what can i say...im a magazine junkie!
We pulled up in her driveway and continued to talk for another hour before we realized the time and decided we better call it a night. I popped in the Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits and enjoyed my drive home up the dark starry canyon. Jordyn and Justin were sleeping when i got home, so i cuddled in next to them and fell fast asleep! What a wonderful day!

Web Designing Wednesday

After an all day EMS conference in town yesterday, i wanted to concentrate on my website, so with a little help from Justin, i was able to get a lot of the pages laid out. Its been a long time since i did web work, so im a little rusty...but its starting to come back to me...slowly :)
Jordyn was at the grandparents house, so i had many uninterrupted hours to create...of course, i spent a lot of that time goofing off on the computer, but i found some cool stuff! If you like to read, and i know some of you are avid readers...check out this site http://www.goodreads.com/ . Also, if you've never seen this website, http://www.duirwaighgallery.com/, be sure to check out the art...lotsa fun! Anyways, not much else going on up here, so i thought i would include a photo of the canyon i live in...i took this picture last Fall.
Enjoy!
lisajo