Cowboy on his Trusted Horse

Howdy Pardners, 
     Here's my little cowboy Art Pouch #4. You can't really tell from the photo (I will improve my photo skills as time goes by, I promise), but there are little embroidery embellishments. Specifically, french knots... I absolutely adore french knots for some reason?!  (Almost as much as I like french toast!)  Also, there's a little horse charm I found on the ground (for reals), some faux leather, some indian print canvas, and of course I upcycled a zipper for the closure.
      My cowboy is ramblin' through the desert, and when he's out there takin' in all the desert scenery, his mind starts ta wanderin'  (an occupational hazard for them cowboys).  One time he saw this cactus that stood there lookin' like a man with two arms.  Bein' he'd been out there for a few days all by his lonesome under that blazin' desert sun, he started to imagine this cactus was a "Cactus Man".  You know, he was imaginin' himself a little company. (Between you and me, I suspect he was a little de-hydrated!) And the next thing ya know, he found himself singin' this song all about his new-found friend.  It went somethin' like this:
(PS Of course you gotta imagine it sung with a little country twang to get the full effect.)

Cactus Man, Cactus Man, livin' in the side of a hill of sand,
Gee I'd like to shake your hand, but if I don't you'll understand.

Cactus Man, Cactus Man, perfectly adapted to the land,
Storin' up water in your feet and your hands. Glad I met you, yes I am.

Git Along Little Doggies!
Poetically yours, Pamela

"Cactus Man", by Pamela M Becraft
Copyright 2011, all rights reserved.

Nasturtiums-Gone-Wild!

Here's one of the several Nasturtium vines in my garden that are busy trying to take over the world.  This one has grown out of one of my compost/planting bins, has taken over the boysenberry vines on the fence, the paths, part of the adjoining beds, and is attempting to annex the aluminum ladders in our storage area. (Whatever can a flower do with a couple of ladders, I do not know!)

The good thing is, it is beautiful to look at, and yummy to eat.  If you have an enthusiastic Nasturtium in your garden, here's a fun tip for the many luscious, juicy seeds that form.  Next time you empty a jar of pickles, save the jar of juice in the fridge. Pick a bunch of Nasturtium seeds when they are nice and juicy (not too big), and blanch them in some salted water. Then put them into the pickle juice and let them soak for about a week (in the fridge of course). Voila!  Now you have a delicious substitute for capers, only better because they are crunchier and have a wonderful little peppery kick to them.  Enjoy.

Poetically yours,  Pamela

Pouch #3

Here's the next finished pouch.  I got delayed in finishing it because I was trying to do something clever with the pull on the zipper.  Well, I made up a couple of vinyl-enclosed pull tags, with a little blip about sharks having to keep moving in the water... the idea was cool, but the tags were too large and tended to take away from the overall design... so I had to go to a simpler approach.  I used a belt loop upcycled from some jeans.

     This brings me to a lesson I have learned while working along on these pouches, and that is:  If something is not working, try something new and keep trying until it FEELS right. Always choose what feels right for the solution. This might mean some frustration and wasted effort... or so it would seem.  But, no effort is truly wasted.  Moving forward until you find your solution strengthens your design muscles.
     Put aside the unused solutions... they may be just the thing for a future project... and the lessons you learned in creating those unused solutions just add more ideas and experience that you will be able to call on in the future.
     So here's the question:   Do we choose to...  Sink or Swim???
     I say Swim is always the choice!

     Poetically yours,   Pamela

In the meantime, Let's Eat!

Waiting game...
     The wedding dress is on hold now until the young bride-to-be can travel here for her fitting, and fabric shopping.  I continue work on the Art Pouches, and more finished ones will appear soon, but in the meantime, we must eat. 

     Thanks to abundant rain and cool weather this winter, I had a nice volunteer crop of romaine lettuce in my little organic garden. There are also a few fat carrots, and nasturtiums of every color are trying to take over the world!  I had to put the nasturtiums in their place, so I went out there and did a little harvesting and made a beautiful salad for my family last night. 
     Thank you, Mother Nature.  It was delicious!

Phase 2 complete

Now we wait...
     The pre-dress is sewn. The future bride has been notified. Now I wait for the date when she can visit for the fitting. ( Did I mention she lives in Washington State, and I live in CA?)  We do not back down from a challenge, us women folk.  We find a way to make it work, if it's important to us.
     So, while the wedding dress is on the back burner, move on to taxes (Yes, I know it's late!).  Did I tell you how much I dread taxes?  Well, like I said, we do not back down from a challenge; and it's important to me to Not be bugged by the IRS, so better get to it.
     Poetically yours,   Pamela

Wedding Dress, Still in Phase 1...

So, or should I say "sew", because that is what I have to do.  The pieces have all been cut out for the fitting dress, and now I am in the process of sewing it all together. I'm using a long stitch with a contrasting thread so my poor, nearsighted eyes can see it easily during this phase.

    This is going to be a lovely, delicate, flowing design... and I just found out the future blushing bride skated in her first women's roller derby! Oh the paradoxes (paradoxi?) of life. At least she was wearing pretty black lace tights along with her knee pads and helmet.

     Poetically yours, Pamela

Pouch #2!

On a roll now!  Finished this little nature scene pouch with a bit of applique, embroidery, and the perfect little flower and leaf beads for the strap. I utilized t-shirt fabric for the braided strap, the good corner of a decorative bed sheet for the image, and an upcycled zipper. It was a nice effect to go outside the "frame" of the image and overlap with the appliqued flowers and cattails. Now that I have worked through the challenges of the basic structure of the pouch design, the whole process has become much easier, and more fun!
    The next design will have a different look... stay tuned.   And for goodness sake, in the spirit of not throwing the "baby out with the bath water", do NOT throw the zipper out with the worn out pants! Get out your scissors and save that perfectly good piece of modern apparel technology for some new and wonderful use!
     Poetically yours, Pamela