White Pumpkin

This is my first assignment for my Imaginary Trip Through Autumn class (the cover was a pre-assignment).  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, considering that it's really the first time I've painted with watercolor paints.

And I didn't really go to the pumpkin patch today - it's an imaginary trip.  I painted the pumpkin from a photo provided by the instructor.

Inchie Ornaments

I'm participating in a Christmas Swap of Inchie Ornaments sponsored by Quilting Gallery and Inchie Quilts.  The swap is closed, but if you're interested in learning to make the ornaments, there is a tutorial here.  And here are my ornaments:

Imaginary Trip Through Autumn

I started a new online class today - An Imaginary Trip Through Autumn, taught by Laure Ferlita.  I am going to be learning to paint with watercolors.  Most of my art journaling has been done with watercolor pencils, so this is new to me.  But I think I'm really going to like it.  And here is the cover of the little journal I started for class.

Stars of the Southwest

I finished this quilt today.  I started it at a retreat about 3 1/2 years ago, and then put it away for quite awhile.  I posted about it here.  The pattern was called Diamond in the Rough, but I think it looks more like stars, so I named my quilt Stars of the Southwest.  It always feels good to finish a project.

Thank You Postcard

I sent this postcard to my friend Anne Gaal.  She had an extra memory card that she couldn't use and she very kindly sent it to me.  I also received one of her cards from a weekly giveaway she was doing.  And besides that, she's a very nice and generous person, so I wanted her to know that I appreciated her and her friendship.

I know I can post it now because she let me know today that she got it yesterday (sometimes the mail is very slow, but I'm glad it got to her and didn't get "lost in the mail").  I enjoyed making it for her, and I'm glad she liked it!

Fish Art Journal Entry

Snow in Minneapolis

I've told this story to a few people and I realized that I wanted to remember it, so it seemed like it would make a good journal page.

Two Art Journal Pages

I actually finished up two journal pages yesterday!

Honey Crisp Apple

My newest journal page.

Art Journal

Here is the cover of the journal I made in Roz Stendahl's class.

Fall Journal Page

This is the first page in the journal I made in the class I took from Roz Stendahl; the paper took the watercolor pencil just fine, even though it's a lighter weight paper than most watercolor paper.  I don't think I could use LOTS of water, but I don't usually use lots of water anyway.  And it's wonderful working in such a nice book that I made myself.  Now I just need to make a label for the cover.

Making Books

We are in Minneapolis, visiting our son and daughter-in-law. We drove most of the way up on Thursday and finished the drive on Friday. On Saturday, I took a class from Roz Stendahl at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, where I made a beautiful journal with a round back spine binding. I learned a lot, and Roz is an excellent teacher. Plus I love my new little journal. I will post a picture of it soon, I promise, but probably not until we return home (which will be Thursday). Wednesday evening, I'm taking Coptic Binding: Focus on Stitching from Sue Bjerke, also at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

The most amazing coincidence - after Roz took roll, first names only, "John" came over to me and said "You're Cheryl Gebhart, aren't you?". I said yes, but clearly didn't recognize him. He is John Payne, from my Love This Journal class and yahoo group. Neither of us knew that the other was coming to the class. It was so fun to meet in person, after knowing each other online for almost 2 years now. I also met his wife, who joined him for lunch, and is a quilter.