Home For The Holidays

Hello Friends!

Lovely crazy time of year, and enjoying every minute of it!  I haven't blogged in a bit, lately spending my days getting ready for a show followed by a holiday sale.  Just wanted to share a sampling of my fiber frenzy love.

Staying in the moment, trying to be quiet, spending time with family and friends, love being home.

Hope you're happy and well

xo

dulcy

Break Time

Time for a break.

I invite you to join and follow me on Instagram.
 Posts of life, work, and adventures.
xo
dulcy

Blogging For The Better

Haven't blogged in a bit, and quite frankly, wondering "why bother?".  But... I've also cruised around from time to time checking out other blogs,  Instagram, facebook sites, Pinterest, and am always so amazed at all the creativity!  I love to follow wonderful artists at these sites, and occasionally will leave my own comments.  Sometime I'll get a reply back!  Whenever I feel a bit in a slump, something as simple as a few photos of great homes, gardens, art, and fashion are all I need to get back at it.  So.... (well now that my computer is fixed.... a pesky issue) I'll post a few photos of what I'm up to, and what is making me happy and feel creative.

I've been hooking a lot over the past few months, and just finished this small abstract landscape.

This piece was inspired by one of my husband, Jim Mayfield's, photos taken while traveling through the Netherlands last spring.

I've also had a lot of fun making pillows.  Here's a couple of girls.  Rosie and Violet.  They're about 18" tall and 10" wide.

I still have one more to do to make a set of three.  These will be for sale later next fall.  Speaking of owls, our friends called the other day and told us to get over quick!  New baby barred owls just emerged from the nest in their yard.  We jumped in the car and got there in time for a great viewing.  Jim grabbed several shots.

I'm still working on lots of shawls and a few bags.  Saving bags for fall sale, and shawls I've been selling in a couple of different shops.  Love the silk/mohair blend of yarn.  Light and soft!

Spending special time with family.  Just returned from Chicago where we had the most lovely time with little grand daughter Ruby, who just celebrated becoming two years old.

 

Of course, my favorite place to be is home.  It's garden time and I couldn't be happier than when puttering around the house and garden.  Here's a picture of our front and porch.  I'm using this shot for tags on my shawls. 

A view of the back yard after one of the many extended rains we're currently enjoying.

A sweet little guy resting in the front garden.

And one of our gorgeously brilliant hibiscus!

So.....passing on a long post to you in hopes of adding a bit of color and creativity to your day!

Namaste....
dulcy

Home

Springtime At The Doorstep

Love the addition of the little fox head above the door

The hanging pine cones were sparkly and glittered.  The remains of holiday decorations with grand kids that I can't bring myself to cut down.

A few sweet wildflower volunteers reseeded themselves.

Our ever present very feral Firefly.  He's still here... and a bit on the chubby side...

xo

dulcy

Snowdrops and Rugs

One of my very most favorite flowers is the snowdrop.  I LOVE how it sits so patiently under the snow and freezing cold temps, yet still blooms it's pretty delicate white flowers.  I've been dividing a few plants around one side of my home under the kitchen window.  I didn't get pictures of them this year, but hooked this pillow instead.

I had lots of fun playing with wool and color.  I would love to have a whole field of snowdrops greet me each spring!

Rug hooking has had me in it's grips since Christmas!  I've finished four or five pieces.  I've been leaning towards more geometric patterns and some abstract.  Thought it would be easy.  Not in the least!  I guess I've hooked so many pieces with a motif of some kind over the years, that going abstract is kind of difficult.  But, I love the challenge, and love playing with color.

I made this piece and just couldn't live with it.

The photo is a bit enhanced, but what bothers me is several things.  First, I decided it would be a nice place to attach this little fiber collage I did years ago.  I've always like the little piece, but couldn't decide what to do with it.  So I thought the colors might look nice with this rug.  There is a lot of gold in the collage, which was not in the original rug.  It's color palette is mostly rusts, blues, creams, peach, and a bit of soft green.  Well..... #1 The collage just looks to stuck on and out of place, even though I tried to avoid that, and make it look like it belongs.  It doesn't.  #2  I added some gold into the background of the rug to tie in with the collage.  Just didn't work.  #3 I have that hideous, out of place horizontal line.  I had to hang this and live with it to see all that didn't work and bothered me.  So I made the necessary adjustments......

Took off the collage, took out the gold, took out a few lines so it didn't look so boxy.  And, I think it works better horizontal than vertical.  I now have another large abstract that's going to get "the treatment".  It's all in the practice, and as long as I've been hooking rugs, I'm still learning.

xo
dulcy

Luscious Color Leads To Lots Of Creativity

Spring is practically officially here.... and I've kicked it off by planting pansies, sorting through and replenishing bits of my wardrobe, and lots of hooking and weaving!

I've made a few more shawls.... and just LOVE the ribbon addition!

The one above I paired with this sweet little bag (bag already sold).  Love all the greens, pinks, and blues...... I made this same one below, minus ribbon, as a gift for my friend Maria.  She just moved to Greece and I felt the luscious greens and blues were the perfect colors to go with her new life.

Recently dragged home the sweetest new find!  This pretty little shabby, but much loved, velvet chair.

My latest hooked piece fit perfectly on the back.  Size and colors!

Of course, the addition of a new chair means new slip covers for the previous chair that was in that corner, as it's been moved.  I'm feeling the need for lots of springtime updates.  Love heading into my studio for new possibilities!

xo
dulcy

My Husband, Jim Mayfield

There's a wonderful article about my very talented husband, Jim Mayfield.  You can read it here.

Rugs and Snow

I finished this rug, and have had the most fun hooking it as anything I've done in a long time.

I did what I like best... something whimsical, colorful, and happy.  I'm so enthused right now, that I immediately started a new piece.  Here are a couple of peeks.

You may have noticed that the owls are done in a bit of velvet.  Also, I'm so attracted to the wool with some sparkle.  Have been using lots of bright sparkly colors.

Valentines Day was nice.... did the usual Valentines sort of things.  But, nothing says Valentine like a husband who is out first thing in the morning digging paths through the snow for our little feral cat Firefly to get to his food easier.

As I've mentioned here before, Firefly is completely feral and won't let us near him.  I do have a little shed that he goes in with heated food bowls, heated cat mat, and down comforter. 

Also, grabbed a shot of my Valentine this morning digging a path for me to get to the studio.

That's the perfect gift for Valentines Day, or any day, as far as I'm concerned!
xo
dulcy

Rugs, Wristies, Shawls... COLOR!

Beautiful spring like weather makes me happy thinking of the garden, spring clothes, creative pursuits, and always, lots of color!

Working on a new rug that I'm having great fun with, and very excited about.  Here's a few bits and pieces.

I have two different venues that I'm going to show my work in next fall and early winter.  So, since hooking is so time intensive, I'm already working and setting things aside for that.

Just off the loom is this lovely shawl in the most fabulous blues and teals.  This one is traveling to it's new home in Greece!

And below, a sweet pair of wristies I knitted for a friend......

Last night we had a lovely evening at Tea Bar and Bites where hubby, Jim Mayfield, is currently showing photos from our trip last spring to the Netherlands and Belgium.  The theme of his show works well for February, lots of tulips and gardens.... plus windmills and bicycles.  I took this prior to the reception.  Lovely turnout, and lots of good company.

I really must include this sweet photo of Willow basking in the warm sun falling through the window.  She's got it made!

Happy Weekend!
xo
dulcy

Simple Happy Projects

Enjoying home, spending time in my studio, and working on small projects.  I spent an evening crafting with artist friends.  I'd found a sweet little origami envelope project here.
Peggy over at Woman With Wings has the most lovely and interesting posts.  We made several, including little necklaces.  Each has a tiny surprise inside.  We thought these would be fun to just leave about in public places as abandoned art gifts for whoever comes across them.  These are a few I made.

I used catalog pages, ribbon scraps, old buttons, whatever I had squirreled away.  Everyone did something different, and all were wonderful!

I finished knitting a little shrug.

This selfie doesn't show much, but you get the idea.  Here's another shot.

Anyway, an easy little pattern, and just right for cool spring days and tee shirts.

Another completed project is a shawl for my lovely friend, Janet.

I'm not going to give it the ribbon treatment since Janet is the Ribbon Queen and she'll take care of that part.

Today I'm beginning a new hooked rug.  It's only in my mind's eye right now, but I'm excited about what I see!

xo
dulcy

Destination Eureka Springs

Hubby bought a new car a month or so ago, and we haven't had the weather or time to take it on a short road trip.  This past weekend was perfect with temps in the 60's, so we hopped in and headed to a favorite little village south of here, Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Eureka is a small very old community nestled into the the side of an Arkansas mountain.  It's Victorian and rose around the properties of it's healing spring waters.

Above is one of the old bath houses.  Eureka has been a home to artists and mystics over the years.  I've enjoyed many trips and the wonderful characters I'd see about.  Much of that has changed as it's become the destination of tourists, B&B's, and motorcycles.  But the spirit is still there.

We discovered this little cave, many of which are accessible throughout the town.

Once inside we found this sweet little altar.  I think it would make a lovely painting.

This little yellow cottage has always been one of my favorites.  The size can be deceiving as many of the homes drop 2 and 3 stories below the street built into the mountainside.

Finding the quirky and odd is still pretty easy in Eureka.  Nothing says "Christmas" like a dino dressed in lights!

There used to be a theater production called "The Passion Play" which I believe has been closed for a long time.  But the symbolism remains on the mountaintop.

The mountainside gardens are beautiful, well kept, and lovely even in the dead of winter.

Eureka has nice galleries and shopping, but we chose to use our day for a hike through this hilly burg.

We were married in Eureka 12 years ago on the winter solstice.  Our tiny private ceremony was in what was then known as "The Old Stone Church".  It's now a theater.  Very fitting transformation to this lovely old structure.

We had a wonderful day, and of course I took my current knitting project with me, just in case!

xo
dulcy