A New Bird Collage

The thing about working in a library is that you are surrounded by great books. Recently I came across this book,

Lincoln, Life Size

by

Philip B. Kunhardt II

Peter W. Kunhardt

and Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr.

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2009

It's a book of photographs of Lincoln, taken throughout his life. Alongside each photograph is a quote from someone in Lincoln's life that gives a unique insight into his daily life, both private and professional. This one I particularly liked;

June 3, 1860, Springfield, Illinois

AL.1861.5A
Photograph by Alexander Hesler

On the same day that Alexander Hesler took this portrait of Lincoln, the artist Charles Barry came to Springfield to sketch the candidate, as he later recalled.

Arriving in Springfield in the afternoon of Saturday, June 3, 1860, I went at once to the Lincoln home. When I rang the bell a very small boy called out: "Hello, Mister, what yer want?" I replied that I wished to see Mr. Lincoln and had come all the way from Boston for that purpose. Then the small boy shouted: "Come down, Pop; here's a man from Boston," and a instant later Mr. Lincoln appeared, holding out a hand in welcome. "They want my head, do they?" he asked, twisting my letter of introduction in his hands. "Well, if you can get it you may have it, that is, if you are able to take it off while I am on the jump; but don't fasten me into a chair..."...How vividly it all comes back to me-the lonely room, the great bony figure with its long arms and legs that seemed to be continually twisting themselves together; the long wiry neck; the narrow chest, the uncombed hair; the cavernous sockets beneath the high forehead; the bushy eyebrows hanging like curtains over the bright, dreamy eyes, the awkward speech, the evident sincerity and patience. (p.44)

Two Photoshop Collages

Self portrait with bugs.

Two birds with a big prickly caterpillar.

The approaching end of winter.

New designs

I recently finished two new designs and made them into pin keeps. 

For years I've done my share of sewing, but finishing is new to me. My first efforts were small pillows, as this was simple and familiar to me. Pin keeps looked somewhat difficult at first, but were surprisingly easy. 

The results are very satisfying and have a nice crisp look about them.

A sneek peek

A little peek at a new design I'm working on.

More winter... and a nice surprise!

Another shot of a winter evening as I was waling home from work. This has been a good winter, I think. Not super cold, and with snow. I love snow, the more the better. It insulates, keeping the bitter cold at bay, and in the spring gives the trees a nice deep watering. Besides that, it's beautiful.

 

On another note, please stop over and take a peek at Maria's blog,where she has stitched up one of my cross stitch designs. Thank you Maria, it's beautiful!

My first order off the press and off to the distributer...

After the desginning and the stitching and the photographing...there is Production...

and then... the Finished Product!

Then it was off to post office to mail 240 cross stitch patterns!

The Gift of Stitching

 

Please stop by a great on-line magazine, The Gift of Stitching. Every month Kirsten Edwards, of Sydney, Australia, has a nice mix of traditional and contemporary designs, that are beautifully photographed, along with charts and interesting interviews with designers from all over the world. She has graciously chosen my desgin "Red and Blue Houes" to be among many other featured desgins in the February issue. You can see a little peek here, February 2010.