Saturday, September 17, 2011

Saturday Scraps

Saturday Scraps with Knees and Paws
Saturday Scraps with Knees and Paws

In order to participate, copy the code in my right sidebar and post it somewhere in the body of your post titled "Saturday Scraps"  Then add your post to this blog hop by clicking on the "add your link" button at the end.


Hi friends! Today I'm introducing the first Knees and Paws Meme:  The Saturday Scraps is a writing and/ or photography prompt designed to celebrate process, fragmentation ad friendship.


(yes, I'm aware that today is Sunday, but maybe instead of being a day late, I'm actually posting six days early!)

This post is actually a preliminary test.  I welcome your thoughts and ideas and would love to include your suggestions in the first "real" Saturday Scraps blog hopping meme.



The inspiration for this meme is taken from my observation of a master storyteller when he taught his craft to a small group of writers. He said,

"if a writer is like a quilter, his second job is to put all the scraps together.  If that's the second thing to do, what is the first?

And the group answered "gather all the scraps."

Quilts cannot be made without scraps...and in linking our scraps together we may start to see the beginning of a blogging friendship quilt.

I have an abundance of scraps: fabric scraps, plush scraps and paper scraps. Any kind of scrap that I can collage with will find it's way into my work zone.

I also have plenty of memory and information scraps.  And I'm interested in those scraps too. 


Like the following stuff of life scrap: over the weekend I had and argument with Richard.



After which I was suddenly left with the house to myself for several hours.

And I'm reminded of the wisdom of Fred Rogers when he said

"Love isn't a perfect state of caring.  It is an active noun like struggle."

He also said,

"Anger makes us feel so isolated."

So, although I was gifted with a few hours of solitude, I comforted myself by catching up on sold items.  Yesterday was a milestone for Knees and Paws. We had our 100th sale.  It was the Lemur Tail and it's going to someone in Los Angeles California.  (How exciting is that?  Maybe it will find it's way into a film!)

To celebrate, I spent some time making a few things for myself. 

Our kitchen renovation is a decimal point away from being completed, so I felt inspired to sew a tablecloth, napkins and place mats for our dining space.     In the first phase of remodeling, I used a picture of a kitchen with brick walls as the inspiration for all the color choices.  The colors we used are dark green, rich mahogany brown, and white with copper accents.  We also have a beautiful wrought iron pot rack that our neighbor Tom made in his workshop.  Hanging above the table is a wrought iron light fixture.  The brick that I loved in the picture never became a reality...until I discovered a large scrap of fabric with a brick pattern.  This is what I used to make the tablecloth and napkins.





























Remember the antique baker's table we found at the salvage shop?  Richard created a new top for it and conditioned all the wood to bring out the color.  


Here's what we started our renovation project with...the rubble of wood scraps.

And a century old baker's table that fits my height requirement.



After ^^^^ 

  Before 




























I was so excited about having a new kitchen, I wanted to spend the rest of the evening at our table.  So I lit some candles and started a new watercolor painting.  The inspiration for this work was taken from a photograph on Driftwood Rambling's Blog.  Desiree's adventures in South Africa leave me with a longing to visit this beautiful part of our world.  




I started with a simple sketch.




























Then I tested the colors by making a "rough draft" painting.






























And then working with a larger sheet of water color paper, I attempted to put less pressure on the brush and let the colors drop and meld together for the final...





To see the real photograph that inspired this painting, click here.



Do you have scraps to share?  I'd love to read your thoughts and stories.

8 comments:

  1. I adore Fred Rogers.
    And that rack above the table! Just gorgeous!
    (I think you can use site: http://www.linkytools.com/ for link up widgets (should be pretty easy!)

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  2. This is a lovely meme. I don't ordinarily do memes but I shall find time to join in when I start my blog again after a nice break.
    Many thanks for supporting the Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines party and for leaving me some lovely comments.
    I am now able to catch up on some essential blog reading and visiting. I am about to pour myself a glass of wine (I think there is some left over from the party!) and enjoy your past posts.
    Good luck with the meme hop-I have made a note to check it out in a couple of weeks and I shall shout out for you on Facebook and Twitter now.
    Carol
    xx

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  3. Oh, my goodness, Jenny! Your sketch and both paintings are amazing! And, as amazing (flattering!) for me is arriving here to finally play catch up on the posts I've missed and to say how thrilled I was to read your comment on my blog about your hoping to do a few paintings based on pictures you'd admired...then, actually being here and seeing you've already put your idea into action! Who are you? Superwoman?

    Thank you, also, for both the mention and link to my blog! Wow! That is just the sweetest, Jenny! It really wasn't necessary, as I'm just so delightred and honoured you'd want to use my pictures as inspiration!

    Your kitchen is looking marvellous!!! I love your butcher's table and your iron pot hanger! The colourscheme looks wonderful. Really do love the whole space! Again, I have to ask, are you Superwoman? To have sewn your lovely tablecloth, placemats and table napkins, got everything so beautifully spruced/tablescaped for the pictures and then still to have found the inspiration to sit down, sketch and then paint, not one but TWO paintings...I truly am in awe of you! I am a veritable slug (no, more likely a sloth) in comparison!

    I always love your posts as you write so thoughtfully, so much from your heart and I always feel a real connection when visiting. You are an eloquent, articulate and gifted writer, a wonderful Mother/wife and friend. You're incredibly artistic, you are so enthusiastic and positive and you try so hard (a lot harder than I think you need to!) with everything you do. You are a remarkable young woman and I feel privileged to have met you!

    I really enjoyed your Saturday Scraps. What a clever idea you have come up with! I've never joined anything like this before, but I would love to! I just need a bit of time to figure out what I need to do (yes, your explanations are nice and clear, but I'm a bit slow...I did mention sloth didn't I? They grow lichen and moss they move so slowly!)

    BTW, I did once suggest you might like to read Laura's blog http://forestwalkart.blogspot.com/
    I don't know if you have visited her before, but I think she is INCREDIBLE and I feel sure you would find so much to share with Elliot for his lessons.

    I hope you're having a great Sunday and that you and Richard have kissed and made up :)

    Big hug,
    Des xoxo

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  4. love it! i admire anyone who can do such wonderful things with paint. i've taken a couple of tole painting classes and really loved it but haven't done anything else with it.

    i don't sew either, which is a shame. i bought a really pretty top off the internet an it has a rip where the back meets the sleeve. {sigh} i couldn't send it back so it just hangs in my closet waiting for me to figure out how to fix it. hehehe...

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  5. Hi Jenny. What a good idea for a link up, Saturday Scraps. It is too late for me to do a post about it this week, but I will try to remember (!) to put it in my post next Saturday. Well done you for organizing your own link up! I hope it will be a success for you, and I loved your expression that it's a friendship quilt in the making. Lovely photos of your kitchen, and doesn't that Baker's Table look amazing now that it's been renovated. Love your floor in that room as well by the way. Warmest wishes.

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  6. I love your kitchen and would love to have mine laid out like that. This post was wonderful and I enjoyed all of it.

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  7. What a great idea. I'll try to remember to link up next Saturday. I enjoyed seeing pictures of your latest projects. Good for you for making time to be creative for yourself.

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  8. I did enjoy doing this. I may not get to next week's because I'll be in Denver, but I look forward to doing it again. Great fun - and thank you for your very kind comments. I was clapping my hands myself that you enjoyed my contribution so much!

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