New Painting

It has been a while since I participated in the Illustration Friday weekly topic ~ and I almost didn't make it this week. But then I realized that I had created the perfect painting for their topic of "Wings."

And...because it's always so much fun and I have been missing this great group, I'm also entering this birdie into Paint Party Friday!

Wings
5 x 5 inch acrylic painting
on wrapped canvas

It has lots of texture and many layers before the bird made an appearance. It's on a small, gallery-wrapped canvas and available in my Etsy shop!

For more fabulous art, check out Paint Party Friday!

For more entries in Illustration Friday, click here.

Wishing you all a beautiful day!

❧ Silke

Pink Morning

I am happy to say that I have revived my habit of snapping photos when I am out and about in the hopes that some of them are good enough to show you. This morning, it is warm and humid where we live - it definitely feels like spring is here.

The air is balmy and clouds are moving in for some much needed rain (hopefully) and even storms. The winds are starting to pick up and you can tell that change coming.

Now, to something creative. A friend of ours made this when she brought a bottle of wine for dinner one night. Isn't it fun? I was with her when she bought those fun fabrics and the big beads. That's such a great idea for dressing up a bottle of wine, don't you think? I might have to give it a try...

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday!

❧ Silke

Early Morning Walk

When life gets busy, I often forget to do the things that really start my day off right. One of those are my early morning walks with Winslow. Today, I did it! Winslow and I started out while it was still dark. It was a beautiful, quiet, cool and foggy morning...and I had remembered to take my camera.

The full moon was mesmerizing and I was happy I captured at least one good image of it! For a brief moment, Winslow and I wondered if we should howl at it...

By the time we got back, the sun was starting to come up and the birds were beginning their morning concert! A perfect way to start the day!

Now I have some Brazilian black bean soup simmering on the stove and am about to go into my studio to make some art! After all, I want to have something creative to show you soon!

Happy Tuesday to you all!!

❧ Silke

Back to blogging...

I've been gone from my blog for a little while which is always unusual for me. It always means that life has been too full for me to take the time to write about it. 

And when life gets that way, I have a hard time jumping back in because I feel the need to tell you all that has happened, but it's too much and I don't know where to start. 

Suffice it to say for now that all is very well and I am getting back to my art and my knitting and am enjoying the sunny and milder weather here in Savannah.

Our yard has been busy with many birds and the occasional baby raccoons to keep us entertained.

I've been keeping the closeup camera lens handy so I can snap a few pictures when I see lots of activity in our garden.

I love the splash of color the male cardinals provide in a winter garden!

And here's some sunshine for you! Our daffodils are blooming. Can you believe it?!?

I hope you are all doing well and that I'll get to visit your blogs soon!! I've missed you and am glad to be back to my blogging routine...

❧ Silke

Grow Your Blog!!

Welcome to my wonderful friend Vicki's blog party:

I hope you'll stay awhile and have a look around my blog, which I started four years ago this March! I can't believe it's been four years already, but that's when the creative bug hit me. I had been a career and numbers girl, never thinking of myself as particularly creative.

Now I don't know how that was possible, as my time is pretty much taken up with painting, knitting, crocheting, sewing, cooking, baking, travel and much more. And about all of this I write in this blog that has become such an important part of my life! And all the amazing people I met through blogging have truly enriched my life beyond anything I ever thought possible!

And I want to meet you! So, leave me a comment and I will visit your blog and you will be entered in my giveaway of this little clutch I sewed. 

ANYONE can enter my giveaway - you don't even have to be a blogger. And you don't have to be a part of the Grow Your Blog party to enter. It doesn't matter where in the world you live ~ if the post office delivers, I will mail this to you if you win! The winner will be announced on February 1.  

I want to thank you for stopping by and taking the time to have a look around. And I look forward to getting to know each and everyone of you better throughout the coming months and years! This is an amazing community we have here...

Click here to see the many participants and get to know some new blog friends!

P.S. The giveaway is now closed! The winner is Ines aka Eusebia Blumenstengel of Funkelglück! Congrats!!

❧ Silke

Knitting

My knitting needles seem to be engaged in every free minute I have these days. I am not sure what I ever did to relax my mind before I started knitting again a few years ago...

I find it so soothing, especially when I don't have to follow complicated patterns and am knitting with a pretty yarn. Like this one! It's a bulky, warm and beautiful wool boucle yarn, meant to be worn on top of your winter coat as it isn't super soft! But oh so warm!

It has wondered into my Etsy shop (as it is rarely cold enough for me to wear this here).

These next few days are going to be super busy here, so you might not see much of me in the blog world. On the 19th, I'll be posting my blog for my friend Vicki's Grow Your Blog Party (the badge is on my sidebar and links to more information), of course with a little giveaway!

I wish you peaceful days with warmth and sunshine!

❧ Silke

Today...

... two more postcards are being mailed to find new homes! Whenever I paint on a "serious painting," I now take the leftover paint and apply it to a blank postcard. Fast and without thinking too much.

And the marks on it were becoming to difficult to figure out, so I put the pen in my left hand (I'm right-handed)  and made my marks that way. Very fun to do and I think it looks interesting. 

 

And I just went outside and snapped a few pictures for you of what is happening in our January garden.

The weather has been amazingly spring like and if that continues, everything will be blooming and growing in no time!

Happy Tuesday greetings from Savannah! Wishing you all a sunny day!

❧ Silke

Show & Tell

It has been a busy and full week. Daniel started teaching again, which always takes us a week or so to adjust to. And someone close to us passed away last weekend. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but still it occupies my mind a good bit. What soothes me in times of upheaval are my busy knitting needles, my paint brushes, my sewing machine and my kitchen.

Here just a few results of this week's creative outpouring. The oh-so-soft-and-warm pink scarf above is going to Vicki for the Pink Scarf Project she is so kindly organizing. You can click on the Pink Scarf Project image on my sidebar to get more information if you want to participate.

I made another scarf from my new favorite yarn, this time with larger needles, which makes it much more lacy. It's beautiful!

I've been wanting to put some applique free-form flowers on my little clutches, so yesterday I tried it. So cute!! Even if I say so myself... (The last two are in my Etsy shop)

And here's what's currently on the needles ~ and my trusty helper in the background...

Wishing you a wonderfully restful weekend filled with sunshine and happiness!

❧ Silke

Changing Pace

Daniel and I often comment on how much we  learn from our pets on a daily basis. Winslow reminds us to stop what we are doing and play, move around and get a little wild sometimes. Ramses teaches us what it looks like to be totally relaxed! And then there's Louie, our little feral neighborhood cat...

Winslow and Louie adore each other!

As some of you may remember, last summer he suddenly adopted us, and while he is still strictly an outdoor cat, he has become the most affectionate of all the cats we've ever had. And that fact alone is teaching us to slow down and just be.

Several times a day, we see his little head pop up by our front or back door, which means it's time to go outside and sit for a while with Louie on our lap, simply enjoying the garden and the trees, listening to the birds and the very loud purring, watching the squirrels do their acrobatics, and letting our thoughts wander.

And each time, afterward I feel as though all is right in my world again.

Sometimes the biggest teachers come in the most unusual disguises, don't you think?

❧ Silke

Yesterday's Walk

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

~ Lao Tzu

 

That's my motto for this week!

Wishing you an excellent start to yours!

❧ Silke

From a Recent Walk

When I downloaded the scarf pictures from the camera yesterday, it also downloaded the photos from a recent long walk we took at the Savannah Wildlife Refuge. I had all but forgotten about it!

Living here in the South, I rarely get the opportunity to wear winter clothes, so when it gets a little colder, I put on my scarves and hats and gloves and love it! The hat I knit a couple of years ago and I still love it. It has style and sparkle... ;-) 

And Daniel with the sunglasses - he was smart, I was squinting!

In the middle of the swamp, my sister called and we chatted for a bit. Daniel had to take a picture of me on the phone out in the middle of nowhere. I love technology!

More swamp pictures - it really was beautiful!

An abandoned wasp nest. Aren't they amazing architects?

A cardinal sporting his most beautiful red coat.

A few leftover fall leaves.

And a deserted birds nest, waiting for Spring.

With that, I wish you a relaxing and beautiful Sunday!

❧ Silke