Fibre Art Network

Do I have anything to show for my creativity this weekend? I don't, but I did spend a lot of time being creative! This weekend was spent catching up on graphic design work, both paid and volunteer. One of my latest volunteer ventures, started in the winter, was to become Assistant Website Coordinator for the Fibre Art Network, also known as FAN.

There are a variety of things that I do... post recent newsletters, help people with setting up Artist Galleries and trouble-shooting various problems. I had some success solving problems this weekend, but I still have work ahead of me. I volunteered for this position because I wanted to continue to learn about web development... and I am.

FAN is a group of women (so far, but men are always welcome!) fibre artists in Western Canada. We have over ninety members! Many are professional fibre artists who exhibit regularly, and many are part-time fibre artists who want to belong to a group like this to network and learn together. It is a fabulous group. Please explore our web site if you have time. I always have a link to the Fibre Art Network on my blog in the right-hand bar, so come back later and explore if you don't have time today.

So... even though I don't always have work to show at the end of a period of creative activity... I am still busy being creative behind the scenes :-)

Pink Cupcakes

After spending all day Saturday watching the rain (and snow) fall from the sky... I got bored and decided I had a craving for pink cupcakes. Too lazy to drive anywhere to get one, I decided to add a treasury to Etsy about pink cupcakes. Ironically, every pink cupcake I chose was inedible. Fun, but did not do much for cravings.

Today, May 24th, is my daughter's birthday. Sam is 21 years old today. And though an adult now, she still enjoys celebrating special days with the same enthusiasm she had when she was six or eight or fourteen. Lucky for me!! Thus, my pink cupcake craving will be taken care of tonight after supper and a good old round of Happy Birthday is sung.

I was up early this morning (read 10:00) :-) and Sam's cupcakes are complete. There are 21 candles in the top cupcake, which was a clever suggestion by Sam's boyfriend, Jordan. We are also feasting on fresh crab and mussels and will have garlic fettuccine with scallops added for a treat. I really hope I have room for a pink cupcake after all of that. If not... breakfast tomorrow!

Something Old, Something New

I've been away for a while and then sick for a bit and now life is ready to get back energized. I travelled to the Canadian National Quilt Show in Calgary with my very good friend, Elaine. We had a marvelous time, despite the snow and explored a lot of different places in Calgary as well as attending the show for a couple of days.

I had my first quilt exhibited with FAN (Fibre Art Network) as part of the GeoPhysical exhibition. There were many pieces and all were worthy of being hung. What a creative bunch of people... and I am proud to be part of this group. This exhibition will be available to see on our FAN website soon.

Elaine and I visited many quilt shops and other specialty shops in the Calgary area. Our favourite quilt store was Out of Hand with its unusual assortment of goodies. We also enjoyed Shuttle Works which had a fantastic assortment of wool, books and DVDs on fibre, knitting and weaving and other assorted spinning and weaving paraphernalia. Worth the drive South of Calgary... better not to drive in snowstorms, but can be done :-)

On my way home from another trip, I decided to see if I could remember to knit. I was excited that I could, although I think I dropped and picked up stitches quite easily and completely by accident. Could be the complex wool I used... too beautiful to resist. I did learn to knit when I was a teenager, and I was glad to see I could remember the basics. No idea how to cast off... probably because I never finished a knitting project before.

And as a final note, I am including a photo of the lovely birthday card my Mom made for me in March. She carefully punched the holes and sewed fine threads into this lovely design. Blue and yellow are my favourite colours. Thanks Mom.

Enjoy everyone!