Please forgive the long delay in writing a new post on this blog of mine. I keep forgetting that I should be posting here as well, to keep my audience of readers up to date on the blog posts. Sorry about that. Life gets busy. I have been needing to focus on not only my writing, but photography and other aspects of my art, to try to expand my opportunities in art, photography as well as writing, ceramics and other craft work. The ceramics will need to wait, due to the fact I don't have the kiln yet. Someday, I will and look forward to being able to low-fire and high-fire my ceramic sculptures and jewelry pieces. Plus learning how to glaze them.
The above photo is an embroidery piece I am working on for a possible artsy garment. It's the first piece and I am not quite sure how I will add different pieces. It's not from a pattern, so I am improvising as I go. The metallic red yarn thread is lovely to work with. It's a lot of satin stitch with some other stitches incorporated. I should look through the embroidery book collection again to remind myself of the other stitches I may be using (without realizing it).
The blue flower piece I have started this morning and it's almost done. I will be putting that blue flower onto a key chain. It's a very simple idea to begin with that get's worked to create a lace or tatting effect. It may be very close to tatting.
I started with a not too long of a piece of macrame twine. (Jute) Created a loop and started to sew the blue wool blend yarn into that. Creating loops and sewing into the loops. A small mandrel is useful in aiding the sewing of the loops. It can be done by creating a loop around the finger also, but if a smaller loop is necessary, sometimes a mandrel for jewelry making, helps. A pencil, wooden dowel, perhaps a straw and other types of cylindrical items would work also. If you wish to do a larger project, a small size pastry dough roller can work well if you don't have any wooden mandrels or other types.
It's a little time consuming, but a very beautiful effect as the looping and the stitch work progresses. Adding embellishments is very pretty also. I am not sure if I will add gold metallic thread to the blue flower, but perhaps another project.
As my kids are busy with their jobs and one of them is adjusting to a new place and meeting new friends, I have been keeping myself busy with my creative work. I have kept up with the poetry, but had slowed down on the fiction writing for a while for multiple reasons.
It felt great to get back into typing to a new fiction in process, recently. I really needed that and still do. I love once I start typing and editing to a work of writing, I can get wrapped up in it and work on it for hours. Then discover the late hour of night. LOL.
I have a working title for that new fiction, but I may change that later. It's romantic suspense of course with added fiction on witches, etc....
I have been taking my time self-publishing new work as I have needed that to be more fine tuned than some previous work. Not that those earlier self-published works aren't as good. Many are. Any author knows that as you progress as a writer, the writing becomes more practiced and it creates a more effective piece of writing. In May, I self-published on Kindle Direct Publishing, my newest cookbook. The next book I would like to get self-published, will probably be one of my poetry books.
I don't write every single day. It's due to needing to expand my opportunities to have a successful financial living with my work, now that I'm not receiving alimony from my ex-husband. I've been doing a lot of photography because I would truly love to have some photography job opportunities come from that. When the time is right, I am praying that some doors open for me in that. I have always loved photography.
I try to get outside almost every day to photograph in the neighborhood park and around town where I can walk to. It's a beautiful park. I miss a garden to plant flowers and vegetables in. When I least expect it, I will meet a new man and perhaps be able to have an outdoor garden to tend to. I'm patient. I love going to the neighborhood park and photographing the nature and a new thing I have been practicing is nature Videography. I'm not sure if I am ready to start selling the videography, but someday maybe doors will open with that also.
Below, are two of my photos from this morning's visit to the Saint Albans Taylor Park. It's also enjoyable to find found nature objects to bring home while also doing my part to help recycle in the park.
I love macro photography. I've been expanding my portfolio to have more types of photography than just the flowers and nature. Textural types of photos, etc....
Thinking of textiles, I've been learning to embroider, continuing with my knitting and wanting to learn new techniques. Bobbin lace making does look difficult and eventually, I would like to see if I can try to do that better. My first try at that was quite clumsy. Ha.
Over the previous two years since kicking out a boyfriend, I have been also focusing on my artwork, which had been put to the side while I was writing and self-publishing a lot more. I have been loving getting back to my artwork. I should be working on my artwork even more often. I get busy knitting and cooking also.
Hot weather keeps me out of the kitchen more often.
Experimenting in photography, is very much a learning experience. I think I am one of those people who is always going to want to experiment with photography and do many photos. That's just me. It's like a rapture for something. To be so in-tune with the process is so important. I think that's part of why getting outdoors to do my photography is so vital I do that. It's also good exercise and the sunshine is important.
My oldest grown son who lives out west, is visiting with his girlfriend in the Fall. I am so excited to get to see him and meet his girlfriend.
The sad thing, I had to give up my two cats in the Springtime, due to not being able to afford to keep them and there were issues. It made me feel good to give Ella to my daughter, Mollyanne (Molly is her nickname she likes to be called). Ella is happy and I get to see new photos of her on my daughter's Instagram sometimes. Luna I had to give away to the local Humane Society. It was horrible to have to give her up, I really did love my cats.
My daughter and her boyfriend brought me there to give the cat away. I looked at Luna who was in the cat carrier, and she looked so fearful. But, I think positive and know that they must have found a nice new home for her. I had had my two cats for a long time. I should draw some artwork from some of the photography I have done of them.
Thinking positive is the thing to maintain. It's so easy for people to let the negatives eat away at them. I try to focus on my creative work and not let some people's hurtful digs get to me. I guess everyone is human and sometimes, there will be someone who will purposefully use their words to hurt someone. Nobody is immune to that.
When someone aims mean words at someone, what usually happens if you don't allow it to show that it hurt you, it reflects back upon the ones who decided to be mean. It is what it is. Life isn't supposed to be perfect, but the important thing is to maintain a healthy well-being and to be happy with what you have in life. It's okay to want more in life, though. Sometimes needing more in life, means a healthy well-being needs to be met. That is adults needing to keep a well-rounded happiness to be even better. That supports change for a better humanity.
The world is a scary place even though it is beautiful. I love to be inspired by many people. But to be unique to myself. I'm a mother trying to teach my kids many important values, even though I am not getting paid a lot for my creative work right now. I'm patient and when the time is right, those important things I need to happen in my life, will happen.
A well paying job doesn't always make the person. I believe a person has to be content and happy, no matter what the circumstances in a life, are. An aura. Some say the aura needs to be of positiveness. What if the aura is a positive one and there are those who use poor judgement upon someone? That happens. How do you deal with that?
I can control myself, but I cannot control the actions of anyone else. People are going to do what they're going to do. I love how signs in life can be like metaphors. Learning how to see the signs and recognize them, can be difficult to decipher sometimes.
I think there is some truth in that. How one perceives the surroundings. Found objects in a park and why are they there? So many reasons for that. It's quite interesting sometimes. I come home and think about the possibilities of new fiction. Anything can inspire that.
I was a little rusty writing some new poems the other evening. I managed to write a few and had to set the pad of paper aside. That happens. Not every poem can be excellent. I have poems I really love a lot and some that are not my favorites.
Well, I am thinking of finishing that blue flower to add to my key chain. Oh, that other piece of string art, is going to be a sun catcher for photography purposes. A filter. I am thinking if there's really great sunlight hitting it, the shadow of the pattern can be cast upon my windowsill. I have been working on that off and on for a while. It's still not done. Beads may look pretty on it later. Maybe.
Jennifer Jo Fay (Maiden name: Wagnis. There's other variations of that, I have learned)
July 11, 2021
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