finding cross rocks

We did a little exploring this weekend, right in our own neck of the woods. We camped a few nights in neighboring Little Falls and played tourist. We had donuts at a local bakery, wandered a pretty little park on the Mississippi, and searched for cross rocks, or, Staurolite at Blanchard Dam in Royalton, MN. 

I hadn't even heard of cross rocks before this weekend, but a search for "rock hounding, Little Falls MN" turned up one result...cross rocks. Naturally, we had to check it out. After a short drive and a short hike, we found ourselves at the river's edge at the bottom of the dam. We weren't really sure what we were looking for, or where we should be looking, but once we found our first piece we were off and running. Each of us found at least one cross, and gobs of straight pieces. We had a blast!

This was my best piece:

E had a good selection of her own. Her favorite being the one that looked like a little plane:

I found two heart stones, but this one was my favorite:

We also found this little friend and the kids loved on him for a minute before we set him back in the water.

We cooked our meals on the fire and I read aloud 'Ronia, the Robber's Daughter' to eager listeners who didn't even seem to mind that their tablets and phones were nowhere around. I felt connected in a way that I've been missing lately, with the busy-ness of work and life. Good stuff, all of it.

Have you been exploring lately?

sweet diversion

Art time has been slim lately due to the demands of my day job and family, and then along comes this sweet diversion. The pendulum always swings though, so I await a return to balance. 

tutorials, openings, and general busy-ness

Regular busy-ness at work with grant writing, meetings, and the like, coupled with the opening of our children's art exhibit and a basket weaving class the next day, a segment on the local radio station, and two appearances on our public television station is enough to wear ya right out.

In the midst of that I taught two rabbit workshops to some truly lovely people, and began work on writing my "how to stitch stones" tutorial, which I hope will help people manage some of the basics and gain some confidence in creating them.

A glance at my week...

Over 400 people came to the opening of our 'Young at Art' exhibit celebrating children's art work.

You have to have fancy finger food at gallery openings. We made sure the kids would enjoy it. These are nilla wafers with a mint cookie sandwiched in between with red and yellow icing to look like little hamburgers. The "fries" are shoestring potatoes.

We had a whole group of kids and grown ups come to our Second Saturday to learn to weave baskets. We provided two projects, one involving reeds, and one where kids wove yarn into plastic berry baskets. They all turned out just great. 

25 people, over two days, learned to needle-felt bunnies. My favorite part is how they all turn out differently. These two were made by young twin girls who hung in there for the long 4-hour class. They did so well!

The lovely Zoma traveled up for the class and made such a sweet little bun.

I also made some prototypes for my next needle-felting workshop - cacti. I think this one will be fun. I'm also working on a couple of wet-felting workshops but am trying to find just the right space to hold them in.

All good stuff, but I'm ready for a little nap and a curl up on the couch with a cuppa.

For those that celebrate, have a wonderful Easter.

gimme color

I'm teaching two classes this weekend so I'm loading a full complement of colors into the car this morning.

I might need a bigger car soon,

it's time

A return to creativity came in the form of a cake.

I've struggled since my dad's death to find my creative footing. Tasks that should have been performed by muscle memory were impossible. Needle and thread offered no consolation. My muse was silent. My creativity, vanished.

I've been careful not to set a limit on my grief, not to rush myself, trying not to grow impatient with the parts of me missing.

Though I'm still grieving (and always will, I suspect), it was the task of making my daughter's birthday cake that lit a spark inside me. Her birthday is Christmas Eve, and being determined to make her birthday special and separate, I always commit to making a special cake, per her specific demands.

This year it was a stump.

As I sat down with fondant and chocolate bark and nilla wafers I felt...excited. The task was fun and my hands did it easily (not quickly, though. I'm a slow cake-maker). I was creating! It wasn't wool, but it was creativity nonetheless.

So with that spark lit, I'm scheduling a workshop, ordering some wool, and dusting the cobwebs out of my workspace. I'm being careful not to set high expectations for myself, but I'm eager to dip my toe back into creative waters.

For those that are local, please check out my pincushion class being offered at The Crossing Arts Alliance. Time will tell what comes next.

And most importantly, for all of  you who left me a comment (I read every one, even though they aren't posted) about my dad's passing, or sent me an email, or who held me in your thoughts, thank you. It is an amazing thing to feel so much good in the world when you're utterly convinced there isn't any.

I am grateful for you.

xo Lisa

to-do : play in the woods barefoot

Playing with nature.

It started with me snacking on rosehips in the yard. I gathered a handful and noticed the spotty oak leaves so I picked those up too. Then the piece of birch bark and the puffball mushrooms. I lugged them over to a mossy area and added some purple asters and fern fronds, topped off with a mushroom cap. It's good to play!

Especially barefoot.

gifts

A box arrived in the mail this weekend from a very lovely woman on the coast.

She decided to make my day very special by sending me some stones gathered from the sea shore.

There were flat ones, large ones, white ones, and some whose color was only fully realized when wet. There was also this one, sporting a bouquet of barnacles.

My heart swells with happiness.

A few weeks ago this same special friend sent a parcel with crab shells and seashells.

They lend themselves to arranging on the table, and much exploration from the kitties.

I am so grateful.

the last of the summer camp outs

We spent a few days this past week camping near Duluth. The weather was kind of iffy, alternating between sun and rain, warm and cool. We got to see the Tall Ships come in and that giant duck everyone was talking about, from the air conditioned comfort and elevated vantage point of the Great Lakes Aquarium, one of our favorite stops.

We visited Jay Cooke State Park and went on the famous swinging bridge, caught crayfish in the shallows, and marveled at the view.

On one particularly cool and sprinkly day we went to Moose Lake in search of agates. After procuring a map of public picking areas, we headed out. Shoes wet with red clay, we climbed the walls of old quarries, and slid down hills of sand, picking at rocks of all kinds. Since agates are in abundance in our very own driveway, I found myself more entranced with the other rocks to be had in this landscape. Of course a few stones came home to be felted, but there are other stones that I chose for their inclusions, colors, weird shapes, and shine.

I think it would be amazing to take a rock-picking trip with someone who knew what all of these rocks are, and how they're formed. Most of that is a mystery to me, one I try to solve with books and Google afterwards.

This will be the last trip before the kids return to school and our weekday trips will come to an end. We've had a full and especially adventurous summer and I'm a little sad to see it go. Even if I'm not feeling the same about the mosquitoes and heat.

I'll tell you though, my favorite season is coming and I can already feel my energy lifting. Maybe you're feeling it too?

gathering memories and stitches

We're back from our road trip. Mostly.

We had the pleasure of a visitor at our house late this week so our travels are not quite over. We're exploring nearer our house, but still exploring. 

We spent some time in the southern part of MN exploring caves, gathering fossils, and watching a doozy of a thunderstorm.

I spent some time in the prairie breathing it in and soaking up the beautiful marks ma nature has made, and hope to turn that inspiration into stitches. Maybe you can see some when you look through these photos.

The kids did some nature study, and we all learned a lot.

These happy days are salve for my soul and I acknowledge that many among us are not in a place of happiness or peace. Photos of flowers don't solve the world's problems by any stretch of the imagination, but there is something to be said for invoking happiness, even in small amounts, even in one person.

Right now, I am happy.

For those that ordered stones, I will packing them up and sending them early next week. I want to get a photo of them all together before I mail them off. I hope they bring with them a little of that prairie happiness.