Oak Park Conservatory

More photos from the Oak Park Conservatory. Doesn't this one look like dancing ladies with bright yellow skirts? I think I shall try to add tiny faces using Photoshop.

November TIF

Well, at first I wasn't sure about this month's TIF project. It didn't seem to me to be as personal as the others. So I thought perhaps I could make it personal by working up a cypher or monogram, perhaps combining my first initial with my husband's.

Flipping through magazines the other night I sat up and took notice when I saw "Cheap & Chic, Mixed Media Decor" by Linda Blinn in the Nov/Dec issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. She does lovely things with letterforms. And that got me remembering the fun I had with that when in Sharon B's Studio Journals class. So I've been playing around a bit with letters and text. I began in Word but moved to Photoshop.

Here's a doodle on the letter M. So now I'm really getting into this theme. I'm not sure where it will take me but for now I'm just doodling. I like the Gothic arches of the largest M.

This past weekend we visited one of our favorite places: the Oak Park Conservatory. It sure packs a punch for a small place. The meeting hall at the far end had a church service going on so we had Gospel music with our flowers.

winter blahs

Winter's beginning to seem endless here in Chicago, as it usually does toward the end of February.

Last weekend my hubby and I headed to the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. It was a sunny day and the park is huge, warm and full of flowers. The first one was in the cactus room. The darker green riged plant is called "Fairy's Washboard" which I found totally delightful. It is most likely put to good use by all of the fairies that live in the mossy grottos in the nearby fern room.

The azalea show is going on and the show room was awash with color.

After we left the conservatory it was warm enough to have a picnic in the car (big salads full of spring greens).

Then we drove on to the nearby, much smaller but equally delightful, Oak Park Conservatory.


The Oak Park Conservatory greeted us with huge amaryllis plants in glorious bloom. Their middle room is home to some friendly birds (as long as fingers don't approach the cages too close!). I like to sit and visit with one who will sit and chat nicely with me. A parrot on the other side of the room gets stuck on "hello," which the visiting teens loved.

I haven't done much in the way of stitching--I've been recharging my batteries. Over the weekend I realized I was putting off stitching on Peter's sampler and decided that the top motifs, four squirrels, just seemed like too much counting for me. They're pretty spaced out. So I decided to be flexible (hah!) and I began with the second row, a row of double herringbone. That gives me a better basis for counting and working the squirrels.

I was home with the flu yesterday and when my brain finally woke up a bit, I spent some happy hours with the new issue of Fiber&Stitch. It's full of really interesting projects. Mostly I slept. Hopefully I'll have the gumption to stitch again soon.