Happy New Year!

Well the new year started off with a  bang at the Benson Golf Course. We had a whopping 120 people for dinner on New Year's Eve! Wow! Thanks to everyone who came. It is a real labor of love because some of the members and myself get together to cook and make it a special dinner for everyone who comes out. Don't you just love Kay's pinecone cheese balls, and the mini mice were a new treat for this year. All the food was outstanding: Rick's soup and ribs, Bill's brined chicken, Kay's sauteed shrimp, the prime rib and last but not least Anne's awesome cream puffs.

There is nothing like starting out the new year with good food and good friends!

Another new year project for me is cleaning my space at Swift Weaver's. What a job! I just don't know where anything is anymore and a thorough shake down is a must. So I will be spending the next few days revamping, recycling, redoing!

The Sketchbook Challenge has begun with the new year also. I have never been an artist to art journal or sketch overly much. I have books full of ideas and colors and thoughts on different projects but I am going to enter this challenge with the idea of exercising my drawing skills and expanding my creativity. You can find the sketchbook challenge here at http://www.sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/. There is also a badge on my right sidebar which will lead you there. Jump in and start sketching!

Make and Take is coming up this month on the 24th and I think I will be making journals or sketchbooks - whichever you wish it to be. I will be posting a sample picture in a week or so. So off to a busy start for 2011. Happy New Year to everyone!

Tis the Season

Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Lk. 2: 10-11)

Merry Christmas to all from Swift Weavers!

Winter Swap

Over the weekend I finally had the opportunity to create a white on white ATC cards and a white on white chunky page for two swaps on the artfortytwo.org site. And while I love white on white it is hard to come up with a project that has no color at all. In the chunky page I did incorporate a silver tone which I think still qualifies (?). A white on white project is also hard to scan and produce a good image for uploading. That said here they are:

Freebies

One of my favorite artists is Lisa Vollrath of Ten Two Studios. She is an amazingly prolific artist with a million fun ideas, tutorials on how to accomplish them, and digital products to use to produce them. She has another website entitled Go Make Something, her own blog and also a facebook site. This month for Christmas she is giving away a series of digital images everyday. You can find them at this link on the Ten Two Studios site. http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/ They are well worth it.

There are many free or low cost digital images out there for use in your own private artwork. Some are available for use only in your own personal art and some available for use in art for sale. Be sure to investigate each individuals terms of use policies before you use anyone's artwork so you don't infringe on their copyright. There are also many sites out there which have copyright free images available for use. Many of these sites may be found by following the links on the side bar of this blog.

Happy hunting!

Winter White

I arrived back home in Benson just in time for the first big snow of the year. It came down all day and night Friday, light and airy, quiet and peaceful, white on white. The perfect inspiration for two swaps I have due mid-month for the artfortytwo.org site.

One of my favorite color schemes is white on white. I love how much can be said with so little.
I was recently looking through an issue of Midwest Living in which a couple had done their Christmas decorating in a white on white theme. It was quite simple but elegant. White is cold, yet calm and serene. It speaks to us of purity and goodness, hope. It is clean, fresh, new. When I picture the color white I see snowflakes and winter. I see delicate lace, the luster of pearls, white doves of peace, the fire in an opal.

Just because something is white does not mean it has to be colorless. Actually the quality of white in the light spectrum is not the absence of color but the combination of all color. One of my drawing teachers in college was known for fabulously detailed color pencil work. I was particulary awed by her colored pencil drawings of white objects such as rabbits. Somehow she managed to never lose the white quality of her subjects even though her drawings were in color.

White is the color of new beginnings. Every artist or writer who faces a blank white page or canvas know how it feels just before you commit pen to paper. Scary. However, more often than not what emerges is beauty, like newly fallen snow on a winter landscape.

Blogging and Babies

Conner Trew

Not an easy task taking care of babies and finding time to blog! Having traveled to sunny Florida to assist my brother-in-law and wife with their new twin babies and bringing plenty of knitting projects and my laptop I find that just checking email is a challenge.

The twins are just precious, one month old tomorrow, a boy and a girl. He is a big eater and burper, she, much more ladylike, eats with a little kissing sound. It's amazing how fast it comes back to you: the jiggling, patting, walking and bouncing. All to get a baby to sleep! I have been helping with Sienna, their three year old also. She is very sweet and easy to entertain.

Kayla Trew

It is super hot for me here in Florida. In checking the weather back home I find that the cold has finally come to Benson. High's around 40 and snow on the way, while I sweat in 75 degrees. Thank God for air conditioning! While you may be envious I tell you it is not all too comfortable when you are not used to the heat and humidity any longer.

Mark and Marissa have a comfortable house, with lots of fruit trees in there yard. Pineapples, bananas, mangos, oranges and advocados all for the taking by stepping outside. Amazing! I am sure my two weeks here will go very quickly but I do look forward to being home even if it is freezing!

Knitting Nite

Thick yarn, big hooks and an easy pattern were the order of the night at Swift Weaver's as 8 girls scouts and their 2 leaders stopped in to learn to crochet. Making a super chunky cowl neckpiece seemed an easy-to-do project for the girls and many of them caught on quickly. It is always a joy to be able to pass down the crafts to a new generation.

People have always knit or crocheted for many different reasons beyond just producing garments or giving gifts. There is a satisfaction in a job well done, surmounting a new or challenging project, learning a new technique, creating something beautiful, keeping busy, giving to charity, relaxing the mind, exercising the joints, and gathering with others. In this day and age it is so easy to be busy, busy, busy. Knitting and crocheting allow us to be "busy" in a relaxed way, recharging the body and spirit.

We have a dedicated group of knitter's who meet every Tuesday afternoon from 1p.m. to 3 p.m. here at Swift Weaver's. Originally the group began by knitting helmet liners for the men of the armed forces from our area who were to be deployed overseas. Over 600 hats were knit by the women of Benson and the surrounding area. It was amazing! Not having had enough of hats, they turned their attention to chemo caps. Inspired by different patterns and yarns many hats were made and donated to our own hospital here in Benson and also to Rice Hospital in Willmar. Some were and still are given out here at the shop directly to patients or relatives. A need for hats for dialysis patients at the hospital in Willmar has presented itself and we will be knitting for that cause in the coming months. Anyone wishing to participate may stop by Swift Weavers's for yarn or patterns. Don't knit or crochet? Donations for yarn purchase are also accepted.

What are your favorite reasons to knit or crochet? We'd love to hear from you!