WHERE, OH WHERE, HAVE THE YEARS GONE?

The other day, I was talking to my BFF, Mary L. and we were reminiscing about our friendship and how we started out in the "business"! Mary and I put on our very first Tapestries of Nature shows back in 1988! Mary was a dried floral designer, as was I, and since my Husband had just built me my very own little cottage to do my design work in, we decided to invite everyone we knew to our first annual show. Right from the get go it was very successful! (Of course that was back in the day!) So, twice a year, spring and late fall, we had a show. It wasn't long before we out grew my little cottage and we found a old village hall that was kind enough to let us rent the hall twice a year. Despite the traffic jams we caused in this little village, often times having to call for a traffic cop to help with the directing of traffic and fixing parking jams, we were allowed to use the hall for about 12 more years! One of the things that Mary and I had in common was that we bought very few flowers. Instead we spent all year gathering weeds from the wild and growing our own flowers to dry. Nature, branches, twigs, nests, wild weavings and woodland gatherings were the major components in our work We often went gathering together and our customers would marvel at how alike our design work was. The great thing about our little business was that, while we often made similar things, we were totally comfortable with each other and never felt threatened! in fact, we loved each other's work, and rejoiced when any of it sold! We fed off of each other's designs! So the name that we chose, Tapestries of Nature, was right on! We either made things from nature, or had a nature theme to our things. And while a lot has happened to both of us in the ensuing years, we still find joy in each others work! We both have always made things and will continue until we are not able. I feel truly blessed to have such a friend! The next three pics are an example of some of our work from all those years ago.

I have showed this pillow before, notice the bird theme,that I made when I was in England last JUNE! Through the years, I have tried many forms of crafts and have all of the equipment needed to prove it! LOL! A couple of years ago, I read an article about a home business that employed older forms of printing methods to make beautiful and original stationary. It piqued my interest, especially the look of the screen printing! For the last several years, I had searched in vain for classes that taught screen printing. All of the classes in my area offered everything but! After much searching, I decided to invest in my own equipment and I am really loving being able to design my own images, many of which compliment my business name.

These are pillows that I have made using screen print, with the addition of old lace, which is something that I usually add to my pillows.

I really like my birdcage design. It was so exciting to make and because of the fancy bird cage, I decided to let this pillow be a little simpler, for now anyway!

Well that's my little trip down memory lane for now. And I think this is post 149!!!! So after my next post, it will be give away time!