Dot Marks the Spot

My third stamp making try. The impression was made using stamping ink and a stamp pad instead of my usually paint and brush. I like the graininess of the ink on the paper--an effect you don't get with paint. I added inked lines around the shape. I like this stamp. But then I adore anything round and circular. I am crazy for dots.

Some of my commercial dotted fabric. I tried applying my dot stamp but the surface of this cotton, even after washing, is too repellant. It was difficult to apply the acrylic paints to the surface and they never soaked through to the other side. I do like the effect of the paint on the surface. I made only a small 12 inch square to sample the technique. I would like to try to use the commercial fabric and paints in the future. I purchased 10 yards of white fabric--not muslin--and it has a dense feel and smooth hand. I'm going to use my new Seta fabric paints on this white. I have one and a half yards washed, dried and ironed and ready to paint. This will be my first time using the Seta paints which I purchased at a quilt show last August.

A bad photo of a 14 each square Valentine. I finally got it quilted and sewed the binding down last night. I made this 54 weeks ago for my husband. It was his 2005 Valentine. I still need to add some ribbons and two or three keys (to my heart). My husband got a large box of keys from the neighborhood locksmith a few years ago and I'm going to dig around in the box to find the "perfect" keys. Then spray paint them black. Attach them to the arrow. He asked me to pin it to the wall next to his chair. I think he likes it!

For those of you who care (!), I got all the floors vacuumed and mopped. All the dust bunnies are now safely stored in the central vac storage tank. Central vac is a wonderful thing. Just plug it into the wall and vacuum away. No dragging a canister around. We put away all the Christmas stuff (finally!) and Hub carried the Halloween Spooky House and the Gingerbread House up to the newly cleaned and organized attic store room (the result of my hard work in January).

We picked up all the newly framed art from the framer. My watercolor pears and the oil pastel turnip and pear. They look so amazing. Like professional art. So then we had to rearrange all the art on the walls--a good practice, since we stop "seeing" art that stays in one place. My husband got to use all his laser leveling devices ( I read that a quilter uses them to get straight edges on her pieces) and we now have new art in the bedroom, living room and dining room. The house is looking it's best for the ladies who are coming to visit tomorrow.

Now it's time for me to get ready to go to work at the library. And after work, water and care for all the plants in the library. I hope my husband will have dinner ready when I get home. I can dream can't I?