There are many wonderful things siblings share, but there is one I’d like to chat about today.  I think it is one of the most special bonds brothers and sisters share - memories of their mother. 

​ A beautiful unique pair of scarab keepsake earrings to wear and a personal story of their mom to share.

My first bird painting, an Eastern Bluebird, may not rival Picasso, but it's a satisfying achievement.

Back in March on a whim, I entered a giveaway through Wubbers University, they were doing a giveaway for Spring.  For those who are not familiar with who or what Wubbers is I will explain.  Wubbers is a jewelry tool manufacturer known for their mandrel shaped pliers.  They make forming wire into various shapes easy.  I own a few of the round plies and use them regularly to shape wire and thin metals.  To enter the giveaway you had to follow their rules/terms and conditions.  It was easy and clearly stated, so I submitted my information along with a photo of a ring I had made using their pliers and turquoise chips.  I kind of forgot about it, because I rarely ever win anything, so I just put it out of my mind.  Needless to say, a few weeks later I received an e-mail of Congratulations YOU WON.  I was so excited and replied immediately with the required information.  A short time afterwards, I received a treasure box of 2 new shaping plies, a couple strands of beads, several loose cabochons, a pair of earrings, and stick-on nail color.  What a fun treasure box that totally brightened my day.   I am excited to try out the new pliers and add those cute beads to a new design.  I’ll keep you posted on what I make.
You can check out the tools and more on Wubbers University on Facebook😊

Have you ever wanted to make jewelry for yourself or as a gift?  I can show you how in a private or small group, or zoom session.  Theses sessions make great gifts too.
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​I love Christmas.  It’s a time when I get to be with most of my family, celebrate our faith, and enjoy the festivities together.  The Crow’s Nest is usually the gathering place for our east coast family, everyone comes and goes as their schedules allow and it’s a wonderful time of laughter, games, lots of good food, crafts and projects all going on at the same time for about a week.  I love how everyone pitches in and reconnects after a busy year apart.  Last year my angel tree topper had finally fallen apart, she was given to me many years ago by a dear friend.  It was time to repair her and give her an updated look.  I’m a country gal at heart and happen to have four pairs of cowgirl boots in my closet in various stages of worn and worn out.  Naturally when the farmhouse style became popular, I was thrilled. This year my angel was going country!  I remade her frame and sewed up a gray plaid skirt my momma would be proud of.  My niece helped my find the perfect cowgirl boots to complete her new look. 

I loved how my country angel so much I even added cowgirl boots!  I had extra gray plaid fabric so I traced the shape of our existing tree skirt and sewed the edges. Cute!!  I then decorated the tree with gray buffalo check ribbon and added the ornaments.  Love it! 

Let me know if you make or remake one, I'd love to see it.  Merry Christmas!

I’ve introduced you to Camp Breac back in January with our “Leaping Trout” chainsaw sculpture project.  Now I’d like to share with you a bit more about Camp Breac’s mission and how we made a boot rack into art.  Camp Breac is a historical site and is a fly fishing community for our military, veterans, and their families with the mission of conservation of natural resources, the arts, & education conveniently located on Spring Creek in Bellefonte, PA.

It all began in September with a phone call from Jim Lanning.  If you ever met Jim, you know you are going to spend some time…as you enjoy an Irish Coffee or a cold beer from the tap while you are brought up to speed about the latest happenings within the camp.  Jim relies on many volunteers to help with projects ranging from stream improvements, land and facility upgrades and maintenance.  Always with conservation, community involvement, and recycling in mind. 
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During one of these chats, Jim shared a problem, a wet stinky problem.  As part of the camp’s mission to educate they offer fly fishing education, hands-on training, and even supply the equipment needed.  The problem was lots of wet smelly fishing waders and boots.  After a great day on the stream fisherman and women hang their boots and waders up on hooks in an upright position indoors.  The result is they don’t get completely dry.  Jim’s needed was a growing concern and he desired to have an outdoor boot rack conveniently located allowing the boots and waters to dry out in the fresh air before being stored indoors.  As easy as this may sound to do, Jim had some pretty interesting requirements…

First it had to hold at least twelve pairs of boot and tall waders. Next, it had to be constructed of recycled materials, materials sourced from the camp itself or locally.  It also had to fit within the camp’s theme and mission.  The location had to be easy for the fisherman and women to get to and close enough to the indoor storage area. Jim, Ed, and I scouted the landscape and agreed upon the location.  With such a visible location Ed and I knew a board and some pegs just wouldn’t do.  We truly wanted to show our appreciation to the many veterans and service members visiting the camp.  We left the camp with a 14’ board laying on the passenger side mirror and tied to the side of our pickup truck.

 Ed and I were excited about the project and discussed ideas all the way home.  After tossing around several ideas, we landed upon one we both had passion to build.  It started out as a simple and relatively easy project and grew into a very large and detailed project.  We took great care to use recycled materials, selecting materials sourced or manufactured in Pennsylvania.  Thanks to the Penn State students who unknowingly suppling us with wine bottles, and Yuengling beer cans as we pilfered through their recycle bins.  And a big shout out to the staff at Champs on North Atherton as they collected bottle caps and shared in our enthusiasm.

The Crow’s Nest was buzzing with activity.  Ed started his chainsaw and chips were flying everywhere.  When the saw stopped, I hardly recognized the plain flat board we brought home.  After large holes were drilled into the textured wood, I began painting.  Using colors native to the creek at the camp the board was no longer a board, it had been transformed into a flowing stream that 2 large 4’ trout were going to be leaping out of to catch a tasty handtied fly.

With the vision of the art piece was clear in our minds, it was time to prepare the site, the location where the art in boot rack form would like.  I was very grateful to be accompanied by Jim, and two volunteer veterans Chuck and Godfrey.   They made quick work of pruning and weeding.  Chuck being skilled at building rock walls took on the task constructing rock tiers within garden area and Jim filled in the platform with pea gravel.

It was a large project and admittedly I felt overwhelmed, not just by the size, but I had underestimated how much more difficult it would be to turn recycled materials into usable pieces and how many hundreds of pieces I needed for just one 4 foot fish.  I truly understood the saying “Nothing is ever as easy as it looks!”  Thankfully my mother, Sandy stepped in to lend a hand with cutting hundreds of rows of scales out of aluminum cans. 

The Volunteer Team
Veterans Godfried, Charles (Chuck), Walt, & Jim
Sandy, Tani, Holden, Sparkles, Ed, & Janise
The rest of the story is better told in pictures. Click here to view the album of our visual story making the fish boot rack.

Dedication Day
On Veteran’s Day, November 11th, 2020 we honorably dedicated “A Good Day Fishing” aka Art in Boot Rack Form with everyone wearing masks due to the Covid 19 pandemic, to all veterans and service members who were there and will visit Camp Breac.  We thank you.

A pair of empty military and a pair of fishing boots in honor of those who served and did not return home will be bronzed and place under the rack on pedestals as soon as possible.

I encourage you to visit Camp Breac, meet Jim Lanning, and see if he has time for a tour and a beverage. Tell him “The Crows sent you”.
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Comment back to me and tell me all about your experience at Camp Breac and how you like our art work.

A tranquil moment captured.

One my favorite places to walk in the Centre region is along one of the many streams. It' not uncommon to see people enjoying nature and trout fishing.. During my early photography explorations, I ventured to Spring Creek in Bellefonte, PA for exploration. As I gazed through the tree branches, I was captivated by the mist hovering over the water and the fishermen. I experienced a profound sense of calm in that moment.

I couldn't resist capturing that shot, and every time I revisit it, it beckons me back to that same sense of tranquility.  This image was part of a  small photography show. I was honored to have someone see the calming allure of it and purchased it. 

Perhaps I will revisit this...
Interested in purchasing a print of this image?  Contact Me

We love to support our local community with art projects. This project is near and dear to our hearts as it's for our local veterans at Camp Breac, The Spring Creek House in Bellefonte, PA.   Their mission of serving veterans and families, preserving, recycling, and educating meshed so well with ours, we were happy to see what we could do to solve a problem they had.  

The problem:
Lots of wet fishing boots and waders inside the lodge causing musty storage room.  The host, James Lanning needed a place for the fishermen dry their wet boots before they enter the lodge and store the boots. 

Criteria:

• Outdoors
• Use of any natural materials around the camp
• Recycled materials made or used locally in Pennsylvania
• Size: hold a dozen boots and waders
• Theme: Fly Fishing and Armed Forces
• Serve, preserve, recycle, & educate

We set to work... brainstorming, designing, and prototyping.

It is one part of the larger 14 foot outdoor art piece that will also serve as a fishing wader boot drying rack.  This project was more challenging than I anticipated.

​More on this to come along with the finished fish.
​ Got questions? COMMENT BELOW

Here I chose a rustic, light, and airy decor theme to blend with the current landscape of the area.

The goal: low cost, no maintenance (watering plants etc.), and easy to change for every season.  A bit of creative recycling and repurposing will crucial to this update. ​A fresh coat of beige/tan paint on the door, brightens and lightens the brick wall.

Spring is tree trimming time, we salvaged several large pieces of birch tree logs and cut them in a trio of sizes.  I recycled a couple of old pine Christmas trees, spruced them up a bit and drilled holes in the logs to hold the artificial pine trees.  To ensure stability in the wind, and a decorative finish, I used old rope to tie the three logs together.

The door wreath: A fun and memorable project.  We recycled scrap wood to create a square frame, cut letter C, stained them  and applied a white wash technique to give them that old barn board look.   Lastly, I repurposed silk flowers from a recent wedding, made geometric shapes out of straws to add a bit of modern to the swag and was a key theme in the wedding.  Repurposing these items from the wedding really gives this home a very special welcome to all who enter.

A fun project easy to do. I hope you try it yourself.

How It Works: Select a rock, paint/draw on the rock images, messages, encouragement, feelings, art, or what ever you want.  Then add it to the tree line garden area located in the middle Greenbriar/Saybrook park, barked/natural areas (not grass) around the trees.

​​Who: Anyone who wants to participate, all ages
What: rocks painted your expressions on a rock and share it in our garden
When: Started 3/27/2020 – no end date
Where: Greenbriar Saybrook Park, in State College, PA  (row of trees in between near the Greenbriar pavilion) Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/X6av42yNZz3LLYJ16
 
    Instructions:

• Think about a feeling, message, word, encouragement, etc. you want to express
• Locate a rock, consider the texture and size as it relates to your expression
• Clean the rock, may need to scrub with soap and water
• Paint/draw your image, words, phase, symbols, etc on the rock
  • You can use anything you want, paint, markers, crayons, nail polish, glitter… be as creative as you wish… stick figures are good too
  • You may want to apply a base coat then paint on top of that layer
• Be sure to seal your work with a clear coat of paint or nail polish
• You can add your name or not.  I would suggest first names or initials only if you do. Dates are fine.
• Add your rock/rocks to the garden area: row of trees located in the middle of Greenbriar park

 
Guidelines:

• If others are visiting the garden, please remain 6’ apart
• Add rocks in bark area around the trees, NOT IN THE GRASS
• Don’t touch someone else’s rock
• Add as many rocks as you want, whenever you want
• Share this with other friends especially in Greenbriar, Saybrook, Chestnut Ridge, and Chestnut Ridge Manor.
• No experience or special skill necessary
• If you would like to participate and are unable to get out of your home or walk the distance within the park, I would be happy to pickup your rock, add it to the garden and send you pictures, I bet your next door neighbor would also.
• If you would like to help with this project by clearing away the leaves and brush around the trees, feel free. Thank you

 
Inspiration:
I used symbols on my rocks here is where I found some symbols along with their meanings

More inspiring images
 
          Share pictures of your work, your story of the meaning behind your art work, the rock garden, you at the garden, etc on social media (be sure to tag us or checkin at Crows Nest Arts)  Facebook Instagram   CrowsNestArts1