Spring Break 2016

March 18, 2016March 18, 2016 | terriaw

It’s a rare event when I get to take a trip, so I feel lucky to have traveled to the Sunshine State for Spring Break again this year.

beach views

Mornings and evenings at the pool are a wonderful way to start and end the day.

Afternoons and sunsets at the beach are the best! Wish I could do that everyday.

sunset at the beach

sunset on the beach

The lush, tropical vegetation is always a treat to see in March when everything in my neighborhood is just waking up from being dormant all winter.

red hibiscus

I spent a beautiful day at the Naples Botanical Gardens.

Now I’m brainstorming ways I can arrange to visit the beach more often. Vacations are great, aren’t they?!

Terri

The Big City

May 22, 2015 | terriaw

We just returned from a trip to NYC to visit family. The last time we were in the Big City seems like a long time ago, over four years ago.

Since we have family living in NYC, we’ve been there a lot. On this trip, we did a few new things. We walked The High Line, an elevated rail that has been landscaped into a beautiful green space. It’s been expanded since we last saw it, so we got to see more beautiful landscaping.

the High Line

High Line

the lawn on the High Line

We toured Chelsea Market, shopped, snacked on Mast Brothers chocolate, and drank Ninth Street espresso.

NYC cookies

We had cocktails at The Jane Hotel rooftop lounge in the West Village, and enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Monument Lane, which specializes in farm-to-table food.

We ate our way around Smorgasburg food market in Brooklyn Heights. I loved the swordfish skewer and the lobster roll. The views of lower Manhattan were pretty awesome too.

lower Manhattan skyline

We shopped for some NYC-themed fabrics at The City Quilter and fresh art supplies at Dick Blick’s.

We had cocktails at Mad46, a rooftop lounge on the top of The Roosevelt Hotel. According to a recent article in Time Out New York, rooftop bars are the latest trend in NYC, so we were lucky to try a couple on this visit.

We had burgers at the Shake Shack and toured a few exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History that I’ve never seen before.

Their Butterfly Conservatory special exhibition was fantastic, with over 400 butterflies flying around the habitat!

I also loved touring the Hall of Biodiversity and the Hall of Ocean Life. So overwhelming and exciting to learn more about the abundance of life on our planet.

We had fun navigating the subway and resting our feet at plenty of Starbucks around the city, which also make great places to get a pick-me-up for the next burst of excitement.

bryant park

flatiron neighborhood

brooklyn heights

Besides the fun experience of being in the Big City and exploring the diverse neighborhoods, we had a great time visiting family. I can’t wait to go back soon!

Terri

Art Cards – Week 23 – Gardens and Travels

June 12, 2011June 12, 2011 | terriaw

What a difference the sunshine makes to me! I had the most unproductive Saturday in my history, which I’m blaming on the damp, cloudy weather. Today the sun in shining, so naturally, I feel 100 percent better.

I didn’t do anything significant last week, other than apply for jobs and make a couple new bags. We had a really big thunderstorm come through our area that caused the power to go out for several hours. That would have made cool inspiration for a set of art cards, but I didn’t think about that idea until I started writing this post. Doh!

I had two different sources of inspiration for my art cards this weekend.

My first inspiration came from my garden, which is always changing. I did a messy little illustration of a few alliums, and then I found a perfect quote that I just wrote in my natural handwriting, which I’m trying to like better. I’ve never been a fan of my own handwriting, whether it’s cursive or printing. But with all these art projects I’ve been working on lately, I really want to like my own handwriting!

My second inspiration came from my travels and my terrible packing skills. I tend to overpack my suitcase, or just don’t put things in there in a more compact way. I’ve been thinking about buying a smaller suitcase, just to limit the amount of stuff I can actually bring on a trip. How much stuff do you need anyway?!

Check out what my art card buddies Michelle and Sandra have been adding to our Flickr group – so cool to see our variety of styles, inspirations and techniques.

Wishing you a sunny day too!

Travel Sketching and Painting

April 5, 2011April 6, 2011 | terriaw

I received this fabulous handmade travel kit from Michelle that I want to show off to you. Hope you don’t mind!

She made this adorable patchwork notebook for me. Notice all the cool patchwork and stitching on the front cover.

I made a couple sketchbooks to put in the inside pockets – a perfect fit. Notice all the wonderful stitching and details on the inside too.

She also felted this beautiful field kit that I can hook onto my belt loop when I’m on the trails.Inside fits this amazing little treasure:

It’s a compact watercolor set about the size of my iPhone and pack of artist cards!

The paint kit includes 12 watercolors, a small retracting brush, three shallow mixing palettes, a water bottle and a sponge. And all that fits inside the cute little box for travel. How adorable!

I found these adorable little (barely 2 inches long) colored pencils in my stash so I decided they would be perfect to size to include. I will tuck a small piece of sandpaper inside to sharpen the pencils without wasting the color.

Now I just need to figure out where to go to try out my new field kit. I’m thinking about starting in our backyard as soon as our gardens come back to life, but I would also like to make a trip to our botanical gardens and the farmers market. Where would you go if you had a new travel art (or sewing) kit?

A New Bag For a Trip

November 17, 2010 | terriaw

Why is it that every time I go on a trip, which isn’t that often, I feel like I need to make a new bag for that trip?

I can’t pinpoint where the inspiration for this bag came from. Maybe I dreamed it. I really just wanted to play with some of the home dec fabrics I have in my stash, which seem perfect for bags. I loved this color combination of brown, teal and green, so I kept the outside embellishment simple with random zig-zag quilting lines using teal thread.

I also wanted a tote bag bigger than what I normally make. This prototype came out to measure an 11-inch square, big enough to carry all my purse stuff and fit a paperback inside too.

I wanted a long strap to sling this across my shoulders, but I didn’t have enough strapping for that style. So I made two straps instead, which I think I will like better anyway. It feels more sturdy and I like being able to tuck it underneath my arm. I’m super happy with how this turned out, so I’m hoping to add this one to my repertoire.

Our annual trip to New York City for my birthday bash is upon us, so I hope to see you back here in a few days!

Color Palettes – Travel Inspired

August 31, 2010August 31, 2010 | terriaw

This second day’s prompt in Brandi‘s color palette blog walk is to create travel-inspired palettes based on a favorite city, dream location, or postcard.

My most recent trip was to my parent’s cottage on Lake Michigan in northern Wisconsin, so I thought that would be good inspiration for today’s color palettes.

monarch in a coneflower garden

colors of the Sentinel Trail in Peninsula State Park

colors of a campfire on the beach at dusk

colors of sunset over Green Bay

The saturation in some these colors from nature was quite hard to match (especially using the color tool in Word, since I haven’t purchased Photoshop yet). I may not have considered putting these combinations together in one of my sewing projects, yet they work so well in nature. What a great experiment to stretch my imagination!

If you come up with your own palette, be sure to share it with other participants on Brandi’s blog. Tomorrow’s theme is inspiration colors in fashion.

Terri's Notebook

Illustration, Art and Design

travel