What I've been up to lately...

Hi! It's been almost two and a half weeks since my hip replacement surgery. It went well. I've progressed from a walker to a cane, I can go up and down the stairs routinely, walk around the block, etc. Some things I can't do for 8 weeks: bend over too far, drive. :-( But otherwise things are going great.

So I've been trying to fit in a little arts, crafts, and quilting, in between the physical therapy sessions. I took some photos you can see what I've been up to. I've been thumbing through a wonderful new book, Kaleidoscope: Ideas and Projects to Spark Your Creativity. Suzanne Simanaitis is the author, and North Light Books is the publisher. Check it out!

I've been working on my quilt for Quilts on the Wall's "Beauty in Imperfection" challenge. Can't show that yet. I've also puttered in my art studio trying to start a little quilt for the Quilt Art List's "Flower Power" challenge. Puttering is still hard for me - I keep dropping things. Luckily, I have a grabber tool, since I can't bend over to pick up anything.

I've worked on another of my fiber art balls. Here's a photo of it in progress. I made it "inside out" this time, for something different. You can see more of my fiber art balls on my website (www.cindycooksey.com) and at the Visions Art Quilt Gallery gift shop in San Diego.

I'm also working on a crocheting project. I'm crocheting recycled plastic bags. I'll give instructions and show photos in my next post.

I've also been doing little sketches in my art journals. This is something I started earlier this year, just for fun. I use a variety of drawing tools, including water color pencils, Niji water brushes, regular pencils and colored pencils, and sometimes an ink pen.

In the 80's I used to do a LOT of pen and ink drawings. I'm using the ink sparingly and more casually this time around - I don't want to get too uptight, like my old drawings were. I haven't done much drawing for many years, so this feels good! Gotta keep those synapses stimulated.