Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2105

Balloons Everywhere!

 As the sun came up I realized that I was standing at the basket of Oons Wiekfe. (I made a point to video this balloon from start to takeoff for the children). First the balloons are laid out on the field

 A large electric fan is then used (it can be seen in the bottom left of the picture) to get the balloon to the proper state of plumpness. The pilots will give them a thorough walk thru to check for any rips or tears in the fabric, and to make sure all the interior cables are not tangled

 With the basket still on the side, the pilot will apply little shots of propane to heat the air and lift the balloon up off the ground...but not enough to actually take off yet. You can only image the heat that comes off a flame this big~ I was sweating where I was standing!

 Every time a balloon successfully lifted off the crowds would cheer and clap~ every time I would turn around there would be all sorts of new balloons taking off~ there were over 500 on Saturday morning when I was there~ and they were all off in a 2 hr period!

 Literally everywhere one looked, there were balloons~ so many balloons! I took over 700 pictures~ so have picked a few of my all time favorites to share.

 There are balloonists from all over the globe at the Fiesta~ Oons Wiefke is piloted by a family from Bristol England, while Humpty Dumpty comes from Kentucky

 I really really loved the carousel, but cant find it in my balloon directory

 Of coarse my all time favorite of all the balloons was the S.S. America from Corpus Christi Texas....I may need to make this one into a thread palette for me!

 So as I turned around, standing at the base of Oons Wiefke, I kept noticing more and more people behind me~ well no wonder, the bees were right there! I think they are the most popular group of special shape balloons at the Fiesta. There is a Mamma, Pappa and a baby, all three separate balloons.  Here you can get an idea of just how huge the balloons are

 Of coarse I had strict instructions from the children to not come home without a picture of Darth Vader (from Belgium). Can you hear the star wars music???? I can!

  Oons Wiefke lifting off, and you can see the Creamland Dairy cow and Wells Fargo stagecoach balloons in the background

 A most anticipated highlight of the liftoff of the bees is that the pilots turn them for the 'Bee Kiss'
 It really was an amazing thing to see~ if you would like to see a time lapse of the day I was there, or any other day of the Fiesta, just go here to their official website~ scroll down and watch the time lapse videos!

2015 South West Caskateer Get Together

Time for a Road Trip!

  Just got back from the South West Caskateer Get Together~ what a fantabulous time! This is what I had packed to take with me, and hadn't even thought about my clothes yet! We held the gathering in Placitas,  just outside of Albuquerque and only about 30 miles from Santa Fe, NM.   Of coarse I had to stop by Todos Santos in Santa Fe for some chocolates on the way, and then it was up before the crack of dawn to go to the 44th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.   I have one word to describe that morning.....
                                                                 AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

  I took the West  side Park & Ride from the Intel parking lot and got to the Balloon Grounds around 4.45 am. It was still pitch dark, but quite a lively small amount of people at that time.  You can see main street in front of the arch there~ where they had all sorts of souvenir and craft booths, as well as food food and more food. I finally learned what Krispy Kreme donuts were...not because I ate one, but because I thought it was coffee for some weird reason and was quickly informed it was not! ha

  The field is a huge huge expanse of grass, laid out in grid form with paved streets in between for the balloonists to find their spots easily. One simply ambles around in and amongst the balloons the entire time they are preparing to take off and land! Its an amazing experience. It was the first time I have been to Fiesta so I was just wandering around in the dark and picked a set of folks to watch~ turns I ended up between two of the most popular special shape balloons there!  As the balloonists arrive they first test their huge burners~ I could feel the heat from them even where I was standing.

 A special treat of going to the Mass Ascension very early in the morning, is to get to see the Dawn Patrol pilots take off in the dark. Not only is it spectacular to see, but this gives the other pilots a reference to see the wind currents, and if the Dawn Patrol gets to take off, usually the rest are good to go for flying that day. The event is strictly regulated and if the winds are above 7 mph or conditions not right, they are not allowed to take off ~for safety of coarse.  I had never seen a hot air balloon at night before

 I had to play with the settings on my camera to try and get a good picture, as I was taking a video in the other hand for the children to see~ it was actually still pitch dark in this picture above. The balloons look like huge twinkling fireflies as they float gently up and around, it really was special to see!

 One of my favorites!

To start the day officially, the Fiesta balloon rises with the American flag as the National Anthem is plays~ a que to get ready, because then things really take off!

Ready~ing For a Road Trip!

A Travel case for the Beaded Basket &......

  What a busy summer! Its just flown by and am still busy as ever trying to get all my work caught up before I have to leave again for the Casketeer Get Together in Santa Fe this October. I have all my kits ready & packed, and got the travel case finished for my beaded basket. Well...its kind of finished~ it will eventually be painted, so for now will travel with a sealer only on, until I get the time to paint it later this fall. I made it from a gorgeous piece of quilted maple I got when I went home this summer.

  Finally, traveling in style! No more ugly cardboard box for my basket!  I am working on slate frames this week and since I have had confirmation of some getting to their destinations this week, now I can share them with you! The large frames are so difficult to get a good picture of~ so here are some closer bits of my favorites~

  This frame has swags of my signature roses, purple bows, tassels,  ribbons, needles, bees, bee skeps, jazmins, tiger lilys,  butterflies!!!  Is there room for anything else on here???? perhaps!

  I love the bees skeps and little bees~ there are also little bees buzzing throughout the frame

 Of this frame, the pink & white tiger lilys were my favorite to paint, they really came out awesome

 I am really having so much fun painting frames~ who would have thought I would ever paint pirates & skeletons on a frame~ but I have, and are they ever cute!  Well...not cutsie cute....but not scary either...

 There are dancing skeletons on the verticals, and I love the skeleton I Painted just lounging in a tree!

 For the Pirate theme frame I was challenged with, I chose to focus on the treasure, as that was what my customer pointed out was one of her favorite things. I painted the entire frame like a map, working from a 17th c example. There is a compass, a ship, a 'sea monster', and of coarse a treasure chest.  I did mark where the treasure is buried on the map.......but thats a secret!

 For a little something special, because this customer just happened to order my very first frame, and has since ordered several, I gilt her treasures in real 24k gold.  I do so appreciate each and every order~ I cannot thank everyone enough for their kind enthusiasm and support of my work~ you have bought the school clothes for this year, put supper on our table and brought some very special pieces to the Museum's collection this year.  I hope I can continue to grow and get better at all that I do~ and Hey! Dont forget~ you can see my Halloweenies in this months new issue of Prims magazine!

Custom Painted Slate Frames~

Sewing Tools Just Must Be Pretty!

  So I admit I kind of chuckled at the flower encrusted hammer my Mother gave me for Christmas one year....who would need their hammer to have flowers on it? I kept thinking.....fast forward to years later, while I am standing at an embroidery frame for 8+ hours a day....and found myself thinking.....this should be pretty too!  I have found there is great joy in having ones sewing tools decorated, and for me, an even greater joy in being able to provide something pretty to bring joy to others! There's a lot of 'Joy' going around....as there should be in life!!  I have been waiting for this frame to get to its new owner so I could share it~ its one of my favorites!

  I have painted it with my signature roses, forget me nots and pansies....oh the pansies~ they just leap right off the frame~ I love how they came out and may need to paint me something with pansies on it now!

 I have made a new Header Page on my Diamond K Folk Art blog for simpler ordering of slate frames that includes paypal buttons and a shopping cart for adding extras~ so you can  buy a plain slate frame, or fancy with paint and monogram, all without having to wait for me to email you back!  Wait time currently is about 3 weeks for a painted frame, as I have a bit of a line formed from when I was up home, but I am doing my best to catch up!

Really???

So its going to be one of Those days is it????

  :::sigh:::  I know better~ but it was cold this morning and I put on a long sleeve sweater to ink a frame....sleeve caught the bottle and ...good grief! A whole bottle of ink spilt on the floor, my hands, my pants, the table~ at least I was quick enough to save the frame from getting anything on it it wasnt supposed  to. Im off to have a cup of tea!!

Holes...HOLES!

 So Many Holes!

   I have been working 12+ hours a day this past week catching up on my slate frame orders~ I do love making them, but ahhhhh...so many holes!  I make each and every frame, myself. With these two hands. Every hole you see gets drilled from one side, then the other, so each slat is drilled twice....then, each one of those peskly little holes gets sanded~ yes, each individual hole, from both sides! One of the last steps before paint and finishing is beveling, so each and every hole again gets another once over to slightly bevel the outer edge~ thats a LOT of holes!  These were the frame I made this week~ some oak and poplar, and yes, you see right, some black walnut~ YUM!

Here is a picture of them ready for paint and/or varnish.  The walnut I partially made in Pa's shop when I was at home, from some scraps he had in the attic...then finished them here at home. This week is painting~ and I have some really fun frames to paint~ all sorts of different flowers...monograms...some 'surprise' monograms...as in whoever doesnt exactly know what theirs will look like ( I love those!) ...and golly I even get to paint pirate ships and skeletons! By the way, a clue may be there too for my next thread palette....

Back Home

Painted Slate Frames And A Recipe...

   Am back home now from Washington and thought I would share one of my favorite slate frames with you~ one of the things that is so much fun for me in offering custom painted things, is that I don't decide what will be painted on them, the customer does! I have painted some things lately that I don't think I ever would have thought to put on a slate frame or thread palette....but they come out so wonderful!  This particular order was a set of frames with teddies on them~ above is one of the two. Set in the middle of the top slat is a little girl teddy holding needle and thread by some spools~ all ready to get her stitch on. There are lounging teddies & faces sprinkled here and there....but my favorite are the ballooners~

  The vertical slats each have a bear holding balloons...one going up...one coming down! I am really loving the watercolour technique on the wood.
 For those of you who are thinking of giving, or getting a frame for Christmas, I would say you should order by October to be sure to get a place in line that will have your frame finished and thru the post ready in time for Christmas giving. I usually get rather busy dollys wise during this time as well. I have never yet not finished an order on time, but I do only have two hands and can only work so quickly!
   Mom sent this home with me~ a watercolour she painted in 1975~

Its a recipe~ my new favorite actually, and its going to get framed and put up on the wall....

"Take:

1 grassy field

2 small dogs

1 new kitten

1/2 doz children

A pinch of brook

Some pebbles

Mix the children and the dogs and kitten well together and put them in a field,  stirring constantly.

Pour the brook over the pebbles. Sprinkle the field with flowers. Spread over all a deep blue sky. Bake in a hot sun. When brown remove and set away to cool in a bathtub. "