"The Ocean is a Wilderness.....

... reaching round the globe, wilder than a Belgian jungle, and fuller of monsters, washing the very wharves of our cities and the gardens of our sea-side residences. Serpents, bears, hyenas, tigers rapidly vanish as civilization advances, but the most populous and civilized city cannot scare a shark far from its wharves."

    -  Henry David Thoreau

I LOVE Thoreau.  Sabrina pokes fun at me because I carry him with me wherever I go.  She said to me once, "Mom - haven't you finished that book yet? You've been carrying it around with you for months."  She doesn't realize yet (but she will) that if you like Thoreau, it is something you carry around with you all your life. You NEVER finish - for every time you pick it up, every page you turn - you get a better understanding, a deeper appreciation for all that is natural, pure and real. One day - she'll get that, I'm sure.

I am currently obsessed with the ocean. Our impending closing on the beach house is to blame, I know.  But I can't help it.   I spent the day Sunday painting a yard of PFD Kona cotton with every shade of blue I could find - dyes, Lumiere paint, acrylic paint and inks.  No plan - just laying down colors. It felt good.

This morning I tore up a bunch of organza in similar shades to the paints that I used and free motioned a wave-like pattern over the top with some gorgeous vareigated cotton.  After that I used a soldering iron and cut out between the waves.  I liked the effect I was getting with that - but the melted organza kept gumming up on the iron, so I decided to finish the distressing process with a heat gun.

I am so pleased with how this came out.  It really is lovely.  I now have a yard of this gorgeous stuff and a ton of ideas as to what I'm going to do with it.  The first piece I cut was for a Kindle 3 cover.  I didn't have a pattern for this so I just made up my own.    I added a sweet little antique bronze charm to it that is just perfect... "Dreaming of the Sea." 

This is the first design in my new "Ocean" series of Kindle, IPAD and Nook covers.  I've just listed it in my Etsy. 

It now looks like the closing on the house may be moved up to this coming Monday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  We are all getting anxious.  I just need to keep busy.