• Blog

    Where this blogger creates

    July 11, 2015 - By 

    For several years I’ve wanted to join in with Karen of My Desert Cottage for her annual blog party but have missed it due to busy schedules. This year I finally made it!

    My Desert Cottage

    So without further ado….Welcome to Halle’s Hobbies!

    I’d like to introduce myself for you first time visitors. I’m Halle, which is pronounced Holly. I know..it’s different. I’m am a self taught mixed-media artist from Minnesota. I’ve been crafting since I was a kid. Over the years I had played around with a little bit of everything…plastic canvas, embroidery, painting plaster ornaments, quilting and even tried scrapbooking when I had my first child. It wasn’t until I discovered altered art in 2005 that I realized I had a passion for art. I started blogging in April of 2007 on Blogger then eventually purchased my own domain and moved my blog to WordPress. So here we are today.

    On with the tour…

    I have a couple of creative areas in our house. I’m am very lucky that the family puts up with my creative chaos.

    I’ll start with my art space.

    where this blogger creates

    It’s not fancy or sweetly decorated but it’s mine! Although I do share my space with the laundry, deep freeze and utility room. Don’t get me wrong….I’m not complaining. I’m lucky because I have room to spread out and bonus, I have a sink to wash hands and brushes!  I also have tons of storage for all my bits of this and that. Somehow I still find that I’m running out of room!

    where this blogger creates

    This is the view to the left of the previous shot. I keep my guillotine cutter on the clothes dryer. It happens to be a perfect height. The top of the file cabinet and the deep freeze have become storage spots as well. I’ve been organizing and purging bit by bit.  Slowly but surely I’ll get it finished.

    Remember I mentioned my family being patient with my creative chaos…

    where this blogger creates

    This is my sewing table that resides in a tiny corner in our family room. I tend to sew a lot so having a space that is constantly at the ready is key. Beyond creating and repairing basic utilitarian objects, sewing finds it’s way into my art as well. Currently, I have a feature article in Sew Somerset where I share my technique for collage cards.

    And where would a blogger be without her computer…I love my big monitor. It makes photo editing a dream!

    where this blogger creates

     My “office area” sits in a nice little nook in the game area of our family room.

    where this blogger creates

    Truth be told, my desk is usually covered with papers. It’s just how I work best. I can’t explain it but it works for me unfortunately it drives Mr. G crazy. Thankfully he is tolerant.

    Thanks for coming along on this little tour with me. I hope you’ll stop by again.

  • Blog - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: week in review edition

    July 7, 2015 - By 

    We had a busy week leading up to the July 4th holiday weekend. I barely touched my computer for days… I totally missed 2nd on the Second that Elizabeth our T stands for Tuesday also hosts. I didn’t even realize I missed it until the 5th. How’s that for being out of touch!

    Lets start back on Tuesday of last week…

    hail damage

    after writing my T post, we headed off to my inlaws to check out the damage to the garden and their house. The garden was a wreck. Leaves and plants ripped to shreds and beaten into the mud. I cleaned up as much as I could and will just hope for the best. At least we have a thriving garden here at home as well.

    Wednesday and Thursday were a blur… I can’t even remember what we did.

    Friday evening was spent at the carnival in town. The kids had a great time. I had a great time too. I wasn’t looking forward to going this year but I’m glad I did.

    carnival

    I don’t know if you can tell from the photo (upper left side) but we’ve been effected by smoke from the Canadian wild fires here. The sun at times is just a red glow in the sky. Yesterday after our heavy rains ended it was so hazy and the air smelled really bad. I found out later that we were under an air quality warning. Our air quality was worse than Beijing, China yesterday.  Thankfully today it has cleared out.

    EDIT: I can still smell the smoke but at least the sky is clear.

    On to Independence day…chalk collage

    Before the parade I walked over to the hockey rink at the Elementary school to check out the chalk drawing contest entries now that they were complete. Amazing work! The girl who drew Uncle Sam was 14 yrs old! Wow!

    And now parade time….

    T6 Texans flyover

    The annual flyover by a T6 Texan squadron announces the start of the parade.  Then we have another good 30 minutes before the parade reaches our seats. That’s ok…we sit with a group of about 55 people in a friends back yard along the parade route. Can’t beat that!

    It was a hot and steamy day…my drink of choice…

    corona

    Ok I didn’t get that fancy that day…I had to take one for the team yesterday for dramatic effect on the post. *grin*

    After the sticky day it was time for a dip in the neighbors pool.

    pool party

    And then some fireworks…

    fireworks

    We are back to a normal schedule I think. Errands, hopefully knitting and visiting my T friends are on the list for today.

    What are you doing?

  • Art - Blog

    SOC 5: week 5

    July 6, 2015 - By 

    What?!?!? How is it week 5 of The Summer of Color hosted by Kristin of Twinkle, Twinkle. Seriously…time goes by way too quickly!

    This weeks colors are…

    soc5 week5

    1 green+ 1 green + 1 pink

    soc5 week5

    I went very basic this week. I spread some thinned out light green along the bottom edge of the book then sprayed with water. I then tipped the book to get a good flow going in an upward motion to simulate foliage in the background.

    soc5 week5

    I almost feel like I want to do another page in these colors…something abstract. But this was where my mind was at this morning as the rain poured down outside. Dreaming.