Ivy Heart Mixed Media Sculpture

Two Ways to Shop:
I've added a new online shop venue- The Leafylady at 1000markets.  I'm showing and selling many of the same items that you can already find in  Knitsteel on etsy. 

The main difference between the two shops are your payments options.  In the Etsy Knitsteel Shop  you pay through Paypal.  In The Leafylady shop on 1000markets, you pay through Amazon payments.  If you already purchase on Amazon.com, you can use that same payment account to pay for your purchases on 1000markets. 

Another major difference involves customers outside of the USA.  1000markets does not yet accept payments from non-USA residents.  Etsy and paypal do.
In any case, I can easily list in either shop, so if you need an item and want to pay a particular way, just let me know.  I will set it up appropriately in the right shop.

Now for the fun stuff....
I finished up some mixed media wall art that I've been mulling for quite awhile.  I kept asking myself- is it too simple? too trite? too this? too that? 
In the end, I just had to make it, no questions asked.  That is the way art works.  Sometimes it feels like it makes itself.

These are part of the Bound Heart series, hearts and chains.  This time the hearts are like roots and anchors, needlefelted red wool hearts chained to antiqued brown ivy.  The pictures are shown from small to large.  Click on each picture for the details with measurements.







Speaking of roots, let's move on to gardening.  I've been digging and planting like crazy.  I added another flower bed and planted a lot of tiny trees.  The digging wore me out, so I decided to try a straw bale garden for a small vegetable plot.  I think my grandfather is probably rolling in his grave, with straw bales on his lawn.  He was more interested in trees than lawn, but I don't think the straw bales fit his overall aesthetic.

So far it has tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, basil, mint and flat-leaf parsley.  I've got room for about two more plants.   I'll let you know how it goes.  I think my biggest challenge will be keeping it adequately watered.  I love not having to squat when I work on it.  Do a google search for straw bale gardening when you want to learn more about it.  You can start with this website http://www.growandmake.com/straw_bale_garden but there are lots more.