Here is yesterday’s painting… would you believe that after more than two hours of playing tennis yesterday I was so wiped I didn’t feel like blogging? Well, that is what happened.

What have I been up to today? Crafting!!

It’s a lot of fun running an online craft shop and one of my favorite things to make are stitch markers. They are used to mark the placement of certain stitches or patterns within a knitting project. Knitting as a pastime has really picked up in recent years and there are knitters of every age and interest. Soooo, you can get quite creative with what you make into a “marker”…

For example, with Halloween coming up I’ve done a recent shop update with many scull-themed markers. Many of the beads used in my store are purchased from small shops around New Mexico from hispanic New Mexicans. It has made me very curious about all of the scull/skeleton imagery associated with their culture:

SUGAR SCULLS (and scull masks and skeleton imagery etc.) are symbols of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrated these days on All Hallow’s Eve (Oct 31) and All Soul’s Eve (Nov 1). These traditions go back thousands of years and included dancing in honor of deceased relatives. Sugar Sculls with the name of the deceased on the forehead are eaten by a friend or relative of the deceased. These celebrations are exactly that; celebrations of death, not as a tragedy, but a re-birth. Living is but a dream and when we die we wake up… or something to that effect. (Information from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070911144931AAzPwvu)

So anyway, I spent some time making stitch markers today and taking pictures of the process to give you and idea of why I’m attracted to such a simple activity. All of the colors and the huge variety of different combinations you can make keep me interested while giving my mind and body a break from painting.

To buy stitch-markers, project bags, knitted items or knitting patterns visit multicraftual.etsy.com

¡Tenga un buen fin de semana!