Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Version 2.0

It is after 9:00 p.m. and I just realized I have eaten nothing of substance all day today.  A couple bits of chocolate, and that's it.  Hmmm.  Curious.

I posted a status on Facebook the other day about having a good idea (or stealing one from a picture in a magazine) and buying all the stuff for it and spreading it all over every conceivable flat surface in your home and then not wanting to start the project for fear it will turn into crap.  Got that?  Well guess what I did today.  Finished a crafty crafty project that I sort-of-but-not-really started the other day.  Or week.  It's for the Festival of Trees fundraiser at the Museum, and I think it turned out pretty okay.


Here are a few more pictures, which are more for my future benefit than anything else.




(Just seeing if you are still paying attention ....)



For my first effort, I love the way this looks.  Although if I keep it at home for long I'm sure I will start futzing with it.  I've already added another green ribbon to the pink ornament at about four o'clock.  The fundraiser doesn't open for viewing until November 17th, but I may have to take this baby to the Museum tomorrow.  Then I can start another one!  Same concept, different color palette.  And I have an idea for a third -- similar yet different.  That one may be a bust, so I will save it for last.

So that's Crafty Crafty Version 2.0.  Someday I will paint again, but it might be a while.  There's no room in here!

P.S.  I love my wee pink hot glue gun.  Love love love.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Crafty Crafty Version 1.0

You know, I bought my first ever bottle of Elmer's glue last week.  And I also bought my first ever glue gun.  We have one at work but I don't think I've ever used it.  I got a pink one.


It took me a bit, but I think I got the hang of it.  I'm test driving the glue gun on some ornaments for the Festival of Trees.  The first batch look a little Dr. Seuss.  Awesome.


See?  There is more than one use for a Cars sippy cup.



Woo hoo!  Red feather boa!


The next ones are not Dr. Seuss.  They're ... something else.



Look at that - paint that perfectly matches the ribbon on the beaded trim.  Clever, am I.


Have you any idea how many blogs there are out in the universe devoted to crafty junk?  I don't know either, but I found a crap load (I even found one called "Crap I Made").  I bookmarked all kinds of cool stuff.  My Version 2.0 in the ornament department will come from one of those blogs, and if they end up looking cool, I will share.  If not --- you need not be subjected to all my disasters.  All I will say right now is that there is glue involved.  And glitter.  Stay tuned.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Dancing Sun

I forgot to mention the other day (when I was all blah, blah, blah about everything else) that I finished another painting.  This is one I started about a hundred years ago.  For me, it's big - 15" wide x 30" high.  I painted it, and ended up only liking part of it.  But I wasn't sure how to redo what I didn't like while keeping what I did, so I put the darn thing away.  Then, I can't remember when, I found it again and reworked some parts, and still didn't like those parts.  Away it went again.  Third time was the charm, I guess, because now I like it.  There is really interesting texture, that you probably can't see in the photos.




It is the dancing sun part that I liked from the get-go.  It makes me happy.

Since I've been feeling all crafty crafty these past few days, that monstrous bucket of beads and stones I've got stored in the sauna has been calling my name.  I might open a second Etsy store for jewelry.  Actually - true confession time - I already did, but I haven't listed anything and I'm not sure I remember the name of the store and my password.  Huh.

And, last but certainly not least, poodle is as poodle does.  She got promoted at work today.  She's our new Social Media Director.  Awesome.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Better late than never

I have a spider that lives behind the door trim outside my bathroom door.  Down at the bottom, sort of tucked behind the door trim and the baseboard.  I walk by him a zillion times a day, because I have to go through the bathroom to get from my bedroom to the living room/kitchen/dining room/only-other-room-I-have.  I always, with apologies to Charlotte, think of spiders as boys.  And I've been thinking lately, with great frequency, that I always think of spiders as boys.  Today I realized why.  Sixty years ago today, Charlotte's Web was published.  I don't remember what the book is about, but I'm not going to celebrate its anniversary by reading it again because I have a feeling there is something sad about it.  "Babe" sad.  Or "Bambi" sad.  Hey, I just had a thought.  Maybe I think of all spiders as boys in a hopeful, ignorantly optimistic way.  If there are no girl spiders in my house, there will be no pile of baby spiders in my house.

But enough about creepy crawly things.  My new camera finally got here!  It was supposed to arrive on Friday - I signed up for a free month of Amazon Prime in order to get 2-day free shipping, and then there was some kind of weather delay in Billings, Montana.  Damn Billings.  But it is here, I have read part of the manual, I went into town to buy a memory card, and I have taken a few photos, although the weather is crap today so no good photo ops outside.  Except poodle, of course.


She got to play ball today even though the grass was wet and the field is so full of deer poop there's hardly a clean spot to stand in.  I am eternally thankful deer poop doesn't stick to her wee paws.

Since I needed something to do this weekend while waiting (not so patiently) for my camera to get here, and since I was afforded an EXTRA day off on Sunday, I got all crafty crafty.  I had an idea for something I could make for the Festival of Trees, so Roxie and I went to Kalispell on Sunday and shopped for a minute.  I'm not much of a shopper, but if there are art supplies involved I can make a sacrifice.  I had to wait in line forever and ended up buying two magazines - one I refuse to name because it is not something I would normally buy, and the other is a painting mag.  Got some fabulous ideas from both.  Hopefully at least one good thing will materialize.

I also painted a bit.  Here is the first piece to be photographed by the new camera.  Remember, I'm still learning how to use the darn thing.


The learning curve is not going to be with the camera, but with the mucking-around software.  This painting is a deep purple, by the way, not brown.  In real life, it's kinda cool.  And I started it on Friday night, at the same time I was making a pie for Tamarack Time.  For what, you ask?  Tamarack Time is a lovely, hokey Bigfork annual tradition.  There are a bunch of food categories, and people enter their favorite recipe.  Tables are set up all along the sidewalks downtown.  At noon, judges hit each category and pick 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.  Then people buy $4 tickets - which entitles them to a not-so-fancy nametag - and they eat their way around town.  Soups, stews, ethnic, non-chocolate desserts, cookies, pies, chili, pickles, bread, jam, etc.  I was the Chili Chair.  I didn't think I would have many entries so Derek took pity on me and made chili.  He won 1st place.  It was a pork chili verde.  Anyway, getting back to my pie.  I wasn't entering in the hopes of winning a prize - I just didn't want to say no when Lynn called to ask.  There are always a zillion pie entries, but the year I said no (because there are always a zillion entries) she only got about four pies.  FOUR PIES!  It was a travesty.  So I tried something I've never made.  Remember back a while ago when I posed the question of whether or not painting and cooking in the same room, at the same time, creates scratch-and-sniff art?  Well this one would be Chocolate Walnut Pie.  Do I have to call it mixed media if I accidentally got flour in it?

In all my pseudo craftiness this weekend, poodle got a little too close to the Christmas ornaments and now she is partially covered in bright green glitter.  If you look at her from the right angle.  My fantasies about having a separate space for artsy junk are in high gear.  Where's that winning lottery ticket when you need it....

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Coming Sooooooooooooon!

GUESS WHAT!  I ordered my camera today.  I'm still $150 short in my camera fund, but I ordered it anyway.  Woo hoo!  Pardon my shouting, but I CAN'T WAIT!  It will be here soon. Very soon.

On another subject, poodle and I went for a three mile run after work yesterday.  That's our first run in 10 days and I tell you, three miles every ten days isn't going to cut it.  I will be hitting the treadmill soon because it is getting dark early -- we cut it pretty close last night.  The change in temperature has been a difficult adjustment, more inside than out.  As you may recall, it is colder in than out at my wee home, all year 'round.  I turned on the heaters in both rooms last week and had to leave them on.  Usually I don't turn on the heat until I get home from work, and only in the living room, then turn it off either before I go to bed or before I go to work in the morning.  My heat has been on for a week straight.  I did turn off the bedroom heater yesterday, tho.  My choices are heat and a bloody nose every morning, or no heat and sleeping in fleece head to toe.  Right now I'm choosing the fleece.  People have been saying lately that we are going to have a wicked cold winter this year.  Let it be known:  I.  Am.  Not.  Ready.

Today is day 10 of no soda again.  Gonna see if I can make it into November.  All the money I am saving on soda (and potato chips) means extra money for my camera fund, right?  RIGHT!

Friday, October 5, 2012

Once more, with feeling!

Since this painting is kinda like the "same old, same old" I was going to wait and post it when it has a frame.  But I'm tired of seeing my face as the first image on my blog, so I'm putting something else up here, STAT!


This one is a little different, in that the others are 5" wide x 7" high, and this is 6" wide x 12" high.  So I'm branching out.  Sort of.  No pun intended.

My Blick paint and stuff got here yesterday (barely - there was only ONE - literally - piece of packing tape holding the entire 20+ pound box together) and I forgot to order more 5" x 5" canvases.  Poo.  I got some good paint, though, and now I am outgrowing my art supply closet.  I might have to find another place to keep my winter coats.  Or my dishes.

Oh, hey.  I painted another tree piece on paper, but I'm not sure if it will make the cut.  I like its bits and pieces, but I'm not sure if I like it as a whole.  Actually, I KNOW I didn't like it as a whole, because I ripped about a third of it off and chucked it.  The remainder -- intriguing.  I think.  Maybe.

Today is my unniversary.  And today would have been Nonno's 100th birthday.  Crazy how time flies.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Staycation

I am really going out on a limb by posting this terrible picture of me, but I want you to see what poodle and Stitch and I did on our three day staycation:


We slept until forever on all three days.  In fact, Roxie didn't want to get up and go to work today.  She had her breakfast, then went back to bed.  This is normal.  When I told her it was time to go, she was on the bed with her paw covering her eyes.  Didn't want to get up again.  Yep, that's my girl.

We didn't do much running because the smoke was really bad this weekend.  Three mile "run" on Saturday, plus a three mile walk, a four mile walk on Sunday and another three mile walk on Monday.  I heard a rumor that the wind is supposed to come out of the Northeast tomorrow, and blow all the smoke back over to Idaho.  I'm not holding my breath.

Here is the third Autumn Colors painting.  I have one in the works that is a bit bigger - hope it comes out okay.


Some of my new-found wealth went to more paint.  A box from Dick Blick should be arriving tomorrow or the next day.  I also paid off my laptop, and made a $100 deposit into my camera fund.  Awesome.

Today was a wicked busy day.  What a great way to start October.  I am just about ready to lock the door and the phone rang.  Sold a painting.  Not one of mine, but that's okay.  This one is more expensive!  Woo hoo!

The end.