Funny, I remember when the shelter-in-place order took effect. I thought that my often-longed-for dream of a non-permanent-record-marring house arrest might have come true. The reality is that I’ve been really busy with work and distracted enough that my creativity is a little sluggish.
It’s only right to kick things off with a little love.
One craft I’ve gotten back to is cross stitch. I think that following a pattern offers up some comfort right now. I stitched this Godzilla, the word “vote” and I’ve picked up a rooster pattern for the first time in a long time.
Godzilla in need of a little ironing.
Don’t get me wrong, I have made some original pieces. I’ve stocked up on pressed-flower jewelry and more, hoping to be well prepared for next year’s market season. Although, I seem to be good at making pendants, but am struggling with doing what needs to be done to complete a project. Over the past few months I’ve dabbled with my gelli plate, polymer clay, micro mosaics and more.
So many pendants
Mosaic successes and failure
Pressed flower pendant
Gelli print
More notebooks
Hand-bound journal.
Some new knitted and crocheted wraps
I also nearly lost my mind when I saw that I could get a mold for keycaps. So after a good month of waiting, it showed up. Judge the results for yourself.
Keycap mold
Keycap failures
Keycap successes
All about keycaps.
Even if I smoosh in the bottom piece to make the keycap Cherry MX switch compatible, I can’t get it to sit down far enough so that the keycap will fit on a switch. I’m left with resin that oozes out and a keycap that doesn’t work on the switch. I’ll give it a few more tries, but until then, marbling and other tiny embellishments for pre-made keycaps are my friends. Hey, what about a very tiny mosaic on top of a keycap? It’s worth a try.
The long weekend is a mere two days away, and I’m dreaming of locking myself into my studio and making all kinds of good things.
Hopefully what I make will inspire another post. Fingers crossed!
Hello strangers. It’s been a long time, right? Oh well … onward and upward.
It’s the 6th day of October, and I’ve had to abandon all hopes of participating in Inktober. Maybe some day. Just not any of the 31 days of this month. If I can’t blog regularly, I have no business giving myself a new daily task. That said, I’m still harboring the hope that I can take on NaNoWriMo. Some ideas have been rattling around in my brain, and I think the exercise of daily creative writing would be good for me.
But, back to the now. Since I last had anything to say, the unicorn and I bought a house. We have a grand deck, big yard and a studio space in the back yard. At around 800-sq-ft, it’s truly an amazing studio space. I’m not sure how I ever packed all of my sh … stuff into either the condo or the rental house.
Studio friends.
Now that we have a yard, it’s fun to have yard decorations. We have three pieces of beautiful glass art and 25 flamingoes in various colors and life stages.
We’ve also met — and like — our neighbors. This cutie is one of my favorites. I might even be able to forgive the tomato thieving and digging up of my plants. Yesterday she ran up to me as if to say “hi.” It took a lot of self control to not reach out to pet her. Man, do I miss having a pet.
I’ve had some vacation days since the move that have been spent in the studio, and they’ve been heavenly. Really I cannot say enough how thankful I am.
To round out our history of doing things kind of backwards and at our own pace, we got married. It’s something I never thought the unicorn would ever want to do. People have asked what it’s like to be married, and the truth is that it all feels the same. The only difference is that I say “husband” now.
The market season is nearly done. Only three more Saturdays — and chances are I’ll only be there for two of them. It’s amazing how quickly these past six months have passed. Oh, I’ll be vendor of the week next week. All is really means is that I’ll get a sign in front of my booth. And maybe the unicorn will come and spend some time with me.
I’s the season for Halloween jewelry.
Enough of the personal stuff. Let’s get to the goodies! I’ve been making things when I can. Especially because (and thanks to a kiln-enameling class) I got an enameling kiln. I want to enamel all the live-long day. It’s so much fun!
Seattle-inspired enameled pieces.
I’ve also been making journals, stringing beads and making many bracelets with my Endless Loom. That is an addiction to be sure.
After some stumbling blocks with keycaps, I had to dust myself off, do some R&D and get back to it. I think I’m ready to ready to put more in my Etsy shop and try some new things.
And now it’s time to finish the last of my Sunday chores so that I can get to playing/making for the rest of the day!
This past March I spent four days in Portland taking classes at Art & Soul. I hadn’t been in about five years, and it was great to be back. I recognize how fortunate I am in being able to drive to Portland and simply put all of my supplies in the back of my car.
This year I was able to check off some bucket-list classes including the two-day class on using a Dremel and a polymer clay class with Laurie Mika.
I shared this image last time, but imho it’s worth showing again.
The Dremel class was a good introduction to a tool I’ve had for more than a decade but have barely used. We etched glass, plastic and metal. We cut metal and clay and plastic. I think you could layer polymer clay and carve into (or away from) it and get a faux Fordite look.
I know that it’s a poor craftsperson who blames her tools,
but my Dremel is so old, that I only have two speeds. I’d like to get one with
“medium,” as that’s the setting the instructor most often said to use. Will
that make a difference in my work? It’s hard to say. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I
just need more practice.
At the end we made a small book for keeping all of our
samples. And, our kit fee included a great set of bits and bobs for doing all
kinds of things. I need to break that out and play with it some more before
everything I learn fades away for good.
On the third day I took the clay class “Miniature Clay Quilts.” I’ve had Laurie Mika’s book Mixed-Media Mosaics for awhile and have always been smitten with her work. Plus, I’ve found a lack of polymer clay classes in this area, so I was glad to get some instruction in that medium.
We started out by making several pieces to assemble. More clay elements from which to choose.
What I love most about my mini clay quilt is the Harry Frees cat with the basket of eggs. What’s especially great is that Walden loves this piece. We’ll have to find a good place to display it in the new house.
I can’t get into my new studio space soon enough to start using
what I learned to make some pendants.
On my last full day of classes I had a book-as-art class. I was originally signed up for a class that would use tin shingles for book covers. That instructor had to cancel, so I opted for the other available book class. I was one of three students, which was actually kind of nice. We made two scroll books and something that is a more three-dimensional bit of book art.
Here’s a top down view of my book. See Sally on the phone on the left? She’s asking her dad for cookies. She’s my kind of kid. Same book and from the side. Oh, those imperfections are painful.
I can see where I went wrong with this one, but, overall, I’m OK with it. Would I make another? It could be fun to make one for a specific special occasion with a book that lends itself to the occasion or person. I’ll have to think on that.
My last class was an evening class that I did not care for. (I might have even packed up my stuff early and left in a huff.) Maybe I’ve poured too much resin in my life to have an instructor who doesn’t offer any tips for students who have zero experience with resin. They were overpouring. Pieces were set in trays at an angle, which led to an overflow. There was no explanation of best practices for putting resin on the sides of something. I mean: Gravity! Pooling! Frustration!!
The woman next to me had never worked with resin before and
said she likely wouldn’t work it again. I tried to offer some tips, but also
didn’t want to be a know-it-all.
So, in a fit of frustration, I left early, got my nightly glass of wine and called it a night.
I did start this before packing up and leaving class.
My friend and I headed home the next day. Right away I started looking forward 2020’s week of classes. In fact, the schedule was recently posted online. Now I just need to make some decisions. I feel strongly about bezels and papier mache. I’ll fill in the rest with at least one journal-making class. Maybe one with watercolor and one that gets me out of my comfort zone.
Collage had a “store” at the hotel, and one of my favorite finds was a bunch of jukebox song slips/cards/papers. And this one is the best find of all.
To bridge the long wait, I have my eye on a kiln-enameling class in Seattle. But, in my new space I can play and play and play. It’s hard to imagine that I won’t find inspiration in such a large and dedicated work space.
Here’s me, slow, slow … just plodding along with the things I have to do. (I don’t want to wear sequins, but this little guy pulls it off nicely.)
While the passing of time and ebb and flow of the market
season are familiar companion by now, it’s a little stressful to think about
moving again.
I’m glad we kept the boxes from last year. I’m glad we kept some boxes packed. I’m glad I’ve been able to do some downsizing. It’s a shame it’s been counteracted with some acquisitions. But, I’m especially glad to be able to say that the beau (let’s call him Walden; my dad does) and I are buying a house – something I wasn’t sure he ever wanted to do or that I’d want to do again. But living among unhung art, unpacked boxes and the ever-present question of “Where is X?” finally got to us.
We kept joking that we needed a small living space with two big studio spaces. Well, we found it. Or it found us. Or, we met in the middle. The kitchen is small. The closets are not quite closets, and I’ve never thought so much about closets in my life so much so that it feels like an obsession! But, but … the glorious outbuilding in back is huge! It has power and ceiling fans and is 100% nicer than any she shed I could imagine. I mean, it’s an honest-to-goodness building that will make for a fabulous studio space for both us. I will have a series of stations for the following: painting, book binding, resin pouring, jewelry making, photography and more. I will be able to set up my easel. I can’t even get my head around that. Having order in my craft world seems like too much to ask, but it’s a goal.
Plus, running the width of the house is a workshop meant for
tinkering. Walden hasn’t fully unpacked his tools in nearly half a decade. Now
he’ll need more tools to do that space justice.
And the deck … oh, the giant deck. I like to say that it’s “ri-deck-ulous.
It, too, runs the width of the house. It will be perfect for morning coffee, afternoon
reading that leads to naps and evening dinners and can easily accommodate us
and 50 of our closest friends.
We also like to talk about having a library of sorts. We have a double-door room, which has evolved into the Dumbledore room, that gets a lot of natural light. I think it will be a great spot for reading when it’s too hot or too cold outside. For me that’s between 68-74 degrees.
I admit that the house isn’t perfect. It needs some love
(don’t we all), but we’re excited to pick out some paint colors, make some
changes and call it home. Our home. I have to smile.
Until we’re moved in, I’m working around stacked boxes, disheveled supplies and cluttered spaces. Hey, that sounds—and looks—like the same-ol’, same-ol’.
Until I can document the new place, here are some bits and bobs that have taken up my time since my last post, which was far too long ago.
I made this at Art and Soul in March. Why didn’t I do a post about that?!Bullseye “Fordite” from a Corvette plant. Ohh …
Fun with dangly bits.
More fun with Fordite.
Tiger eye.
Oh how I heart this journal cover. I like how two different sprays create the look of off-set printing. Sadly, the finished product keeps giving me fits. And, I have a hard time setting the sprays so that they don’t run when I want to seal them.
Earlier this week someone told me: Your past is your future.
It really stuck with me. And, I get it. I think. It was prefaced by a comment about “without a major change. …” Regardless, it makes me wonder why bother? I mean: If our past is our future, is our fate sealed? Will I end up back in Indiana putting that German degree to use? Getting boys to help me with power tools. Can I get a do over on a gap year?
Because I don’t think that any of that is going to happen, I have to think how it applies to my life now. Is my past really my future? Am I ready to embark on a non-predetermined path to make my future my future. There’s certainly more to mull over, even .. dare I say it … ponder.
And all the while, I keep thinking of the song “Winter Girl,” with the line “You future is in the past now.”
In the meantime I’ll keep dabbling and scratching that creative itch. (Most of the scratching involves slow, but steady progress on a cross stitch piece for my sister’s birthday. )Here’s a peek.
Here’s the top right corner. It’s been so long since I’ve done any cross stitch. It was my first big craft love!
I’ve been wanting to make a hedgehog like this for more than a year. I’d like to do them in different colors — maybe even a rainbow striped hedgie.
This past week I took a Polaroid Emulsion Lift class with Thelma Harris. It was a lot of fun, and I’ve been taking a lot of Polaroid pictures to do more emulsion lifts. Studying up on how to get better photos is my next challenge.
I know I need to “make” more keycaps. In the meantime, here’s one that just needed some resin. But, maybe it needs something on the sides? Yes? No?
I bough a plain water bottle, and put some vinyl decals on it — Bigfoot (autocorrect says the capital B is necessary. Oh, what a world!), hedgehog, squid and a seahorse. While I had my Silhouette out I cut out a few more things. My Silhouette and I need some more alone time together.
That UW Surplus sticker really adds to the hedgehogs, don’t you think.
In addition to work and making things, we made a quick trip to the Bay Area. We saw SponTourCo as part of SF Sketchfest. And, I don’t even want to talk about Spontaneanation being over. Oh, what a stupid world.
