on the mend

well it turns out my headache was the precursor to a NASTY cold, one that laid me flat for over 24 hours. today i'm feeling much better, but it hasn't been without a lot of nastiness, including 2/3rds a jar of vicks vapo-rub, a whole roll of TP used as kleenex, and about 5 cans of chicken noodle soup (organic, of course).

i did use the time to make a bunch of new animals though-i'm at the coffee shop right now uploading the photos to my etsy store. click on the photos at right if you want to see more.

i think the key to getting over the hump were the delicious breakfast nachos i had yesterday AM at Bonfire Grill in st. paul. i met my sister and her boyfriend, and my parents, for breakfast and discovered the most genius invention EVER: chilaquiles, breakfast nachos.

i don't have many resolutions this year-except to make MORE of an effort to exercise, keep my apartment cleaner, and eat less crap. more fruits and veg, less pasta and nachos. but the discovery of chilaquiles may hamper those efforts.

Lull....

I've made two more birds, and started a third, but for some reason my creative juices seem to be dry right now. The two came out OK, but I had to remake the wings on the third one, and decided to leave the house without giving it legs, a beak, or wings. Poor little thing.

Gotta recharge after the holidays. Get a normal schedule again. Prep for my mosaic. Oy. that's gonna be tough! A six foot high, 10 foot long mural using pottery, tiles, etc.

Went to the Frida Kahlo show at the Walker yesterday. It was awesome, of course, what a life she had.

I've got a pretty raging headache today. I wonder if it's lending to my lack of crafting enthusiasm. Or if it's the other way around.

Christmas in Minnie

Oh, what a picture perfect holiday it's been.

My sister and her boyfriend are in from Chicago, and my brother and his wife and 21 month old son are in town from Missouri. We've all enjoyed a gorgeous, snowy day out at my folks' farm out in the country.

The food was fantastic, the gifts were wonderful, and the gathering of family has been so enjoyable! I wish every day were Christmas, but then, would it be as special? I tried to give as many handmade gifts as possible, I did pretty well, well over half of what I gave was either handmade or recylced, everyone got some kind of a bag for shopping for groceries, hopefully our family will use fewer plastic shopping bags this year.

Merry Christmas to any and everyone who's reading the blog!

3 yetis and a 'squatch

For Timo! Enjoy!

New Uglings!

Well I had a fantastically productive couple of days here, and I whipped out a bunch of new Uglings.

Visit my etsy.com store and check them out!

Barnum and Bailey, monkey siblings, available separately are pictured here.

What is art?

From Aardman Animation, the wonderful folks behind Wallace and Grommit, and Flushed Away, comes this hilarious video.

Just getting settled, and.....

I've started my more permanent administrative job @ NWC now, it's just a lot of getting to know how the various departments work, where to get a PO from, etc. It's a steep learning curve, but it's going OK.

Our Handmaidens Craftmas show was un. be. lieveable. I had a fantastic response from everyone, and sold all but two animals. I brought along some sweaters to work on small bits if I had time, and I ended up selling polar bears RIGHT off the tree! I hope to bring some more in to I Like You this upcoming week, for anyone who needs a last-minute gift.

I made a new bag for my laptop, with red, black, and red sparkle vinyl, lined with black-n-white dots and with a child's safety seat strap and foam inserts (thanks ax-man) and a new flamingo.

I made my Christmas list, and boy, do I have a lot of work to do before the big day! Got to get to knittin'!

There's some exciting news in the pipeline regarding a more permanent live/work space, but I'll just leave you with this for now. GO BEARS!

A month? Really?

Wow. I have been really busy with Seussical. A whole month has passed since I last blogged, and there's some exciting new developements in my artistic journey!

But first, I'm having an absolutely lovely day. I finished up Eat, Pray, Love this Am, which I started on Friday night. A very interesting book about food, forgiving yourself, and learning to be one with God and the universe. Then I took a walk around my neighborhood and discovered a community garden and a park I had never known about, both within about a 10 minute walk from my house. The garden still had so many vegetables and fruits growing in it, even though we've had several nights of frost. I watched a fat little bumblebee looking in vain for a flower, though he must have missed the last of the roses that were growing just outside the fence.

It's what we call 'Indian Summer' here in MN, which is the last hurrah of good weather before the cold, rainy, sleety, then snowy weather commences. I'm going to soak up as much of it, as I possibly can. A family of little birds has nested immediately above my door though so I can't just prop open the door and let the good air in, as I'm worried I'll have a feathered roommate in no time.

On the art front, I won a mosaic mural commission, co-planning a massive craft sale in early December, and building a website for a friend of mine in exchange for life coaching. All in all, I think it's a good deal for me! Slowly I've been making more and more stuffed animals, they all have their own fun personalities and expressions, it's hard to part with them sometimes!

And, for my birthday in 3 days, I'm getting my very own laptop. YAYY!! I'm so excited to have my own computer, I think it's going to do wonders for my writing, art, and marketing of said art.

bizzay!

well, of course, everyone's busy. but right now, i'm especially busy!

not making things, i tend to spend a lot of time in the car, or in bed.

i hope to have some exciting announcements soon, i've got about 3 or 4 balls in the air right now and just trying to keep them all up means i'm making myself looney......

but i hold out hope that i will get to pick up needle and thread again soon. and not, to make someone's costume.

wish me luck.

productive day

well i've been extremely crafty today. i have gotten three birds, one kitten, and three cupcakes done. but the library is closed, so you will have to wait until tomorrow for photos, my dear readers.

in other news, one of my pumpkin heads was to go to a good friend of mine, but when i pulled Lenny the Lemur out of the bag (see below), she fell in love with him! so i will be posting another pumpkin head doll soon.

and i finished a doll/bird set, a wee pumpkin head riding a crow, and found a perfect half-round cage at the Goodwill for them to perch inside, but i think it's going to be a going away/birthday gift for my friend Ed. we'll see.

i have to teach a class tomorrow on glass pendant making. i generally don't sleep the night before a big event like a class or demo. let's hope, if i can't sleep tonight, that i at least spend the time making more birds. ha!

Pumpkin head and new birdie

Penny Pumpkinhead is available at my etsy shop, and so is Raymondo the Robin.

I'm having so much fun making these little stuffies. I can't wait to get home from work or the college to sew, sew, sew! I am needing to re-stock my sweater supply too, I'm almost out of several colors, and almost through with my favorite stripe, seen on Raymondo's legs.

Lemur and Robin

Lenny and Roxy are available at my etsy shop. Take a look!

yay! a sale!

well, leroy the lemur sold! yayy! that's exciting.

i lost as much money as i made on him at poker last night though. what an idiot.

the spider we've been nurturing at the poker house almost kicked it last night but timo revived him with a hand-fed moth. ish.

i didn't get into no-coast. i'm a little bummed, but oh well. life marches on.
unless you're a moth.

time to go

oh my. i was housesitting this weekend and the home owners came home a day early. whoops! dishes in the sink, clothes on the floor, bed unmade. i felt like goldielocks, in a way.

i'm feeling restless in all aspects of my life. i feel like it's time for a big change, either in scenery, or in career. fight or flight, i choose FLIGHT.

i made a new batch of monkeys and birds, they're at i like you, and i'm dropping a few more off this afternoon. i'm nervous about the no coast craftorama. they are going to let everyone know by sept. 15th if they are accepted. i really, really, really hope i get in this year.

back to databases.

Another day, another monkey (or two, or three)

Well I already sold this little girl to my boss, but I plan to make a few sisters tonight.

And here's Leroy the Lemur, he's available through duckieuglings.com

PORKCHOP!

Monkey! Find him on DuckieUglings.com

another day, another salad

saw my cousins off to the airport last night, but first we stopped by chino latino. I had a few pieces of sushi, a few chips (with not-diet friendly dip) and 1/3 of a plaintain crusted chicken breast with rice, sauteed veggies, and passionfruit sauce. it was to. die. for. delish.

went to check out the place where i'll be art-fairing this weekend, and then hit the bookstore. it's weird to sit at the bookstore without coffee and a sweet by my side, but i'm sure i will get used to it. bought 'horton hears a who' so i can do the research for my meeting in three hours.

stopped at the grocery store this AM and made a nice breakfast salad, i'd take a photo but i've already eaten it. no fat-free dressing at this grocery store so i just used a TEENSY amount of regular. it worked just fine.

turning a new leaf, again

i had just established healthy eating and exercise habits when i got lazy.

i need to keep the mental picture in my head, of me standing in my own store, happy, healthy, and thin(ner).

this giant salad is the first stepping stone on the path to that goal.

thunder, lightening

woke up last night to LOUD thunder and bright lightening. turns out a huge storm came through the cities, dumped a lot of rain (which we needed) but it turned the neighborhood just north and west of me into a mulch-pit. HUGE trees and branches are lying in the street, all the business are closed and the stoplights aren't working, and those poor folks will not have fans or A/C on a day that's supposed to reach 90. yikes.

i'm busy cleaning my apartment and car to get ready for my california cousins to visit, but i needed a quick break for coffee. my 'usual' place had no power, so i had to come back down to the one that's within walking distance, but always too busy. luckily, the computers were free!

last time i was here, there was a guy reading about metaphysics on wikipedia, and muttering to himself. it was quite entertaining.

homo bulla est

reminded again today,
life is short

man is a bubble


trapped under a mountain, a river, a bridge
or laying on the sidewalk
sadly death will find us all


knowing one day, that clock will catch up to me
makes me want to live up the little moments
change direction, better myself


being reminded, it can happen.....instantly
could scare me enough to trap me inside
the apartment i hate to waste time cleaning

i've got to start making a mark on this world

knowing i'll leave behind goodness, art, and love

loving nephew, cousins, friends,

i suppose that's enough

life on the bubble

a rainbow, then....

pop

garage sale

helpin' my folks with their massive garage sale today. didn't make any art yesterday.

just about to leave the wilds of hugo to head back to the wilds of st. paul, to shower, nap, create, play some poker, hang out with a friend or two, eat, and clean....not neccessarily in that order.

hopefully, will post some new stuff tomorrow.

closeup of 'the shape of my heart'

busy nite last nite!

had a bite with a good friend at the birchwood cafe. where i also stopped for breakfast yesterday. we had gotten our wires crossed, and he thought i was going to pick him up. so i called his landline (how can you not have a cell phone these days?) and sure enough, he was waiting for me.

anywhoozle. once he got there, we had a lovely, laugh filled dinner. i'm going to miss him when he moves to beantown.

after dinner, i went home to shower and make a few quick thingamajigs. here's a quick painting/collage that i did, called 'the shape of my heart'.

it's a matte that i picked up at artscraps, then i collaged the background of a piece of rag paper also from artscraps, using newsprint and tissue paper. layered an old piece of map paper from paper source, some thai paper from who knows where, some sparkely gold paper from sample books my mom gave me, and some rhinestones (on the crown). Threw some paint spots down over it. then I made the lower piece, using the same stuff, and a paint chip, stamp, and sheer ribbon that had been accidentally overdyed.

went back in with a pen to give a little more definition to the wings.

i also encased a rabbit in one of the eggs from two days ago. it worked just great. look for some egg-bunnies soon, well, maybe in like a week. i'm pretty freakin' busy with other stuff right now, and my cousins are coming to town this weekend. yayy!!!

then i went to a fringe show. i'll say this about it. i'm glad it was only 28 minutes long.

came home, touched up the paint, and went to bed.

Oh, and my cute-arse kitty

Bein' cute. She loves to chew paper, so she's in heaven right now , as it's pretty much everywhere in the apartment.

Paper Flurry

Jeeze I've been a busy girl these past few days. Here's my table, you can see the buns in the upper left corner. I'd had an idea of putting wee birds and other creatures into paper mache eggs, a while back, and just got around to trying it last night.

First came the hunt for an egg-shaped object/objects to use as molds. After several failed attempts to make them out of plastic bags and crumpled newspaper, and a wild idea to use a potato, I settled on two wooden half-eggs taped together. I also found a few cups and pressed-glass bowls to make larger paper mache pieces which will be nests.

I love the paper mache paste mix-it's so easy and CHEAP. Microwave a glass of water for about a minute, add 2 T of corn starch, and then microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring between each session, until the mixture is the consistency of yogurt. It thickens as it cools, I usually end up adding a few more drops of water to it as well. Sometimes I mix in lavendar oil as well.

I used torn strips of the local free newspaper, and The Onion, which made for some fun reading as I worked. The molds were just perfect for the length of strips I had torn. On the first layers I used a lot of corn starch glue and on the upper layers, not so much. Didn't use a brush until I got to the decorative layers of tissue paper. My hands have a nice blue-green cast today!

Anyway. I molded them, let them sit for 10 minutes while I molded the next one, and then peeled them out or cut them off, and set them to dry on a muffin tin's backside (DIRTY!). 10 minutes in the oven at 200 degrees, and they were ready for a layer of tissue paper. I did re-inforce a couple of the early ones with another layer of newsprint. I added ribbons to the eggs, my plan is once they're totally dry, to encase the wee animals and cover one more layer of tissue paper around the ribbon, so you'll pull the ribbon to release the animal.

I think I need to find a larger egg mold, the wood one worked great but it was just a bit too small. The animals are going to be SMOOSHED in there!


Lastly, as I was going to bed, I decided to cover my journal with a new cover. I used tissue, stuff from the newspaper, a vintage French postage stamp, a snippet of iron-on lettering my mom had made for me a billion years ago when I was in dance (hence, no middle name), and a flower cut from the lace that was in my sister's wedding gown. I wasn't sure it was going to stick with just the corn-starch paste, so I covered it with a few layers of tissue as well.

Just a quick little photomontage of a new bun, and a photo I took last year of a lotus from the rain garden at the Como Zoo.

More tomorrow, I'm going home and sewing up a bunch more buns tonight!

Work from the weekend

Alrighty well I'm going to try to get a personal blog going again. Wish me luck.

I won a considerable amount of cash again at poker, so I went and bought some canvasses at Michaels as well as a book on artful blogging, and the DVD for 300. I basically then just holed myself up in my house (barring the trip to the Uptown Art Fair with my folks) and worked.

Here are two wee rabbits, with painted-lace wings and embroidered faces. They are about 3 inches tall, made from recycled sweaters.

They'll be going to I Like You on Wednesday, along with a few other small stuffies.

Here's the detail from a collage/painting that I did. The bird's wings and bodies were made with bleach-painted construction paper, I used a scrap that was lace-printed for their beaks and legs, and the 'nest' is part of a vintage photo-holder that I got from my gram.

I'm not 100% happy with it yet, but it's getting there. I'm thinking I'll add real branches to the bottom where they're painted, right now, which you can't see in this photo.

Lastly, here's a collage/painting, once again, in a vintage frame. Still needs a title, I'm thinking,

"Muffy the Explorer. Got off the couch, did great things"

Work for Craftstravaganza

Here's some recent work so the good people at the St. Paul Craftstravaganza can see what I've been up to.....most of this stuff has sold but this is the style of what I've been doing lately. Enjoy!

LORETTA'S TREE
This uses a tree branch, coral, crystals, paintchips, a model railroad figure, and sterling silver wire.



BE MY VALENTINEMore of the same.....turquoise, paintchips, old maps, railroad figures, sterling chain and wire, tree branch, and vintage French postage stamp



Paper mache bird, using 100% recycled materials


Necklace using vintage French postage stamp in handmade (by me!) soldered frame. Too many beads to list, but basically I just threw everything blue and green that I had at this mammajamma. I lurve it. My sister has it now.