On A Date!!!

Out tonight, with just Richard--we're going to a retirement party--I don't know how long it's been since we went somewhere by ourselves--

It's funny, because when the kids were tiny, I needed grownup time--craved it, demanded it, depended on it. Ten years ago, I'd have known EXACTLY how long since we went out together--Now? No idea.

Illustration Friday: Adapt

OCED Day No. 16

I like it when pieces come out like this, almost in a series. Mostly it happens when I've cut lots of little snippets of things, and keep using them in multiple pieces...

OCED Day No. 15

Terrible storm here last night--thunder and lightning, not just here in the mountains, but down in town, too, starting lots of fires (it's already bone dry here). Rained, hard, and lots of wind, so the power was out for a good portion of the evening/night.

All that, just to explain why I didn't post this yesterday!

OCED Day No. 14

Something very pleasing in the simplicity of this one...

Creating Your Own Stamps--Version One

Lynn mentioned the crow stamp in yesterday's collage, so I thought I'd detail for you just how that particular stamp was created.

I began by resizing an image of a crow in Photoshop. I created the silhouette, resized it, and printed it out. Then I took a sheet of sticky foam (you can buy this very inexpensively at WalMart or Michael's). I traced the image onto the back of the sheet with carbon paper, cut it out, and then stuck it to a chunk of kneeling foam (I bought this particular piece in the dollar aisle at Target). Voila! A custom foam stamp!

Of course, you could also carve the image, but this technique is much quicker and perfect for images which don't have a great deal of detail in them.

Looky what I got! (Thank you, Lynn!)

I'm trading ATC's with Lynn, and her beautiful fabric ATC arrived in the mail yesterday! It's even more beautiful in person than it is in the photo, and I can't wait to frame it and hang it up!

Gorgeous, Lynn! Thank you so much!

Joel and Jenny

Joel took Jenny down to the river yesterday morning to swim and fish. They dug out the one good fishing rod and pedaled off together on the two (flowered) girls' bikes. They went back again after dinner to try the fishing one more time. They ended up catching something--this trout!

I made the two of them gut and clean it themselves (which they did--cool kids) and then we froze it. I'll cook it up for the two of them this coming weekend.

Pretty cool brother, no?

OCED Day No. 13

Love crows and ravens. Love how smart they are, that they mate for life, how they look, all black and glossy and mysterious...

And have you ever noticed that even when you see a crow who looks as though maybe he has a hangover, all rumpled and disheveled--that even then, the crow still has an amazing air of royalty?

Love 'em.

This one is stamped with a hand-cut stamp...

I've Been A Busy Girl...

...laying laminate flooring in Katie's room! I'd never done this before, but decided I could figure it out AND save some money in the process. There was definitely a learning curve, but the next time I do it (in the studio) things will go much more smoothly.

This was the inexpensive laminate, at Lowe's for 97 cents a square foot--it looks and feels great--

The little white desk belonged to Katie's science teacher. It was his sister's, and then his, so it's going on sixty years old--she bought it at the school garage sale two years ago, and sanded it and painted it white. Looks so nice, and comes with the bonus of having belonged to someone that Katie thinks very highly of--and he was using it when he was her age!

OCED: Day No. 12

Believe it or not, I worked for over an hour on this--still not sure it's done, and have enough little chips and chunks cut out for another five collages--later on, those rejects will come in handy, I'm sure!

Hope you're having a wonderful Memorial Day, and don't forget to remember all the veterans who've made the America we live in today, possible.

OCED Day No. 11

OCED Day No. 10

This one's even got a title: "Transposed"

I Scored Big Time

On the way home from dropping the girls off at school this morning, I noticed a big orange 'Garage Sale' sign. A garage sale sounded like a good idea for this particular Friday morning, so I hung a right instead of heading straight home.

At first glance there wasn't anything I wanted, but I try to walk through a second time, just to be sure--It was an older couple, downsizing to move down to Orange County, and the husband, who had a HUGE woodworking shop, was selling some of his tools. I got a 12 3/4" chop saw for $70--he showed me how to use it, and gave me all the extraneous parts, including a stop that he'd made himself from metal (for when I want to cut the same size piece over and over again).
I also got a large envelope filled with French curves in different sizes and all sorts of other stencil templates, including circles, ovals, electrical symbols, and alphabets--

And then, the real score--this cunning little box, holding compasses and tips in various sizes. When I paid for my purchases, the man smiled and said, "I had this in high school..." Something bittersweet there, but it's going to a good home, where it will be cherished and cared for and used...

OCED No. 9

OCED No. 8 and IF: Cracked

OCED Day No. 7

Off today to go chaperone Jenny's class while they go bowling. Was up LATE last night because Joel had to burn a movie he and his group had made for Honors English, and the computer in the studio wasn't cooperating--I stayed up and kept him company... Yawn...

OCED: Day No. 6

I've been trying to 'loosen up' for awhile now. I think I'm getting it!

OCED Day No. 5

OCED: Day No. 4 and IF: Contagious

I'm hoping that One Collage Every Day will turn into a real commitment for me. So far, so good. It gives me a reason to "have to" go out to the studio and work every single day, which is extra important when the kids are all out of school for the summer (although it appears that Joel won't be home much, as he has summer baseball, summer basketball, and summer football with each of the Varsity coaches. It's like a full-time job, except there's no paycheck...)

I've also started working on a few more 'girls'--I really work best when I'm working on three of four canvases all at the same time...

OCED: Day No. 3

Hot outside; Richard took girls and their friends to the fair--I made
homemade pizza crust & everyone decorated their own pizzas last night--very fun.

One Collage Every Day: Day Two

I can spend all day fiddling in the studio, and at the end, this is what I have to show for myself.

Kinda like that big machine in Willy Wonka that whirs and hisses and toots and steams and finally, at the end, out pops one teeny tiny dinky little piece of candy.

Ding-dong, tweet tweet, whoosh, whir...that's it.

One Collage Every Day: Day One

I've decided to commit myself to doing one small collage every day. I think it will serve three purposes--first, it will get me out to the studio, at least for a short time, every day; second, it will force me to post on the blog everyday; and third,it will (I hope) get me to move past the idea of each piece being precious and perfect. I'm sure there'll be other benefits along the way.

Anyone else wants to join in, leave me a comment and I'll make up a blogroll for the sidebar.


[sold]

What I Did Yesterday...

Finally decided it was time to spruce up the outside of the studio, which has been kind of a pale tan color since it was built. I got some grey paint for the siding, white paint for the trim, and red paint for the door.

The door may be too bright, I haven't decided. My goal is to get my small porch made by the door and divide some of my big antique roses to plant to the left of the door...

What do you think? Red too red? Grey too pale?