Paintings in Miniature

I went ahead and added these to the shop. To show them off in a pretty way, I put together this simple little tripod made out of bamboo skewers.


My intention these days is to learn how to work like a real adult and also do all the creative things I dream up. How do people manage this? I have a sneaking suspicion that if I spent less time on the computer (checking out other people's craftiness!) I might end up producing more myself. An interesting idea...



This weekend, I declare to let the computer rest a while and dream up a few new miniature scenes.

A new venture...

A few months ago my Craigslist.org perusing landed me an antique Chandler and Price tabletop letterpress, formerly of the Pioneer village near Port Henry, NY. It is currently sitting in my mudroom, as I slowly find and accumulate the necessary parts to make it run. A trip to some antique stores while in Tucson early in the spring resulted in this beautiful little collection:


And I have just received notice that two sets of beautiful cursive font I ordered have been sent! Now I need to spend some quality time with a wire brush and get the press into working order. There are several other parts still needed, including all the necessaries for putting the type together and setting it in the press - if anyone out there has suggestions on where to find these things on a very limited budget, I would love to hear from you!


I am incredibly excited about the metal type, but there is something about wood letters that just gets me. The lower case "e" especially - I could have bought en entire army of those happy little fellows.

Freebie Paper Doll!

I decided to make the Moody Girl paper doll a freebie. No special reason, I just love paper dolls and hope to pass along the many happy hours I had as a child cutting and snipping and making new clothes and houses for the dolls (3-dimensional houses for some reason, but the difference of dimension never bothered us).


There are two pages, the first is the doll and I recommend printing her out on a stiffer paper or cardstock. The second page has three outfits. I also read a lot of comments here about printing on magnets which I have never tried but think is an absolutely fabulous idea.

Here is the pdf:

Paper Doll and clothes

Have fun!!


edited: my technical abilities have improved and I now have the ability to save multi-paged PDFs - imagine! So the doll and clothing are now a single file instead of two. AW 5/09

Quilting

This is a quilt I recently completed for my sister. It was her, ahem, Christmas present, although she very patiently waited for it until May. I embarrass myself. I am quite please with it in the end, however!


It is in no way perfect, partly due to my own level of skill and partly to my antique sewing machine's reluctance to sew through several layers of cloth and batting. The dear old thing is a work horse, but this was asking a bit much. It is, of course, somewhat difficult to quilt on a regular machine anyway, since the arm is so short. I managed by rolling the extra bulk up on that side, and my quilt was small enough to manage. For the next, larger project I have in the works, I think finding a local professional quilter is in order.

In Miniature

I got some little mini canvases the other day, very tiny. 2" x 2" I think (they aren't right next to me right now, and I'm too lazy to check). Anyway, tiny. And totally awesome. I painted three of them right away and thoroughly enjoyed it. Talk about instant gratification!

Once I get pictures of the rest, I will list them all in the shopity-shop, but for now, here is my favorite of the three:



Here's to a happy week!

Drowning in Lethargy

For some very odd reason of which I am not consciously aware, that phrase has been stuck in my mind since I was about 12 or 13. I don't know if I read it somewhere, or if it just came to me on its own, but its my little dramatic catchphrase that pops into my head on those days when I just can't move or think, when everything seems too hard or the effort just too much.

The last few days have been like that, with soaring temperatures and heavy air that makes breathing a constant effort and sends good spirits packing. I have ben waking up in the morning feeling like I'm stuck in a cloud, and that feeling doesn't go away with a cup of strong coffee or a splash of cold water to the face.


This evening everything came to a head with tremendous rushing clouds, splintering lightning bolts, and thunder crashes that brought me to my feet. The rain poured down by the bucketful and the wind sent leaves and sticks and dust flying wildly. Then it calmed and that amazing golden after-storm light filled the sky, the kind of light that makes colors turn three dimensional and turns dull streets into magical pathways.


I showered and settled down with a bowlful of cherries, breathing freely and thinking clearly, with that familiar phrase lingering in my mind.

Prehistoric

This ancient looking guy was on the driveway at my office the other day. Yikes!


We decided s/he is a snapping turtle, but I actually have no idea. Any experts out there?

Room Transformation

C. has been out of town for the majority of the past couple weeks, so this weekend I took the opportunity to start a transformation of his house, with the help of the trusty paint can and roller brush! The house is a sweet little 40s or 50s dream home, pretty wood floors (need to be refinished, they had carpet on them until recently), paneled glass windows, and neat little scalloped boxes around the tops of the windows (the name for those is escaping me at the moment, but you will see what I mean). Very cute. But painted a horribly unfortunate shade of green-tinged off white throughout, with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom which are pink. Very bad. But none of us have had the impetus to get this huge repainting job to a start until now. I am quite proud of myself!



I would like to state here that I love color. I love paint. And I love to pick paint colors. But, sometimes it gets overwhelming, in part because I do like all those colors so much, that I can't narrow down the choices. That is one reason why I love the "Oops" cart at Home Depot or Lowes. I get a gallon of paint for $5, and I don't have to choose. The only decision I have to make is where to put it. I have stockpiled a nice selection of oops paint, so now my decision process for painting a room is to choose a color or two from the collection. Much simpler! I have had these two cans for quite some time, a peachy rusty orange and a dark greenish grey brown, specifically intended for C.'s living room. And I really like how they look. It is amazing what a coat of paint can do.



And yeah, I can't help it. I have to put pictures up. Sometimes before the paint is dry.

Pod Babies

These mini pod babies were added to the shop last week sometime.



They were a lot of fun to make. Since they are so tiny, they worked up more quickly than my regular sized needle felted dolls, but I was able to give them a surprising amount of detail, with tiny hands and different colors in their clothes.

I am working on a couple of the larger dolls at the moment, enjoying the shaping and rather sculptural qualities of working with fiber in this way. I was surprised to learn that people find these dolls frightening because of their fuzzy faces. After a bit of research, I think I can smooth the faces somewhat by wet felting them after they are basically put together. It was something of a shock though, I am so used to thinking of these dolls as sweet and childlike.

One of Those Days

Do you ever have those days when everything you see inspires a new project? When your brain just doesn't turn off, ideas are bubbling and overflowing, and you are so tired you can't even figure out how to start?

That is what this evening has been for me, so much I want to do and yet I spent most of it curled up asleep in a chair. Drats.

I did get started on a new paper doll, a Moody Girl.


This is her before she gained color. I outlined her in dark black without thinking, and now I am not sure if I like it. The jury is still out on that one - what do you think?

Feelin' a little space-y here. Perhaps it is time to get some proper sleep.

Hooray! A whole new look!

It came to my attention that my attempts at fancifying this little bloggy place of mine went awry, and on everything but the trusty macintosh displayed very strangely. So I have redesigned! Sort of. I do like those stripes...

The First of June

Wishing You a Very Joyful June!