You can fool the fans - but not the players.... John Cage

Joy Banners

Windy, chilly weekend and the promise of snow on the way.... perfect for all kinds of puttering... and I did not disappoint. This time of year is crazy craft time for me - I just can't get enough. The art room is a disaster - I really should post photos of the piles of felted sweaters, the glitter, the projects in progress scattered over every surface. And I just can't get enough of it! Not enough time, not enough materials, too many ideas. And I just keep feeding the fire by subscribing to workshops and ezines...nuts!

I subscribed to an e-zine by Teresa McFayden called The 12 Days of Comfort & Joy. This was the first project (and the only one I've taken on - the next two just weren't my style even though they were very sweet projects.

This was the first one I made, using wallpaper samples and all kinds of items I had around the house and then some that I made after talking to my super-talented sister, Shari. This one ended up being better colors for someone else - JC and I needed something a little more western. I'll be giving this one away and I may make more to give away - they are really pretty hanging on a door and they are something you could put away and use year after year.

Terrible photo - I know. Somehow we have to squeeze out the $$ for a new camera. I can't tell you how much I miss that Olympus I used to use.  But anyway, this is the banner I made for our door -using wallpaper samples, glass glitter (LOVE that stuff), found objects.

 

I'm really happy with how this turned out - it isn't over the top but just western enough.

I used a suede-looking flower from the arrangement I have downstairs, a "rusty" snowflake over a cheap plastic glitter snowflake and a little bling - an old clip-on earring.

And most happy with the bow solution - all the ribbon I had just didn't work for this banner. I have yards of this drapey faux suede fabric, though - so I cut a long strip about 3" wide and frayed the edges.... worked out great.

So - Joy to you and hope you are having as much fun this holiday season as I am....

and are you thrifting? Cause I had some time to run into a couple of thrift stores last week and here's what I found:

 

A black leather Ellington bucket bag in excellent condition.

A real cowhide floor pillow (that blue-looking area is where the poor thing lost its hair... it is a little worn but I couldn't pass it up).

A very cool cowhide pendant - never seen anything like this. It was buried among all the bling in a Mammoth Lakes thrift store and I'm so happy I found it.

No signature but looks handmade to me and it is sterling. This is the kind of find that turns you into a thrift store maniac. Cause you just never know....

Train Case - finished!

I think it is finished. It's always hard to know just when a project is done - not overdone - but done. It takes me some time to determine that. I have to leave it sitting around and look at it every once in awhile. Like "Our Lady of the Inner Cowgirl". She's been sitting on our bookcase for a couple of months now and she is finished (except that I have to glue everything down that was temporary). Anyhow, here's the train case as it exists now:

I added some more fringe, some pearl snaps, stamped a border on the outside...

Stamped a couple of cowgirl quotes on the sides....

Along with my favorite flourish stamp....

A star, some ribbon, and voila! On to the next project!

Ahhh, December

Monday started off with a bang this week - someone hacked into our network, loaded my printer and started spewing out pages of garbage.... at first I was a little freaked out but over the course of the day did a little computer and network housekeeping and decided that it was pretty much my fault for being naive about our open network. We just thought that here in our little corner of the world it wouldn't matter much. Ha. We live in a global network and even though we are rural and somewhat isolated physically in the internet work we are right there next to everyone else. So, needless to say, the network gets protected from here on out.

This is a shot of my favorite TV channel these days. On one TV it is channel 78, on another it is 76.... and I don't know exactly where this camera is although now both Jim and I spend a fair amount of time speculating. We know the general vicinity and can recognize Mt. Tom and the Tungsten Hills.... and I know that it is live cause I watch the sky and light change over the Sierra and occasionally a truck will cruise along that dirt road. There's no programming - just music all day long (and all night long I guess). Pretty good music too. And after the sun goes down you can see lights twinkling in the distance - reminds me of driving at night with the radio on. I'm completely smitten with this TV channel. I turn on the little TV in the kitchen, can hear the music while I work, and then periodically have to check on what's happening in the Sierra. See, we face east and can only see what is happening in the White Mtns... this is like turning the corner and I can see to the west. Groovy.

ReVamped Train Case (part 2)

Yesterday was a perfect day for working in the house - cold and windy, occasionally drizzling and snowing in the mountains.

Started recovering the sewing box Friday night...

Using my favorite faux leather fabric... I've got to find more of this stuff. I stapled and glued it on.

Finished! It is sturdy enough to sit on when closed, and can also function as an ottoman.

And inside it holds all the projects in progress safe from inquisitive puppies (and reduces the constant living room clutter). A good find, this one.

After cleaning the bathroom top to bottom yesterday morning (its my new resolution - a room a day) I turned my attention the the train case again. It's been languishing in the art room since I last posted as I mulled over what else to do with it.

I took the plunge, cleaned it, and gesso'd it (Yikes!)

No turning back now... I'm sure some vintage-lovers would gasp at covering the original outside but believe me - it just wasn't cute.

Next I painted it iridescent bronze (cause I didn't have copper). I'm sure some of you are thinking "what on earth?" but trust me, I've taken two classes now with Michael de Meng and I was feeling confident (mostly) about my ability to make this work. 

Pretty shiny, though. It did cross my mind that this could turn out to be a big flop. In which case I would have to decoupage it I guess - the very thing I was trying to avoid.

Mixed up a batch of verdigris and dry-brushed it on.

The matte verdigris certainly toned down the shine factor.

Then I 'ushed' it, using M de M's favorite aging mixture (which I won't reveal cause I respect all the work he has done figuring out paint combinations, washes, etc.).

I like it. I'm going to 'cowgirl' up the outside a little... with some rusty barb wire or some silver conchos or something... and I'm thinking about stamping a border design... and today I'm going to work some more on the inside... but it is coming along.

Thoughts? Ideas? Feel free to comment! And thanks for looking!

Rock Creek Ice Skate

Good thing I got away yesterday to try out my new used ice skates - today all that I hiked and skated on yesterday is covered with fresh snow. Not that I'm complaining. I am a snow kind of gal. I feel the best when it is cold and snowing. That's why I keep whining about moving up in elevation... I miss waking up to snow, shoveling snow, skiing, the quiet, the sound of snow plows early in the morning, dogs playing in the snow, the horses looking out their stalls at the snow.... I miss it all.

This was the scene yesterday as I headed up Little Lakes Valley to find some skateable ice. Took the dogs with me (which I eventually regretted because I worried too much about them falling through the ice somewhere- next time leashes are in order). It was about 39 and the sky was turning gray as this current storm began to move in but there was no snow to speak of all the way to 9800'.

It was cold, though.

Beautiful.

For a backcountry hike I was dressed right except for my shoes - for some inexplicable reason I wore Dansko clogs and instead of a backpack for my skates, water and snacks I was carrying a tote bag....must've looked a little naive to other hikers up on the trail. The dogs had their winter paws on, though and just the right layers.

Long Lake was the first lake I came to and it looked good for skating.

The trail actually drops down to almost lake level- much as I'd like to embellish my winter hike it was really pretty much a stroll save some slippery slidey ice on some of the trail.

Pretty solid to the east....

Pretty solid to the west.

I put on my skates and took the plunge (figuratively).

It was really fun. The ice was at least 4 inches thick and clear in spots - it is just fascinating to look down through the bubbles into the water below. I was just a little freaked out to be there alone and as I said earlier - was worried (just a little bit) that something might happen to me or the dogs and no one else would be around to help. So I stuck close to the edge of the lake and only skated about 1/2 hour. It was a blast. I want to go back. And guess what? JC found hockey skates his size at the thrift store yesterday. We'll be doing some skating this winter.

Or, if it snows too much (oh darn), I'll be skiing a lot. Either way I'll be smiling.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving was good to us - how about yours?

 

It was just the two of us and our animals gathered 'round (well, except the horses - we left them in their corrals) and we made a feast. Turkey, carmelized onion & sage stuffing, green bean casserole, yams, mashed potatoes & gravy, jellied cranberries right out of the can (love that!). Yum. We had dessert with friends and came home with pumpkin pie, apple pie, coconut cream pie, raspberry jello something and some dump cake. Wow.

It was a gorgeous eastern Sierra day and we went out on a bike ride after we got the turkey in the oven.

Dressed in our finest! I had to quickly patch that hole you can see in the knee of JC's tights before we left - so now he has Patagonia tights with a felted cashmere patch :-)

We rode on the flats on the canal roads because we are terribly out of shape, we had the dogs and JC's knee is not up to much stress and strain but we were out for about an hour and euphoria overtook us - it was just so great to be out and the weather was perfect and we have charmed lives..... whew! Gets a little much to take sometimes.

We got home in time to watch one of my favorite movies; "Love Actually" and stayed up much too late because of it. There is no Black Friday shopping in my Friday plans - I've been to the saddle club where I tarped hay in anticipation of the chance of rain or snow tonight and I'm off to do a little ice skating up at Rock Creek before we lose this beautiful weather. I have new batteries and I'm taking my camera....

Have a wonderful day.

Ice skates and felted fun

Last night I was searching ebay for ice skates for JC and myself.... this is perfect ice skating season. No snow but cold temps have many of the high altitude lakes frozen like glass. We've been hearing reports of excellent skating and both JC and I love to skate. Check out the video on John Dittli's blog for a wonderful look at Humphrey's Basin skating. I used to have skates but they got lost in one of the moves and I don't know... I just hadn't replaced them. So I put skates for both JC and myself on watch and got ready for bed.... pulled back the covers and the ice skate fairy had been to visit!

White, barely used, a little tight, but complete with blade covers (cool!) And yes, those are my white white legs wearing those "new" skates. JC is an angel... he went to the thrift store in Mammoth yesterday and bought these beauties as a surprise.

While he was gone last evening (Reno) I took the opportunity to work in my art room and to work with felted sweaters. I'm not doing this week's workshop project - I'm just not into it. But since I have the steam-a-seam fusible webbing and all these felted sweaters now I want to start working with them. I sat down and browsed through Leigh Radford's book on felting and decided to combine two of her projects. 

I started with a really holey black cashmere sweater I felted:

 

First I fused the webbing to the wrong side of the felt, then I used a variety of circular objects to draw circles around all the holes in the felt.

Using a small, pointed, very sharp pair of scissors works best to cut the circles out and the webbing gives the felt some stability.

Then I fused the cut-out layer to another layer of felt - this cream-colored felted cashmere sweater. One sweater in each color is all you need to make something this size.

All the dimensions are in Radford's book but really you can make your own measuring your laptop and adding 1/2 inch to each measurement (seams are on the outside and are 1/4").

Here's the bottom (I designated this the bottom cause there are too many holes for my taste).

And here's the top (I so desperately need a new camera. Santa? Are you listening?)

And the side....

and the front.

Yeeha! I'm loving the felt work! Today I'll go back and do a little refinement - it is a little looser than I would like and I think I'll reinforce the opening with some stitching... seems like you really have to work to fuse the two felts together. A good iron is essential.

Happy Turkey Day!

Sewing box remake - Part 1 (the acquisition)

New project - not like I need one! But cruising through the thrift store yesterday looking for sweaters to felt (and I found not one but two black cashmere sweaters- they'll make something nice and cozy) I spied this:

Nothing, right? A small ottoman-looking thing, kinda beat-up and dirty.

Ugly, even. But that little scavenger voice said "Get closer..... does it open?"

And....

It did (and does). And inside is a sweet little sewing box. Perfect for storing my knitting / crafting projects in the living room and keeping them safe from puppy / kitty inquisitiveness.

But of course, not looking like this. So the Thanksgiving projects - to finish the train case and to re-cover this little item. And put some new feet on it. Yes, to "cowgirl chic" it up! Stay tuned.

weekend projects

Finally a couple of rechargeable batteries decided to recharge (I guess I have about a dozen dead ones now) and I was able to download yesterday's photos to my computer for uploading to my blog (snort!).

 

This lil tree is made from felted cashmere. I love the felted cashmere so much I hate using it for little things like this. It should be used for things that will be worn. This sage green sweater especially - it felted so thick and soft I like to just brush my hand up and down the tree! Sicko!

 

More pine cones. I've found these are easy to do while watching Gray's Anatomy or a movie.... everything fits in a little container and is pretty mindless. That patterned one came from a sweater that has a design on it - unusual for me to pick up so I must have selected it 'specially for felting.

 

While at Art & Soul I picked up a jar of german silver glitter. I really like it because it oxidizes to a 'not-so-shiny' glitter that looks richer (in my opinion). I picked up these die-cut snowflakes at Michaels in San Diego last trip down (for Tanner's soccer game), sprayed them with adhesive and poured on the german silver. The chunky wooden one I've had for awhile - it came from a thrift store I'm sure.

What to do with these now?

 

The green glitter "celebrate" also came from Michaels - the dollar bin - and this is the rough sketch of my idea to combine the two elements. No... they won't all be hanging in a row and no, I won't just throw on a skinny length of silver ribbon as a hanger. Have some faith in me! But you've got to start somewhere and this just gives me something to work from.

 

Managed to work on a few collage pages in my big home journal - and I'm going to try and journal the holidays. Incorporate some holiday elements. But this one is horsey.

As is this one:

That's it. There was more but nothing ready to photograph. I'm happy happy cause I don't have to drive to Truckee this afternoon - so while JC watches football tonight I'll have the opportunity to get back into the art room for more holiday prep.

I am disappointed in the project for this week's workshop... Santa stuff and a felt "pie". It just isn't me. I'll try to use the techniques to make something more reflective of how I celebrate the season. Not to sound dissatisfied with the workshop - I suppose the point of it all is to learn the different ways of working with felt and then create something that is uniquely mine. And I'm sure that Betz would be supportive of that. And I can certainly make more poinsettias and pine cones - I've thought of creating swags with sets of three of the pine cones.

The main thing is to keep doing things, learning new things and incorporating them into my work and the way I see things. That is what art is all about, right?

Feather

We had an outside day yesterday and today we are enjoying an inside day - JC with football and me holed up in the art room. I had some photos to upload but my batteries ran out in the camera and do you think I could find 2 AAs anywhere? Tons of rechargeables but none of them worked in the camera. What is the point of recharging batteries if you can't use them in the things that suck up the most battery use? So. No new photos today.

It is hard not to feel vaguely guilty for staying indoors when there is a perfectly beautiful autumn day going on outside but I tamped down those feelings and applied myself to finally doing some collage in my journal and staying up on holiday crafting. No felt stuff today - I'm feeling like it might be a little too 'cute' for my taste and I need to figure out a way to use the techniques I'm learning and ramp up the sophistication a little bit.

I did extricate myself from the house long enough to visit Shannon and her studio for a little while. Shannon does incrediblely country-chic sewing- her etsy shop is here: Pinkdixie. I have a cozy for my french press that she did custom cowgirl for me, and I just picked out fabric for a pinafore I've been wanting her to make. We talked about the need for a place to get together with other contemporary crafters.... our local shops offer classes and workshops but too often it is just for stuff that is too cutesy.... we want contemporary. It is enough to make me want to rent a storefront and start something myself.

 

There is so much you can do with traditional craft materials in a modern way. I still think Leigh Radford ought to be out there doing workshops - her knits and felts are a constant inspiration. I think it is her design background and she seems to be always pushing the edge of knitting. And experimenting with materials to knit with.

 

I still can't believe we are on our way to the holidays - I've only made the limoncello and a few felt things - I feel a slight sense of impending doom- that I'm going to wake up and it'll be Christmas Eve!

Oh, well, I only have two hands and no batteries right now. Next post will have pics of what I worked on today and more panic-ky thoughts on the upcoming holiday.