Finally

I've managed to get a picture on here. This is the close-up of my piece Rain Forest Retreat. These are sunprints made from leaves that I brought back from my recent retreat on Vancouver Island.

Calm before the storm

My horoscope today says that I need to find some time for myself, to spend in quiet renewal. Really?? Say what?? You think?? Actually I was thinking the same thing myself before I read the silly paper. The next two days will be busy with the art show in Beausejour, and with me having to drive back into the city Saturday afternoon for my collage class. The weather isn't supposed to be great, ( snow and freezing rain predicted)and I don't get to do enough driving to maintain my skills. There is nothing I can do today in terms of the show. If I'm not ready then I'm not ready. So other than hitting the bank to get a float, my time will be mainly my own.

Yesterday I managed to hand embroider the insert for the lid of a wooden box. I have another box, and I'm tempted to do another insert. I'll probably work on that a bit today, but I also have a Christmas stocking to finish. Neither of these things could be taken along to work on while I'm at the sale, so I may just put together a few simple hand projects to take with me. I would prefer to be busy with cutomers, but I have to be realistic--there will be lots of down time.

Today I'm really going back in time. I'm actually doing some hand embroidery. I'm making a box top insert. I've used a bit of the silk I have--an orange silk carrier rod. It's not a real orange but rather a vermillion type of orange-y red. It matches very well a pink-y orange piece of duipioni silk that I'm using for the background. Add some Rose Quartz chip beads and some overdyed silk thread, and I think I'll end up with a fairly nice piece. It's been so long since I did this type of work that it's almost like learning all over again. A meeting tonight. We are under a storm watch, so I sure hope that it doesn't catch me tonight. More and more I'm having trouble driving at night. Getting old is a b--ch!!

Inspiration!

Last evening my satellite group, Ravenesque met. This is always such an inspiring meeting,as these ladies all have very divergent ideas related to their art quilting. We talked about needlefelting, and fabric altering and retreats--three of the four of us had been to a retreat since our last meeting. We each see a different value to the retreats. Those with family responsibilities see being able to work without worrying about cooking meals etc as an absolute indulgence. One lady loves the chance to take courses without the hassle of travelling etc., while another finds the socialization stimulating. I have to wonder if these benefits would accrue from any sort of retreat from "real life". As always at these meetings, there were books. I finally got my copy of "The Painted Quilt", but I also saw a couple of French magazines with some intriguing pictures in them. I showed off my silks. No-one seemed to see any potential use for silk carrier rods, whereas I'm just starting to see uses for them--and I've owned them for about three years. (LOL)

Today I get my flu shot, and then I think I'm going to spend a bit of time planning my creative activities over the next 6-9 months. I've been so immersed in creating for sales that I haven't really spent any time creating for shows. I have four potential shows in the next year, and i think I would like to be able to enter all of them.

Odd jobs

Got a lot of fiddly odd jobs done yesterday. DH helped by making wooden hangers for those hangings that I plan to take to sales this month. I have more than enough stock, since I don't expect to sell much, but I made tags and priced everything, so that it's ready to go. The sale at the end of the month is supposed to be for embroidered goods, and I don't have a lot of that. I'm going to set up a couple of pieces for inserts of wooden boxes. They can be quickly done and are one-of-a-kind. The boxes are professionally made and I can get a good price for them, if the embroidery is well done. This could be something that I could work on during the sale this weekend.

I did do a bit of housework and discovered that I need to do a lot more. We have an errand to run today that will take a bit of time, and then tonight is the meeting of my satellite group, Ravenesque. So it looks like my time is filled for the next little while.

Nope! Didn't get the housework done

DD called to say that they wouldn't be in for dinner today. She starts back to work tomorrow after 12 months maternity leave, and she wanted a day to just veg out around the house before leaping back into the real world.

So I sort of veg'ed out myself. I put together the sunprints I made from the leaves I brought back from BC. I had hoped for a small hanging but ended up with three of them!! And I still have some prints to use!! Two of the hangings will be okay, but the third one is not really good and will only count toward my "crap quota" for this year. The sunprinted hanging was also supposed to go t0ward fulfilling my commitment to the Fast Friday Challenge for October. I had read the requirements as being a mono-chromatic piece, that was supposed to emphasize value as the main componenet. Well, I missed the second sentance stating that it was also supposed to demonstrate perspective. ( I read the challenge at 4:00, while half asleep) Not much perspective in a sunprint.

I bought some clothes while we were out the other day. I've spent quite a bit buying clothes this fall. It hit me that I needed clothes when an outfit, that I clasified as to be worn at home but otherwise never see the light of day, was actually in better shape than most of the stuff I was wearing out to meetings! The old stuff that I used to wear to work five years ago, is just getting too-o-o "ratty", not to mention dye and paint spotted. A couple of things that aren't in too bad shape, are that way because I don't wear them. They just don't flatter me. So they are being demoted to "wear around the house". Where I'm going with this is that today I have three new pairs of pants to shorten. This is a very simple job, but one I hate and I really tend to procrastinate. One of the pairs of pants was bought last spring! The worst part of all of this is that in gathering clothes together to take to the thrift shop, I realize that quite a few of them aren't good enough to go to the thrift shop!

The sewing machine is back. I evidently did a number on it wth the mono-filament thread I was using. I'm going to have to change a few habits. However, in fixing it up for me, she's done something strange with the upper tension. This means that I'm going to have to learn to use it all over again. That's a real nuisence. We spent most of yesterday running errands--spent lots of money. But I got the matts I needed to finish the few sunprints I needed to. Matts are getting very expensive.
I have three sales over the next three weekends. This means spending a fair bit of time getting ready and making sure that I have the stock I need. I signed up for a short workshop on multi-media collage for next Saturday. This means leaving my DH to manage my booth out of town, while I drive back in, attend my course, and then drive back out into the country to pick him up.
So, today I may actually have to do a little housework.