CHINA BLOSSOMS IN JANUARY

It's very early in the year for me to be making China Blossoms, but there are two new, early, shows for me this year. So here I am, making them inside, whereas normally I'd be making them outside. It's a bit different, and my living room floor has a brand new look.

Not sure what the dog thinks of it all, except that she normally sits on that bit of rug you see in the corner. The big front window comes all the way to the floor, and she watches all the neighborhood goings-on from there.

Here's an unusual one, made special for the Say it with heART! Show:


You probably didn't notice one way or the other, but the China Blossoms in that top photo are sitting flat on the floor. That's because they're in the first stage, where I glue the pretty parts together.

While they dry, I cut the copper tubing, mash one end of it, and then weld the tube to big fender washers. I got sixty-five of those done this afternoon, and thought they looked really cool all lined up:



After that step, they go to the wire wheel, and get buffed up a bit, and then they're glued to the backs of the China Blossoms. That's done, too, so I'm feeling very productive right about now.

A PICTURE A DAY, A NEW WAY TO DISPLAY

I'm going to give this "Picture a Day" thing another shot, and thought yesterday, my birthday would be a good day to restart it. Wish me luck!

Today's shot is of what I hope will be a solution to a bit of a problem: People laugh at, smile at, and rave about the Coffee Pot People, and little Tea Kettle Characters, but way too often, they walk away without buying. Now, I love the idea of Art for Art's Sake, but aside from the fact that I don't know who Art is or why I should create art for his sake, if I don't sell what I make I'll run out of places to put it. Worse than that, I might actually have to get a "real" job!

It occurred to me that the China and Mega Blossoms do sell well, and they're in the same price range as the Tea Kettle Characters. What's different? Well, for one thing, they have stems, and you ca "plant" them anywhere in the yard or garden you want. What if I gave the Tea Kettle Characters stems, too?

Today, I gave the first bunch fixtures into which stems could be inserted. If a person would rather they sat on a table, or on the ground, they can still do that, but now they can be placed on a stem instead. Here's a inside look:


Hope that's the key to my little puzzle!

FRIDAY FENCE POST #33

Took a "shortcut" over near Foster Blvd today, and spotted this. Awesome.


Click on the photos to see them full-size. I especially love the close-up of the second shot.

A BRACELET A DAY?

It dawned on me the other day that I may be a tad overbooked as the bazaar season opens. My first inkling came when I took my store of little Tea Kettle Characters to the first bazaar I had on my schedule. Since I'd never done this particular show before, I took all of them, figuring the woman running the show, Cindy, could choose the ones she liked, and I'd leave just those.

I carried the two big tubs into her garage-cum-Christmas-shop, and began pulling my peeps out and setting them on the table. "Look at those!" someone said. "Ohmygosh, those are adorable!" came from someone else. You can just imagine my smiles as we talked, there was so much excitement about them.

In fact, there was so much excitement that Cindy decided she wanted ALL of them! This bazaar runs every weekend from this Thursday through the fifth of December, which means I have no Tea Kettle Characters left to put in the other four shows I'm doing in that same timespan. Holy cow, I thought. I've got to get busy!

Then I thought, Four shows. I've got four shows scheduled in a 3-week period. I don't have enough jewelry made either!

So I've been busily making more bracelets, and earrings to match. Here are the latest two:

LEFTOVER FRENCH FRIES

So, I admit I'm a little short on the uptake. However, I did, at long last, figure out what to do with leftover French fries. It took having a bunch of them that I didn't want to throw away, but I did it.


DH, Bruce, and I went out to lunch this past week. I had a Philly sub sandwich, except I asked for no bread, and lots of lettuce. Totally yummy salad, that was! It came with fries, which I was not going to eat, but I figured with two big men at the table, they wouldn't go to waste.

Ha! They both had their own fries, and I ended up taking home every single one of mine.

Have you ever microwaved French fries? Yech. They go a limp and gummy. Trying to pan fry them isn't a whole lot better. What was left?

The next morning, I reached into the 'fridge to get something, and the lightbulb in my head went on at the same time as the lightbulb inside the Big White Appliance. I took out the fries, spread them on the broiler pan, turned the broiler on low, and left them to heat while I fixed the eggs and toast. I mean, fried potatoes are fried potatoes, aren't they? Doesn't matter what shape they're cut in, as long as they're fried.

They came out of the oven all crispy and brown, and went onto the plate alongside the eggs. DH raved about them literally all day, and then the next, whenever he'd think about them.

What you see in the photo is a second, smaller, serving for his next breakfast. Gotta love it.

A TRIO OF NEW BRACELETS

We have this thing about turning on the heat in October around here. It's like a matter of principle or something. No turning on the furnace until November! It's supposed to be to save money, but honestly, there are just 3 days left in this month, so what are we talking about? Three dollars? Whoo-hoo!

Anyway, the upshot is that even with a fire in the fireplace, I spend a lot of time sitting on the bed with a blanket over my legs, listening to the news on TV and working on crafts. This is what I finished up today:




That's it for today, which makes this a nearly Wordless Wednesday. (Or at least, as close to wordless as I'm likely to get!)

PICTURE A DAY--Grass, We have GRASS

It's been a long, literally dirt-y spring and summer, since the DH killed off all the lawn in the central yard, and then dug up the dead grass and all the roots, preparatory to putting in new grass. (Vinegar is what he used as an herbicide, by the way, a nicely natural, non-poisonous-to-animal-types method. You just spray it on, being careful not to get it on any plant you don't want to kill.)

Then DH dug out all the rocks, and leveled the yard, and let it set for a while. He rented a trencher, and he and his son, my DSS Jeff, laid out a sprinkler system, dug the trenches for it, and DH put the lines in. After that, he and Jeff brought in good topsoil and spread that out and leveled it. Then the dirt sat for a while longer.

Not all the sitting was strictly necessary for the health of the new lawn. In fact, most of it was waiting for DH to finish with other, more important tasks.

Finally, though, that last step was taken: DH bought the sod, and over the weekend, while I was minding my booth at Art in the 'Burbs, he put the sod down.

I am way beyond thrilled:


I realize that grass wouldn't be a big deal for a lot of people, but it's the culmination of an entire yard remodel, and I love it.

PICTURE A DAY--RED LEAVES IN A BIRD BATH

Spotted this out in the yard, and just happened to have my camera in hand:

FRIDAY FENCE POST #31

I was driving through a nearby neighborhood the other day when I spotted the gate, and bit of fence here. I knew if I waited even a day or two, a gust of wind might scatter the leaves, and the beauty I'd seen would be gone, at least until next fall. So the minute I got home, I grabbed the camera, and drove back.

There's a lot more gate than fence in this picture, but I think it's just luscious:


Whew. Long day today. Was up at 6:30, finished packing up China Blossoms and Tea Kettle Characters, while DH loaded the van and car. Then it was off to Alberta-Rider School, where we unloaded and set up my little space for Art in the 'Burbs. The show started at 3, and lasted until 9pm, and will continue through the weekend.

It's 10:30 now, and I've been home long enough for a peanut butter sandwich and piece of pie. Petted our litte doggie, too, who was beside herself to see me, after my day-long absence.

Off to bed now. Good night, World, and sky and hello sleep.

PICTURE A DAY--The Junk Pile

I was driving home from the Art in the 'Burbs sale when a pile of junk sitting against a decrepit shed caught my eye. Something about the colors and unintended composition, almost sculptural, made me pull over, roll down the car window and start shooting:


Click on the photo to see it full-sized, and full resolution.

Happy birthday to my brothers, Wayne and Duane!

PICTURE A DAY--Filigree & Zinnia's Center

Couldn't choose, so today's picture is a two-fer. Click on the image to see it full-size.

PEOPLE OF THE TEA POT PERSUASION

I did it! My goal as to have ten little Tea Kettle Characters made by this weekend's show. There are twelve, if you count the tiny fairy that won't have a face until tomorrow. Yes!

I got pictures of all the finished ones this afternoon, and will just put up one of each for now. Their names are tentative, with a few exceptions. (Ramona, Winston, and Beazel I'm pretty sure of.)

Birdie

Kooshi

Boo

Beazel

Bailey

Splash

Sheriffe

Shep

Ramona

Witchy Woman

Winston

And there they are, all done except for the protective coating on their faces. Whew!

Now all I need to do is label and price them, make gift bags, and finish some more of the greeting cards. Oh, and bring in all the bins of China and Mega Blossoms, choose the ones I'm taking to this show, and make sure everything is priced and has my vendor number on it.

No worries. I've got all day tomorrow. eeek.

And I got the most loveliest blog award a couple of days ago, and haven't even had time to put it here! Tomorrow? I hope!

PICTURE A DAY--Circle of Small Friends

Another really busy, busy day.

Had it all planned out, which is almost always a mistake, and was on schedule until about 10:30. That's when a friend called to say she'd been in an accident. She was okay, but shaken. The DH and I spent a few hours helping her settle down, retrieved her car, and then took her to the hospital, which she hadn't initially thought she needed to do. They gave her something for pain, and the fire department took her home, since she has MS, had surgery not long ago, had just been in a fender bender, and now was loopy with meds.

Still, I did manage to get the shopping done, and then came home and worked on the little Tea Kettle Characters. Here they are, most of them, a couple still in the upside-down stage, the rest mostly finished.

Click on the image if you'd like a better view.

Good grief. It's midnight. Good night, World!

PICTURE A DAY--busy, busy

I'm going to have to start calling this little photography project "Almost a Picture a Day". I'm just too absent-minded. But I did take one shot, of what's keeping me busy today, and tomorrow. I have a show coming up this weekend, and I'd like to have ten new Tea Kettle Characters done for it. Need to get some more of the gift bags sewn, too, since I had them for this show last year, and they were fairly popular.

But here's today's main workspace:

I managed to get seven of the little guys' faces painted, and start the glue-up process on those. Tomorrow, maybe I can paint the other three, and add finishing touches--buttons, fairy wings, hair, etc.

Right now, though, it's 10:20, the kitchen is a mess, thanks in no small part to the fact that tea pots, bowls, saucers, mugs, paints, and other assorted oddments are scattered on every surface but the range. I'm going to do some clean-up, and go to bed.

Good night, and God rest on your pillow.

FRIDAY FENCE POST #30--Dog Faced

We have bedroom windows, as do most people. Other people have lovely views, of gardens, or mountains, lakes, or maybe trees. Some people look out on blank walls, derelict buildings...Hey! That's us! We have a great outbuilding of some sort right outside the window, with fascinating areas of peeling paint and a cloudy window. Somewhere there's a designer looking for exactly this bit of Shabby Chic to dress up a landscape. I'm sure of it.

Between the outbuilding, which is in our neighbor's yard, and our window, is a fence. Even better!



Another really cool feature of our "view": There's a dog's face in the fence. I found it just today, and I know I'll never look at that fence the same way again.

Grass Like Flames

My picture for the day is of the blood grass in one of the planters in the yard. I love the little loop of the blade near the middle.

Rain Drops

It's coming back to me, how lovely fall is. Every year I thrill to Spring, and bask in Summer's sunshine, and dread Fall because it's taking us into the cold, dark months, and then it's here. Autumn leaves, bluster, misty moisty mornings, and rain. And then I remember the beauty.

PICTURE A DAY--SIZZZLE

Today's photo is...

dinner!


It was really good, too. I started the chicken cooking, then sprinkled it with the better part of an envelope of dry onion soup mix. After a while the chicken began to look kind of lonely in that big skillet, so I added a couple of handfuls of carrots, and then, the cabbage.

When everything was tender but not mushy, I dished it up, along with fresh orange segments and chunks of banana--yum!

PICTURE A DAY--My Knee

Sometimes you just don't know what you're going to take a picture of until you see it. All day long possibilities presented themselves, and yet none of them made me grab the camera. Until I looked down and saw my knee:

Now, I ask you: Who wouldn't have reached for the camera?

By the way, that shiny object in yesterday's photo was a tiny cube of shattered glass, stuck in the pavement.

PAVEMENT

My self-assigned task for today was to take something mundane, even ugly, and find beauty in it. I found it in the pavement of a store parking lot. (I have to wonder what the other shoppers thought, seeing me down on my knees with a camera!)