GREAT TAPE MEASURE!

Just read about this. It may be an old tool, and I just never saw it, but now that I've seen it, I have to have it.

It's a flexible tape measure, inches on one side, centimeters on the other, 1/4" wide, and encased in plastic, so if you mark against it, it won't stain. There are different lengths, depending on what you want to do, and the article I read suggested using one that wasn't much longer than the curve you were measuring/creating, but I'll probably go with one that's about 36", which seems all-purpose to me.




The lovely thing about these is that you can drape them around a curve, gently lift them off, lay them flat on your fabric or garment, mark the line, and cut. Drape one over your shoulders with one end at the center back of your neck, play with the curve until you have the neckline you want, mark that curve, cut and hem.

If you have the ruler flat, with one edge on the actual line, them marking the other edge will automatically give you your seam allowance.

I'm buying one as soon as I can, preferably online, but I'll make the trip to the fabric store if I have to.

There is one caveat: The core is lead, which is what makes them flexible. There shouldn't be any way the lead could be accessible, or affect anyone, but that seems like valuable information.

Giving a talk at the Aloha Garden Club tomorrow, accompanied by brunch and the opportunity to display my work for sale.

Saturday is the St John's Bizarre. (You read that right: It's Bizarre, not Bazaar. "Keep Portland weird!" as we say around here. Just doing my part, lol.)

TOOL O' THE DAY

Well, I certainly never expected to be posing a lawn mower for photographs, but...

Dear Husband (DH) is away for a month, and that puts me in charge of some serious lawn. He mowed Halsey before he left, which takes care of that property, which equates to about a quarter acre of grass. He didn't get this one done, and that's more.

The last thing DH told me about the lawn mowing was that he'd had to buy a new blade for the big gas lawn mower, but it was a generic blade, and doesn't fit exactly the way one made for the model would. "If you go over rough ground and dig the blade into the dirt, or hit a big rock," he said, "It's going to knock the blade loose, and you won't be able to undo the nut that holds it on. I can barely undo it myself."



Knock the blade loose?! I'm picturing a spinning blade whipping itself off the lawnmower and shortening my legs without benefit of anesthetic.



No way I'm going to use that thing. Here's my baby. I like it. It lets me hear the birds sing. It doesn't pollute or use fossil fuels, and it burns the greenest energy I can think of: my own body fat! (Oh, ick. No. I am not saying my body fat is green. Just eco-friendly when I burn it!)

Let's Roll!










Rustic Vs Rampant










I'm already tired!










Lunchtime




It really is time for lunch. Past time. It's two o'clock, and where did the day go? I've got to grab a bit, borrow a hairdryer, and get myself to the wire supplier for China and Mega Blossom stems by three.



eeek!

STRAWBERRY BLOSSOMS & FREESIAS

I went to visit my cousin in the hospital today, and on the way home swung by what used to be Value Village. There had been signs on the closed Value Village for months, announcing the new store was coming, and I wanted to see whether it had finally arrived. It had.

Virtually the first thing I saw when I went inside was a table full of potted freesias. Oh, such loveliness! Who could resist them, especially at $3.99 each? Not me!

It's been such a busy day that I didn't have time to plant them. Oh. Well, I suppose if I hadn't been so busy taking pictures of them I might have, but pictures seemed the more important thing.

Look how beautiful:

I had put the pot of freesias down next to some burgundy hen and chicks. Right next to them, the strawberries were blooming, pink beacons.










I love extreme close-ups of flowers. Always, always, I am amazed by their unnoticed intricacy, symmetry, and delicacy.

IT FOLLOWED ME HOME....

Well, okay. First I had to load it into the car, and then it followed me home. Then I unloaded about half of it, and for the past several hours I've been standing in my dining room, sorting it into color groups, oohing and aahing, and sometimes making faces. Now I'm taking a break!

AND I took pictures! (Of course, lol.)

Look what followed me home--fabric samples!

Trunk Show






Back Seat, Too







Front Seat, with more in the floor





I'm not going to get it all sorted, but I'll do as much as I can, and then it goes over to the Trillium Artisans storefront, where they'll sell it by the pound, cheap.

As usual, she who does the sorting gets to keep what she likes, but I try to keep it down to a dull roar. Mostly, I like the small samples that have paper borders glued to the backs. Those I make note cards from (Frazzles, I calls them). No one else has found a use for those yet, so I don't feel guilty keeping them. In fact, I feel good about using those lovelies that would otherwise be discarded.






A Long Shelf Filling Up







I know there's a dining table there somewhere


Well, back to my sorting. It's a SORT of party for one. (Bad pun, and I intended it, and maybe I'll apologize later, after the groaning stops!)

Does This Mean It's Spring?

This has been the coldest, wettest, spring I can remember. I've been on the verge of despair, although there've been a few days that let me dig weeds and put plants into the ground lightened the gray.

Then, day before yesterday, Lo! and Behold! it was warm enough to sit on the swing in the yard with Bob, swinging our feet and talking. He mowed the lawn. I had seen the clematis from the kitchen window, and grabbed the camera before I came out.

It's Spring, isn't it? Really, really Spring!

Arborful







Pink Clematis Blanket







Pocket Full o' Posies







Starface







Buds of a Feather



The sun is shining. I have tables full of things to make, and a shop to (re)organize, and a little SUV full of fabric to sort. Life is good.

ALLISON STRINE--COLLAGE & WHIMSY

I have fallen in love with the art and whimsy of Allison Strine She makes me smile, and laugh out loud, and yes, WANT. (ooh ooh ooh--Three of her cards are on the way soon! YES!)

Let's see. Pictures first, and then interview questions, with more pictures, I think. (Thank you so much for letting me share, A!)

Is this All Moms, or not?





This one is SO my middle daughter!




And now the questions:
Where are you located?
I'm in the Atlanta area now, after having lived the first 30 odd (and they were odd) years of my life in Boston.

What do you create?
I make collages on thick art canvas, and then use the wonders of technology to transform the art into soldered pendants called LadyBirds. I also make soldered pendants/charms/baubles/doodads out of vintage license plate letters and fabric.

When and why did you decide to start your business?
I totally stumbled into selling my work. I had spent several years being very involved in the scrapbooking and altered arts industry, focusing solely on doing work for publication. I really loved seeing my work in print, especially in such highly regarded mags like Cloth Paper Scissors and Somerset Studio. After a while, I started feeling like I was losing myself, doing work that I thought editors might like, instead of listening to my art heart inside. So after a short art break, I whirled through a spurt of creating highly personal little figures that talked. Since they were part lady and part bird, I came up with the brilliant moniker of LadyBirds (I know, it's shocking, but true.) A friend mentioned Etsy as a possible outlet for me, and I started a little shop. It wasn't easy to shush the 'what-if-no-one-buys-them' naysayer inside of me, but I'm so glad I did!

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?
Just about everything I come into contact with is fodder for my little art brain. For images, I love to use odd catalog stuff. The words are everywhere. My husband came up with one the most popular LadyBird sayings, when he started saying we should carpe the diem. Really, though, my life is one big fat ladybird.

Which of the tools you use is your favorite?
Ooh, whatever I'm using at any given moment is my favorite. When I'm soldering, I love the soldering iron, and when I'm painting, I love my paintbrush! I'm just a tiny bit addicted to my Mac computer, too.



Can you explain a little about your LadyBirds? What are they and how did you start making them?
I want to make art that tells my story without being a downer. I had a painful childhood, and developed an eating disorder as a way to cope with my troubles. O lo these many years later, I'm living the most wonderful life imaginable. I wanted to make art that helped remind me to live in the present, and not to revert to yucky negative thinking. I first started wearing a "She Dares to Be Happy" pendant, and it was good. Then I tried the "She Doesn't Pretend to Be Normal" pendant, to help me remember to be me, and it was good, too. Next, I tried the "She Goes the Whole Day Without Wearing a Bra", and the rest is history (kinda).

There are so many negative messages sent to women about our bodies, and it is important to me that the LadyBirds are made of all shapes, from massive silhouettes to pencil thin bodies, and of every skin color under the sun. I want to send my daughter a positive message about what it means to be a girl, and the LadyBirds help her to understand that she is much more than what others see on the outside.



What keeps you motivated?
I wonder about that sometimes. I may possibly have some (rather unattractive) obsessive tendencies. I'm sure I'd do some sort of art even if people hated it, but one of my greatest rewards is hearing from a customer that my piece had a positive impact on her day. Women have shared some really heartfelt, touching stories of being affected by a LadyBird touched them. That is without a doubt the most amazing reward of all.

How do you get the word out about your work?
So far, it's been word of mouth, and a little bit of advertising on blogs. Etsy has been an invaluable asset - there would be no business without the luck I've had on Etsy. The whole internet is just amazing to me; my mind is boggled by the fact that a lady in Tasmania can buy my work (and one did!). I'll probably do an art show or two this year also. I did one last fall and it was the first time I got to see people's faces light up when they read something that tickled them or spoke to them. I'll never forget that feeling of satisfaction, that my art actually made someone feel good!



What advice would you give to someone starting a creative business?
Ooh, I'd say it's important to listen to your heart, and make sure you're creating something that really reflects your own unique personality. And if it doesn't work, change stuff! Push yourself, even if it's scary as heck.



Who are some of your favorite indie artists/designers?
I'm new to the indie world, but from the altered arts world I'm quite inspired by the colorful work and generous spirit of Teesha Moore.

If you could live in your dream place/city where would that be?
I adore Hawaii, and Europe, and Boston in the summer, and San Francisco, and Maine, but really I just need to be wherever Lloyd is.

What's your definition of a perfect day?
I'm lucky enough to be living the perfect day right now (as long as the kids don't bicker too much). I like having my coffee, and bringing the kids to school, and calling Lloyd, and going to exercise (actually I hate it but I'm glad when it's over), and coming back home to do some soldering, and computering, and art-ing. And so on, until the cooking dinner part, which is the worst part of the day for me! But then it's over, and I'm happy again finishing up the day puttering around on the computer some more. Exciting, huh?

MARTINI GLASS CANDY DISH

Mom didn't do this craft with me as it was getting late and she needed to go to bed, but she watched the first part of the process. Me, I thought I could just start on it, and kind of see how it was going to go, and then go to bed, leaving the rest until morning.

Ha!

It was well after midnight when I went to bed, but I left the finished candy/nut dish on the table for Mom to see when she got up.

It was fun to do, and simple, too. I used rubber cement to attach the music paper, and was pleased to find you couldn't see it on the inside of the dish. It was completely transparent when it dried.

I started applying the pieces of music, working from the stem to the rim of the glass. To make them fit around the stem, I cut a curved notch into the paper. As I looked through the music books I'd brought, some of the titles caught my eye, and I used a couple, adding a bit of humor to the project. Near the stem is the word "Prankish", and curving around higher on the glass is "Jennie's First Rondo", with a description below it: "not fast but very amiable and fine-tempered".

I found it easiest to apply the paper right out over the edge of the rim, and then trim it with scissors, which gave a nice straight edge. A glue gun worked nicely for the braided trim, bit of jewelry, and bead. On the chance that hot glue applied directly to the glass would crack it, I applied it instead to the trims, which worked fine. Last step was to tie a narrow black ribbon around the stem.

My photos aren't great. I think it was about midnight when I took the pictures, too!

Prankish




Jennie's First Rondo