Monday, October 31, 2005

fabric!


Finally broke out the stamp accessories to my gocco print kit. Made this fabric last night. Now lets see if I can get something done with it today.
It's official. I've been accepted and will participate in the Bazaar Bizarre. Yikes! I've got a busy month ahead of me!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Halloween Project

I made these ghosts to hang in the tree.

Here's how:

Bought some cheap $2/yard white billowy fabric and wrapped it around a freezer bag filled with stuffing. Then I painted the faces on with black acrylic. On Halloween night I thought I'd stick a glow stick in the freezer bag so the ghosts would glow. Ooooo...spooky! Should work (fingers crossed) since the bags are clear, the stuffing is pretty transparent and the fabric is lightweight. Another idea is to buy some small battery operated flashlights. That would definitely make them glow. But the greenish glow of a glow stick would be ideal.

I love the way they blow in the wind. The faces ended up kind of square after the fabric was stretched around the stuffed freezer bag - but I kind of like it that way! If you make these, be sure to paint faces on both sides. They tend to spin around a lot and I think it's the face that makes them what they are.

memories of NYC

IY
NY

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

with a body like that she obviously wears her chocolate instead of eating it

*Self-Portrait Tuesday*
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Over the weekend I noticed that my website and all photos on my blog were down. I hoped it was just a little glitch that would fix itself. Checked all my billing info for my domain/hosting renewal. Still down. Crossed my fingers that it would fix itself. Still down on Monday morning. So I called (I hate making phone calls). They're SO SORRY it was just a screw up on their end everything will be back up in 24 hours no charge to me the renewal was processed but not recorded properly SO SORRY. So now everything is back up.
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Ah! New York City! We had a WONDERFUL 3 days after 2 days of rain. It was beautiful! So...can now check off my list of things to do - Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I've always loved the Brooklyn Bridge. The whole story of it's creation - a true labor of love. Its gothic towers and the spider-webbed cables. Beautiful. AND, we had the most amazing pizza in Brooklyn at Grimaldi's. Delicious! I can still taste it. After our pizza we walked back across the bridge and all the way back to Times Square. That was a little insane. But that's the best way to see the city. Walked through Chinatown, through Greenwich Village, past the Flatiron, up Broadway and into the glittery Times Square. Being back home, everything seems so still.
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Speaking of New Yorkers...we went to this crazy birthday party on Saturday night. It was thrown by my husband's friend's New York fiance. It's fair to say that she probably spent more money on this birthday party than we spent on our entire wedding. Open bar, entire top floor of a club down in the Gaslamp reserved, band ("Sam Champion" - pretty good, reminded us of early Wilco) flown in from New York and the theme, being chocolate, was extravagantly displayed in towers of chocolate bars, a chocolate fountain, truffles, chocolate mousse and chocolate martinis (I had THREE). I kept saying how beautiful the fiance was. My husband thought she wasn't dressed appropriately. I said if I had a body like that I'd dress that way too. Well, I think my husband wins the argument. After we left, the beautiful fiance apparently jumped out of a huge cake dressed only in a chocolate bikini. She proceeded to sing "Pour some sugar on me" while giving the birthday boy a lap dance. And, as you can imagine, a chocolate bikini can only withstand so much lap dancing. I can't believe we missed that!

Friday, October 14, 2005

rain rain go away

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Hello from a very wet and damp New York City. I'm stuck up in my hotel room after a lot of tromping around in the rain. After a few hours of pushing a stroller with one hand and manuevering a disfunctional umbrella with the other, I decided to call it quits.

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Though the clock here reads 6:23, the clock on the laptop reads 3:23 and this wine tastes good to my inner time clock that thinks it's the middle of the afternoon.
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I've been craving rain and now I've got it. But it makes it hard to be out there. I should just break down and buy an umbrella from a guy on the street. One that doesn't have one metal rib that's bent and gets stuck in my hair. One that doesn't flip up when a gust catches me off guard. One that doesn't have a hole somewhere that drips on my forehead when it gets burdened with too much water. It seems wrong of me to be sitting here though. I want to be OUT THERE. Out in that city. But Mr. Munchkin doesn't like being in the stroller sheathed with it's plastic rainguard. I don't know what he's complaining about. I'd love to be pushed around the sidewalks of New York in my very own little protective bubble. But it was good we came in - the little bubble only covers so much and baby boy's sneakers were soaked, leaving tiny toes very pruny and wrinkly.
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Don't know why I'm yawning. It may be starting to get dark outside, but come on body - it's not even 4:00pm at home! Haven't been here long enough to adjust to the time difference.
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Will have to find something to do tomorrow - rain or shine. Didn't fly all this way to sit in a hotel room. (even if it is a very nice hotel room). For now, think I'll plop into the massive bed (two queens pushed together) with it's big white fluffly pillows. Or maybe a bubble bath? Ah yes - wine and a bubble bath. Why not? I submitted my latest project this morning - no revisions required that I've been alerted of - that's cause for celebration.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

in love with west elm

So, awhile back I had all these posts about some rocks I found on the beach with holes in them. Here is a groovy picture I found from a catalog that uses rocks very similar to the ones I found ~ though these are probably "encouraged" to have holes in them. Though I didn't quite collect enough rocks to be able to assemble anything close to what's shown here...it's a nice idea. AND...West Elm has them on sale! Click HERE for the details (while the sale lasts).

On a similar note - I just love West Elm.

While I've yet to purchase anything from them I'm extremely close to ordering the following:

Chandelier Shade (somewhat similar to THIS, which I will never ever be able to afford but will always *LOVE*)
Chairs
Dishware

Thursday, October 06, 2005

lost links



because, admittedly, i am quickly becoming a freak on the subject...
here are some interesting "lost" links:

The Dharma Initiative video can be viewed HERE
Dharma Industries (nothing much here now, but *maybe* some hints will materialize?)
Good recaps at Television Without Pity
Podcasts and great watercooler talk at TV Squad
The Hanso Foundation (what?!?)
Interesting conversation at The Fuselage


Wednesday, October 05, 2005

in training for those new years resolutions

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Trying to make some decisions about where I want to be putting my time and where I see myself going with crafting endeavors. I want to start making some plans for the new year. Maybe a few craft fairs? Perhaps a consignment? More to offer online to warrant putting some money into advertising? A lot of questions to be answered. I think I am beginning to lean toward focussing entirely on my "Buzzing Bog" designs. I'd like to get the story behind my drawings developed, as well as creating more items that show off these little guys. So I may be doing a major website revamp soon - taking down everything I've got and starting to make room for some new things...like this bag I just made, for example. I'm pretty hapy with it. I like it's shape and the simplicity that sort of acts like a canvas for the little giraffe patch. I've got a lot of tinkering ahead of me. But I was beginning to feel like I had my hands in so many different pots that none of them were getting the attention they deserved. While I LOVE working with wood - I just wasn't dedicating the time it takes to really perfect the craft of woodworking. And as fun as it is to create felt toys - it's not something that really calls out to me with unique ideas and design inspiration. I love drawing these little critters that fly. I love that imaginary world. So I figure I should focus on what appeals to me most.
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I've also been working on making better use of my days. I love lists. I love checking things off lists as I get them done. So I made a list for each day of the week. {I know, this sounds pretty anal.} But sometimes I find myself in this stupor - standing there mid-step with a confused look on my face - when I know I've got a lot to do but just don't know where to begin. With my list, I wake up and start checking things off. This is day three of my crazy system - and you know what? I'm not behind in laundry, the house is actually pretty decent (no clutter and fairly clean), I've been eating well, I've been exercising and I've even managed to squeeze in some work. How 'bout that? Let's see how it pans out though. I'll give you an update Sunday night.