After a HOT Day in Painting Hell, One Side is Complete

So, one side of the fence is done. DH started at approx 10:35 am, and ended at 4:28 pm. It was a miserably HOT day, 90+ degrees at the apex, and he says it's really a 2-person job because of the paint bucket and the sprayer mechanism, etc. Apparently he fastened the sprayer back together again at least two times where he didn't do it properly and ended up making a mess, and he still had to do brushwork on the lattice at the top. He's got the other side to do now, but that's on our side and if we need to do it in pieces, we have that ability. I wanted to get Laura and Fahkri's side done ASAP so that we wouldn't be intruding onto their property any more than necessary. 

This was the fence on June 25, just after it was 
erected. Way in the end there, almost past 
where you can see, is Bob's corner. That damned 
corner where the two fences overlap for a short 
bit, is a total PITA to paint - brush or spray, 
it's just too close to get there easily. 

He pretty much worked nonstop for the entire span, thinking that he wouldn't get it finished until 6:30 pm or later. Fortunately he finished up earlier than that, but he was exhausted. He requested that I get him two different things from Dairy Queen, so as soon as I dropped off my laptop and shop stuff, I headed back out and brought back sugary frozen things for him to drink. He also had soup for dinner, so that helped to replenish his liquids a bit. He said he would NEVER do this again, though. That he would pay someone to come out and paint it, cost be damned. Lesson learned - LOL. 

I'm fully in favor of hiring someone to spray paint (or 
brush paint - probably a combination of the two) our 
fence next time. It's a ridiculous amount of work. But DH 
was determined that he could do it. Lesson learned. 

I haven't had a chance to pop over and take a look yet, I might not until a few days have gone by. But I'll look at some point. Bob's Corner was where he started, and that was a total PITA (which I thought probably would be the case). Bob's chain link fence and our wooden one overlap by about 2-3 feet, and they're VERY close to each other, maybe three inches between them. Getting the fence painted behind the chain link was extremely difficult and he was texting me about how impossible it was for over an hour - on just this little piece of fence. Fortunately things went a bit smoother from that point, but yeah. It's a long span of fence, and I think hiring someone the next time will be a great idea. Of course in 10 years we'll be 80, so who knows if we'll still be able to live in our home. 

He was SO grateful when he hit the gate - knowing he had the 
larger section done. Of course, he still had quite a bit of fence 
left to do, but the end was in sight. Corners, it seems, are 
the worst, however. It took him over an hour to do the 
final panel. 

So, I'm off to the shop. Today will be another hot day, and at least I have A/C at the shop. The house can get like an oven (especially on the top level) during these days. I'd probably better start putting my mini chiller filters into the freezer again for my mini A/C that I put next to my bed. Sometimes just my fan won't quite be enough (although last night was the first time I've turned my fan on). Back to writing my next entry into LJ Idol. It's finally coming clear, and that's good because I have to submit it no later than late today. I'll let you know when you can read and vote, and as always, I appreciate your votes more than you can ever know. Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday (although I might pop in here for a quick LJ Idol update if needed). Slava Ukraini. 

A Weekend Ahead of Cleaning and Spraying and Final Thoughts on the NHL Season

The weekend plan is for DH to spray sealant on Laura's side of our fence on Saturday and Sunday. I'll apparently be helping, although what I'm specifically going to be doing is a mystery to me. I'll be starting out my contribution to the fence project tomorrow when I'll be doing a power wash of the bottom rail on Laura's side from the West through to the far East. Doing the power scrub won't be a problem, but getting the hose over might be an issue. Still, DH will have a similar issue getting electrical power for the spray painter when he's actually doing the painting. It'll be a weekend of hard work for both of us. 

I did warn Laura via text that DH would be spray painting 
the fence on their side on Saturday and Sunday. He's on his 
own for Saturday and I'll be helping him on Sunday. She 
offered him the use of electrical plugs from her patio if it 
would make things a bit easier. He might end up taking 
advantage of that ... or not. He's a stubborn old coot! 

It wasn't exactly the way I had planned to spend my Friday. Fridays are usually my "make Ogre Juice" day and sometimes a bit more cooking. Fortunately, I made a great new vegetable soup yesterday, and I can whip my Ogre Juice together in an hour - I've been doing it for long enough. So, it won't be horrid, as long as the hose cooperates. I don't want to snap any lillies or damage any other flowers getting the hose over to the fence. I wonder if Laura's hose is long enough? I might text her today and see. Maybe I can join my long hose onto hers and eliminate the necessity of pulling the hose up and over the fencing to do the power scrub? 

What I need is something like this - that will entrap and 
elevate the hose above the flowers (most of them - the 
lillies are much taller, so guide around the lillies). 
Unfortunately, we don't have anything like this. I wonder 
if I can find some at a local hardware store that I can 
buy quickly before starting on my project tomorrow. 

Hockey is over for the year, and what an amazing Stanley Cup series it turned out to be. I kept a set of notes from the end of the season, and had a good laugh over it as I was pulling it off my calendar yesterday. Twenty-five ice hockey columnists and commentators were asked about which team they thought would win the Cup, and also who would win the Conn Smythe Trophy. Every one of them had Florida losing in Round 1! Their numbers for which team would win the Cup were Carolina Hurricanes 7, Dallas Stars 6, New York Rangers 4, Houston Oilers 3, LV Knights 3, Winnipeg Jets 1, and Toronto Maple Leafs, 1. NONE of then had Florida going past the first round! At least Connor McDavid was named Conn Smythe Trophy winner, even though he played for the losing team, he well deserved the accolade. But, it certainly proves that the pundits have NO CLUE about who will actually win when it comes down to it. LOL

It's only the sixth time that a player from the losing team 
has won the Conn Smythe award. VERY rare. 

Year	Player	Team	Position
2024	Connor McDavid	Edmonton Oilers	C
2003	Jean-Sebastien Giguere	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	G
1987	Ron Hextall	Philadelphia Flyers	G
1976	Reggie Leach	Philadelphia Flyers	RW
1968	Glenn Hall	St. Louis Blues	G
1966	Roger Crozier	Detroit Red Wings	G

What strikes me on this list is that four of the Conn 
Smythe winners from losing teams were Goalies, 
with one Right Wing and now, McDavid, a Center. 
What a odd mix, but understandable for those seasons. 

So, I'm off to the pool. Next week will be a bit off schedule because July 4th (Independence Day for my international readers) is on Thursday, so I'll be pushing my usual Thursday swim off to Friday next week. It'll throw me off all week - LOL. Here's hoping you have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Yesterday and Today - Cards and Healing Thoughts

Yesterday was a VERY busy day. Of course, it was a "day off", so I coked up a batch of brownies and a batch of chili for dinners, but then I got down to the nitty-gritty of painting the interior of my holiday cards, with the goal of being able to get them sent out tomorrow. (Not quite going to happen, but I'm VERY close). 

They're almost ready to send. I apologize to my 
overseas friends because I know my cards are a 
bit late this year, but they'll be in the mail very 
soon. 

I'm pretty happy with them, all around, but while painting, I also realized that I had one batch of 10 cards that hadn't had their FRONT panel painted yet! Yikes! So, I quickly shifted color palettes and got those painted as well, then shifted back to the interior colors to continue working on interiors. I still have fourteen to paint, but that's an easy group to finish on Friday. I'll pound out my list of addresses today or tomorrow, and run to the Post Office for the appropriate domestic and international postage stamps. We're getting there, my friends! The cards should be getting into the mail no later than Monday, if all goes well. 

Isn't this an adorable card that came up in my feed 
of "handpainted Christmas cards"? I'd love to do 
something like this someday, but this is actually a 
LOT of work and a LOT of drying time. Still, it's a 
great idea. 

DH has been having serious bouts of dizziness. He found it really hard to work yesterday, and actually sat immobile at the shop for almost a full hour past closing until he felt steady enough to get behind the wheel and drive home. I have no idea what to do about this - it's not really a cold to be nursed with hot tea and rest. He went right to bed after eating dinner, so he's getting the rest, but there's no medicine to take for dizziness. Any of you have any ideas for us/him? 

DH has inner ear issues since he was a young man 
and blew his ears out while scuba diving in one of 
our 10,000 lakes. It doesn't usually get this bad, 
though. Right now, it's affecting everything he's 
trying to do. I'm hoping a day of rest will help 
him because he's got to work tomorrow. 

And while you're at it, some positive thoughts for my long-tine on-line friend Aearwen would also be appreciated. She's a woman with mobility issues anyway, but blew her knee out on Tuesday, which is leaving her in extreme pain and with serious mobility issues. She has several people she cares for who are depending on her, so this is BEYOND a trouble for her. Healing thoughts and positive thoughts are always appreciated as she works hard to help those in her life who rely on her for transportation and companionship. 

Please send some healing thoughts to DH and to Aearwen, 
two very important people in my life. Healing thoughts 
are never a bad thing, and I thank you in advance. 

So that's it for today. Lots of things in the works, for sure! I'm going to get some photos plugged into this and head out to the pool for my final swim of the week. Be kind, be helpful, and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

A Celebration Of Street Art - A Few Murals to Brighten Your Day

I enjoy celebrating everyday art and the art that decorates industrial spaces. I thought I'd share some art with you today, because I love sharing pretty things. I'm in the mood for some street art. So, let's see what I found to share today. 

I'm starting with Isaac Tin Wei Lin's masterpiece of 
abstract art on North 7th Street in Philadelphia, PA. 
I just really like this, and looked at several different 
photos taken in different lighting, some of which made 
the interconnecting blocks look almost 3-D. Although 
it looks really simple, it's actually quite complex. 

From Philadelphia, I'm moving across the "Pond" to London and something just referred to as "street art". These panels, although each one different from the other, have a sense of unification and symmetry that I adore. This is dated to 2017, and given it's street art, may no longer be there, but it would be a shame to have it painted over or destroyed. That, however, is the fate of many building paintings and murals over time. 

All I could find on this one was "Street Art, London, 
2017". So there you go. You now know as much 
about this piece as I do. But I love the playfulness 
in the tumbling multi-colored blocks, and the differing 
backgrounds lend more interest to the large 
panels. The forms and shapes lead you from
left to right. Yeah. I like this piece a lot. 

Moving back to my own home town, and crossing the river to Minneapolis, there are two building murals that I wanted to share with all of you. First, there's this fabulous Bob Dylan mural at 5th and Hennepin. I love the fractals that the artist used in this to play with the portraits, breaking them apart and tying them back together at the same time. The Twin Cities have a history of encouraging building murals, I'm just sharing these two, but mural art is found everywhere, and there are even tours that will take you through building murals in the Cities.  

I was never good at this style of artwork - I'm too literal 
to work with blocks of color this way. But I adore what 
the artist produced here. It's entitled "Times are achanging" 
and features three views of Bob Dylan as a young man, a 
mature artist and a much older man. Dylan, of course, was 
a Minnesota boy - born and raised in Hibbing, MN. 

Of course, Minneapolis is also the home of Prince, who rocked the world and was taken from us far too soon. This Prince mural was painted by Rock Martinez as a mourning present for the city of Minneapolis. He wanted to give something back to the community. It's a stellar portrait of one of our more famous residents, commemorating his life, death and lasting impact on our psyches. 

Prince grew up in Minneapolis and made his home here. 
When other artists left the area after becoming famous, 
he stayed and built Paisley Park, his studio and recording 
facility. Prince never forgot his roots - good and bad. We 
lost a great talent when he passed in 2016. 

So, there you have it, just four street art works that might brighten your day. As you wander through your cities and towns, keep your eyes open. You never know what you will find around the next corner. On that note, I'm out of here. Have a truly wonderful Tuesday and please, be kind and stay safe. If it's safe, then leave your mask off, but otherwise, wear your mask for your own safety as well as the safety of others. I'll be back tomorrow. 

My Day Off and a Seed Bead Explanation

It's my :day off" and my first load of laundry is already washed and ready for the dryer. I looked ahead at the weather forecast (called a forecast because it's never actually accurate, just a best-guess scenario) and today would be the best day to head to the bank. I have some things that have to be handled for the business, and that requires an in-person trip over there, so I'll make sure to do that first thing in the morning as soon as they open. That will at least give me a sense of accomplishment for the day - LOL. 

Although there were a lot of pictures of people against beautiful
skies, I really loved this simple and textured trio as an image
for accomplishment. That jumping for joy feeling is so prevalent
when looking around after conquering a difficult task. 

I have a list of things I have to do, not least of which is pulling my 2019 paid invoices from the "current" file and putting them into order into a "past" file. I'm 2/3 through January and haven't been able to file any of my paid bills for the month yet. It's annoying and I want this completed. I also would love to give my computer desk a thorough clean. DH cleaned his the other day and suddenly I see the surface of his desk! It's really quite shocking. Unfortunately, my desk isn't magically following his good example, so if I have some time this afternoon, I'll dive into my own desk. 

I totally understand this sentiment. Right now, although I might
not be able to immediately put my hands on X, Y or Z, I actually
do know where I will find it. It might be buried down a bit, but
I can put my hands on it relatively quickly. That may not be the
case if I clean the desktop, but it really needs to be done. 

I also have the usual - grocery shopping and misc loads of laundry - and I would like to get a start on the culling of my 11o seed beads. For those who don't know, seed beads (small beads made from glass which are stitched together to make larger projects) come in several different sizes and shapes. The most commonly used size is what's called an 11o - an archaic term that might have been based on the number of beads per inch, but that really holds no relevance today. Other common sizes are 15o (smaller than the 11o) and 8o (larger than the 11o). I have all of these and more. 

I generally use 11o and 15o beads in my projects, but my customers
who do bead knitting will often use the larger 6/0 and even 5/0 sizes.
The 11o size is the most common size, however, and has the
greatest range of available colors. 

The storage system that DH built for me many years ago is extraordinary. It has space for 420 tubes of 11o beads. I probably own closer to 1000 tubes, so I need to lay everything out and decide which beads I want to keep and which ones I want to sell or store. I have minimal room for storage, and seeing the colors are important for my work, so putting the excess away isn't very functional. But decisions have to be made, so I might at least start the thought process on this. 

Not only are seed beads available in a variety of sizes, but they are
also available in a variety of shapes. I think it was a lot easier when
I was painting - I used more than 80 colors of acrylics, but it was a
much smaller playground. 

So my day continues - some cleaning, some cooking, some shopping and some errands. In the long run, everything I do today will have to be repeated again in a week - LOL. Be that as it may, I'm still looking forward to my "day off" and wish each of you a Wonderful Wednesday. I'll be back tomorrow. 

I Ate Too Much But It Was Worth It

OK, like the rest of the USA, I ate too much yesterday. But it was SOOOOO good. The turkey was roasted almost perfectly, certainly within my top five over the years, and DH handled all of the other fixings - stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and his Dad's famous cheese-covered baked broccoli, With a slice of pumpkin pie a few hours later for dessert, we were both full to bursting.

I adore Bakers Square Harvest Pumpkin Pie. I used to bake my own pies,
but they're so good, I just pay them the money and take it home. December's
pie is my absolute favorite though - their Candy Cane Pie! NUMMY!!!

Sunday will be our final Sunday off before the Christmas holiday, and DH decided he wanted to see Justice League at the cinema, so we'll head over there on Sunday morning to watch our second movie in two weeks! This is a rarity for us - generally he prefers DVDs because they have captioning. With his hearing loss, captions are almost a requirement. But, he wants to see it in the cinema, so I made him a deal. I bought the tickets, he's responsible for buying waters and a large popcorn for us to munch on.

I'm looking forward to seeing Justice League on Sunday. It's not supposed
to be as good as Thor Ragnarok, but it'll be entertaining. I love
Wonder Woman and I think Aquaman will also be great fun. 

I spent Thanksgiving Day (between getting up every half-hour to baste the turkey) painting with my distressed inks. My holiday cards this year have required a lot of painting. I painted the exterior image a few weeks ago, and spent yesterday working on the interior element and the special gift that many of you will be getting. I love how each one is just that little bit different from the others, although the basic image is the same. I have to ramp up my intensity, the clock is ticking and these have to be in the mail soon.

Our e-flyer went out to more than 1500 customers. I know I won't
have that many coming through the door, but I also know that our
two-day after Thanksgiving Day sales do bring customers in to
take advantage of the bargains. 

Today is Black Friday, followed tomorrow by Small Business Saturday. We're running sales at the store (along with every other store in the nation *sigh*) and hope to have some good sales numbers by the end of the weekend. It's hard to say, but the deals we offer on these two days are pretty good, so we do get people counting on our annual e-flyer and planning a trip to see us. The key is balance - we want good sales, but we only are a staff of three, so I always hope for just the right number of customers shopping at any one time.

I hope your Thanksgiving Day or your Thursday was wonderful. I put on two pounds from the meal, but I'll be back swimming in a hour and it'll be off again in no time. Have an excellent Friday, and if you're out shopping, I hope you find everything you're looking for.

Project Runway Episode 4 - A View From On High (No Spoilers)

Adult sleepovers can be a kick, and Project Runway decided to host the ultimate sleepover. The designers were treated to a night of sleep at the top of the Empire State Building snuggling into sleeping bags on the Observation Deck. (Although who could sleep with a view like this?) What a concept - pushing some boundaries (and getting some MAJOR permissions, too). The designers assignment:  produce a sleepwear look with their own, originally-designed and/or embellished fabric. The ultimate prize? The winning design will be produced and sold by Heidi Klum as part of her Intimate Sleepwear collection.

The designers spent the night in sleeping bags on the observation deck
of the Empire State Building. What a rush! 

Eighty-six floors up, with Shawn and Claire (the terrible Twins) freaking out because of the height, the designers finally arrive at the top of the world, go all google-eyed at the view from all directions. Then they settle down with their sketchbooks and model descriptions cards (models were pre-assigned by Heidi). Early the next morning, Tim Gunn wakes everyone up with breakfast sandwiches and herds them to the workshop.

I'm not sure if they even flashed the brand name(s) of the paints and dyes
used for this episode, but I've used the Pebeo brand before on fabric and
they work easily and have a lovely light hand. 

In the workshop, several buckets hold rolls of fabric chosen by Heidi, and tables arranged against the wall hold paints, dyes and other materials for the designers to use in the creation of their own fabrics. For a change, it isn't a commercially made print, but each designer is dying and/or painting their unique fabric. Silk seems to be the mainstay of Heidi's fabric choices. Silk is a joy to wear, but has its' own problems in construction and embellishment. Too bad the designers only have a few hours to pull all of this together - with more time, they might have been able to do some amazing silk painting work.

Think handpainting fabric only came in with tie-dye
shirts and skirts? So wrong! This stunning, fitted
dress is from the 1950's and features hand-painted
organza. 

After sharp individual critiques from Heidi as she toured the workshop to view the outfits in progress, the designers seemed to all revamp their fashions. They were changing colors, changing drapes, and rethinking the complexity of their designs as well as their fabric embellishments and colors. It was a major blood bath in the workshop, but out of the bodies of fabric and paints left behind, some decent fashions were created.

Look at these wonderful hand painted silk Kaftans. A good
sense of design and color can pull a standard design out
of the pack and make it unique. 

So who won and who lost? I'll have a breakdown of the top and bottom looks for you tomorrow, so that gives you a day to watch the show and catch up before I throw spoilers in your direction. Have a wonderful Friday, and "Make it work!".

Colors that Pop - Working With Color in Your Life

I had so much fun looking at the Pantone colors with all of you yesterday, I thought I'd take one more day to explore color in a slightly different manner. Color can influence so many things in our lives; primary among those for me is mood. I can change my mood by changing the colors I'm wearing. I make my living with color and I'm very, very good at bringing disparate colors together into harmonious palettes. I watch customers struggle with color every day. I have some suggestions for those of you having difficulty with color palettes.

Step away from your screen and look at this. The colors strike in the order
of that rich golden yellow, then the red which also has an orange undertone
in the car, and finally the green shirt on the driver. Everything else is
neutral and background. The ad, although it has vintage elements, is from 2013. 

Look through the magazines. Don't care about the items or what is being pictured, you're looking for colors. See an ad you like? Tear it out and keep it handy. You don't have to like or recommend the product to love the colors that appear in the ad. People go to school for many years to learn high levels of design which are then used for advertisements. Take advantage of their skills and use them in your own work and wardrobe.

There were many different paintings I could have chosen for color - there are
quite literally millions to choose from. But I chose George Seurat's "A Sunday
Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" because the colors are so wonderful.
Look at his choices in the lilacs shades closest to the front. Then compare those cool
colors to the warmer reds, oranges and yellows of the sun baked grass
farther back. It's a masterpiece, and it can help you choose complimentary colors
of your own. 

Do you see a painting that you just love? Maybe it's not just the image, but also the colors used that are pulling you to it. Often an artist will be able to differentiate different levels of color than the viewer. Again - take advantage of his or her expertise and use their palette for your next choice.

A wall of paint chip samples just makes me drool - they are so beautiful
and so well organized and orchestrated. It's like looking at a box of unused
water colors or pastels *sigh*. A lot of people are making 'art' from cut
paint chip samples. To me that's a bit more like kitch than art, but to each his own. 

Can't decide on a shade to go with that perfect blue? But you know you want a lavender or a pink (or choose any other color you desire), visit your local hardware store. Do you see their paint department? It's color heaven. Choose some of the paint chip color cards to take with you. They're free and the colors are bright and vibrant - pure colors, in essence. Often they will help you decide between similar shades when you put them up to your clothing.

The newest colors introduced a month or so ago are Tangerine and
Iridescent Green. Why do they title them 2015 colors when we're
only in year 2014? Because they always position themselves a year
ahead. This gives designers a chance to get the colors into their
pieces and lines well before the color hits the fashion world. 

What to do about your jewelry? I run into this dilemma twice a year when Swarovski introduces their new crystal and pearl colors for Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer (plus - they always announce them a year ahead of when they expect those colors to hit popularity). But after all this time, I've also grown to understand the company. They work in triads. It might take a year or two (or even more) for the triad to become complete, but it always comes together in the end. The newest colors for 2015 Spring/Summer were Tangerine which works beautifully in the Sun to Red Topaz group, and Iridescent Green which shines with Lumine Green and either Light Olivine or Khaki. I'll be recommending these triads to my customers, and when it comes to your clothing, having that third color in a scarf or blouse can sometimes really make the grouping sing.

This lovely cartoon by Marty Coleman, the Napkin Dad, fully expresses
my general feelings about shopping. Thank goodness my own shop deals
with color, technique, and creativity.  

So, on that fashionable note (from someone who actually abhors shopping so much that I don't do new clothes until old ones die), I bid you a wonderfully colorful Thursday.

Argh - OK, Getting On With Things Now

Argh! Wednesday was SO busy. Even though I was organized, I still didn't get enough time to work on my artwork for B2MeM. I did get the final block-outs done, picked up the one additional Pan Pastel color I was lacking for it, and decided how much pass-through I'm really going to do from the elements I've chosen to make up the piece, but not a single swipe of color made it to the paper yet. I'll be taking a bag of my pastels and colored pencils to work with me today and hope to at least make a start on the coloring this morning before I have to unlock my doors.

Pan Pastels are applied with specific foam applicators. They allow the color to
be put onto many different kinds of paper. My pic is on smooth paper, but
the application technique would work equally well on a heavily-toothed
watercolor paper. 

I know that Sunday DH will be tied up watching the Olympics. Checking the schedule, there will be curling, ice hockey, some figure skating, snow boarding, and other things that will keep him occupied. That may leave me some more time to color my piece, although I always find it very difficult to work on my projects when sharing a room with him. I'll have to figure something out, though. I have a firm deadline and I also want to watch as many events as possible.

There are 80 colors in the full system plus some metallic additions that they
just introduced. I have 50 of the colors that I've been getting one pan
at a time as I needed them or had an extra $5.50. I love working with them.

On the home front, of the last two showings, one needed a larger home although they really liked ours, the other supposedly smelled gas so she turned on every light and left the house. What's up with that?!? What a doofus! I was there to close things back down after her visit and I didn't smell any gas. She complained to my Realtor, though, so I had DH check the house out also on his way home from work. Everything was fine, so I think the agent was totally imagining things. However - when you smell gas, you're supposed to leave. Just turning on a light can ignite the gas. So her turning on every light and then leaving them on ... how stupid!

Maybe the agent should carry one of these with her so
that she won't bother all of us with her fears. What a pain!

My grocer had a lovely sale on strawberries yesterday, so I indulged and bought several containers. That'll be my lunch for the next week. Strawberries and soup - nice lunch staying within the letter S. I should be teaching small children some of the various words that start with the letter S - LOL.

I've been loving the snow boarding events. I suspect I would have been much more likely to enjoy snow sports with a snowboard than I ever did with skis. I was always a poor skier but a very good figure skater. I felt that skis were too long and just couldn't handle them. But I loved skateboarding and I'm pretty sure I would have been really good on snowboards. Of course, they didn't exist when I was hitting the slopes of Colorado. At least I do have the bragging rights that I learned on some of the most beautiful mountains of Colorado - the mountains around Aspen. My home of the heart.

I think I would have really enjoyed snowboarding - certainly much more
than I enjoyed downhill skiing. 

I hope those of you getting hit by storms are battened down and safe. You've really been getting pounded this winter. Warm hugs to all of you.

Day Off Doesn't Mean Day of Relaxation

As usual, my 'day off' is packed with projects and errands, but very high on my list is working on the artwork I promised for B2MeM. I already blocked most of it out in early mornings at the shop on Monday and Tuesday and need to finish the blocking and start the color work today. I'm giving myself today and next week to get this nailed. I love my concept, but it's a bit more ambitious than I've been in my artwork lately - lots of complex elements. If it turns out, I'll be really pleased. If it doesn't, I will at least have done my best. I have a lot of detail work in this, so care and caution are my keywords for success.

After years of painting on metal 20mm miniature statutes, I have a large selection of
extremely small 0, 00 and 000 brushes I can use for the detail work. I don't want to
color the entire piece using mini brushes, though. I have a life! LOL

I also need to finish my story for B2MeM, do some beta work for my ever-patient friend Iris, I have a bracelet repair for a customer sitting in front of me reminding me that I could use the money I'll get for it, and of course I have a long list of errands, grocery and office supply shopping, and my Wednesday afternoon chat with Aearwen that we had to cancel last week because of my frozen pipes issue. Oh - and there's something on the TV called the Olympics that I want to watch AND I have to check my father-by-marriage's house after an afternoon showing and make sure the doors are locked, lights are off and the water is running to keep pipes from freezing.

Grocery shopping at my neighborhood store can go quite quickly. I know
the layout, I know what's on sale, and I know what I want to get. East peasy...

Rumor has it that we'll get at least one written offer for the house by the end of the week. I know this person has seen the house twice already. I just hope that it is a reasonable amount - we do have some expectations of what we're willing to accept and we'll take a deduction from the asking price, but not as low as some of the real estate agents have suggested in their comments when they have viewed the place.

I want one of these signs across the "For Sale" sign in front of my father-by-marriage's
house. I want one less property that we have to worry about. We've worked ourselves
too hard maintaining all of these houses through this harsh winter. 

The kicker is, the house is out of date within the confines of current fashion, but the bones of the house are really good. It could be moved into and lived in just as it is, but personally, I'd be tearing everything down, leaving the exterior walls, and starting from scratch - a lot of work and money. So if someone comes in with a low offer, I understand where they are coming from. Then again...it could be used just the way it is, so scrapping the design is a fashion decision. We won't offer dollars off the purchase price for a fashion decision.

Remodeling a house can be messy and expensive, but if nobody lives in
the house yet, it's a lot easier. 

By the end of the day I'll have baked chicken breasts to eat, strawberries in my refrigerator, and hopefully some color laid down on my artwork. If so, I'll consider it a successful day. Have a fabulous Wednesday.

Creative Time!

I haven't had a studio day when I could spend some time actually creating something fun for what seems like AGES!. Today I'm going to do a repair for a customer and then maybe work on some items of my own for a bit. A friend has asked me to paint a pair of shoes for her and I want to get a better feel on that before I 100% commit to it. I actually think hers will be way fun to do, but I want to play with mine for a bit to be sure hers will work out the way I expect.

She wants shoes similar to these. They're actually
easier than my LOTR shoes and I can brush them instead of
air brushing. It should be fun!  Fortunately we wear the same
size, so if I mess it up, I can keep the messed up pair and start
again with another pair. 

I still have errands to do - two banks, Target for a few items and a DVD, the post office and my local comic shop to see if any new issues have come in from my comics (yes - I sometimes act like an adolescent boy - live with it - LOL). But between housecleaning, cooking, grocery shopping and laundry are a few hours where I can write or bead or paint...YIPPEE!

So these are things I'll see while on my way today (as realized in photos by a variety of talented people).

I have to visit two different banks, neither one as interesting
as Gringotts Bank, though. 

I have several letters and packages to mail.

I need to shop for office supplies and groceries. Too bad my shopping
experience won't be as fun and colorful as this bazaar.

And finally, in honor of National Cheeseburger Day I'm going to have a cheeseburger for either breakfast or lunch (it makes a great breakfast). It won't be quite this fancy...but this really looks good to me.

This looks so good! I'd go out of my way to eat a cheeseburger like this!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Creativity Stutter and Painting

I can't do anything really fun with drawing, painting or anything else artistic until tomorrow when I will be able to send CB several of her illustrations and finish the last few, but I wanted to share a bit of older work with you. Yesterday I had mentioned in a comment to my daily post that I painted miniature metal castings and a friend sent me pictures of her husband's work. My own pictures were kept all over my hard drive so I was unable to send her more than my Green Dragon pic which I had shared here last year. So I went through my hard drive and old photographs to share some of the minis that I have painted with all of you. These are all 28mm metal cast miniatures that feed right into my obsessions with small detailed work. I love working on them and have hundreds unpainted just waiting for me to pick up my brushes and paints again. There are many painters far more talented than I am, I just have fun with these, but I'm willing to share. So...a post without angst today, just things to look at below the cut.



My Foo Dogs were the first minis I painted. The start of a long road...





This mini is named Kimberlee. Again, she's early but I loved the way her dress worked.





Jasmine was a real Arabian Nights style of thief. Fun to paint and I could see a story featuring her.





I was quite proud of Catherine. Her hawk's feather patterns are accurate and I painted my own family's tartan on her.









I love a challenge and my piece named "Ambush" was for a painting challenge using a limited edition miniature sculpt. I think I still have one more of the unpainted minis left, but I sold the rest of the ones I had purchased. I built the tree from wire, it's quite large and monopolizes some of my shelving, but I don't regret the space. He's pretty fun.

That probably gives you an idea of what I was playing with before I began writing...although I do still do artwork when I can spare the time and/or have the inspiration. I still buy the metal minis too, I can't resist a good sculpt.