Lookability

The Cat's Not Out of the Bag - The Cat is The Bag

2012-01-07T23:43:00.019-05:00

Over three years ago, I recorded my bag-making adventures on my project for It's in The Bag. This was a vintage glove-themed bag for LINC's It's in The Bag event. As stated on their website, LINC eases the burden of cancer for patients and their families by providing assistance and referral to legal, financial and community resources.

Then, let's see... I think in 2009/10, I participated again, but don't think I ever updated this blog on that project. That was a small purse I decorated with a lot of yellow and pearly buttons, felt and hand-beading. It was named something Lemony. So there you go: old news, fresh for you. Here it is:

Flash forward, it's NOW, 2012, and in my first post for 2012 after a year of only one post, I present:
My new bag for LINC's 6th annual It's in The Bag event: The Cat-Lover's Bag. Or, as I would perhaps nickname it, The Cat/Bag Lady's Cat Bag. But really, it's neutral colors so anyone could use. Plus, it's a tote. I like the color scheme.

In an out-of-character move, I made this bag using a pattern. The pattern came with fabric, straps, thread and directions. I used most of this, but substituted in some cat fabric.

I'm not inclined to follow patterns. I don't like following directions/am stubborn/easily distracted/don't like to measure things. But it worked! I've followed patterns before and they haven't been too disastrous so I'm not sure why I still am constantly avoiding them.

So, "Large Tote" pattern worked out for the most part. I used the vintage "Meow" cat fabric for the bottom (previously seen here) and then appliqued on a large tapestry-style fabric cat and kittens. I noticed at the end that the cat fabric is upside down on the front - but HEY!, it's right side up on the back. That's the special part about the back of this bag.

Some of the LINC bags for the silent auction will be themed bags, stuffed with items for the bag winners. So the Cat-Lover's Bag has some cat-related goodies inside, including some catnip mice, kitty snacks, a kittens calendar, and a screenprinted "flip-cat" doll and other small goods by me. Who knows what else may end up in the bag... ?

Hopefully I'll get the bag to LINC soon, and hopefully somebody will like it and use it.

When I was thinking about making this bag, I was trying to remember when I made the others. I rarely blog any more, and wonder - nowadays - should I even bother (I am always getting spam comments, and everyone is on Tumblr or whatever the next new thing I don't know about because I'm out of all the loops is). But hey, if I didn't have this blog I could barely remember half the things I've done or made (when I remember to post them at all). So I should post more, so I can remember these things later.

For example, I had TOTALLY forgotten about the Polar Bear Tapestry bag I made. I would like to run into someone around town who is carrying that bag. Just as I hope someday I'll encounter someone using this cat bag.

I realize I forget about a lot of stuff I've done or enjoyed. Not just crafty stuff, but life in general, too. And I should think about it more and do more of it. Maybe I'll be back to post more old news, fresh for you, since there are other projects in the past few years I've neglected to record. I currently have a series of Mail-Order Brides in the Art*o*Mat at the Visual Arts Center. The show celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Art*o*Mat machine in Richmond. It's up until Jan. 22, so go check it out. I had a teeny cat-related piece that was up at Think Small6 at Artspace Gallery. Somebody bought that, so YAY! one less thing to sit in my house, collecting dust.

Or maybe I'll post new stuff.

Time passes, projects languish. Yet I return.

2011-06-25T00:12:00.006-04:00

It's been over a year(!) since my last blog post.

I won't make excuses.

I re-started organizing my ever-needing-cluttercontrol craft room, which prompted me to find a few things I had been missing. Combine that with a couple of recent inquiries into products from my semi-defunct etsy shop...
and I decided to make a start at a return.

I did relist some items in the shop tonight. And will probably put up more soon and see what happens.

One for now is the Bromine Screen Print.
The news on that is that the original, along with its companion pieces by other artists who participated in the Periodic Table Printmaking project, is currently on display as part of the Elemental Matters: Artists Imagine Chemistry show at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia. Go check it out if you're there.

Project creator azuregrackl e has also put put a photo set, Bromine is the third one from the top, in this shot.

Stay tuned. Maybe I'll post again before another year goes by.

Chasing a toad

2010-04-11T19:07:00.004-04:00

While doing yardwork this afternoon, I apparently annoyed a toad, so then I chased him for a little while.

Disclaimer: please bear with the commercial above, how can I resist possibly making some change off a toad movie...

I'm attempting to eradicate the crabgrass and grow new "turf." We'll see. I made a makeshift aerator to assist in this task:

It's made out of a messed up garden tool, a board, drilled in bolts and stuff.

Sorry to realize just now I forgot to move this little green guy before aerating. Maybe he escaped?

Meanwhile, flowers are doing bloomingly:

Poppy

Lily of the Valley

Strawberry flowers

The God of Small Things: Similes

2010-03-16T23:33:00.005-04:00

For bookclub we're reading The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

Her writing is peppered with similes, some pleasantly surprising. In the first 50 pages:

....like a high-stepping camel with an appointment to keep

lodged there.... like a mango hair between molars

Rahel's new teeth were waiting inside her gums, like words in a pen.

Futile. Like polishing firewood.

black eyebrows angled like a soaring seagull's wings

....history was like an old house at night. With all the lamps lit. And ancestors whispering inside.

Word to look up:
laterite -
lat·er·ite [lat-uh-rahyt]
– noun Geology.
1. a reddish ferruginous soil formed in tropical regions by the decomposition of the underlying rocks.
2. a similar soil formed of materials deposited by water.
3. any soil produced by the decomposition of the rocks beneath it.

raised beds & lil' asparagi

2010-03-16T01:39:00.003-04:00

Last year I bought some asparagus... and now this little lone baby spear popped up. If that's the only one that grows, I can't imagine eating it... there will have to be some sort of sacrificial ceremony involved.

I like seeing who else is sprouting... or blooming.

The big news is:

This weekend I constructed my last two raised garden beds...

The wood is cedar. Contents include: soil, lime, peatmoss, "homemade" compost, etc. Still need to prep a little, start seedlings, and then it's on. I'm really hoping I can have some eggplant-related success.

I finally found a use for these old sun and moon metal pieces (hose guides on the corners)...

Look who survived the winter

2010-03-14T16:42:00.003-04:00

Carrots & potatoes

I've come to the understanding that carrots can turn into monsters if left to their own devices.

Lettuce

Mint

I have some more exciting gardening news to share... but in an attempt to give this blog a spring rebirth, I'll save that for next time. Stay tuned.

Snow Patches

2010-02-06T18:00:00.004-05:00

Took Patches out today to look at the snow.

I'm so behind with updating this blog, sometimes I think I will and then I think, oh it's so outdated anyway. But I'll never start, unless I restart, so here goes. Something.

Garden Makeover - Part 1

2009-09-06T02:30:00.004-04:00

So, finally after much hemming and hawing and investigating and considering, I decided to go ahead and try to make raised garden beds.

That's instead of 1) keeping the unruly garden as is. and 2) purchasing the beds or a kit.

Supposedly cedar will last 5+ years, and it seems it's the most common material besides composite. I couldn't find anything affordable in terms 2-inch width planks, so I went ahead with 1-inch wide.

I got two 12-ft boards and had one cut in half and the other cut in 4ths. (Thanks to my brother for giving me the wood, already cut, for my birthday). So the beds will be 3 ft by 6. I've only made one so far, but now that the garden makeover has started, I really want to go ahead and do more. I'm thinking three would be good.

I sort of followed some directions I found online, and more or less just built a wooden frame. I used wood screws, some (pine?) wood blocks for reinforcement. Tools included the power drill. Oh yeah, and the level. I'm so prone to do things haphazardly but I figured it's better to start it out level than deal with a slope down the road.

I bought 2 bags of 3-cu ft of garden soil and 2 bags of 40 lb top soil and a big cube of sphagnum moss (which was not at all the texture I expected). I also lined the bed with newspaper and included some compost and other additives. I have a general idea of the cost of the materials for all this... and it's not cheap... though certainly less expensive than purchasing the beds ready made. I had been putting this off for a while now, so I figured I'd just go with it.

This was all very labor intensive so I'm very achy now, but still want to do more ASAP.

The other thing about the garden makeover is the idea to do twice as well, with half as much. That should be my general life goal... maybe? At any rate, I "disassembled" an entire half of the garden, took away the landscaping timbers, weeded, gathered up what mulch was left. I transplanted a bunch of carrots out of the retired garden area and into the mostly full-of soil-and goodies raised bed. I hope they'll do OK. We shall see.

And then I planted grass seed in that space. For some reason planting grass seems like some overly important deal to me. I'm not sure why. But I'm hoping it grows! I didn't have any hay to put on top... but I followed the directions on the bag, used lawn fertilizer and watered it.

I'm looking forward to the garden being smaller, more manageable, more attractive and hopefully the raised beds will make watering easier and more efficient (that's supposed to be one of their advantages).

Now I'm thinking I should have taken a "before" photo to show off the "after" when this makeover is complete. Let me just say the garden had really gone wrong in so many ways, this has to be a vast improvement.

Bizarre Market! & Referring to a Donkey

2009-08-05T02:53:00.006-04:00

Bizarre Market!

The 2nd Annual Jonny Z Festival + Bizarre Market is this Sat., August 8th.

12pm-5pm
200 Block of Shields Ave.
(Between Grove & Hanover)

I'm planning to attend/vend and will have some repeat odds and ends, including Cats in Space, Seed Packet Notebooks and other stuff, pretty much just like last year.

Art 180's current events page has more details.

In other project news, I recently made a sculpy figurine of an angel donkey for a friend at work whose friend's donkey had passed away.

Unpainted it was weird and fleshy:

Then painted, it was cuter:

I had to use a photograph (generic internet donkey) as a reference. It got me thinking about needing "references" in that way. Not that I'm great at drawing cats, but somehow cats have become semi-embedded in my consciousness, anatomy-wise, and I don't HAVE to have a reference to avoid absolutely ridiculous results. Whereas, even though in my mind, I totally know what a horse or a mouse looks like, if I try to draw one without a visual reference, it will just be goofy as all get out.

It would be fun, maybe, to draw a series of things using references vs. not using references, and see how off I am. I actually sort of like the silly result vs. the serious, but I know it's laughable.

I'm wondering what affects the mind to the point that something is memorized visually and you know what it looks like, yet can't get it out of your head and onto paper properly. And what switches that to something which can be translated outwardly... just practice, or time, or staring a lot at things?

Maybe I should have been a kid who traced things more. I never really traced anything.

Where Are You, #733?

2009-06-12T13:49:00.008-04:00

The other week I watched the 1000 Journals movie (now available on Netflix). I remember when I heard the book had come out and the film existed, but then I totally forgot about it.

I got involved with 1000journals, back in the old days when I was joining all sorts of random and to-be-stalled projects on nervousness.org. Those were the days when I was first getting an inkling how the internet could lead you in all these directions, and possibly even result in inspiration to do and make things in "real life."

I like seeing how one idea, site, fad... ends up morphing into so many other things. Now there's the 1001 Journals Project, which is apparently an offshoot made of personal journals of a possibly infinite number, going out in much the same way the 1000 Journals did.

* * *

So, part of a big question of the film was: what has happened to all of the 1000 journals besides the ones that someguy has received back or tracked down?

And I, in particular, wonder Where are You, #733?

Here's #733

For some reason I was on a mermaid kick at the time.

Journal #733 was one that I received in 2002, after it first traveled to Texas and I think France. I'm feeling some nostalgia and weirdness thinking back to those days. I had the book and some friends added some great one-of-a-kind stuff to it and then I think I got antsy and pestery for a bit, and then I sent it on.

Last seen in Hollywood, and the last tracking entry states "it was stolen in the spirit of..."

* * *

And... NEW, in Patches-approved linkage:
Babushka Jewellery Design recently posted a cute Kitsy kitsy post on cat related items, and included us.

マットサイエンティスト　　Maddosaienteisuto

2009-05-24T14:41:00.008-04:00

A month or so ago I got a note from someone at etsy, saying the Japanese magazine Mono was asking for high res photos of some of my freakish animals. I sent on the goods and heard nothing until I got an email showing me pdfs of the published version.

Lots of etsy folk are included in the issue, as well as other online shops with mostly bizarro stuff.

It's Mono Magazine, issue 6/2/2009, (the translation "thing magazine" or "stuff magazine" works here as far as I can gather).

And here's my blurb, from page 72.

I was especially having trouble translating the long katakana word that was included, マットサイエンティスト, because I'm pretty bad with long katakana words, and easily give up because my brain just can't handle it. I was thinking it said something about "design taste", because I was reading "dosaien teisuto" out of it, but I knew that wasn't actually making any sense based on the characters. And also I'm not sure of the proper romanization with some little characters added to others.

So I emailed K-chan and here's her translation (she also she told me she bought 2 copies and will send me one, which is super cool):

The body is a spider, and the head is a cow(ox?).
Here comes an eccentric monster, which is probably
created by a mad scientist.

So, yeah, マットサイエンティスト　　Maddosaienteisuto = Mad Scientist. I guess I'm honored to essentially be referred to as a Mad Scientist in a Japanese magazine of which K says: "It's a very popular magazine, especially with men."

Now that I might get some Japanese customers to my etsy shop, I really ought to do some shopkeeping: lots of my stuff has expired and I've been totally neglecting everything. I haven't made a flipbook in months, (not sure I feel like doing it at all, production-wise) and am realizing more and more I'm liking the conceptual part a lot more than the labor-intensive part. What to do, what to do...?

* * *

In other news, related to mad scientists, or more like one furry mad genius....

Patches totally taught herself how to turn the knob on her automatic feeder. This is the feeder that actually came (off eBay) missing the part (dome over the timer) which now I realize was very valuable. I kept noticing the time was off, and was thinking the battery was being funky, but then one day I heard the knob gear turning (it's rather loud - click click click) and I went down there and there she was----turning it! I've been wondering how hard she thought this over (for months?) before figuring it out, and if at one point something happened and she was like "Aha! Now I get it." It's a little frightening.

This is like living with the rats of Nimh.

After one low-quality failed attempt to secure the situation with a rubber band and shoddy plastic basket, I got out the real tools (including the power drill, and it was serious business).

Materials/techniques include: half a plastic Christmas ornament thingy, drilled holes, eye screw (clipped and bent), wire, a washer.

I hope this holds up. If she gets into it now, she's getting nominated for some kind of cat intelligence prize.

Just Flowers

2009-04-28T02:32:00.004-04:00

The poppies are already gone.

Lilies of the Valley (and Lilacs) always remind me of my grandmother.

Johnny Jump Up

I think this is Dianthus.

Coral Bells?

not quite volubly fervous

2009-03-24T12:12:00.003-04:00

Patches kneads her friend.
(video above)

So, for bookclub we're reading The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. It's apparently somehow connected to Lost, and was part of Desmond's hatch library.

I haven't checked up on any of the interpretation, because I was too busy looking up words. Either words I'd never heard of, or words that I could guess the gist of but have never seen in print. Somewhere I have a little notebook where I would write down words to look up, but I never kept up with it. Maybe it's time to restart.

acatalectic - complete, not catalectic (metrically incomplete).

banjaxed - Broken or unusable, usually by result of violent damage.

bulbul - Persian songbird

by the hokey (a petty oath, or asservation) an exclamation of surprise or marvel.

cerebration - activity of the mental processes; thinking.

desideratum - something necessary, highly desirable.

embrasure - 1. (in fortification) an opening, as a loophole or crenel, through which missiles may be discharged. 2. Architecture. a splayed enlargement of a door or window toward the inner face of a wall. 3. Dentistry. the space between adjacent teeth.

extirpate - 1. to remove or destroy totally; do away with; exterminate. 2. to pull up by or as if by the roots; root up: to extirpate an unwanted hair.

gawm - someone who is a simpleton. (slang)

helical - pertaining to or having the form of a helix; spiral.

inimical - 1. adverse in tendency or effect; unfavorable; harmful: a climate inimical to health 2. unfriendly; hostile: a cold, inimical gaze.

invidious - calculated to create ill will or resentment or give offense; hateful: invidious remarks.

noli-me-tangere - don't touch me.

sempiternal - everlasting, eternal

sub rosa - confidentally

takes me to the fair - (I didn't find an actual definition of this) but I think it's "fairly" obvious what it means.

(most definitions courtesy of dictionary.com)

Maybe I need join wordie, though I don't know yet how it works.

Our spring weekend

2009-03-08T22:49:00.005-04:00

garlic stalk!

This weekend I ventured out to check on the garden, did some tidying up (=2 garbage bags of leaves). The garlic I planted in the fall is well on its way... supposedly it will be ready in June.

Daffodils are out of course, and there are plenty of hidden things under the leaves, getting ready to sprout up.

I found a dead black bird and buried it.

Patches was enjoying the fresh air with the window open.

Despite my previous decision not to bother this time (based on the last two years of failures) I again have over purchased seed packs and started some things indoors. This year I'm trying some seeds planted in egg cartons. We'll see how the seedlings fare. I'll try to do some photographic documentation as well.

* * *

In non-gardeny news, I went out today and did some embroidery while lounging out of doors. Nearly finished Jack and the Beanstalk. I'd really like to get this to be a habit long enough to finish the "project."

The time and weather are throwing me for a loop. I'm trying to use it to my advantage to get some stuff done. Did some cleaning: mopped the floor, vacuumed, organized a little, put some things up for sale, added to some goodwill bags, made split pea soup.

Patches sends her love

2009-02-14T09:00:00.002-05:00

full size here

Flip book debut

2009-02-06T13:13:00.005-05:00

I finished the Catnip Cupid flip book. Just in time for Valentine's Day, I'd say. I really need to make some sort of calendar to keep up with thematic flip book possibilities. I consider my Mary Jane flip book to be Anti-Valentine's Day, which may end up being a more popular holiday in the long run. Besides that, I have the two Father's Day themed books. I think sticking with cats, robots and cavemen may end up being quite lucrative, as they rarely go out of style.

Next up I should start thinking about Easter, Mother's Day, maybe something more obscure or foreign... suggestions welcome.

In addition to finishing the book, I made a little Flash movie out of it. I'm not sure if I'm done yet, I'll plan to post it nearer to Valentine's Day once I decide whether or not to let Patches make a cameo appearance. I managed to do some motion tweening, but didn't figure out the motion path part yet. A lot of the tutorials I've watched are just sort of floating around in my head: sometimes it's difficult to remember how to do things without any hands-on experience. So here's to more hands-on experience. I just need to devote more time to these things.

catnip cupid flying off the back burner

2009-02-04T02:38:00.006-05:00

I've been thinking about something to make. Maybe a new flip book with a Valentine/cat theme? All I've thought of so far is a cat cupid who shoots catnip arrows.

I've been procrastinating a lot lately and not updating this blog (obviously). I don't have a good excuse. Maybe I need some peer pressure to get back to business?

I got a new paper cutter I have yet to take out of the box. I think this week is looking promising to try out the new goods, as I will be doing another flip book side-by-side-Saturday at the Visual Arts Center.

Last month I attended a fabric swap at fleur fabrics and also the crafter's anonymous craft swap. I got rid of a lot of stuff in exchange for some choice goodies.

Time to start putting the choice goodies to use.

New York Recap, Flip book Update, etc.

2008-12-13T00:31:00.006-05:00

Last week I took a mini vacation to New York. It was fun, thanks to friends who put me up, put up with me, and showed me around.

I walked around a lot and enjoyed my subway pass and wore a hat and scarf and ear muffs and gloves on occasion.

I went to MoMA's free Target Friday night, where I scrambled to see the following before running out of time:

Rough Cut: Design Takes a Sharp Edge, which included the video installation of Desire Management by Noam Toran.

The Printed Picture which was a very interesting history of printing, with lots of good examples explaining terms I've never actually seen a hard copy example to go along with.

George Lois: The Esquire Covers

Dreamland: Architectural Experiments since the 1970s

Batiste Madalena: Hand-Painted Film Posters for the Eastman Theatre, 1924–1928

After that I made it over to the Helen Hayes Theatre to see Slava's Snow Show, thanks to recommendation and accompaniment by Blight Productions and co. I think this might have been those most audience-interactive show I've ever seen. Great use of paper scraps, fluff, balloons and clowns coming off stage.

I ate Thai, Japanese, pizza, crepes, bagels, pasta, diner brunch, sample caviar on crackers from vodka salesgirls, and who knows what else. I felt like most of my trip revolved around walking and eating. Both of which are things I like to do when traveling.

I didn't buy too much, though I picked up some things like fred flare frozen smiles from Urban Outfitters, a couple things from Japanese stores Uniqlo and Muji, and some from Pearl River. I also went through the Union Square Holiday Market, where everyone was set up with red and white tents and I tried some hot German fruity cidery drink and tea and looked at a lot of stuff.

Sooooooooo. That's my slightly dull recap. The trip was good in a relaxed way. Now I've been back to work all week and running around, it already seems long ago, I probably forgot something. Too much to remember lately: I've sent out about 9 packages since I got home.

Printed 25 copies of the election flipbook the other day (that's 125 pages that have to be cut into 1,250 smaller "pages" so we'll see if that happens). I plan to very leisurely begin to assemble those. I did put one each of the laser jet and the ink jet in my etsy shop and will see how it goes up until inauguration time.

Besides the on and off etsy restocking, I have important stuff to work on that I'm doing in dribs and drabs. I've been watching a bunch of Illustrator tutorial videos hosted by Deke McClelland and I gotta say I just love that guy, very much for the goofiness aspect. I love to see people be goofy in such a skilled way that they can't help but be successful. Unskilled goofy people can't get away with such things. Speaking of unskilled goofy people, what I really need to be doing now is learning more Flash because I want to make the election flipbook into a little Flash movie. I think I can do that with what I know so far, so hopefully showing some basic version of that will be my next post.

Polar bears, sardine can, and good karma

2008-12-03T03:09:00.007-05:00

Finally, here's the polar bear bag I made out of a polar bear "tapestry" from 1975. It's put together with a repurposed vintage fake blue fur coat. The lining is a slick/stripey upholstery type fabric. Straps and bottom in canvas. This thing is gigantic, though hopefully useful.

This is a donation for Art 180's very shortly upcoming Art Karma, which will be held on this ~~Friday,~~ THURSDAY! 12/4/08 from 7-10pm at Plant Zero, $10 admission. So, you can go get it, when you go. I can't go because I will be out of town.

Thanks to Suzanne from Silver Tree Art for gathering donations for a Richmond Etsy Street Team collection of items, including a couple of other small things I put in.

And now for the big announcement:

From this day hence, save me your sardine cans.

Yes, in addition to tape roll tubes, I have another random thing to collect in hopes of using it to make something in particular.

This is the sardine can art, which is more or less a variation on my "chunko-scenes" from art*o*mat days. Though now that I did an internet search, I've learned of course I'm not the only one who's thought of using these. In this case I used an empty (clean, clean!) sardine can and set a relief collage inside, then topped with magnifying sheet (still need to find a decent source for these since I've never seen them at the dollar store since 2001). The fun part was turning the can into a "frame" by using a nut and bolt to affix the tab as the hanging mechanism.

So there you have it. This sardine can art, titled They won't find another earth, was also sent off as a donation to Art Karma.

* * *

In flip book news, I took a trip to Kinkos and their laser printing is really pretty nice for the election flip book. However, they couldn't do a bleed so part of Obama's arm kept getting cut off. I am currently reformatting the book to allow for a margin and then hopefully I'll invest in getting the nice prints. Then I'll have to do some calculations and actually sell some to recoup the printing costs, because full color on cardstock is a pretty penny. Once I get back from my mini vacation, I'll have to set about getting that in order, tying up some other loose ends and then tackling some major, though not particularly crafty, projects.

ink management, why you won't see McCain's wrinkles, but hey! floating cats

2008-11-25T01:48:00.010-05:00

Well, for those who have been asking... here's the update on my Election 2008 flip book....

It's done. Version one anyway. It actually came out much as imagined and I even added a 4th page so there's actually 37 flipping pages and dimensions of 4.25 inch x 2 inch (whereas my standard flipbook is 24 pages and 2.5 inch x 1.25 inch). Even though it took so long to make, I left the "plot" rather simple. I decided against an elephant and donkey running amok (partly because I didn't feel up to trying to draw and then animate them) and I left out any other side stories.

The problem is that I totally underestimated the printing quality I would get and I did stupid things like spend all this time on little tiny details like sweat beads on McCain's head, or Obama's eyebrow moving slightly. And now it turns out it really doesn't print much of the detail at all. At all. I think it's a combination of my low class printer and paper that's a bit too toothy. Considering the scale I'm working in, I totally should have known better. Nevertheless, I'm planning to go to Kinkos or somewhere to see if I can get better quality. (Any advice on this welcome).

Here's the "real" onscreen version:

And here's a page from the book, which shows about as much detail as there is anyway:

I made 3 of the books and one sample flipper and they are now awaiting the grand opening of Bizarre Market's Holiday edition (starting this Friday, Nov. 28th at Chop Suey Tuey, upstairs).

Perhaps I'll get a super detailed print then it can be the deluxe version. I'll probably make more and put them in my etsy shop one way or another.

Also for Bizarre Market, I finished 20 mini Cats In Space. They are ready to hang and will fit pretty much anywhere you have wall space. Each is one of a kind, $15, so go pick one up when you go to the market, which will be open through to Christmas time.

I think this might be one of my favorites because it looks like a little crazy hyped up lazy cat.

This one wants to be friends with Patches.

This one is drunk on star dust.

This one wants to know if the moon is really made of cheese.

Little Cats in Space

2008-11-17T00:15:00.006-05:00

I've crossed a couple of things of my weekend to-do list of projects.

One of these was starting a stencil sheet for a new version of cats in space. The original cats in space were painted on wood blocks, but I've decided to make a smaller and more simple style. If all goes well these will debut at the Bizarre Market holiday edition opening Friday, November 28th from 6-9 pm at Chop Suey Tuey. I have other things in the works so there'll be more on that later.

These are made of foam core spray painted black with outer space effects done in oil paint marbling.

So, I've stenciled some in white and plan to go and paint each one individually, of course each cat must have its own personality.

Then I'm thinking I will seal them and make them ready to hang. So essentially they will be smaller, lighter and less expensive versions of the originals.

* * *
Next up is a my attempt to make a new flip book. I've also completed my sardine can and polar bear related projects: I think I'll report on those in a day or two.

The Most Beautiful Mouse in the World

2008-11-11T02:18:00.005-05:00

Quite a while ago, I had a grand master scheme in which I would solve my clutter and pack-rat problems by gluing everything I own together and pretending that made me a folk artist all of a sudden.

I keep revisiting that theme when I realize there are things I want to keep, but unless they are somehow clustered together in some mass object, I really can't justify all the little pieces.

So, I don't think my scheme will take on much momentum because it's really not all that practical... but I did finish one project. It's a vase topped with little animals and others of the glass menagerie variety. I had them glued on here for a while now, but it was just recently that I decided to white wash the vase and make it more of a winter wonderland.

As for these animals... I don't know how to describe it other than that they were such childhood treasures, it would be hard to part with them so I couldn't resist but to affix them somehow on an object less likely to fall through the cracks.

This mouse, for instance. Honestly, I not only thought this was the most beautiful mouse in the world... but maybe the most beautiful person in the world, if a mouse was competing in a beauty pageant with a person, she would surely win. I always thought all the other little animals were in love with this mouse.

I guess my big plan to pare down and clean up is partially dependent on my being able to somehow morph the thousands of tiny things into something manageable. This is one example where it actually worked. I'm not sure the glue bottle is safe yet, but there's only so much I can keep.

I have some other techniques in mind. But it's slow going.

I'm currently working on some projects, one of which involves a polar bear tapestry from 1975... the other is potentially going to be based on a sardine can... and there's more. So maybe there will be an update sooner than later this time.

* * *

On a side note, how about Dubai's the World? I read about it recently... I forget where, but at the time actually thought it was made up. But it's real. (Where have I been while this was going on?) It's kind of the opposite of what I'm trying to do in terms of clutter, if we're talking on a planetary scale. It's like some giants decided to make sand castles one day and then things went horribly awry. I still don't understand who the people must be who live in your typical rich-person suburban subdivisions, let alone who these people can be who want to live on a man made luxury chunk of sand scrap masquerading as a piece of Australia.

Outside, lately

2008-10-15T02:22:00.004-04:00

swallowtail caterpillar on carrot tops

these finally bloomed...

someone can tell me what they are, perhaps.

morningglory

(chrysanthe)mum

forget-me-nots

forget-me-nots with ant

I'm Not Outside Enough

2008-09-18T12:04:00.006-04:00

The other day I spent a while doing various "chores" outside, mainly digging to make holes for some potted plants. Oh, I still need to mow the lawn, I just remembered.
Anyway, I've often lamented to myself after forgetting to write down or otherwise remember what I've planted where. With vegetables, it's kind of ridiculous not to know, but with flowers, it's almost fun. For example, I can't recall what the above plant is going to be, but I can see it's getting ready to bloom so it's exciting to wait and see. When I looked closely I saw that little bug on there just hanging out.

Push Pins for the Dentist's Office

2008-09-16T12:24:00.003-04:00

I finished the set of 10 toothy push pins. The spray painting process makes sense, but masking off the tooth part from the gums is a hassle and gets gunky. With these I ended up doing touch up all over with another shade of pink which was more of a magenta than the original spray paint. I'm working on a set of beads which will hopefully make better use of the spray paint. And I'm going to look for more small push pins I can use for making more of these.

Entering the dental office supply business could probably be quite lucrative.

In other news, I've created a HALLOWEENY section of my etsy shop. I need to restock it with more of the spooky mask goods from last year and then make something else spooky if I have time.

(g)lovely clutch

2008-09-13T00:25:00.006-04:00

Well, I finished the project and named it (g)lovely clutch. The auction is taking place Oct. 16th.

I actually ended up abandoning the inner form which was the salvaged clutch... it turned out to function as more of a "dress form" really, and enabled me to structure the shape of the clutch without having to actually create a second skin for it. (That means I still have the "form" clutch, not that I'm sure I ever want to attempt making such a thing again).

It's very multi-technique and multi-textural, which I guess is typical of my style, especially when experimenting. Techniques include applique, embroidery, various stitches, quilting... Materials include vintage gloves, one dotted swiss shirt, rough silk-type fabric, felt, batting, a fabric covered button, beads, floss.

There is also a pair of matching dyed vintage gloves included.

* * *

Next up I'm attempting to make some toothy pushpins for a dentist's wife.

Right now they are unpainted sculpy and look grossly fleshy. I have some white spray paint and I think tomorrow I'll go buy some pink. Usually I paint toothy items by hand, but one of my ongoing goals is for better time management so I think I'm going to try out spray paint for a change. We'll see.

Oh Wouldn't It Be Gloverly...

2008-08-29T00:54:00.014-04:00

glov·er·ly /gˈlʌvərli/ [gluhv-er-lee] Pronunciation Key
–adjective, adverb

the characteristic of being a proponent of glove-wearing; one who loves gloves.

slang: The characteristics of one who is prone to act like Crispin Glover.

* * *

I don't know what my problem is. For some reason everytime I start to write a blog, I end up having Audrey Hepburn musical numbers on the brain.

But back to gloves. Earlier I mentioned I had been playing with a box of RIT dye.

That was back when I deluded myself into thinking I could take apart a purse with a top closure "kiss clasp" and reuse it... but then I mangled it. So, after some amount of thought, I abandoned that idea.

Oh yeah, and this is the continued purse topic related to the purse fundraiser project It's in the Bag for LINC (Legal Information Network for Cancer).

My idea all along was that I would be using vintage gloves in constructing the purse. Maybe I should have gone with wearing vintage gloves while constructing the purse? Perhaps when Method Crafting really takes off, I'll start wearing period costume depending on my project.

So.... I have quite a few of the vintage gloves from Fannie Rose Vintage left over from long ago when I worked with her, windshine, and bubblecup on our Seven Exquisite Sins wall hanging for the etsy collaboration contest.

I had some white gloves with some discoloration, so I decided to dye everything with the coral RIT.

I threw in a vintage purse while I was at it. Light over the kitchen sink is reflected in my dye bucket.

So, the wet gloves remind me of raw salmon and tuna, and should be sliced up and put on top of sushi rice. No. They're totally dry now, because I took these photos a while ago. Actually, at this point I've started finishing up the "shaping" of this purse, which is turning out to be a clutch. I did find a thrift purse to use as the innards for this, and there's no clasp involved, though I'm thinking of using magnets for closure. It's going to have a lot of different textures and gloverliness, so I'll post photos when it's done.

P.S. Speaking of photos: my free flickr account is almost full, and I'm considering upgrading to their unlimited pay account. Anyone reading this have any advice or suggestion of an alternative? Thanks.

Seam ripper and faulty cube construction

2008-08-16T00:28:00.005-04:00

Without deadlines to prompt me, I'd never get anything done. That said, it's irritating when I decide I must finish something and then I just can't. I tried mightily to finish a set of 3 blocks for the Etsy Kids Challenge. I stayed up too late, picking out the 18 sides of fabric and thinking over possible designs. But then the next morning time went too fast and I totally ran out of time, not to mention the sewing machine decided to hate me.

Here is what I experienced:

# of infuriating balled up messes of thread: 15-20

# of needles broken: 1

# of times I had to re-thread: 10-15

# of totally sewn sides I had to rip out and redo: 3-4

# of times the thread broke while sewing: 5

All was going ok, though I was looking at the time and thinking those Project Runway folk are crazy. But then after all the sewing machine problems, I thought I had the first block done and lo and behold I had sewn the cube together wrong. I don't know how I did it, but it was some sort of rectangular-tube shape. I guess a cube is the kind of thing I thought I could just do without really thinking, and then I sewed the sides together all cockeyed. Well, I had to rip out the seams on those and redo it. And then I had to stop to go to work and I knew that was it as far as meeting the deadline.

So, in the end, I had one complete block. The rest of the prepared pieces for two other blocks will have to wait.

For some reason I felt compelled to adapt Moon River in my head to the occasion although I kept in "Huckleberry friend" because it's bizarre to begin with regardless of having it be associated with a seam ripper.

Seam ripper... wider than a mile
I'm tearing out these sides today
You dress maker, you threadbreaker
Whatever you're ripping I'm watching it fray....
Two sewers off to stitch the world
There's such a lot of world to sew
We're after the same ribbon's end
Hemming round the bend
My huckleberry friend, seam ripper...
And me

I've always wanted a Huckleberry friend.... I think....

And last but not least, from stumble upon Modern Life.

Seed packets, purse, projects to pick

2008-08-15T01:02:00.009-04:00

Today, courtesy of stumple upon, I present:

Weird horse quartet
Dirty Car Art Gallery
Hidden Airplane Factory

What are my updates?

Bizarre Market was nice. J. from Monkeydogstudio had saved some tape dispenser rolls for me, that was awfully sweet of her.

I met K., who found a great use for the seed packet books I made. They go wonderfully with the cool mini flower presses she made with kids at the William Byrd Community House. If only I had as many successful vegetable results as I have seed packets.

Now what? I still need to make the purse for the LINC project, but of course I got sidetracked. And then I have til 11:59 pm EST to enter Etsy's Handmade Kids Challenge. I guess that means I should get off the computer and make something now. I had cut out some squares to make blocks, but now I'm not sure where I put them. Maybe I'll see if I can get it together in the next 21 hours.

Photos hosted by flickr.

Bizarre Market Reminder

2008-08-08T14:06:00.001-04:00

This is just a reminder about tomorrow (Saturday 8/9's) Bizarre Market which is part of Art 180's Jonny Z Festival to be held on the 200 block of N. Shields (not outside Chop Suey Books this time).

I totally meant to take some photos of stuff but I ran out of time. So, this is going to be short. If I wake up and attend you may find the following items:

Little notebooks made with old seed packets
Flip books and other mini books
Something screen printed
Maybe magnets
Flip cat dolls

Hmmmmm... what else. Ok well I'm out of time so I'll have to post a followup afer the fact.

goodbye to what I don't use and won't miss, if I can figure out what those things are

2008-08-05T09:00:00.005-04:00

I always forget to use Stumple Upon, which I have had loaded in the toolbar for quite a while. But I'm thinking I will try to use it more often, just to see what random interesting things I find... isn't that the purpose anyway?

Tonight I found this animation, I love how it's set up on the web page.

En Tus Brazos

I'm having a dilemma concerning screenprinting. Well, I have found that I am not using the materials very efficiently. That is, I mixed up a batch of emulsion a while back and told myself to use it before it went bad (like last time) but now again I have no empty screens and I bet it went bad already. Plus, the one screen I prepared I hid to dry in a closet and one day came home and the closet door was wide open, letting the light in (Yes, I blamed Patches). Now I have no idea if that screen is ruined or not. Then, I was going to try it anyway, but now when I try to print out a stencil on transparencies they keep smudging. I think it is the printer I'm using since my last printer broke.

I've been thinking a lot about streamlining my categories of "techniques" (not saying I'm not going to screenprint), but I have too many potential projects and the materials end up squandered or lost in the mess and then I buy more stuff I don't need or I waste time trying to mess with some new process ONLY because I bought something thinking "Oh maybe I'll use this - oh wait, now I have to spend all this time trying to use this."

So, I'm going to go through my supplies and try again to separate them into categories, and get rid of some things, too, probably by "destashing" on etsy. Just because I haven't done something in years (like watercolors for instance) doesn't mean I'm getting rid of all my supplies, because I know I'm likely to want them as soon as they're gone. The trick is identifying those things that I don't use and won't miss.

I'm presently trying to rustle up some things for this Saturday's Bizarre Market which is part of Art 180's Jonny Z Festival to be held on the 200 block of N. Shields (not outside Chop Suey Books this time). So... I'm currently in a muddle deciding what I should concentrate on getting ready now that my screenprinting plans keep getting ruined. I'm working on a few things, but I don't have much time. There'll be an update later this week.

P.s. I feel I should include a photo, since I usually do, so here's one of a bouquet of carrots I took a while back, with Patches lounging in the background.

Kitty vs. Insect prints (part two)

2008-07-24T09:46:00.003-04:00

The last time I shared my fabric store purchases, I presented the quandary of choosing between kitty and insect prints. I've now made one flip cat of each.

Look at me!

No, me!

and here's this extra cat who just showed up:
I'm better than kitties or insects!

The gang's all here.

Don't try this at home/why I shouldn't have access to pliers

2008-07-22T09:00:00.004-04:00

So, thanks to the tip from Andrea at Artwork by Andrea, I'm going to be participating in the make a purse fundraiser project It's in the Bag for LINC (Legal Information Network for Cancer). I have an idea but have only just started assembling my materials.

I've made "bags" before, but not exactly any kind of structured purse, so I was going to consult with some old purses for inspiration. I learned from friend M. that the certain kind of clasp I had in mind is called Kiss Clasp. So I took apart an old purse to see what I could learn about this strange apparatus.

I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking when I took to this thing with pliers, but it was not a pretty process. And from other accounts I found online, I am certainly not the first to make this mistake.

Kiss clasp reminding me of a shark-skeleton mouth.

After this debacle (and yes, I'm still considering I may be able to salvage this), I came across this very helpful lesson from u handbag. Now, I'm not one for following patterns (short attention span?), but in this case I'm going to at least follow the general directions. I will certainly be back to tell more about this project ... it also involves an ancient package of coral RIT dye I got out of my thrift store treasure box.

Once again, I must report on other news, and that is that the return of my pincushions after their summer camp at Interweave Press. They came back with many stories to tell, but sadly no prizes. Congratulations to their rivals and comrades, all of whom are quite striking and wonderful. All said and done the pincushions admit bashfully that they were more conceptual than technique-based, but they're looking forward to the next adventure, probably including an upcoming appearance in the etsy shop.

Goodbye Cilantro, Hello Coriander... (plus custom flipcats)

2008-07-20T23:03:00.006-04:00

I'm not sure when and how I learned that cilantro and coriander are the same thing... well, from the same plant anyway. So all the green cilantro dried up and I attempted to harvest the seeds. I think it's pretty straightforward, I got them off the stems and sorted and washed them. I tried some crushed with mortar and pestle and mixed in with rice and they were quite nice.

In other news, I completed two custom flip cats for an etsy customer.
Patches said she doesn't mind. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all.

I have some other post topics at the ready, so stay tuned.

Patches Shows Her Skills

2008-07-11T02:57:00.001-04:00

Slightly bigger version here.

Patches shared her flip book expertise with the readers of the etsy storque in this article.

Potatoes, the popularity of buttermilk, and pig collecting

2008-06-24T02:49:00.005-04:00

So, what's been going on? (You ask.) (I ask.)

I've been very very busy and tired and tired of being busy. My previous attempt to make a "holiday"-themed product did better than I expected with the addition of Father Daughter Robot Flip Book . I think I sold 12 copies of it since my last posting, almost too much to keep up with on top of my other assembly duties. Production in general has been held up due to an series of setbacks and inconveniences.

My car was rear-ended a few weeks ago. And that has slowed down production, not to mention turning me into a car-shopping/insurance-cringing/pill-popping/wheel-screeching mess. My car is "totalled" although it is still currently driveable, I'm trying to find an alternative. It takes too much time. And there's too much to find out about cars that I don't know or don't want to know or don't know I need or want or don't want to know. Sorry, this is my current thought process of chaos and being overwhelmed by everything.

So last Friday I took a field trip to see a vehicle out of town. All did not go as hoped, but I won't tell the sad story here - suffice it to say we turned toward home still in the duct-taped-together auto.

Luckily we happened across Allman's Bar-B-Q in Fredericksburg and they were kind enough to let us in just before the lunch rush, as well as let me photograph some of the pig collection. Mr. Pork Chop would be proud.

And I'd like to say something witty about the popularity and price of buttermilk these days, but I really don't know what that might be.

In other news, I dug up some russet potatoes, which surprised me with their varied sizes:

And, there's other things.

I'm trying to make lookability.com, but right now it's just a booby trap leading you in circles back and forth from hither and yon. I have nearly everything that exists about web design to learn and then forget and then learn again and then learn it's obsolete once I've finally memorized it... but I'm hoping I can get something going there, if only for practice.

So, more later.

Insect or cat fabric? If you had to pick one to wear...

2008-06-04T10:43:00.005-04:00

These fabrics would be horrifically clashing if used to make one item:

bug fabric

cat fabric

But used separately, I think they will be great. Yes, I went to the fabric store yesterday. I had my reasons, but I will not go through the motions of justifying all my purchases at this time.

So the question is: Insect or cat fabric? If you had to pick one to wear...

* * *

In other news, a customer in New Zealand wants to order 36 (thirty-six) of my flip books, so I am hard at work assembling those. The probability of x-acto injury resulting from making 36 flip books in a relatively short period of time seems quite high. So I sought out what up until recently I had not really even been aware of: that is the rotary paper trimmer. Thanks, S., for the idea.

I got one of these little cutting platforms with a rotary cutter built in. So far the cutting is pretty good, very even, but the only thing I didn't expect was the way I have to pull up and click down the bar every time I want to reposition the paper. And I need to reposition the paper a lot, so I need to minimize the number of repositionings, because lifting the bar up and clicking it down wastes a few seconds, and is a little loud.

You also need to push down and slide the rotary blade carriage with some strength behind it, so it's not something I can do for hours at a time (it's tiring to the wrist, though not nearly as bad as equivalent X-acto use would be). I'm interested in getting the scoring blade, then I can expand my envelope-making and box-making capacities. There is also a perforating blade, decorative blades, and who knows what else.

if your father's a robot or a caveman, now's your chance

2008-05-30T12:22:00.006-04:00

I'm trying to cater my goods towards holiday shopping hordes and groups who want to buy stuff. I guess that's called marketing?

My newest attempt is to make two (so far) themed flip books for Father's Day gift options.

This one is called Father-Daughter Robot Dance. This is the first time I made a flip book primarily using Illustrator, and the program practically had a heart attack because of all the 3-d effects I was using to make the robot bodies. Luckily it saved without crashing.

And here's Cave Dad and Son, my second cave man themed flip book.

I sliced off a little bit of my finger when I was making this one. I'm having a challenge dealing with the cutting portion of the flip book assembly procedures. It's what slows me down the most. That, and drilling. I use an x-acto knife to cut, and a drill with a really thick needle as the bit, and so far there haven't been any catastrophes, but it's slow going. Considering the first flip books I started out with I poked the binding holes by hand, this is faster and more efficient by leaps and bounds. I guess I just need to refine my techniques and perhaps figure out a quicker and safer way to cut out the sheets. I know die cutting exists but I don't really understand those machines or their templates or if such things are customizable.

So, I'll keep doing what I'm doing until I find a better way.

fresh catnip! and don't go flehmening all over my dinner

2008-05-17T21:42:00.003-04:00

According to How Stuff Works:

Although no one knows exactly what happens in the cat's brain, it is known that the chemical nepetalactone in catnip is the thing that triggers the response. Apparently, it somehow kicks off a stereotypical pattern in cats that are sensitive to the chemical. The catnip reaction is inherited, and some cats are totally unaffected by it. Large cats like tigers can be sensitive to it as well.

I want to see a tiger playing with a bushel of catnip.

and

The feline receptor for nepetalactone is in the vomeronasal organ, located above the feline palate. The location of the vomeronasal organ may explain why cats do not react from eating gelatin-enclosed capsules of catnip. Nepetalactone must be inhaled for it to reach the receptors in the vomeronasal organ.

This vomeronasal organ is also known as the Jacobson's organ, described here:

While snakes and other reptiles flick substances into Jacobson's organ with their tongues, several mammals (e.g., cats) exhibit the Flehmen reaction. When 'Flehmening', an animal appears to sneer as it curls its upper lip to better expose the twin vomeronasal organs for chemical sensing.

Oh my gosh, so "flehmening" is that horrible face cats make when they smell something and have a disgusted look on their faces. I always felt insulted if Patches did that around some food I was eating.

Being bad at the thrift store, plus begonia, butterfly bush and upcoming catnip franchise

2008-05-09T01:19:00.004-04:00

I was bad. I totally broke the rules again. Oh well.

Today I got this big box of sewing stuffs at the thrift store. I feel a little odd splaying its contents all over the place, because I wonder what happened to the original owner... but then I think if for some reason that owner can no longer use sewing supplies, I'm sure she'd want someone to have them and be using them. There was also some papers outlining a sewing class, so maybe this box is the sewing class treasure chest.

I kept going back and rifling through this box trying to convince myself not to buy it. But there was so much crammed in there, I had to buy it.

This includes all sorts of ribbons, elastic, needles, fasteners, tracing papers,and so on and so forth.

Some of the more interesting things are: some kind of handmade double measuring tape contraption attached to a wooden spool with a string coming out the end; a blue thimble from Warrensburg, Mo.; a velvety and lacy brown ribbon; a Sears "gift to you from Kenmore" sewing kit; and a strange plastic squeezy bottle of some liquid substance (what is it!?).

So, I will have to use these products to justify the continued stock piling of craft supplies. I need to make some stuff, or else I really have to stop buying supplies.

* * *

Prior to my thrift store follies, I visited the farmer's market for the first time this year. I got some delicious citrus soy candles from Pure Light Candle Co., coffee, my favorite baked good by the No Wonder bread man, a begonia plant, sage and thyme, a butterfly bush AND a hanging basket of catnip. The hanging basket of catnip is going to be a hit, I'm sure of it. Patches and her suitor who was waiting outside the door already partook this evening. It's a pretty hefty catnip plant, so I'm hoping I can harvest the catnip and expand my cat related products to include sensory delights.

gnarly Carrots, plus the return of Charlie and Cubby

2008-05-08T08:00:00.004-04:00

I think I discovered the reason not to plant carrots too close to each other.

And I think this is a rare instance where the term "gnarly" is entirely appropriate.

Sadly parted.

The greens mix together well without any developmental issues.
This mass may include any of the following: fennel, arugula, spinach, mustard, lettuces, carrot tops, swiss chard, oregano, basil, rosemary.

And I'm finally reunited with my favorite Russian stop motion characters: Charlie and Cubby. I have a videotape of their adventures that I stumbled upon some years ago before the dawn of the internet. The rest of their adventures have always been a mystery, but thanks to YouTube maybe I can catch up on some of their doings.

Russian:

Surprise! Japanese dub:

squirrel with gun, discriminating weirdos, thrift store cat and vigorous zucchini

2008-05-02T01:05:00.007-04:00

Disclaimer: this post is just going to be a hodge-podge with no particular theme.

In purchase reports, I bought this cute/ not quite scary squirrel with a gun keychain from MonkeyDogStudio AKA OneMansTrash at last Saturday's Bizarre Market. She had some other cool ones too!

I also just won some screen printing supplies on ebay, though I'm pretty sure this breaks my rules about not buying craft supplies when I already have too much. BUT, I have mixed emulsion and need to use it ASAP, so I guess that's an excuse.

* * *

In other news, the discriminating weirdos at Moe Sew Co. had some deep thoughts on some of my embroideries. I'm very flattered by the term wantable weirdness and also the fact that they somehow managed to work a freakish 1970 commercial into the review. Thanks, discriminating weirdos.

* * *

Speaking of weird, here's that framed cat picture I bought last month at a thrift store. It's not totally clear if the maker was entirely pro-cat, but at any rate, I think it's pretty funny and wacked out.

text:

THE CAT IS always greener on the other side of the fence ◘ a rolling cat gathers no moss ◘ just say "no" to cats ◘ read my lips - no new kittens ◘ I left my cat in San Francisco ◘ frankly Scarlet I don't give a cat ◘ able to leap tall counters with a single bound ◘ four score and seven cats ago ◘ a watched cat never boils ◘ if at first you don't succeed, get a cat ◘ a kitten a day keeps the doctor away ◘ give me liberty or give me cats ◘ kittens should be seen and not heard ◘ she'll be carrying six white kittens when she comes ◘ ask not what your kitten can do for you but what you can do for your kitten ◘ my cat runneth over

* * *

And last but not least, some zucchini is really anxious to grow up. One of them (on the left) punched through the soil so vigorously, he's still wearing a little hat made out of a clump of soil.

Bizarre Market Today!

2008-04-26T10:57:00.000-04:00

Hey, don't forget today is Bizarre Market at Chop Suey Books! Noon til 4pm.

I will have some items there including:

The newest flip book Cat Magic featuring the original depiction of Patches a flying cat.

A pile of new flip cat patches dolls.

For those uncertain, potential uses for flip cat mini pouches include:
cozy for your favorite marble, a match box, a doll, your ipod shuffle, a flip book.

bug & flowers

2008-04-25T02:06:00.004-04:00

At first I thought this bug was a mantis, but its head and arms don't look right. Maybe it's too much of a baby (½ inch?). Or maybe it's something entirely different.

I made a new flip book and in the process jammed my printer beyond repair. So, instead of going into detail about how beyond repair irritated I am, I'm just going to post some flowers:

Dogwood, Columbine, Dianthus and California Poppy (which actually grew from seed finally!).

Spring Bada-Bing Loot!

2008-04-22T14:12:00.003-04:00

Sunday's Spring Bada-Bing at the REST table was a success. I had the pleasure to hang out with:

Psychic Power Projects Karen Maiko and Jkadesigns

Although I didn't sell much of anything, I bought a few lovely things (I'm not including one which is a secret gift):

End of the World Switchplate by Wonder Wares

Anatomical Mouth Switchplate by Penguin Love, who also made some really snazzy little notebooks which were in the swag bags.

Moss Pin by Arthur Hash.

I also bought some I ♥ Alpaca stickers from Made By Tess at her adorable and colorful display.

So, of course I scrambled like crazy to get a lot of stuff done for the event, and I think I knew I was going overboard... I made 250 mini promo envelopes for the swag bags, though I didn't get them all in on time.

They included a tiny Catalog of Goods, a sticker, a coupon and either a 100 Random Square Inch Drawing magnet, or a teeny flip cat shrinky dink "bead".

I used my absolutely last sheet of Frosted Ruff & Ready Shrinky Dinks, Colorforms ©1975. I'm wondering if I can find this old style Shrinky Dinks anymore. The other sheets I had were modern and not at all Frosted Ruff & Ready. Check out the cool packaging:

So... next up is Bizarre Market this Saturday!

Get Ready for Upcoming Fun

2008-04-16T12:26:00.008-04:00

This Sunday April 20th is Spring Bada-Bing, put on by the Richmond Craft Mafia. I won't be an official vendor with my own table, but I will be there as part of REST (Richmond Etsy Street Team).

Then.... on Saturday, April 26th from Noon through 4, Chop Suey Books will host the annual Spring Bizarre Market.

Richmond's most eclectic arts & crafts & oddities sale.
The Bizarre Market fills up Randolph Street with an
average of 25-40 vendors who sell everything from
paintings, knit clothing, retro clothing, prints, jewelry,
photographs, haircuts, new shoes, bottles of water,
and household goods. This particular market will focus
on all of these items, but we are encouraging all Spring
Cleaners to bring out yard sale and household products.

It is always free for vendors to set up, and we welcome
anyone with legal items to sell. We do ask that each vendor
donates 10% of the day's sales to our selected non-profit,
Books On Wheels. In return, BOW will be present with
the bus, fixing bikes and giving away books.

I'm not 100% sure that I'll be doing Bizarre Market, (because I still might go out of town). But I probably will do it.

Right now I am working on many little odds and ends, including Lookability goody bags for the Spring Bada-Bing.

I got a great envelope template maker from digging around on the internet. Luckily I learned how to "score" to get the folds to work.

I'm making some new flip cat goods...

Mini Pouches

More cats

Also, I was lucky to be featured in today's Etsy Finds - Print Plush email. There are many cool etsy mailing lists to subscribe to.

I'm kind of embarrassed IF my dolls are too inexpensive (now that I see the other Print Plushies), but these are similar to the ones that didn't sell in person for $8 the one time I tried. Pricing is so tricky! I need a pricing support group. Or I guess I need to do some "market research" and see how cat dolls are faring in the economy.

Oh, I almost forgot, I got a really great cat-related thing at the thrift store (yeah, breaking my shopping rules). I'll put that up next time.

Alchemy Success Part 2: Jackalope Taxidermy

2008-04-09T01:33:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I reported on alchemy success from the consumer's perspective. It was about my new favorite raccoon shirt.

Today's episode deals with alchemy success from the maker's perspective. And that maker is me.

I couldn't resist bidding on the challenge to make a mounted jackalope "taxidermy" made of non-animal materials. I won the bid but didn't really have a plan other than ideas floating in my head.

Lucky for me the ideas in my head floated out pretty much exactly how I hoped they would. That's always nice. (Because believe me, most of the time it doesn't work out that way).

The process:
First I went to the hardware store and experienced the usual awkward situation of looking for unknown materials and not wanting to explain what I'm looking for... since I'm rarely quite sure. I bought chicken wire and screening. That was the base for the jackalope embryo:

This was built up with wire and screen and then covered with this foam carpet padding stuff. Then I made brown corduroy antlers. A lot of the sewing of padding and "skin/fur" was done using a curved needle. Actually, without the curved needle, it might have been impossible to get the "pelt" on the innards.

I like the profile.

The eyes were made using these glass globules I had for a long time. I had no idea what I was ever going to use these for, but now I know I can use them for jackalope eyes.

* * * *

Meanwhile, in unrelated news I must report, Patches is bemused by a camel cricket.

Alchemy Success part 1: Raccoon Shirt Transformed by Fisheye

2008-04-08T01:35:00.000-04:00

Etsy recently reintroduced the Alchemy feature which is used for requesting custom items or bidding to be the person to make the custom items.

I decided to partake so I put out a call to have a shirt altered to fit. As many shirts as I have, I always wanted this shirt to fit, because the fabric is so awesome:

Yes, it is vintage fabric with raccoons. I imagine they are washing apples or some other treasure they scavenged from somewhere. Of course these raccoons remind me of Patches. I have had this shirt since 2002 when I attended the Art-o-Mat 5th Anniversary Swap Meet in Winston-Salem. I grabbed this shirt out of a giant clothing swap mountain at Mary's of Course! Cafe. Finally, some random thing I pick up and hold on to for half a decade has actually become usable.

And all thanks to Fisheye Accessories. fisheye is an etsy seller who makes one-of-a-kind accessories, primarily from recycled or repurposed materials.

One of my favorites is her Apple Tree Cross Stitch clutch, made out of an upcycled kitchen towel.

She did a great job on altering the shirt, which started out way too loose and slouchy on me.

Before:

and

After:

Next Episode: Alchemy Success Part 2: Wherein chicken wire is utilized.

Caterpillar & Warrior Bear - plus continued adventures and misadventures in print

2008-03-31T04:33:00.000-04:00

Recently, I think by using Shop Local on Etsy, I discovered juliabhebner.etsy.com. She has really beautiful and unique prints, among other things. We did a sort of bartering arrangement and I got this print I had been eyeing:

Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar

And also this:

Warrior Bear Magnet

I love these! And I know I'll see at least one of those caterpillars show up again this year when the fennel gets going. I doubt I'll see a warrior bear in person, but you never know.

For local people, go check out Julia's work, currently at the Visual Arts Studio and upcoming on May 17th at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's art & craft show

* * *

So, this weekend I dropped in on a print making open house at Visual Arts Center (not to be confused with Visual Arts Studio), which I still very much want to call the Hand Work Shop

To make a long story short, once again I have concluded that print making (in most forms) takes a lot of prep and is messy and time consuming (none of which I'm saying is a negative thing). It's just difficult to get into if you're not prepared.

I thought I finally learned the difference between monotype and monoprint, although here it is explained in a way that makes me think I'm still not quite certain. I'm constantly getting hung up on terminology, I think because I like getting hung up on terminology. I love finding out what all the materials and implements and machinery parts are called. Anyway, I made a very simple monotype. One was the result of drawing with a stick on top of the paper on top of the plate, the other (the one with the red background) went through the press.

Comparing the outcome to last week's project, I think I prefer drypoint, though that is even more press-reliant. I also found out some things about the wood block class they have, and that's really the class I'd want to take the most, although I fear my carving strengths would not be adequate.

So, for now it's just screenprinting for me. The most recent episode involved my attempt to use the leftover photo emulsion which had been in refrigerator since last time I used it. It looked usable as I was pouring it onto the screen. But it smelled gross, and I'm thinking I should have thrown it out. Too late though. The next day, after I left it to burn the image all night, the screen's surface was all globby and uneven. Then when I tried to wash it out at first nothing was happening and then the edges of the images started to crumble off. Lesson (learned?) once again: stop taking short cuts and stop trying to use materials that are past their prime. Oh yeah, but I filled in the chunked off parts with screen filler and I'm going to try and see if I can still get some prints from it.

In other news, my upcoming "reveal" (if this was a reality show) involves the following sneak peek:

bird skull, bug skin, potatoes with long eyes, milking a Bosnian cow and tarlatan

2008-03-24T00:37:00.000-04:00

Reports from the backyard:

I'm not sure what the moral of the story is, but I found these two things outside today. And somehow they seemed to go together.

Seed potatoes. I know potatoes grow underground but I didn't realize "seed potatoes" existed and could be purchased by the pound out of wooden barrels. But now I got some and they are hopefully doing their thing out in the dirt. I did use legit yukon gold seed potatoes and also some red potatoes from the grocery store that grew eyes. We'll see if this potato experiment results in any clear conclusions on potato culture.

I got two old tires from my dad, to use as a potato-planting area. Thanks to T.K. and folks at the Y.L. for giving me the idea. I also used some plastic garden edging to create another area, because once I cut the potatoes I had too many to fit in the tire space. I'm trying really hard not to crowd plants, because I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the idea of thinning plants. I guess that's really the way you grow healthy plants, but I don't actually know how to do it. And it seems like a waste. But I'm just being sentimental, I guess.

On the topic of printing (with a hodgepodge of links)

In other news, this weekend I attended a dry point workshop at Gallery 5 put on by a local org called Art on Wheels. It was fun and the people were very nice. And I probably asked too many questions, but that seems to be my way.

I brought this photo as a reference from which to make the image.

This is one of my favorite photos from Bosnia. This lady was a neighbor of the people I was staying with and she was very excited to show me her milking station (located in a sort of stone room under a barn) and also a horse and a manure field. She was extremely enthusiastic.

So, what did I learn about dry point? Well, like all other printmaking techniques I've attempted so far, this one is also relatively complicated, messy and time consuming.

First we scratch our image (which will print in reverse) on a plate. Traditionally it would be metal, but we used plastic, which enabled tracing from a photo.

Then there's this whole long step where you apply and then rub off ink. You rub it off with a stiff cheesecloth called a tarlatan. I like that word. On a side note, I just read that tutus used to be made out of tarlatan until that was replaced with tulle.

Anyway, then place the rubbed off ink plate on the press, over which you place a dampened sheet of the paper, and then you run it through. Turning the press wheel took a lot more physical gusto than I was prepared for. At any rate, if you don't totally screw it up, your print will be ready on the other end of the press.

(paper isn't really that color, my camera is just pretending it is).

So, how do I feel about drypoint vs. screenprinting? Well, for one the way we did this there wasn't any talk of using more than black ink, and my great downfall in screen printing is failure to follow rules and register inks properly. So in that way, drypoint was less taxing on my brain. But then again, screen printing can be done without owning a press and overall it is less tiring as far as arms and wrists and hands go. (And that's always one of my issues).

So, I was just reading that drypoint is part of the intaglio family. I'm not quite sure I can remember the differences in each type of printing. But here's some discussion that explains the "dry" in drypoint referring to no acid being involved. In addition, I don't know how to get myself to pronounce things like intaglio (pronounced in-TAL-yo, IPA: [ɪn'tælɪəʊ] correctly. Lastly, does the twisted etching tool Whistler's Needle refer to James McNeill Whistler, son of Whistler's Mother? Apparently so.

So, I'm going to think this over and return to explore printing techniques at a later date.

Strawberry Kids

2008-03-18T01:11:00.000-04:00

Quite a while ago, I posted a photo of Strawberry Boy under the title Naked Strawberry, because he had no clothes.

Now he has clothes, and his friend Strawberry Girl is out and about as well. Maybe there will be more Strawberry Kids, but only time will tell. These two are now residing in the Toys and Doodads section of my shop.

I attempted to make a stop motion with these two, and I think it would have been pretty cute, but unfortunately it came out all pixelated and funky. The weird thing is - one single frame was clear, and I have no idea why. Nevertheless, I put in on YouTube. I think I'm just going to have to do the digital movie thing as a trial and error work in progress. Once I figure out what I'm doing maybe I'll do remakes or an epic or something.

snake charmer and other backyard sideshows

2008-03-17T02:36:00.000-04:00

Or perhaps, Snake C(harmer)

Today's episode of Fun with Neighborhood Cats featured thrilling hunt by feline vs. reptile. The snake charmer photo above reminds me of those cute photos you see of things like a hippo hanging out with a turtle, or a mouse playing with a parakeet, or a baby alligator swimming with a baby manatee. So I'm going to pretend this photo is all about peace and love of a sweet cat and a mild mannered snake, and maybe it really is after all, even if one of them had to play dead. (I'm pretty sure this snake was injured or just extremely stressed out. But later I moved him and I think he managed to get away, because he wasn't in the same place when I checked back).

In less charming back yard undertakings, I had a container for collecting grubs and another for worms. The grubs are for the birds (and to get them out of the garden), and the worms go back in after weeding and such.

So far in the garden, the peas are doing the best.

Unfortunately, once again I convinced myself after planting a row of something and leaving it unmarked that "Oh, I'll remember what I planted there." And now I can't remember.

For example:

The choices are: arugula, mesclun, lettuce, swiss chard, and something else I forgot. I think it's arugula. Someday I'll be the kind of wise person who can recognize plants (even seedlings) by sight.

Other things I planted and did not mark were: turnips, rhutabaga, kohlrabi. I know where these all are, I just don't know which row is which.

The things I marked include: carrots, spinach, radish (2-3 kinds), maybe something else I forgot.

And this was exciting: for the first time since whenever I planted it, this fruit tree is blooming. My memory must be shot, because not only do I not remember how long it's been there, I also don't know for 100% sure what it is... but I think it's pear. Maybe it will someday have pears?

Stay tuned for: non-edible strawberries.

freakish animals from far and wide

2008-03-15T00:48:00.004-04:00

Some time ago, some freakish animals named Craylamb, Two-headed flying Panther, Ram Roach and Lizard-tailed Frogbra went out into the world via my etsy shop.

These daring pioneers joined my friend D. in New York, where they soon became inhabitants of some premium display cases.

And now I've gotten word from a great customer named boogi child that her freakish animals - White-collared Horsadile and Bumble Monkey - are now proud wall occupants in these wonderful hanging dioramas she created.

It's great to see where the freakish animals make their homes and I'm so glad they keep in touch.

choice etsy embroidery aggregated for your convenience

2008-03-05T01:40:00.000-05:00

Larger version is here.

So, speaking of embroidery (which there's often time to speak of), I recently went on an etsy hunt to find some of the coolest embroidery. And since I never even try to get treasuries anymore, I just made one using poster sketch.

Some of this stuff is amazing. I tried to stick to hand done embroidery, not that I'm against machinery... but I guess I just have a soft spot for people with achy fingers.

Here are the links:
unirabbit - the frog bag
fat cat - meowstro
nature's garbageman - jilldrapermakesstuff
the meditation - chatnoirstudios
what i look like - wildethyme
woop woop - rebeccajaynedagger
redwork elf - cornflowercreations
i hart wayne - crumpart
swans - indianablue
dancer - sarahgail
squeaky wheel - couchdesign
cityscape - ramblinworker
lumberjack underpants - rosieok
what a manly pouch - MABbymorgan
happy utensils - melysbaby
fat cat - aronlowe

I purchased some things from thefrogbag a while back. I really love thefrogbag's goods. I got a trilobite cat toy for Patches and a tadpole bag for myself.

As for my embroidery... well, I'm still working on taking forever project as well as more embroidered-headed dolls. I'll have to give an update on these things at a later date.

I had another topic to post, but I think I'll wait on that one for next time.

Karee Raisu and a Crochet Tongue

2008-03-01T02:01:00.004-05:00

Karee raisu is the Japanese "katakana English" word for curry rice. And that's Japanese curry rice (quite different than an Indian or other Southeast Asian curry). It's kind of like a thick curry gravy stew served with sticky white rice. It's one of my favorites!

So, I had been planning this for some while, since I bought some tiny little china "bowls" at the thrift store. This is a curry rice pincushion. I was scared the curry rice pincushion in my head wasn't going to come out... but I'm very pleased that it worked out pretty much as I imagined it.

I need to get to the post office before it closes in the late morning. I have a postmark deadline to meet, and if anything is a form of motivation, it's a postmark deadline.

If I make the deadline, I'm planning on entering the curry rice pincushion and a re-worked toothy pincushion into the Interweave Press Pincushion Contest. Thanks to my friend Catherine for telling me about it quite a while ago - of course I waited until a week before the deadline to get these going.

I had to "learn" to crochet as a technique which would fulfill the requirements. So I crocheted a tongue for a toothy pincushion.

Previous incarnations of the toothy pincushion have been sewn velvety fabric. It's much much more difficult to crochet a pincushion tongue than it is to sew one.

It's been a hectic week, craft-wise. Let alone organization/cleaning/yardwork-wise. There's just too much I need to do. As crazed as they make me, deadlines really are helpful.

flip books & clean fingernails

2008-02-20T14:29:00.001-05:00

I attempted to make another movie with my camera but I ended up having to reshoot a few times due to lighting, technical bloopers and my previously dirty fingernails. It's certainly a step up from my last (needle felting) episode, but there's much improvement to be had. I need a voice disguiser thingy so I can do dialogue in upcoming movies. Or not. The whole audio portion of anything is a challenge to be sure.

So, now I have 6 flip books in my shop, to sell individually and also in sets, and I'd like to make more and more.

Presidents & Pill Boxes

2008-02-18T11:14:00.000-05:00

The other week I spent quite a while sorting through a shoebox and basket full of stamps. I bought 70 stamps for 5 cents each. Despite my moratorium on shopping, I allowed this purchase because they don't take up a lot of space... and also I had specific plans for them.

In the piles were some stamps from Helvetia, and while watching Helvetica, the movie I found out that is Switzerland.

So, I used 4 of these stamps and decorated two sets of "pill boxes" (these are the kind I make from empty tape roll "cylinders"). Set one is Abraham Lincoln & Lady Liberty:

Set two is George Washington and Thomas Jefferson:
.

Both are in my Shoppe for President's day.

Stay tuned for upcoming news from the flip book factory...

lack o' progress

2008-02-13T04:01:00.001-05:00

Week 3?

Well, I decided I need more containers in which to "sort" my belongings. Until I get that going my cleaning/organization project has been temporarily stalled.

However, I have been relatively good about not buying stuff. So there.

Becoming vagabondish is more and more appealing.

I've been using stumble apon and finding some interesting stuff.
For example, I like messing with sketchswap
and want to live here and now I know how to make a steam engine.

dust, scraps, bad habits

2008-01-26T02:56:00.000-05:00

organization test week part one

This is all about being organized. One big hurdle is avoiding procrastination. I say that now as I procrastinate further by coming online to talk about getting organized and cleaning up instead of actually doing it.

In a last ditch effort to motivate myself, I've got out that little tray, into which I will place various items as I attempt to clean up some of the mess which is suffocating me. It may be filled to overflowing very soon. I will wait until that time or until the week is up (whichever comes first) and then report on my findings.

As a side project, I absolutely must stop buying things. In particular, things that I don't need or things that I probably already have but can't find (i.e. various art supplies). This is very difficult, because I like buying stuff. The tentative guidelines are as follows:

No-nos:

* Absolutely no craft/art supplies unless they are absolutely necessary for something I am doing THAT day.

* No clothing except things I'd wear to work/shoes, and of course any pants that fit and I don't have to hem (something I actually really need). Avoid thrift stores, as painful as that may be.

* Food purchases are permitted, but focus should be on quickly consumable items. No long term "rainy day" snacks.

* No "beauty products" or toiletries unless I will use the item THAT day and have nothing else to use in its stead.

* NO books, unless I swap out some I already have. (Exception is gift certificate from Christmas).

Things which are allowed: anything which is not a physical permament object.

* Food, movie theatre, barbershop quartet/whatever is ok.

* Gifts for other people, though preferably not something which is a physical object.

* A hair cut, self improvement of some sort.

* Cleaning supplies/household items and such which are not duplicates of something I already have. Better idea is to follow recipes to make some "non toxic" cleaning supplies out of materials I can buy (i.e. Baking soda, vinegar, borax, etc).

* A car if the one I have doesn't survive this weekend.

Other tasks:

* Collect old batteries, light bulbs and other stuff to recycle.

* Find out where/how to recycle number 5 plastic containers.

* Take bag of stuff (more discard clothing/etc) to thrift store (but don't go in).

* Throw away coupons or circulars offering discounts on prohibited items (i.e. JoAnn fabric monthly coupons).

Duration of this torture: a month if I can stand it.

Rewards: peace of mind, some free space, save money for car and household repairs and necessaries. If I don't break the rules for a month, I can have some form of edible or experiential celebration at the end.

flippety doo da

2008-01-14T01:41:00.001-05:00

Well, my newest obsession is making flip books. I've made them in the past, but was not as methodical about the process. Now I've made myself a template and it's really only a matter of finding subject matter.... and time of course.

So, all of the ones I've made so far are available in my
shop

And I want to make a flip book every day now. I won't. But I will make more.

* * * * *

In other news, azure grackle's periodic table print project that I participated in is done. She might make a book or poster or something out of it and that would be awesome.

Go away

2007-12-11T04:05:00.000-05:00

The other weekend morning, like many weekend mornings, the doorbell rang. And I didn't answer it. But later when I went outside I found a mangled loaf of bread. Based on the label, it was clearly meant to lure me to a church. I can't understand why they would leave such a smashed up loaf. I think I need to feed it to ducks.

So, I made what I had been needing for a long time. That is a sign to try and limit the morning doorbell ringing. It's really been a problem. Multiple religions have been represented, as well as questionable salespeople and other uninvited strangers. I just hate the doorbell waking me up. It's one of the worst ways to wake up.

Anyway, I searched on the internet to buy a "no solicitors" sign but all I could find was just that simple statement (which just doesn't cover my needs) or else you can get a sort of religious stick figures prohibited sign, but that also doesn't suffice and also I think it's slightly rude. So, we'll see. I have a second style in mind, but I'm not sure what else I'll be doing with this. Maybe I'll mass produce the sign and finally all the people who need such a sign will find what they've been looking for.

images hosted by flickr

lots of floss (preview)

2007-11-29T03:53:00.000-05:00

Embroidery floss.

I have a lot of it that I have amassed over the past 3 years or so. That's since I decided I should start embroidering again. I started one overly complicated "project" that is less than half done (yes, over years), but in between I've been making smaller stuff. It's very time consuming, but it's somehow less strenuous than most other crafts I've encountered.

So, this is the preview for my inventory at the Bizarre Market's Holiday Market, at Chop Suey Books (v1), opening this Saturday evening and available for shopping through December 24th. It's THE place for shopping this December. I'll have other random things, and I'm sure others will have even more randomer random other things. There will be something for all.

I only made three embroideries because they took a very long time and also they kind of morphed into whatever they wanted because I did not draw out anything before hand. And in such cases things don't always turn out as planned... sometimes you have to just let the floss do what it wants to do...

Since this is a preview so I will not show the "items" in their entirety right now. You'll have to go to the shop to check them out.

In other news, I thought of something I want to make with the theme of "curry rice." That will be next, maybe.

the life of leisure

2007-11-20T00:37:00.000-05:00

I bought an ottoman so I can put my feet up while lazing about. It's the perfect size to serve as Patches' new perch. We're very pleased to be living such a life of leisure.

Naked Strawberry

2007-11-08T12:26:00.001-05:00

This little strawberry guy is going to have clothing soon. He also will have a friend but right now she's a head with no body.

a much needed makeover - though I wish this involved my face and wardrobe

2007-11-04T16:08:00.000-05:00

So. I'm recuperating from Bronchitis. And I've barely done anything that I needed or wanted to be doing all week. I did finally finish On the Road (still conflicted on my feelings about the Beats) and started Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell of which I have read 126 pages.

Other than that...

Well, I was lucky to randomly become subject of an etsy online shop critique. That occurred because someone else was absent and I raised my virtual hand.
I had recently redone quite a lot of my shop photos as I knew for a while I needed to, and finally had a new camera that I could work with.

What follows displays an example of the three part (and to be continued) makeover. There are more than these, and also more to be worked on.

(hosting courtesy of flickr.) larger version here.

The first column is the way the photos appeared originally, when I was painstakingly clipping out the crummy backgrounds and putting in a gradient backdrop. I didn't really like them, but the camera situation was making it very tricky to get good shots. And a lot of these were actually object scans done with my old scanner. It was time-consuming, with unsatisfying results, but it was either that or not list new products until I had better photos.

The second column shows my self-imposed makeover, when I finally got out the new camera, experimented with natural light by the window, and messed with some funky backgrounds (most were handmade or other strange papers I had).

The third column shows the result of the suggestions during the etsy labs critique. I either totally redid photos with new backgrounds (they were too "busy" or did not provide enough contrast), or I used a different shot I had already taken that might be more dynamic or eye-catching than the first thumbnail I had chosen. I also tried adjusting the white balance as suggested by etsy staff. It worked... though I need to reread the camera book to figure out exactly how to use the function.

In addition to photo alterations, I also changed my avatar from the Frog Prince embroidery (which I was hesitant to do because I had had it up so long), but I agree it's better changed into something more relevant/eye-catching (plus, cat-related). I also edited down some of my superfluous text in item listings.

So, the main lessons learned are:

1. Yes, use natural light. And in my case, the most successful photos came from a move from the original window I had been using. That was causing shadow problems all along, and I had been too lazy to move. Once I moved, it was a lot better.

2. Learn to use the camera (White balance, focus, etc). Still need work on this.

3. Work in batches. Saves time in the long run because of set up, etc. Better for consistent light and coordination of backgrounds.

4. If you question something... just change it. I knew this all along, but it's really easy to just settle, or take what you "can get." I knew I needed/wanted better photos, but I just couldn't find the time/resources/motivation to get it together. This idea applies to a lot of stuff. I'm trying to remember to keep this in mind. It's really easy to ignore out of habit or convenience... but when you know it needs to be changed... just make time to do it.

5. I need more time/patience to do this stuff.

real bee, fake bee

2007-10-23T03:29:00.000-04:00

I was going to entitle this "Drawing from Death" because the topic is a dead bee I found a while ago and had been saving (for this?). But that seemed a little too morbid. However, I have realized in the past that drawing from "life" is usually the only way I can buckle down and try to do something realistically. Otherwise things turn out all made up, goofy looking or accidentally cutesy. I need to spend more time drawing from life and/or death. I'm usually too impatient.

Back to dead bee: it's so incredibly lightweight, and so delicate. I'm surprised it doesn't float. The intricacies are almost shocking: unfortunately the photo doesn't do this bee justice.

And I'm embarrassed to admit that I've dropped this bee quite a few times. There even had to be some glue-based surgery.

So, I drew the dead bee and ended up using gouache, mica, etc. on top of the drawing. It has some texture because I tend towards chunky application of materials. I'm going to incorporate this bee into a slightly bigger project I'm working on... to be cont.

image hosting by flickr.

to market, to market...

2007-10-10T14:56:00.001-04:00

If you didn't know already, this Saturday, Oct 13th from 12-4 it's Bizarre Market at Chop Suey Books. Benefiting Art 180.
Visit chopsueybooks for more info/address.

If all goes as planned, I will be there with Halloween-themed items and the usual assortment. Check out my etsy shop for a preview of some of my goods, including the Halloweeny pouches as shown above.

... Gotta go... more later...

the shared culture of work place drudgery

2007-10-06T13:40:00.000-04:00

unregistered cats

2007-09-25T04:41:00.001-04:00

I'm not totally sure what the next step will be. But I have a bunch of fabric screenprinted with Patches as flip cat. I'm not sure if I want to deal with the mess which has resulted from my crafting frenzy.
Next time I need to think ahead of time about registering colors.

photo hosted by flickr

pretending fabric is a habitat

2007-09-09T00:27:00.001-04:00

This is the continuation of a previous "I love moss" and mushroom related post.

A while back I finished decorating that violin I had posted some tidbits from earlier. It's for the 50th Anniversary of Richmond Symphony Orchestra. This is another of those "decorating random objects" fundraiser projects that seem to be going around various cities. From what I've heard, it'll be on display until October at SunTrust bank HQ (Main & 9th sts.).

Anyway, I enjoyed working on it. I guess that's it.

multiple views:

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cats who have pouches

2007-08-26T03:42:00.002-04:00

No, this is not a rude comment about Patches' weight. Nor is it about the discovery of the amazing marsupial feline (that would be great).

It's about the newest gear in flip cat product line.

It's a zippy pouch made of "meow" cat fabric.

Which also can be used as a boat.

I found my directions for making lined zippy pouches. But it's still very time consuming. Plus, I don't have a zipper foot for the sewing machine. And if I did I don't know how to use one anyway. I keep planning to make a lot of zippy pouches of various sorts, but I can't seem to find the time. I need to operate in assembly line mode if I want to get more than one done in one sitting.

The background fabric is a bedspread I got at Urban Outfitters. I really love that fabric. It has turtles, snails, birds, leopards, deer and other stuff on it. Animal fabric is great, but I'd probably feel silly if I try to wear something made out of it.

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tea inside a lemon slice, lemon slice inside a bird

2007-08-19T03:53:00.000-04:00

There's something I really really like about this combination of items.
One is a lemon slice tea strainer (often seen in "tea ball" form).
The other is a bird shaped lemon slice squeezer. A little confusing, but it's true.

Call it silly, but I somehow find it comforting that these things can exist in the same universe.

This is the type of parallel relationship between items which I seem to seek out.

I can't wait to make tea with lemon and use both of these fine utensils in one go.

In other news, thanks to some rave reviews, I joined facebook and am already losing my mind with the possibilities. Maybe now the kazillion fragments of my online tinkerings will be united in one mass of coagulated nonsense and show and tell.

Butchering the Bevels

2007-08-18T04:28:00.000-04:00

Of all the things I'm not so good at, I'm very much not so good at cutting mats. My ability to follow directions and measurements and recipes is rudimentary at best. Most of what I do is non-measured and non-patterned, because that's apparently the only way I can get anything done.

I was going to post a photo showing Patches cutting the most beautiful beveled mat with seamless ease. (I'm so jealous). I think she's planning on framing an illustration of herself flanked by her most recent suitors (they've been waiting on the steps for a glimpse of her). Oh yeah, but my camera battery ran out. So I couldn't get the once in a lifetime shot.

Anyway, she won't share her secrets. And I spent hours (again) trying to cut decent mats. Basically my problem is that I can't get the corners right, and then if I try to recut it gets increasingly tricky. Then I forget which side and which way to cut. I've determined that the best way to go is cut on the reverse side, with the "middle" of the mat outside the edge of the mat cutter. Maybe that's totally wrong. Considering I've taught myself how to do this before and now have totally forgotten.... I need to write a set of instructions. Or I need a beveling mentor.

Recently I've started keeping a couple small note books where I keep notes on certain processes I'm prone to forget (how to assemble my books out of 8 ½ by 11 paper, which way to put in the printer paper to print on both sides, how many grams equal how many ounces and how that relates to the crazy new postal regulations and so on). My brain can only hold so much information and I'm convinced it had reached its capacity some years ago. Now I have to forget things like state capitals and the multiplication table in order to proceed in life. That means I'll have to keep more and more little notebooks.

melon in the corner

2007-08-03T03:33:00.000-04:00

So, there's been many a time I could say this or that. But I haven't been so much in the talkative or social mood. My unnatural attempts for the past year at being chipper and friendly and finding new things to do have mostly fizzled out. I don't think it was really working. That is, I can't seem to "work it". I need someone else to do the work. Maybe I'll hire an extremely gregarious person to take me under their wing. The summer seems to turn me into a zombie. I've gotten some things done. But I can't believe it's already August. Seriously, I cannot believe it's August, or 2007 or the planet earth, etc. I could go on.

But here are some garden photos instead:

Not sure why this melon is all cramped in the corner like it's hiding from something.

In my youth I was a practicioner of the art of the corn husk doll. I don't think I'll be making any corn husk dolls. But the nice thing about red corn silk is you can make a redheaded family of corn dolls.

A fine opportunity to explore the various stages of ripe-i-tude.

Ice flowers. I like their chubby "succulent" leaves

White hibiscus

photos hosted by f

Grasshoppers and their ilk

2007-07-10T12:18:00.000-04:00

I used to really love grasshoppers. Not that I don't like them now. But I rarely see them anymore. And they used to be my friends. This was when I was in elementary school and lived in Egremont, Massachusetts, and played outside a lot. I had lists I would keep, with the names of my favorite grasshoppers. They had silly names, like "Brownie Jr." and so on. I was convinced I was playing with the same grasshoppers, every day. Maybe I was.

One of my favorite kinds of grasshoppers are the tiny little almost translucent green grasshoppers that have little gold dots on their legs. And the gold looks like real gold. Maybe it is.

One of my least favorite grasshopper things is being bitten by a grasshopper. And getting grasshopper "tobacco spit" staining your fingers.

I hated when I moved to Virginia and was introduced to "camel crickets." Camel crickets look like demons compared to grasshoppers and normal cute chubby black crickets. I also like katydids, although for some reason I assume they are less intelligent than grasshoppers. Katydids are the slow witted, but kindly grasshopper cousins. Please, no backlash.

Anyway, I made a little grasshopper out of fimo to inhabit the violin scenery. That's what brought up this whole topic.

Still experimenting with the camera - having trouble with lighting as usual.

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crazy salad

2007-07-06T15:27:00.000-04:00

I picked some stuff out of the scraggly garden. What we have here are greens including: arugula, radish, pineapple sage, 2 kinds of lettuce.

Then there's a radish, a kohlrabi, a baby onion, brocolli florets.

And in the herb dept: fennel, oregano, parsley, coconut thyme, basil, rosemary, dill, marjoram.

I took all this stuff plus some storebought carrots and some tidbits from jars, and made a crazy salad:

I was going to write about grasshoppers (not eating them) and show a little grasshopper I made last night out of fimo, but that will be the next installment.

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I'm wondering who invented needle felting

2007-07-02T01:01:00.000-04:00

So,
I'm wondering who invented needle felting. Because it's a very strange craft. It's tiring, not to mention semi dangerous and the product is often rotund. For those uninitiated in the process, you basically take some loose (wool) fiber and stick it a million times with a long sharp needle that has holes in it. The fibers jam together and you can make a shape after stabbing it many more millions of times. I made some sort of felted plant-life out of the green wool roving m. gave me. (Thanks, m.) It's another piece to stick some how onto that violin.

Today I tried two new things: besides the felting, I tried the much heralded flip animation function on my digital camera. I made a little movie. There's no sound though. This is a test run for what might be an on going series starring none other than this little fellow below. In this movie "pilfered needle felting," our hero has come across this small felted item (mentioned above) and has decided to take it home. Excuse the low production quality. I plan to kick it up a notch next time.

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from the past

2007-06-19T00:28:00.001-04:00

Last night I watched Portrait of Jennie.

Next time I'm unable to work on projects, have writer's block, or something of that nature, I hope that a strange person from the past will come be my muse and inspiration.

It's odd that I saw that movie, because just previously I had watched part of Somewhere in Time which for some reason I can't stop watching even though I've seen it a million times and we joke about the agonizingly slow scenes of Christopher Reeves staring into space. As far as time travel goes, I think the self hypnosis sort of technique used in Somewhere in Time is intriguing because you'd actually be able to do it without having a lot of scientific gadgets, flux capacitors or mail order catalogs. Well, if it worked, that is.

Mossy, flossy

2007-06-16T01:08:00.000-04:00

I do really love moss. Even though I tried to grow a moss garden and it failed... instead I can make a moss garden out of things.

Above is a project I'm working on. The "canvas" is a violin. Smurfs are not involved, even if I did make smurfy-type mushrooms.

Oh and I took this picture with my new camera even though I don't have a lens cap and also maybe should have turned off the flash.

To be continued...

Shopping Online: A Love/Hate Relationship

2007-06-14T04:14:00.000-04:00

So, today I was out all day, then at work all night, then I got home and my NEW second try version of ordering a digital camera online had been delivered.

It's a long annoying story: basically the first one was not as advertised and then I had to mail it back and then had even worse trouble shopping locally, then finally found what I wanted in refurbished (read: discounted) on ebay, and then kept losing the auctions, and then finally one ended on one of my night's off. So then FINALLY it was on its way. So... great, I thought.

But they left out the lens cap. So, once again, something to worry about. I already emailed them asking to send it, and I just hope they do. I'm getting tired of the whole thing. But I've gone too far to give up now. Plus, if I had had a decent camera, I could have taken a good picture of the little chirpy baby bird I found on the ground today (I didn't touch it and it was gone by the time I got home from work).

In another online/shopping event, I checked on my on-the-verge-of-expiration etsy treasury (see previous post), and a bunch of people commented that it had been on the front page. And that's exciting, but hey! I didn't get to see it. That's what I get for staying offline so long.

And the reason I was offline so long was because I was trying to be constructive. I spent the past couple hours organizing my fabric supplies (too much) so pretty much all of it (but one box) is in one location, and in proximity to the sewing machine. I organized the fabric sort of by themes such as "shiny," "fluffy," "theme/patterned" and so on. Some of the fabric I know I'll never use (maybe due to sheer lack of time before I die), so I hope someday to get some people to make a giant pile of fabric for a mountainous swap.

you might find it here

2007-06-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

I decided to take a screenshot since the treasury will expire before everyone gets to see it.

clickety-click

curating by theory

2007-06-12T02:50:00.000-04:00

Now it's time for: a new treasury on etsy.

It's here: clickety-click. This one is very pretty, in my humble opinion. Some of the stuff I had found a while back. But then I try to fill in the space by searching by words. I think the people who use extensive vocabulary in their listings often have good stuff. I might take that theory farther next time but it's a lot of work to "curate" based on theories.

In other etsyian news, I tested out another 24-hour showcase slot. It was nice to see my listing up, though not sure it's worth the money. In preparation, I recently revamped my listings of toothy items, which are kept in this little corner of the shop.

Turnips!

2007-06-07T10:48:00.000-04:00

I just ate the most delicious turnip ever. I'm not sure that I even remember eating a turnip ever before. I bought these white Japanese turnips at the farmer's market courtesy of Amy's Garden.

As for my own garden, the hollyhocks have finally bloomed after a full year. I'll have to take a photo soon. I've also re-discovered how wonderful fennel is. The pea vines are wilting/drying up, and maybe that's normal, but I don't really know. As with everything else, there is way too much research and learning to be done. And as with everything else, I just take mental notes, mostly consisting of don't do that again, I can't seem to remember the details other than what not to do.

Some non-organic projects are coming along. But I really need to get cracking on a few things. Finally sold another item on etsy but I am totally thrown off by the new postal practices (after I finally figured it out and even had a scale) so I have to go to the P.O. and see if I can make heads or tails of it. Hmmm.

thrift store addiction

2007-06-01T03:43:00.000-04:00

I've gotten to the point that I pretty much want to go to a thrift store weekly, if not daily. This is not good for a few reasons. Must of those involve clutter and my fear of earthly possessions accumulating beyond mental capacity.

But it's very good for other reasons.
Like today, when I bought a whole bunch of baggies full of embroidery thread for $1.50. I mean seriously, it's probably about 50 skeins or so. And this is the second time I bought a whole bunch of baggies full of embroidery thread in a couple months' time.

One thing is I need to USE the things I buy. I have come to the conclusion that usable things really are the best things.

Some usable things I need to use are:
countless empty frames
skeins of floss of near infinite number
tons of fabric, including a GIGANTIC bag I bought at the thrift store for $8.00
pipe cleaners
paper scraps and old magazines
paint
boxes

Things I am happy to say I recently put to use:
some of the aforementioned fabric that I sewed into a shirt (well, sort of a shirt)
some other fabric I half made something with
two other thrift store shirts I "altered" to fit
some of the floss
some paper
some paint

Well, that's a start.

In other news, I'm still trying to get a new digital camera.

Bromine- Periodic Table Print Project

2007-05-23T12:39:00.000-04:00

Bromine, element 35, BR, is my submission to the Periodic Table Print Project.

I can't even begin to recount the horrors I encountered in trying to get this screenprint done. Let's just say it involved the sun doing me wrong, my lack of skill in measuring water, and other errors that seemed to multiply without ceasing. But they did cease, and it's finally done. And I'm glad because I think the whole project is awesome to begin with. Great idea by azure grackle --look, you can go visit her etsy shop.

Also you can see some of the prints finished/in progress (including 2 more versions of bromine) on the project group photo pool. There are some really amazing ones.

Now that that's done... I absolutely have to start on my next project which is deadlining in July. I think I might start with a drill and hope for the best.
To be continued...

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I've decided

2007-05-23T12:33:00.000-04:00

I've decided to extend my blogging presence further out into the ...(ok, I'll say it... "blogosphere"). I may start by reposting some things I have written previously or stated elsewhere.