Sunday, January 31, 2016

On the Run

I don't have time for much. A friend needs help watching the family dog whilst she goes into labor tonight, so I'm off! We don't know what the baby will be, other than big! They're inducing her two weeks early as the baby is already at 9.5 pounds!!

Wish them luck. Blessings and prayers are always appreciated.

See you next week!

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Various bits and assorted baubles

I'm cheating a bit this weekend and posting on a Saturday night. I'm starting to feel sick and have a feeling if I don't post now, I won't until I feel better.

The cleaning, purging, and rearranging continued off and on all week. I'm hoping to bring the new work desk in next weekend. I had to sacrifice one of my old console TV's to have room for the new desk. I figure if I haven't started the scene I was going to put into it by now, I can safety trade it for a new desk.

The paint night at the bar on Tuesday was a lot of fun. FH went along too and all three of us (my best friend/sister of my heart) had a wonderful time. We've starting talking about doing a family paint night here so the happy-goth teen can join in the fun too. She's only 15 and all the paint nights are held in bars... must be 21 to attend.

I've hung my painting in the hallway. It may not stay there permanently, but for now it works.


FH is debating hanging his in his workroom/man cave or taking it to work.

The postman brought me a treasure this morning. The tiny vase I commissioned from one of my favorite glassblowers arrived and I love it! I was able to commission it live, discuss details with him, and then watch him make the piece in real time. It was awesome!

The colored tubing he used is one he made himself earlier in the week. I actually got to watch that too. I love everything about this piece.


I'm putting hydrangeas in the arrangement, but maybe not these exact flowers. Might be making new ones. I will also be making some pussy willow branches and hyacinths. Not sure when I'll get started on those, but it won't be until I get the studio usable.

That's all for now. I'm going to go veg out and rest. Hopefully I won't be sick for too long. See you next week!

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Still Cleaning and Sorting

I've been working on and off all week on stuff around the house, so not much time for creative things... unless I'm watching other people do them.

There is a website called Twitch that allows gamers to stream the game their playing live for an audience. The channels are separated by what game a person is playing and anything in a section had to be related to the game in question. Twitch began seeing people doing art in various forms that related to video games and after some deliberation they launched TwitchCreative.

The Creative channels allow artists and crafters from all over the world to broadcast live as they work on projects. Many of them will even take commissions live during their streams. As they work, you can chat with them and some even walk you through what they're doing in detail. I've even watched/listened as a glassblower in Washington state gave pointers, tips, and safety instructions to a guy who wanted to start his own glassblowing set up.

Currently, I "follow" four glass blowers, two sculptors, a painter, a leather worker, a quilter, a cross stitcher (yes, people tune in to watch her stitch!), a woodworker, and a chainmaille artist. I've been known to load up one of their streams and let it play in the background as I work around the house. It's nice background noise... sort of like a documentary. Everyone is all over the world, so generally at least one of my favorites is working when I'm in the mood to watch/listen.

I do have a project to show off that I did back in November. I never got around to posting it for some reason. I signed up for a painting evening that was sponsored by a local bar. That type of event has become very popular around here.

In fact, I'm going to another next week so I'll have at least one project to show you next week. Until than, I hope everyone stays warm!

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Purging

I've started off the New Year with a big project: I'm clearing out the storage room.

So far I've filled up the 95 gallon recycling bin twice... to be fair, the first time was topping off the regular contents. But I pretty much filled it again the day it was emptied. I have to wait for another month for them to come back. The 95 gallon garbage bin is also filled to bursting. Good thing they come on Tuesday morning.

Fabric that I will never use is being given away. Some has been traded to a plumber friend of ours so we can get our upstairs shower fixed. The rest is being picked up by a couple who hauls fabric, notions, and sewing machines up to a Reservation in the Dakotas. Not sure which one, but whichever it is, they have a sewing class program.

Lots of things have been earmarked for Goodwill donations and will likely be hauled over there in the coming week. FH just carried up the old TV to be loaded up. I'm not sure when he thinks it's going, but now it has to be loaded as it's blocking the door to the garage.

Mercedes is enjoying short trips outside to play in the snow. They are short trips as the temperature here is in the single digits... not fun when you're using Fahrenheit!

It snowed all yesterday afternoon. So far it's the largest snowfall this winter. I'm just wondering if it will stay winter or try to be fall again in the next couple of weeks.

On the quilting front, I did get my machine in for repairs and servicing. Hoping to hear from them this coming week. Even if it's, "we need another week because you managed to do a number on it." ;-)

On the mini front, I did get a few more boxes made for Tinsel Towne. They are printies I found online, but the website isn't working at the moment.

Also FH bought me a mini Eames chair in mini for Christmas. I've been wanting one for a while now. A friend gave me a doll that had been given to her.... honestly I'm not sure where he came from originally. But he's going to be dressed in a silk robe at some point and will set in the chair.

The pillow is for modesty. Someone added a few details to his body with polymer clay.

That's all for this week. I need to get back to the studio and start sorting through quilting UFO's and suchlike. Hopefully I'll be done with the major sorting and furniture rearranging in a week or two.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Nada, Nil, Nothing

Nothing fun or interesting got worked on in the last week. FH, and critters, and I were too busy trying to stay warm. Our power went out Monday morning with a little help from a wild ice storm and didn't return until Thursday afternoon. Over 44,000 homes and businesses in our area were in the dark in the wake of that storm.

We lost everything in the fridges and freezers but no big trees fell on our home or cars. Nobody was injured and none of the power lines that came down were anywhere near the house to put us in danger. The was no real damage to the roof either, which simply amazes me given the strength and direction of the winds.

All in all we got pretty darn lucky. FH got a 3-day work week out of the deal too. Monday his office lost power before our house did and the roads were too icy to drive on.

We spent New Year's Eve quietly, basking in the warmth and light inside after the power came back on that afternoon. Granted we had to clean the upstairs fridge and freezer, go buy some groceries, and put things away before we could relax.

Only cleaning out the deep freeze remains and then we can get back to catching up on the regular house chores that couldn't be done in the cold and dark.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve and here's hoping 2016 is much kinder to the world.