Thursday, April 28, 2011

Bad Egg

I love free tutorials, and when a group of bloggers had several free tutorials at the end of March and early April, I couldn't wait to try them.  Especially Tracie Huskamp's "Painting A Bird's Egg".  I painted several eggs--on different types of fabrics and in a watercolor sketchbook.  After struggling with the technique (which looked so simple and easy when she did it), I realized I just can't draw an egg.  So I think I'll back up and just sketch eggs for awhile, then go back and try the technique. But she has a great tutorial here.  A list of the other tutorials is here.


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Love Letters

I should have said Love OF Letters.  I love letters of all kinds.  And have I mentioned how great it is to have a best friend who shares all the cool stuff she finds.  Gaye seems to think these letters are made of lead.  Who am I to argue.  I'm metallurgically challenged.  These are fairly soft and pliable.  We drilled through one easily, and they polish up well too.  They are about one inch tall.  She finds stuff like this all the time. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Window Screen Tape

Not long ago, I bought a roll of window screen repair tape.  Of course I had no intention of using it on an actual window screen.  I've tried it out on a journal spread and kinda like it.  The roll doesn't look like it has a whole lot on it, but it's enough to play with and may last longer than I expect, especially when I cut it in strips like I have here. 


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Fidget Goblinglimmer

That is my new name, Fidget Goblinglimmer.  Or, at least that is my fairy name according to the fairy name generator (click here to find yours).

They describe me this way:
She brings riches and wealth.
She lives in rotting woodlands near poisonous toadstools.
She can only be seen when the sun sets on a day of complete harvest.
She wears red with white spots, likes toadstools and has gentle green wings like a butterfly.

Rotting woodlands and poisonous toadstools?  Ewww.
By "complete harvest", does that mean "when the margarita is made"?
Red with white spots?  If I live in rotting woodlands, make that white with red spots, because I'm sure I'd be covered with poison ivy.

Fidget Goblinglimmer. 
That's just silly.


Monday, April 18, 2011

Talk to the Hand

Sometimes I'm embarrassed that there are so many things within a day's drive that I have never seen.  I can mark this one off the list.


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Live Like You Mean It

After I made my evidence baggies shown in that last post, I was organizing all the words I have cut from junk mail and magazines.  I was putting them in the baggies, but some of the words seemed to be jumping out at me.  So those ended up on a journal page.  I don't remember where I got the words "Live like you mean it", but it is a really profound statement when you think about it.

What's the point of saving all these words if you don't use them (she said to herself)....

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Forensic Artist

She is a Forensic Artist.  She makes her own evidence bags.  She will embarass all those around her by picking up trash interesting items off the street for future use.  She is always searching.


I thought I was so clever, making up a term like forensic artist. But, of course, that term already exisits. When I looked on the internet, that's what they call the people who are sketch artists or make sculptural recreations.

Nevertheless, while I was busy doing other things, I suddenly wanted to try something. That's usually how I get all my ideas. I'll be engrossed in something else completely and the new idea pops into my head like a firecracker, and I cannot rest until I've tried it.
I hadn't used my stencils and spray paints in a while. For some reason, I felt the need to get out some plastic baggies and spray them with black and white spray paint. They turned out pretty well, although the paint did smear when I lifted the stencils.


I have to go collect more evidence now...

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Go For It

One of the things I've challenged myself to do this year is to take more pictures.  Too many times, I have thought (too late) that I wish I had taken a picture of something.  So I'm trying to wish less and Do more.

Which is why, when I was in the office at the phone company this afternoon, I took a picture of this phone.

I did ask permission first. It was right there between the Spiderman phone and the multi-handset system. The clerk told me they sold more of the Fuzzy phone than you'd think. I don't want one, but I do want a picture of one.


And then driving home, I then found myself going from the Fuzzy Phone to traipsing through a muddy field. I pass this old barn a lot. I suspect it is being torn down. Every time I pass it, I want a picture of it. I keep telling myself that the next time I drive by, it may be gone completely and I will have lost my chance.

It stands on a hill. Its glory days are over. There's just something about that skeleton of a roof that I find fascinating.





Its red paint has long ago faded.  The hinges and nails are still bright red.

But, in spite of my muddy shoes and the fear that I was going to get in trouble for trespassing, I won't have any regrets now if it's gone the next time I drive by.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

So I was working on my taxes...

I really was.  But in that box of stuff where I throw everything, I found my missing file folder of quotations.  So that's where it went.  You know what they say, when you stop looking for something, that's when you find it.  And since I had played earlier with yet another color chart (thumbs down on the mini painting kit), I went ahead and added a quote to the page where I had cleaned off my brush with the different paints.  This is so much more fun than tax forms.....

Friday, April 1, 2011

Adventures and Oddities

I have been out and about getting into trouble.  That last picture with the monkey tree was taken at a little shop that has so many fun and funky things.  How can you pass up a shop with a sign like this?  You SO have to go in.

They also had this and this:


And that shop was next to the cafe with this:


Where inside we sat at a window with these lights:

And as I ate my fried green tomato BLT, my view included things like the teabag pants.

After Gaye treated me to lunch, we strolled down to this art store:

But even before all that, I was treated with, among other things, a wonderful vintage journal, with some of Gaye's awesome collage on the cover.  The journal was made in 1972 1/2... Never saw one with the 1/2 next to the year!



It's almost worth getting old to have that much fun!!

Where Monkeys Come From

They don't just grow on trees, you know.

Happy April....