almost wordless wednesday - Rain delay

We'll try again on Monday!

A Month in Photographs - August

Starting at top right, clockwise:
exhibit at [Artspace] at Untitled in OKC, called "Altered Books"
section of a collage I created
double strand turquoise necklace, at Etsy
papermaking on the porch
resin and silver necklace, at Etsy
The Artist's Way
Meri, a new member of the household, from Coffee Pot People
getting an ultrasound at the local Outpatient Center
and, in the middle, mom and best friend touring downtown in OKC.

What a great month! Lots of new and exciting things, visiting with friends and family, completing jewelry for a show that's coming up, and getting healthy!

Papermaking at home

Don't actually remember when papermaking got stuck in my head.

It was about a week ago, that I got serious and started buying supplies. I wanted to begin with some smaller sheets, so I took a little wooden picture frame, and stapled some leftover screening on it.

I made a good size mess in the kitchen with an old blender that didn't have a top, but did the screening outside on the porch. A heads up if you try this:
don't clean up using indoor plumbing - I've heard it's a sure way to clog your pipes!

Here are the ingredients:

shredded mail
water
flowers and leaves (from the tree I "prunned" on Saturday)
and corn starch (which is suppose to prevent your ink from bleeding.)

I poured the blended pulp into a plastic container.

The shop towels I bought at Wal Mart worked much better than the suggested sponges, for soaking up excess water. Shop towels are those heavy blue paper towels, sold in the automotive department. After peeling my paper off the screen, I laid them between two of the shop towels.

Skirt hangers work great for drying, but I only had three...
so I started a little assembly line!
The whole process took about two hours, not counting the drying time.

And here's the finished product!

Next time I'll put together a large frame for screening, and use my oversized plastic tub. Thinking of using some red earth (the kind that Oklahoma is known for) in the mixture and see how that turns out. I might even try to sell them!

The Artist's Way - Week Ten

Another week has come and gone, and it's the end of the summer. And Week #10 of the Artist's Way. I'm still getting up a half hour earlier than "usual" and writing my morning pages. Actually, this is the new norm! I didn't take myself on an artist's date this week... unless you count Wednesday, when I went to the Outpatient Center at the hospital, to get my ultrasound. It was kinda fun, to see my insides! And the technician put on the transducer's "speaker" for a moment, and I could hear a "whooshing" sound. "What's that?" I asked. It was my blood, rushing through my veins. Very neat!

Someone on my Art Walk Etsy (AWE) Team mentioned a report she heard, stating how in difficult financial times, women buy smaller ticket items to give them a psychological lift. This really stuck with me, especially since I can't see items selling out of the Museum Store anymore. Later in the day, I got a call from the Firehouse Art Center; they just sold my Star Treasure Necklace!


That was perfect timing, and I needed a synchronicity lift too! Haven't noticed any in a while...

I made a To Do list this week, and finished everything on the list. And I completed all my tasks in my Workbook... EXCEPT... one thing I kept on forgetting: "do one lovely thing" for myself every day. I get into a routine of doing certain things at certain times, and "lovely" doesn't fall into it. Actually, I had to look up lovely, to be sure; Merriam-Webster says "delightful for beauty, harmony, or grace." So I have a suggestion for all you busy gals and guys out there: take a Post-It and write LOVELY on it, in bright colors, and stick it on your computer to remind yourself. Even if you don't get up and take a walk or go out and buy some flowers for the house, at least you'll get a smile!

August Featured Etsyblogger - Patch

Splendid Little Stars just mentioned Wednesday that every one of her etsyblogger friends remind her of something special. How true! The first thing that I thought of, when contemplating this month's Featured Etsyblogger, were pearls.

Patch creates the most wonderful jewelry using pearls. Maybe it's because she likes weddings, and pearls are appropriate wear... Here's a mosaic, that just screams PATCH, from her handmade jewelry shop, called Patch First Shop:





I love all things Asian, and Patch's Supply Shop is loaded with origami and boxes of all sorts. The lotto papers she confiscated from her mom (sorry, no winning tickets here), is advertised as "unique paper for crafting: folding paper (origami), paper mache, journal decorating." I bought some of her lotto papers a while back, and can attest to its journal decorating capacity (see left.)


But there's a THIRD shop! The Patch Vintage Shop. If you like vintage clothing, this will be a real treat. Have fun!