home again, home again (I've used this before) jiggity jig

Back from Thanksgiving in Juneau...and for once I'm glad to be here. I had an excellent time in town and got the thing I needed like dog food and a safety vest for walking in the dark, but this time it feels like coming home. Yay. I put that (nearly) all on the change of employment. Leaving the market was a very good thing even if it's quitting a job "in this economy" and not seeing the regulars at the market every day. There are a few folks I miss seeing and chatting with, but not many.

This thing died last week. My old bigger-than-a-deck-of-cards ipod sounds like it's in a toilet when I listen in a head set. Maybe I dropped it too many times, or maybe it's a dinosaur but I got a new (orange Nano) one at the dreaded Wal-Mart (thank you Rice) when I was in town. I'm kinda geeky eager to put music on it.

I also got some stiff interfacing to continue the anticipation soup project. I was trying to do it on some lovely soft leather that my friend Lindsey gave me years ago. Too soft...

...but oh so lovely to sew upon. I haven't decided how to transfer these two items to the interfacing. I might cut and paste them or baste the entire piece of lovely leather to the stiffer stuff and just continue from there. I was thinking I didn't care about the teardrop shaped cab, but I like it again when I look at it again. I was hoping to get some dark interfacing, but the mask I did last year was on white that had been painted various shades of green.

Anticipation Soup

I've been working on the felted birds and the wee paintings for a Christmas sale for too long. The beads are calling me, the embroidery has already got me. Hoping to keep the creativity going, I stirred together a soup of beads to remind me of some of the ideas.


I have a few ideas, maybe some free form peyote or brick stitch practice...maybe a collar or some other cab centric piece. I know there needs to be matte and shiny involved, seed beads because I love them and...no felt for a while.

winter wonderland!

My what a difference a month makes. The above picture is October 12 just after they cut down the old cottonwood tree that was blocking my view of the mountains. Below is yesterday, November 17. It snowed about another 6 inches today! So pretty and fluffy and light and bright and... early in the season so I'm still excited about snow.
When I was in Anchorage last month, I bought some second hand cross country skis. I tested them out tonight by sneaking up and down our road a few times. I'm pretty sure it's been about 30 years since I spent more than a few hours on cross country skis! When I was in grade school we had a whole bunch of them for snowy day gym class. It was quite a big deal teaching the kids of Capital School all about diagonal strides as we skidded around in a big circle on the playground. I'm certain I was more coordinated then. Practicing in the dark of night (or late afternoon) will make me as graceful as...as...

more photo fun

I did this at Tiltshift there's nothing to down load in this case,but I'm guessing your photo is no longer private after uploading. It's just so cool that changing the focus makes the brown dog look tiny. She looks like she's in a miniature railroad landscape!

fun with photos

This is the original picture of Biscuit the cat and here it is run through the Poladroid:


I found the application here: Poladroid Project It's a little goofy and a little cool, with sound effects and fading in just like the real thing!

later: I messed with this Poladroid thing a few times then it wouldn't work. I don't know if the application is shaky or what but just be warned it's not stable. I took it off my computer and used that cool XP restore feature to get it all off. Bummer, I like the effect.

Neddle felting

I saw it misspelled once and it's been neddle felting in my head ever since. Needle felting is cool, sculpting wool with a barbed needle, poke poke poke and it's a 3-d bird...

Some of the birds have big snoots like Senior Purple above...


Quite a few are purple or blue because that's the best felting wool I have, nice short kinky fibers. Only one is red..I'd love to make more red ones but that is good spinning fiber, all long and smooth and really crappy for neddle felting....or 10. I was making flat stuff with beads, inspired by Jo Woods' work when a wee bird flew in to my head. I'll sell them at the Christmas crafts show that's just after Thanksgiving...and if my fingers aren't too sore from getting jabbed, at the next one too.

Halloween, fall back, November and first snow all happened...what a day!

I just wanted to remember this

I was listening to that Garrison Keilor thing about books..."Writer's Almanac" on my headset while walking the dog. He read a poem that had a line in it about being gravity holding us to the earth, but as the writer understood it gravity is seriousness. So we're held on the earth by seriousness. So...?

learning to use my time wisely

I quit my job at the Market at the end of September so time is mine. I need to use it well or the inner critic will give me hell for wasting it, for quitting the job that became awful, for spending too much time playing Facebook video games and for just plain existing. That critic needs a life!

It seems like artsy types always have too little time and too many ideas. I feel like I have more ideas when I have less time to call my own, maybe because they're in such contrast to mundane work ideas? Anyway, I have to make the most of this unemployment stuff.

Neighbor lady is having a baby and gave me an invitation to the shower...don't think I'll go play the games but it's a great chance to knit a gift. I was going to make something brown with ears, but decided to use the superwash yarn I've already got (see all budgety and stuff!) I added the little snowflakes so it's got a bit of cute factor if they have a girl. I was sewing the little flakes on while Suzy and her mom were doing the country radio show so maybe some mom/daughter love is sewn in here.
I'm also working on some small paintings for impending craft shows. I am thinking I might bead some rocks but they take a long time...expensive to sell. It's hard to tell what the market will bear but I'll have to test the waters with out the cheap stuff that was in the booth I shared at the fair.

Figuring out selling venues in a small town is interesting, you have to read bulletin boards for notices about who to contact for selling space. Sometimes there's a website, if it's sponsored by the fair or by the town but usually it's word of mouth or pinned to a board. Neighbor (not the baby one) has contacts through the school, I'll ask.

Catsitting

The cat is a rescue that has some serious issues. Her meow is ragged and weird. She growls better than she meows, probably because she practices growling more. Most importantly? She likes to shower.
Seriously, she sits in the shower and drinks and licks and then turns to sit so it's pelting her on the head.The cat's other hobby is apparently hiding under the bed growling. Mmmok.

The Big City

I'm in Anchorage, the same city I was in when I started this blog. This time it's from the point of view of not living here but in a small town that has very few amenities other than beauty. I'd still much rather live there, but I feel like a kid in a candy shop here!

REI is 1/4 mile down the road
Play it Again Sports has 2nd hand skis
The Bead Shack already took $50 bucks from me
The Bear Tooth movie theater/brew pub is just down the street
Title Wave Books is over by REI
Internet is fast and wireless
T.V. available
More than one radio station
The Tony Knowles trail system is just down the hill

and that's all with out even getting in the car!

Thrift stores, used book stores, Old Navy, Target, Costco, Fred Meyer, Barnes and Noble all want me to come drop a few dollars.

and the sun is out.

I'll be more than ready for my small town life when I leave, but it's fun to visit.