Come Look! New Pretties!

I've been doing the finishing on that stack of unfinished objects (ufos) that I showed you last week, and here are the results of some of my efforts!  

And here's a closer look:

 

This pretty fish swimming among the seaweed is needle-felted with wool and hand-dyed silk fibers on a background of handmade wool felt, which I wet-felted myself.  The eye is made from sequins and a seed bead.

But wait!  There's more!

 And last but not least...

Now let's see if I can post this correctly!  LOL!  

 These are going into my Etsy shop later today.  Ta da!  I've got close-ups there also.  

I've got more from the "guilt pile"...just putting a nice finished backing on them and loops to hang them.  So I'm gonna go sew some more.  Later! :) 

The Reality of Life, or I Take On More Than I Can Handle

I have been spending a great deal of time immersing myself in a world that I've ignored far too long.  I'm talking about the fast-moving world of online business and publishing.  Back in the dark ages of the internet, I was fairly savvy.  Then I put my attention on raising a grandchild, which of course was and is way more important than keeping up with the internet world and its evolution.  Now that my granddaughter is in middle school and a bit more independent, I'm ready to take another dip in the pool, so to speak.  

Holy smokes.  

I am, to say the least, overwhelmed.  I've spent quite a bit of time over the past two weeks learning about blogging, reading lots of other people's blogs, admiring all the gadgets, backgrounds, awards, and followers they have.  I've also been creating and stocking a shop on Etsy.com with my fiber art and dolls, and trying to learn about all the tools they have to promote a shop, all the ways to connect with other sellers, what questions to ask, etc.  It's fair to say that I feel like the proverbial babe in the woods...in a distinctly middle-aged way.   

It occurs to me that I need to clearly define what it is I want to accomplish here.  In the spirit of using what I have, I want to use my talents with fiber and textiles to contribute more to my family's income.  This is especially true now that the economy has changed so radically for the worse.  Things are tight.  For a number of years, my DH has been a freelance writer, and his income has suffered in recent months; we've had some scary moments, although his markets do seem to be recovering very slowly.  This change in our cash flow has made me feel that I was resting on my laurels by not selling my work.  I have felt a certain urgency to help.  

At the same time, I no longer work outside the home because I'm unable to do so.  I do have disability income, so I am already contributing, but I feel a sense of responsibility to do more.  Trying to balance that against some very real physical limitations on my time and energy is difficult - I used to be a lot more active than I can be now, and it's hard not to throw myself into projects the same way I used to - in my mind I'm still the same woman I was then.  All too often, I set goals for myself so high that they are impossible to reach in the time and energy I have available.  I did that even before I got sick, although less often.  But all that happens when I overextend myself is that I wind up frustrated - with myself for not being able to achieve what I want when I want, leading to anger, guilt, and an inordinate amount of self-castigation.  So...

My mantra for today is going to be "use what you have" as it applies to my physical and emotional limits.  Driving myself nuts will not lead to success, by any definition.

Nightowl, over and out.

Time Flies When You Have Too Much To Do

Well this week has certainly slipped by at breakneck speed!  Thank goodness I've been wearing my seatbelt and crash helmet!  Speaking of crash helmets, did anyone else watch the new ABC show last night called "Crash Course"?  Yep, my secret's out, I'm somewhat easily amused... but it was sort of a combination of demolition derby with stock car racing.  I'm telling ya, it reminded me all too much of some of the experiences I've had on the road myself lately.  I live in (well, actually, a few miles away from) a 2-college town...Ithaca is the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College, and much of the local population is college-related and transient.  Students come from EVERYWHERE and have various driving skills, customs, habits, and styles...lordy, it's quite a challenge just going to town.  And our students are back, so the roads are filled with carloads of people who don't know where they're going nor that they are about to enter the Twilight Zone of Ithaca and its (in)famous one-way thoroughfares.  I'm sure the planners of the traffic patterns thought their blueprints were absolutely brilliant.  For chimpanzees, perhaps.  (sorry to insult a closely related species)  Those of us who live in the area are used to the psychosis-inducing jumble of pock-marked streets with one-ways, some for the entire street, some for only a certain section, some for use only between the hours of quarter to rush hour and half past hell; for the many visitors to the area, I'm sure it's very befuddling.  If not life-threatening.

I've had a stack of work waiting for me for the past three days, but before I forget, hop over to "Cart Before the Horse" and help Jo and Dylan celebrate the 200th post on their blog...in honor of this momentous occasion, Jo is doing a giveaway, so follow this link and you can add your congratulations and be entered in her giveaway simultaneously!  You will recognize her unique and whimsical pieces if you read Cloth Paper Scissors (she was featured in the Jan/Feb 2009 issue), and she has an Etsy shop as well, named, aptly enough, cartbeforethehorse.  The giveaway runs through October 1st.  Congratulations, Jo, from a new follower who plans to visit often. :)

Now about the stack of work that is waiting: let me begin by saying I am a "process" person.  For me, it's all about the journey; the destination is secondary and often not even on my radar.  This translates into pieces that I've finished the "art" part of the work, but it needs something more to move from UFO to saleable/giveable/hangable art.  At times, I am very prolific, so I tend to have a LOT of UFOs.  This is the pile to which I am currently alluding:

 

"Bubble Fish"

These are bead embroidered pieces on handmade wool felt that are all done EXCEPT they need a backer and/or a hanger to be finished.  I keep hoping that elves or fairies will visit me in the night whilst I'm sleeping, but so far, no luck.   Maybe the wee folk are on strike.  It appears that I am on my own, so I have vowed to get these finished off and listed in my Etsy shop (The Beadfelter's Bag) by the end of the coming weekend.  

I am also working on this blog and will be making the rounds of my favorite blogs to hopefully round up some readers/friends/followers (i hope i hope!) cuz it's berry berry lonely without friends!  

Okay, enough of shameless self-promotion for now.  :D  If you've come by, leave a comment please!  I very much look forward to hearing what you think.  About most anything!  He he he :)

Today we (DH, girlchild, & me) went to our local antique mall, just a short drive down the road from our house, and spent a very pleasant couple of hours browsing.  It's funny, so many of the "antiques" there were things I recognize from my childhood!  OMG, I must be an antique too!  Strangely, I don't find that too disturbing.  Girlchild and I spent quite a bit of time going through the vintage clothing, especially hats.  She is into hats big time, and for a paltry 5 bucks she left with a cute little white fur hat and she was THRILLED.  She will feel so special wearing her pretty fur hat this winter...she is very into the Gothic Lolita look that is very popular in Japan, in fact she would love to go to Japan and work for Tokyo Pop someday.  At age 12, she is something.  Really something.  I'm proud of her.

I left with a little doily for $4.00.  It has a significant stain that I didn't notice so much till I got it home, but that doesn't diminish its humble charm one little bit, as far as I'm concerned.  It looks to me that it's hand-tatted by someone, and that is worthy of my respect.  Besides, I bought it to put bits of it into artwork, and it will serve nicely for that.  Here it is:

 

  

I've been saving all kinds of velvet, velveteen, and velour clothing over the years from Girlchild's outgrown clothing, and something in that pile is going to call me, I know it.  So my little doily was a good find.

Time for sleep.  I'm behind in my reading, since the latest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors arrived in the mail 2 days ago.  I can barely sleep after I read it!  My head will be so full of ideas it'll be hard to drop off...but try I must.  

Night, yall.

Nightowl On Board

The scene: the living room of a quiet house, everyone asleep but me.  My favorite time of day.  Tommy Petty and the Heartbreakers hits playing.  I have one window open, a blessing of cool air coming in, following a number of hot, humid nights when the AC was a necessity. 

I've been piddling around trying to define what it is I want to do with myself: artistically, life-wise, in writing.  I've been floundering around lately.  I keep coming back to one theme in all of those areas: living a simple life in a sustainable way.  Making art from what I already have on hand or from recycled/reclaimed materials.  Writing about things I know, things I'm passionate about, things that interest me.  Oh, and one other thing: laughing.  Laughing at life's absurdities.  Laughing at myself.  Laughing about the things we all come across every day that are just plain funny or ridiculous, whimsical, or that tickle our funny bones for whatever reason.  Because if I can't laugh at something, then I've lost my perspective and my compass.  God likes humor.  Really. 

So I think I've got something here that will give me a jumping off place for my art and writing and just possibly keep me sane.  Although I'm not entirely committed to that sane thing.  HEHE.

Nightowl out.  Sleep tight, yall.