I'm Back- Again

When you go for a vacation, even a little one, you need a day or two to get back into the swing of things. A friend took me up north with her this week. Up north meaning the top part of the lower Michigan peninsula. Her dad has a hunter's cabin, so that's where we stayed for three days and three nights. Really cool. Saw deer and foxes. No otter though. We walked... a lot. We saw several lighthouses in the area, went to a couple of museums (one where we looked for fossils), and she took me to Mackinac Island. I'd never been. My friend has been going since she was a kid and loves the place. And now, so do I. We took a carriage ride around part of the island. Had lunch, saw the beautiful old houses that are now inns, a couple of old churches, the park or nature preserve section (the whole island is a State Park), and the fort. So I'm going to show a few pics at a time. Then it's on to Halloween things.

Back of the cabin.

The skies were threatening all the time. It rained every night so we didn't get a chance to catch the Northern Lights.

On the way up north we stopped to get this shot of Lake Huron.

Old Presque Isle Lighthouse.

The bell. Heavier than the Liberty Bell. I made the mistake and rung it. Boy was it loud. My friend Kristi yelled at me because she said it would summon all bad things. Fog. Zombie pirates.

New Presque Isle Lighthouse.

More tomorrow. Thanks for looking.

The Adventure Continues

Yes, it continues and evolves. Life still wants to throw things at me and some things I can't control. So I work on things I can control. My artwork and my writing. I am ready to do NaNoWriMo this year, starting at midnight November 1st. I will probably meet with my local group for the kickoff. I've missed Halloween again. So I've decided that it is truly a year round thing and will continue making things and figure out an outfit for next year. I'm still working on turning around this year. Working on my own break. Scared to death about it but the end has not been written and I want it to be different than what I've got now. So here's what I've been doing.

I took a Cosmic Smashbook workshop and it's like a journal making class but for personal development. It was fun, like being in kindergarden again. Lots of paint and glue. In the center of the journal, we wrote what we wanted to accomplish, our dreams, etc and then painted our hands over to protect those dreams. We can add photos, poems, pictures from magazines, anything that will help us reach our goals.

My goofy pic. I will work more on my cover. Yes, that's a pirate. That's how I see my adventure.

My first page will be one of fear and good feel arrows being shot into it. To get rid of the fear that is holding me back. The fear of failure, success, just being.

Here is the center of my journal where I wrote my dreams and goals. I traced and painted my hands over those dreams and goals.

This is an in progress project. Just like I'm a work in progress. This whole process is interesting and I will update as often as I can.

Talk Like a Pirate Day

It was yesterday and I celebrated by going to the local Krispy Kreme and got my free doughnut hole because I wasn't dressed like a pirate. But I did get a doughnut with skull and crossbones and a travel mug. So that was breakfast. Doesn't take much to entertain me.

One Rat Done

I finally finished a needle felted rat. It’s not totally finished because he will be dressed and have accessories. So technically, he’s still in the works. I used Sara Renzuli’s technique and I will be tweaking it to make rats that look closer to live rats. Have lots of ideas for these guys.

Not the Best Pic

Been sick for almost a week, a really bad cold this time with a dose of another infection dealing with kidneys and bladders. Ha, ha! Yeah, I went there. Anyhoo, feeling much better and I'm working hard to salvage the rest of this month. I finally got my pirate/skull vest done. Buttonholes and all. It looks way better on and I will have to get a pic of me in it. Until then, here it is.

It's lined and I just love the fabric. Feeling pretty good right now because I got something done, this year. I know, it's still early but this month was starting to freak me out because I had nothing creative done.

Close up of buttons.

I've also been back to writing and finally broke through a block where I couldn't figure out how to start the story. I've had many scenes written, lots of background info, and stories to fill several books, but I didn't know how to start the darn thing. Or where to start it in the main character's life. Before I got out of bed this morning, a scene popped in my head which led to the start of the whole story.  Book One. I am so excited, I jumped up and down for a bit. It's been several years since I've been working on this story and now I've got a beginning down. Amazing, simply amazing. Working on some dolls/figures and will get some pics up soon.

See ya!

Stay warm!

31 Days of Halloween - Pirate Vest

This is part of my 31 Days of Halloween/Fall.  I've worked on this for two days so far.  One to cut out the vest and it is lined and now for today, I've started to put it together.

Here are the printed pieces.  Four of the pieces are now together.

Here is what the fabric looks like.  I've got a thing for pirates.  Old school.

Soft Sculpture Workshop 2

This was a crazy week.  Heck, the past two weeks were crazy busy and dangerous.  Last week I almost got hit five times by cars and one city bus.  No one was paying attention.  It was Jupiter's fault.  Yep, that's it. Darn that Jupiter for being so close.  Any hoo, here is more of my workshop.

This the second day where we started to cover the foam face.  And yes, it is pantyhose.  The eyes have been rolled back to protect Lisa's wonderful paint job.

Alien eyes.  My marbles were green.  So out-of-space like, don't you think?  Once it was pinned, we had to carefully slit the hose.  That was scary.  Then we had to stitch the hose into place around the eyes and then the nose and mouth.

Right here, he still looks like a guy.  I was trying to channel a pirate.

Good Grief! Another Month

Hello September!

I know.  I can't believe it's another month already.  My niece I helped bring into the world is six months old now. She can pull herself up, and is doing a weird crawl. In other words, she's mobile.  I did okay last month considering my laptop crashed.  I was able to not sit for long periods of time, getting up to stretch and drink lots more water.  It was tough at first making myself get up more often and it helped with me being stiff.  For this month I'm going to give up potato chips.  Not that I eat lots anyway, my body doesn't really like them anymore. So I'll try to eat more fruit and add some nuts. This is what I had on my list for last month.

• finish one more quilt top, 
• make another blouse for me
• read three books - read two books
• Map Hunter III rough draft
• two short story rough drafts - one short story rough draft
• finish my socks - worked on the socks
• goo gobs of Halloween stuff - 9 Cauldron Critters, 12 button skull ornaments, started 10 ghoulies and 2 skellie pirates.  I also make 10 angel ornaments, I know they aren't Halloween but they do sell.
• a painting a week, does not include sketches or practice pieces, yeah that may be harsh but we'll see
• finish my mermaid - got her body formed

Not bad but not great.  I was really stressed out about my laptop.  And then when I got it back, I had to re-install things.  Still working on that.  But I'm ready for the new month.  Still working on things for two shows this month and I will be forming costume workshops for Old Salem this month too.  I'm also participating in 29 Faces.  Yes, I'm a nut case but I'm starting to have fun.  Pics soon.

I won't do a list for this month because it's going to be so crazy and Halloween is next month.  But I will keep up on my posts.  Have a great last summer holiday and week.

I'm Late, I'm late!

I know, I know. I'm late with a post. I was really trying keep up with my posts. My finger is much better but still aches late in the day/early evening. My kitchen sink had a leak, again. The faucet was finally replaced. Yay! I'm still hoping October will be good to me. It's only four days in but two of those days haven't been the greatest. I could use a break from all of these life tests.

I have been slugging it through though. As much as I would like to crawl under a blanket and sleep, I push myself to do something. Even with that, a blanket would be too hot because we're still warm and muggy here. So I take a deep breath and suck it up. I'm not giving up. I will be doing NANOWRIMO again this year. That's National Write A Novel in a Month. I'm prepping for that, along with two different doll related swaps online. It's my way of getting some pretty decent doll art without paying. They get a piece of my art too.

I've had to go back to the familiar, cloth dolls, because having been in the shop, times are still tight for a lot of people. I have to continue to make some inexpensive pieces to sell in order to be able to make the nicer pieces I want to make. People will spend up to about 30 bucks for something that isn't necessary. And that's here in my neck-of-the-woods and my experience. It's all good, as long as it helps to pay the bills. But starting next week, I will be doing my art pieces.

Here's my list for the month. It's long but it's my guide.

• blog at least twice a week
• put more cloth dolls on Etsy
• restock dolls in shops
• work on my kid story edit
• sketch every other day, preferably new dolls
• finish one commission
• start items for Krankie's Holiday Craft Show
• sew my pirate vest
• finish my short stay
• finish my last Hop To It quilt block
• prepare for NANO
• create website

I will copy and repost this at the end of the month to see what I got done. Yes, I'm a bit touched but that's okay. I like me.

Small Art, Big Heart

I will be making a doll for the Small Art, Big Heart show & sale at the Hampton House Art & Framing here in town. I'm planning a pirate but sometimes my pieces have a mind of their own.

Stay tuned.

18th Annual Carolina Renaissance Festival

Well folks, I got my geek/nerd on this past Sunday. My pals Maya, Amanda, and I went to the Carolina Renaissance Festival. The sun was out, it wasn't too hot or too cold. A perfect fall day. I've been to festivals in Michigan before, Maya had been to this one before, and it was Amanda's first time. A virgin. We had a blast. We didn't gorge ourselves on the foodstuffs. I did have the fish 'n chips and a beer. Or I should say, ale. We laughed so hard at times, our cheeks hurt.

Enjoy the pics.

One of the many faerie ladies entertaining the little ones.

Check out those wings. Awesome!

The band for the aerial performer.

The aerial performer.

An archer taking a break, sketching in her leather bound journal. She did pose for me at first but I asked her to pretend I wasn't there. I like natural poses from people at the fair. Great doll references.

Pretty dresses. Lots of work.

The music group Maidens IV. The fourth one is in the corner playing the heck out of the drums.

A wonderful Steampunk ride for the kiddies. I guess some parental units were allowed on too.

A lovely lady in one of the many costume shops. Yes, I saw several outfits I wanted to own.

The Green Man.

Three silly Musketeers. I don't know how well they would do with protecting anyone. They were ready for the ale tent.

A guy in a kilt.

This lovely lady was smocking. I can't recall the term she used but that's what she was doing. I used to smock ages ago. No time or little people to do it for anymore.

London Broil, the juggling troupe. They were hilarious. And very good.

A lady harpist.

Like I said, I had a blast. It's been years since I've been to a fest. Next year... I'm dressing up. I've got a whole year to make my costume. What shall I be? A pirate? A Steampunk pirate? A Steampunk wench? A faerie catcher? Any ideas?