Still Going

Still working on my sketchbook. I may just get this one filled by the end of the year. I'm practicing my watercolor and still getting used to my new Ink Tense paints. I'm really loving pen and ink and black markers.

I also finished up my little knitted stocking. This will be for Mesmer. I have enough yarn to make him a scarf and hat. I'll get some tiny candy canes to put inside and wrap some boxes for him. My tiny way of decorating for the holidays. The stocking is about 4 1/2 inches tall.

Finished

I finally finished something this year. My second pair of knitted socks. It took me about three years to do so but they are done and I can now wear them. Good grief. It took me two and a half hours to finish them up. What was I waiting on? I have no idea but they are done and are the first thing on my 'Finished' list. I feel pretty good right now. Maybe I can carry that feeling through the rest of the week and finish something else.

It's The End of The Road -no picture post

Goodbye 2014.

I am grateful that I made it through the whole year. Many weren't as blessed. But I made it. It wasn't the worst year but it wasn't great either. I was sick the first part of 2014 and then I seemed to just languish. I did learn some things so I guess I grew a bit. The one thing, looking back, that I see where the problem lay (at least a part of it) was that I had no goals. I don't believe in resolutions but I do believe in having goals to make my life pleasant. To have a sense of being.

I am a list maker. There are many who don't make lists and that's fine. I've discovered that I need lists. Lists of goals. 2014, I had no lists. Not even one, and I floundered all year. And that was pretty bad because nothing got done. I wasn't creative at all. I waited for things to happen and they didn't. I was miserable, I racked my head to figure out where I'd gone wrong. And it was the list (s). I had previous one's from 2013 on my wall. Really? I don't want a repeat of 2014.

SO...

I've got new lists. Quite a few lists. A list for things I need to do everyday. Without fail.

• write one page or edit one page
• read
• sketch

No ifs, ands, or buts about these. Whether it's for 10 minutes or an hour, these are a must.

There is a QUILT list, for all my quilting projects. My WRITING list to finish up stories and start editing my work. Someone else might like to read this stuff besides me. ART A MONTH list. Yeah, I'm still working on that one. February is 29 Faces where you make a face a day.

• January - I will work on a new character, Kid Medusa
• February - 29 Faces
• March - mushrooms (I like mushrooms)
• April - bears
• May - paint like a favorite artist

You get where I'm going with this. Some of these will be a part of the sketch a day. Kill two birds with one stone thing.

A list for my DOLLS/FIGURES. Yep, Halloween and Day of the Dead are still hanging around. With an alien or two thrown in. A list for COSTUMES I want to make for me, starting with corsets for every time period I like. That falls into my LONG TERM list.  That list is for projects that will take a year or longer. I've started a room box, miniature size. I've always wanted a dollhouse. Well... we'll see if I can get a room box done. One room. A long term project for me. Same with the costumes. For me. Not to sell. Not for anyone else. For me. Because, sometimes you need to think and do things just for you.

And dagnabbit, I'm going to finish my second pair of socks.

I also have a list to HELP OTHERS. I will be knitting or crocheting and sewing some items for the Merchant Marines. Those men and women who work on the huge sea ships that bring us things from other countries. I like to sew and I like to knit. I can do those things during my down time. I'm sure there are some other things I'd like to do. Like start my Christmas cards in January. Which is tomorrow.

Now, on the other side, I may not get to everything on my lists. That's okay. I have lists to keep me to task and on track. I also have specified down time for me. One day off a week. Or two. I can do that being on my own. I want to stay being on my own. I had a hiccup year with 2014. It will be remedied in 2015.

I'm calling 2015 The Year of the Creative Juggernaught.

I'm excited and I'm ready. Are you?

Come on 2015!

Southeastern Animal and Fiber Fair

This past Friday, Maya and I went to the Southeastern Animal and Fiber Fair (SAFF) in Asheville, North Carolina.  We'd been planning on this event for the past eight months and kept our fingers crossed so that nothing would prevent us from attending.  We were so excited to be on the road.  The weather was brisk and the sun was shining.

All I can say is that we had a blast.  We walked around the main section that was in a small arena at I believe the fair ground.  Immediate overwhelm, looking at all the fibers, yarn, roving, patterns, handmade and knit items.  Oh my gosh!  I so want a loom and new spinning wheel.  Maya wants alpacas, which are so stinking cute. Especially the babies.  And the noises they make.  A cross between a grunt, bark, and bunny sounds.  The tiny ones had little blankets over them.  I guess to keep them warm.  If I had room, I most definitely would have a couple.  There hair is so soft.  Some say it's softer than cashmere and easier to take care of.  I bought some to make gloves.  I guess I need to finish my second pair of socks.  We also went to the other buildings for more animals and vendors.  I will most definitely have a project in mind next year.

Oh, and the Angora bunners.  So cute!

The Day After and a New Year

Okay then. I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July, whether you had to work or not, I hope you had a chance to spend time with friends and loved ones.  I did absolutely nothing except cook for the rest of the week.  My schedule is getting full and I've decided to make some changes.  I'm still working on being nicer to me and have decided that my time will be directed more to all that I want to do.  I'm stepping my game up several notches and moving full steam ahead on all things creative.  I don't know if I had an epiphany or what but my eyes have been open to the way I've done business.  No more.

What I am also doing is giving up one thing each month for the rest of the year.  It's a personal challenge I got from Zen Habits by Leo Babauta and I thought I'd give it a try.  It's A Year of Living Without, going a whole month giving up one thing I do regularly.  At the end of the month I will evaluate whether I enjoyed giving the thing up, whether it was worth leaving it out of my life, or do I need to put it back in.  The next month I'll give up something else.  It's an experiment to simplify one's life, finding out what's necessary and possibly making room for other cool things in my life. It's really nice because I can change my list as the year progresses if I find other things I want to give up.  At the end of the month, I will post what I've learned.  Leo is also doing the challenge which is cool.  I was debating on showing my whole list but I guess I'll do it in case you want to try to give up something in your world.  I'll start off with the first three months.

1. July - Give up TV.  Since I only have local channels that shouldn't be that difficult  But it also includes Netflix, You Tube and other video entertainment.  I've cut myself a little slack by being able to watch DVDs that I like because I work better with background noise.  I'll also be listening to a lot more music.  That's just how I roll.  I will replace it with reading more books.  We'll see how many I can finish by the end of the month.

2. August - No longer sitting longer than 30 minutes at a time.  Get up for 15 minutes and do something else. Replacement habit is to stretch more.

3. September - No dairy, that includes eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt.  Replace with more fruits and veggies.

Other things I will be doing as I move forward on this journey will be:

• Again, be nicer to me.
• Get Map Hunter II rough draft done
• Re-do my wardrobe (which is in seriously bad shape after losing lots of weight)
• Take more pictures of me
• Get going on my new Halloween pieces.
• Finish my second pair of socks
• Get that quilt top done 

That's it for right now.  Always a gazillion things to do and so little time.  Maybe I can change that around this month. Stay tuned.

Wow!

There are times when you are so fed up with fear, you just have to kick it to the curb.  And when you do, all sorts of creative happy comes.  There are so many things I want to do with my life that I got fed up a few days ago and decided to do something.  I'm back to working on several projects at the same time.  For some reason, I feel better about that.  Some people are good at working on one thing at a time until it's done.  I tried that and, well, it worked for a minute but I felt that I was missing something.  My whole apartment is getting back to looking like one huge studio and it feels good.  I know, I'm so special.

I forgot to mention that I got another doll commission last week.  Yesterday, I snagged a spot at a local art fair that will happen in a week and a half.  I will have some new pieces and I was so excited that I couldn't sleep last night.  I'm kind of dragging today.  I went to pick up some artwork but one of the owners decided to keep everything.  Most excellent.  I've been sketching more new pieces for the upcoming show and the giveaway.  My birthday is next month.  I had asked for some help from the creative muses and they sent the art fair.  Thanks.  I finally got more coffee and some chocolate because I will be burning some midnight oil.

I was able to work on some other projects which had stalled because they weren't working out.  I got back to a sleeveless blouse I had started. It fits but the collar wasn't working out so I put it to the side.  For three weeks.  Seeing that I don't have many items of clothing that fit, why hadn't I finished this piece?  So I took the collar off yesterday and will cut a new one that will fit.  Sometimes commercial patterns are like that and I'm glad I know what to do when that happens.  I'm also glad that I had fabric left to cut a new collar.  I also worked on my second pair of knitted socks and got back to my short stay.  I redid the hand stitched eyelets.  Now I can get the boning in and finish it.  Then I can look for fabric for a gown.  There's an even coming up in July here in town that I would like to go to in costume.

I've been reading a lot of kid books, a writer should read everything they can.  And Halloween is calling.  Right now I'm feeling pretty good.  Excited, which I haven't been in a long time.

I've got this.

May Day

May Day! May Day!

Okay, things aren't that bad around here. I'm getting my warped sense of humor back. I do have to amuse myself at times and get out of my apartment on a regular basis. I ventured out this morning to pick up groceries and almost forgot how to drive and get to said store. Not cool. I made it though and back home in one piece. I also finished packing up things for Goodwill (had started over a year ago) and made myself take them to a drop off truck. I can now say my apartment looks pretty good. And so does my studio. Of course, I'm asking myself why it took me so long to unload the stuff? Beats me.

Speaking of my studio, since my art table is big enough, I've decided to paint on one side and do other crafty/dollie things on the other side. That way I won't have to put something completely away to work on something else. Why did it take so long to figure that out? Good grief!

I've decided that this will be a challenge month for me. I will make it a doll month because I've been doing so many other things (creative things and those to pay bills) that I've put dolls on the back burner. I need to put them back on a front burner and cook like crazy. I do miss them but thinking too much about a new medium put the kabash on making anything new. So I'm putting it out there to you. I will have to make some new little people, witches, ghoulies, whatever. Why?
     One: because I have another challenge coming up.
     Two: There's probably an art show coming up and I need new material.
     Three: I need to restock the shops where I have old work.
     Four: The characters I've been dreaming of, thinking of, sketching are driving me crazy to get out.
and          
     Five: I will be having my first Giveaway at the end of this month to celebrate me being on my own. Details forthcoming so check back.

I will be updating my profile for this blog because I've changed. Things in my life have changed. I'm not techno enough to redo my whole blog to add on things I want to add. So I will leave it alone. I will be doing more sewing for me and hopefully be adding some costumes. For me. I have to make something for the Renaissance Festival this year.  And I even get to dress my little niece this year. I even get to make her up for Halloween. Awesome!

Another thing I will be preparing for is my writing website where I will be offering short stories with illustrations. Seeing that Map Hunter is still a ways off, I can entertain you with my other tales.

Now my list for the month, along with the dolls:

• Polish my first kid short story for a new website
• Write one page or 350 words a day, working on Map Hunter II
• Finish my dragonfly blouse
• Finish my Bless This House quilt top
• Finish my second pair of socks
• Read 3 books
• Do more sketching

A lot? Yeah, but I'm crazy like that. We'll just see what happens. It's a brand new month and all things are possible. Toodles!

Been Slacking

Sorry for no new updates.  So here we go.  I had three commissions, one after the other and the fourth was postponed until June.  That kind of threw me for a loop because I was in such a 'go get 'em' mode.  When the adrenaline is coursing through my veins, you just wanted to keep going.  The postponement brought me to a screeching halt and the adrenaline took a nose dive.

Here we go again.  The doubts, fears, and other crap us creative types deal with on a regular basis, decided to body slam me.  Really?  So I told myself that it was time for a break.  That I had been working hard (which is a good thing) but I'm also allowed to take a break.  And I did.  And now, I'm back.  I have another commission to work on.  Two paintings, size 24 x 36.  Huge!  I haven't worked this big since undergrad.  Will this be a challenge?  You bet.  And I'm ready.  I'm getting excited about these paintings.  I got my first degree in art, specializing in watercolor painting.  These paintings will be in acrylic.  Something new to me but I'm raring to go.

I'm back to working on dolls and hope to have pics soon.  Been working on my latest quilt and I'm almost done with my blouse.  I've been working on my kid book series, book two actually.  I thought I was ready to send out book one but when I started working on book two, I noticed that I needed to add some bits to book one so that book two would flow better.  Now I've decided to hold off on putting the series out there until I've got more written.  In the meantime I will work on some shorter stories and put them on a writing website for me.  Stay tuned.

I'm still working on my second pair of socks.  The heels are giving me fits.  This is what I get from not continuing knitting on a regular basis.  That will be remedied too.

Carry on people!!!!!

A New Month

We are almost a quarter through a new year. Can you believe it? Amazing. I really feel like I'm so behind. I know I always say this but, didn't we just have Christmas? Come on now! I'm back in the coffee business. My mom sent me her French Press and I have coffee in the morning. Yay! You have no idea how loopy I've been for lack of coffee.

The first three days this month were great. Writing new material, designed two new dolls for commissions and got them started, trying to keep abreast of doing more reading for the month, and started sewing a blouse for me. I also rearranged all my writing into folders. Main folders for short stories kids, short stories adult, screenplays, long books kids, long books adults and within those folders a folder for each story and the different files under those stories.  My document page looks so nice and neat now and I'll be able to keep track of different drafts and edits for each story. Yes, I'm still a crazy lady and have signed up to do Camp NaNoWrimo for the month. My goal is 30,000 words for Map Hunter II.

I wasn't going to write down which projects I will attempt this month because it usually changes and I get other things done. So I guess I'll give it a go for this month.

• Finish Bless This House quilt top
• Finish my summer blouse
• Finish three commissions
• Read three books
• Get through edit five of Map Hunter book I
• Rough draft of Map Hunter book II
• new pieces for an art show the end of the month
• Finish my second pair of socks

Nuts?

Yes, but this is me. The commissions will most definitely get done. You know, those pesky things called bills just keep coming in. I'm also getting things prepped to start a writing website. I'll talk more about that in the near future. But you've seen the list and you can ping me and make a comment if I slack off.

Cheers!

Wrap Up - March

March wasn't a bad month but it wasn't terribly great either. I will have to put a bit more effort into things for April. Here's what I did accomplish this month:

• completed two commissions
• designed and made new bunners which are now in a new shop
• read one book - Peter Pan by JM Barrie (yeah, I'm just now reading it)
• made Easter ornament for doll group swap

Here's what I worked on:

• Bless This House top panel
• second pair of socks
• 14 out of 16 days of writing 350 + new words those days
• cut out summer blouse for me

Working really hard not to fall into the 'shoulda, coulda, woulda' trap. Which by-the-way is pretty easy to do. It's very difficult to think about what I have done and accomplished because I'm always thinking I should be doing more. Like Mt Everest more. Really? It's just me. I have done better at cutting myself some slack. That is also a work in progress. Next month I will have to kick it up a notch. I've got three commissions to do, new work for an art show on the 27th, keep working on my manuscript, and start thinking about Halloween and the Christmas. Okay, now my head hurts. 

Hang tight!

2 Weeks

In a way I'm glad that March is long this year. I have two weeks left to finish up some more projects, start some, and plan even more. I've got to get back to my piggy but have errands to run in the morn. That just really puts a damper on my creative day when I have to do mundane things. Oh well, I'll deal with it and move on.

I haven't worked on a doll in a month of Sundays and I've got to fix that. I have been writing new material and pretty soon I will have to start filling things in to make better stories. I'm quite pleased how so many different ideas are flowing from my grey matter. My goal is to get two more commissions done, my first blouse for spring/summer, two dolls, and keep writing. There are other projects still in development and I'll let you in on those in the near future. I'm behind on my second pair of socks. I goofed and have to fix it. This weather along with the stupid time change is just messing me up. I also think that once I get my taxes out of the way, I'd feel loads better too. So, stay tuned.

New Socks

After four different tries, I started my second pair of socks. I'm using a finger weight yarn cannibalized from another pair of socks I started years ago. I was going to attempt a smaller needle and I'm glad I didn't. I'm still using a size 3 and will stick with that until I get better at  making socks. I would like to try a size 1 with the light sport weight I used with the blue pair. My tension is also getting better.

Two toesies! The markers help me remember the front for when I start to do the heels.

Here's the yarn again. I have a new follower but for some reason I can tell who you are. I will find out. Welcome! Thanks!