Email Update

If you have a Yahoo addy and have been trying to get ahold of me I have received your emails but for some reason when I reply the emails to Yahoo bounce, I'm not sure why. I'm working on this on my end but it's been going on since November now with no cure in site, I seem to have the same problem with earthlink and aol addies as well.

Ok Ok Ok

I'm so excited, there's nothing like getting an unexpected beautiful gift! John and I went to Des Moines to pick up my chair and crate, that we bought a tag sale on Sunday but couldn't get home because he truck was already full, anyway...

I went to the shop where my items were being held and they had a lovely pink wire soda fountain shoppe type chair, because I bought the chair Ron gave me three dozen pink roses.

Turns out he didn't like the pink chair! The florist up the street stopped in to give him her old flowers while we where there and he gave me the roses to hang up and dry in my studio/shoppe!!! I couldn't believe it. They are gorgeous.

I'll be photographing them with a bunch of things tomorrow, like old linens, china, silver, etc.

Storage Units

An antique store closed, in Valley Junction after 50 years, the owner retired. Anyway I managed to get these two pieces for around $55.00, the big unit, which will be painted Medicci White and the grain sorter, it's the dark green piece on the green wall, the green piece being about 4 x 9 feet by about 8 inches deep. I plan to dry brush some blue paint, a mistint, over the green unit so that some of the original green paint peeks through.

The New Space

Here's what I've been up to, this ceiling took a lot of work to get the color from dark royal blue to Medicci White, it's lovely and now the space is much brighter now. I managed to get a couple of storage pieces for less than sixty dollars, this will make the studio move a lot easier now.

Salvation Army

I spent about twenty minutes tops at the local Sal Army, and a total of fourteen dollars, this one has some incredible finds, silver platters, crystal vases, you name it, and all for really good prices. So if your redecorating you might want to check out your local Sal Army ;-)

More Bling

this was 99 cents, and is only four inches across I scored four of these.

Avon Dish?

New Sign for the Door

The letters are much darker now I went over them and made them black.

Bling

It's amazing what you find at the Salvation Army for only two dollars! It's about 24 inches wide, that's both of them btw.John spent some time polishing them for me, I had to ride him to keep him from removing all of the lovely dark patina in the crevices, he doesn't get it!!!

Candy Dish

Little Bits

Salvation Army Finds

Update

Been busy will post pictures later, if I can find my digital camera that is.

Spring Break & Natural Dyes Update

Well John has taken the week off, we've been working like crazy to get moved into the new space, I have more inventory than I thought I ever had, it's amazing how things can get shoved back into a corner and be hidden for long periods of time.

I'm still at a loss as to how to set up my studio space, I think once everything is in it'll be easier for me to organize everything.

I finally found a couple of sources for the natural dyes, so I'm hoping to have them in house and ready to go by the end of April. The best part is I now have the space for empoyees who can help me get orders out in a timely manner.

And if you didn't think

it couldn't get any worse you'd be wrong! Dead wrong.

The sewer exploded into our basement. The city says, call the plumber, the plumber says, call the city it's their problem. Hey maybe I just want to be able to flush my toilet, wash some dishes, take a shower and not have to worry about the sewage of the world backing up into my studio!!!!

Barley

Yes I pushed Barely further down the blog, if you wish to read about him. My blog is my homepage and it was just too painful to see his picture there everytime I pulled up the internet.

Tags and Sequin Stuff

Sequin Tape, now what to do with this glorious stuff! Brenda has some copper stuff that she's going to share with me, seems I remember seeing some purple stuff - oh yeah it was sent to me for my pieces I'm making on my mother... what a good place to use this glorious material. I think Beaney and Littlejohn laid it down and stitched threads through the holes, I could be wrong though.

Some tags I'm working on, they are very large and I'm putting them in a book that I'm making about Barley.

In Progress

Ok I meant to make a book in rememberance of Barley, I ended up making a clock instead!!! I'm calling my piece "Keeping Spring Time"! Barley loved having the windows opened in the spring, he'd run from window to window howling like a goon. Here's a picture of it in progress, I love the bright orange feet, it just gives the whole piece spunk.

Check out my best friend, Brenda K. Backman's, blog :

http://www.brendabackman.blogspot.com she has posted a new encaustic piece, now if she'll only post more pictures of her gorgeous, if not a bit dark and thought provoking, art work for the world to see! Leave a post when you get there maybe she'll post more pics if you do!

She lent me this really cool book called Crafting Personal Shrines by Carol Owen.

Barley Update and Well...

My friend Brenda's mom thinks Barley had a heart attack. Which actually is making some sense since he did make a weird grunting noise as he jumped up onto the chair, before slumping to the floor, where he proceeded to make even more moans. I tried CPR, but I have to tell you it's really hard on a cat. The fact that pretty much all of the vets in this town are closed on Wednesdays didn't help matters any either.

And if life weren't currently bad enough... The sewer has started backing up into the house, so I have to clear out my wet studio to higher ground - it lives in the basement. I'm figuring it's because the pipes are freezing at the end of the driveway. J- says that the storm drains are full and frozen so this could be a contributing factor, I don't know what I do know is I have a long night ahead of me.

Forward

I spent the better part of the afternoon in my wet studio creating. I can't wait to get into the new space, so that everything is on the same floor. Right now I'm waiting for the glue (E6000) to dry on my piece I"m making, you'll have to wait for more details. I'm hoping to have it mostly done tonight though. Whence I get this piece done I have plans to make a second one and video tape the process.

I'm also making a book piece in memory of Barley, it's the best way to work past all of this, I have found that creating is the best way to work through pain and loss. I have some bright yellow cast paper I made years ago that he was insistant on walking on while it dried. As a result his paw prints are embedded in the paper. First I have to find that piece of paper, then I can do something with it.

I'm hoping that the clay mold the vet makes of his foot is clear so I can make a reverse cast/stamp of it, I'll know more about that in a couple of weeks.

Pepper

Angel

Silky

Silky, along with the others, is a bona fide couch potato, so please don't email me for abusing my dog!!! She was attached to the clothesline pole while I weeding the garden, enjoying a bit of fresh air and sun. If she had her way she'd do nothing but chase rabbits, birds, and squirrels. She's a blue weimeraner.

So Life Goes On???

I was able to find a vet that did pet cremations, in town no less. So Barley will be returning home in about two weeks in a little tin (or velvet bag) I've been told. The vet will make a clay cast of his foot, I wasn't able to get a clear print using a stamp pad and paper.

Silky has figured out what's going on and is moping, Pepper is scared out of his gourd as he doesn't know where his buddy has disappeared too, and Angel is absolutely clueless, though she got the closest too him when I showed him to them, though Silky did try to lick/bite (?) his ear. I"m not really sure what Silky was trying to do.

We figure Silky is next as she's not doing well at all, and she's going on 10 which is old for a large dog, especially for one that's been fighting cancer for the past six years. This is of course if Angel doesn't do herself in by doing twirls on the staircase, I haven't figure out how to break her of this, she's quite the whirliing durbish when excited and stopping her is next to impossible.

John and I discussed Barley's accident last night, he's been falling a lot lately, I'm not sure why, except that he was just old. He also had intermittent eyesight, which the vet was unable to explain but he might have had a neurlogical problem it's hard telling. You try to do your best and yet they still end up dying, yes life sucks.