Fearless Creating

This last weekend Michael and I wen to the SPCA book sale.. we met Kelly

( this is an annual outing for us !)

and found lots of books to add to our collection ..

I believe that books are a good investment ..

they don't go bad..and they have a life  past when you read them ..buy sharing with friends ..

or usually donating back to the SPCA....

I look for unusual reference books ..

I have acquired some nifty books of musicals, play writing, and art..

besides my cache of murder mystery books ....

in the assortment this time was a book called fearless creating ....

I love this kind of self empowering creative affirmation book ....

but mind you I just got it and haven't "read" it ..

just gave a skim....

I like the idea of not being afraid to be creative and not fearing mistakes ...

I have a whole bunch of items that I have started ..

and then just realised they they weren't working  the wrong hook ..

or needle..or the yarn just didn't looks right ..

usually they are frogged ( rip it..rip it ) ..

I took some photos of my WIPS..

that are just not working and are going to be undone ....

i think ...

I am pretty fearless in tying the wrong yarn ..

just to see how it looks ..but I like to give a project a chance ...

see if it come to life or grows on me

this pink yarn is really pretty and soft ..and I though that the pattern was fun ...

but this is just not working for me and it will be frogged ..but frogging mohair is a lesson in patience ..

this brown yarn has been tried in 3 other things ..

its so pretty but it just hasn't been right ..

and it kinda smells antiseptic ....

the rest of my kool aid dyed lace weight was going into this one ..

but it was testing my patience ..

and I have other yarn that I want to play with!

this teal project is super pretty ..

but the yarn is a pain to work with and this scarf is 3/4 done ..

i just need to buck up and work to the end..

but i do have 2 finished works that truly make up for my last of posting new things ..

OK this photo is not the best but it shows the color

this is a slightly fuzzy sparkly soft yarn ....

fun to look at ..a real pain to work with ..

but it made a pretty shawlette ..

and My new thing it has a half a row left..and blocking ..

( it will be "done " tonight)

I splurged and bought the yarn full price and it is sooooooooooooo pretty ......

It really was a silly project that took me a few weeks

( this yarn was bought on the art day with Alex and Elizabeth )....

This by far was the most ongoing  project for me ..

the lace weight take a bit longer and then the blocking ..

but I think it was worth it!

but It frees me up to work on some smaller projects !

Items from my Creative Friends

So I mention a lot about how creative all of my friends are ..and I love to get the chance to chow off their work!

I asked Kelley to send me some of her really cool items ...I want to add that I was there when Kelley started to learn ..and she has some serious knitting skills ..and a lot of Patience...as you can see from some of work the has no fear of small needles or projects that require a time commitment..and Kelly is allergic to wool..so only cotton or man made firers for her ..which limits what she can work with she spends a lot of time making sure she can sub out yarn types

the crab was an ode to "deadliest catch" and took her quite a while..it is a very pretty piece

The paint brush is of her own design! a lot of thought went into construction and colors !

and the hedgehog is really adorable!

One of our coworkers Megan ( she works in our building but not in our office) has a very cool desk area...the "wallpaper" is made up of postcards from student events ,concerts and lectures...Megan mentioned that is was a great way for her to connect with students and alumni in her office ...its very pretty and really cool!

I cannot say it often enough

I am so fortunate to be surrounded by sooooo may fun and creative people ..

Basil is Back!

Many of you may remember My dear friend Basil and his friend Silvia...
what?..... you don't? ..
ah well
 let me give you a back story .
.many years ago..
back when Alex and I worked for K mart
( now don't grimace it was a fun job!) ..
I was introduced to Basil Seaton and his lover Maurice..
and their friend Silvia...
 Alex just happened to know Silvia..
.Basil , Maurice and Silvia were all very busy and often forgetful about going to check their mail
So Alex and I each offered to be couriers for their correspondence
 ( and we would read their mail!) .
both Basil and Silvia were very good artists
and delighted in making extravagant and beautiful art for each other.
while sharing snippets of their very complicated lives..
Basil had many friends that he corresponded with this way .
and at one time my PO box was filled with more mail for Basil than for me!
alas
as time went on and the computer became the primary tool for communication
the number of letters and cards Basil got started to dwindle ..
 Alex and I became busier and had less time to deliver them.
and both Basil and Silvia were similar on their desire to not use the computer to talk
soon after, Basil and Silvia started to travel excessively and we would hear only whispers of news from each of them
 Basil was last in town promoting an album of Song About Death..
that did well in France but not here in the states,,

but recently Silva contacted Alex to have me find Basil..and luck would have it we did this on the same day Basil and Maurice were opening a gift shop here in Sacramento!

I would help Basil and Maurice frequently with bill and chores and odd jobs
and kept almost all of the beautiful cards and letters they had gotten from Silvia
( it was my hope they their fame would spread and I could sell them to the media!)
below are some of the examples...

there is a large community of mixed media artists out there.

.people who do artist trading cards, mail art, collage, book art

I send a kudos to all the mixed media artists out there..

many who do amazing work just for their own enjoyment

and if anyone wishes to reconnect with Basil or if you would like to correspond with him please let me know!

Destination Art!

so last weekend I went with Alex and her sister Elizabeth to "destination art" it was a fun tour of six different stores with interactive projects , souvenirs and a fun drawing if you went to all 6 places ...here were the locations... It was fun to spend the day with my friends and explore shopping

1. The Bead Fetish, ...................................... 1725 L Street, Sacramento, 916-447-7979

2. Art Ellis Supply, ......................................... 2508 J Street, Sacramento, 916-448-1875

3. Gatherings, ........................................ 650 Fulton Avenue, Sacramento, 916-483-0820

4. JR Flamingo, ................................... 1139 Fulton Avenue, Sacramento,  916-481-1139

5. The Paper Garden, .......................... 2601 El Paseo Lane, Sacramento, 916-48-paper

6. Babetta's Yarn and Gifts, .. 4400 San Juan Avenue No. 20, Fair Oaks, 916-965-6043

I learned some new technique too!  a medium called angelina fibre ..you heat set individual; fibers so they become a fused non woven fabric the iridescence didn't photograph well but its very cool ..

I also did some wire crochet ...I got some very thing silver wire and was playing with scale ..I think that this would be fun when I add beads and more bling..and crocheted wire looks like more than it is up close ..fun and easy!

I also finished my Koolaid dyed shawl

Alex had done this method of dying wool in a crock pot and it worked very well....Michael helped me roll 1000 yards of this very thin yarn.and I spent almost 2 months on this .but I think the results were worth the time

that's all for this week! Thanks for reading !

a day with Tat and Family

I adore all my friends !
getting to visit tat

and her family is always a treat for Michael and I
 ..since our Nieces and Nephews live so far away Devon and Sara Reiley our our surrogates.
and I love having "art days" with them ( and she like to post pics of me so I get to post one of her!)

Devon was ( in Tats words) was being a "teenage boy" ..he isn't into our our art days as much ..but he is pretty crafty in his own way ..we was making Chain Mail bracelets

and had just gotten new supplies in ..they are made with rubber rings and metal jump rings ..very fun! ..and they glow in the dark!...he had a book full of patterns and was starting on some very complicated designs..I was kinda jealous..so means I need to learn something new!

I challenged Sara Reily with a new felting project and I was helping her with planning images and inspiration. but we ended up making more of the fun jar pendants...

tat even made one !

I love to make these! and tat got the bottles for me .....

even with Vegas and art Day I did manage to finish 2 projects

Michael saw this year and on the wrapper was this super cute pattern and he asked me to make this for his nieces baby

I finished my deconstructed sweater bag to wear to Vegas ..but will do a whole post on it later!

Vegas and More

I went for work last week to the  Catersourse Conference in Las Vegas
it was a great event met lots of nice people, took some great classes and saw some really cool art.

Now if you haven't been to Vegas before.. it is all about scale ..everything is huge and extravagant !
we stayed at the beautiful Paris hotel..and our conf. was at the Cosmopolitan

the crystal chandelier at the cosmopolitan !

the hotel had tons of really cool modern art ...I mean TONS! it was like a museum

one of my favorite pieces of artwork!
now one of the cool things they had several of were  artomat ..old cigarette machines that vend artist trading cards! How cool is that !

Now Vegas wasn't new to me but the cosmopolitan was...and I got to eat at their Wicked Spoon Buffet

yummy gourmet buffet! with the best desserts I have ever seen at a buffet.

to top the whole thing off I got a change to Visit with my friend Sara AND got to not only hear Nathan perform ...but we got to hang out AND have drinks ! I wish Michael could have gone with me ..but there is always next time!

when life hands you lemons

this week life handed me some lemons
( my Hubby lost his job and Kelley gave be a bag full of Lemons )

so when life hands you lemons you make..Lemon Curd and Lemon cookies!
I have been talking about making Lemon Curd for a while...
really its just lemon custard..but i had 4 different versions in my cookbook collection..
and Michael found 3 more...
so I chose the most basic one..
and it turned out terrific!...tangy and very tasty...
I make lemon butter cookies also..they were not bad..not terrific...but not bad

anyone else have suggestions for other Lemon things?

I finished my pop top Bag

I am super happy how it turned out! I will change the strap for the next one
( so y'all just keep saving pop tops for me!)

I also made some rock cozies

Michael's mom said "why ruin such pretty rocks"...and although there isn't much real point to making covers for rocks..I think they are super cute and kinda fun..and after all there has to be a place in the world for pretty but not useful things.