A New Day

It's a new day and a new doll. Started a red doll last night. She was supposed to be a Valentine's project but I got side tracked. I'm hoping to do some St. Paddy's green Ug Bugs and I'll start ahead of time. I haven't decided on a face for this one yet. Usually I start beading and then something will strike me. Her personality hasn't spoken to me yet.

I also want to put some finishing touches on Autumn. He really needs embellishment. His picture is near the bottom of the page.

It's a cold day in Chesterville. The wind is raw and biting and it is rather overcast. A couple of weeks ago I woke up to the most beautiful frost over everything. This is a picture of the Spirea bush beside the front porch. It was awesome and twinkled like it was loaded with diamonds in the morning sun. Unfortunately it didn't last too long.



I leave you with a verse from one of my favorite songs. A Pirate Looks at Forty by Jimmy Buffett.

Mother, mother ocean, after all these years I've found
My occupational hazard being, my occupation's
just not around.
I feel like I've drowned,
Gonna head uptown.

This is one of my problems. My occupation is just not around either.

Finished at Last!!!

Well, Gretchen the Sea Urchin is done. I spent two hours last night finishing the beading and another two putting embellishments on her. She turned out beautifully and these photos do not do her justice at all.





Gretchen ended up being quite heavy for a little girl. She is 8 inches tall and about 2.5 inches at her midsection. I used Czech glass beads in varying blues, gold, white AB and clear. Her face was purchased and I can't remember where. She is embellished with crystals, little gold bells, gold streaked blue acrylic flowers and millefiori hearts in white and cobalt. She is very lovely and I'm quite proud of her. Now to decide where to sell her, Etsy or Ebay. Choices, choices, I'm so very bad at choices and no matter witch one I pick it will, of course, be the wrong one.

Today's quote is from Allan K. Chalmers: The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Almost Done!!

I am having the darndest time finishing the Sea Urchin. Just can't seem to settle down to work these days. The car thingy has me upset I guess. Anyway, here is what is done now. All I have left is the tip of her tail and the embellishments. There are thousands of beads in her now and she is quite heavy.

Hopefully the finished Urchin will be shown here soon.

My quote today is about, of all things, procrastination:



Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy. - Wayne Gretsky

Damn Cars

Today is just one of those days. The kind you wish you had just slept through. You know the ones. Start bad... keep going bad and end bad. This one didn't start so bad. How can a day be bad when you are starting it with your grandson. My one bright spot.

Anyhow, to make this all very, very short... the transmission hose blew. Lost all the fluid I put in yesterday and it won't move in any direction of course. Sooooooo tomorrow I get to stay home and phone around for repairs.

I have an online job interview as well tomorrow. Now, to my unfortunate knowledge, most jobs that offer $18.00 bucks per hour to work from home and that want to interview through your yahoo messanger, are perhaps not quite on the up and up. But, we will see. This was a Craigslist job and there seems to be a lot of crappy postings on there lately.

So... damn car.


My quote for the day is a favourite from Buckaroo Bonzai: "No matter where you go, there you are." Ain't it the truth.

More doll stuff

I have been beading on the Sea Urchin. Not too much left to do on the body beading. Then it's just the embellishments and all the fun stuff to bead on. That is the part I like the best.


This is a little UgBug that I just finished. He is on a chiffon cord or he can be worn as a brooch. His face is shabby gold and his body has butterflies on it.




This isn't the greatest picture but it is of Autumn a tall and rather thin beaded art doll. The colours are rust, pale gold, white and a nice green. His face is black polymer clay.

I opened an Etsy shop and will be putting the dolls up there as soon as I'm sure they are finished. I keep adding stuff and they end up weighing a ton.

I'm going back to work on the Sea Urchin. I hope all my readers are having an awesome day.

We are presently in the deep freeze and it is snowing and blowing fiercely outside. I'm staying in with the cats.

Here are six of my eight cats enjoying their second or third nap of the morning on our beds. Only cats can manage to look so comfortable no matter where they are. In the foreground we have Murphy, the big boy. He is twenty pounds of solid muscle. The cat with the bright shining eyes is Mr. Whiskers. He only has three legs because he insisted on sleeping in the middle of the road. Now he stays clear of the road. Sleeping upside down next to him is Max the psycho. So called because he takes off in all directions at top speed for no apparent reason and you never know whether he is going to love you or take a chunk out. On the big green pillow, the other orange cat is Sam. He is the old boy and my personal body guard. Where ever I am, there he is. He is sleeping comfortably with Vegas named after JD Fortune's song Pretty Vegas. At the back is Pumpkin... I know, she isn't orange but my daughter called her Pumpkin anyway. She is totally blind and tears through the house like she can see everything. Missing are Maggie, the little lady, and Cleo the princess.

I leave you with a quote from Terry Teachout: "Life with a cat is in certain ways a one-sided proposition. Cats are not educable; humans are. Moreover, cats know this. If you're not willing to humour them, you might as well stick to dogs."

Valentines and Job Hunting

This is a Brown Bag Valentine Card that I did for a swap. I'm fond of the brown bag card and books. Some of the ones that are being created are totally awesome.

Once upon a time a couple or three years ago I bought a 4 CD set of Victorian Clip Art. A lot of the clip art are greeting cards from long ago. Cards from the yesteryears were beautiful, decorative and awesome creations. A far cry from what is being produced today.




I am job hunting. Bummer. Somehow I thought that by the time I had reached this age I would be retiring not looking for a new job. Thanks to all the government cuts in education my in-school tutoring job has become obsolete. Now that our income is cut by $500.00 a month I have to find some way to make up the difference. I don't think that selling my artwork is going to bring in that much.

An on-line writing job would be good. Blogs that pay? Maybe. A part time job would be perfect that way I can continue to work at the school. I would really hate to give up the school.

How ever I look at it, job hunting at my age is the pits.

I leave you with a quote from Oscar Wilde: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

Etsy

Today I set up, well not yet but I got a shop on Etsy. It seems to be the place where more and more crafty and artistic people are selling. I almost have one Ug Bug done and I still have all those ACEOs that I did over the past few years. Hopefully I will be able to sell some of the work I have stashed away.

This is one of my favourite ATCs. It is cardstock, wires and nuts in various sizes. It is quite heavy. I think I have about 20 of them to list.

This is the front of the Sea Urchin that I am working on now. Hopefully she will be done by the end of next week. She will have about 100 hours of work in her when completed and I can't even think of how many beads but she is quite heavy.

Well, break time is over. Back to the beading I go.

I leave you with a quote from Buckaroo Bonzi: "No matter where you go, there you are."

The New Year is for Art

For the past few years I have been doing very little artwork. Something else always seemed to take precedent over it and there is, after all, only so many hours in a day. I did dabble a bit here and there but not seriously.

This year is going to be my year. A positive attitude and a definitive decision. My Year. Mine, mine, mine.

One thing I have always wanted to start was an art journal. I have a couple I sort of started but didn't keep up. Perhaps an online journal will be easier to maintain.

Presently I am beading dolls and Ug Bugs, bracelets and watches. My goal is to finish at least one a month. Pray for me because it is going to be tough. I am the worlds greatest procrastinator.

This is a little purple Ug Bug. They are small dolls that can be worn as a brooch or on a rope or chain. The first year I started making them I sold 10 in just 2 weeks. Good Lord willing I will, perhaps, have the same good fortune this time. I have one on the go at present.

Happy New Year!!

It's a brand new year. No resolutions for this old gal. They would have been broken by now. I have been beading again now that the arthritis seems to have left my hands. Hoping this will last for a long while.

Just a few miscellaneous and totally unrelated bits of fluff.

My Oleander tree in bloom.

Murphy surveying his domain from the dining room table. Once upon a time I tried to discourage the cats from sleeping on the table but I finally just gave it up. Now I just scrub it well before using. I am owned by 8 wonderful cats and 1 small Jack Russell Dog.



This is Bambi and April my little girl. Bambi lives with my son. April lives with us and the 8 cats. Sometimes I think that she thinks she is a cat. They are all bigger than she is and the poor old gal is easily intimidated.

Christmas bye bye...

and thank goodness that is over. I got the flu on the 19th and wasn't back to normal until the 31st. My son, his significant other and his brother came down on Christmas day and put the whole dinner together and on the table. Bless them. I stayed curled up in a ball in bed having a pity party. It was awful. I surely feel bad for all the rest of the good folk who ended up with that particular strand of flu.

This is my wonderful son Serge and his beautiful lady Tania. Serge is an awesome cook and every now and again graces our table with some of his cooking.

I sincerely hope ya'll had a wonderful, happy and germ free Christmas.