every-single-day

Pull Up A Chair!

This post is basically all about chairs. I don't know how it happened, but chairs seem to have become a series in my 4x6" size. I have been in wrap up mode lately, wrapping up creative commitments, finishing older projects-that sort of thing.
About two years ago I met a fabulous woman named Sandrine. Sandrine is a friend of Day's and lives in parts foriegn. At that time Sandrine talked about how once a year she and her Man take his families Alpaca wool to have it spun. I asked for three balls and quickly received them through the mail after Sandrine went home.
This was supposed to be a trade. I have not followed through on my end of the bargain and so am now making good. One of the above two chairs will be hers soon.
Neither are finished, both will be beaded.

I have been updating my web site. In the fiber art galleries, Gallery 2, I have added the above three works. Because I am now using frames I can't link directly to these pages :(.

Lots of Excitement!

My Back Tacker final gift came this week! I have moved into it already and sported it around town today! I love it! Love, Love, Love it! Shelby from Karmic Knits made it.
I love how she set the zipper in the small green pouch, and she made a small book to keep pins and needles and it's pages are made of her own dyed and felted wool. The book is bright pink in the lower left of this photo. It fits inside its own little pocket on the inside of the main bag.
She also sent matching pins, a seam ripper and measuring tape, and a journal with it's very own set of pencils. This journal seems just right for sketching out clothing ideas, bags and other usable hand made items. I was also given a huge set of needles an Asian Knot Maker!
A whole bunch of pretty chocolates were sent in this package too but they went missing, somehow.
I just love this whole package. Quite a haul! Way to go Shelby!

My Mom! started her very own blog, Books to Bread (and um, well... ect.)!
PLEASE go check her out, see my beautiful nephews and welcome her to the World Wide Web!

One more thing...

Wish me luck, or whatever it is when you send a book proposal away and are hoping to hear back positively! I feel superstitious about this project and this is the first time I am speaking publicly about it. I know I sound cagey.

Dinner Partay!

Last night my Man gave an awesome dinner party. I think it was our first official dinner party ever and it went really well. This was given as a birthday present and included a special gift(more on that later).
The night started with a keg of Virgil's Rootbeer and a game of Corquet; which because of the theme we call Croquito. Lets just say that another couple came out from behind and in one fell swoop swept the game. Usurpers!

The menu:
Goat milk yogurt gazpacho
Mango, papaya, banana, and coconut milk smoothie
Bean burritos with fresh corn and mango
Guacamole served with unsalted blue corn chips and salted white corn chips.
Flan
and of course, Sangria.

So you may see a theme, Mexican food.
My Man did so well! Having eatten but never made the gazpacho made a really well balanced version with interesting flavors and spicing. He is the smoothie king of the universe- 'nough said. The burritos and guacamole went really well togther.
Now the flan? He found a recipe and went for it, feet first. He even flipped it onto a serving dish beautifully! I was amazed at the whole layout!

Day made party favors; Frida eyebrows! Who'da thought! Day, of course!
From left to right; Sue, Peter, Alison, David, Kevin, James and Day.

Somewhere in the night, the Frida eyebrows became Salvatore Dali mustaches.
I have to say that I think I look quite dashing as a man! Perhaps I should take a leaf from Frida's book, bind my breasts and photograph myself as a man.

and here is the feather in my cap- for the entire night. The thing that made me cry, that I am proud beyond belief about:

My shy Man played a song that he has been working on for me, as a gift, in front of all of our friends. He is my hero and the best husband and life mate in the whole universe.
Thanks to everyone for coming and making it such a fabu night!!! I loved every minute.

Guajira (I Love U 2 Much).

This is a reminder to self! When the house and the stitch and the cloth begin to feel like an magnet, heavy as lead, remember. REMEMBER. Get your ass outside and sweat it off! Pick it up and bring it home, it will all still be here when you get back. Let your breath slow, your pace quicken and feel the oxygen course though you. Your art, the stitch and cloth will be all the better, brighter, and clearer for it.
Remember!
Honey Baby, Boom, Boom, Boom! Under the moon!
And YOU!!! Buy this CD! Make art while listening, and sweat your ass off while shakin' it!

And Hey! I love you Mom!

Realize, Admit, Believe, Confess.

Please realize, it was my birthday on Monday. Having no fear of age, I admit that I am 36; thank you very much! Believe me, all 36 years have been quite a blast, I confess, it's both a gift and a wonder to walk this planet for any amount of time.
Above is a collection of some of the loot given me. Angela made peanut butter frosted cupcakes, they were delish, and her own recipe! She also gave me the pretty purse, matching flip-flops and change purse, a Puss in Boots plushie (living at work, right now), and some fabu mitten-knitting note cards.
Andrew made cookies!! Lots! of! Cookies!
My Man got me PhotoShop upgrade!!! From 5.0.2 to CS2! I am cooking with gas now! He also got me a pair of organic cotton socks and a new Belle and Sebastian CD! I love this band! I think it is pansy-ass-music-for-suicidal-types, of which I may be the former but certainly not the latter.
Wonder what sort of web traffic that last line gets! :)
My mom gave me a lovely necklace made by Caitlin Burch!
I realize this is one hell of a Birthday haul. I admit, I believe I am worth it! I confess; it makes me happy!

Can you see a pattern forming?

The Baptists came while I was making dinner (shrimp marinara- I know it is hotter than hell but I had to cook). They were able to slip a pamphlet into my hands. I have been reading and rereading it all night long, riveting stuff that, there! I think they just might have me.
The pamphlet is titled Four Steps Between Heaven and Hell. I think I will glue it onto something and paint over it. It is that good.

Emma over at Strange Little Girl asked about my "light table" for screen printing. When I went to school they had an official vacuum sealed light table. My set up is far from official but it works and is MUCH cheaper.

I use a 300 watt Photo Flood Light bulb and place the whole ordeal either 12 or 18 inches above my screen, depending on the size I am burning. It is suspended from the ceiling and I use rings at measured intervals to hang the thing from the rafters above my work table.
Can I tell you how happy I am to show you my neat tool encrusted peg board in the backgound?
This photo points out the rings I use to hold the fixture above the table:

It takes a bit of experimenting to get the variables right.
OK, now I am tired and the beasty boys are hungry!

Screen Printing Explorations

Here is the latest piece of screen printed cloth I have made. I really like it. Love the soft coloring, the secondary imagery, the whole design.

I am confronting the limitations with the process this week.
If you look closely, you can see a slight discolored line running at a right angle on the upper left hand area of the piece. This is dye seepage. Last time I used this screen, I must have printed red and the dye stayed between the duct taped layers at the edges of the screen.
Are you following me? Does this make sense?
I have been brainstorming on how to fix this issue. And this is what I have come up with: House paint and caulk. I no longer want to wrap the frames of my screens in duct tape (this will eliminate the trap that occurs when the dye meets the duct tape area on the mesh). Instead I will stetch the mesh on the frame. Block out the printable area with painters tape. Caulk the inside edge of the frame where the wood meets the mesh and paint all available wood including the caulked area and a well on the screen.

Here is a detail: