Mo & Eva

They've been sleeping closer together now that it's gotten a bit colder around here. They are so cute when they snuggle.

Mural

After six months of daydreaming, planning, reading about murals, I finally finished it! I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I based my design heavily on Cathy J. Mayer's Tuscany pattern, which was an oil painting, and then also used instruction and acrylic color choices from Debby Forshey-Choma's Tuscany vineyard bowl, and Kathy Swigon's Tuscan clipboard patterns. This was a major thing for me to scale up a pattern, modify to fit my approximately 20" x 55" surface, and to figure out colors and instructions. I'm very much a follow the pattern and instruction kind of girl.

I'm pretty pleased with the results, and I think it really spruced up the entryway. It's nice to finally enhance that niche and really make it a focal point when you walk in. Tony did a great job cutting the plywood for both the shutters and the mural. No easy task to get that curve! And he had a lot of fun using his nail gun to get everything in place.

Entryway

We got the shutters hung on the entryway niche today. The mural should be done later this week. I can't get over what a transformation just the shutters make. I can hardly wait to see the change with the mural!

Snowman ornament

I whipped up this cute little snowman ornament for Tony's gift exchange for work.

Christmas

We got the outside of the house pretty well decorated. The snowmen I painted turned out quite well, and the lights look lovely. The cats are very happy to have the Christmas tree up. They love sitting under and looking at the lights. Eva likes to dive under the tree skirt. Not sure if she's looking for presents or a mouse!

Eva Sleeping

We bought this floor pillow a couple of months ago, and now the cats, and sometimes Tony, fight over who gets to use it. Eva won last night, and looked so cute all curled up asleep.

Domino pin

We also made cute little domino pins at the Ginger Edwards painting seminar. I had some trouble getting a good picture, and it's still not great. Ginger sands and sprays the domino with sealer, then stamps an image with a Staz On pad. To paint it she uses glass and tile medium to thin out the paints. It was cute, and a lot easier than the ones I've done with just ink pads.

Daisies

I added a metallic brown line around the oval, and I think that helped finish off this piece. I really am pleased with how this turned out. It measures about 12.5" x 10". I'm thinking about hanging it with the spring and autumn tin pockets I painted last fall with Judy Diephouse.

Teacup

I fixed the shadows on the teacup, and added some gold around the cup and saucer. Not too shabby for my first still life. The piece measures 16.5" x 10.5".

If you would like to buy this piece, let me know. While it was interesting to paint, it doesn't really fit in with my decor.

Ginger Edwards Seminar

The Society of Decorative Painters hosted a seminar with Ginger Edwards over the weekend. I love Ginger's flowers, and have always wanted to paint with her. So I schlepped out to Wichita, KS for three and a half days of painting. I'm very sorry to report the weekend was tainted by technical difficulties, a freezing room, and less than welcoming hospitality. Oh, and of course I had trouble with a noisy hotel room, and my flight home, so I wound up having to spend an extra night in Wichita.

On the plus side, I painted with a wonderful group of women, and Ginger was a delightful person. And I was quite astonished to bring home two mostly finished pieces, and one beautiful rose (achieved with three amazingly, beautifying strokes from Ginger). While the teacup picture is not really my style (I thoughtfully avoided saying my cup of tea :-)), I am pleased with how it turned out. I need to play with some of the shadows and add some gold paint to the rim of the cup and saucer. The rose is painted on a small stool, and this piece will require a lot of work. I have to finish all the leaves and add the lettering. We painted this on the day it was unimaginably cold in the classroom, and of course it required a lot of concentration. Lastly, I am quite pleased with my little landscape tin. Of all the pieces, this one was more in my comfort zone, and I do think it's a charming little scene. We painted on a tin pocket that already had some writing on it. I want to add an outline around the oval and then it's done.


I suppose it was a character building experience. Hopefully after a couple of days, I'll be able to look back on the experience a bit more favorably and remember the fun of it, and the new techniques I learned from Ginger.

Santas

MIL wanted to try painting, so we did that on Friday. We painted up a cute Pam Grady santa. MIL has done some watercolor, but not much with acrylics. I think she did a great job.

Crafting

What do you do when your mother-in-law comes to town? CRAFT! DH had to work in the mornings with MIL was here, so we signed up for three classes at Archivers. We had a lot of fun making 10 Little Tags, Create a Calendar, and a Recipe Book. We also made up some cute little treat packets for her work, and spent lots of time shopping! It was a fun week.

Media Center

Last weekend, we got all the pieces to make a media center cut out. This weekend, we got them primed and one side painted. We needed a cutout design for the doors so the remotes will work, and as we talked about it, we thought a palm tree or some tropical design would be fun. I wanted to paint a design on the side, and so that led to hibiscus. I practiced painting more realistic hibiscus, but they are hard! So in the end we went with a very folk art style. Now just one more coat of paint, and a couple coats of varnish and we'll have a finished piece of furniture!

Entryway Mural

We have a niche in our entryway (pre move in pic), and the moment I saw it I knew I wanted to paint a trompe l'oeil Tuscan landscape for it. It's a bit daunting to paint something 20" x 54", and I knew I'd have to heavily modify whatever design I wanted, but I think I've finally got it sorted out.

Tony worked really hard to cut a piece of wood to fit in it, and then also made some shutters for the side. With any luck I should have this done by the end of the year, but hopefully sooner!

Pumpkins

Hobby Lobby had these cute wood pumpkins with a laser cut design. I got mine painted and ready for the fall season.

Food

In one of the forums I participate in someone posted a list of 100 foods to mark if you've eaten, will never eat, or haven't tried. I'm sure it might have a few different incarnations, but here's a link to more info on it: http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/uncategorised/the-omnivores-hundred/. This blog has photos and descriptions: http://foodproof.com/blogs/view/post/100-things-you-should-eat-before-246/

Items in bold, I've eaten, and crossed off are things I won't try.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche --I've had the Hagen Daas Ice Cream!
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky -- I don't think it was Pocky, but it was Japanese and it was a biscuit coated in chocolate.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Recliners

We ordered two recliners from La-Z-Boy back in August and they arrived today. They are a nice chocolate brown leather, and oh so comfy. Good thing Tony ordered the full set of James Bond flicks, so we can curl up in the recliners and be slugs. :-) Mo gave his nap of approval too!

Explosion Box

This was a fun project we did in stamping last night. It's designed for scrapbooking so you could put different pictures on the pages inside, but I think you could do all kinds of different things. I enjoyed folding the flower on the top too.

Glass Mosaic

We did this glass marble mosaic in our Heart of Texas Tolers monthly meeting. We got all the marbles glued down and then I'll need to grout it at some point. It's meant to hang in a window, but I might try to make a lamp out of it.

Shetland Shawl and Olympics Update

shetlandshawl-almost-done
Originally uploaded by sparkle.plenty

Oh the agony! I have been working on this shawl for a couple of months. I was finishing the bind off border when I ran out of yarn, 13 stitches from being done. I don't have any more yarn, and I can't find any on the Internet. I'll have to look around locally later in the week.

Oh, and I failed miserably at my knitting during the Olympics task. The yarn and the linen stitch are killing my hands, so I'm not even done with the back of my jacket yet!

Man, I've got some bad knitting mojo right now. I hope knitting some scarves for the Special Olympics will help cure that!!

Halloween Tree

Mom got me this great tree with ornaments for Halloween last year. I can hardly wait for Halloween now that I have my wreath and this tree. It's so fun to paint for Halloween. I don't know how well it shows, but I added black glitter to the edges of the tree. I also tried using glitter for some of the faces on the ornaments, but I didn't like that too much.

Pumpkin pins

I've had these pumpkin cutouts for a couple of years. I thought they'd be cute as pins to wear for Halloween. I got the idea for their faces from a John Sliney book.

Snowmen

Tony cut these snowmen out for me last year, but I didn't have time to paint them before the holiday season. I'll add some sticks for their arms, and I think I might knit a scarf for the one too. They will be darling in our yard this Christmas!

Lemons

Tony made me this great shelf/holder for my cookbooks. It took me ages to get around to painting it. The design is modified heavily from Crate Labels & Seed Packets by Barbara Baatz. The lettering is definitely shakey, but not too bad. It'll be cute in the kitchen. I just need to add a bazillion coats of varnish.

Snowman

I helped make one of these snowmen for Mom last Christmas, and just now got around to making one of my own. It's a styrofoam ball and I coated mine in paper perfect so it's got a handmade paper feel to it. Mom found the adorable hat which really just makes it. I'll definitely be ready for the holidays.

Dining Table

We found a nice dining table and chairs at World Market this weekend. And it was on sale. On the downside we had to go to 3 stores before we found it in stock! I'm really happy with it though, and it's nice to finally have a real table and chairs.

Spirit Doll Cards

I started going to the Rubber Made'ns stamp group. I'm having a lot of fun, and they are a very creative bunch. Tonight we made spirit doll cards.

Mo

Mo cracks me up. He loves hanging out all spread out. Eva really wasn't impressed with him!

Finished Halloween Wreath

Mom helped me fluff and fill out the Halloween wreath. I can hardly wait for October!

Mom's birthday present

I painted this collage for my Mom for her birthday. It's 24x24, and so I couldn't mail it to her. They are coming to visit this weekend so I'll finally be able to give it to her. I hope she likes it. I'm so pleased with it that I can't hardly stand it!

I slapped on some gesso to help smooth the canvas a bit, and to add some texture. Then I painted it black. I glued down some dictionary pages and some text about cherries. I then did this peeling painting technique where you put petroleum jelly on the spots you want to keep the black. I painted a sandstone color over that, and the jelly resists the paint. Messy, but cool.

It's really my first full scale collage, and really one of the few times I've worked without a pattern. I enjoyed it so much. I suspect I'll be playing around with this more too.

UPDATE--She liked it. She really liked it. :-) Mom was completely surprised and thrilled with her present!

Some pictures finally up in the house

I painted these flowers years ago. I tried selling them a few times, but no takers. I do like them, so I decided to hang them in my craft room. Took awhile to find some frames. Then the pansy picture was too think to put the backing on, so Tony had to add a hanger to it. Anyway--they are up over my painting desk and I really like them. It's so fun getting to use my own stuff!

I also finally hung this dragonfly/seashell print I bought last year. It's an odd size 12x18, and I had a hard time finding a frame. I finally just bought a white one and then sponged metallic brown on it. It has a neat mottled texture, and I'm pleased to have it hanging in the bedroom.

I'd prefer to forget the glass debacle with the seashell print. After painting the frame, I stubbed my toe on the glass. The glass broke and turns out I didn't just stubb my toe. I sliced a bit off. Icky business. I buy glass replacement...doesn't fit. Husband tries to trim down, but doesn't work. I take to store for glass to be cut to fit and takes the person 2 tries to get it to fit! Sheesh...should have just gone to the frame shop!

Shark Yourself

Discovery Channel has a fun little tool to morph a photo into a shark. So I had to turn Eva into a shark. I don't think Mo is shark material.

Holiday Express

I had so much fun painting on Saturday. The Heart of Texas Tolers (painting chapter) monthly meeting was replaced by a full day of holiday painting. There were two class offerings for the morning, and two for the afternoon.

In the morning, I painted a darling little snowman on canvas paper. We did almost everything by stippling, so it was super easy and fun. Once it's varnished, I'll cut him out and glue it together. It creates a shade to sit on a wine glass or votive holder.

In the afternoon, I painted a witch, a spider and a bat. All these will get attached to a wreath. She's just the cutest witch and was really quite easy to paint. I'll post another picture once it's on the wreath.

Ravelympics

During the last winter Olympics, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (knitting humorist and overall big needle) organized the Knitting Olympics. You cast on and finished a project during the Olympics. Pretty funny stuff. I didn't participate. Now that I'm done with my Master's and only work 9-12 hours a week, I've got time for some silliness.

I'm on Ravelry, a social networking site for knitters, and they've organized the Ravelympics. I've signed up for the Sweater Sprint, which means I have 17 days to knit and finish a sweater. I'm going to finally knit the Deco ribbon jacket that Mom bought me the yarn for about 3 years ago. I've had a lot of trouble getting gauge, and so I'm going to have to go work up a swatch and do some math so I'll be sure to get a jacket that fits. Ugh...math!

Wish me luck!

Librarians are weird

I think libraries/librarians really should publicize this side of themselves. At the conferences, there are book cart drill competitions. It definitely shows a different side of librarianship! Might help shatter the shh/glasses/buns stereotype.

Austin Public Library came in second, and gave a stellar performance.

If you are looking to kill time, do a search on YouTube for book cart drill teams.

ALA Conference

I don't really use my site to talk about work, but I just got back from the American Library Association annual conference. The picture is my goody haul! It's the first time I've gone, and it was exhausting! Action packed days attending programs and roaming the exhibition hall. Many of the publishers were giving out advanced reading copies of books that will be published this fall. I went a bit crazy gathering these lovely prizes! Random House gave a nice presentation of fall titles. Check out the side bar for a list of the books I brought home and plan to read.