Inspired

Oh boy, as if there weren't enough things that I wanted to do, today I visited Morro Fleece Works and had my world rocked. Firstly, there is an itty bitty storefront that has beautiful handspun yarns of the most incredible colors that you want to *eat* them or make them part of your *self* in some intrinsic way. Of course, you just have to settle for touching, and maybe making something with them, but they almost seem like they're ruined when you knit something out of these yarns, since they're so perfectly beautiful just hanging there in long shanks from the ceiling. And then there was a rack of the most perfectly wild hats, and hanging on the walls were rugs that were just mind blowingly beautiful. But the coolest part was getting the grand tour (the owner is a sister of a friend), and I simply can't describe how every surface, floor to ceiling every eyefull made me want to drop everything I do and make something out of these beautiful things. Alpaca, angora, and some other crazy sheep wools... all beautiful colors ... oh man. She is teaching a felting class tomorrow and if not for the fact that I have 3 million other things to do tomorrow, I'd be dropping everything. Looks like such a blast ... I actually think I want to make felted birdhouses. I mean, if I as a bird I would like to live in one. It seems cozy. But maybe just an invitation for bugs and stuff. Maybe not really a good idea.

on the back burner

No projects begun this week, thanks to working away from the home and being overwhelmed by dismal rainy weather. It's too hard to motivate on days like these. 

I did finish the love stamp, and made several cards out of it. I'm not happy with the result, so I may make a new valentine stamp next week.

Other projects were put away. I'm trying to tidy up the house. When it's icky outside I spend more time inside and so the clutter begins to be more bothersome. I put the knitting into it's crate, I put the fabric in the closet. And the stamp carving tools are in their drawer. It's like pressing a "reboot" button. Once everything is de-cluttered, I will operate much smoother. 

Clean house?

I visited a friend the other day and marveled at the cleanliness of her house. Not that it was just clean, but that it was absolutely clutter-free. I seriously envy people who have clean, clear spaces in their homes. Dust-free, and doo-dad free, too. But then I had a revelation: she doesn't make anything! So she doesn't need boxes of fabric, boxes of broken jewelry, bins of yarn, of paint, of carving tools, of ink pads and pens. She doesn't have a closet full of bellydance costumes or silly hats. So while I can lament the fact that I have *too much stuff* I also have to remind myself that I like it this way. I like making things, and I can't imagine a life without projects cluttering up the house.

Despite the progress on some of those long-term ongoing projects, this weekend was one of distraction.  Here's the lowdown:

I got a wild hair to make another wine crate birdhouse. This is my second birdhouse created out of an old wine box -- I love how the winery name & label is stamped into the boxes. And I love using random old *things* to embellish each house. This one isn't so random or old -- the copper was new, leftover from the copper bra project. Even the box was fairly new, and not as rustic as I like, but at least the nail used as a perch was from grandpa's old mess of stuff. Hopefully I will find time to make more of these, as I think they could sell. However, my assistant insists that next time I *plan ahead* better, which is an idea I continue to resist.

We also went to a favorite garden center where I saw some other stuff that I want to make, including other birdhouse ideas and this chandelier that's been converted to hold succulents tops my taco. How cool is that!? Okay, the photo is a bit hard to figure out, but I promise you that it looked really neat, and that it would be an awesome addition to my garden. Especially if we ever build a shade structure over the back porch.

But speaking of home improvements: materials were purchased to fence in the back yard -- something we've talked of doing for ages, since we'd like to get a dog someday. So it's definitely more important than things like trellises and pathways, and now that the materials are purchased, I guess we ought to get moving on that. I've been tasked with designing and building a gate, while my partner in crime (the crime of projectitis!?) will do the un-fun post hole digging and fence construction.

A new stamp

Don't ask me why I'm starting a new project. I just am. But see, this one has a timeframe attached, so I ought to start now! I want to make valentine cards to sell at the flower shop. They don't currently have any cards, and I know for a fact that people buying flowers also need to buy cards. So I will make bunches of them by carving a stamp, stamping blank card stock, adding some sparkles, and then I will sell them at the shop. It's my plan, and I think it's a good one. Plus, I don't have any other paying work to do today, so I have to come up with some sort of income-generating way to spend my day.

Currently, you can see at the bottom of the picture where I drew the image I wanted. Then I transfered that image onto the rubber stamp material (the orange stuff) and will begin carving out the small spaces with an exacto knife. The larger spaces I will carve out with a special carving tool that is a V-shaped blade. It's not as delicate for the small spaces, but is easier for me to carve out big chunks of material. 

The more I look at this image, the less happy I am with the design. I better either stop looking at it, or re-draw it. It's not technically "projectitis" if I take the time to re-draw it though. Projectitis demands that I keep moving forward with a project until I'm sick of it, regardless of the quality of the outcome.

On the nature of inspiration.

Or the inspiration of nature?

Either way, it was a beautiful day yesterday, and I managed to get most of my "real" work done in time to put some time in on these projects that have been hanging around for way too long. Inspired by the lovely weather, and to be honest, by wanting to be able to post here "I finished it!"

Well, nothing's finished, but I did work quite a while on the beledi dress, so that the seams that had been ripped apart for expansion have had the panels inserted and it now absolutely fits. I re-applied the trim along the edges, too, so now you can hardly tell that it's been altered. Well, you can tell ... but it sorta looks like it was made that way in the first place. Amazing. Now I just need to lengthen it along the bottom of the dress. Since there is a front and back panel, and I've finished the front panel (to my satisfaction, but not really a fantastic job), I'm practically done! I ought to have pushed on and finished the back panel, but to be honest, I was losing my patience with the whole thing, so decided to do the dishes instead.

As for the recycled sari silk purse, I've progressed a bit on that, as well. Actually, I was nearly done last night until I realized that I did it all wrong, and had to undo all my work of the past two days. A word about the yarn: I don't mind that each ball of yarn was wildly different colors, but I do mind that the spun quality was vastly different. It was as though one ball was composed of only VERY short, frayed strands, so it came apart easily, and makes the yarn look really fuzzy. The other ball had a very smooth, tight twist to it, so that the knitted result was also smooth and tight. It was also much easier to work with, because it didn't unravel, or get tangled in itself as much. I was pretty disappointed in that, and if I was making anything but a purse, I'd probably have returned it for something else.

Ongoing projects

Today I just sent off the orchid logo to the client. I made several, and I hope that at least one of them is what he's looking for. It's funny how the paying jobs get finished long before any of the ones I've done for fun. Perhaps I need someone telling me there's a deadline, and then I'll have a compulsion to finish a project, as well as the compulsion to start it!

Here are some ongoing projects around the house, ones that I don't think will ever be finished, but constantly just dabbled with.

1. Rock garden wall. Our back yard is a steep hill that is continually sliding toward the house. I've terraced it somewhat, with rocks found around the ranch. I hope to eventually build these little walls all the way up the hill, and alongside the whole house. Then, when that's done, I might be more inclined to spend some money on plants. I rather enjoy building the wall. Collecting the rocks, placing them. It's hard labor, exhausting. But I enjoy it, and sometimes think I could spend all day doing it.

2. Mares painting. This painting started as an effort to create a very serious, photo-realistic painting based on a photograph I found of some grey mares in a barn in Poland. The lighting was superb, so that the mares' backs looked almost like rolling hills, or just backlit outlines. The heads were barely visible, elegantly curved. I started it ... then felt like I wasn't having much success so I took a break from all that seriousness and started painting those little birds. Then I started in with the stripes, until I realized it looked like the opening credits of "The Partridge Family" so I need to paint over it, and get back to seriousness. But at this point, I'm just using the canvas for doodling.

3. Kitchen painting. Our 100-year-old farmhouse has 100 years' worth of paint in the kitchen. Many, many layers. So when we decided to paint the kitchen, I figured I ought to scrape off most of the old paint. Well ... I got as far as scraping off SOME of the old paint. Never did get very far in the painting department. I was gone one weekend and my husband got a substantial amount done, but only HALF the kitchen is done. The half with appliances, etc., that need to be moved has not been touched. It's got to happen. I keep waiting for a rainy weekend, but there's been about 3 years of drought here.

And the final project, which really will get finished, eventually, is the sari silk purse. I got the pattern here. Probably the only time I've ever bought a pattern, so I should really make that money well-spent by finishing the darn thing. I've attached a photo of the strap, which is maybe halfway done, and then I'll be practically finished. I don't know what's taking me so long, honestly. I think I just keep getting distracted by other projects.

Putting off Housework

I should be doing some house cleaning today but it's not really sounding all that fun. So I figured I'd spend the morning working on some *paying* work. The guy wants a logo and a web site for his orchid business in Seattle. I think I ought to start with a logo, get approval on that, and then work on a web site that works with the logo. So I spent a couple hours and came up with what you see here. I need to give him several options, and I'm not entirely thrilled with this one yet, but it's a work in progress. He wanted something "fairy tale like" which I'm translating into sort of whimsical, with sparkles. But sparkles don't do so hot for a logo that will more often than not be printed with ONE color because small business owners tend to be cheapskates when it comes to that sort of thing.  Anyway, if you do a Google search  for emerald city logos, there are some that are pretty much the same idea as this idea, and I'd like to come up with something different for the client, even though this is sorta what he requested.

The other project for today came about because I was putting away Christmas gifts. Um, I got distracted. I got these cool pens which are supposed to be good for coloring stamps instead of using an ink pad. So I had to make a stamp to try it out! It was a quickly carved little guy, and I suppose eventually I'll plant it as a letterbox somewhere.

I did finish the return address stamp, though I'm probably going to re-carve it. It just didn't come out all that great. My carving skills are hampered by impatience, I think!

current status

Should I skip the intros, and dive right into what projects are currently cluttering my living room floor? Or should I mention how December came with a burst of creative energy and very little time, so several projects were started, abandoned, or just came out terribly.

See, the thing with Projectitis is that planning ahead isn't something a person can do. When you're in the grip of the compulsion to create, you don't stop to think about the hows and whens and whys. You just start making stuff until the compulsion leaves you ... and leaves a giant mess on the living room floor.

So let's look at December. I had grand plans of sewing fabulous new Christmas stockings similar to those of several years ago, with more embellishment. However, I finished only two. They were taken down to a local shop to be sold (except they didn't sell).

A stamp was carved and Christmas cards were made with tiny "jewels" (and even sent!), and some were taken to the shop to be sold. There are LOTS still available, by the way. 

After seeing the beautiful chicken tractor my friend made, I was driven to make my own. Due to husband assistance, this was also finished. It's not finished in that photo, but I assure you it has been finished and even used!

You'd think that's enough projects for one December, but no... I had the brilliant idea of making my own Christmas tree. I thought I'd gather willow branches from the ranch, spray paint them silver, and then insert them into a rod that would act like a tree trunk. Well, in my *head* it was beautiful. Let's just say I have plenty of things to do differently next year. I won't even share a picture of it. So disappointing. And definitely not cheaper than just buying a real tree.

Current projects around the house? I shall list them, with status:

1. Belly dancing flounced skirt. Two tiered skirt with lined flounces along the bottom. Fabric has been purchased and washed.

2. Belly dancing beledi dress. Dress was acquired from a very tiny dancer. Since the rest of the troupe uses this dress in performances and the fabric is not to be found anywhere, I am altering it to fit me. Seams have been unstitched, fabric and trim purchased, fabric cut.

3. Return address stamp. I am carving a stamp of my home address to use on letters I mail. Half-carved.

4. Recycled sari silk purse. Half-circle purse knitted from yarn that was woven with the leftover silk strings recycled from a place that makes silk saris. I  have knit both half circles (front and back) and 1/3 of the strap.

A smart person would restrain herself from starting any new projects.