camel complete!

FINALLY finished the stitching on the camel! Also did the tiny bit of beading on the three wisemen and camel. Funny, Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds didn't have any jewels on them. :) So now there's nowt but the making up to do. Kinda terrifying. Really hesitant to do that ... largely because I don't have a lot of faith that they'll stand up, etc. I'm putting them aside for a tiny while... to give myself a break from them.

Also put together the basic "envelopes" for my NYC album... though I had a very hard time setting the grommets. One didn't work, and needs a brad instead. Which will be fine.

I would like to do some brainstorming -- what "art" will I create every day in November? I think I have a number of projects I should work on.....

1. B&K minifigs - need to sketch the features, paint
2. B&K pillos -- need to get the "right" pictures, print, sew
3. birthday calendars -- need to choose the 12 pictures, get prints, trim, put together, and get ready to send

Those would be fantastic. And, of course, there's poor Hare, waiting for his leaves to be stitched...

unplugged again!

Funny that the last day I posted happened to be my first day at my new job! I love it most of the time -- really, probably 97%, which is about 92% more than I loved my last gig! -- but it's been a steep learning curve and I tend to come home feeling mentally exhausted.

I do get to be more creative at work, however -- I write blog posts, I create Facebook status updates, I write descriptions of running shoes and apparel, and get to weigh in on design and brand ideas. All that and it's been less than 2 months. So that's good.

And I have also been somewhat creative at home -- a bit of scrapbooking (of two half marathons and a fundraising run), creating three different charm bracelets (a "life with Wil" bracelet, a running charm bracelet, and a very sparse "raced states" bracelet). But nowhere near what I would like to have been doing. Perhaps it's the running, the fundraising, or whatever. But I haven't been creative enough.

That's why I was thrilled to see my pal Sylvia's status update about Art Every Day Month -- creating art every day in November. Sort of a "NaNoWriMo" but more broadly based. I signed up and will be posting my efforts to this blog.

Of course, a few things will complicate this. 1. I am still not buying craft supplies except for as needed to complete projects. (Yes, I know, I've broken my own rule more than once this year. But I certainly haven't bought as much!) 2. On November 5 I'm going to be heading to NYC to run a marathon, and I'll be there for several days. But I suppose running an awfully long way in a beautiful city is an art, right?

So. What is left to do in October? I'd like to finish the outlining on the camel... that would be a huge step. Then there's just a bit of beading and some tiny little tassels to make. Dreading the making up of the pieces, but it would be silly not to stitch them up after all the work of the cross stitch.

I would also very much like to get more stitching done on the Hare pillow. I do think I could do most of the stitching this year... if not the background.

Bring on AEDM!!!

break's over...

So let's see... I did finish the 2010 holiday scrapbook, so that's good. I didn't finish painting -- too much drizzle for the last few days, sadly. But I did the important part of the painting, and I think that even if I don't get around to painting again until next summer I'll have done well. Though I might want to take off the masking tape.... ha.

The only craft news is that we went to Best Buy in the midst of my shoe shopping frenzy. We walked in, and a lady was demoing the Cricut. I saw her and hurried past, saying, "I don't need a Cricut. I don't need a Cricut." We went back to the guitar area, and Wil started playing with the guitars, and I decided to wander back and have a look at the thing. Well, it's awesome. The very nice lady showed me how it worked, what one needs to do, etc., and showed me how to "weld" type together -- the thing I find most amazing, frankly. Best Buy is doing a bundle -- you get the Cricut machine, 4 "cartridges", and the Gypsy for $299. Which is less than the Gypsy usually sells for. Very very tempting.

I wanted to think about it, but Wil told me I deserved a treat. So I bought it. I took it home and played with it a bit on Sunday night, but didn't want to stay up too late... so I probably won't play with it for a couple of weeks (since we're at Disneyland this weekend!).

Quite excited about the Cricut... even if I'm also a bit nervous that it will be difficult to get used to. :( Hope I can suss it out before I burn through too much card stock! :)

progress!

The weather turned a bit bad, which means I have been stymied a bit on my painting project, but it also means that I have been inside CRAFTING! Have done a lot of time -- if seemingly little progress -- on the camel. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, at least. So that's good. I also did a lot of work on the 2010 holiday scrapbook -- I'm in Disneyland Paris right now. I think one more solid day would take care of it.

So it's my last week of unemployment / hooky. Not sure how to fill the days. There's the porch painting, which will take me far longer than it should do. There's also sanding the picnic table. And of course there's always scrapbooking, cleaning the closet, etc. I'd like to do a little shopping -- need to find some shoes, perhaps another couple of pairs of jeans. And a jacket of some sort.

Unstructured time is my enemy. But also my opportunity. What to do...

more house projects!

Well.... let's see! Since I last posted, I have oiled the adirondack chairs and their footstools, wood-washed the big gate, little gate, and arbor, and done one coat of Penofin on the gates and arbor! I'm a project fiend!!!

I've also done a bit of work on my scrapbooks -- I did the Torchlight run page, which turned out great, and started the process of winnowing down photos for the Big Trek, along with the 2010 trip. Would very much like to get some of those projects started. (Which reminds me that my next task must be to order the prints before EOD Saturday while the coupon is on....)

And I made some awesome, fantastic, inspirational charm bracelents -- a very full travel one, a great running one, and my newest "50 state" bracelet. Woot! Now I just need to go to some new places! Very excited about going to Idaho for a race -- that's a new state!!! (And will bring my meager total to 5 states...)

Have also been taking some time to work on that darn camel... still much to do, but if I really focused I could get it done before the end of the month.

In other craft news... decided to make Mom and Wil's folks a scrapbooked "anniversary calendar" -- that they can use and keep year after year. I have the blanks, now I just need to start doing the planning. Perhaps in September... I decided that I will also decorate ours -- would be nice for ours to look a bit more "us".

Also, went to Hallmark today and bought three of this year's "cat frame" ornaments -- one for each grandma, and one for us. I love that.

I set up a spreadsheet to start tracking Christmas ideas... this year it might be a challenge!

Back stairs are done!

The morning marine layer gave me a lot of time this morning to put the finishing coat on the kitchen stairs -- and they look great! Didn't get round to doing the Adirondack chairs; perhaps tomorrow. We'll see. I also need to wash the front stairs in preparation for this painting project. Which terrifies me. Tempting to just work on the gate and arbor -- at least that's something I know how to do.

So tomorrow will be mainly doing Brooks things, with a bit of Adirondack chair goodness thrown in. And putting the stuff back under the stairs so our back garden doesn't look quite so scutty... :)

outdoor projects

So, I'm going to consider this crafting, because it's definitely project based! (That said, I'm buying supplies, so it's not really within the stashtacular idea, but oh well...)

On Monday I put the first coat of oil on the back stairs. It turned out a bit darker than I expected, but it still looks great. I'm going to put another coat on tomorrow morning and then clean up the side wall.

Today I washed the top part of the porch -- not sure it really made a difference, but it was either an important first step before painting, or a way to avoid actually having to paint. (Sadly, I suspect I will need to paint, but...)

Tomorrow I'm going to try and get a coat of Penofin on the Adirondack chairs -- at least one of the sides. That shouldn't be too difficult, and I am only planning on putting on one coat.