pookieville

house 15

Remember when I went to artfest? I stayed in house 15 with 9 other women? We decided to stay in touch this year with a monthly postcard exchange. It has been really great getting mail from folks other than AT&T and Citibank. So, each month we send postcards to eachother, they can be store bought- or hand made. During your birthday month everyone is supposed to make you a card. I try to make mine usually though I couldn't resist the ones from China town. This month the birthday girl liked crows- so here is what I put together.

Open call to all artist-

O.K. so you know that store that I always talk about and teach at and go play in Zinnia? Well, they will happily be expanding and having a gallery space!! I am helping put together the first show for that space- ( lets hope I can pull this off!!) Anyway- here is the blurb for that show- Wanna play? Open call to all artist- yes we mean YOU! Zinnia will be hosting its first gallery show in Sept of 2008, and would like to make a difference while sharing art. The bee colonies of North America are inexplicable disappearing, and we have the opportunity to help raise funds for research. The phenomenon is called colony collapse disorder and it is occurring all over the world to varying degrees. scientist don't know why this is happening. Research is being done but funding is needed to help save our bees. So what can you do?? Create a piece of Bee art to donate to this show and the proceeds from the sale will be donated to bee research. Each piece of art must relate in some way to bees. Each artist may donate up to 3 pieces. If you are interested in participating please contact me ASAP so I can get a list going and the ball rolling.

how many times

yes, how many times can I say I've been a bad blogger?? or how many times can I tell you I have been gardening?? I can tell y'all I've missed you, I just haven't felt that I had anything to bring to the table. I have been so not making things- and that is mostly what I like to share here. July has been about yard work. I have a tan line now where my gardening gloves stop. As bossy would say, " I'm bringing sexy back". It's a hot look. I won't say that I haven't been creative, because I am planting things to put on a big show come fall. I have sunflowers all over the place, and so many pumpkins it might be getting slightly ridiclous. I kind of want to see how many pumpkins I can actully grow this year. So far I have 4 packets of seeds set out, one more to go, and all the volunteers from last years crops. I have a full on badmitton court I mean former weed farm, and yesterday I created 6 more pumpkin mounds. Maybe I will just open a pick your own pumpkin patch. Anyway I hope it is a show to see. Other than that I just fill yard waste containers, and have resorted to "borrowing" the neighbors as well. This week I have filled 3, and next week my goal is 5! And yet somehow with all this labor, my legs are the pastiest white you've ever seen- it is like the sun has the opposite effect on them, and I am still not Mary Kate and Ashley thin. Dang. One art type project I have been playing with is making plaster casts of doll heads. I am only doing half the head right now, but when I took them over to Zinnia to show them, we had a great time giving them a rusted effect. O.k. time to get my gloves on and get outside, hope you all have a great week!!

thanks for the picture Suki!!

A laundry tale~

O.k. I have a story for you about laundry.... as you can guess, things didn't go well... I carefully sorted and placed my laundry in the machine, o.k. threw it in willy nilly added soap and then promptly left the house. Now I have to say, I never do this, I never leave with appliances running- I don't know why I did this, a moment of crazy perhaps. Harry and I get home a few hours later, and as I open the door, I wonder why my house smells tootie fruity. ?? hummm... I thought maybe Harry had gotten some new incense or something . Yeah- wishful thinking. I go back to the laundry and while the machine was washing, it got all wonky, and bounced against the dryer and knocked over the brand new bottle of liquid soap ... where it spilled all over the dryer creating a soapy lake before falling to the floor to spill its remaining guts. Now, if I was the good housekeeper you all believe that I am (humor me here o.k. about the good house keeper part) I would have put my clean cloths away instead of folding and piling them on the dryer, using the dryer as my personal closet. Well, my personal closet was now floating / soaking up about half a bottle of detergent. O.k. I can handle this.. as I stand in soap , as it is soaking up into the cuffs of my pants, and it is bumping against my ankles.. O.K. into action! throw dirty bath mats on floor to soak up excess soap. Good. Now shove formerly clean cloths into washer- oh wait, washer is full, o.k. lets put that load in dryer, oh wait dryer is full, damn, soapy ankles and fumes... "HARRY!!!" No comments from the husband as he pulls the dryer clothing out careful not to drag through the soap that is running down the front of the dryer and seeping into the crevasses and on the inside of the door. clean dryer... I dirty up a bunch of towels with ... soap... humm ... O.k. wet load in dryer, shove soapy formerly clean cloths in washer and begin first of SIX washings to get soap out. Dirty up more clean towels cleaning the top of the dryer oh and the front because as the dryer runs soap oozes out of all the doorcrevasses . The thing of it is, as this soap is on me, and I add water, I don't feel clean, I feel sticky.. and so does the dryer. I rationalize that I should leave the pile of mats to soak up excesses soap until morning as I frantically keep washing my hands to get rid of the stick. The next morning begins with wash number 3 for the super soapy load, and a dryer wipe down for it has been drooling soap during the night. And now, the mats, oh the mats that during the night have GLUED themselves to the dang floor. Who knew?! Did you know??? Dang it, we have a painted floor and as I grunt and pull, I am sure I will be pulling up paint too.Luckily no paint was harmed during this process, o.k. throw mats outside and lets clean this floor. I really really really didn't want to add water- I figured if I did, I would never get that soap up. I was thinkingvinegar yeah- thats a good idea, too bad I don't have any. Water it is. I mop and mop and mop and dirty up more clean towels. When I figured that it was soap free, I found the longest bath mat of all and placed it over the soap spot of shame and kept my fingers crossed that I was not gluing the mat to the floor. I have not moved it yet. Maybe today, maybe not. The cloths in the wash finish and though they smell really special, I have to believe that six washing later they are safe to wear. Happily the dryer has stopped drooling and the rest of the soapy mess has been de- soaped. And that, is my laundry story except I need to go buy some laundry soap.

You get what you get...

That WAS NOT my original title, but after loosing the post I had been working on for about an hour, that is my mantra right now. I will quickly share some pictures with you of something I found this weekend. I found my happy place! Yes I realized in this life sucking heat that the only place that makes me really happy right now is watering my lettuce. ?? I know it is strange, but I just gotta go with it. Jackson comes out and tells me long long stories that I have yet to decipher, but at least she keeps me company... She talks and I water while our veggies are safe from the direct sun under these sweet umbrellas I set up for them.. So come back soon for a story called " adventures in laundry" its a good one.

Good morning darlings~

It's 7 am and it is still cool out ( lovely actually) and I have a big tortie cat sprawled across my lap- happy as can be and a cup of coffee. Yup, that is just about the perfect morning. It is so nice outside I want to go do some weeding in my bare feet and enjoy the cool soil~ but it is a "work" day, and I will don my uniform and pretend to be a normal person and not a wild mountain garden woman. My gardening outfits can be very creative I have found that if I wear my wellies NOTHING gets into my shoes, but shorts and pink wellies can be a little frightening. I used to wear a similar outfit when I was 2 or 3. I actually try to work in a manner that I never venture too close to the street so that I don't scare the neighbors. I am turning into my grandmother. That's a good thing. So, would you indulge me and tell me what you are doing this morning, and what you want to be doing instead? I would really love to know!! Have a lovely day no matter what you do!!! reality I will leave you with this picture- a little charm bracelet I have been working on, made with odds and ends and lovely mother of pearl buttons-Yum!!

what a bad blogger-

Oy- I keep composing posts in my head- and I gotta tell ya, working in my garden isn't that interesting, nor is the 95 degree heat we are having. So my appologies for lack of posts lately. My Ojai classes got canceled, but the good part is that since I didn't go I got to see a dear friend who was visiting from Texas. We had an impromtu bbq last night for 10 and it was great to see her and family. I did teach a class for a group of co- workers at Zinnia on Wed. and they were very fun. Made some great stuff too! Today I head back to Zinnia to so a soldered charm class. It is a small class, and I am looking forward to it. Sometimes it is nice to get to be more one on one. So that is about it around here, hot, minimal crafting, a bit more than minimal yardwork- yup, that's it. Hope you all are cooler and doing well-

Lots of classes!

This next week is going to be so fun filled with art stuff- I just might forget I have a day job. On Wendesday I am teaching a private class at Zinnia for 10! Wow. That should keep me outta trouble. Thursday June 19th 7:00pm is the 3rd. Thursday make and take at Zinnia, (626)441-2181, where Paul will be showing us how to craft wonderful boxes from old album covers. If you are too young to know what an album cover is, come on out and us older folks will tell you all about them. Friday June 20th I will be at Artful Living in Ojai again ( yeah!!!) teaching a collage technique class, and on Saturday 21st. we will be doing "the perfect birdhouse" Call the store at (805) 640-0800 for sign ups. AND, then back to Zinnia in South Pasadena on Sunday the 22nd. for a soldered charm class. I Think it is going to be a blast of a week!!! Here are some samples of Collage techniques class. We go over things like glazing, crackle and peeling paint and my favorite, image transfers just to name a few. s-

And in the Perfect Bird House class, we will collage and image transfer and then solder up our sweet and care free bird house. No seed or water to add or papers to change- lovely. These can be made double sided and students will have time to make 2 in class. And finally the soldered charms. This class is always so fun, because once people get over their "fear" of the soldering iron, the ideas just start to rush in. In this class we have glass and images and all the soldering stuff to get started and become familiar with soldering. It's not so scary- really. All of these pieces were done by first timers with a soldering iron. As with all of my classes, materials are provided. I like you to not be worrying if you got the "right" wire or glue etc. I want you to be able to come and play and leave with the knowledge to re-create the techniques we used and morph them into your own. BUT, if you have your favorite papers,a copy of a family photo, your special kit that you always use, please bring it along, whatever will enhance your experience. Hope you can make it out for a class.

The great mole ...

Yesterday, I decided to have a NEW experience. That is the spice of life right? New things?? Maybe it should be naps instead. I had to go to the opthomolgist, that is after seeing the dermatologist, and the optometrist ( and yes, glasses are on the way.) The Dr. I saw was really great- and as he examined my eye he asked if I had a cat- perhaps a white one, and then he took the cat hair out of my eye.... nice. Then he kindly informed me that the growth on my eyelid was most probably not the growth I knew as the mole of my childhood, but probably more in the wart family. What did you say??? Oh a WART?!?!? EWWWWWWW!!!! He explained that I could have gotten it from someone spitting on me while talking. What??? EWWWWWW!!!!! This isn't really going as I thought it might. I have had this thing formerly known as a mole as long as I can remember, and now I find out is is mostly likely a wart ?!?... great, it is official, I am a hag. Nice Dr. said he could remove it. The thing is, if I can avoid EYE SURGERY I would like to do so. Never having had eye surgery though I said well, lets do something new- lets take that sucker off and take me outta the hag category. Now, I know how much you all love it when I draw for you- so here is the before and after....

Now the part I did not draw for you was the super cool eye patch that I got to wear. Man were the other patients jealous of me.... as I bumped into chairs and partitions.... yup. That is me, wart hag with eye patch. I would also like to let you know that you can totally see the needle AND the scapel, and the goop that I have to put into my eye 4 times a day makes life blury, and cat hair sticks to it. Other than that I have to say Horray for new experiences! So how was your Monday?

I think I will blame typepad for my lack of posts lately. They "upgraded" their service, and it is slowing me down. I am having to re- learn stuff, and I didn't really want to. I just want it as it was- I could pop in and in moments have my post as I want it, and now I am searching and struggling, and obviously complaining. O.k. enough complaining ( but I reserve the right to continue at any time). What's new? Still struggling with art projects- there is something on the tip of my brain and I just can't quite see it to make it yet, I only see parts of it. So, I go into my studio, and walk around and touch stuff and think I am on to something- and then realize that I am not and I leave. I decided to make myself a list for this weekend, so that my mopey popo-ness wouldn't eat all my time and that has been very very good. I did get the bathroom clean ( walls and everything), and I did finish my bark project. Oh- the bark project?? Yes, that involved carrying 20, 65 pound bags of bark ( o.k. that is just an estimated weight) up 30 stairs. It has taken me easily a month because some weekends I moved none. I have also set up my pool (YIPPEE !!! ) and done I think 102 loads of laundry. We are a dirty couple. H and I hauled out the wood chipper and finally dealt with a huge pile of bramble, and I weedwhacked part of the yard. 5 hours in the yard will change your outlook in general. My back is screwed, but my outlook is pretty great right now. Also- I have started the next session of dance classes. I decided to take the 101 class again just for more dance time, and I am in 102 as well. I love it, it is so dang fun. We have a good group of people in both classes. That pretty much covers it for now- I am off for a date with my couch- I will leave you with this picture actually taken in my car, some flowers I took to a friend. I love peonies.