Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Beads, beads and more beads!

I ended up staying home today because of a migraine which allowed me to catch up on sleep and feel drugged for a lot of the day. But, I did sneak in a few episodes of the Ghost Whisper, yes, my husband is also appalled, and I got in my bead order! My friend Ceeg asked me to make a few pieces for him after seeing my Family History piece at the art show at work, his Mom is a genealogist, so he thought his would be an awesome gift so it was the perfect opportunity to go bead shopping.

I ordered smoky quartz in multiple sizes, I'm finding this is a great go to bead for just about everything. I love the color and the variations in styles. It works really well with the black and white images and typography. I also went wild with the bright red coral, I want to try a really bright piece with my vintage Bakelite dominoes and dice. We'll see how it goes. I'm also experimenting with a variation on the amazonite tourmaline. It's a beautiful sea green, black and white combination in a square puff cut that I think will add beautiful color to a black and white piece. All I have to do now is get to work!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Movie Updates

Oh yeah, I forgot to give the latest in movie updates for the weekend! It was like a mini-Firefly reunion since Alan Tudyk was in Death at a Funeral an Nathan Fillion was in Waitress. Death at a Funeral was great with only the occasional lapses in funny moments and Waitress, which I also loved and tried to ignore all the real life drama about since it was too sad for me to concentrate on the film if I dwelled. I therefor tried to only focus on the on-screen goings on as well as the pie. I loved the pies and the amazingly subtle costuming.

I have a good friend who used to be a professional costumer and she's made me appreciate how we don't really admire the modern costuming in films. It's all given to things like Memoirs of Geisha or period pieces, which are amazing but think about some of the subtle costume choices and characterization shown in some of the movies like Syriana based on costuming, ok I'm off the soapbox about that so I can move on to further soapboxing.

p.s. If you don't know about Firefly then a) shame on you and b) remedy that right now! The movie list is shrinking but it's still fairly substantial so I'll keep you updated with reviews. I know you can't wait! :)

Tote Swap


I participated in a swap not too long ago that required me to make a tote bag for an exchange, along with some goodies for inside said tote, this is what I made. I think it turned out pretty well considering it was my first real sewing project since junior high when we were supposed to make boxer shorts and my project went enough off course that the teacher came back with a pattern of a silhouette of a cat for me to make instead. Yeah, I'm not kidding here. My Mom gave up on me taking Home EC classes after that and gave the go ahead on my taking World Lit and History classes instead.

As it turns out, I did ok in the cooking department and I can bake just about anything so my mother isn't completely humiliated (although that says more about Food TV than Home EC). The sewing is going to continue to require some practice because I am hooked on these cute little skirts that I'm fairly certain are only going to be accomplished if done by hand and I definitely need to post pics of the bag I received in return, it was awesome with gorgeous shades of pinks with these terrific fabric pins. Obviously, the boxers would not have been a problem for Mary!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Red!


This is a page I made for a book project I'm participating in for Art Chix. This one was a family project, I roped my husband into cutting and folding the 50 pages. It went much faster this way! I love the Glamour Girls sheets where I got the image for this page. I'll update with the completed book when it comes in.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Wonder Woman for Appendicitis



My friend Mark asked me to make a charm for his cat sitter who is a 12 year old girl with a burst appendix going in for surgery. His direction was something with the initial "k" and maybe something with strength and courage. I like to use words or thoughts that will inspire and that I want to have close to my heart on the back so the back of this one has "strength" and "courage". I'm hoping this will inspire her and help her feel better. I'm also throwing in a bottle cap with her initial, just in case. :)


As a follow up to the health issues I haven't blogged about in a while, I saw the neurologist today who was almost less than helpful but I get to see him in a month after trying some new meds and amazingly enough, he suggested getting tips from the Internet. OY!


Anyway, the road trip plans are firming up and my friend Bo is taking the Feasting on Asphalt challenge with us so I'm definitely going to be driving everyone crazy with my incessant planning and squealing about the trip!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Finally, Vegas Update



It's been more than a little non-stop here since we got back from Vegas. We re-did our guest room, including finishing putting down the laminate floors from the studio that stopped just outside the hallway, painted, put two beds together, hung a TV, two ceiling fans (don't ask), took out all the furniture, put said furniture back, had guests, entertained them, you get the idea.


We wanted to relax and catch up on movies this weekend but were only able to see two before I was felled by a serious migraine and we were forced to retreat to the living room and darkness (the Bellagio is worth the extra money for the blackout shades and curtains alone!) - seriously! We saw the Bourne Ultimatium, which I loved, and the Simpsons Movie, so I can drag him to some chick flicks now before I succumbed completely.


Anyway, the pic of me is at the Wynn and I'm not incredibly pissed off but I was caught mid-laugh. Amazingly enough, on me the two look exactly the same! The Wynn is gorgeous and uber-upscale but also extremely whimsical so I loved it! This was the path to serious shopping. The other is the gorgeous falls off a patio that had lovely sculptures in the water that had me transfixed until Rolland moved me along for the other nice tourists waiting their turn.


I know there are people that hate the gaudiness and all the trappings of Vegas, but for me, I really love the juxtaposition of all the created beauty - even the tacky beauty - and vitality of the people and places between the surrounding stillness and peacefulness of the desert. It's loud and quiet, whichever you need or want, strangely (and for the Harry Potter fans) it's like a giant room of requirement.
Oh yeah, my necklace for the show at work got 2nd place in the show. I got a ribbon. And ice cream.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Road Trip!

Okay, I know I need to post Vegas updates and art show updates and I will. Soon. But, in the meantime you need to start watching this. We're hooked. We watched last year and wanted to set off immediately but were prevent from doing so by, well, life. But this year, we will not be stopped. The husband and I are planning a mini-Feasting on Asphalt tour for Labor Day that should be awesome! Details to come - seriously. :)