Procrastination

"Procrastination; the art of waiting till the last minute, making yourself stressed out of your mind and sleep deprived because you couldn't get your behind in gear 3 weeks prior to your deadline."

I have know about the Solstice Art show for a month now and today is the deadline, although she said Saturday would be ok as well. I finally finished up the needle felted sun last night and started (almost finished) a sun Mosaic. The sun Mosaic just needs a clear coat over the entire piece, then I will call it finished.

I believe I intentionally procrastinated, so I wouldn't have to go forward with entering my art into the show. I hate the judging eyes on my work and know that is something I have to get over if I want to be successful in the crafting/art business.

And now here is the Needle Felted Sun....

I am going back and forth as to whether or not I like the Needle Felted Sun. It certainly did not turn out the way I thought it would, but I still kind of like it.

And here is the Mosaic......

I am really happy with the way this one turned out. I was going to use the silver side of the Cd's but when I saw how the colors looked I just had to use them this way. The picture doesn't show the light glitter background on the yellow as well.

And by the way it is a cat nip plant in case you were wondering!

Did I Not Speak Clearly?

*WARNING.....THIS POST CONTAINS WHINING AND RANTING*

Last Sunday I decided I was too tired or unmotivated to cook dinner so off to KFC/Taco Bell I went. I pulled into the drive thru and made my order....

"6 piece grilled chicken family meal, with mash potatoes...."
"2 Chalupa supreme's, no meat, sub beans...."
"1 Mexican pizza, no meat, sub beans..."
I look at the screen to confirm he got my order correct and drive forward.

I get home with my quick and easy dinner, put my PJ's on and then hear my husband complain that only 2 of the pieces of chicken is grilled....but will eat the extra crispy anyway. Which was nice because I really did not want to go back out. I sat down with my yummy Taco Bell, opened the Mexican Pizza box and checked to make sure there wasn't any meat on it (habit)...and low and behold, ALL meat no beans. What's wrong with that you may ask...I am a Vegetarian. So I go change my clothes, hop in the van, drive back to KFC/Taco Bell, go inside wait in a long line and re-order my food.....

"I asked for no meat, sub beans on this Mexican Pizza, and all that's on it is meat. I am a Vegetarian, I only want beans.....they leave me standing there in mid thought, because of course my bucket of chicken is wrong as well. They finally come back to me and I explain the next item..."I asked for grilled chicken and this box of chicken only had two grilled pieces of chicken......".

Then I wait.....and wait......and wait.....oh and wait some more. Finally a guy waves me over with a bucket of chicken, all grilled! But my Mexican pizza is no where to be found, and at this point I have two Chalupa Supreme's sitting at home going cold and soggy. I ask about my Mexican Pizza and it is still not made, "No meat, Sub Beans" I tell them again and I wait...and wait some more.

After about 20 minutes I am on my way home, hungry and ready for my "easy" dinner. I sit down again on my couch in my PJ's, open the box to the Mexican Pizza and peek in between the two crunchy tortillas........MEAT!!!! I did not go back, just sat and ate my luke warm, going soggy Chalupa's, way to frustrated to wait again.

This is a small town, with only one taco bell, and I order from there at least once every two weeks, the same thing, the same way every time...and it is wrong 4 out of 5 times.

"Art" Show

For the month of June, Summer Solstice art will grace the walls of a local coffee shop. Usually one artist is featured and displays their work. June is special because it will be a multi artist showing. Anyone can enter up to 3 pieces, they will all be 6" x 6", some for sale, some not and all will be in the theme of Summer Solstice. I decided to enter some artwork about 3 weeks ago and last night, 2 weeks before deadline, started work on my first piece.


The theme of the my first entry is "Summer of Love 1967". You can find a description HERE! And here is the starting of the piece......

Yes there is still a lot to do but the most time consuming part is complete. The background is going to be tie dye, possibly the material it is sitting on now and the lyrics to "Here Comes the Sun" (the beatles), maybe. All I know for sure is this sun is the focal point.

A Crafting Getaway

We have signed the purchase agreement for the house, met with the home mortgage loan officer, and now just waiting for the appraiser to do his work. We only have one appraiser in town and I have heard he is taking up to four weeks to turn the appraisal in. Our closing date is June 30th and if you ask me too far away.

The thing I am the most excited about is my new craft room. Not a craft storage room, closet or shelves...an actual room completely dedicated to me and my crafts. Some things I plan to do with my craft room.....

• The bean bag will definitely occupy one corner.
• I want to create a cork board border on one or two walls.
• There will be a large sturdy work table with the sewing machine and rotary mat always set up.
• To Do board.

That is just a few things I have thought of. I am getting so very excited, yet very scared at the same time. This will be the first time I will live in a place where I can do with it what I please, if I decide to take an ax to the side of the house, well I can because it will be mine. It's so weird growing up, and then again I may be 29, but I still feel 14.

Recycled T-Shirts

My weekend was spent cleaning house, grocery shopping and making yarn. I believe this may be the best use for old T-shirts I have found. Of course there are many ways to recycle old T-shirts, but this is MY favorite.

I would love to tell you that I was the one who came up with this...but I am not. I am not even sure who thought of this but whom ever they are, thank you. And to all of you who think you were the first and no one can duplicate with out your permission, you probably weren't so get over it.

Here are my beauties......

1) Cut the t-shirt into a very long 1/2" strip of material

2) Tug on the strip so that the material curls onto itself creating a tube. I pass the yarn thru this second process twice to make sure I get the maximum length out of the yarn.

DONE!!!!

I did decide that the solid colors don't suit my style so I decide to use bleach and make a tie-dye yarn with all the colors. Now I just need more T-Shirts and to decide what I will knit up with all this fabulous yarn.

Testing My Patience

We have put an offer on the house we like and the sellers have accepted. They are drawing up the contract and will have it ready this coming Tuesday. This may be the most stressful point in the process, because without the contract there is no deal. At this point I am just trying to stay patient and positive, and call out to the universe for good vibes...no snags.

As far as crafting goes, I seem to be stuck. I pulled out the knitting basket last night, grabbed the self striping Supersock yarn, casted on and knit one row...then realized I didn't want to make what I was starting to make...out came the stitches. So I picked up a ball of green variegated cotton yarn and started a leaf dish cloth...which wasn't coming out the way I wanted it to so again I pulled out the stitches....I sat there looking at my basket full of yarn and couldn't think of anything to do with any of it. The basket went back in it's place and I sat twiddling my thumbs.

Bright Skies

Since finding out I have to move from my gorgeous place, my days have been spent packing, cleaning and house hunting. All of my favorite things...ok not really, but someone has to do them.

My husband and I spent a grueling day last Saturday driving around looking at homes, all of which we can't afford. Who can afford a $745,000 home these days?? We saw everything from a run down 3 bedroom that smelled like cat pee to a nice three bed room with an integrated Television system...the TV's came with the home. We then looked at the home our landlord is selling.....it is perfect!! It is just the right size for us, a corner lot so it's a little more private, nice shop with stainless steel sink and peg board throughout, big kitchen, a little yard for the dogs and much more.

We plan to buy this house!!!!!

First Steps

We completed our first step in home ownership...pre-qualifying for a loan. That part was much easier than I thought, and they will loan us way more money than I think we can afford right now. There is other things besides a mortgage that one has to spend money on each month...utilities, food and Jack Daniels Whiskey! I am feeling a little more at ease these days but still getting little sleep at night. We are at the hard part of the process, finding a home we like that is in our price range. I am seeing that some things I want in a home are just too out of reach, one can still dream though.

One good thing that is coming out of this is the push in myself to start making a little extra money selling my crafts. It is what I really want to do and I am just going to have to make the leap.

Bad News...or maybe good?

The husband and I were sitting in the livingroom, enjoying our nice relaxed Sunday afternoon playing "Guitar Hero: Metallica", when our landlord knocks on our door.

"Bad news guys, we are selling our home and going to move in here!"...... *insert long pause here* ......

That's right, we are getting evicted. They will be putting their house up for sale at the end of May, in case you need me to do the math, that is a month away! They are offering us the home they are selling for a good price, and the home is nice....it is just in a bad location. Definately not a location I would ever choose to live.

The plan of attack....get approved for a home loan, start looking for a new place to live, work as many hours as we can, pray and hope everything will turn out for the best.....

Till then I will look out my window everyday so I can remember this view forever, because I will miss this view!

Another Bull@$#^ Post

I have been trying each day to think of something to write about. Obviously with no luck. I haven't gone out on an adventure, haven't crafted much, and pretty much been a boring lump of a human being. This will pass, I hope.

I have enjoyed some nice sunny days sitting at work. I am very hopeful for a hot summer. This years project...Cold Boxes...

In this picture they are using the Cold Boxes to start or harden their plants. I will use the Cold Box as a greenhouse. My place gets too much wind and rain...and well the weather is just too unpredictable for plants to grow. (and I am too poor to invest in a greenhouse) I tried to grow plants last year only to have their growth stunted by a cold spell. Not this year!!!

Just Breathe....

Right now I am in the middle of the a huge tornado called "Tax Season". I have been working lots of overtime, trying to stay out of the way of cranky accountants, and making sure there is plenty of coffee in the office, all while trying to maintain my sanity and keep a smile on my face. On the upside...I am getting lots of overtime, which is a blessing considering there are lots of people without jobs these days. On the downside...I am so exhausted by the end of the day, that I haven't been crafting much, I have neglected this blog, the dogs haven't gone on any trips to the beach or anywhere, I am not exercising and I pass out on the couch at 9:30pm most nights.

Although I love my job, and deal with the stress 100% better than anyone in the office, long hours and cranky people wear on me.

Craft Room Organization

This is one of the projects I finished last Thursday. I think it will be the perfect addition to my craft room.

Other news...it's my birthday today and I have been granted the day off. It started snowing yesterday and continued throughout the day and into the night. A friend stopped by last night with the intentions of only staying for an hour. In that hour snow blew under his SUV and high centered it. This means that the only way to get it moving is to yank it out with another vehicle. He stayed the night on the couch last night! I woke up to the local radio station DJ announcing all the places closed today and announcing that the Department of Transportation has suggested to everyone, only head out if absolutely necessary. I look out at the drive way to find 4 to 6 foot snow drifts surrounding everything. I turn on our porch light to see our friends SUV.....

He is parked behind my van....I don't think I am going to get to work today.

A Night of Creativity

A four day craft hiatus has ended. Since last Sunday, after coming home from work, cooking dinner, grocery shopping and cleaning, I would sit on the couch to relax but just couldn't. I needed to do something...craft something...be creative! Unfortunately nothing sparked my interest. I couldn't think of a new project and none of my works in progress appealed to me.

That is until last night.

My husband went bowling and with the house to myself (and the dogs), I went into the craft room and...well went crazy!! I set up the sewing machine to finally finish a shirt I started months ago. Then I plugged in the glue gun, brought out the paint, canvas and cork board squares and set up shop in the kitchen.

I started by squirting green paint on the canvas and with quick paint strokes, the canvas was covered. During the drying time I laid out the fabric, pinned on the pattern and cut out the extra pieces needed to finish the shirt. By the time all the pieces of fabric was ready to sew, the canvas was dry. So I placed the cork board on the canvas and marked where I wanted it. Using 3 glue sticks I secured the cork board to the canvas. Back to the shirt....I assembled and hemmed every last piece and tried it on. Everything looked great except for the sleeves, I looked like a football player and had to go back to the drawing board.

Instead, I went back to the cork board and decided to jazz it up with some paint details. Some green on the edges and Daisy's on two of the corners. By then I had a solution to the sleeves, I would run cotton thread through the hem and bunch it up into a cute puff sleeve...no more Jettson's space sleeves. In two hours two projects complete!!!

You would think that would be the end to my madness, but no I stayed up till 1am crocheting a poncho with a ball of yarn I purchased 2 summers ago.

My creativity is back and I feel great!!!






Pictures of the finished projects will be posted as soon as I can see straight and the dark circles under my eyes have disappeared.

Now What?

In trying to be better with my spending I have decided to adopt some of my neglected works in progress. One project in particular is a tank or vest or....well I haven't quite figured out what I want the end project to be. I started this project almost two years ago. Since then my knitting has improved and I have become quicker producing the stitches. When I started the project each row was taking me some time to complete and in turn I got bored. Today I am whipping thru each row in no time flat that I can't seem to put the project down....I AM OBSESSED. I will complete 3 or 4 rows and decide to let my aching hands rest (arthritis stinks), only to pick it back up after only a minute or two.

On to the bad news..........

The Walmart here is no longer carrying the yarn! And I don't have the label for the yarn so I have no clue as to what brand. I have such great momentum with this project. I don't want to put it down again. I can't rip it out. I have almost two years invested in this little project. It has been on the same circular needle for the entire two years. Where do I go from here??

Stylin'

I have finally taken pictures of my newly knit hat, finished it about 2 weeks ago. The pattern came from Woolly Wormhead, it is the Meret pattern, although since I used a variegated yarn you can't see the pattern in it very well. I still really like the way it came out, although the true test will be if I wear it.