Doodles on paper and fabric

The last two weeks have been mentally exhausting, and I seem to use up all my brain power at work.  I get home and suffer from "mashed potato brain".   I'm still keeping up with the necessities, but not much else on the list is getting done.  I've stolen a few moments here and there to create.  I'm enjoying just letting go and creating.  No deadlines.  No rules.  Not for anyone but ME.  I need that.

I also stitched a little bit on a binding of a colorful quilted table runner.  I hate that part of the process.   When I get to the binding stage, I feel so close to being finished and the binding part just feels like work instead of play and I want to be done already.   Hopefully this week I'll finally have it completed.    

Friday night, I doodled on fabric for a little while.   I started this wall hanging about a year ago as a fun little geometric piece to hang in my cubicle at work.   I worked on it at a quilt retreat and then put it away for a year and forgot about it.  I'm eager to swap out the quilt I've got in my cube right now.  I love it (a Ricky Tims convergence quilt with hand dyed fabrics) but am anxious for a change.   Here the new one in progress. 

I actually finished fusing all the shapes to the top and made myself go ahead and pin baste it and begin machine quilting.  I always procrastinate on the basting process.  But I love to machine quilt.  It's like drawing with thread instead of a pen.  Unfortunately my machine either needs alignment, or a different needle or thread, or it just plain doesn't like stitching through 5 layers of fused on fabric.  It keeps skipping stitches which is highly annoying.   So I'm troubleshooting that issue before I can finish.  Sort of a bummer since I was rolling along nicely.   

Here is my helper.  No he is not allowed on the ironing board.  Or in the middle of my pile of fabrics.  You try telling him that.

 

How a watercolor garden grows

A little fun with my wonderful SU Watercolor crayons: 

I scribbled some shapes with various watercolor crayons and added water with the aquapainter brush.  When it was dry, I outlined it and added some detail with a .05 multiliner pen.

Scripture Sunday: Isaiah 58:11

Just a little doodle for a Sunday.  Created with markers on 4x6 SU Whisper White cardstock.  

I'm actually very excited today though because when I transferred my fonts over from my old laptop, I re-discovered the font I had created from my own handwriting.   So cool to type my own handwriting on the screen :).   Can you see it in my copyright signature?

CREATE in 2013.

A few weeks ago I stumbled across Stephanie Ackerman's blog: Homegrown Hospitality.  I LOVE her work!  She's really inspired me to just jump in and create.  She chooses a "word of the year" every year to give focus to her artwork (and life).    The word that immediately popped into my head is CREATE.  I NEED to create more art.  Creating art makes me happy and I want more happy in my life.

On her blog, she has photos of an adorable little mini Moleskine journal.  Check it out.  Although I have a random art journal or two (or three) in progress, she inspired me to run immediately out to Target and pick up a mini Moleskine.  (Actually it's a Moleskine volant series).  It's soft cover w/ 80 lined thin ecru colored pages.  3.5 x 5.5".   I like it because it's very very portable.  I'm keeping it in my purse along with a fine point Sharpie and/or a .5 journalling pen.  At lunch I'm doodling at my desk.  Fun!

At least the mini moleskine is a bit more artsy than my usual office art medium: manilla folders.   Although I gotta say that I just adore the way the sharpie absorbs into the folder :) 

 

Name Banner for Emily

Tomorrow is a co-worker's birthday.  I've been itching to papercraft and thought I'd make a little something personalized for her.   For whatever reason, I'm enamored with banners.   This one is using cardstock, but I also want to make some fabric ones eventually and do some for the different seasons.  I think they'd look good hanging in my cube at work to dress it up a little. 

I hope she likes the bright colors on this one (she's not a pink and sparkly sort of girl).  I sure do.

Supplies:  Cardstock colors: Riding Hood Red, Midnight Muse, Daffodil, Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Gumball Green.   Perfect Pennants Bigz Die, retired simple letters alphabet die,  Circles #2 Bigz Die, various other punches, brads, and buttons from my SU stash.

The Perfect Pennants die is so easy and fun.  In addition to the large pennants, there are layers and some fun doily type circles (like the green one under the y).   

Survival Mode

Life as a single working mom is certainly hectic.  I need to stop living in survival mode and enjoy life a little bit more.

My goals for 2013:
1.  Spend more time with my girlfriends - this will involve more prior planning on my part.   I'm thinking a girls night in pajama party with pizza, music, and crafting might be fun.
2.  Paint the kitchen.
3.  Heal my shoulder (My shoulder impingement has been painful for the last few months) and continue on my quest to get more fit and healthy.
4.  Take my vitamins more consistently.
5.  Plan a vacation with my wonderful kids.
6.  Do something with the backyard - won't be complete, but I need to just start.
7.  Do something with the 1/2 bathroom.
8.  MAKE more time to create - and update this blog with my projects.

Sheldon is a big naughty kitty now.

Meet Sheldon

About 3 weeks ago, E came home from the park behind our house and told me that there was a lady there looking for a home for a kitten. Normally the knee-jerk mom reaction is NO! But since we lost our Shadow last summer and our Muncie girl in January (at age 18!) I had told the kids that we would be on the lookout for a new kitten. Here was our chance.
So I went to check it out and instantly fell in love. The lady who had found him had been looking for a home for him for 2 weeks. We took him home about 10 minutes later.




When he met polka dot he was scared for all of about 10 minutes. Now Poor Pokey is like a tolerant Mama to him. He runs and leaps onto her back and bites her head and just happily torments her. She hisses to tell him when she's had enough, but he doesn't get the message.


I love his little Kitler mustache! and his grey eyes. And his soft as a bunny fur. When I'm down, he curls up and snuggles with me. In the morning he plays wild kingdom all over the bed. I really needed some kitten therapy in my life right now.

Mattman is a HUGE Big Bang Theory Fan and loves Sheldon on the show. He decared that when we got a kitten he would be named Sheldon. So our baby was pre-named. Mattman was at a boy scout function all day and didn't see him right away. The look on his face when he got home and saw our surprise was priceless. The first thing he said was "His name is SHELDON!" I said yep, we've been calling him that for hours now. He's certainly a happy distraction.


Kitchen update: Not much has happened. I sorta froze up trying to decide about the floor dilemma. Finally I just filled the cracks in with putty and decided not to think about it. The countertops should be installed any day now. I'm getting anxious to have my kitchen back, but am very proud of how well I'm doing cooking without one.