crafty mcgee

Thank you!

Wow! Thank you so much for your encouraging and insightful comments! I appreciate it more than I can say, and I certainly wasn't expecting presents! "Shefield" arrived yesterday from the very talented Ann Wood. He's not one of the 100, but part of an earlier iteration. I love him! It has made me think (once again) of setting up some a proper display area in my house for all of the wonderful art I'm collecting.

As you can tell, I am not quite back in the swing of blogging. I apologize for not responding to everyone  individually, but I'm still enjoying ignoring my computer when I come home from work. That said, I've joined a couple of interesting swaps, and am working on several other things, so I should have some craftiness to display later this week. Thanks again, everybody.

one, plus four days

It turns out I don't actually have to make a decision (ie, spend any money) about sticking around until October. So, I'll say first off that I still haven't decided. Back when I started this blog, I said I hated to write. I don't like it any better now, and for the same reasons. I also said I needed to kick start my creativity, and that paid off in spades, so it's a big point in it's favor. I secretly harbored big dreams of becoming one of the "big fish", I see now that's never going to happen. Now matter how I try, I can't pull off warm and welcoming in prose. It's also been brought to my attention more than once that I have an odd way of looking at the world. No surprise to me, it's one of the things I like best about myself, but I can see how it would put some folks off. C'est la vie.

It's been a nearly perfect summer here, but it's yet another quirk of my personality that I find endless sunshine every bit as oppressive as endless rain. We had  a couple of lovely cool, grey days this week which bolstered my spirits and gave me a kick start. And now it's September - yay! So I'll be back for at least a couple of months, embracing my unconventionality with gusto. Many thanks to all of you who share it with me.

The artwork behind the candle is from The Book of Cowboys, by one of the most underrated illustrators of the 30's and 40's, Holling C. Holling.

August hiatus

Just checking in briefly to say I'll be out for most of August. I'll be perusing other folks blogs, but won't be posting here. I haven't been on the computer much at all lately, so if you've left a comment recently, I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Look for a message on the 25th - my one year blogaversary! I'll either be back to posting like normal or saying farewell, I'm thinking on it. I'm leaning toward sticking around, though - after all, the holidays are coming up!

Una capilla pequeña

Or One Small Shrine, as the swap is called in English. Lots of stuff in this little box pertaining to the person I made it for, but I'll just post about the knitting skeleton. It's shrinky dink, and it was hard! Actually, the arms came out fine the first try, but the main body of the skeleton would not uncurl like it was supposed to, and I ended up with many rolls of hard plastic. I finally ending up donning heat resistant gloves and flattening it out while it was still in the oven. I know that's not right! I did a couple of web searches, but it wasn't much help. Most of them said not to start with a piece that was too big, so maybe that was it, but it wasn't that big. Has anyone else had this problem? I've got a few more shrinky dink things I want to make, and don't want to go through this again.

Something new to look at

while I'm waiting for this existential snit that I find myself in to pass. Even my surefire cheerer-uppers like blogging and crafting seem like onerous chores these days. Crafting continues, but my heart's just not in it. I know it will pass, but I hope it's sooner than later 'cause...according to Kipling West's July calendar, next Friday - July 21 - is Monkey Day! Can I actually let that pass without memorializing it in craft? Amy has come up with an amazing idea for this month's Month of Softies, and last month's "Movie Musicals" apron theme has been extended. Movies!! Speaking of which, I am a big fan of futuregirl's  softies (and accompanying photo shoots) inspired by great German directors. I am going to do a Japanese director series once I crawl out of this energy sucking morass.

Here's a nicer picture. The top one is a little to close to my mood right now. Those who will be in Seattle in the next month might like to visit the mini Gee's Bend exhibit (along with "prints inspired by") at the Greg Kucera Gallery  in Pioneer Square. The major museum show is coming to Tacoma in Fall 2007. The Theatre de la Mode closes at MOHAI at the end of the day on Sunday. It's been there since March 4. Curse my tendency to procrastination when it comes to things like this, but I'm seriously going to try to get there. Maybe I'll have some pictures...soon.

a musical interlude

Geez, where did this week go? It's almost Friday, again. Crafting continues, but I thought it was time for another "meet your blogger" post. I usually don't do CD swaps at all, but for some reason I just couldn't resist a "12 Favorite Songs" swap. Maybe it was the instructions from the organizer to not let it be about how cool you are. Hey, I can manage that! I have lots more favorites than 12, but these are the ones I selected. The ones marked with a "+" are really my favorite songs, the others are songs I love, too. The straight type is what I sent along with the swap package, italics are additional blog commentary. The picture is from this book - a must see if you've got any interest in the 70's.

1. The Day Brings – Brad -  I chose this one to represent my home in the Pacific NW. Believe it or not, these guys were contemporaries of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. This is a lovely song, one I don't listen to often enough.
2. + I Want You Back – The Jackson 5 - Guaranteed to make me feel like a 10-year-old again. Also one of the greatest Motown songs ever. Even though Michael is my age, I thought of him as a baby. Always the rugged individualist, I liked Marlon the best. Poor Michael, he really was incredibly talented.
3. Getting Away With It – Electronic - With guys from Pet Shop Boys and New Order, it can cover my love of non-disco dance music. Bass and strings, what more can you ask for?
4. What You Want – The Roots - Gotta have some hip hop (and the Roots actually have something interesting to say, although this one isn't political)
5. + I’m Not In Love – 10cc THE song of my early adolescence, it still gives me chills. I heard bits of the remake that was popular a few years ago, what was the point of that?! It's the wall of sound effect that make this song amazing.
6. Night – Bruce Springsteen Since I grew up in a mill town in the east, there are lots of Boss songs on the list. This one covers a lot of areas. It has become clear to me over the years that Springsteen is actually looked upon as a joke by most people who grew up on the west coast. I used to greet the snorts of derision with sputtering explanations of how the Boss is the greatest live act EVER, a fine human being, and has done wonders for music in this country. Used to. Now I just shake my head in pity at all they've missed.
7. Boy Who Cried Wolf – Style Council - Reminds me of my art school and traveling days. The very best of blue-eyed soul. So smooth you could skate on it.
8. + Birdhouse In Your Soul – They Might Be Giants It speaks for itself! This is probably the most perfect song ever! A veritable paean to creativity.
9. Light & Day – The Polyphonic Spree -  It makes me feel happy, and represents the kind of music I’m currently into. As in big, and layered and unusual.
10. What A Wonderful World – Joey Ramone - A great version of a great song, and I had to have the punky 70’s in here somewhere. One critic thought that Joey was lampooning the classic Louis Armstrong version. He wasn't, not at all. The poor guy had cancer at the time and meant every word. He just needed to rock it!
11. Swamp – The Talking Heads  -  Lots of Heads songs on the list too, this one fit. This song used to freak me out, like David Lynch movies do. It's that kind of song, and sound.
12. Kaze Wo Atsumete – Happy Endings - Another one that just makes me smile, and one I would have never heard if not for my love of independent film (it’s the closing song in Lost in Translation). I can't wait to see Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola's new film! This song (and that movie) is another reason I'm trying to learn Japanese, crafting aside.

That's it! Have great weekend!

WIP'ped

Everything around here is a work in progress!

I finally got the pony quilt up on the design wall. Sorry for the blurriness, it was getting dark when I took this. It doesn't really matter, though. The important thing here is COLOR. I procrastinated like mad when I switched my design plan, but now that I see it, I'm psyched. I think I mentioned something about having it done for solstice? Not gonna happen! But by the end of summer for sure.

Here's the first color (on the second side) and the main stamp for the recipe card swap. These need to go out on Monday, so it's top of the list for weekend crafting. I also have an almost-finished "spring" cardigan that I've been knitting, luckily it will be just as stylish in the fall.  Sorry I can't show you, the pictures were pathetic.

Finally, since I haven't been participating in color week, but have been admiring all the photos, here's something for Red Day. I was shocked at how little red I have in my house and garden. It's actually a color I like a lot. Here's the one thing I found - my sewing machine case. NOT on the sewing machine, which is always out these days. It's going to be used so much in the coming weeks it will be RED hot!

Black & White & Pink All Over

Thanks to Back-tack, too, it was a month of black and white and... This time, the third color was pink. Here are the things I made for the June Coloriffic Swap-o-rama:

Oddly enough, partner for this one is also named Robyn. Her favorite season is summer, so I made a set of gocco'd beach girl stationery. My son thinks the black envelopes with the pink printing are weird, but I like them!

The flower image was on Robyn's favorites page, so I contacted the photographer - who has a very nice blog - and she graciously gave her permission to let me use it. Thanks, Posy! I sprayed an old Almond Roca tin with enamel, painted the top with tiny little paintbrush dots, and added the flowers. Here's the final thing, also vintage-inspired:

A little emboidered letter. I was going to make a small pillow, but decided to leave it to Robyn to choose what to do with it. If you're curious, you can see all of the items I sent here.

my to do list

This picture has nothing to do with the list. It's just on my desk calendar this week. I love it. The line work, the colors, everything. It's by an illustrator I'd never heard of before - Maginel Wright Enright. Her work is wonderful. Also, she's the sister of architect Frank Lloyd Wright! Learning is swell.

On to THE LIST.
1) My Backtack III stuffie. I had originally thought I wouldn't participate, but then I started thinking of all the things I could do, so I'm in. I was hoping to have my fabric from EQuilter to show, but it hasn't arrived yet. But here's a hint: it is neither a kitty or a bunny (or a penguin, for that matter). A subcategory of this item on the list is to visit all of the new (to me) blogs on their blogroll.
2) Moki's latest hand-carved stamp swap - Recipe Cards. And it's not little stickers this time, it's 3x5 cards. I'm excited about this one, but my idea is sort of complicated. *I'm trying to come up with a simplified version.
3) Heck, I'm excited about this one, too. Round Three of Amy's always amazing ATC swap. This time the theme is "Fairy Tales". How could I possibly resist? Along with three cards, participants also need to make a large, decorated envelope. I've got an idea for a series of 6 or 7 cards, also incredibly complicated. See * above.
4) This month's Coloriffic Swap-o-rama, is, like Backtack, black & white & something else. The person I'm sending to has completely opposite tastes from me, and her favorite color seems to be pink. So it's going to be tricky finding and making things she'll like.
5) My pony quilt. I actually know exactly what I want now. If I can just carve out the time to do it. The only thing missing in my plan is the back. I'm hoping I'll be inspired once the front gets pieced.
6) A knitted lace shawl for my grandma's 90th birthday in August.
7) Speaking of family, I really need to finish my brother's birthday gifts, since his birthday was over a month ago. I keep putting his stuff aside (partially because it's new to me), but I feel like such a bad sister.
8) I need to frame the art I've been collecting on the internet for the past year. Here's my latest acquisition:

It's a letterpress print (!) from artist Saelee Oh (aka Lemonaid Maid). I love this print SO MUCH. Once, I was on a camping trip, dozing in the woods, when I happened to glance up and see a slug on a branch right above me. Back to dozing, and sometime later I woke up with said slug on my forehead. So you see, I had to have it. Right now it's in a drawer along with many other great pieces of art. This is wrong, and must be corrected.

Then there are more vignettes, which I truly love to make, and that I get an idea for a new set every other day; some multiple screen gocco prints; and all of the other miscellaneous bits & pieces that always turn up. At this point, you may be thinking "Gee, Rose. This sure is a lot of stuff. Why are you wasting your time writing such a long, whiny post?" Excellent question! This is phase one of me shifting into "Zen mode". When I feel overwhelmed I make a list, and then let it all go. After that, it tends to sort itself out. This almost always works!

spring cleaning

Nothing too interesting today, as I spent a non-crafty weekend spring cleaning my basement for a trash pick-up, and cleaning weeds out of my garden after the first few weeks of spring weather.  I go through stages in gardening of not wanting to cut any flowers, and cutting them almost as soon as they bloom to bring into the house. I'm in the no cutting phase right now, but these two blooms got a little crushed, so I brought them inside. The tulip blew within hours of putting in the vase, and I thought it looked perfect behind the daffodil. I did accomplish a craft-related bit of business: organizing my fabric via the split yarn comic book board technique:

 

Yippee! I'm just lining up my ducks for a bunch of major projects I have planned - they take up an entire page of my notebook...so many ideas I'm actually having trouble deciding where to start!