It's mid September and I'm already starting on October work....where did the summer go?
I produced a couple of zines this summer and they took more of my "spare" time than I had anticipated. They were the first that I was going to share with anyone, so I wanted them to be nice. Swapped them on swap-bot in the craft zine and summer zine swaps. Got flaked on one of the swaps.I didn't rate the swapper because 1) she'd been in contact with me and I think she really was confused as to what exactly to do to produce a zine. And 2) I was hosting the swap - so there really wasn't anyone to "angel" it for me. I did do some extra swapping with a few other participants. They really ran the gammet. Some were simplistic and probably thrown together. Another was interesting reading - kind of like being a voyeur on a conversation where you didn't know the people who were being discussed. Being a visual person, I was a little disappointed in the graphics...but as zines are kind of "anything goes" who am I to be a critic? I think that zines are not the outlet that I had hoped they would be for all of this stuff that lives inside me and is dying to somehow get out into this world. I don't think I've found the creative outlet that I'm searching for. (Sorry about the bad grammer in this entry - lots of wrong punctuation and gramatical mistakes. Sometimes I just need to write like I speak - which is far from grammatically correct.)
So....what have I been crafting since the last entry?
Well, there's the button chair that I made for the Whitewater Valley Arts Association chair-ity auction. Wish I could go bid, but I'll be rehearsing "Frankenstein" at the Richmond Civic Theater on that night. I'm doing the lighting, including a lot of the effects. Oh my! As much as I love making theater magic, this one could prove to need more time than I can give it to make a spectacular smoke and flash production. I'll do my best.
I've been on a recipe kick. You know how it is when you are trying to diet - all you think about is food - LOL. Just send out a chocolate swap - to Germany. Cost more to send than to buy! Also sent out 6 recipes. Put them on recipe cards that I's colored with some colored pencil, simple drawings and then placed them in a kind of attractive, small, photo album. I think my swap partner will like them. She has a lacto-ovo allergic child, so I included a few non-dairy, non-egg recipes. I always seem to end up with the partners that have some kind of dietary restrictions. I joined another recipe book swap. This time for baking recipes. I'm crossing my fingers that I get someone who uses flour, milk, eggs, butter - the works! I really hate those Dr. Atkins type recipes for baking. They taste terrible, too. No offense if you like them...I just don't have that pallette.
Chef Angel says it's time to close down the computer and join him in the kitchen. Smells great. Orange shrimp tonight, I think:)
'til next time - Indygirl
It's been awhile since my last post. Busy busy!! Plus - the computer seems soooooo sloooooowwww when I'm trying to update this blog. Anyway, here's all the latest:
I've uploaded some pictures of the swaps I've sent out recently. The little dolls are made of wood craft balls, beige pipe cleaners and embellishments from my stash. Really easy, and really cute.
I hosted another altered compact swap. My partner had a kind of sparse profile, but stated she was a girly girl, so I'm hoping she likes butterflys. I'm not sure where this came from. It wasn't the direction I intended to go. Once I got started, it just took on a life of it's own. I really love how it turned out.
The cookbook was quite an event for me. When I signed up for the swap I had visions of documenting my DH's wonderful dishes with photos and recipes. My partner ended up being a vegan,(no dairy, poultry, fish, meat, etc.) Being from a rural area, I certainly had vegetable dishes to include - but it just wasn't what I had been envisioning. So, I went a totally different direction. The girl was early 20's and studying to be an event planner in Germany, so I altered a tri-fold, magnetic closure book, making it a kind of recipe book, dinner planner. On the left was a dry erase board and marker for the menu, in the center a notepad for grocery lists, on the right were plastic pockets for recipe cards and under them was an envelope for spare cards or whatever. Her sensibility seemed a bit goth or dark, so I made the whole thing with glossy black and mat grey and olive tones. I loved the little chef character I drew for the front. I was trying to be Tim Burton inspired. Not sure I succeded, but the cartoon is sweet.
Currently I'm signed up for a handful of swaps, including 2 zine swaps that I'm hosting. Should be interesting.
I'm also currently following a weight watcher diet. It's worked before. I can't believe that I've gained back so much weight. DH is on this time, too. I'm losing steadily about a pound a week. He's a little more erratic. At this rate I should reach size 2 in about a year!! Honestly, I don't want to be a size 2. When I was that skinny I always had a cold or flu or something. My immune system just couldn't keep up. I want to be a nice healthy 8. Able to wear shorts and visit my NYC friends without embarrasment.
The Zeta cancer fundraiser is well underway. We're doing the handbag silent auction again, but not a luncheon this time. On June 22, 2008 we'll have the auction with a "tea". Sounds easier that a luncheon, but, of course, it's not. Anyway, my KKS Zeta sisters are truely awesome. I love them all. They are working very hard and things are coming together in a very timely manner. The food and drinks should be wonderful, we have all but 8 tables sold and about 60 purses have been donated, with more promised. The raffle is a diamond and ruby necklace and earrings set or a set of 4 tickets to an Indianapolis Indians 2008 game. Both were donated - so the raffle will be money free and clear to the cancer society. At 1$ each or 6 for 5$ we will hopefully do well. The cancer society is such a worthy recipient of our fundraiser. They do such good work, that for privacy reasons, is not spoken of most of the time.
I started a real estate blog at: realre.wordpress.com. My first 3 articles have dealt with the mortgage crisis. I heard a great hour long show on "This American Life" about the subject last weekend. I downloaded the podcast on Monday and have listened to it a couple more times. Just amazing - people deceiving themselves, committing fraud against other. And, my goodness, the money that changed hands!! Where is it now? Such a waste. But, when you consider how fast the bubble expanded in the 90's it is no wonder the fall has been so hard. I can remember saying during the presidential election between Bush and Gore that I felt sorry for whoever won because they would have to deal with recession and the rest of the aftermath of the falsly inflated financial and mortgage industries that were brought on during the Clinton administration.I think that we were lucky that the Fed worked so hard to bring us in for a soft landing.
Okay. I think you are all caught up now. I'll try not to stay away for so long the next time.
Later- Indygirl
Things are picking up around here, but I've still found some time to finish a few artsy swaps on swap-bot.com. I did an Easter jumbo matchbox, some martini ATCs and some Retro 50's and 60's ATCs. I also have a "local dotee doll" all finished and ready for my partner to be named. I've been working on the altered compact swap that I'm hosting. 4 of us will be swapping unless someone else joins. I have the front of mine done, but not the inside.
I keep thinking of doing kind of "step-by-step" photo essays of the art work I'm doing to post them here on the blog. I know there are many times I see someone elses piece and would love to have seen the process.
Anyway - the dotee doll is made with fabric that I had tranfered a peony and rose picture to. The Peony is the state flower and the rose for the nearby city of Richmond that is known as the "Rose City". I also embroidered a cardinal bird on her hand that seems to be whispering to her. The cardinal is the state bird. The compact has a digitally altered photo of my grandmother. The words say,"Each of us is an original", which I found as a quote from the bible in the "Message" bible. There are buttons and fibers. I really like it alot. Once we get partners assigned, if it's not something my partner could love and appreciate I will do a different one for her. I just had to do that exact thing with the Retro ATC swap. One of the cards I had done was called "Pink Ladies" - like a girls biker club or bowling team or something. It had lots of pink...and both partners I was assigned said they didn't like pink or "girly". Oh well. I have a nice card for my own collection I guess:)
I recently found a lovely pair of vintage heels that I bought at the church "Mission mart" (thrift store), for a couple of dollars. I had every intention of dying/painting them and embellishing them to go with a banquet gown I have to wear to an event in April. When I got them home they were just too nice to touch! Absolutely perfect and the the detail is really amazing. They were in the original box and had never been worn. There wasn't a scuff on the bottom and they had the original tissue in the box. Now I'm back to square one on the banquet shoes. And I'm not sure if I'll keep or sell these vintage beauties.
Rehearsals are well underway for "Witness". I'm planning to do a rather stylized lighting of the show, as the director had originally told me it was to be "noir" style, and the set designer is supposed to limit his pallette to just greys and washed out blues. I have a feeling I will be the only one sticking to the original plan...but we'll see. If I am, it's okay. The lighting will look fabulous. I love high contrast and nice sharp highlights and shadows.
Later - Indygirl
I'm taking advantage of this little slow time to work in my studio. Work has been a little slow - not many calls - the last two weeks. Rehearsals aren't yet underway for "Witness". I have 3 meetings this week for various church committees - Administrative Council, Pastor-Parish Committee and the one that I chair - Worship and Missions. It's really too many "church meetings" for one week. I wish God would help me understand what He has in mind for our little church. They don't understand that in order to grow they have to change. They just want to "attract new people" to the church by doing things the same way that they have for the last 30 years. I introduced the projector a couple of years ago, and they like it okay - but they don't want to do the great new music, they want to sing from the old hymnals. Yeah, right...that will bring in people seeking God who are just learning. They make me tired. I bet they make God tired, too.
Okay - I'm done with that conversation.
Now - the postcard series got finished. It ended up kind of fun and flirty. The worst part was when I finished the top with a diamond glaze it made some of the collaged papers below pucker and bubble. With a little work, some of it lay flat again, but not all. As per the swap instructions, I also sent an artists statement. As an extra goody, I made a copy of the song the series was based on and sent it, too. Also finished the recycled container swap. I covered a cigar box with embossed felt and vintage buttons. The buttons were stacked and lined up on the top. The inside was a kind of rich looking print. The Christian matchbox swap turned out well, too. An "illuminated" Jesus was the focus on the top and a cool laughing Jesus pic on the bottom with the "fruit of the spirit" scripture. I used torn handmade paper as a base. Also used part of a vintage necklace to outline the top.
I'm still working on the "create a world" Joseph Cornell-esq swap. I've got my box painted with a blue-black and I've been playing with some very small humenoids made of sculpy. I'm thinking of gathering several "people" off center and looking up and calling the whole thing "star gazers" or "hello up there" or somethng like that. I've also been playing with the idea of layering papers and light gels (colored acetate), and putting in a light-up element in the box.
I'm afraid the littlle sculpy guys won't travel well when they need to be mailed.
Tax time is here, too. Being an independant contractor / sole proprietor is such a pain when it comes to taxes. This will be the first year that my DH has a W-2. Always worked for himself before. I hope that enough money was taken out for taxes from his paychecks that we don't owe too much this year. Always such a worry.
More later,
Indygirl
Lots of busy-ness in the last few weeks. Christmas. New Years. Drove with Dad to Florida and spent a week hanging out there. Work, work, and more work. A sinus infection that kept me home from work a couple of days, and a couple of fun swaps. I sent out a matchbox shrine,(black and pink kitty shrine as per my partner's profile), 2 five dollar frog "stuff" swaps, and an ATC fat girls art swap. I have received a fat girls art ATC swap back. They are well done, but a little sad. Kind of self potraits of this person who had a baby and now has stretch marks and can't lose the weight. The little projects were supposed to be celebrations of little fat characters - you know, cute....sweet....or goddess like. Oh well. Maybe it helped her work out something.....art therapy. I sent a Christian large matchbox swap and got such a hearwarming thank-you for my partner. It really made my day. I took a couple of pictures and may post them. I'm currently working on a series of 5 collage postcards for a swap. It's been a tough one. Lots of ideas, but they tend to lend themselves to a 3 series instead of a 5. I decided to do a series based on one of my favorite songs,"Betty's Diner" by Carrie Newcomer. I have 3 well underway and pieces for #4 and 5, but I'm not likeing the commercialism in them. They don't have enough "depth for me. I may dump the whole thing and try something else. Something less literal. Just make some pretty pictures that tie together with color or technique or something. I'm signed up for 2 other swaps - a "make your own world" swap and a "repurpose a container" swap. Both are right up my alley. The "world" swap is really like the shadow box and mixed media stuff I like to play with, and I have lots of different containers that I have saved simply for the purpose of repurposing. I think I am going to make a purse out of one of the cool electrosol limited edition tins I bought (filled with the detergent) last fall. I really like the little Elroy from the Jetson's that is on the front, so I'm not sure how much I'll alter the actual graphics on the the tin. It has a cool hinged top, too. Perfect for this swap!
I really need to do some web work on both the site for work and the site for Kappa Kappa Sigma. it's so frustrating when you are self taught. Everytime I want to do something different, I have to teach it to myself before I can make it apart of the site. I really need to learn how to have a password protected area of the KKS site so that I can post the directory for the membership to access. They all get a hard copy once a year, but an online copy could be constantly updated and be more accurate. Plus - it could save us lots of money if we no longer had to print a copy for each member.
Auditions for "Witness for the prosecution" are next weekend. I haven't done much work on it yet. I'll be doing the lighting design. I don't know exactly what the set looks like, as the set designer has a penchant for the odd and disturbing, and this show kind of screams for a classic 3 wall set. The lighting will be in the noir style, so I hope I can get the angles I need. The show opens in the first of April.
Soon we'll begin working on another fundraising luncheon for the cancer society. We want to move it to June. So much to do. I hope I have a good committee. I already found the perfect favor for the tables. We can make these cute little puse pendants that hold a "lucky penny"
It's frigid cold outside - somewhere around "0", so I'm planning on a jammie day. My first in years. It feels really decadent. All I need is some chocolate chip cookies to make it complete!
Later - indygirl
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