Great Monday...on Wednesday...

I only belong to two fiber groups at the moment: SAQA and Valley Stitchers Art Guild. Valley Stitchers in a regional guild that promotes any and all kinds of fiber arts; we have knitters, weavers, paper artists, polymer clay artists, wearables and quilters. You name it... it's probably there. The guild has no show, great programs, and a reasonable annual dues: $25. At that it has about 175 members with over 100 attending each month's Monday morning meeting. (yeah, it's an older demographic. I think I'm one of the young ones.)

One way that the guild supports itself is to have "Little Shop" at each meeting. If there is something in your workroom that you no longer desire, members can donate it to the guild which then sells it very cheaply. They usually bring in about $100/month from the shop. Fabric is $1/yard.. books are $1 each...sewing baskets (filled with supplies) will be $2-3. You get the picture.

Very cheaply.

The photo above shows my finds for this month: A surface design book published in 1984 that reads like a textbook on the subject. I am loving this book. It cost me $1.

And that big bag of threads and yarns?? A quarter.

Our speaker this month was a designer/teacher from southern California: Nick Coman. He gave he a very nice talk about color theory; later in the day he held a workshop on tread painting (nope, I didn't attend).

Next month, we have Sandi Cummings talking about "thinking outside the block"... and in April Miriam Nathan-Roberts will give a talk on her evolution from a traditional quilter to an art quilter.
=================
Thanks for the comments wanting more info on my camera.

It's a Canon Power S2. This camera has Image Stabilization (one of the main reasons I bought it), so slight photographer's/camera shake doesn't lead to a blurry photo. It also has a 12x optical zoom plus a 4x digital zoom (which ends up being a 48x total zoom) so you can get quite cozy up to things. Like the neighbor's iguana, or their roosters strutting all over the place). The nice LCD screen flips out, turns at angles, or sits in the camera. But you can close it up (which protects it from damage) and look through the viewfinder if you wish.

I used the viewfinder to take this picture the day I got the camera.I twisted the viewfinder around and used it to make sure everything was lined up right. No standing in front of a mirror required. (in fact, I was outside). Cool for me.

The newer version of this camera is the S3. Since that came out, the price has dropped a nicely on the S2, making it a more attractive deal for me!!
Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: fiber, CoolTool

Time, Time, Time...

My neighbor's iguana sunning itself on the deck. Can I just say I LOVE the telephoto on my new camera!! That iguana was about 50' away from me.

Yesterday Judy asked about how we plan our days... when do we do our fiber work and when do we do our other life maintenance stuff? GREAT question!!

Lately I've been breaking my day up into three or four parts that might vary in actual length a little:

Early to mid-morning: This is when I email, read online articles and write. My normal goal is to work until I have two good things published (I write for 3 blogs plus BlogHer and I've invited to write for a fourth website). In past months, I could do that fairly easily; at the moment it's harder (I'll allow it's the anesthesia), and I often stop without reaching my goal. Time limit for this part of my day is roughly 10 am.

Mid-morning: This is a physical break in activity. This is when I walk the dogs, go to the gym, and run any errands that need to be run that day. It's a variable 2-4 time frame. I've discovered that I need the physical movement in order to focus enough to be creative next. Gym time runs from a fast 45 minutes of elliptical and stretching to 2 hours (elliptical, session with trainer, stretching, shower). Walking the dogs is another 20-45 minutes. Yes, I adapt the dog walk to the gym work so that the total time spent is about 1.5-2 hours.

This is also when I grocery shop, run other errands and do some housework.

Afternoon: This is when I'm physically creative. I've spent the hours just prior to this doing the mental planning, when I walk into the studio this is when I work. (plan for today: clean up the messes so I can find actually find things.) This time can then progress into the evening.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Asking For A Little Help...

Somewhere around Wednesday of last week someone posted a quote on their blog. It was two lines about having a child and having a grandchild.

I wanted to remember it, but didn't tag it at that moment. I've just spent 2 hours searching my blogroll to find this and I can't.

If anyone knows what I'm talking about, would you please remind me where I read it??

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Well Crazy Aunt Purl is back in the groove! Horoscopes two months in a row!! Well, maybe groove is too strong a word, after reading this. I swear she promised me an extra-super special something for this month!!

CANCER (June 22 - July 22)
Oh crap. You got me again as your ASTROLOGER! Didn't you learn, last year, when I wanted us to start a gang called the Cancer Crips? All I can say about February is resist the temptation to ostrich! You may well want to bury your head in the sand, but truth is you're smarter and more pragmatic than anyone on Team Problem, so do not hide from your primary challenge this month. (It is hard for me to take my own advice, but I try.) The good news is that although we are prone to forget the past only when it suits us, truth is we are having a MUCH better year so far than we were having this time last year. If you need proof, just browse backward through your old diaries, old receipts, old memories. And for a Cancer, that is progress! Also, on an unrelated note: Perfect flawed Cancer, forget about this Valentine’s Day horsesh*t. Just enjoy the discount pink items on the 15th, remember that love does not get one designated day, and rise above any expectations of forced romance. Hallmark holidays are not for crabs. We prefer our maudlin romanticism on unexpected Tuesdays in June or October or March, thankyouverymuch.I

I have set a personal goal for this year: to get out of the house, make more friends, and find something worthwhile to do that makes me happy. Probably starting with volunteering, as I haven't worked is years, don't believe that I have anything to offer anyone, and cannot conceive of anyone paying me to do something more complicated than being a "greeter" in a big box store. (That job? Just shoot me, please).

So this acting like an Ostrich thing?? I completely understand that. And while it is true that I'm fabulous at problem solving.. and can deal better than most in those situations.. I wonder where to apply this.

My gut instinct is to look at a museum or art center somewhere. See how specific I am?? How focused and clear visioned?? I'm in trouble.

On other fronts:

I've given up on the second piece I started last week. I'm having no luck in "shaking it up" a bit at the moment. So it's placed away for another day. Maybe I will make some fabric beady-things for it or maybe I'll pack it for my class with Rayna in April.

I'm finishing up the first piece (tentatively called "Jig"), and I'm thinking about the next one. These artshare pieces will be mailed SOON. And Arlee, I STILL need your address!

This week I picked up the 2nd book in the "Inheritance" trilogy: Eldest. When I reserved it from the library I was the 23rd person on the waiting list (but we have a large county.. and only one copy available!!) Talk about pressure to finish it and pass it on to whoever is next!! I enjoyed the first book but have decided to Netflix the movie. I understand it's pretty bad.

Tags: WhatchaReading?, plans

Piece Three... First One Done

Ok.. so I ended up working out of sequence.. but this piece yelled at me yesterday that it wanted done. I actually worked on this until after 10 pm. last night... missing the first part of the Top Chef finale.. and not carrying at all.

When I got home from a very short workout at the gym, I continued the base stitching:


Including putting whorls (or moon craters) on the circles:


In the evening, I added the orange triangles and stitched them in place with orange rayon thread and feather stitch:


At which time the piece told it's name was Calypso! And that I need to make a sister piece to this which will be called "Eclipso"!!

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: fiber, artshare, meme

Virtual Retreat Redux...

This past weekend, several of us held a "virtual retreat". Instead of packing up and moving to a new location, we pretended to be away but work at home. It was fairly successful. And kewl.

I really need to work my ArtShare pieces. In November I promised to send FIVE small art pieces out to (checks records). Have I made then yet? Nope. I'll admit, my first instinct was to make up some of my napkin bags and male those off... who knows, I still may. But I was also interested in making some pieces, and playing some more with compositions based on the circle and triangle.

Started on Friday.. piece #1:

The multi-colored piece is yet more of my hand dyed damask tablecloth. I've adjusted the top-most circle some. This piece needs some added texture, and the edges stitched shut, then it's done.

Started Saturday Morning, piece #2:

I dont' know why I went so pastel and soft here. The damask is the background.. most of the triangles are commercial fabrics. It still needs stitching and the triangles need some embellishing.

Started Saturday Afternoon (while other pieces were "stewing") Piece #3:

Really just begun here. I stitched the background with a nylon thread, wanting texture but not any color. I fear that the texture is too subtle, but we'll see in the end. There are more steps involved here, but I'm saying till I'm showing it to ya!

These small pieces (they are all maybe 10x15" or so...) are have been fun to work on.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: artshare, fiber, quilting

Hang On Weezie...

Last night I received two phone calls: one from a man in Cleveland I saw face to face once 13 years ago. The other from a woman near Washington's Coast whom I have never met. But we're family of a sorts... and sad news needs to be delivered in person.

In the very early 1990s "the internet" was little about "the web"; while AOL and Prodigy were starting up, most of the activity on both was contained inside their systems. For most of us, the internet meant IRC, email, usenet groups and bulletin boards. Texty. Very texty.

In Cleveland, Case Western Reserve had decided to reach out and make the internet accessible to anyone with a computer, modem and phoneline. They created the Cleveland Freenet (CFN). As a user, I would put my modem on "auto dial until I connect" and wait through the 10-100 attempts to find an open node on a server, occupying myself some other way until I connected. Once the connection was made, however, I needed to work fast. After 60 minutes, I would be automatically disconnected.

The physical connections could be slow enough that it would take 20 minutes to log in, 10 minutes to access my email, 5 minutes for a message to show on my screen, and a minute each time I tried to scroll down. Still it was my introduction to the net...

One group at CFN that I connected with was Boomers. It was started by a several people including a feisty blonde woman who worked as a cop for the Cleveland Clinic, Weezie. The intro always mentioned that Boomers was a state of mind, not merely a generation. We were witty, serious, incredibly talkative, and we learned about each other. Boomers was mentioned in many of the early books about internet.. an interesting place to check out. An eclectic gathering point. We drew a college student in Taiwan who was coming to the US for grad school; an elder woman in Seattle who has worked with computers since the 50s (?). A tech support woman in Rochester NY; many others who stopped, liked the ambiance and chose to stay.

Over the years, we'd talk about lives: our friends, our families, all the changes in our lives. Sometimes there would be real life get togethers to put faces with names. At the center of all this was Weezie. She was our pack mother. She'd laugh first and loudest, grump stronger, and keep us playing nicely together.

Last night Weezie died. And we of the Boomers family felt a need to draw together in real life to share the news.

This morning I wonder how the family will hold together from here.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Creating A Connection:Visitor to your Home

Well, the Create A Connection exercise for this week from DebR. looks like fun. I kinda don't like the "hometown" thing.. because, well, this isn't my hometown. Not even my home state. However, I've lived here almost 9 years and I've been blogging for 3, so anyone I've connected it through blogging would know me as a bay area gal. And a small tradition says when you hit 5 years in a "new" city.. you ARE a native.

Kewl. (oh, wait.. that's SoCal.!!)

The set-up:

Imagine you've made a connection with another blogger who lives in a completely different part of the world than you do. This blogger is about to take a trip and the connection you've made is so strong that she is going to make your house one stop on her trip. (Yay!) Unfortunately she can only stay at your place for 24 hours (boo!), but she'd like to see some nearby sights while visiting with you.

A Visitor to Your Home

1. Your visitor wants to see something historical. Where would you take her and why?
2. She wants to see something hysterical...well, mildly amusing anyway. She'd even go for cute, quirky, odd, or unique. Where would you take her and why?
3. She wants to take some beautiful and/or interesting photos to fill her albums when she gets home. Where would you take her?
4. She'd like to buy a souvenir that will remind her of your area every time she sees it. What would you suggest and where would you go to get it?
5. Wow, it's been a long day and you're both ready for a snack, or maybe even a meal. Where would you take her to really get the flavor of your area?

Darn. I really wish that Lucy had a bit more time. I would like to go to Alcatraz as I never have been. But you usually need reservations and it takes so much time (travel, wait, boat, walk, boat, travel...) that I don't think I can add this to the day. However, if any one else wants to come visit me and go there... this is your invitation!

Because of the limited time and some specific plans in here, I'm combining a couple of these places in our one long-ish day. And to make this easier on me, I'm declaring my friend's name is Lucy. Not for any particular reason... it's just short, easy to type and I don't think I know anyone in blogland named Lucy.

So just pretend her name IS Lucy.

I picked Lucy up late yesterday night, chatted a bit and settled her into "Chez Roby" with her wifi, tv and private bath to rest and relax. Before leaving, we have a healthy filling breakfast because there aren't any great breakfast diners around me. (more's the pity. And NO IHOP does not count!!). There isn't much of a rush here...

Our first stop Pt. Pinole.

This is part of the East Bay Regional Park system and a true gem. It's a large public park with views of the bay that could not only fill Lucy's album but also grace her walls. It's location on the water means that it's part of the major migratory bird flight path. However, Pt. Pinole is located where the old Giant Explosives Plant used to be. Some of the structures still exist, and we'll walk around and through these. We can stand on the large base where the company vault was (it's not a grove of trees in the picnic area), imagine being in building where they actually mixed the nitro... and imagine pushing carts of the stuff to the step in the production down Angel Buggy Trail. Yes. Have a bad day and you and your buggy meet the angels. So some history and great photos.

Oh, BTW, everyone who comes to visit us gets a trip to Pt. Pinole. Even business associates of the spouser's who are only visiting us for dinner one evening. So all you real blogger friends are forewarned. Pack Your Walking Shoes.

From the park, we will head across the San Rafael bridge, driving past San Quentin and lunch at Marin Brewing Co. Great burgers and tasty brews. Since I'm driving, I'll probably stick to rootbeer. (sigh).

We head south to the Scenic Viewpoint for the Golden Gate Bridge. (Again... great photos and history.) before heading south over said bridge.

Here, we park somewhere along the embarcadaro and stroll the tacky tourist spots for the rest of the afternoon: definate opportunities for souvenir shopping here. We'll probably stop at one of the places on Fisherman's Wharf for something fresh for supper.

We end the day at Club Fugasi for the hysterical part of this day: Beach Blanket Babylon!! a cabaret-style show that comments on things rather currently in the news... with music and REALLY BIG HATS. Lucy and I will compete to see who knows more of the songs used in the show.

Afterwards, we get a little lost while I figure out how to find the freeway. Lucy is catching a red-eye to her next stop... is it your house??

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Invitation To A Virtual Quilt Get-Away...

Today most of my Pickle Pals are heading down to Pajaro Dunes (between Santa Cruz and Pacific Grove) for a get-away weekend. Each year we rent a condo for three nights, with the aim of some serious sewing and/or retail therapy time. If you click on the link above, you can take a "tour" of one of the condos.

The one we rent is three levels: the top most floor is the living space (shown prominantly in the tour)... living room/dining area/kitchen. This floor has the best views of the Monterey Bay and beach. It's where most of us set up sewing machines or sit and knit. Below are two floors with sleeping quarters and bathrooms.

Anyway, because of the foot surgery I declined to go this year. First I wasn't sure about the timing and the healing involved; second, I figured I wouldn't be walking on the beach much.. and beach-walking is a key activity for me; and third.. I always end up sleeping on the bottom floor. Way too many steps if I weren't completely healed.. and too many if I had delayed the surgery.

A couple other Pickles aren't going either for a variety of reason. So this year we decided to participate in our own virtual quilt get away. And I'm inviting you to join us.

Just pretend that you are here
and take some time to work a project this weekend. As if you were on a get-away. Write about it. Post photos. Have fun.

The only thing missing is the sound of the surf...

Photo credits: Pajaro Dunes Vacations.
Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions
if you haven't seen my Viking Name...

Tags: fiber, plans, PajaroDunes

Intentions.

First, I admit it: I am sucking as a blogger recently. I'm sure it's losing me readers, and I apologize. Personally, I'm blaming it on my minor surgery.

My foot has been healing well, btw. Today is a slight set back. I think I've been overdoing the time on feet a bit (uhm.. nobody who knows me is surprised by that!) and last night I needed a Vicodin before I went to bed. So today?

I'm staying off my feet. And finally working on the ArtShare pieces I still need to finish and mail out.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Fiber and Friends.

I MUST give props to friends. I'm (nearly) 55 and it's only recently that I've had friends I can rely on in the thin as well as the thick. (I'm hoping that's right...). With my gimpy foot, I've had to rely on others for a while... and it's even hard for me to write those words. My life experience says: need help? Help yourself or be disappointed.

Monday is our traditional "Pickle" night. We women get together somewhere for a couple hours of food and fellowship. I wasn't sure if I'd make it, mainly because of the driving. But over the weekend Clara emailed me and offered to drive me home if the spouser got me there. What's the problem, you might ask? Well, Clara (though the closest to me..) lives about 10 miles away over the hills requiring her to drive a dark road that she hates. Especially at night.

In the past, I wouldn't have accepted this offer.. making life "easy" for her and staying home. However, I realized something: she chose to offer knowing better than I do how she hates driving that road. If I turn her down? I'm diminishing the quality of the gesture she made. So I called (late) to take her up on the offer.

She didn't get the message and showed up a little surprised but willing to act. Now here's where I get blown away. Another pickle.. one who lives a full 30 minutes away from me and not on my side of the bridge... (say howdy to Debbie!!) offered to drive me if Clara was too tired to do so.

Anyway, someone has come to visit with me Tuesday and Thursday.. so I'm getting lots of friendly support.

Friends. Who can predict the the depth and breadth of friendship? It's blown me away.

And on to fiber...
While I've been sitting around with my feet up, I have finally begun to work on my hand-dyed linen napkin bags.

This bag is completely machine stitched with one of my favorite Pfaffie decorative stitches then put together.

While this bag has been hand embroidered then lightly machine stitched.

A close up of the embroidery.

I am so getting over the "romance" of these textiles. They are difficult to work, always wanting to go off grain. But I've got about 10 bags in various stages of completion.. so I've got to buck it up for a while. Then just never do this again.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I wrote about Slow Week.

Tags: fiber, life

So I Will Not Forget.

This was part of a comment I left on Grace's blog. However, I've been thinking that it is such a perfect "me" statement, I don't wish to forget it. There I might; Here I never will.

Grace asked about moving through grief and mourning:

And you get through it and find those "two best things: softness and illumination." Yes?
Internet, universe, someone - please tell me yes.

Yes. Eventually we make a kind of peace with our losses. I can see that I am "this way" or cherish "that thing" because of the beings who have touched my soul before.

They are tattoos on my psyche. Forever marks that heal and take on personal meaning but no longer scab and weep.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

The Dinner Party Revisited

Karoda pointed out some holes in my dinner party post, to which I apply this disclaimer:

I was drugs! (vicoden to be specific). I thought I answered all the questions, but maybe I just fell asleep.

I'll go back and edit this in before I link to the CAC site, but for those who've already read the whole post, here are the missing links:

6. Guest six must be someone from any field who you believe is/was underrated and under-appreciated by most people, but whom you admire. Who would you invite?

This answer will throw off the female/male mix of party, but I'm sure everyone can adapt. I would invite an artist that many haven't heard of: Ruth Asawa. Visit her website and read the quote that begins Arts Activism. It says it all. But imagine an artist who's work is created with paper, crocheted wire or flour clay!

That bonus last minute questions? It goes to my first guest: Thomas Jefferson.

To him I ask:
Today many US citizens view this country as one built and based upon Christian beliefs; there is a growing inclination to use conservative (bible-interpreted) views as a basis of making civil law. There is a strong belief that this is what you intended (ignoring the evidence that demonstrate that you were a humanist before the term was coined).

If you could write an addendum to the Constitution to clarify the role of Christianity or any religious belief as it pertains to government, what would you write?

I'm pretty much off the pain pills now (down to ibuprofen) and walking around pretty well. So today I'm going to spend some time sewing!

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: life, CAC, Create_A_Connection

What Will You Be Doing on March 27th??

Silly question, is it? Well, not really. On March 27th hundreds of women will be taking on what they DO in an average day, then sending their journal of the day into Joni Cole. She in turn will turn these journals into her third A Day In The Life books. And this book, she wants to concentrate on working women.

But honestly, almost all women work (ok, Paris Hilton is a possible exception). Whether we "answer to the man," "make it on our own," volunteer, or simply work for own satisfaction. How much our days are similar? How different?

I heard about this project from Elena Center's piece at BlogHer, and as Elena explained:

To be part of this writing project, you'll need to complete a confirmation form saying you plan to keep a day diary.

Joni says in the last book 600 people committed and 500 submitted their diaries. The book featured 34 complete entries and excerpts from more than 200 other diaries.

Just click here to get your confirmation material. Have fun. I hope that many bloghers will participate on March 27th.

I've signed up for the project and I hope you do too. Imagine being able to actually read what an artist's or teacher's day is like!

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Some Suggestions for Those Angry with Blogger

Some Suggestions For Those Angry With Blogger:

and not one suggestion to change blog host!!

Reading through my BlogLines this morning, there are several of my regular reads complaining about problems with blogger (OK, so what else is new?). Thought I would share a couple things that might make your life easier in the future: using a photo hosting site for your photos and simply inserting those into your blogger post; and using a desktop blog posting tool to compose your posts.


1. Judy noted that blogger was once again not processing photographs (Frieda made the same complaint). So she pointed us over to her account on Flickr to look at the pictures there.

You can insert your Flickr photos into your Blogger post. In fact if you host photos on many sites you can insert the photo.

Here's how:

A. I have uploaded my photos to Flickr and want to put "Giant Storm Cloud" into this post. So I go to my account, find that photo and click on it; then click on "all sizes" and choose "medium" (it fits in the space). Just below that photo it says:

To link to this photo on other websites you can either:

1. Copy and paste this HTML into your webpage.

And THAT'S WHAT I DO. Copy their text, and paste it into my post. Voila! My Flickr photo is inserted in my Blogger post without having to upload the photo again. And yes, there is probably a similar option for other photo hosting sites.

B. Similar to "A" above, except that I use option 2: 2. Grab the photo's URL. Then I can click on the photo icon in Blogger and where it let's you add an image from the web, and paste that grabbed URL in. Or, yeah, I could write the HTML myself... but why try to remember something (a line of code) that I don't have to?

Either way I've inserted my photos into my post without having to deal with blogger's often iffy photo insertion program.

Now, a "work around" for Blogger Losing posts:
(and let's hope that those posts will show up as "drafts").

This is a different option. Yes, you can write your post in NotePad or WordPad or something (NOT a MS Word processing program. They add a lot of extra formatting that screws things up when you publish), then copy and paste into a blog post. Atleast this way the words are not lost.

A different option is to download a copy of blog publishing tool.

I use Performancing but there is also:
Bleezer (still having problems with the new blogger),
Chronicle,
ecto, and others.

With any of these tools, they reside on your computer and allow you completely compose a blogpost. You can set them up to log into your blog server and upload the post. Yes, if blogger is down it is still down. But atleast all your work isn't lost, too.

These programs let you insert photos, links, tags.. everything and more that you would do on the blogger compose page.

I'm just saying it's an option...

Edit Saturday afternoon: vicky left a great link in comments. I will be tagging all the links in this post, plus Vicky's and any other left in comments in my del.icio.us with "blogging" so we can all find them whenever we need to remember them.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: blogging, Flickr

The Sun Will Come Up

First
Thank you all for your kind wishes. Wednesday I had two (2!!) bone spurs removed from my left big toe. Their presence kept me from bending that foot at all, which was becoming a major pain. For the next 2 weeks I get to wear a "really cute" surgical shoe, but after that? I will be able to wear normal shoes again. Not just the 2 pairs I've been wearing for the past 2 years.

In moments of anticipation, I'm planning on creating a huge wishlist on Zappos. Obviously, I have a way to go.

Second
This week's Getting to Know You exercise at Create A Connection is to throw an imaginary Dinner Party. Guests must meet certain criteria.. and the differences in whom we invite should say a whole lot about us. Since I'm just sitting around, how could I resist??

Dream Dinner Party

1. Guest one must be someone who is/was creative with words - a novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, journalist, etc. Who would you invite?

I don't even need to think about this one: Thomas Jefferson. A brilliant man whose ideas created this country.

2. Guest two must be someone who is/was creative with images - a painter, photographer, sculptor, fabric artist, collage artist, etc. Who would you invite?

Annie Leibovitz. One of the first main photographer for Rolling Stone, I've always been fascinated with her portraiture.

3. Guest three must be someone who is/was a performer - an actor, singer, musician, comedian, acrobat, etc. Who would you invite?

Katherine Hepburn. A role-model for women everywhere.

4. Guest four must be someone who is charting/charted new territory - either in the physical sense, like an explorer, adventurer, or astronaut, or someone like a groundbreaking scientist or inventor. Who would you invite?

Leonardo DaVinci. Hey, Thomas needs someone to talk to.

5. Guest five must be someone who is/was a leader of other people - perhaps in the area of politics, like the literal leader of a country, or perhaps a leader in the area of religion, military, business, or even a great philosopher or teacher, or an inspiring athlete. Who would you invite?

Adm. Grace Hopper. One of the highest ranked woman in the military, creator of COBOL and "coiner" of the term computer bug.

6. Guest six must be someone from any field who you believe is/was underrated and under-appreciated by most people, but whom you admire. Who would you invite?

This answer will throw off the female/male mix of party, but I'm sure everyone can adapt. I would invite an artist that many haven't heard of: Ruth Asawa. Visit her website and read the quote that begins Arts Activism. It says it all. But imagine an artist who's work is created with paper, crocheted wire or flour clay!

7. Guest seven is a wild card - your choice! Is there someone you'd like to invite who didn't seem to quite fit into any category, or was there a category where you'd have really liked to invite two different people? Then this is your chance to add the person you missed to the table. Who would you invite?

Well, this party needs someone to track the conversation and keep things going. A great listener and a good interviewer with a quick laugh. Charlie Rose.

Bonus: Uh Oh! The dinner party is just about to end, and all your guests are about to disappear, and you realize that you've forgotten to ask one important question of one of your guests. You just barely have time to squeeze in that last question, so quick! - what was the question and who did you ask?

It goes to my first guest: Thomas Jefferson. To him I ask:

Today many US citizens view this country as one built and based upon Christian beliefs; there is a growing inclination to use conservative (bible-interpreted) views as a basis of making civil law. There is a strong belief that this is what you intended (ignoring the evidence that demonstrate that you were a humanist before the term was coined).

If you could write an addendum to the Constitution to clarify the role of Christianity or any religious belief as it pertains to government, what would you write?

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: life, Create_A_Connection

Quiet but Quickly...

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I'm having some simple surgery later today, and have spent the last couple days doing all that pre-surgical stuff. My focus is in a different place, so I have nothing to share.

Sorry.

By next week I'll be back to normal.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Making a new list and checking it...

OK, for many people the idea of making a list and checking it ended a couple weeks ago when Santa made his rounds. The list of working on now is a whole lot different.

It's time to nominate blogs for the Seventh Annual Weblog Awards. Almost all the blogs I'd nomimate would fall in their "craft" setting, where I'm limited to nominating three. I find it really hard to limit myself that far.

Without blinking I came up with:

In A Minute Ago . Sharon writes such a beautiful, specific and detailed blog on the needlearts. While her 100 details in 100 days started both a discussion group and a flickr group last year, I'm sure her "Take a Stitch Tuesday" will be even more successful this year. Her blog is focused, visually appealing, and a continuing source of inspiration for her readers.

Grumperina Goes to Local Yarn Shops and the Home Depot.

A Bird In Hand.

Posy Gets Cozy

AllSorts

Wee Wonderfuls

Wish Jar

Art Junk

See Eunny Knit

The Yarn Harlot

Now I'm sure there are blogs I've missed and blogs I haven't found yet. So HOW can narrow this list down to just three??

And I'd love to hear: which blogs would you nominate for "Best Craft Blog?" and why??

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where the stars are trying to tell me something...

Tags: Webbies, weblog_awards, "craft blogs", crafts

The Plan Begins...

Pine and Heron. Taken at Cesar Chavez park in Berkeley.

I had to wait 30 minutes yesterday before I got my hair cut, so I used the time to walk over to the Barnes & Noble and examine the books on PhotoShop. I walked out with this book.

Step #1 for my goal of actually learning PhotoShop Elements this year.

I'm having my toe fixed next week, which will require four days off my feet and a total of 2 weeks of taking it easy and recovery. My plan is to spend a lot of this time working on the program. By the end of January I should will be able to do basic editing and some simple special effects. Specific goal: know how to add text to a photo.

Today is all the pre-op doctors appointments in prep of next week. My family doctor has to guarantee that I have a pulse and normal blood pressure but not a fever; my foot doctor will go over the details of when and what. These sandwich a quick workout. And sandwiching all this is time organizing the workroom and planning some work for the next week.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: Life, plans

The Year of Living ProActively

Sunrise:1/2/07

After re-reading my affirmations for this year, and reading Crazy Aunt Purl's Really Big List for Aught Seven (she being another crab like myself).. I've decided that the word for the year will be ProActive.

I LOVE when she listed these items for the year:

• Understand that all change, even good and happy change, comes with stress.

• Make every effort to be happy. Choose to work hard, live well, and love someone. It's all a choice. I could just as easily choose to hole up, wonder why things are the way they are, and complain. But I don't want to! I want the baseline to always feel safe, but in between I'd rather choose risk over fear, temptation over empty, something (even just the hope of something) instead of the safety of nothingness.

• Don't take the easy way out.

• Appreciate.

Sitting home wishing for things to change doesn't work. Nobody is going to knock on my door and hand me what I want. If they did, I wouldn't value it. I am going to have to venture outside my comfort zone (my recliner) and DO things. What, I don't know yet. I will spend the next couple weeks working on that.

I see the possibility for big change this year but it won't happen if I don't work at it. So 2007: The Year of Living Pro-Actively. Who's with me on this? (and who's way ahead of me??)

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions for my weekly Tale of the Scale.

We took the dogs for a walk at Cesar Chavez park in Berkeley Saturday. The sky.. no the very air was milky and soft. This is a white sail boat centered on the Golden Gate bridge.

Today we are having a party. Friends and neighbors will stop by; and we'll start the new year right: with fellowship, laughs and cheer. Remember what you do on today, you will do for the rest of the year. So forget those household chores and find something inspiring to do!
Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: rlm, MyLife

The Feather Duster Crown

Ok, so my fabulous hat might look like a chicken died from an explosion in a mylar streamer factory. I'm sure before I purchased it from Good Will, it was some woman's much cherished "Sunday-Go-To-Meeting" Hat. Is it proper that the spouser has apparently relagated it to the status of "feather duster crown"??

NO.

However, it is hysterical!!

Tomorrow we are re-instituting our New Year's Day Open House. So today, I finish cleaning and start cooking. Plans for the week:

Sunday: work out, dust, vacuum, bake.
Monday: organize, then play hostess. Later watch the bowl games.
Tuesday: work out with Guido, trip to Ikea.
Wednesday: work out, do a major organizing of work room.
Thursday: dr. appt., workout with Guido, dr. appt. Prep for BlogHer Learn to Knit party.
Friday: Continue reorganizing and prep for L2K.
Saturday:
Sunday: workout, down to Oakland for L2K.



Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

NOT Resolutions.

This photo was taken by Liz last February at Woolfcamp. Just found it again. Isn't that a fabulously funky hat?? Wait until I show you who was wearing it this week!

Anyway...

I am not making New Year's Resolutions, as those often seem to be unlikely goals at which we give ourselves permission to fail. Instead, this year I am making affirmations:

I WILL:

-get strong physically. It helps me feel healthy.

-control the "siren song" of the laptop and the tv. (I'll admit it, I'm
addicted, but more later)

-get out among people more (volunteer? work?) .

-continue working on my writing.

-learn photoshop.

-get back into the workroom.

In the couple months that I've been regularly going to the gym, I've noticed a lot fewer aches and pains, and generally a more positive mental outlook. OK.. there were a couple truly miserable weeks back there, but hopefully I'm over them.

But I just realized something else this week. When I walk in the door, the girl at the desk bounces up to take my card, smiles and greets me by name. She is genuinely happy to see me. My trainer smiles and greets me by name. He evens care the minor surgery I'll be having in a couple weeks.

I've missed this kind of interaction with other human beings. I am way too isolated in my life and need to find some way to increase this. I think the loneliness is a key in both my computer addiction and my depression. Ya'll are great.. the comments are nice. But, sorry, this just isn't enough. I can't look you all in the eyes.

And I just don't have a clue how to change things.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Great News To Start the New Year...

Great News to Start the New Year!!

Rayna's class at Art Quilt Claremont is a GO!! I will get to spend to 5 days playing with one of my favorite bloggers!! And Gerrie (another of my favorite bloggers) will be there, too.
Yippee!!

I'm getting my bad toe fixed after the first of the year, working hard at getting fit, and this will be one of my first rewards!!

Happy dance, all around.

Oh yeah... while this photo is necessarily a sunset, it was the one that came the closest to looking like the start of fresh new day.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: ArtQuiltClaremont, art, quilt, RaynaGillman, Rayna, Gillman

And the Roller Coaster Ride Seems Explained

I do things seasonally (not necessarily that I really want to...) to such a point that I can normally schedule my life around expectations. This season I seem to be tracking about a month early.

My November cold-that-turns-into-2-months-of-bronchitis? I got it in October. Normally at the moment I'd be hackin up a soggy lung.. but not this year.

My January I-hate-the-world-seasonal-depression? I think that's what's been dragging my down this month. And I might have turned the corner.

Today the sun it out (though it is windy enough to blow me over). After sewing for an hour this morning, I spent a half-hour on the rowing machine at the gym. I came home as the beta-endorphins kicked in and was giddy to pop the top on the Spouser's convertible and take it for a ride. He didn't share my wacky enthusiasm. Probably for the best. It is really gusty out.

So my prescription to myself: get sunlight on my skin and in my eyes whenever it makes an appearance. And, though I hate it while I'm doing it, get exercise whenever I can. And remember to embrace the giddy.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Will You Dulaan??

The twin Mongolian boys in this photo are sharing one jacket and sporting brand new hats knit by someone in North America. These warm items were distributed by relief volunteers this past fall as part of The Dulaan Project, 2006. This project was formed as a way for Ryan over at Mossy Cottage Knits to knit more and do good. Ryan wrote:

Dulaan is a cooperative effort of the Flagstaff International Relief Effort (F.I.R.E., 501c3), Mossy Cottage Knits, and the Kunzang Palyul Chöling (KPC) Buddhist community of Poolesville, Maryland. Dulaan (which is Mongolian for “warm”) is dedicated to helping the struggling and impoverished children and adults of Mongolia. Due to economic and political upheaval, unusual and disastrous weather conditions which have devastated the nomads’ livestock herds, and “normal” weather conditions which frequently reach -40 degrees in the winter, there are many children who live in heating ducts below the capital city of Ulaan Bataar, and adults who scavenge through garbage heaps to survive.

This past year, they gathered more than 12,085 items and distributed and the pictures are in. Some will warm your heart while others will break it. Cuzzin Tom, the photographer, pointed out that these were taken when temperatures were already as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cuzzin's written reaction:

"In general, I was so moved by the knitted items I saw. So skillfully
made, some individually wrapped, some with home-made tags. It was a
sheer joy to give them away. I mean this. We gave tons of stuff to
maybe 40 families that day; Meredith will have the country-wide total,
but the Dulaanettes have touched so many lives. I tried to explain to
each one that these were gifts of friendship. Almost everyone got a
hat, scarf, kids all got sweaters, many got scarves and mittens, great
stuff for babies (some pregnant ladies were thrilled). Old folks and
little ones got felt blankets. You all made a difference. A big one."

The Dulaan Project, 2007, is open now. The goal this year is to provide 12,086 items; many participants this year are pledging to make at least 5 items. Visit the site for patterns and more information.

photo credit:Cuzzin Tom .
crossposted at BlogHer.
Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: Dulaan, charitable, knitting

If you've seen my regular photos of the Marin hills from my back yard, this is an example of the same view when winter weather comes in. Yep, those are the peaks of the hills peaking out of the mist.

I'd take the weather in the photo right now. We're having wind gusts, oh I'd guess upwards of 40 MPH, and rain. While the news emphasized the rain (a likely 2") this wind is a surprise.

We spent a very quiet 25th. Steve cleaning the upstairs, me searching for recipes for appetizers. Finger foods, only.. no dips. We went cruising for an open restaurant and, while the story goes that you eat Chinese food on the 25th we had to settle for Chevy's fresh Mex.

One of my goals for this week: touch some fabric and sew for about atleast 8 hours.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where today I wrote my Tale of the Scale.

God Bless Us Everyone...

We went out the other night to look at the holiday lights; my camera has a "fireworks" feature so I took it along to play. However, the shutter speed is slow enough that one really needs a tripod. Still...with a tripod I wouldn't have gotten this shot.

I am definitely in some kind of seasonal slump. During the day I may think about things bloggable, but I haven't come in to write anything. I'm not even reading many blogs (apologies for my lack of commenting.) If I were stitching a storm, that would make it quite OK, but I'm slumpy. Though I am getting some cleaning done.

I've found that some exercise and fresh air helps... and getting a full night's sleep, too. If I'm not fine in a few days, I'll talk to the doctor about other options: light therapy?

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I'm writing about one of my most memorable Christmases.

Tags: reallifemaintainence

Is this thing working??

Paw As Still Life


Ok, I've tried to comment on several people's blog just now, with absolutely no luck. (Deb L. although I can't see your photos.. get the extra paint!!). So my question is:

Is this thing working?

I posted a photo "Paw As Still Life" at the beginning of this post. Can you see it?
And below is a photo I've uploaded using Blogger (though I don't think I will again.. and I'm not sure I like this accepting another TOS to Picasa Web Album or whatever it is.. but this is a test). It's Katy hanging out on the deck Can you see this one??

Can you comment on this blog?? (Ok, maybe not applicable because it's HaloScan). Can you comment on Deb's Daily Distractions ??

The Kim Family Benefit Auction

The online auction to benefit the Kim Family is up and running. Over forty artists have donated items which you will be able to bid on from 1/3/2007 until 1/7/2007. All of the proceeds will benefit the Kim Family Fund.

Auction items are beginning to be highlighted on the blog.  So you can have your own personal preview party whenever you wish.  Of the items shown already, I'll be keeping an eye on:

• abigail percy's Sweet Horse Chestnut Necklace
• jill bliss's Native Herb Posters
• amy ruppel's The Songs We Live By
  
• and oh, how I wish I knew a little girl to give laura normandin's Wren Handmade Doll (and dress up clothes) to!

I'm sure there will even more items to add to my list before the auction opens on January 3rd.

image credit: the Kim Family Auction. Crossposted at BlogHer.
Debra Roby blogs her art at A Stitch in Time and her life at Deb's Daily Distractions .


Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Ok, I'll Play...

DebR. (NO, not me.. the other DebR...) posted a couple quizzes about what Chinese zodiac animal she both IS and SHOULD BE.

AM:

You Were Born Under:

You have both a fiery energy and a warm heart. Your charisma and charm makes it easy for you to influence others. Lucky in life, you also have a reputation of being lucky in love. Power hungry, you are determined to get what you want - no matter what it takes. You are most compatible with a Monkey or Rat.

What Year Were You Born Under?

Ok, I've know I was a Dragon and that Dragons were lucky... but Power hungry? Determined?? Fierce Energy? Why doesn't this sound like me?


SHOULD BE:

You Should Have Been Born Under:

You've got a ton of energy - and need plenty of room to roam. You tend to follow your whims, and it's hard for you to stick to one thing. Specific jobs, loves, and friends are always changing and never a part of your life for long. Very intuitive, you tend to know what people are thinking before they say a word. You are most compatible with a Dog or Tiger.

What Year Should You Have Been Born Under?

Yeah.. this really does sound more like me. So what year should I have been born in??

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Saturday Cheers

It's cool, dampish, overcast and threatening to rain here. So this morning we ran a couple errands before choosing to hunker down for a couple days and let the weather blow by.

First stop was the Farmer's Market. I picked up some winter veggies (fresh picked Brussel sprouts! Yum), while the spouser got some nuts and oranges. Seemed like a bit of drive for as little time as we spent there. Don't know why, the spouser doesn't seem willing to look at a lot of the stuff and discuss what might be used in meals during the week. Oh well, if I get up to the Davis Farmer's Marker, I'll leave the spouser behind.

Second stop was the library. I've begun reading Building Harlequin's Moon, a novel about a spaceship way-laid on it's journey to build a new life on a new planet. In order to achieve their intended goal, they must terraform an unplanned planet: Harlequin's Moon.

I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for these terraforming novels. I am just getting into BHM, but I realized what I wanted before continuing was to resample Red Mars. If you haven't read it, it's a tasty, detailed novel about forming a new world; not simply the science and engineering involved in the physical building but also about the political and social decisions that effect the society's success. I don't need to read the whole thing again, though I may. But I have a hankering for the story of settling, the beginning of terraforming.

I didn't think I'd gotten rid of my set of the trilogy, but I can't find them around the house. Fortunately, the library has all three.. including a larger print version of Red Mars. Good. Less eye strain in these darker days.

If you like well written scifi about society building.. I highly recommend Kim Stanley Robinson's trilogy. Especially Red Mars (the first book). I'll let you know if the BHM stands up too.

This afternoon I stitched some more on the ArtShare stuff (photos... eventually).

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Friday Fussing...

Today has been a little bit of everything, but not much remarkable.

This morning was my annual physical; I passed with flying colors though I'm personally not thrilled with the direction my cholesterol is headed. Re-test in 3 months; and if it's not improved increase the meds. For me, Lipitor is a good thing!!

While I was getting poked and prodded, the spouser picked up his new Eos. So appropriately we took a drive up to one of our favorite restaurants: Athenian Grill up in Suisin. We kept the top down until we had to get on the freeway; at 50F it was just a bit nippy for driving top down at 65F. We started playing with the bells and whistles. I discovered a warmed seat can be quite a good thing! His salesman suggested that putting the seat on high might cook supper on the drive home!

Our lunch was a meze plate each, and I allowed myself a small piece of baklava for dessert. We watched reservists practice their touch-n-gos with those honking huge cargo planes while we ate (Suisin is near Travis AFB). Fine lunch.

An afternoon of puttering around the house and cooking a pot of weekend chili and I'm ready to sit down with a needle and some embroidery floss and play with my ArtShare stuff.

Tomorrow? Sewing...



Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Thursday's Thoughts

Well, it's been a day. Can't say it's been really productive; but it's been. My plan when my feet hit the floor this morning, was to spend the morning clearing off the tables in my work room so that I might set up my borrowed sewing machine and (gasp) get some work done.

Please note: Sharon wrote about this last month, and I'm trying to take her advice to heart. That why I'm trying to use the specific term work room. Sharon wrote (incase you missed it):

I have a space in which I work. If you want to shift what you do from a recreational activity to a creative practice claim time and space in your life to do it. I have a room in which I step into and close the door. I call it a workroom as that is what goes on in there. Creative activity is playful but it is also work. Play in our culture is not taken seriously it is something that can be interrupted, something that can be set to one side and something that is never prioritised. Work is prioritised. Constantly referring to creative activity as play undermines what actually goes on and what is achieved. If you want other people to take your creative achievements seriously you must take the process seriously, and allocate an area in which to work.

I got my coffee, fed the dogs and the next thing I knew it was noon. So much for the resolution.. but it's a habit that I'm just trying to form. What happened to the morning? I do not know. Wish I CCTV in my house so I could find out.

Anyway, noon came and brought with it the sun. Briefly. So of course I took advantage to get the dogs out for a walk. And today IS a gym visit. So with the dogs exercised, I headed out to get myself seriously sweaty.

Gabrielle blogged a lot last year (when she simply blogged a lot) about great rowing machine. Now the one at the gym isn't her super-duper model... but that doesn't stop me from using it three times a week. I swear it really is a super machine. If you're stuck and not as firm as you'd wish, or not plateaued at losing weight and you haven't sat down on one of these wonders, DO.

I did 15 minutes of work, then was getting bored. Not wanting to quit completely and too early ("the mind quits before the body does"... I channelled Guido's warning).. I stopped and did my stability exercises then got back on the rower for another 15 minutes. I was sweaty and exercised and feeling great.

Home to do some errands and start on the work room. It was barely a beginning. Tomorrow, before and following a doctor's appointment, I will do much more.

Inspired by Mrs. Mel, I tried to roast a lemony chicken. My lemons are quite large, so I wedged one and stuck several pieces in the cavity of the bird. Other thinner slices were slid under the skin to baste the meat while it cooked. Still, barely a hint of lemon. Yeah, I know that American's Test Kitchen has a great way to make lemon chicken. I must look that up.

Yeah, after I finish cleaning up that work room.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Wednesday Catch-Up

The recipe yesterday sounded so good, and it was damp and cool.. so I made it for supper last night. Kind of. I had several cans of beans, so I substituted the canned for the dried. Cut down the cooking time to a total of about 1.5 hours. This is the pot just before it went into the oven. Note that I don't have really great casserole pot (my clay pot broke a while ago). It was yummy even so, but different than I remember this dish being. Why? I don't know.

On the creative front, my friend Karen lent me a back-up sewing machine.. another Pfaff 7550 just like the one I have in the shop. So this afternoon I will be able to continue working on my napkin bags!

And on the fitness front: I've lost a pound this week.. and a full 7.75" since I began working out! I personally attribute a lot of this to my current fondness for the rowing machine.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I'm participating in Holidailies!

The Recipe Exchange...

Have many of you gotten an email about participating in a recipe exchange? It only has two names on the list, so it's not overwhelming to deal with.

I got my email from Gerrie and have been trying to remember to send my recipe on to Mrs. Mel. I finally decided last night to send her my Five Kind Casserole.. a slow cooking wintery delight. But I didn't want to limit that recipe sharing to only one person... I have to write it out afterall! So, I decided to post it here.

This is a fabulous dish for a cold dreary winter night, served with a grainy mustard and a nice glass of beer. If you have a clay pot, that is the best thing to cook this in, but any very heavy oven-proof casserole will work.

Five Kinds Casserole

1/2# dried kidney or navy beans
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1.5" pieces
2 onions, sliced
4C water
2 green apples, peeled, cored and sliced
6 potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 Polish style smoked sausage

(do you see? It's meat and 5 different things...)

Rinse the beans and in a pot with the carrots, onions and water. Cover and put in a cold oven. Turn the oven to 450 and bake for 1.5 hours. Add apples, potatoes and sausage, stirring into the beans mix. Then cook for another hour or so until the beans are done but not falling apart.

The sausage flavors the dish, and the apples give it a nice hint of sweetness. I occasionally get creative and add other root vegetables to this, usually replacing some of the potatoes. No. I don't then change the name to Six Kinds or whatever...

If you haven't yet received an email from someone and would love to participate in this email exchange, just leave me a message and I'll add you to my list. (please!!!)

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I'm participating in Holidailies!

Good Tidings Challenge...

NO. I would not suggest a fiber challenge to run this time of year. This is something totally different.

It's 2 weeks until Christmas, and this is one of the most challenging times of the year for many. People are stressed, tired, and over-scheduled.

Now I've blogged before the niceties of simple interactions and from this comes my challenge:

I'd like to ask you all to give this a try.

Whenever you are out and about (shopping, running errands, going to the gym, work.. EVERYWHERE):

FIRST: concentrate on having a calm, unstressed appearance. Unfurl that brow, relax those lips, and soften your eyes.

Second: whenever you have the opportunity (and LOOK for them) look another individual in the eye and smile. Just a quick simple smile. If you have to time, say "good morning..." or the appropriate greeting. Leave it holiday neutral... just hello, good morning, whatever. More time? say something nice: I love that your umbrella matches your sweatshirt. (yeah, I said that one today, so it's fresh).

Then, blog back about how people react. In the past, I've noticed people standing up straighter, smiling and relaxing and become for just a moment more human. Less so this past week. Don't know if it's me or what.

So let's all truly spread some good tidings.

Whatcha think?

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I'm participating in Holidailies!

Weekend Wrap Up

l
I haven't blogged since Thursday morning? Shame on me! However, Thursday brought me some good mail, and I've been a bit distracted.

In one fell swoop, the mailman delivered the new Quilting Arts and my new camera. Here's I'm checking out how the camera works. This was taken at dusk without a flash.

Along with the QA are the projects I'm working on for the ArtShare thing. More about those later.

Saturday my friend Clara accompanied me on my errand to drop my Pfaff off for a service. We hit two quilt shops (buying a little something-something in each) and ate bbq for lunch. Fun few hours were had by all. When I got home, I watched all three of the NetFlix movies I had one right after another. It was a biography kind of day: The Sketches of Frank Gehry; The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio; and Mrs. Henderson Presents. All were good inspiration and background stuff.

Today I'm cleaning and getting the house put back together before the spouser arrives home from Europe. Oh, and getting my NFL fill!! I switched over to the blogger.beta.. since they were hinting that we would all soon be switched over and they finally came to my spot in the list. Over the next week I'll be playing with making the blog a bit more "custom".. but I'm sad to see that they still haven't come up with a widget to put a photo in the header.

I know.. Brenda offered to fix one up for me (I do not have PhotoShop or know of a way to size a photo and add the title.), but other blog hosts have started the ability for it all be done in their widgets... which would let me change the header a lot more often. Like monthly or quarterly.
Maybe that's still coming in Blogger.. we shall see.

And why, tell me please, do websites no longer remember my login stuff so I need to log in every time I go there? It happened when I upgraded my Firefox.. so I'm thinking this is a problem from them.

And poo... this switch to blogger beta has eliminated the automatic addition of technorati tags to my posts. I'll be curious to see if the "labels" they use will translate into technorati tags, but I doubt it.
Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I'm participating in Holidailies!

Sewing/ArtShare Set Back

Holiday Colors, Naturally Made. Part of the Sidewalk Series.

There is a major set back in the sewing I need to do to complete my Artshare pieces. The timing/adjustments on my sewing machine are off. It needs a trip into the shop for it's cleaning and adjustment. Usually that takes about a week or two to come home.

Darn.

But I cannot get a balanced stitch and loopy stitching ain't pretty or artistic (unless it's intended to be.) So patience shall be virtue for the month. I've gotten a few of these stitched to the point that I do some embroidery and beading on them... but not the detailed background stitching I had hoped to add.

I repeat. Darn.

This morning, it's off the gym, run to the bank, stop at Staples and then run out to the Sewing Machine shop. Home to walk the dogs and organize the non-machine dependant parts of the project to work on.

And with any luck, my new camera is delivered today!!

AAACK!! I awoke this morning with the national news using the words "Lake Effect Snow" for Cleveland. I moved here from that snowbelt... and these three words are ones I never want to hear agin.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I'm participating in Holidailies.

Tags: sewing, rlm

Crafting A Loss

Kati Kim, recently rescued from the Oregon wilderness, is the owner of Doe, a lower Haight "little department store"; in that role, she is one of the strongest supporters of the art+craft movement that has developed in the last several years. So she knows many of the great art+craft bloggers and they know her family.

During the drama of the last two weeks, crafters have been blogging about the family, noting their missing status, rejoicing with the Kati and her daughters being found, and mourning James's loss.

While the family was missing, Lisa Congdon summed up the helplessness:

we both know kati. we have pinched sabine's fat cheeks. we both expected to chat with kati this week. we are having a hard time focusing.

all i can do is hope and pray and go about my life as usual.

laundry. sweeping. washing the dishes.

:: :: ::

be well, friends. be safe.

After Kati and her daughters were found, Alicia from Posie Gets Cosy wrote:

The world seems small when people from all around it are connected by their collective hope, but so enormously big when one is still lost. We continue to hope and pray for James's safe return.

Today everyone is in shock. Adorneya's post is typical of the day:

My heart breaks for the whole family, but mostly for Kati. She and James worked so hard and did everything right to protect their children. They deserved a happy ending.

Steph of Little Birds Handmade (and sister to Lisa) eloquently wrote:

peace

I am incredibly sad that James did not survive. May his family and friends find some peace. May all of us find some peace.

{I know that many of you would like to do something to help the Kim family. My sister, mom and I are trying to organize some sort of art/craft fundraiser. We will keep you updated.}

Gerrie has promised to let me know as soon they have firmed up the plans for this fundraiser. In the mean time, hold your family close and travel safely this holiday season.

Crossposted at BlogHer.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I'm participating in Holidailies.

Tags: KimFamily, JamesKim, crafting, Craft, CraftBlogs

What... no Artshare Still??

Another snippet from my "Sidewalk Series" of photos.
Yeah, I know. I promised you pictures of my ArtShare project stuff on Monday... and still there are none.

Well, I've been cutting and stitching and turning and designing. I'm soon to grab the buttons and beads and fancy threads. OH.. and I got carried away with my options, so I'm making something like a baker's dozen of similar pieces. Sorry.

So the pictures will come. In fact, I'm trying to remember to take photos throughout the process... as another tutorial.

How I wish my new camera would be delivered... I could learn all about it while shooting this series. It's due to be delivered this week, and afterward I'm taking this same photo at night.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions where I'm participating in Holidailies.

Tags: artshare, SidewalkSeries

For The Crafty Reader...

While this post is about books, it's not about books. Well, not about what's inside them. Penguin book has announced a new series of books, which they will be calling "My Penguin." And I CAN'T WAIT.

Although many people ignore the old chestnut and choose a book by it's cover, Penguin will be publishing these books with a blank front cover.

Printed on art-quality paper, these are books ready to take whatever you can throw at them (and we know, because we've tried), whether it be doodling, painting, penciling, penning or adorning them with whatever takes your fancy.

Helen Conford just announced this last week on the Penguin Book Blog and her excitement is palpable. Imagine.. the company has even opened an online gallery of covers from those who have gotten their hands on early copies and hope that the consumer sends in their completed covers.

The series includes:

• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Magic Tales by the Brothers Grimm
• The Waves by Virginia Woolf
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and
• Emma by Jane Austen

How would you be decorating your cover? Which masterpiece do you hope they add to the series next because you want to design the cover??

Crime and Punishment cover by Sally McIaren
Crossposted at BlogHer
Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions for today's Tale of the Scale.

Tags: MyPenguin, penguin, books, bookcovers

ArtShare MeMe Follow-up

This afternoon, after grocery shopping and walking the dogs, I'm working on my pieces for the ArtShare Meme. Five little pieces that will be finished and ready to mail on Monday. (yeah, there will be pictures on Monday).

So please:

Becky of Unraveling

Arlee who wanted more fun!!

Melanie of Caffinara

Email me with your addresses. Denise, I do have yours.

And since I'm making FIVE.. but only four people commented and followed through... if you comment today under the original rules, I'll add you to list.

Oh look!! Two of my four packages are heading for Canada!

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

Tags: ArtShareMeme