Shamless Filler

It's raining and Daylight Savings Time has robbed me of a much needed hour in which to get things done. I've been fighting with a computer program that I'm determined to master and the last week has seen me out of the house more than in it.

So, today I'm going to show off a couple of paintings FH and I did last month. Our niece's school was doing a fundraiser for a trip to Puerto Rico and the four of us (her mother included) were actually able to paint together. Much fun was had by and and many cookies met their demise. 10/10 would happily do that again.

I love the way FH's sky looks like a burning sunset with churning clouds. The shading on his sand is most excellent as well. It's definitely about to rain here... the clouds in the foreground are building upwards and the sea is turning green. I can almost feel the wind picking up speed when I look at his painting.

I did a less stormy sky and created more of a cove. The little palm trees were just aching to happen while I worked. It took me forever to be happy with the water. I also went back and added shading on the sand after I saw FH's idea. It's calmer in my little cove.... night time is descending and wrapping the world in a blanket of shadows.

The highlight last week was meeting this little lady in person.

Her name is Kaya and she belongs to one of my favorite glass artists, E-Jipt. They were rolling through the midwest on their cross country move and I was lucky enough to be able to drive down to meet up with them. She loves to play tug of war and when E-Jipt is live streaming from his stupid, she sometimes gets into his lap and has screen time. Kaya has quite the following in the Twitch.tv community. Many regular viewers have suggested that he add another camera under his workbench so he can change the view to feature her when she is nearby.

So that's all for this week. I'm hoping to figure out the software I'm working with and get back into my studio tomorrow. We'll see if technology and I can reach detente.

Baby Steps

Our new nephew was born quite healthy, if a tad disgruntled at being evicted from his warm apartment, on Monday afternoon. For anonymity purposes, I'm calling him "Mr. J" in the blog. Yes, that's a comic book reference. His parents would be proud. ;-) Speaking of his parents, they are quite besotted with their bundle and the three of them are a gorgeous family.

I'd been working on some things for wee Mr. J, but only a few were done in time for his early arrival. A set of three little washcloths. I found the pattern on Ravelry.com. I'll note that I skipped the edge stitching.

Still need to play catch up with his crocheted booties. I did have several pair of fleece booties for him though. They've been hanging out in the gift stash for ages.

After I drove home on Wednesday, I had a paint night event to attend. I'd signed up weeks ago when we thought FH would be out of town on business. Lucky break he wasn't or else I'd have needed a friend to look after the cats and bunny whilst I was gone. Instead of the adorable cartoonish kitten in the original sample, I decided to go for a more realistic cat. Of course it's Artan. I picked this event because the original kitten was black. Not bad for someone who's only ever sketched cats before.

Thursday it was back to the grind of laundry and housework. Currently the workroom/studio has spilled out into the house even more, so working on it counts as housework. I rediscovered a box full of tiny magazines that were cut from an issue of some miniature magazine back in the late 1990's. They were cut and folded, but somehow never got any further than that. During a break to rest my increasingly irritable knee, I glued them closed and tossed them into the 'Books and Magazines" container.

My new desk for the studio has yet to be delivered. FH and his boss were going to haul it over on Monday, but the boss had a family issue come up. Hopefully we can claim it soon... it's a cast off from FH's work and perfect for what I need. 

On Friday I finished the quilting on one of the chevron quilts, but I neglected to get a picture. I post about it and progress on the other chevron quilt next week.

See you all then!

Various bits and assorted baubles

I'm cheating a bit this weekend and posting on a Saturday night. I'm starting to feel sick and have a feeling if I don't post now, I won't until I feel better.

The cleaning, purging, and rearranging continued off and on all week. I'm hoping to bring the new work desk in next weekend. I had to sacrifice one of my old console TV's to have room for the new desk. I figure if I haven't started the scene I was going to put into it by now, I can safety trade it for a new desk.

The paint night at the bar on Tuesday was a lot of fun. FH went along too and all three of us (my best friend/sister of my heart) had a wonderful time. We've starting talking about doing a family paint night here so the happy-goth teen can join in the fun too. She's only 15 and all the paint nights are held in bars... must be 21 to attend.

I've hung my painting in the hallway. It may not stay there permanently, but for now it works.

FH is debating hanging his in his workroom/man cave or taking it to work.

The postman brought me a treasure this morning. The tiny vase I commissioned from one of my favorite glassblowers arrived and I love it! I was able to commission it live, discuss details with him, and then watch him make the piece in real time. It was awesome!

The colored tubing he used is one he made himself earlier in the week. I actually got to watch that too. I love everything about this piece.

I'm putting hydrangeas in the arrangement, but maybe not these exact flowers. Might be making new ones. I will also be making some pussy willow branches and hyacinths. Not sure when I'll get started on those, but it won't be until I get the studio usable.

That's all for now. I'm going to go veg out and rest. Hopefully I won't be sick for too long. See you next week!