Someone on the QA list asked what the difference was between contemporary quilts and art quilts, and I , of course added my 2 cents. Barely a rippled was formed, the usual people ignored me. Then, an hour ago the ripple hit my email, 43 emails admiring my opinion. I even got accused of being witty. ( go me!)
In real life, most of my friends tell me I am "amusingly eclectic", which I believe is the PC way of calling someone a smartass. I admit it, I am not always politically correct in my behavior. My adult kids say "MOM!" a LOT in public to me.
Most of the time my mouth opens and my opinion spills out and I find my self thinking,
" OMG did I say that out loud?!?"
Sometimes
what I think about the world around me gets out without me noticing at
all but I know I said something that hit home when everyone within
hearing distance gets REAL quiet. It's kind of amusing to me.
I use to do Cardiac telemetry at a rural service hospital on the coast of Oregon, they always gave me the day off when the big wigs were coming through to do an inspection and talk to the staff. I think I made the department manager nervous. I often got accused of saying what most people are afraid to say, they called my spewing "Andee-isms", and accused me of being blindly unaware of having profoundly deep thoughts and opinions.
I could not figure out what they were talking about... I just call em as I see em. When I left there my best going away present was a box filled with scraps of paper, each one holding a quote of something I had said, a note about the date and what was going on when I said it, and a brief outline of how it touched the person who placed it into the box. I cried and cried when I opened it. We never know whose life we will touch with our words or actions, I am ever grateful I tend to mostly touch people's lives in positive ways. I still have the box and the notes inside, front and center on my dresser, a daily reminder to tread softly through life.... I wish I could say I always make it, but sometimes I leave knee deep footprints. I am working on it though.
Cross posted from livejournal
Jon Brooks' House , and he makes cool furniture too!
If you are into Mosaic, you will love the blog "Make Mine Moasic", I have been wandering around it for a few days, lot's of eye candy!
You will also love this website: Mosaic Atlas, pics of mosaics from all over the world!
I have decided to do a "forever floor" in my living room. I am taking this route for several reasons, first of all it is hard to screw up a 1978 mobile home no matter what you do, secondly it is kid and pet friendly, third it is a cheap fix that will hold out drafts this winter, a cheap fix that is easy to do...and fourth it speaks to my artistic side because of the endless possibilities it offers....if I get tired of it I can repaint it and change it at little cost, and if I hate it, in the spring I can lay pergo over it and benefit from the added insulation it will create. My plan at this point is to paint it to look like cobblestones over all, and I'll do either a main area painted carpet, or a couple of painted on throw rugs placed strategically. Might try to get it done by Xmas... we'll see how the gift making goes time-wise first. I just know the carpet is not salvageable, and the forever floor would be fun to do.
Anyway, I'm not dead... just busy. 3 gifts left to finish and then if I have time I can do extra gifts for fun
I LOVE books.... if the house was burning down and I had to pick between saving my computer and saving my books, the computer would lose... and my family had better be prepared to get themselves out. I got several Amazon gift certificates this last year from various people.... Ramie and Brian, my pal Sherry , and my brother all kept feeding my habit in 2007. This is is a list of my favorites out of the books I have bought or been given in the last 2 years, if you need a gift for someone artsy that is hard to buy from, these are all great resource/inspiration/instruction books to feed to a creative mind. Tomorrow I will post my wish list because one can never have too many books...
Laurel Burch I love her art, she showed me the joy of bold color....may she RIP:
Laurel Burch Quilts: Kindred Creatures
Fantastic Felines
Susanna Oroyan ( Doll Maker)I have all her books, love her dollmaking and her death this year was a horrible loss to the dollmaking world:
Finishing the Figure: Doll Costuming, Embellishments, Accessories
Designing the Doll: From Concept to Construction
Anatomy of a Doll: The Fabric Sculptor's Handbook
Fantastic Figures: Ideas and Techniques Using the New Clays
Art, Quilting, and Misc. books:
Art Quilt Workbook: Exercises & Techniques to Ignite Your Creativity
Art Doll Adventures: Exploring Projects and Processes through Cultural Traditions
Creative Embellishments: For Paper, Jewelry, Fabric and More
Mixed Media Mosaics: Techniques & Projects Using Polymer Clay Tiles, Beads & Other Embellishments
The Altered Object: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration
Fabric Art Workshop: Exploring Techniques & Materials for Fabric Artists and Quilters
Creative Stamping With Mixed Media Techniques
Paper, Metal & Stitch: Creating Surfaces with Color and Texture
The Surface Designer's Handbook: Dyeing, Printing, Painting, and Creating Resists on Fabric
Rolling Homes: Handmade Houses on Wheels
Thread Magic: The Enchanted World of Ellen Anne Eddy
Dyes & Paints: A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric
Beading on Fabric: Encyclopedia of Bead Stitch Techniques
Creative Quilts: Inspiration, Texture & Stitch
Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project
Design Essentials: The Quilters Guide
Quilt Your Favorite Photos: Shoot It, Sketch It, Stitch It
Portrait Quilts: Painted Faces You Can Do
The Arts and Crafts Computer: Using Your Computer as an Artist's Tool
Handmade Tiles: Designing * Making * Decorating (A Lark Ceramics Book)
Simple Screenprinting: Basic Techniques & Creative Projects
When do you start your holiday shopping?
I started buying and making gifts in September after school started, it's the first year I have managed to do that. I finished the last of my shopping today and got 2 great deals, not the one I wanted for myself, but 2 great gift deals, that saved me over $100.... saving that much is always a very good thing. I stuck to my list this year too.... and escaped the holiday season with no debt created on plastic. Yay! Now I just have to finish the last of the handmade stuff, I might be able to say everything is in the mail in early Dec. this year and totally avoid the lines of panic'd procrastinators.
According to Yahoo, at 130am it was 36 degrees here but felt like 30.... I checked best Buy and 10 idiots are camped outside. Not me, I am too much of a whimp to take 4 hours of that kind of weather. I decided I would go check at 3ish and if the line is already past 40 people I would just come home... as much as I want one of those laptops, I really cannot afford to get sick. I feel for the homeless tonight.
I am thinking about running a power cord to a heating pad for the kittens in the box outside, I could place it under the blanket, it might help keep them warm, I did wrap a blanket around the box to help keep the chill off them. I think it's gonna be a rough winter.
I'm gonna cruise the deals on Amazon they are suppose to have some good ones. If you check their deals out, be sure to enter the $10,000. shopping spree sweepstakes. The link for it is right above the "DVD Black Friday Sale". If I read it right, the link to the contest will disappear after friday. It's all in text so it is easy to miss. For Black friday they have a new gold box deal every hour to keep you checking back.
I went to Best Buy at 315am, there were already over 200 people in line, in 30 degree weather.... holy cow. I turned around and came home figuring it was a lost cause at that point. I am no power shopper, at 3am in this kind of weather you have to be.... a security guy said most of them had been there since midnight, and that a big chunk of them showed up together in a 34ft RV, they had coffee and food cooking and were taking turns going to the RV to get warm, that seems unfair somehow, he was shaking his head too. I am betting a lot of the really good deals show up on craigslist this afternoon at double the money or more. They need a better system, or a rule that if you get out of the line for any reason but a medical one you go to the end of the line, just to level the playing field a bit.
I did go out this morning and got two great deals, a $25 (reg price $79) bagless vacuum cleaner and a $15.00 ( reg price $59) programmable crock pot. I also picked up my new glasses... the world is much clearer now, yay!
Cleaning house..... to repent for my spending.
Show us a turkey.
That's one smart turkey... and here's one silly turkey:
Show us your favorite Thanksgiving dish.
I make 15 dozen tamales from scratch every year.... some pork, some chicken and some beef....
Video: Show us an impressive athletic feat.
What is your favorite dish on the Thanksgiving table?
Submitted by Kadeeae.
The homemade tamales I make every year, a close second place would be the pumpkin pie
