dejablu503's blog

What have I been up to you ask?

nobody@vox.com(dejablu503) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:55:48 -0700

The healing doll adventure took a turn while stranded in my van for 17+ hours over the weekend with a flat tire I could not get off my car without help in a no cell phone reception area. Luckily I had been to the store and not unloaded the van yet so I had art books, my sketch pad, a couple magazines, some wine, cheese, cantaloupe, and crackers to keep me company while I waited for someone to come by and find me. I sorta figured Dave is not going to open to getting a "doll" doll... so I turned it into a healing doll book, sorta.... I had already designed a doll on a quilt for a challenge I doing on yahoo so designing his was easy.
The rough drafts:

Goddess Healing Book Doll

First mine as taken a week ago, I cannot post the finished project until the challenge is over:The very rough sketch is in the upper left corner, option 1, the one for my challenge, is in the top right ( The Goddess Of The Last Minute, and although I am very happy with the final piece, time has been added to the challenge so I have been busy adding more to her ). The bottom one is a second option I am working on, you cannot tell from the picture but the darker star covered area is glittery fabric. There is a two side front pieces on each that opens like a book those are embellished, and there is a zippered opening at the bottom to stuff the healing herbs into. Lot's of power symbols are being quilted and appliqued into the back ground.

Dave has made it clear he feels like an alien since the stroke, so I made him into one on his version, in the rough draft the scribble down his right arm is actually going to be Celtic knots, flowing from a Celtic knot heart if I can figure out how to make one to lay over the red fabric heart. Power symbols are being appliqued in healing colors and quilted onto the back ground and onto the back. This one is also going to have the zippered pouch area to hold
the herbs.

Dave Healing Doll Book

Both are about 9x12 inches.... the faces on all of them are paint painted and appliqued onto the doll. These are turning out to be lots of fun to make.

I have been researching healing symbols online and came across this cool rubber stamp website with lots of info on celtic symbols. Since Dave's doll is going to have knotwork down the right arm, going in that direction with the symbols seems like a gotta do to me. BTW, that site has some GREAT stamps, I plan to buy a couple of the round ones to use as my return address stamp and one for my art work hang tags/price tags. Really worth a closer look if you want stamps that are not the usual ho-hum stuff.

Some more of their round personal designs can be seen here.

While looking for more info on healing colors, yes I am learning as I go on this project... I stumbled onto this aura colors test. The results were quite intriguing. It links to a book on the subject, but the test and the outcome were not your usual stupid stuff. My daughter assures me the outline of the two I tied for (magenta and abstract tan) fits me like a glove. I have read them several times now and I am not sure if I should write her out of my will or not in return for that opinon. heh

Nothing blew up or went flat on me today, that's always good. Now I need some sleep....

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The cosmic forces are conspiring against me ...

nobody@vox.com(dejablu503) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:10:19 -0700

Partially cross posted from my livejournal. Since no one here is probably interested in my healing doll building adventures that has been omitted and this vox post contains some other stuff.

My beliefnet.com newsletter yesterday held the subject line: "Clear Your Clutter" The attached article says..."money expert says our clutter and need for extra storage is a sign of a culture gone mad."
How did they know I have been procrastinating about this? ( insert eerie music)
Ok,ok in a minute.... I'll get to it, I promise.

I finished the neutral sun face collage yesterday that had me stalled for a couple weeks. It's for Virginia Speigel's Collage Mania 2 fund raiser for the American Cancer Society, one left to finish up and I am back on track time wise with a whole 4 days to finish my quiltart list originating challenge doll. She double crossed me and took a sudden turn in a new direction on me without warning last week, so she is going to be down to the wire, but so far I have not missed any deadlines in 2008, yay! Who knew over-coming a lifetime of fine tuned procrastination skills took so much focus and effort?!?

The sun face collage I finished yesterday is here:

Paper collage sun1

Done completely in hand made paper and wall paper samples ( in fact finding several books of these is what got it finished, yay for being a packrat!). Working in an 8x10 format made finding papers to finish it in the right colors mind boggling.I am pretty pleased with it, especially for something that stumped me for awhile....usually the pieces that become difficult to finish annoy me to the point I am glad when they get done and go away, this one I will miss. I liked it so much I turned it into a banner in the banner contest, votes appreciated even if they mean next to nothing in deciding the winner: Tribal sun banner

I was listening to Pema Chodron last night and I was struck by her explanation of why she struggles with meditation... she claims it is because she has "a busy mind". I feel her frustration, and yet I think in some cases a busy mind can be an advantage, ask me.... I appear to have one too. Rambling follows as I sort through this, ( that means punctuation is out the window from here on out):

I get side-tracked easily, I cannot just web surf for one thing. As a result I find lot's of things that interest or inspire me. I start out looking for healing properties of herbs, and wind up places not even remotely related to what I am looking for, like these great places:
Dumblittleman.com ( who is anything but dumb and quite a fun read IMHO)
I was sucked in by 2 articles there in particular:
39 ways to live and not merely exist and Revel and grow with your uniqueness

Not even sure how I got there, but I was happy I did. The side jaunt also landed me at Betterworld Books, they sell new and used books at close to Amazon prices, they do not have the same endless selection but they have free shipping within the US and flat rate shipping over seas of $2.97....so if they have what you want they can be a bargain because shipping adds up fast. In cases like this a busy mind took me places I might ever have found, ones that I will return to again someday. It's an adventure, having a busy mind...maddening at times yet also a benefit.

Anyway, I am wandering again...( see I told you), finding the wallpaper books that made finishing the neutral sun face collage happen lead me to inspiration for several other collages, so while I was cutting and pasting I was also jotting down ideas and sketches.... if I could harness the flow of the energy that flows through my brain most days, I could power a city. I would like to blame my scattered nature on me being a Gemini, but I do not think it is that simple. I seem to be driven by ideas, that I feel a need to acknowledge and sometimes they actually materialize, but I accept the fact that I will never have enough time to generate all of them in a single lifetime. It bothers me for awhile and then, I reach a point where acknowledging the idea is enough when it comes to most things. Some ideas I have to materialize or they drive me crazy, but some just lay quietly in sketch books happy to have made it that far. I surf scattered too, hell I live scattered.... always 15 things going, obligations all over the place... it's self defeating really, but when it gets too quiet I get bored and go quietly mad. I seem to need the stress of it, the adventure of it. I struggle to prioritize and it makes me look ... I dunno, "blonde", I guess...for lack of a better word.

Sometimes I think it bothers those close to me more than it does me. Like if a friend is nearby when I get an idea, and start the sketch or notes on it, weeks later they ask how it is going...well, it isn't. "but it was a great idea"... I cannot do them all, that one did not make the cut. "Then why bother with the notes and sketches?" Because I HAVE to do those, I have to acknowledge the idea, I just do not have to carry it out. It makes no sense to anyone but me, this much is clear. I don't pick all the pretty flowers I see either, I have no room for them all, I do enjoy them all, those I pick and those I don't, but sometimes I go for weeks acknowledging flowers and ideas, and picking none of them, & the older I get them more I am okay with this. OMG, I just realized I have been setting boundries... well, that is a tad depressing! :)

I guess I better get back to my search for info on herbals used in healing dolls, gawd only knows where I will wind up...

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Paper bead update....

nobody@vox.com(dejablu503) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:51:15 -0700

Cross posted from live journal posts done yesterday:

I started this with very limited knowledge, even though I had several DIY pages to guide me. I somehow got the idea you had to leave the beads on the stick/straw/whatever while they were drying, you do not have to leave them as long as you are careful to not get glue on whatever you are winding them around. This means you do not put glue on the first 1/4" or so on the widest end, where you start rolling, Glue should be applied only on the strip after you have it around the stick/dowel once. They slide off if wound just right, not too tight, not too loose. A toothpick would work great and give a nice small hole

A good quality glue stick is your friend... tacky glue or elmers, works too but a glue stick is less messy to work with. I only used a dab on the final end to make sure it was secured well. Using a glue stick increased the speed in which I could roll beads, and made them less slippery while rolling. They dried faster too.

Folk art acrylic paints has this clear suspension with metal flakes in it called Gems...sorta glitter in clear nail polish.... you can paint it on over the bead and the colors show through, but it adds glitz in a much easier way than wrapping this little boogers with metallic embroidery floss.... trying to do that just made me want to scream.

I am playing with the dipping process now using 3 different options including Triple Thick by Krylon, a sealing glaze by Sculpty, and I forget the third. I am thinking of stringing a bunch of beads onto a string running them through the glaze, separating them on the string and then thumbtacking the strand into a window opening for drying, if the beads get stuck to the string no biggie, the center will still be soft. The idea might not work the way I think it will.... and I may have to resort to dipping one at a time and drying them on toothpicks stuck into something... that would be very sad, and very slow. We'll see how it goes...

So I dipped some beads in the Triple Thick Glaze by Krylon. I cannot post them yet it says to not handle them for 24 hours. It did okay I guess, it is drying very glossy, but it looks more like paper beads with varnish on them than it does faux glass beads. I'm not sure if Triple Thick is suppose to be water-y or not... but I was a tad disappointed. It's gonna take several dips of the beads into this glaze ( and probably me dipping into some vodka more than once or twice) to get these looking like lampwork beads I can assure ya. Personally I would not use the words triple or thick in describing this product. I was expecting milkshake THICK when I opened the jar, what I got was ummm.... sorta antacid thick, so when one is expecting milkshake creamy and they get Maalox instead... I hope you can appreciate my dismay ;) The last time I remember being this disappointed was age 8, I spent months drooling over a purple Stingray bike with a banana seat and rainbow streamers flowing off the handle bars and on Xmas what I got was roller skates. It's just NOT what you were expecting or hoping for, even if it also has wheels. I was hoping for THICK, and one dip and I'd be done... like magic, it's just not happening with this product.

Testing the other two options tomorrow.... for now here are the paper beads done with "Triple Thick"
One coat results ( the only exception to this is the green bead in the bottom row, I coated it with Tacky Glue first, (because it IS thick). I let it dry and then did a coat of TT on top of that to test how it would impact the end results. The paper ridges are a lot less obvious up close on that bead and the Tacky Glue did not get milky when I added the TT top coat.

1coatBead

The next picture is of a bead that has 3 coats of Triple Thick on it, ( sorry for the blur) it's getting closer but still no cigar IMHO.

3coats

I am not discouraged from continuing, I will not be beaten, I will figure out a way to make this deliver results that make me happy without resorting to investing in a melting pot and UTEE.
I am getting closer:

Beads

BTW I found more paper bead styles and options, as well as some products to use the finished products in:

Round paper beads:
http://www.astorybooklife.com/how-to/paper-beads/

Paper bead and safety pin bracelet:
http://paintedfishstudio.com/?p=76

This artist is doing sorta paper bead mosaics:
http://www.cprincebatchelor.com/

Paper Bead wall art and a beaded door curtain:
http://www.curbly.com/DIY-Maven/posts/1151-Paper-Bead-Art

Another how2 for rolled beads:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_beading/article/0,2025,DIY_13745_5160420_02,00.html

Tyvek painted Beads:
http://carolclasper.blogspot.com/2006/10/beads-beads-beads.html

How I want mine to look, ( yay, eye candy):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxymephorous/2291072575/

Paper bead people/figure charms:
http://www.artfarm.com/dollpaperbead.html

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TA-DA...

nobody@vox.com(dejablu503) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:27:58 -0700

These are some of the beads I rolled using the paper I painted:

PaintedBeads

I am working out the gluing and rolling to get it to a faster pace with steady results. I am also working out the length the papers need to be to get me the bead size I want. It is getting easier. Going to add some glitz to some of these while watching TV and hope to dip a few tonight. They really are addicting. This is about 1/3rd of the ones I rolled after dinner tonight. I have two collages to finish up for Collage Mania II tomorrow, then I need to get busy assembling a wild art doll mini quilt I designed for a yahoo challenge. I have already rough drafted 2 of my 13"x13" mini quilts for the Baker's Dozen quilt group on yahoo that sprang from the QA list. Gawd it feels great to have time to create just for the fun of it again....

I also did some crock-potting today, I have been fine tuning this recipe I came up with that my daughter Karina refers to as Crack Disguised As Pork. Heh. It goes fast when I make it.

Drunken Mediterranean Pork: (This is my own creation and it is to die for)
1 1/2 lb pork cubed, browned and tossed in a crockpot with-
2 stalks celery chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup each: dried cranberries and dried apricots
1 tbl minced garlic
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 teaspoon each: Tumeric and garam masala
1/2 tsp blk pepper
1/3 cup red wine
2/3 cup low sodium chicken broth

Cook on high 2 hours and then low for 4-5 hours. Serve over rice, this will melt in your mouth! I wish I could post the aroma it creates !

I only had cranberries today so I used 1 cup.

I tried to add a picture of it, but Vox won't let me so I guess for now all you get is the beads pic.

Edit: Here is the picture of the Drunken Mediterranean Pork:

Drunken Pork

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Still busy, painting paper to make beads with...

nobody@vox.com(dejablu503) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 23:59:14 -0700

Here are some samples of what I am doing:

I have 6 more drying....I am scanning them into my computer so if I get a bead I really like the look of I can duplicate it by printing more of the design....

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I have been up to no good....

nobody@vox.com(dejablu503) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:55:30 -0800

Well, in spite of my best efforts I did not meet the bills. So I am consoling myself by painting paper and making paper beads.... like any rational person would do. ;)

Everyone on the quiltart.com list is making paper beads, and I wanted to be one of the cool kids so I am making some too. Not one to totally follow the pack I am not using store bought papers or magazine pages, that is why I am painting my own paper.
The outcome of that was 2 papers:

and these beads:

This is rather addicting and I like the ability to control the color beads you get by painting your own paper. I am having fun trying to paint to predict the finished bead appearance.

Now the primary way to make them look like lampwork beads is to dip them in UTEE, but I do not have a melting pot so I am going to be trying other finishes... progress reports will be posted covering both the successes and the failures.

I also have a collage nearly done for Virginia Spiegel's cancer research Collage Mania II...
I need to make a special piece for the end of the B/W piece. Looks much better in person, I am working on a spiral goddess piece too.

The sun face and black and white strip are molded paper clay, the sun rays are fabric and the background is paper towel....... the darker portion is flat but painted to look like it is folded. I am making a special piece for the end of the black and white strip. It is MUCH prettier in person, getting a decent picture is going to be a trick since it will not scan well in the scanner. This is the best pic so far.

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My home health client had a quiet night so...

nobody@vox.com(dejablu503) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:26:30 -0700

I had a productive one. I got this half circle wooden cutout a couple weeks ago, and last night it got a face. It was raining all night and I decided I needed some sunshine....
What do you think?

Placed over a door, (but it could go over a small window or on a cabinet also):

and the close up:

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A full view of the tray I painted...

nobody@vox.com(dejablu503) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 11:22:07 -0700

Sun/Moon Tray

Here it is in all it's glory. This is a crappy cell phone pic but better than nothing... it is much brighter and more colorful in person.
The top lifts up to a slant if wanted.
I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

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