two bits

As I remarked elsewhere, pea tendrils look like they could strangle a grown man and then hide the body. The hypothetical threat — because, really, they’re not going to strangle a grown man and hide the body — enhances their beauty in my mind. But you can judge for yourself.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Unlike Samson, whose long locks gave him strength, long hair — I think — saps me of mine. So, today, I left the house looking sort of like this:

Continue reading ‘my middle name is not samson’

I avoided making altered rolodex cards for a while. A fairly long while. And then? People I know and like started making them so I decided to give them a shot. Since I’ve been a bit constipated lately, I thought they might help me get back on track. And most of the people who make them are a bit possessed - really - they sit down and make eight-nine-ten at a go. That could be me! Well, it’s not me. It never has been me and it probably never will be me. The dream was nice while it last, though.

Here’s my first rolo before I added my address. It’s for Dana because she has a thing for trees.

acrylics, ink, rayon tissue, ephemera (clicking on image will take you to a larger one).

Don’t worry, ANg, I’m still working on your rolo. The second time is not considered as special as the first, but it’s usually done a bit more competently, you know?

I personally know one Serge. I’m not particularly fond of him. This post is not about that Serge. Rather, this post is about Serge - the other one. The one I don’t know. Didn’t know? Don’t know well? Don’t know. This post is about the Serge whom I don’t know. But I do know that he is a year older. Why? He celebrated his birthday yesterday at the cheesiest (in a good way, I mean, look at that sconce) of cheese lounges in Winnipeg. We were there to imbibe currently out-of-fashion drinks that feature Galliano and look at the Winnipeg skyline. Serge was there to celebrate his birthday, wear a suit and top hat in broad daylight, feed everyone birthday cake, and then hold a draw for random prizes. We saw the suit and top hat, we received cake, but we were left out of the draw. That’s fine, though. Cake from a loud stranger was odd enough to make our evening. And here’s a picture of Ptichka’s piece. It really did happen!

Of course, we’re not DJ Friend’s dad, who merits his own television series or graphic novel or something. I don’t know anyone else who starts a day playing basketball with a big, prestigious jazz orchestra and then ends it by being choreographed into his favourite band’s second encore. No. Really. I can’t make this sort of stuff up.

*not his real name

The host of the chunky book on windows and doors, for which I made those mushroom houses, kindly posted scans on-line using a fancy-pants publisher. You can check out all the pages here. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s work in person in a couple of weeks.

I signed up for an ATC swap hosted by ANg recently. The theme? Watercolour wonders. I thought that it might be fun to break out the tubes and try my hand at them again. Um…well…it was fun, even though I doubt that watercolours and I will ever be BFFs. We’re more likely two of those people who like each other in theory and chat awkwardly about the weather when we run into each other at parties. I can live with that.

Here are the ATCs (clicking on one will take you to a bigger picture):

I’d be remiss in not posting a link to a story about gay marriage in California and offering my congratulations. Starting yesterday at five, California began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

I would also be remiss in not pointing out that there’s a still a long way to go before true equality is attained for all LGBT folk. A very long way.

It’s been cold here. The peas are doing well, the broccoli is happy, and the kale is going like gangbusters. The tomatoes and the peppers, however, are not doing as well. To reassure ourselves that the garden won’t be a complete bust this year, we ate the first vegetables from the garden yesterday: radishes. They’re neither too hot nor woody yet. Yum.

Now that my self-induced chunky book haze/hell is over, I’ve slid back into making ATCs. I only have two swaps hosted by others on the go at the moment, which is how I should operate. I’m also hosting two swaps over at ATCs for All: one for ATCs featuring a printmaking technique (or two or three) and another inspired by hands. There’s still room in both swaps…*hint hint*.

The first set of ATCs that I made after mailing off the pages for the windows and doors book is for ANg’s kimono swap because I love me some Japanese design, although my kimonos don’t look particularly Japanese.

acrylics, ink, ephemera, embroidery floss, silk thread
Clicking on an image will take you to a larger one.

I’ve been contemplating doing some pieced paper work (after I finish up my watercolour ATCs for ANg) and brightening up my palette a bit. I’ve felt muddy lately, even though I’m pretty certain that my mushroom houses aren’t muddy in the least. I just feel a little drab at the moment. For inspiration, I’ve been checking out Paper Is Lovely, which features wonderful photos of paper; the bloggy counterpart of Paper Is Lovely, Paper Is Lovely!; and Sarah Ahearn’s blog, which I discovered on decor8 (I think).

Here are my windows and doors chunky book pages before I added the chunk. On my digital camera, I have pictures of my pages with chunk but - to be honest - my chunk is never that chunky. Excessive chunky gives me the hives unless, of course, the chunk is silk ribbon and bamboo yarn. I’m sort of like the old Italian woman who runs this fantastic fabric store on St. Clair West in Toronto. Her stock is exclusively vintage (although it wasn’t when she stocked the shop) and predominantly one-hundred-percent cotton. She badmouths synthetics every chance she gets. I understand except for the fact that I like a little spandex in my undershirts.

Fronts: ephemera, acrylics, ink, chiyogami, marbled paper
Backs: India ink, acrylics, pen