Vacation: Day Four; Inland forecast? 90 degrees

On learning how to relax again on vacation

Loads of laundry done 3*
Beds made 0
Dishwasher loads 0
Times used Windex 0
Sunscreen bought 1
Aloe vera bought 1
Bananas consumed 3
Ankles twisted 1
Photos taken 200
Photos uploaded 40
Books read 0
Art projects done 0
Trips to the grocery 3
Seafood eaten 0**
Sunny days 3/3
Wine purchased 1***
Wine consumed 0
Number of colors in living room 27
Number of naps 0
Number of burkas or muumuus required for beach 1
Number of burkas or muumuus brought 0
Number of horrific, white, beached whales spotted 1
Number of great white sharks caught in North Myrtle Beach and reeled in 2****
Number of books or magazines able to read on beach with new sunglasses 0
Number of cleaning efforts (any kind) made so far 0
Number of favorite spots torn down: several
Number of backsides now burned 1
Times coming in for bottled water - several
People on beach - 1 gazillion + assorted dogs
Dogs seen:
Boxer and dalmation mix 1
Dachshund 1
Golden lab - 1
Yorkies- 12 (or maybe it's the same one)
Shitzus- 2
Whippet 1
Puggle 1
Corgi 1
Misc 10
Cats 0
Minutes spent gazing at ebay 0
Bad hair days 3/3

* stacking apartment size appliances (cute, though)
** yet
*** juice box size and shape, in fact, it is wine in a juice box
**** that I know of

Beach update

6:35 a.m. 04.05.10. Woke up, decided to try sunrise pictures. Captured spooky white circle (sun wasn't up yet and moon was behind me). Went back to bed.

How not to go on vacation?

Ahhhh! North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Arrived April 2. This is approximately my 40th visit in 25 years. This vacation was so needed; doctor's orders even. I haven't blogged here lately or posted (or made) much art. Haven't been feeling too creative or inspired or energetic.

So, I thought I would bring plenty of inspirational supplies, reading material and the like on vacation. The pics above don't even include the four Blythe dolls I brought to photograph and all of their belongings and props. But what you do see are enough supplies to knit, crochet, embroider, paint with acrylics, paint with watercolors, draw with charcoal or graphite, and of course equipment to photograph, blog, listen to music or do real work.

I wonder if I need "help" in learning how to take a vacation? I didn't used to. Already I have a sunburn. That might be viewed as a positive in this situation. We shall see. More to come...

Lovely Alice in Wonderland swap receipts!

A beautiful pink box (seen in background of top and bottom photos) arrived today chock full of Alice goodies from my partner Adina in Maggi's Just Add Glitter blog Alice in Wonderland swap. What an overwhelming bunch of loot! There's a covered journal, body butter, Godiva's chocolates, jewelry-making goodies, some darling Alice fabric, gorgeous ribbon and all sorts of detailed, hand-made Alice theme greeting cards, since Adina is a scrapbooker and card-maker. I don't know how I will bring myself to use them! But I must, so other people can enjoy them, too. Thanks, pard'ner!

Do you remember Petite Princess or Princess Patti miniatures?

Although, like Blythe dolls, this dollhouse furniture was only produced for a short time, it left quite an impact on little girls...and apparently big girls, as two of them, Linda Gant and Deb Holman, have produced a large 200+ page compendium and complete reference guide to this detailed lovely furniture.
Created in the French Provincial style popular in homes at the time, Petite Princess furniture was incredibly detailed and made use of or simulated such materials as velvet, brocade, satin, brass marble and glass.
Both Linda and Deb talk about their childhood introduction to Petite Princess, which spawned an adult collection and a collaboration between the two which ultimately resulted in this book. They met on-line in 2003 and eventually met in-person in 2009, when the book was nearing completion. The Web site, started by Linda's husband, has connected many collectors. You can find the book here.
A couple years ago I also blogged about my love of the miniatures and was contacted by Deb and Linda about being quoted in their book. I did not hear more for the longest time, but this winter I received an order form for the book and was pleased to discover my blog post was reprinted on pp. 60-61 in their book, along with fond memories from many other adult collectors or those who remembered playing with the furniture as a child.
The book is incredibly thorough, with a full history, explanation of Petite Princess versus Princess Patti furniture, pictures of variations which appeal so much to collectors, a full pictorial guide with each piece, display solutions and photos of some incredible doll houses as well as many pictures of Ideal toy company's advertising and marketing materials for the line.
If you love Petite Princess, or even dollhouse furniture in general, miniatures, detailed replicas or perhaps just the 60s, you'll love this guidebook and trip down memory lane.

Random randomness and some beautiful beautiful-ness

I received the darling birdie boat recently from the uber-talented Debrina Pratt. Far be it from me to make art of the calibre to swap art-for-art with her, but I did send her a supply goody box in trade for this lovely little creation, which will be given pride of place somewhere around the "studio." Debrina sells on Earth Angels, Ebay, Etsy and more and another boat can be seen on her blog by following the link on her name above or by going to her Flickr.

The next photo is a little dangly I made for a pendant swap being hosted by Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. I had such a great experience with their charm swap last year, that I decided to join the pendant swap. I love that magazine! The pendant is a pre-made copper-y receptable into which I added glitter and paper flowers with rhinestones and then Judikins DG3 art gel to set it. It's pretty simple, but I thought it was kinda sweet.

Lastly, I wish you could see better what I see out my window most days lately--which is three cardinals, two males and a female. Wonder how that's workin' out for them? And why does the male have to be the pretty one?

Alice in Wonderland swap sent

For the recent Alice in Wonderland swap hosted by Maggi of Just Add Glitter, I was partnered with Adina Medina of Mommy Is Scrapping. She's a gal after my own heart, teaching Honors English to high schoolers.

Above is the gift box I made for her, complete with knob, key, watch face and vintage Alice images all around and on the bottom. Inside I tucked an Alice charm bracelet and pin made by me as well as lots of Alice-related goodies. I also sent along a couple different versions of the classic book, with unique illustrations instead of the usual -- although great and famous -- John Tenniel drawings.

Adina is a scrapper and card-maker so I hope she will like what I sent. The box took six straight hours. The vintage images are hand-cut and then matched to line up on the box and lid. I also embellished them with gel pens and glitter. The inside is covered, too.

New ATCs by the dozens

I just made some new artist trading cards, 29 to be exact. I like to make them in batches, and I needed some for a swao with ATheeC from Flickr, a.k.a. Martine from Belgium, with whom I swap periodically.

I also knew I'd be needing some trades for Artiscape in April and Art & Soul in May, and ATCs or ACEOs are a handy, small size for trading. I usually take ATCs and charms. Some of the designs above started as prints from some of my old favorite ATCs but all are re-colored by hand, embellished and finished as one of a kinds (OOAKs).

The picture above with the cat cards are all ATCs hand-drawn or hand-painted by me, including a Zentangle I made and a charcoal sketch of a bird. Martine also likes APCs--altered playing cards--so I turned Donald Trump into the King of Hearts and Woody Allen into a Joker. Makes sense to me.

Published in Somerset Studio

I had read in the email newsletter a week or two ago from my LSS (local stamp store) The Queen's Ink that owner Patti Euler had in the latest issue of Somerset Studio. Normally, I would have run over that day. It's only about eight miles, and I used to have to drive 80 miles roundtrip to get any decent magazines back in Indiana.

But, I've had a viscious case of the winter blahs, and so I didn't go. Until today. Imagine my surprise when the magazine fell open on the way home to a page with a piece of art I recognized well!

Seeing my "Alice" piece, above, was even more of a surprise because I had been expecting Somerset and Stampington to come out with their planned Alice in Wonderland issue. Hearing nothing, I had just sent an email the day before asking what had come of it. It also was a complete surprise to see because normally the magazine sends a postcard and/or a free issue to let you know you are going to be published.

But who's complaining? Not me. A surprise is nice, and being published is even better, especially when one has the blueblahs. By the way, the face in my collage above is from a collage image sheet I bought from Traci Bautista at Art and Soul, after taking a class from her. Here is some of the other work I sent. Very excited for the Alice movie to come out March 5. It looks crazy.

Yummy Color Books to Devour

What gets your blood pumping? For me, it's anything to do with color as I described in yesterday's review. And if color has to do with arts and crafts, so much the better for me. A fabric store feels like a candy shop to me, even though I don't sew. Bins of buttons, rows of embroidery floss make me feel like Willy Wonka. Same with bolts of cloth, skeins of yarn, thread and other rainbow-hued notions.

If fabric stores or sewing or quilting excite you, too, then you’ll be gushing over Material Obsession: Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke (2009, Stewart, Tabori and Chang, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 208 pp. $27.50. Note, there is also a second book). I can barely sew a lick and have never quilted but the vibrant colors are what drew me to the book. Quilters, I am sure, will appreciate the handiwork even more than I could, as well as the included patterns and templates.

My favorite quilt in the book, called The ‘Burbs, inspired me with its rough-cut, crooked, child-like houses and paper dolls, a deceptively-simple looking riot of color that just might make me give quilting a try. As the book says, “the thing to remember about the quilt is…let yourself go! This quilt is a recipe, not a pattern…There are no rules here-just cut, sew and enjoy.”

If that’s not enough to suck you in, then the names of the quilts will get you, too: Annie’s Garden, Three-Ring Circus, Cowboy Baby, Gypsy Squares. These aren’t your grandma’s quilts, but the ages-old process is the same. Projects range from easy to intermediate and advanced, with basic quilting instructions included for the beginner. And if, like me, you are a beginner who may never actually begin, you can enjoy the coffee-table-book quality of the photographs of the quilts and fabrics in this soft cover volume. Textile-great Kaffe Fassett, whom I first discovered in my yarn-stash phase, lends his thoughts to the forward.

For those who get their color kicks from paper, the very fun All Wrapped Up! Groovy Gift Wrap of the 1960s by Kevin Akers will have you oohing and ahhhing at all the paper possibilities and cringing over all the vintage gift wrap you wadded up and tossed decades ago, if you were tearing open gifts as a kid in the 60s, like me. This Chronicle Books compendium (255pp., $22.95) was published in 2005, but it my color quest; I just discovered it in a museum gift shop. I was drawn to the full-page and many double-page spreads of gift wrap from my childhood; I was sure I recognized a few. It is a vintage-lovers’ delight, from the psychedelic swirls and paisleys to the child-like, cartoon-ish people and oh-so-60s fonts and colors.

I originally thought I might (shhh! Don’t tell!) cut out some of the full pages for use in my paper-crafting and altered arts (not creating plagiarism of course, but for personal enjoyment), but then, like so many other books in my library, I realized it was too beautiful to redact for my own use. If you appreciate graphic arts, the Mod era or even if you got a ribbon in gift-wrapping in 4H as a youth, you’ll enjoy this thorough compendium and color explosion. More than half the pages are full-color reprints of vintage wrapping paper.

Whatever your color vehicle of choice, from flowers to yarn, embroidery floss, beads, paint or fabric, there’s inspiration wherever you go. While beading might not be your thing, looking at the color wheel through a beader’s eye or studying hues in skeins of embroidery floss can lead to a brand new combination or idea for a project in your own area of expertise. Sometimes, I think my area of expertise is buying beautiful books!

Here are a few more of my recent favorites. The titles will denote their area of focus, but don’t limit yourself to only things you already know how to do. Remember, it’s all about the colors! Sew Sunny Homestyle, Tonne Finnegar, 2009, David and Charles, 158pp., $24.99

Fabric Art Collage, Rebekah Meier, 2009, C & T Design, 96pp., $26.95

Embroidery for Little Miss Crafty, Helen Dardik, 2009, Walter Foster Publishing, 96pp., $12.95 Embroidered Effects, Jenny Hart, 2009, Sublime Stitching LLC, 158 pp., $24.95 (Note: this book is spiral-bound and includes many pages of hot-iron transfers and a pocket for storage). I can’t wait to make something from all of them, but even if I don’t get to it soon, I’ve already enjoyed pouring over the pictures many times over. You will too.

I'm a chick with sticks now, not just a hooker

In my continued enjoyment of all things color, I pulled the two bins that make up my yarn stash down from on high to help me decide what to make now that I am learning to knit. I've just had one class so far, but I love it. Once I got past the initial awkwardness, since knitting is so different from crochet, I was able to fly along. Admittedly, I've only learned one stitch, the knit stitch, along with casting on. Too eager to wait for this weekend's class, I found the purl stitch in two different books and have tried to learn that also.

My goal with knitting is to be able to make colorful doll hats and sweaters like those I just featured on my Blythe blog. I'm afraid that will be a long time coming, because that's tiny, skilled work. The two afghans I crocheted above, Hello Kitty and sock monkeys, were not even small work, but took plenty of time not just to finish but to master the stitches and understand the patterns.

But, I love learning new stuff, and I have no predisposition for or against knitting versus crochet as some people do. They are just so totally different. And they produce such different results, some of which I hope to post here some day!