Felt Inchie

I recently went to a large Craft Fair in Seattle called 'Urban Craft Uprising'. Around 100 independent crafters were there, selling their goods. They also had some free demos you could attend if you were fast enough to get a chair. I put my waning youth to the test, and was able to get a seat at the 'Needle Felting' demo. I fell in love with the process of creating something from a chunk of wool by repeatedly stabbing it with a needle. When I arrived home, I wandered off to Fabric depot and bought the basic supplies. Finally this weekend I had a chance to use them, and I love what I made!

I created a Felt Inchie. Now, an inchie is a 1 inch by 1 inch piece of artwork. It can be made from anything. The swap partner I created this tiny piece of art for loves cats, and loves bad horror movies; especially the ones with zombies in them. Since we are coming up on Halloween, I decided to make her a tiny little zombie cat. I then framed it int a tiny shadow box frame, and I will be mailing it off Wednesday. The pictures did not turn out very well because the piece is so small. The word I stitched above the cat says "brain', since zombies love to eat brains. I painted a little glitter on the frame to make it festive and fun, and wha-lah! One cute zombie kitty felt inchie!

Earth ATC card

So, I finished and mailed the last of the 4 Element ATC card series. Each card was better than the last, and over all I am thrilled knowing they are out there in various people's collections. Like the others, I tried to think up things associated with the earth. I also arranged the images so you would have a right-side-up either way you held the card.

So, with no further ado; my earth ATC card.

Party in my medicine cabinet!

So, for $1.97, I purchased this lovely Dico ball and spot light from Michaels. If I had known that was all the money I needed to have a discotheque of my very own, I would have done it long ago!

The real reason I bought a toy armadillo.

So I could post this:

Armadillo before trying to cross the road.

Armadillo after trying (unsuccessfully) to cross the road.

Hahahahaha! Only I would accessorize a stuffed animal with a coaster I bought in Texas. Oh goodness, sometimes I worry about me!

Farm Girl ATC

I signed up for this one at the last second, and found out at the last second that my ink cartridge for my computer is dry. I rescued my idea best I could, and next week I will solve the ink issue.

The goal was to create a farm girl themed ATC. I immediately thought of doing a spin-off of Botecelli's 'Venus on the Half Shell' and replacing the oyster with and egg. Because all my images came out blue/purple, I broke out he acrylic paints and scumbled color on the images. The Venus of my picture is my American Grandmother, who I loved! I think she would have liked what I did.
Here's how it ended up.

To keep it safe from bending during mailing, I made a cardboard sleeve and tied it together with one of those big ties you get around the head of a lettuce from the store. It says 'Fresh Garden Vegetables' on it, and I felt that was very appropriate.

Fabulous weekend!

My fabulous friend Sandra drove down and hung out with me for -*counts fingers*- 3 days!
It was great to see her and have some quality catch-up time.

Friday we went to Powells Book Store because, well, you HAVE to go to Powells when you visit Portland or you will be smite-ed by the God of Books. I am sure of it! Then we wandered down town a little, ate nachos at a great little Mexican dive and washed it down with beer. Then it was off for home and time for dinner, drinking, and chatting.

Saturday we went garage sale shopping, wandered the beautiful town of Vernonia, had a rootbeer flaot, walked the neighbors' dog, did a little crafting, a little reading, a little sleeping, and a LOT of eating and fair amount of wine consumming.

Sunday we had a lazy morning and then packed up the jeep and pointed it back toward Seattle. Sandra left me with a refridgerator full of meals and an smile on my face. Thanks Friend!

I am all tuckered out from my most fabulous weekend with my most fabulous friend. After I saw her off this morning I accidentally fell into bed and took a short nap. It was very sad, but I got over it. *Hehehe* Then, true to form, I got up and started in on the things I needed to get done. Walked the neighbor’s dog again and cleaned his place up a little for him, since he is in the hospital. Finished my ATC swap, cleaned up, did bills, called various peoples, fixed the manger my mom made me for Christmas a few years back, and so on. I am wrapping my fabulous weekend up with some posties, and then heading off to bed. Tomorrow starts at 3:45am, and I feel it looming.

Oh, did I mention I met Ruth, the Cat Lady across the street? I have wanted to meet her, since she takes care of so many of the local strays and feral cats. I am going to see if I can help her out by getting the food she needs in town where it is cheaper. She will still pay for it, I will simply be the grunt with the car. Since she is feeding 14 cats at the moment and is 90 years old, I figure I can help out a little. She also wants to get them fixed, and has the money to do so, but no way to get them to a vet or to the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon. I, however, can provide the ride for that endevor, and would with a happy heart!

Together we shall lower the cat population in Vernonia. I am very excited!

Three of Four

No, I do not mean the long lost brother of Seven of Nine. (It's a Star Trek thing, people!)

I finished the third ATC for the 4 Element swap I am doing. I will send it out tomorrow, and then I need to get busy creating the Farmgirl ATC I mail on Thursday.

This is the back of my 'Wind' ATC. A have been doing all the cards in this set in the same style, and I have really liked how they have turned out.

This is the front, and as you can see, I doodled and water colored it like I did the last two. I tried to come up with things that are either moved by the wind, or create wind. I played with the composition for a while. I wanted to create a card that could be held either way and still look right side up. I like how this one turned out.

Eggs!

These are the first few dozen eggs from the new chickens. There are some from one of the older girls here, but not many. Love the copper colored ones, and the tiny little ones from the Bantams!

I do not thing all the new chickens are laying yet. One of the reasons is this green colored egg. This is the first of that color, and it only appeared a few days ago.