Fiber and Pulp

I got rhythm?

I remember back in elementary or maybe middle school when I was first introduced to the concept of biorhythms by a class mate ... she showed me the graphs of physical, psychic and spiritual energy (I think) and how they wax and wane ... seemed plausible to me as a kid. :)

If I got rhythm this week, I'm tripping over my feet and falling flat on my face -- all those up and down sinuous curves would have big, abrupt breaks in them! Gosh, what a lot of stupid things I've done in the last three days -- maybe a life-time high. (sigh)

I'm not going to list it all here 'cause it would be utterly depressing. :P Let's just say I'm glad I don't have to live this week over again. :P

I haven't managed to do anything 'art-y' at all this week, either (possibly somehow related to how many faux pas I've made?). :P

Let's hope the rest of the week is going to be better. (fingers crossed)

Moving Right Along ...

My beloved Mac came back from the fixers with a new power supply and (fingers crossed!) is running happily. Which is slightly more than I can say for myself. :P Still struggling with sleep issues (sigh).

This month's color theme for the postcard swap is Red, Orange, Pink ... and I'm almost finished with my cards. I got smart earlier this month and made a list (somewhat long-ish) of various multi-media fabric techniques that I would like to play with -- I decided that I'd pick one each month for making postcards. :)

This month I chose to make fabric-paper a la Beryl Taylor. I've done Serendipity backgrounds several times before -- you collage assorted bits and colors onto a base and then cut that up for your background. In the process of making this fabric paper, I managed to find some collaged images on several of the cards that inspired me. I think I'm in a somewhat silly mood this month (I blame it on the heat!:) as my cards are kinda Flip, for me.

Here they are, fwiw:

I need to look up some good quotations about heat, passion, etc., and then these will go in the mail. :)

I got two postcards in yesterday's post but of course I left _them_ at home. (sigh) I'll share them when next I am near a camera.

Catching UP

Just buzzing in to leave a trail. I took my iMac to the Apple Store this morning -- looks like its power supply is nearly dead and needs to be replaced. Might be other things wrong with it, too, of course -- won't find that out until the new supply is in it. :P At least the fix is underway (yeah!!)

I was a busy sewing machine and finished up the TEN fan blocks I had to piece for the Quest stores -- that's fourty set-in wedges and twenty curved seams (one small tight curve for the fan base and one larger, easier one for the top). (whew!) I was sooooo happy to bag those up and mail them off that I forgot to take a photo. :) I think they looked quite nice (of the fourty set-in seams, maybe two had to be re-sewn; pretty good for a person who does not think of herself as a precisionist. :)

Yesterday was my day off so I spent the morning working on my July postcards -- the color theme this month is red-orange-pink. I decided to pursue a different technique every month with these (it's a way for me to focus my attention and get some learning done while I play:). This month I am going to work on making fabric-paper a la Beryl Taylor. I started yesterday but I think I may have bobbled along the way. (sigh)

I used as my base fabric a piece of hot pink batik. Using PPA (a very dilute and direct type of gel medium) I glued onto that strips of various papers in orange, pink and red and then paper motifs (pictures of valentines, vintage show photos, etc) ... added some strips of silk hand painted fabric I made a couple years ago in a cross-wise fashion with the PPA. Some glitter ... silk leaves in fall colors ... silk flowers that are pink... Pretty soon I had a nice collage, a serendipity surface (I've done this on paper before, just never on a fabric base). The idea is to have something sturdy like fabric that can be sewn and manipulated but that includes paper imagery. :)

Then last night I got carried away and decided my piece needed more red -- so I whipped out some Golden glazing medium in dark red and applied it. This morning the whole thing looks way too dark and obscured for me. (sigh) Back to the painting boards. (grin)

Hugh and I went out shopping yesterday and decided to go to the movies (rare for him to agree to go to a show with me any more -- he does not like going to the theater). We saw Hellboy II -- great movie! I thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

Now that I have finished my fan blocks, I get to go back to less tedious sewing chores. Got a couple samples to quilt -- will share when they're done. :)

Unplugged!

(grrr) We had a power outage on Wednesday afternoon (from 4:30 til about 5:45 pm) -- I was in the middle of reading email when the lights (and every thing else including my computer) went out. When the power came back on, my computer did not! :P

I've been working hard since then and don't have time to take it for repairs (probably not until Tuesday coming) ... I'm seriously suffering from being unplugged! I had no idea how dependent I was on my computer for entertainment, news, personal connection, etc. :P

At least I still have wires on my desk at the store ... even though _that_ is irregular now, too, as I am dealing with fatigue and business issues. :P

Epstein-Barr rises again. :P

Saturday I spent the entire day in bed. (sigh) By the time we got home Friday night it was fairly late (11-ish?) and I just went to bed. Skip tried to wake me up on Saturday but I don't think I even moved. I stirred once around noon and could barely turn over (the worst part about this CFS stuff is the extreme weariness in my joints and muscles). I did not wake up until 3:30 pm ... and then only to get up, use the bathroom, feed the dog and go back to bed. :P Stayed there until 11 a.m. Sunday.

Can tell I _really_ am underneath reality -- had a student scheduled to come in for a lesson on machine quilting on Saturday and did not even remember her. (tears) I try really, truly to NOT do that. (sighes)

Sunday was quiet and slow but at least I made it in to the store. Went to bed early last night, too. Woke up with a blink at 7:10 a.m. this morning-- don't know what the power company was doing on the green way behind our house (mowing? trimming trees?) but it was NOISY. Has to be to wake me up! :)

I beat everyone in to the store this morning -- that is a _rare_ event. (grin) Today is Mimi's grad school meeing (Baltimore applique club/guild) so I'm trying to stay quietly in the corner out of the way. :)

When my CFS-mono acts up like this, there are no predictable days. Will be interesting to see what the 'morrow brings, eh?

Happy Independence Day!!

Today has been lovely here in Catonsville --- definitely summer time! :)

I've been sewing all day with friends here at the store. Before I show what I've accomplished, though, I want to share three more Violet & Lime postcards I got in the mail yesterday:

Barbara Bennett and I have been working on a new house gift for a mutual friend of ours. She did the piecing and applique work, I quilted and finished it (bound, sleeve'd, labeled:). Here is 'Shalom':

I also started knitting a new scarf to wear at the store -- the one I made a couple years ago has gone AWOL somewhere. :) I didn't photo my beginning bit of scarf -- will take one when it gets a little more recognizable. I'm using a nice merino washable wool sock yarn in Raspberry Lemon sorbet color. :)

We're going out to watch the fireworks from the front parking lot of the store later this evening (assuming that another thunder storm doesn't blow in:) -- I'm thinking I'll try to take photos. Never managed photos of fireworks before, might not get anything recognizable this time, but it will focus my mind. (grin)