The Shoes!

Well, there were a bunch of very cool packing tape shoes made last Friday. And there were three new people which made it just about the biggest group we've had on a Friday. I got a few pictures before my camera batteries croaked...of all things to forget to check!

That's about half the group in the first picture. Berkeley, with her back to you, made a cowboy boot. Next is Paula and her Shimmering Sneaker. I met Paula through a Yahoo group--it was a while before I realized she lived right up the street! Then there's Lily's legs and her Dear Sweetie Pie shoes. Yes, she plans to wear them, if she can come up with some way to fill the (hollow) heels.













There's a picture of one more shoe that I didn't photograph here. Maybe those others of you who didn't get photographed would be kind enough to send me pictures?? Or post'em on your own blogs and I'll put up a link.

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

OK. As promised, and just in time for this Friday's Art Party, packing tape shoes. I've been playing around--that is to say experimenting--and it's hard to stop once you get going. I'm wrapping all sorts of things in packing tape. These are a few of the shoes in progress. The two clear ones are going to get more "stiff" on them. The green one...I think that bow on the heel has to go

Some things I've been using in the shoes: copies of old photos, newspaper clippings, clip art, magazine clippings, wrapping paper, ephemera, paper lace, flat ribbon, pressed flowers...well you get the idea. And there's no end to what you can attach to the outside once they're all built.
For those of you who are coming Friday--bring a shoe or shoes. Bring your "Stuff" or you can rummage through mine. (But mine won't be as personal as yours.) I have scissors to share but if you want your very own, bring them. I will provide tape--I've found one I think works best.

See you!

Vegetables! Music!

This is something else.

Happy New Year

Well, here it is 2008. Already the 2nd, by about an hour. I spent most of the day and all evening in the studio. If what you do on New Year's Day is what you'll do all year, then I'm going to have a wonderful year of artifying. I avoided any cleaning, arranging, sorting or tidying...I just made stuff. So I think I'm safe.

I'm not a resolution-maker by any means, but I dearly want this to be a year of Doing Things Differently. And I want it to be a year of Using My Cool Stuff. I have so much cool stuff in the studio that I don't even know what I have. I keep chanting "You haven't saved it until you've used it. You haven't saved it until you've used it." I think I finally, truly BELIEVE that. Now I want to use it.

Here are some new and old Artistamps I've made. I made some more this evening but didn't bring them home to scan. All of these were issued by the Ephemeroptera Post or the Royal Ipomoeian Postal Authority...more on those another time.

What's up, Blogger?

I'm annoyed. I've been trying to upload pictures there (over to the right) and they are appearing in all sorts of weird shapes and sizes. Le's try one here, in post, and see what happens.

I got ahead of myself yesterday, talking about the Story Shoes project in Room 206. That isn't for three weeks yet! First Tuesday is coming up soon sooner soonest; bring your own work or make simple Artistamps. ..postage stamps only better. There's one good gallery here. They're fun to make and fun to put on your mail--not to fool the Post Office--just as Art.

December 27

Happy French Hen Day, everyone. I am back from Christmas, and trying to choose from all the fun things I thought I'd do as soon "after Christmas." No, I'm trying to remember all the things I told myself I would do after Christmas. There's nothing like a deadline or upcoming event to get my little brain organized--and nothing like total freedom to make it go all mushy on me.

One upcoming event that's going to kick in any minute now, is the Shoe Story project happening in Room 206 on January 18. We are up to eight in the group and I think that's about all I can accommodate until I do a major rearrange of the studio, so this session is closed; sorry. There will be another one sometime later in the spring, or whenever there are enough interested parties. Watch this space for a project description and some photos.

Speaking of Christmas. we had snow on the 25th...a white Christmas in Seattle. It didn't last long and didn't stick for more than a couple of hours, but it was pretty and special.

Fastest Candy Cane in the West.

Actually, the Fastest Candy Cane in Central Oregon--Prineville, to be exact. We were there for a few days last week and the town is decked out for Christmas. This fellow is one of the decorations that line the streets downtown. It really IS a downtown now...it has five stoplights! That's at least four more than the last time we were there. The scene above is on the way home through the mountains. We were glad to have a former P-ville resident along...she knows how to drive in the snow. Thanks, Anne. I have a few more pictures to post later, but not right now. My mom and I are going to brave the elements and do some Christmas shopping. Wish us luck.

I'm giving a lot of homemade gifts this year and it feels really good. That's something I tell myself every year I'm going to do, but don't. Some I made with my own hands...some I acquired through making a mistake of some sort...a different take on handmade but, hey. I can't elaborate because it would give things away. I think some of my family reads this.

If you are looking for a quiet, relaxing post-holiday project, or maybe something to do while you are going over the river and through the woods, take a look at this worthwhile project, Junie Moon's Bandage Brigade.

Off into the rain and...rain.

Dear Santa, Here's what I don't want for Christmas.

I don’t want “Improved classic cut ensures flattering, non-bulky fit.” (Improved classic, isn't that an oxymoron?) I don’t want “slightly fitted.” I don’t want a “wider neckline for greater comfort.” I don't want to have to buy men's and then shorten the sleeves to death. I don’t want fleece. I don’t want one drop of Lycra. Boy, how I don’t want Lycra. I sure don’t want a logo. I don’t really want 10% polyester, although I might take it in a pinch. I don’t want Stellar Pink, Glisten Purple, or Gentle Peach. Please. I want a sweatshirt. I want a sweat shirt! I want a good old-fashioned cotton or maybe cotton/acrylic sweatshirt, long sleeved, in women’s sizes and a simple color. Grey, blue, red, black. Even green. Dark green. Olive green would be nice.

Whatever happened to sweatshirts?

14 Days Until Christmas Eve

Now, what do you suppose these three lovelies are looking at? Their kids on Santa's lap, maybe?

We put our Christmas tree up yesterday. That's a record in our house--usually we win the prize for putting it up last and leaving it up the longest. We do celebrate the 68 days of Christmas around here! I'm not trimming it yet--going to give the Buster some time to get accustomed before I tempt him with dangling things.

I t was a fun time at First Tuesday last week. We had a new person who is weaving wonderful things out of telephone wire...very colorful and wild. Another of us was working on Christmas ornaments and I was finishing up a top-secret project that I'll share after the recipient receives and opens it. About the Art Parties in the studio--yes they will happen as usual on the Friday before Christmas (Dec. 21) and New Year's Day (Jan. 1--like you needed to be told!) I myself expect to be wrapping gifts and making tags on Friday, and you're welcome to do the same; there are a couple of card tables I can set up if we need more space. As for First Tuesday, I can't think of anywhere I'd rather begin the New Year than in the studio, so I will be there for sure. Maybe we can start earlier...I'll think about it and post here.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I hold Art Parties twice a month in my studio in Shoreline. Would you like to know more? Leave me a comment or email me and I'll send you the particulars.

Getting Ready for Christmas in Room 206

This is a post written for the purpose of testing Blogger. I'm considering moving Room 206 over here.

Blogger has its pluses and minuses.

On the plus side, Blogger gives me much more control over the look of the page than Wordpress. I still have to work from one of their templates (and there aren't very many to choose from) but I can change and tweak the colors and the banner at the top quite a bit. It is easier to diddle with the look of the posts, too. Things like font colors, size, style and

arrangement on the page are pretty simple.

I can also turn off all the stuff I don't want like rss feeds and even comments, to keep the page from looking cluttered. You can accomplish this on Wordpress by picking an appropriate template, but it's never a template I like.

The things Blogger doesn't provide are:

1. Extra, tabbed pages so that you can have static sections of the blog for specific purposes or topics. These make your blog look and function a little more like a website, and are pretty much standard on Wordpress.
   
2. Easy sizing and uploading of headers and pictures. Wordpress excels here. In Blogger you have to go through lots of trial and error to get things just the right size.
3. As mentioned before, Blogger doesn't give you many templates to work with, but I like this one pretty well. I can design new color schemes seasonally or whatever.
4. Blogger is slower to load and can be buggy. It gets hung up fairly often, especially when uploading pictures, and sometimes gives you bizarre error messages. Usually just shutting it down and waiting a few minutes solves it, but I am impatient with that sort of thing.
   

I guess I like the freedom that Blogger gives me to manipulate the look of things, but it isn't as easy and pleasant to use overall.

So, how important do you think looks are? Are they worth some inconvenience? And what do you think of this layout?