Our new cat Ariel Rocky Pudgie Stoller.
well, actually he isn't all that new any more. We adopted him in May.
He had a few medical problems before we adopted him, so we fostered him first to see if we could deal with it. He was operated on, wasn't in the best shape.
But we were able to see through that. He is perfectly fine now. Completely normal.
That face...
Isn't he beautiful....the sweetest thing in the world.
Though sometimes, Baby Boy isn't completely thrilled he is around.
My son is much better. When he gets sick, he has to be densely monitored.
He has Van Willebrands Disease. Without getting into too much about the Van Willebrands factor, and platelets and all of that....it is a blood clotting disorder.
So when he gets cut, bruised or has a spontaneous nose bleed, I am outwardly calm but inwardly a total mess. His fever was quite high and I was afraid it would break out in to seizure.
(candle making in Historic Richmond Town.)
Van Willebrands Disease is actually quite interesting. Most people have it and don’t even know it. Ok, so I’ll get into it anyway. I know it will help someone.
It is characterized by prolonged bleeding, easy bruising, prolonged or heavy menstrual periods, prolonged or unusual bleeding following a minor injury or dental work.
The problem is an abnormality or a deficiency of a protein called the Van Willebrands factor.
The VW factor helps blood cells (platelets) to adhere to the injured area and stop bleeding.
Luckily, Julian has Type 1...which means that he produces the VW factor but a
slightly decreased amount of what is typically normal.
He is fine now....actually, we haven’t had to visit his hematologist in a while.
So he is doing well right now. I am hoping that as he gets older, it will become less
of an issue for him.
Rose was great at her school's talent show. She performed New Soul by Yael Naim.
I was so proud of her...she was really outside of herself on stage. It was the most comfortable I've ever seen her. Her stage presence, her voice.....PERFECTO!
Now I am back to working on the classes I am teaching and various other projects.
Two weeks ago, the kids were home from school for an entire week on their mid-winter break.
We had a great time sledding....yes, we FINALLY got some snow.
It has been quiet around here.
Last week, Julian came down with something like the flu....fever and achy. He has missed school since Thursday.
His temperature was up to 105. He and I spent a good chunk of the day in the emergency room. He's been fighing this for five days now. He is slowly coming out of it...building up energy and an appetite. I am hoping that he gets better soon.
I have started teaching my Mixed Media Portrait class on Joggles.
I am really loving the class. My students are an eclectic bunch, fun and eager to learn. I am teaching another class called She’s So Unusual which starts on Thursday. Check it out here.
The zine is coming along great. I am not working on it as intensively as I was a few weeks ago. Haven't had much time to post or advertise it much. Spread the word for me if you can. I still have some ad space available in it. If you are interested...it is on my Etsy shop. You can pre-order the zine here. I will be closing the order form this week.
That is all for now. Gotta get back to my boy.
The kids are home from school this entire week. I took them to the Museum of Arts and Design to view the most amazing exhibit called Pricked (extreme embroidery).
And if you remember Julian's embroidery work, you will know that he has an eye for it.
The exhibit isn't for kids....because it is quite.....extreme in concept. But they looked at it and took what they could and made sense of it in their own way. They walked away commenting on a favorite piece....either because of the crystals or the flowers.
All I have to say is.....I must go back. Really, really amazing work....and interestingly enough, many of the embroidered pieces were created by men. I need to go back,....alone...... to REALLY look at it and REALLY take it all in.
The only crafty thing accomplished today.....the Floret Stitch
This is what I made today....a crocheted hat for Baby Boy.
And the winner is....Nyx. The very talented Jennifer from Australia.
Congrats and enjoy the zine and goodie bag.
I finished reading James and the Giant Peach. What a great book!
Then we watched the movie and what a horrible disappointment.
But that was expected. The movie is never as good as the book.
Now I am reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane....so far, a really good story and the kids are really enjoying it.
And to finally do some grown-up reading, I am starting Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth this weekend.
Here is a little something for you to play with....one of the articles from issue #4 of The Fabric Arts Zine.
Creating Fabric Scrumbles....super easy and fun.
Make a handful of these, cluster and stitch it onto your fabric piece. It's a deceptively easy way of adding texture to fabric.
Today I finished up work on the Mixed Media Portraits class I'll be teaching over on Joggles.
Class starts February 27th. Hope to meet with you there. I can’t wait.
This is another crochet necklace I made today out of hand dyed and hand spun yarn.
Man, I love crochet.
I made this crochet necklace today.
It will be in the goodie bag of oddities I mentioned yesterday.
Judy Merrill-Smith (otherwise known as heck hey Judy, around these parts) whom I met at AFF last year sent me a box of fabric yumminess I simply had to share.
And look at the art doll she made for me. Hand beaded, and a hairstyle to die for. ahh, isn't she a cutie?
Thank you so much. It brought a really big smile to my face.
This is what the ValentineClaus brought for the kids today. It was waiting for them on the table when they got home from school.
YUM!
If you can't get yourself to a retreat this year. Consider taking a fun class on line.
Through Joggles, I will be teaching two new classes.
The first class is called Mixed Media Portraits
and the second is called She's so Unusual.
Oh, I am thrilled about it. Her face, one of my hand carved stamp, is altered and jazzed up with a few techniques I've cooked up. fun, fun stuff.
I will also be teaching at:
The Art Nest in Utah, along with Stephanie Lee and Carla Sonheim.
My class is called Tapestry Art Quilt. I am so excited to FINALLY be teaching this class....lots of interesting applications and textures to explore.
I will also be at Art Unraveled in Arizona.
There I will be teaching two classes,
Fabric Beads Extravaganza and Mixed Media Oddities.
Two classes full of fabric, fiber and mixed media yumminess.
More beads, more fiber oddities and more fabric thingamajigs.
In October I'll be at Art-Is-You in Connecticut and at Art Fiber Fest in Washington State.
I'll post more on those later on.
It is going to be so much fun.
In the meantime, if you are interested in taking a class, sign up soon. My understanding is that it will fill up fast, so reserve your spot.
I didn’t take into consideration that my ‘posting everyday project’ would be derailed because of computer problems.
Every time I sign on or am in the process of finishing up an e-mail, transaction or post....it logs out on me......WTF.....so very frustrating. And when I am able to 'successfully' log on it is insanely sloooooooow.
Anyway, I am backing up everything on my desktop, creating more space on this thing and maybe that will help.
I hope to reply to all my unanswered e-mails in the next day or two.
Here are a few of the things I've made...
a pin cushion bracelet....the scratch on my hand was a gift from Baby Boy.
On a different note, I am terribly sad about the death of Heath Ledger.
That has never happend to me before.....to feel such sadness about a celebrity I never even knew or met.
The first time I saw him was in Monster's Ball....and I remember saying.....’the son, the kid who played Billy Bob’s son, he was so good.’
Last week, I sat down to have my lunch, turned on the tv and Brokeback Mountain was on. It was at the point where Ennis’s horse gets scared off by a bear and runs off. Ennis, spent the entire night catching up to the horse and trying to find the food it had lost.
Anyway, so he gets back to the camp, where Jack is waiting.... tired, beat up and bleeding....Jack offers him some water, and he says....”You go any whisky or somethin”.
Man, the entire movie was brilliant...but that moment right there was magic.
He must have been 24 when he did Brokeback....and to be able to work such a complex character like that at such a young age.....plus to convincingly carry the character over the span of 20-some years was acting at its absolute best. Not to mention masking his Australian accent. The way he physicalized Ennis's fear, confusion, and inner battle was simply amazing.
A rigidness that is evident in his walk, and talk...heck in the way he holds a cup.
What a great performance.
I had myself a good cry the other night, so I feel a little better today. The kids and I walked down to the funeral home on Madison and 81st....but by the time we got there, his body had been removed and all the celebrity and camera madness was over.
It is all so very very sad. damn....
Change.....it is my hope for the New Year. To create more, so sit still more, to read more, to do more fun things with the kids, to write more, to share more, to learn more, to give more.
No, I haven't dyed my hair green or had my eyes altered, but it is a visual example of the extreme change I want to create this coming year.
All throughout November, I kept seeing the words ‘Best Year Ever’ on everything....in magazines, on the street, in billboards and newspaper. I walked into my local thrift store and found this book.
It was just sitting there, like it was waiting for me.
So I've decided to take it as a signs.....as an opportunity to start anew.... to make this coming year the beginning of many 'Best Years Ever'. Though, I am not quite sure what that means, I am choosing to see it as the year to focus on doing what makes me HAPPY. I am hoping that with this in mind, I won’t let the day to day stuff weigh me down too much.
DREAM IT, PLAN IT, LIVE IT.
I am really enjoying this book. Simple and to-the-point.
When you think about it....life is too darn short. We are here for an unknown number of years and then THAT IS IT for this reality. Much of it is spent working for someone else, working a job we hate, going down a career path we don’t love, vegetating in front of the TV watching stuff that either scares and desensitizes us, so much time is spent on being afraid to feel, to act, to breathe, to inhale, to exhale, to do, to run, to jump off and land wherever, to simply BE.
If there is such a thing as emotional toxicity, that would be it.
I also started thinking about my work. The highs and lows of it. It isn't enough for me to do what I do....paint/sew/collage, sell it, keep it, or write an article about it, blah, blah, blah.
Yes, I take great satisfaction from creating, selling and sharing what I do. But the HIGH that comes from it only lasts so long......I have been feeling that there is something missing in the creation process. A greater purpose other than creating for myself and my sanity.
After much thought, I've decided to:
1. Create something everyday.
I'd like to finish all the projects I've started but haven't finished.
2. Sell my pieces on Ebay or Etsy.
3. Donate the sale of all my Wednesday pieces to an established charity.
I think THAT is the part that is missing for me. The giving,....is as important as the creating of it.
And lastly,
4. This is year, I would also like to start a Video Blog over on YouTube.
I would like to share tutorials, creative views and projects with you.
I would like to share more. Take complete ownership of this blog thing already. What is the point in having it if I neglect it. There are soOo many things I make that I never post.
That's the plan. Which is kinda what I've been doing just without the commitment. So now I have to stick to it.
If I mess up, I have no one to blame or fault....but myself. But at least I can say that I tried.
I will be teaching at a few art retreats this coming year....so I will have to figure out a way to do it while away. Hopefully by then I will have a lap top and a video camera and computer thingies to seamlessly accomplish this self imposed challenge. It will be a challenge, that's for sure, but it should be fun too.
So that's the plan.
I am ready to start 2008.
Happy Holidays. I wish you a lifetime of 'Best Year Ever'.
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