A Magical Mystery Tour

This morning, as I walked outside, I spied The White Rabbit in my front yard. Resplendent in a fancy jacket and with a wicked twinkle in his eye, he told me he was rounding up the guests for Vanessa Valencia’s Mad Hatter Tea Party.

“But, how will I ever get to that magical land called A Fanciful Twist” I asked? It’s a legendary spot, but nowhere to be found on a map.

The rabbit got very close, and whispered, “look over there”.

Nestled in the grass was this:

What? Vanessa sent a Mad Hat? Such a clever hostess! I peeked underneath the hat, and there was a rabbit hole.

I stepped in and…

I landed with a thud and a light bounce. "Ooof!" Wandering to the end of the rabbit tunnel, I found the door to A Fanciful Twist. But, being a magical door, it was too big – I couldn’t reach the door handle!

A plate of cupcakes topped with mountains of magic frosting (and instructions) sat by the door.

Being magic cupcakes, they will always be your favorite flavor. “Mmmm… mine’s red velvet!”

Aw fowt m'sewf gwah-ing tower... "Pardon me!" How rude... speaking with my mouth full like that! Let me try that again:

I felt myself growing taller with each bite. I easily reached the door and stepped through.... There was Vanessa's marvelous garden gate:

Image provided by A Fanciful Twist

Park your tricycles outside the gate and walk through for a Sparkly Good Time. With any luck, He’ll be there…

Be sure to follow me down the rabbit hole to A Fanciful Twist. You don't want to miss the Fabulous Soiree she's got going on over there. You'll find the list of party guests in her sidebar.

"Oh, My Ears and Whiskers!..."

"I'm so very late", said the White Rabbit.

I've been so caught up in my beading that I completely lost sight of the fact that Vanessa's party is THIS Saturday!!! Oh, dear... and I haven't done a thing to prepare yet. I've got some plans in my head, but getting them into the computer is a different story altogether.

I've put this aside for today and have knuckled down at my drawing board to lay in the structure of my party post. I'll leave you with a little taste of what you'll find when you come back on Saturday:

"Party on, Dudes!"

I do hope you'll come by for the sparkly festivities. Last year's event was a Thing To Behold. Such revelries, and so many blog buddies made...

Back To The Studio

It's been a week since Pooch died, and each day is getting easier than the last. We spent the weekend digging a hole in the hard-packed clay in a shady section of our back yard. While we were at it, we thought it would be nice to dig in a memorial garden around Pooch's "spot". I'll be working all Summer to get that finished, but the biggest part (burying Pooch) is done. This final act brings to mind the old fairy tales where the heroine buries a loved one, and a magical tree laden with silver and golden apples flourishes over the grave. It's a nice thought, but I think we'll just keep the dogwood sapling that's already doing well there. And, yes, I do think the pun in that is funny!

I'm growing accustomed to being alone during the day: I've stopped cleaning so madly and I find I'm able relax into a work schedule. Today was my first full day in the studio - I have three new bracelets to show for my labors. All three were made with the flower chain bead weaving method:

tangerine and blue fire-polished crystals and apple green seed beads:

This piece has a peyote stitch toggle

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garnet red and amber fire-polished crystals with light olive green seed beads

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freshwater pearls and pink fire-polished crystals with silver-lined seed beads

This was my favorite of all three, but photographing it proved to be a bear. Neither white nor black backgrounds do it real justice. Any suggestions?

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Thank you all for your sweet comments and caring emails during this past week. It means the world to me to have such loving and supportive friends.

And a BIG "Thank You!" to all those friends and family who showered us with dachshund memorabilia over the years. Because of you, we're surrounded with fun memories of our little man:

Corn holders! Funny!

Drawing Away My Sadness

For the past three years, my main focus each day has been to care for Pooch: feed him every 2 hours, make sure he gets his myriad of meds on time, take him out to pee every hour, and, of course, snuggle him as much as possible.

Now that he's gone, I find myself completely intimidated by all this new-found freedom. I've cleaned the house top-to-bottom and put away the dog toys. Now what? I don't much feel like making jewelry - my heart's just not in it at this time. I started a drawing on Tuesday - I could only work on it a little at a time, since Pooch demanded I have an arm around him while he slept. I had no idea he wasn't feeling well.

Tuesday I laid down basic shapes. Since I first learned to draw, I've had difficulty with facial features. I made sure to get those right in the first stage.

Wednesday morning, I added the drapery of her soft silk poncho and some of the railing. This immediately helped "ground" the figure.

I had to leave the drawing at this point due to all the drama of Wednesday afternoon and my deep sadness all day yesterday. Still sad today, but trying to fill my day with what I love to do. I decided to go back to the drawing. I've always been able to lose myself in artwork, and this morning was no exception. There's something so "Zen" about sitting quietly, working the pencils and eraser, taking moments to step back and analyze progress.

I dug out the 6B pencils and went to town adding some contrast: I darkened her pants and blouse so she'd "pop" in front of the railing. Then deepened some shadows for added punch.

I think she's done for now. In the future, I'll add some soft misty background - maybe sand dunes and a touch of ocean, for that's where I long to be right now.

The original image I used as a model was a page from the latest Chico's catalog:

I was ruminating over what to draw next, when Marble Man exclaimed, "Ooooooh, you should draw HER!" while pointing madly at the magazine. So, MM, you got your wish.

Thank you, Everyone, for all your supportive comments on my last post (and all the hugs!). It means a great deal to me, and helped a lot.

New Drawings

I've been stagnating since before Christmas: mired in a quicksand of cranky mood, an unhealthy amount of self-pity, and no motivation. NOT a nice place to be. So, I have a new resolve to do at least one drawing a week. It doesn't have to be of da Vinci-like quality, just a few minutes of laying graphite on a clean sheet of paper. I'm hoping this will get the creativity flowing again.

Journey's End

My train dumped me back in Durham last Friday night, and my two guys were there to greet me. How sweet! I was treated to a proper greeting of a pink tongue straight up the nose (I'll let you guess which fella gave me that one!). After a week's absence, and two 10 hour train rides, it was so good to see their fuzzy faces. Here they are relaxing after the drive home from the station:

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I had a fabulous time with my mother. We did everything we planned and more. We had lunch at JB Winberries in Princeton.

Nothing says "Welcome home" like a nice glass of wine and a cheddar cheese-and-beer fondue!

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We watched a movie... in a THEATER (I haven't been inside a theater in two years!). I highly recommend this film. Bring plenty of hankies, but know that it does have a hopeful message. What an actress Dakota Fanning is! If she's this good at 14, I can hardly wait to see what she does when she's an adult. All the other characters were very well cast and, as an ensemble, made a formidable team. It was beautiful, heartbreaking, and uplifting all at once. I loved it.

Dinner afterward was at The Big Fish Bistro. What FUN! The lights hanging from the ceiling were clear round plastic made to look like bubbles, giant fish sculptures were everywhere, bubble machines on the wall, and exquisite food. I'm definitely going back to square one on my diet when I get home.

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We did some Christmas shopping at Peddler's Village in Lahaska, PA.

Just one of many shops there, this one specializes in French goods. The colors were beautiful, and the lighting at that time of day was amazing.

There was an ongoing scarecrow contest while we were there. This one was my favorite:

Year-round, the grounds are gorgeous...



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Wednesday we spent the day at Mom's weekly painting session with friend, Mikkey T. Mikkey paints with a joyful combination of color mixed with a considerable amount of humor. This is her recent composition of cows:

Image used with Mikkey's permission

There was a WHOLE LOT of giggling going on that day...

I kept myself busy with a sketch...

...and played with Mikkey's doggies

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Mom spent time showing me her most recent watercolors, and oh man, has she come a long way for a woman who hadn't painted until 12 years ago!

"Desdemona and Lisa" (Desdemona is the Arabian horse)

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"Kelsey"
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"New Mexico Rocks"

**all painting images used with permission of the artists

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And wouldn't you know it? I found my new "favorite" bead shop right down the road from Mom's house! The interior is spacious, yet PACKED with sparkley little beauties, and is decorated in a very sweet, restful palette.

My tote bag was a WEE bit heavier on my return trip home :)
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My trip ended the way it started, only we dressed up more. Fine dining at the Brothers Moon restaurant, inside what used to be the Village Market. Fabulous food! Read this review for more info. Stop by, if you're in town!

"Cheers!"

Back To The Drawing Board

I've had a love-hate relationship with pencil and paper for so long now. I love the magic they can make together, and yet hate the struggle to find my own inner mojo. Ever since that first life drawing class in college, I've been in awe of the fact that my hand can put on paper what my eye can see. And I've stuck with that - just putting down what's in front of my face. When it comes to translating images in my head, well now, THAT's a different story!

At least until this last week. I spent several hours making a drawing of my own composition, for the first time pulling together elements I found in different photographs to make up my own story. Here she is:

I had a lovely photo of a seated young girl looking at a book. I'd intended to just draw her as-is, but I had such trouble with her hands! I worked and reworked, and finally felt I was in danger of spoiling the whole thing, so I put something in her lap to hide the hands altogether. (I know, I know, it's the lazy way out.) In the process of making this basic change, I had ideas falling out of my brain onto the paper. (EEEeeewwwww!)

I made the thing in her lap into a large flower. To add context, she morphed into a faery seated on a mushroom which I drew from a picture in Somepinkflowers' recent post (thanks, SPF for providing inspiration!) The other mushroom pictures came from my own back yard. It all came together so beautifully, I actually surprised myself! I know it's not High Art, but it does feel like I turned a small creative corner. It's just like Bob Ross used to say: "There are no mistakes, only happy accidents".

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In other news, I'm finally getting my vacation! Saturday morning I’m hopping the …

for a 10 hour trek to central New Jersey.

I’m packed and ready to go

with my important Amtrak survival kit:

This is my long-awaited retreat. Marble Man got his when he went to the beach with his family last summer. Now’s my turn. While Marble Man stays home to dog sit, I’m heading North for some overdue Mom-and-Me time. I talk to her several times a week, but haven’t been to see her in over three years! We’ve planned meals out, trips to the movie theater, art sessions with her watercolor group

...and who knows what else (certainly lots of giggles!) ? I'm bringing my most recent sketches for a critique. Here's hoping she'll have some pointers for improving my faery drawing exercise so I can do even better next time.

I'll be without a computer while I'm gone, so I'll see you when I return on the 24th. Have a great week everyone.

Finessing Those Details

It's official: I have a space at the Alternative Church Market in November. After meeting with the organizer of the charity event, I learned I'll be given a 30" x 70" table and "some floor space". No formal booth space is planned for any of the artists participating. It's going to be first come, first served. They take into account how much space we think we need, and how much is currently available, and then I guess we'll have to make it work. I'm planning a flexible display so I won't have a freak-out moment when I get there and find that whatever I had my heart set on won't fit my final allotment. Been there, done that!

I painted the hideous mirror frame that Marble Man found at the yard sale last weekend and it looks FAB-U-lous (as I knew it would)! The foamcore insert is almost done: cut to shape, covered with a piece of flannel, and then black velvet. I'm attaching some pretty teal ribbon at regular interval which the earring cards will hang from. That should look neater than pinning the cards to the velvet.

from ugly duckling

to swan

ribbon pinned in place (to be sewn down)



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This morning I spent redesigning my earring cards, which were VEEeeerrrrry boring. I thought, "How fun would it be for a drawing of a woman's face to 'wear' the earrings?" I dug out my sketch pad and found a drawing which would work, made up a neat WORD document, and printed them out.

pencil drawings done last year

translated to a new application

I decided to use three different pictures so that it wouldn't look overwhelming to have 50-100 of the same image repeating across a wall. It'd be like looking through a fly's eyes!

I think they are really gorgeous , and can't believe it took me so long to design something like them before now. Let me know what you think: be honest now! Imagine walking into a space and being faced with a wall of these faces looking out at you. Do you think it will be too much? I'm hoping not - since I've already converted my inventory over to them! But, if the consensus is that it will be overkill, I can change them back.