It's June already???

How did we get to June already?

I don't know about you but it's been a crazy spring around here. The weather has been insane - cold and wet and then suddenly hot & humid like August, now it's nearly perfect outside.

On the inside, inside of me that is, I am coping with an injured shoulder which has impaired me in unexpected ways. My sister, a regular sports enthusiast and athlete had very similar symptoms to mine which had me in a panic as my pain did not abate. She just has shoulder surgery and has her arm in a sling attached to her abdomen and it will stay there for 6-8 weeks - NO activity with that arm that would mean moving it from that position. In a state of near panic I finally caved in and went to an orthopedic doctor. I was relieved to find out I did not tear my labrum as my sister had, I just have bursitis. Unfortunately I still have pain and some limitations in the movement of my right arm (at least if I listen to the pain signals when I do move it), but no surgery required is a good thing. Now all I have to do is regularly do the physical therapy exercises and take the meds.

One of the unexpected limitations I discovered last night. I'm in the final stages of a new batch of earth spirit dolls! They are all sewn together and only need to be painted, given hair and totems/accessories. I was trying to stipple paint them yesterday only to discover that the rapid small movements of my hand to achieve the desired paint effect causes pain. Well, I pushed on until I’d finished the base coat of paint on 6 goblins and mercifully was forced to stop for a meal. They are still waiting for me in the studio, as are a dozen or more brownie/spirit dolls. I’m thinking about experimenting with some natural sponges to see if I get a similar effect.

While watching a Cirque du Soliel DVD the other day I was inspired to start a series of acrobat dolls. The aerial acrobatics with hoops and silks were mesmerizing and I can’t wait to start some new dolls using those props. I wonder where that will take me …

Spring ? I see the signs

What signs of spring do you look for?

Warm weather, crocus & daffodils blooming, shorts & short sleeves starting to appear ... ?

We have had a few warm days, though they always seem to be followed by a cold day or a week of cold & damp days.  I have faith eventually it will be warm and then too hot and we will all be longing for cool weather again.

Wildwood is next weekend.  That tells me that spring is well underway. What is Wildwood?  Primarily it is a shore town in New Jersey.  But if you are part of a group that competes in the Tournament of Bands/Tournament Indoor Association it is 4 days of constant practicing & competing in that shore town. My oldest child is in drumline and the jazz band.  This means she will compete in 2 categories that weekend.  I wish her & them well & hope that as a chaperone we all have a safe and fun weekend.

Spring also saw me doing demonstrations of medieval style illumination at Glen Cairn museum - during their Medieval Fair in February and at their Sacred Arts festival in April.  Both days were great fun, I spoke with many people some who had an idea what I was doing and some who had no idea anyone still did such things. My table was next to the demonstration of a reconstruction of a Gutenberg Press.  When the day was done I got a chance to watch the Gutenberg Press in action.  It a great a day that I can share knowledge and receive knowledge, especially if it's in a beautiful place.  There was also a monk doing a Mandala - it was just stunning.  I did not get to watch the final ceremony but I heard part of it, and I did get a small bag of the colored sand.

Now that it's warming up a bit it's time to take on some outdoor projects.  As I sit here writing I can hear a neighbor reconstructing his deck.  Maybe we will get around to a similar project this year.  We have some fence and exterior wall painting to do this spring/summer.  Maybe we will also add some insulation to the walls of our 150+ year old home.

I think the best part of spring is that my studio (which is unheated) is warm enough to work in and I can start moving all my art supplies back out of my dining room and into the studio.  A little spring cleaning is needed but the creative juices are starting to flow and it's time to start making new things.  While I'm in transition back to the studio I have completed a few new necklaces and I am working on a series of earth spirit dolls.

What signals spring for you?

Think Pink

Valentines Day approaches, but what does Valentines Day really mean? Valentines Day can be very emotional for some people and meaningless to others.  This season I'm focusing my energies and thoughts to how to better love others, rather than looking at it as merely a romantic holiday between me and my husband.  So, the question of how to do this keeps coming up ...

As Valentines Day approaches pink stuff seems to be everywhere.  When I see pink makes me think of Breast Cancer, which makes me think of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. So, in honor of thinking pink, and of my resolution to make it a more meaningful season, I've decided that for any pink items sold in my Etsy shop between Jan 26 & Feb 14th I will donate 20% of the proceeds to Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Haircut

Life is full of patterns and I am in the beginning of a new phase of a cycle I seem to have embarked upon a few times before.  Let's see how long it lasts.  What is that pattern? Due to a variety of circumstances I find I can't stand having long hair anymore so I opt for a dramatic change.  I usually keep the shorter - higher maintence hair cut for a while then let it grow out, it gets long, I wait till it's long enough to cut a ponytail for Locks for Love and cut it off.  Well there's a ponytail in my purse right now waiting to be shipped out & for the first time since I was a preschooler I have curly hair.  How did that happen?

Masterwork challenge

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that I am a member of the Art Dolls Only Team on Etsy.  They have a variety of challenges to keep the members inspired and working.  The one I just completed (albiet late) is producing a doll inspired by a painting by a master.  I chose to do a doll based on a figure from a John William Waterhouse's The Crystal Ball painted in 1902.

Here are some pics of the finished doll.

And one of the doll next to a print of the painting ...

New Year = new posts

I rarely make New Year's resolutions, as like most people I struggle to keep them.  This year I am hoping to start off on the right foot and keep up with more regular posts to this blog.

Since my last post I have seen the winter concert season come and go, with an unnecessary amount of drama in getting the kids outfitted.  (I am one of the uniform co-chairs of the music boosters).  This year's crop of new band members are unusually small.  We had a lot of tuxedos in the 40-46" range and a lot of boys who need sizes in the low 30s and even some in the 28" range.  Due to new systems in the Delaware school systems POs take AGES to process, and despite starting 6 weeks before the concerts we finished all the concerts without any word that they POs for the new tuxedos had even passed the school district hurdles much less the state level.  That meant I had the "pleasure" of trying to temporarily resize a handful of pants from 35" waistbands so that they would stay on kids with a waist measurement under 30".  As we finished outfitting all the academic music groups (bands and choral ensembles) we got to start over with the marching band uniforms.  Why deal with marching bands in late December?  Because we were taking the WP Marching band to Walt Disney World over Winter Break!  I got to experience Disney World for the first time chaperoning 50some high school kids. 

While I was daunted by the idea of going to Disney World over Winter Break (most crowded time of year) with 72 people, it turned out to be a great experience!  While there were low points (16-18 hours sitting up in bus seats while we headed to and from Orlando, FL on the way back feeling distinctly UNwell, there were a lot of wonderful moments.  Many of the other chaperones had been to Disney several times and were generous with thier time, friendship and knowledge of the parks.  When not actively chaperoning our specific charges many of the regular music boosters who were chaperoning stuck together and made sure I got the most from my first trip to Disney World.  Thank you to all of you! 

Now I am home and 2011 is underway.  I hope to list new items in my shop more regularly, to post to my blog more regularly and to complete all the planned and unfinished projects on my to do lists. 

Just a couple more pictures: me & my favorite Muppet (OK so Sweetums was not actually posing for pictures or signing autographs he's still my favorite so I posed with his picture.  And last but not least, some of the band moms and the new "Band Mom Bag."

Wearing Purple

Today is Wear Purple Day.  I am wearing purple, to honor the memories of the 6 teens whose lives ended as a result of bullying for being gay.  Asher, Raymond, Tyler, Billy, Justin & Seth Rest in Peace & may your memories continue to inspire the world to keep moving forward towards peace & harmony.


I have also taken this day as an inspiration to create a purple treasury to honor them and to further spread the message and speak to the world of the preciousness of every spirit.


A wise woman, who is a devout Christian, when discussing the horror of the bullying and the lives lost, told me a few weeks ago that "God made them, and God does not make anything he hates."  If we could all recognize the wisdom of that statement.  In the mean time those of us with caring hearts and voices need to keep spreading peace & acceptance of all people no matter what their sexuality, race, faith might be.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cbed4acbb946d91c7ba85f5/wear-purple-day?index=66