Redneck Mansion

Saw this through a link, through a link and through another link at Honestly...WTF. There are some fun stuff here and you can get lost in the links if you're not careful! :)

Too funny! But....it could work if you know a good welder!!! LOL

Happy Halloween!!!

Sunday Quotes and 1 More

Calvin Nicholls is a paper sculptor, one who does an amazing job with the media he has chosen. Look at the wonderful animals he creates with a few sharp implements and a flat sheet of paper.

New Architecture?

Have you seen this building? Do you want to live here? Pizza delivery would be near impossible!

Filip Dujardin is the photographer that "built" this place. Read how he does it and then start dreaming of your new home. ;)

Friday Night Spotlight

Once again, my friends at OnlineAuction.com are offering some of their cool items for you to peruse.

From findings there is this wonderful electronic book, Record A Story - T'was The Night Before Christmas. Record a story or a message with your own voice or with those of the children, family members and/or friends. Their voices and loving messages will be kept and treasured year after year, and many years later! Can be played over and over again. A wonderful Christmas gift for those special people in your life. Click Here to see the book.

Next up is davendeb1178. Deb is a new Avon representative and wants to make you look pretty for the holidays. To add to your Avon collection or see what new products they have, go here to talk to Deb about those lovely Avon gifts for friends and family.

Kornkountrytreasures is offering a great deal on a Columbia Hunting Game Vest, XL. This hunting vest is just in time for hunting season, or if you have a hunter in the family and they need an early Christmas present, now is the time to get it!

Yogibear66 has come up with one of the best presents for any little one on your list. Sesame Street's Cookie Monster will make any kidlet the happiest one on the block for Christmas or a birthday coming up soon.

I would like to offer up a lovely little necklace for those times when you just want a little bling.

Thank you for dropping by and doing a little shopping!

Niobium

What is that you say? It's a hypo-allergenic metal for those who have metal sensitivity. Here is a great article about niobium and learn the method it takes to color the material.

I use plated surgical steel in all my earrings. If you find a pair(s) you like at my store, I can, and will gladly, change them out to clip-ons or niobium. There will have to be an added cost for the niobium. It sure ain't cheap.

Here is a pair of earrings, by jewelry artist Michael Mara of Shimmering Dreams Jewelry, using niobium metal.

"Blue Targe" Hammered and formed Niobium earrings.

Oooooo.....I WANT one of these!!!

NESTREST.

Click on the link. I can't seem to get a picture uploaded. You'll want one, too!!!

Crocheted Rocks?

It sounds strange, doesn't it? But...check out this LINK and see what happens when you put together vintage cotton thread and ocean washed rocks. Bet ya want one now, right?

Hopscotch

Just when you thought it was safe to go out on the sidewalk....

Red Spiders

Here are a few red and silver Christmas Spiders I finished tonight. These little things work up fast and if you're not too creeped out by them, I think they will do well for the PAC show.

Next is blue, but I have to go buy some blue beads and crystals. I can't believe I'm short on blue. I started out buying mostly blue beads when I first started classes and now I hardly have any.

Oh My! I HAVE to go buy beads...this is a terrible thing and I'm sure I'm going to die if I don't. *did you hear the sarcasm there?* teeheehee

Sunday Quotes

Green Spiders

Worked on more Christmas spiders this evening. I had these great glittery green beads and thought they would make some wonderful spiders. Added in some different green beads and crystals for legs and bodies and put them all together. What do you think?

These are a bit smaller than the others I made earlier. As a Christmas "ornament", they aren't too heavy and the green ones will blend into the trees, like most spiders. I will be making some other colors to match different colored trees. These are so much fun to make!

GIF Fishing

I've been having fun looking for GIFs today. Funny kittens and puppies, strange Halloween "things" and getting a start on the Christmas stuff. I still need to find some Thanksgiving backgrounds that I can use on my store. Gotta keep up with the holidays! ;)
I got these from Mike's Free GIFs.

Here is a little stick guy that doesn't seem to be having a good day fishing.

Fungi

During a lovely afternoon walk today with hubs and dog, we came across this beautiful orange fungus. Also known as Chicken of the Woods, it is a bright spot in the forest. You can learn more here about this fungus and some of the other things that grow in my woods.

Some cool arty links I found today

I am still catching up with my emails from being gone this weekend and came across a few that were kinda interesting.

Matthew Cox uses X-rays and embroidery thread in a very creative and innovative way. A little strange, a little cool, a thought that comes into your mind that asks, "Why didn't I think of that?"

I get a newsletter from AllFreeBeadedJewelry, a site that has TONS of ideas and DIYs for making your own jewelry. Lots of fun ideas!

Cat

After scolding one's cat, one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference. ~Charlotte Gray

Only because you know it's true!

Another Great Weekend & Sunday Quotes

The weather was great, the food was fabulous and PAC members and guests are magnificent! We had so much fun this year! Telling stories, laughing 'til we couldn't laugh any more, working on art, there was joy in the building all weekend.

I was able to work on a necklace I promised Judi last May I would make for her and she went home with a lovely new piece of wearable art. I love doing commissions, especially when I can work directly with the person who is going to be wearing the piece I make. She was VERY happy with it. I'm glad. :) I would love to show you this piece, however...my camera ran out of battery power before I was able to take a picture of the completed necklace. As soon as I can, I will get a picture up to show.

I met new artists this weekend and was able to teach a short class in Zentangle. Now I have more people addicted to the art of Zentangle and I am not alone. Muwhahahahahaha!!! These weekends are so fun just walking around the tables and seeing what everyone has brought to work on. The variety is amazing and so is the art. Because of the camera thing, I have no pictures from this weekend. Check the Portland Art Collective blog to see what some of the other members, with operating cameras, have posted.

From differing conversations that filled the room, I heard this memorable statement from PAC member Debi Koenig: "I have a faulty spider."

Happy Halloween Month!

Friday Night Spotlight

Tonight I'm at my annual retreat at Menucha. Pronounced meh-nu-ka, it is a beautiful estate, purchased many years ago by the First Presbyterian Church. Portland Art Collective has been having our art retreats there for five years. It gives us all a chance to get inspired and depressurize. Meuncha even has retreats for one or two people, the perfect place to get away and restart your soul.

And since I'm talking about arty retreats, now is the time to start planning for next year. Save your pennies and think about taking some classes from either of these events in 2012:

Teesha and Tracy Moore run Artfest, one of the best art retreats. Hover your mouse over the Artfest Annex on their front page and pick something that looks interesting.

Sitka Center lives on the beautiful Oregon Coast. A wonderful place to learn. Check out their classes from this year to get an idea of what may be coming in 2012.

Art and Soul has been host to inspirational mixed media retreats for thousands of creative souls, a place to discover unconventional art techniques. The Portland, Oregon event has come and gone, but there are two more earlier next year.

If you have a place to go to get away from it all for a couple of days, look in to it. Time spent with your Muse can help bring out that creativity that may very well have been laying dormant for awhile.

Knitting

I'm slowly teaching myself how to knit. Well....I know how to knit, I just don't know how to do anything else. When I went to Oregon Flock and Fiber a couple of weeks ago, I found this great yarn. In order to knit the scarf on the label, I have to learn how to purl and yarn over.

Ok...I had bought a book to teach myself all the cool things in knitting some time ago, but haven't really started in on any projects yet. (I think the cool weather kicks in a kind of knitting gene that gets us all wooly fingered.) The book is Teach Yourself Visually - Knitting by Sharon Turner. If you're looking to learn how to knit, take a class and learn from someone who knows. This book is a great reference for those stitches you have learned. And then, practice, practice and more practice. Make a bunch of scarves and you will get those stitches embedded into your head.

So today I sat myself down, between loads of laundry, and purled, dropped a yarn over, did a yarn over and purled a stitch again. I'm getting pretty good at this and I think I'll have a cool looking scarf in the end. Instead of using my Link yarn from Berroco, I found another smaller yarn to learn this technique. I'm happy. Pictures will be here when I finish up this scarf.

Z'oodle Book Prep

I'm almost ready to get volume two of my Z'oodle Color Book Journal off to the printers. I've worked hard this week, between errands and chores, to get everything set up. There seems to be as much computer work as there is drawing time in getting these books out. After the printing, I have to punch the holes for binding, punch the half rounds for the pocket pages, tape those pages shut on the bottom, collate and then coil bind them all. Packaging comes next and I have to get some colored pencils to include with each Color Book.

I worked up a sample book today to see if I liked the position of the drawings and things actually came out right the first time! I love it when that happens! Here it is. I've been coloring on it to show potential customers that they don't need to keep it black and white.

Z'oodle Color Book Journal Volume 2.