potential t-shirt art

Dorking around with the drawing tablet and software. Doodles get multiplied and become mandalas through the power of pixels.

Bamboo Tablet

Just got my Christmas gift from me in the mail... a Bamboo pen and Tablet set. I wish Dad were here to see this thing! Under 200 bucks and it seems like just the thing for drawing on the computer... even going through the tutorial, I'm able to draw with the pressure sensitive pen 100% better than with a mouse. Oh my!

unusual precipitation... AGH!

Record breaking snowfall for the month of November, starting Nov. 12 and turning to rain on the 28th. Sure, I live in Alaska and expect snow but it's been 16 days, barely over 2 weeks and we have had over 9 feet of snow. Seriously.
This is when I could actually see that street light and that house from my door. About a week ago. This is today at about 8 a.m. when another 18 inches had fallen over night
Both vehicles were cleared of snow when we went to bed. Behind the truck (blob on the right) is the snowbank that blocks the view in the first picture... it's been built by a back hoe so it's rock solid mountaineering type snow now.

This roof top snow removal has happened 3 times on the flat part of the roof. It's crazy and exciting all at once, we have doubled or tripled the usual November snowfall in 16 days! But I'm a little tired of digging.

A couple of things...

I'm going to go backward a little because the big news is the weather. Huh. Must be November in Alaska! This isn't "that" storm, the one that whipped the west coast of the state.
That storm was essentially in the Dakotas and I live in Tennessee. This storm is sort of the little brother of that storm, all showing off and fluffy but not as dangerous as the one they suffered. We are getting loads of snow, but we don't have the Bering sea trying to eat our houses.

Any way for the first time since I've been in Haines, the state has deemed the highway between here and the rest of the world "undriveable" I've heard them call it difficult, I've heard them say "fair" driving conditions include ice, snow, freezing rain, black ice and drifting snow... but it's a drive fail today.
This is the usual view out my window... I can't take that picture this morning because the snow on the car is blocking the way!
So this is at an angle to that view, car on the left woodshed on the right... It is beautiful out there but I am glad I'm not trapped out the road today! In the summer I want to live at 26 mile, today I'm happy to live at 1 mile.

Going back in time:
Bull kelp collected by Capt. Norman Hughes of the fishing vessel Chilkat. Turned into:
Pickles! Dill and bread and butter. I never knew sweet pickle coloring comes from Turmeric. It was fun, but my pot isn't tall enough to boil the big jars so they're raw and crunchy... the little jars are perfect, I have a new canning obsession.

When you don't post very often...

You end up with a mash-up of ideas in one post...

Today: a roller coaster day. Snow! but no dog to romp in it...ok, I'll walk to town just for fun. WHAM! don't need to fall again this year, I do a serious crash once a year. Jeezus, I think I was airborne 3 feet of the ground the second time I slipped!

Got most of the way to town and the guy drove past...then turned around to pick me up. We rode over to get coffee and chat with Sarah J. (If you're from here and reading this, please support her, it's the only way we'll keep her little coffee place open). Then we went to a friend's apartment to... change a light bulb??? Does anyone else here get really annoyed when female friends play damsel in distress a little too often? She didn't even know where the switch was for the light, so we didn't know if it was the bulb or... Swallowing a big batch of feminism here.

Stopped on the way home at Olerud's meat and grocery store (again if you live here, they are getting some fine produce there, support!) where I got to gab with a friend (who grumbled about the damsel thing too) and I realized that Faith T. is working there. When I first met Faith, she had a chemo port in her chest and no hair... now she's got a job and a lot of lovely curly hair!!

Painting wee pictures wasn't working, beading little trees is fine and dandy. A roller coaster day.

The missing photos

Here's the current flock of birds, a few with long necks but mostly the short chicken shaped variety. Most of them have party hats unless they were just too cute with out hats. Every year, they crack me up more, silly birds.
...and the cat doing her best to be pet of the month. She's doing a commendable job too... cute when it's needed, haughty when her vastness is insulted.

The cat is doing her best

To take the place of the finest mad dog ever...and she's doing a pretty good job. I dog sat a border collie mix for a few days and the cat growled and hissed it into trembling terror, the old dog was a fierce fighter.

Well crap. Blogger won't upload the cat picture, so I assume it won't let you see the flock of felted birds either.

Life is tumbling towards winter here, Norman brought me more wood so my stove is happily blazing away even on "not so cold" days. The garden is under a load of seaweed and bulbs are planted. I put bulbs and strawberry plants all over the dogs grave.

Market Moments were a short lived blog feature a few years ago, now bookstore moments come to mind. I was receiving an order of books from our usual distributor last week when I came across something called "Wishes and Stitches". The author's name looked familiar... Rachael Herron. I bought it right away, she writes the blog Yarn a gogo. Check it out, she's very friendly and has a striped cat you can enjoy since blogger won't let me show you another Biscuit photo.

Rest in Peace, Dear Friend

She's gone to that great field in the sky where she can pounce on voles and dance by the light of the moon. Love and laughter old dog, thanks for sharing your life with me.

It's that time of year again. There's snow creeping (running!) down the sides of the mountains and the leaves are falling. The last cruise ship cancelled their docking due to bad weather in the gulf, they were trapped in Seward by a storm. The local news has a running tally of moose harvested in the fall hunt. 12 with one illegal animal killed and unceremoniously dumped in the Fish and Game parking lot.

...and it's time to switch from summer beading to fall/winter felt birdies! The new model is fatter and shorter than the last years bird. The blue dude above is a last year bird, I haven't taken a picture of one of the more stout version.

It's been raining like mad, land sliding and rivers flooding type rain. The garden went from zucchini over load imminent to rot and mold in less than a week. I hope it turns to snow before November because dark and rain is just not nice. To put it mildly.

drive to the rest of Alaska

Happy Duck (seen early spring in Haines at the annual Norman Hughes Birthday Bash/Aloha Party)


Happy Duck and I took a little trip to Anchorage this past week. That involves a drive through Canada, but first a duck needs some clothes. So I knitted him a little sweater. Happy Duck became sweater duck with a little sock yarn and some careful tailoring. Wee little wings and a big belly.



First thing is making it to the summit of the pass... Sweater Duck is posing by the lower right side of the sign, glad to be wearing his new gear.


It's summer so there's a lot of construction on the way to the rest of Alaska, we stopped to wait for pilot cars at least twice, maybe 3 times.

The 3rd time, I drew the picture for a little variety...I'll find that and add it in, sort of like the new pie picture down below in the other post.

Baking a pie, want some?

The cherry tree is dripping with cherries, birds are gleefully eating all the fruit and the nosy neighbors are again suggesting bears will come attack the tree. They're warning me about a bear that was in the neighborhood 4 years ago...
It's a pie cherry tree but some of them are pick off the tree and eat them sweet! So... of course I decided rather than bead a necklace I'd make my first cherry pie with my first real (not mom's hippy cheater recipe) pie crust.

I've been buying and swapping and collecting cookbooks lately, bread books and classic books and crock pot books and healthy books and potluck books. This town is mad for potlucks. I looked in all the logical places including the pies and tarts book for a recipe for fresh cherry pie filling. Yeah, I know it's that easy... but you'd think the beginner book would at least mention how to make really easy cherry pie filling. Nope. Internets.



Cherry picking helper was way more useful than the multiple pretty pictures cookbooks. Nothing like a cat that doesn't mind the rain.





edited to add the pie, long gone now but oh so delicious! After the road trip (above) the birds had eaten most of the cherries so this pie is a one-off for 2011.

summmmmer

That's a sweet pea flower in one part of the garden... I'm thinking the whole "mixed" package is pink unless pink blooms before all the others. Oh well, I like pink. pink pink pink.

The 3rd cord of wood is languishing in the driveway... it's hot out! Look at that thermometer, I mean really it's all the way above ... ok, so it's not nearly as dreadfully hot as all that. Nothing like what they're suffering in the midwest and the way east. It's only approaching 80 in really sheltered areas like right in front of my woodshed. BUT. I can't stack wood above 60 degrees, it's in my contract.
That is pure compost geekery! I stuck my meat thermometer in the pile... nearly 150 degrees of composting goodness. I have been getting coffee grounds and lettuce from the job (see below) that I am probably going to quit soon. Is it wrong to keep a job for the composts' sake? (yes)

Got wood, got jobs, got summer... need more time? I think I need to quit the secondary job so I have time to paint the house (again, some more) make art for the fall fairs, make beadwork for Extreme Dreams (even though they're charging a higher consignment rate this year) and most importantly so I don't work with those bitchy girlz any more.

took a dive out of crow pose today

Oh wait, Yoga Journal calls it a crane, not a crow. Either way I saved my forehead by landing on my knee... I haven't gone to yoga class for months and today was a Marnie Day. She teaches a fairly tough flow style class. Meaning you don't get time to rest if you don't want to...and it was good. Exactly what I needed except for the near face plant.

I've been slightly off my game lately between the really long daylight hours (sleep is weird) and the 'extra' job that involves loud talking 20 somethings with lotsa dra-ma in their lives. ...and the lack of regular art or exercise.

I got out the paints this week and did some yoga today. nod.

Spring business

Counting tree rings is pretty cool, this thing is half the diameter of a stump my friend Norm cut down. It's huggable in size, I can lift it to carry it back out to the wood shed... it's over 400 years old! Some decades were good and there are easily counted rings about 1/8 of an inch apart, some eras weren't so good and they're all packed together. This baby was alive when Q.E. I died!

This wasn't as fun. The dog was growing another tumor on her face (sqeam warning) I sent this photo to the vet in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada and a week later drove about 6 hours to camp a night then drop her off for the day for an exam and surgery. 750 bucks later the big icky lumps are gone! I wanted to take her to a real vet so she didn't have to be under anesthesia for too long, she's 15 and has had many other surgeries..didn't want to risk complications from being put under. It was a long and tiring trip, but she's lookin' pretty good with her new Elvis sneer. They had to take part of her lip off to get the big icky bump.
What else is going on... No beading or knitting for a while, I'm working two jobs and it's summer gardening time. There's a flock of tomato plants on the front porch ...
Living in a sort of a greenhouse made of salvaged windows. The one behind the two red pots slides open so the can can get in and out. Very handy because I can leave the door open and the dog won't amble away. This is an old picture they're all about 4x this size and looking lovely. The big one on the right has flowers and a couple of wee green toms too!

birds of spring

Junco for the watershed council's birding contest... He looks better in person. I don't think I like doing realistic birds, but these are the first ones. Can't really put a party hat on a 'real' bird.


Felt birds for the watershed council's birding contest. The one on the left is supposed to be a robin but he looks pretty damn silly to me.
One of the 'renters' of the old bird house. I made a second house but so far no one has moved in, but they seem to like this old faded house well enough.

see there's a reason for being gone

Another cuff! I haven't done one that's not an all seed beads all the time picture so I did a cab cuff. Kind of fun. I needed to do something different and need to keep the cuff inventory growing. May first is the gallery opening, I'd like to have my case looking good for opening day!

moving right along

Whoohoo! Beading like a fiend...almost said "beading up a storm" but have too many weather issues to say that! (old boat habits die hard) Another cuff for the gallery, now there are 3 so I am feeling almost 'ahead' in that area. Need to put the thumbs on some mittens before it gets so warm the customer doesn't need them next.

black birds cuff

Getting more stuff ready for next summer in the gallery. I've been working on the cabs and haven't done any cuffs! When I went to my "beaded shit" folder to get this picture I discovered most of my cuffs from last year were made in early March...must be a good time of year for beads!

venting

Small town b.s. My boss's birthday was the end of January, my neighbor and good acquaintance Linda and my boss are friends. Linda asked me if I would do a screen print of Van Morrison for Liz (boss). Sure, sounds good. Linda expected me to design it, I said no it's your gift, you find an image and we'll posterize it for a one off screen print. She found an image, I touched it up. She bought a sweatshirt, I printed it. The sweatshirt was too small for Liz. That was my fault apparently because I said "I think a medium is big enough". After finding out it was too small, Linda called me and said "I know Liz better, that sweatshirt was too small" Or something along those lines. Liz then bought herself a new sweatshirt...asked me if it needed to be washed first, I said no you can just give it to me an I'll print it. She said (something like) no, I'll get it to you on my own time after I wash it. Well.... a month later I have taken the stencil off the screen and Liz (prompted by Linda) brings the shirt to my house. I

I feel like shit because I didn't reserve one of my 2 screens with Linda's stencil on it... I told Liz it would be a while because I need to re do the screen...Liz said oh no, that's ok. sigh. I SAID I'd re do it, dammit. Even though I don't want to... Linda only bought the first shirt and found the image, it's her fucking gift to Liz and I feel bad because I got tired of waiting for the replacement sweatshirt and wanted to use my screen. AGH.

we revisit the home of the lazy blogger one month later

I have been a lazy blogger but a busy beader! Svenson's (gallery owners) have been enthusiastic about smaller more affordable cabs and seeds type necklaces, so I've been making more. I need to work on bracelets too but they're more time consuming and I don't feel consumed.
The first one on the left and the middle one are fossilized coral, there's some green jasper in the one that was in the previous post (second from the left) the far right is a bone face with some poppy jasper and the second from right is unknown but I think it's agate.

I've been getting some really nice cabs from Lima Beads where they have a lunch special every Tuesday. I love shopping for art supplies in the winter, and with a gallery wanting more bead work...yum!

smaller, more affordable

Working on making pendants with cabs, trying to figure out how they should hand from a neck. In person, this looks o.k., here I don't like it. The left side beads seem too small, the right side too jumbled in color. If I'm going to use semi precious stones as the necklace part, they need to be simple and dark...garnets.

second neck piece

Learned a lot making the first one, this was 100% easier. Less b.s. starting with using black pellon and not gluing the ultra suede on the back. It is for a swap with a friend here, she's going to be making me a mosaic mirror. The big stone and the malachite are from her father's collection, he cut and polished them.

first beads

First beadwork of the new year is adding a picot stitch to the edge of this to sew the ultrasuede on the back. It's part of a necklace to be swapped for a mosaic mirror done by my friend Sharon Svenson, woot!

determined creativity.

The guy climbing the ice fall is leaving on the ferry tonight. He's going to be gone until March on his annual trip to Washington and Hawaii. I'm trying not to miss him already. I'm going to use the time to be as creative as possible, make bracelets, make felt, make screen prints. We have an interesting relationship: two very independent loners hanging out together pretending it's all casual and stuff.
Today's screen print is "raygun" I have some flowers and scrolly girly stuff on the same screen right now but I just wanted to do the raygun! A touch of the steampunk.

Each of these runs involves learning something new... sharpie drawing on acetate is not as good as actual inkjet printing. The inkjet is more opaque and makes a better photo stencil. The photo emulsion sheets sold with the Yudu printer are lame and expensive. The sheets sold by Dharma for less than half the price are mailed in a stiff/flat package and are much better at adhering to the screen. Last of all: the amount of ink on the screen needs to be proportional to the size of the part of the image you're printing...as in you don't need so much for the skinny part of the ray gun as you need for the grip end. (yeah, I know...Keen sense of the obvious)