Been Gone So Long.

Not that I have a regular posting schedule to begin with, but I've definitely missed writing for the last few weeks. It's been crazy, taking care of Mom in Ohio, funeral in Kansas, taking care of my house after being gone ten days, working, sleeping, another craft fair, and a visitor from Louisville. So finally, here I am, sitting in front of my computer, recapping my last three weeks.

Unfortunately, I have nothing else for you today, except that I'm hoping this will get me back into a habit of blogging.

Also: CURRENT PROJECT!! (capital letters make things seem more important)

Behold the workspace.

Closeup!

Later Kids!

Handmade Christmas: First Try

To tag on to my last post, I signed up for another craft show. (Indoor, this time. See? I'm learning!) Anyway, it's one of those XMAS XTRAVANGZA type shows, so to get myself in the spirit, and also just because I love Christmas, I'm about to write a string of blog entries about Handmade Christmas.

You might think, "Oh, this girl just wants to make all this stuff to sell it at her next show." You would be wrong. It's also because I'm super poor and cannot afford to buy Christmas decorations, so I'm stuck making all of my own. Fortunately, I am a well-educated liberal arts Art major, so I have the skills. (Yeah, take that "practical" majors.)

This week, my goal was to figure out how to make clay Christmas tree ornaments. As it turns out, it wasn't that hard. The mosaic pieces were a little tricky on the first one, but the balls retained their shape quite well. Plus, these clay ornaments are super hard to break! Which is even better, because the worst thing about glass Christmas ornaments is the whole shatter-when-they-drop-things. Nothing like having to pick up and vacuum 5 million tiny glass shards with sharp, stabby edges. Even if you managed to break one, these clay balls will not threaten to injure you. Yay!

A couple hours, and a little trial and error and Voila! My first tree ornaments! Two inches in diameter, hard to break, and they look good on my tiny Christmas tree!

Look at us! We're all fancy with our gold centers and lace background!

So the first set of three went off without a hitch, but my tiny Christmas tree was going to be pretty bare if I just stopped with the red ones. So I made gold ones, at about half the size of the first set. They were way easier, being smaller, since the mosaic surface area was a lot less. And I thought the gold and green was pretty together :)

Look here, we have a regal color pallette. We can't be bothered with your humdrum "holiday" musings.

So finally, I have enough ornaments made to decorate half of my 24 inch Christmas tree! Good thing I'm starting now. Anyway, here's my little tree, in all of his half-decorated glory. At least I'm doing better than Charlie Brown!

 Party on the Christmas tree!

 I ran out of funny captions for this guy...

Well, that's all for now. Tune in next time for another exciting edition of Whatever I Feel Like Writing! Just kidding, I really will keep writing about handmade Christmas stuff.

Weekend of Fun #1: Carbondale Street Fair

Hello, loyal readers (all three of you)!

I was hoping to get around to writing this sooner, but it's been pretty busy around here lately. I started work, had a couple eventful weekends in a row, and got another pet (RJ jr, but more on that later). But alas, Sam has to go to a dinner with his advisor, so now it's just me, my computer, and a glass of my favorite cheap moscato. What else is a girl to do except blog?

 Seriously, it's Barefoot Moscato. Sorry to all the wino's who are rolling their eyes right now.

So to catch up on all of the goings-on, two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of selling at my first craft fair ever! I spent whole week doing nothing but making mosaics from the show. Making earrings, necklaces, window mosaics, and business cards all morning, day, and evening! Sam was ready for it to be all over. My house fell into disarray; I stopped showering and sleeping; I started talking to myself and even making up alternate realities and storylines for all of my pieces!! Okay, that last sentence was a lie, but my house did get really messy.

And this was just my workstation. Imagine what the rest of the house looked like!

We finally got there, and it was a... learning experience. There were quite a few "less-than-ideal" things about the show, but they were mostly balanced out by something good. So, in typical Alyssa fashion, here's my list of the bad/good things about the show:

1) Not very many people came to the show, and most who did were there for the wine, BUT I did make over twice my entrance fee! Plus, everybody wanted to touch my mosaics, so at least I know they are interesting!
2) There was a weird giant metal wine glass in front of us, but all of the drunk people loved it and took pictures with it.

It's just a big wine glass! I don't get it!

3) The music was local and the first band consisted of high schoolers, but those kids were seriously talented.
4) It was extremely cold, but one of the wineries gave us warm sangria for sharing our power strip!
5) It was also super windy, but none of my displays blew over because they were just open frames!

 So there it is. My first craft show. All in all, I wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact, it was so not-terrible, I signed up for another show in November! All for now, later, kids!

Wall Hangings: Glimpses of Eccentricity

That title might be a little bold. But as I was looking around the house this morning, it occurred to me that we have some weird things showcased on our walls.

It started out innocently enough. I just wanted to make the house seem more lived-in, but Sam and I (okay, mostly me) like some weird things. Also, the whiteness of the walls has caused me to compulsively cover them with anything and everything I can find. (In fact, I ran out of 3M poster hanging tape today. I even put it on my grocery list, although it's probably for the best right now.)

Anyway, as I started going around and actually looking at all the things I have taped together on the wall, it started to get a little strange. Sure, it started out normal, but the typical "crazy cat-lady"only started with one mild-mannered cat too. Before you know it, she's covered in scratches, she can't find her tv remote under the fur shed all over, and she's got seven cats that sleep in her bed while she's demoted to the couch, (not unlike the girl who lived in this house before us.)


Exhibit #1: The Normal Things
Not everything on my wall is weird. I have some very typical things. Like this nice clock, or this picture frame full of people that I love.

Exhibit #2: Nature Things
This isn't weird either, not by my standards anyway. My husband is a fisheries major and we do to do things outside! It's perfectly reasonable that we would have a scientific fish poster, a witty "Fisherman Lives Here" sign, and a sentimental paper cut of a great outdoor scene. 

Exhibit #3: Alphonse Mucha?
Here we start to digress from the previous theme. Yes, I am an artist, but I get that an Alphonse Mucha design study doesn't really fit the mood we set. Weird? Not necessarily, but perhaps it is a little out of place. 

Exhibit #4: Old Winking Man?!
Seriously?! Where did this guy even come from? Why did I agree to hang him on my wall right above my computer? Why is he looking so seductively at everyone?! 

Exhibit #5: Pandas. There are pandas everywhere.
This is perhaps the most disturbing trend because I didn't realize it until recently. Yes, I have a lot of panda things, I always have. But I really did leave a lot of things at home when I moved! I only have two panda wall hangings. 

But as I started looking and cleaning, I discovered my walls are not the only place the pandas are lurking. On my night stand, my panda necklace....

Under my craft desk, a panda trash can....

And in my closet!!! The horror!!!!

Okay, so maybe the stuff on my wall isn't that weird. But the title says "eccentric," not weird. And it is definitely eccentric. Plus, the winking guy is totally weird. And I do have a potentially unhealthy amount of panda things. (Actually, I'm pretty excited about having the cute little guys with me all the time.)

Until my next update on the status of my house, (or whatever catches my fancy next time I feel like writing) I hope my pandas brightened your day :)