The Art Card Diaspora

Here they are, all eleven of them. Making the cards as a batch was both a challenge and a blast, and I wouldn't have gotten anywhere if I didn't have them all spread out in from of me, ideas and images materializing simultaneously. I've got a new way to work now. Look them all over and find yours - and no complaining ("hey, I like THAT one better... why couldn't I have gotten that one...!") And remember to leave your comments, if you have a moment. Thanks to everyone for your interest and inspiration.

Junking It, Part 2: The Reckoning

It's taken a few days to recover from the shock, but it's time to let it go... After one of my thrift adventures last week I was shuffling through some things in the back floor of the truck. Spotting what I thought was a Lego piece, I picked it up and mentally scolded the boys for leaving parts/pieces everywhere. It appeared to be the clear plastic windscreen "mask" to a Lego-man helmet that had popped off. I picked it up to examine more closely, turning it this way and that, thinking "hmm, it sure got dirty." Then the sickening realization set it like a many-pronged fork - it was a huge fingernail clipping, which could not have originated from our family. Much too large, thick and dirty. I could only assume it rode in on the thrift store finds. Unfortunately, in my horror, I didn't think clearly enough to fling it outside the truck - I simply flung it away from me and somewhere back into the truck's interior. Since then I haven't been able to locate it. It's....still....there...somewhere. You know though, you DO get a lot for your money at those stores.
(Walking Fish Pharoah courtesy of SonWon)

Junking It

It's a case of junk itch. Untreatable with fungus ointments. For reasons unclear, I've been back at the thrift stores speed-trolling for treasures. I purposely visit when there's a time crunch so as to limit myself. I'd abandoned this pursuit some time ago while trying to purge my life of years of excess crap, but as many of you know, this isn't something that just goes away. The stores have been inexplicably crowded, too... maybe people are cruising for post-Christmas cast-offs.. so it's a bit of a turn-off. It's a bummer to see Volvos in the Goodwill parking lot. Even the As-Is section of Sally Ann was bustling and we were dodging each other left and right through the urine-scented air.
Most of my loot has been books ripe for the chopping block... now if I could figure out what to do with them. Years of Catholic schooling has paralyzed me to the idea of cutting, ripping, writing in or in any way disfiguring a (cue the organ music...) BOOK. Well, I do it all now anyway, but only once I've got a clear plan, which is an awfully constrained way to approach "creativity." I managed to get through all of college never once marking or highlighting a textbook. Then grad school.... with minimal underlining and lightly penciled margin notes. Call me wild.
If this thrifting continues, I may end up with platform boots, several fish bowls and some Herb Alpert LPs (and nothing to play them on).
(Siamese Birds courtesy of SonToo)

Canine Exemption Clause

Notice in the previous post there were no self-imposed restrictions for blabbing on about my puppy.
To spare all of you except for the hard-core boxer lovers, it's suffice to say that we are still in the D & D Phase: Defecation and Destruction, which rarely fall under the cute umbrella (and here, hard-core boxer lovers may disagree). Thankfully, the errant tootsie rolls around the house are becoming rare (but much larger), though we've seen enough disemboweled Santa ornaments to last a lifetime.

This Is The Blog That Isn't

As an inaugural blog, I have little to say. Thanks to those who have encouraged me to bother starting up; this move was intended to invite, or cajole, more traffic toward my Etsy shop and I can only hope it has something of an effect. Let me state that I am on high alert concerning this blog - specifically, I live in fear that it will degenerate into a monologue about what I ate for breakfast or what cute antics my kitty cat did today. (Not having a cat is a big help around this particular pot hole.)

Ground rules for myself, as a start:
1) No use of the terms "constantly evolving"... "installation" (except when used as a derisive description)... "put a smile on your face"... "artisan"
2) No mention of breakfast.
3) More groundrules will eventually be necessary.