Best. Present. Ever.

The other day when Mom came home she had THREE big boxes that she had picked up from the Post Office. She had helped pack them while she was still in CA- boxes of vintage fabric, that is. my aunt and grandma had gone through stuff and sent it to us.

I totally love vintage fabric and it's crazyness, so it was a great surprise!

 I love the teacups and teapots!

 This came with pieces cut out- appliques? I so wish there was more than a quarter yard, this was one of my faves.

 Love the Raggedy Ann and Andy too!

I don't know what I'll do with this stash yet, but the wheels are spinning!

I kept about half for myself, the rest Laura wanted or it was just too ugly! There is good crazy fabric...and bad crazy. Ha ha.

This is also a lesson NEVER to leave pins in your fabric/projects long term- it doesn't take much moisture to cause them to rust! There were a lot of pieces that had rusty pins in it, leaving rusty holes that will hopefully wash out or take some kind of treatment. Some pins were so rusted that they had bonded to the fabric- it took pliers to pull them out!

Creativity

"Attempt to be creative for the joy it brings. After their noble husbands were called home, Sisters Camilla Kimball, Amelia McConkie, and Helen Richards learned to paint. They not only leave legacies of art, but they will never see a sunset, a face, or a tree the same again. They now perceive subtle nuances of color and form and rejoice in the abounding beauty around them.


Select something like music, dance, sculpture, or poetry. Being creative will help you enjoy life. It engenders a spirit of gratitude. It develops latent talent, sharpens your capacity to reason, to act, and to find purpose in life. It dispels loneliness and heartache. It gives a renewal, a spark of enthusiasm, and zest for life."

-Elder Richard G. Scott
"Finding Joy In Life"

The Pin of E

The first assignment for my Fabricating class was to construct something out of sheet metal (copper, brass and nickel silver are your options) using rivets- lengths of tubing or wire that you hammered to make stuff stay in place.

You either had to have a moveable piece or have a depth of at least a quarter of an inch. I decided to make myself a pin using both metals and fabric- the challenge being to have them work well together. It's often difficult to mix media and have it be successful.

The original idea was to have some pieces of photos and negatives riveted in there as well but that didn't pan out. My negatives were too brittle and kept breaking since I was bending them on the curved inner piece. I think I will have to design a flatter pin in order for that to work. The wheels in my head are spinning...

Like most projects, it evolved as I went along. I do like the "E" that I sawed/drilled on the leaf on the left. I backed it with nickel silver to really show the contrast. I started with it first, then did the other leaf, pounding texture into it. I love the rolled edge on the shantung silk- that was a happy accident when I ripped a strip to make the ruffle. The second layer in is pink cotton, which frays when torn.

This is the trial look with the negatives- too busy and no real good way to rivet on a curve, so away they went. This also shows that the copper looked disgusting with the pink until I applied a patina to the metal. I bought several colors of pink fabric because I didn't know what color would look best.

 

You really never know what you're going to get with a patina- sometimes it turns out brown or purple or whatnot. This time it turned my metal black instantly, which turned out to be serandipitous. I sanded back the black so it remained in the crevices yet still left the metal purplish and not bright orange.

Here's a view from the back- I riveted the pin back on, then the leaves and then the other pieces through the middle- a challenge with the cupped in front. Riveting is always easier with two flat surfaces.



I liked how it turned out and do have plans to wear it to upcoming YSA conferences. I have a new gray blazer that I had in mind when selecting the coloring. I had critique today and it went well- mine was one of the more "complete" offerings. My teacher said that she liked this about the best of the metal work she's seen me do (she was also my teacher for Casting two years ago) because it was more personal and interesting.

I like how it combines a lot of the things that I like, that it's a rather personal pin. I love a vintage look and I love making these kind of ruffle flowers. I love fabric. And I love typeography, which is represented in the scrollwork "E". The "E" isn't terribly obvious, it's like a little secret.

It was kinda funny that so many people asked me "Why is there an "E" on your piece?" And I would have to say "Well, E is for Elizabeth" and they would feel so stupid! It's funny to me that everyone knows me as Liz out here- it's almost like having a different personality!

I Love

I love....

My new (well, old) aqua hutch top- it was a birthday present from me to me. Now I have more room for my chotckes!

The patterned paper was already on the back of my bookcase, talk about serendipity! Now I gotta figure out where all my goodies will go.

I love the turn-knob on the cupboard!

I love...

the bathrooms at Quaker Steak and Lube (car stuff everywhere!). Need one of these for my house!

I love...

 fun public art. Yup, all recycled street signs!

I love...

aprons that have aprons on them! Seen at the fair...

I love...

store mannequins that Sir Mix A Lot could sing about...

I love...

vintage circus toys. So wish I took it home!

I love...

cool looking record labels. Took this one home for pennies.

I love...

the headlines in our little town.

What do you love?

Craftyness

I've decided to mostly post the things that I make over on yar crafty blog- I don't really have the time to post things twice. So come on over and sign up! Been posting on Badvertising, too.

So come see what I did with this frame:

and these birds:

But do help me decide....what color should I paint this jewelry box?

It has a fab color of acid green inside:

And next in the line of Cheesy Plastic Stuff To Spraypaint is this large branch with butterflies...what color to paint it? White? Light blue? Aqua? Pink? Black? I just don't know.

It does look kinda cute propped up next to my bed.

Yup, that's an "E" on the wall by my bed- kinda Mary Tyler Moore, but I like it. I'm gonna make it after all.

Update

Well, I've now survived two whole weeks of school. I'm taking Art History (Post war to present), Art Ed, Bio 101 (dang core classes), Fabricating Metals and Woodshop. I like my metals and woodshop the best so far. I have the same teacher as when I took casting two years ago, and I enjoy her. This time around we're manipulating sheets of metal into stuff. I'm riveting these days. ;) Let's hope I can solder better this time around!

This is what I've done so far in class- my practice rivet piece. I think I'm doing a floral pin for my real project. I did a tube rivet at the top so I can put it on a necklace. It turned out kinda big so it'll really be some bling! I'm not really crazy about mixing metals or the hammered texture on the brass, but having a texture was a requirement. I do like the silhouette. The silhouette came from my print last semester, and the outline for the frame came from the gold frame I spraypainted black!

In woodshop I'm learning how to use hand carving tools (while trying *not* to carve my hand) while making an "alien fruit vessel" which is a silly project. I'm basically making something that my teacher will like because I feel so uninspired by this project. The rest of the semester will be spent making a table and I have several ideas floating through my head for that. I'm much more excited for that.

This art history class is about modern art and my teacher is a bit too right brained, she makes little sense and is hard to follow.

My dear friends John and Nancy (from my mission) came to see me Labor Day weekend- we had a nice weekend though I was a bit stressed from having started school. I also worried too much about entertaining them. It made me feel good about myself that people were willing to drive ten hours to come see me. I was excited for my dad to meet John, since they can totally talk shop. Unfortunately Mom was still in CA at the time so she missed out on seeing them. I took them to Presque Isle and then we ate lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube. They got a big kick out of all the car/motorcycle stuff everywhere. It was a nice day.

It was SO windy, we didn't make it to the other lighthouse! Could hardly breathe.

This weekend I got to go to the Sparty Fair with my sis- it's such a little fair that you can do it all in an hour and a half! Love it. We went when it was dark so I could photograph the rides in motion. We also rode a carousel that was SO clunky- you had to hang on for dear life! Something very wrong with it's motor/mechanism.

It was a chilly night, I was glad to have a coat! I rode this ride and I timed it perfect so I was the last one on (instead of having to dangle at the top while it got loaded) but didn't fare so well when unloading. A little nervewracking!

I used to help run a ride just like this when I worked at Enchanted Village many moons ago. Good times.

Well, that's all for now. September and October are filling up fast!

CA: The Rest

We drove from Sonora to the Bay Area, it took a couple of hours but not too long. We just aimed for the fog, ha ha. Both sides of the family reside there and we had timed our trip to coincide with my aunt and cousin coming down from Alaska to surprise my grandfather (dad's dad)- he turned 80! My grandmother knew that my aunt was coming (so she could help make sure my grandfather got to my other aunt's house) but not the rest of us were coming as well. My aunt and cousin showed up the day before we left Sonora, and my grandmother said "Wouldn't it be nice if Rob and all them came too?" and then we showed up the next day on the doorstep! My grandparents were totally surprised! They loved it. They kept joking "Who else is coming?"

My cousin Jen had baby Raegan nearly two years ago, and since they live in Alaska we'd never met the kiddo before. It was great to finally meet her and it was fun to be with her the rest of our trip.

Little Raegan:

Had a couple of Tinkerbelle tea parties, so cute!

The next week and a half was spent mostly with my Dad's side of the family at my aunt's house. Normally I spend more time with Mom's side when we are in SF. Both sides of the family only live about 20 minutes away. I even spent the night at my Chaney grandparents- for the first time. They usually don't have room.

We all (Chaney side) went to the zoo, which was a lot of fun. Haven't been to the SF zoo in forever. It was fun to show Raegan all the animals.

There was a little steam engine that went around in the zoo (it went fast!) and we all rode and Raegan loved it! There was a conductor that sat on it and ran it- I think that's what my dad needs to do when he retires!

I love the old carousel there- it has all kinds of interesting animals!

Carousels make me happy.

Uncle Gary is a diver and catches abalone- one Saturday he went diving and caught the limit- 3. He fixed them and we had seafood that my other aunt sent down from Alaska (they have a boat). Yum!

Pounding abalone to tenderize them:

The shells:

It's not often that we're all together, so I made sure we posed. I  used my timer and tripod and took us some group shots! We've never done anything like this on this big a scale! It's always a challenge to organize people!

And we realized that all the grandaughters were together in one place for the first time ever!

I made sure to take a picture documenting the four generations:

I got to see my little cousins on the other side of the family- they are children of my Mom's cousin so that makes us second cousins.

They had fun running around everywhere and playing in the yard. It was so quiet when they left! They are fun to have around.

Just before we left, we went to visit my Great Uncle Lyman and his wife Jenny. I'd never met them before, they live near Sacramento. It was a real nice evening, they are very sweet and I got to see old photos that I'd never seen before!

I love this crazy walkway in the Detroit airport- it's so hippie with changing lights and sound!

The real downer of the trip was that my grandma (Mom's mom) spent our entire trip and then some in the hospital. She was very sick with an infection (which spread to her blood) on top of all her other health problems. They were also worried aobut her heart. At first she didn't want to eat or move and we were all very worried- was this the end? After she got a transfusion and a blessing then she improved a lot. It was really hard seeing her so frail as well as hearing her scream in pain when the nurses moved her. Mom stayed nearly three weeks in CA after we left to help out. I'm glad to report that Grandma is doing much better- been home for two weeks and is even going out to restaurants. Grandma felt bad that she was in the hospital for our stay, but I'm glad that if it had to happen that we were there and could help out as well as be of some comfort. It was really strange not having her in the house while we were there- I didn't like it.

Farewell, California. Hope to see you soon. ;)

Yosemite: Day 2

We spent the second day in Yosemite in the valley, seeing the mountains from down below. My dad went camping in Yosemite with his family a lot when he was growing up, we saw Camp Curry where they camped. Camp Curry is also where you could watch the firefall back in the day- burning debris was pushed off of Glacier Point creating a waterfall of fire.

They pushed the fire off Glacier Point:

We parked and caught the bus that stopped at all the different places in the valley, there were a lot of tourists (a lot from Europe) so parking was scarce for us to hop from place to place ourselves. We saw the nature center and the visitor center. I wandered through the Ansel Adams Gallery, which was basically a gift shop devoted to Ansel Adams. I bought some cards that had Yosemite images that I liked but hadn’t really seen before, maybe one day I’ll frame them. Ansel Adams is practically synonymous with Yosemite! It was neat to see the locations in his photos for myself and recognize where they were taken.

I liked this photo of him taking pictures back in the day:

The visitor center had this statue of John Muir, who did a lot for Yosemite and environmentalism in general.

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. “ –John Muir

I also liked seeing these old photos of the park:

The visitor center had this section of sequoia that had fallen in the early 1900’s, it was over 1000 years old and was alive during the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the Magna Carta in 1215. Isn’t that incredible?

We ended the day by walking out to Yosemite Falls. A lot of times it is dried up in August, but it still had water this year. It was really pretty, too bad all my up close pics have tourists in them. I liked my pics taken from further away that show the upper and lower falls. I also liked the trees that were growing in the rocks in the stream.

We made it back to the car for a late lunch, we were parked near Yosemite Falls and could also walk and see the sun setting on Half Dome. There was an artist depicting Half Dome with pastels, that was fun to see.

All throughout both days Mom or I found ourselves taking pictures for other tourists, it was kinda funny how often we found ourselves doing that. We had some nice people take our picture too. Also, I had to wonder how many people’s pictures have me in the background? Ever wonder whose photo albums you’re in?