annaline_39

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:25:33 GMT

Happy Birthday aisling I hope you had a glorious day!

does anyone remember "TTPO"

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:24:19 GMT

Back in the day one of the things I remember doing on the rubberstampers mail list was a "TTPO" swap where we sent odd things through the mail to each other. One of the things I sent was a little plastic child's chair. No box or anything, just a label with the address on it. My friend Beth was annoyed when I mailed her a jumbo spatula, because she had to pick it up at the trailer park office and they were teasing her about it.

My friend Kevinn recently moved to FL (10 miles from my inlaws! go figure) and is looking for mail.

Does anyone here know if we can still do stuff like put labels on spatulas and just send them through the mail? If anyone would appreciate that, I know Kevinn would, esp since he works for the post office. (Yeah, I could ask him, but that would give the element of surprise away).

Thanks!

Writer's Block: Commercial Appeal

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:28:01 GMT

What is your favorite commercial from your childhood? Bonus points if you include a video of it.

View 502 Answers

Writer's Block: Lights Out

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:35:53 GMT

All it takes is a blackout to realize how much we rely on electricity. What's your most memorable story from a power outage?

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Ha ha ha. Which one? The one where I had an infant and it was 105F overnight and we didn't have $ for a hotel, or the one where it was 5F overnight and our town loses water when it loses power for a length of time and we spent two days uptown at the coffee shop and took showers at the homes of friends? I guess I'd have to go with the 5F overnight because that one lasted two days and the trip into town the first night of the outage was so eerie with everything being coated in ice and it being pitch black everywhere because of no power....

Writer's Block: Fashion Forward

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:33:13 GMT

What do you think we'll be wearing twenty years from now?

Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.

View 500 Answers

One giant snuggie

Being Wooed

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:06:54 GMT

Ah the siren call of the beads. I think it is the sparkling quality of light this time of year, the many facets of the color and energy as it comes through the humidity in the morning. Every so often I swear me and beads are finished, over with, how can I make a good body of work in a medium that takes me so long? I look at Bead and Button and Beadwork magazine and feel sick to my stomach at the amount of time it would take to make those projects and think "no, not me, I'm sticking to quilting".

Ha.

Ha ha.

Ha ha ha.

Yeah, today I was up in the studio. Picking beads. I did have an agenda this time, unlike the last time I was upstairs to play with beads (which ended highly unsatisfyingly). I want to create something magical, something with shape and texture and which tells a story, and to that end I decided to go with a mermaid theme.

The beads came together quickly, as they often do, once I know what I'm looking for. I have a great pile on the sewing table, and I culled down to the basic beginnings, which include three colors of seed beads and some ceramic faces from Earthenwood Studios, a handfull of seed pearls and a large shell cabochon I bought way back when from Rosalie at Beads, Ltd. in Vienna VA.

It's probably going to be wearable, because I loved having my magic with me when I go out into the world. Other than that I don't know. I'm taking my little pistol case to Donkey and beginning this afternoon.

I'm so excited I can hardly sit here and tell y'all.

I'll upload pictures probably after tonight's festivities (Izzy is doing a car show with his Boy Scout troop and we may stay; I may get some reference photos of the cars for another series in the quilts).

What can I say? I'm bicraftual. :)

Hope y'all have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Writer's Block: When I Was Young

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:06:10 GMT

What do you miss most about being a kid?

Submitted By daeinleyof

View 505 Answers

Summer vacation/road trips with my grandparents in their RV. Sometimes they were spring vacations, as the time we went to Holland MI for the annual tulip festival. We also went to the Upper Peninsula at one point, visiting Tequomenon Falls and Whitefish Bay, and I have happy memories of swinging at a playground in the early morning fog on that trip. We also picked blueberries and went to the Call of the Wild museum in Gaylord MI, we had so much fun.

Beading Book Giveaway at my other blog

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:04:10 GMT

Hi, y'all, some of you may not know that I have 8
designs in the recently published Beading With World Beads available from
Lark Books. They've generously donated a copy for me to give away at my
blog, you can read all about it here
http://andibeads.blogspot.com/2009/06/beading-with-world-beads-giveaway.html
Please pass along to anyone who may be interested. Thanks!

Writer's Block: Conversion Rate

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:43:41 GMT

Have you ever considered converting to another religion?

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I was considering it when dating Marty at the beginning (from Christianity to Judaism). Is it really converting if you are already that religion but want to attend a different sect? I love love love the Greek Orthodox cathedral in Columbus and attended vespers during the Greek Festival last fall. I would attend that church if we lived closer.

Writer's Block: Talking Ducks

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:36:46 GMT

Happy birthday, Donald Duck! Which cartoon character do you think is the most disturbing?

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I'm not really sure about cartoon character, but I had this set of Bible stories which were lavishly illustrated by Basil Wolverton, and some of those images were pretty disturbing; he really got into depicting boils, etc for the plagues of Egypt... (OTOH I really loved the picture of Adam being created, I could practically feel the texture of the sand he appeared to be coming out of)

Writer's Block: Grimm Question

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:01:44 GMT

What was your favorite fairy tale as a child?

Submitted By wolfy284

View 503 Answers

Snow White and Rose Red, I think, from the wonderful red and gold Grimm's collection my Gran bought for me. There was wonderful fabric that was like the endpapers in the book. I still have the tattered quilt she made from it. :)

Writer's Block: Rabbit Rabbit!

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:30:34 GMT

It's the first day of the month. If you could have one wish come true this month, what would it be?

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To hear from and sell a piece to the collector I touched base with last week. Barring that, a well-paying job for Marty that lasts more than a month. :)

Can You Help Me Out?

Tue, 26 May 2009 14:07:26 GMT

I am working on my artist statement for the grant this fall as well as for my Artful Home application. I'm having a hard time clarifying and actually just talking about one or two points. Alyson B. Stanfield suggests you ask an impartial person some of these questions to help see how others view your work and what they may want to know that you think is obvious.

http://www.embellishmentcafe.com/NEWwallgallery.htm
for images of the work (for the grant I am using the water tower body of work; for Artful Home I will be including a bit more broader range, but all are pieced and appliqued)

http://andibeads.blogspot.com/2008/09/water-towers-lifelong-passion.html
for just the water towers

Now for the questions. If you can answer any or all of them or if you have any other questions you can think of I would really appreciate it. (and there are no wrong answers and no stupid questions). Thank you in advance!

1. Do you have art in your home? Tell me about it, why you selected it, what drew you to it, what you love about it.

2. What do you find most interesting about my work? What are you attracted to?

3. What do you find least interesting? Distracting? Puzzling?

4. What would you like to know about how it was made, displayed, and so on?

5. Does it remind you of anything in your life? Or recall a memory for you?

6. Is there anything you would like to know about me or my background?

Thank you *so* much! And please don't hesitate to ask if you would like me to help you with this kind of process!

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:57:24 GMT

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
30
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Sat, 16 May 2009 23:50:43 GMT

http://www.cantonart.org/3
The Shape of Fashion: Hats and Handbags May 15-July 26 2009

Yay! :D

Fri, 15 May 2009 22:41:21 GMT

So I signed up for the Artella "Make Change with Your Muse" program. Each day I get an emailed lesson, with an art project (so far there have been 3; a daily art project would be too overwhelming since these are art projects with intention, not just playing) journal prompts and actions to take to help your sense of personal abundance and prosperity. A lot of the "change" talked about isn't really change in the money sense, it is change as in changing your outlook etc. I'm really enjoying it but haven't really found time to sit and do much more than prep my "change purse". I'm hoping to do something with it over the weekend.

The show at Casa is hung, and we defintely will need more art for July's show. I will look through my larger work and see what we can put up. I didn't realize the ceilings were so high there, and several of the pieces I brought were just too small. I am plum wore out now, between hanging the show and doing 50 minutes on the bike path this morning (in the spirit of "when there's nothing left to burn, set yourself on fire"; I have burned through all my books etc and needed to do something truly physical instead of sitting at home or in a cafe w/notebook and computer).

Aisha hurt her back in a diving incident on Wednesday, but is doing much better now. (in the words of Buddy from Night Court). She's going to try to drive up to Kent to see Jon for his birthday. I'm doing the worried mom thing til she gets there/changes her mind.

That's all the news that's fit to print for now. Oh, and we got Ed back from the dealership. Shawn told me that $50 more and he would've been totalled. So so relieved. So nice to have our car back. Tomorrow is the International Street Fair uptown and I am looking forward to my roast corn ears and coconut rice pudding wrapped in banana leaves :) (If we hadn't gotten the car back, Aisha was still planning on going to Kent, so I am glad to have the car back).

Hope you all had a really great day! :D

Thu, 14 May 2009 15:46:54 GMT

Frida has posted "Shopping by the Seasons" http://fridagoodhome.blogspot.com

Given my druthers I would eat more farmer's market stuff, and once we are down another kid or two I'm sure things will change, but for now, yes, I buy processed food. But I make a lot from scratch as well. :)

Wed, 13 May 2009 12:46:45 GMT

Happy birthday machinarex I hope you have a great day! :D

Writer's Block: When I Grow Up

Mon, 11 May 2009 22:03:42 GMT

Do you ever do anything now that you swore you would never do when you were younger? What is it?

View 504 Answers

Say "Because I said so" to my kids. ;)

Thoughtful Thoughts Thinking

Fri, 08 May 2009 14:43:13 GMT

Because of that wonderful line in "Help" something along the lines of "I am a good shot, shooting" :) Who doesn't love the line of form fitted pants under a full tunic? (I also loved Emma Peel and Julie Newmar's Catwoman, what can I say?)

We are in the in between again, that odd place that some call "falling through the cracks" but is more like a place where time, while not standing still, gives us a little breather from being what the world considers "normal". I have signed on for Eric Maisel's month-long "productive obsession" group, and have set myself a goal of getting into the studio from 1-4 M-F in order to produce the big pieces that look so good in the museum settings. I have managed to get upstairs every day so far, not for the full three hours yet, life and allergy induced headache/lethargy got in the way.

Focusing on the work enables me to put aside the constant anxiety about the job situations, as when every time I was pregnant I had this odd sense of being safe/protected/free of all responsiblity except growing the new life we had made. Not really realistic, but the relaxation of letting go of the stress enabled me to be more productive and efficient in my life because it didn't matter as much. I had, as they say "bigger fish to fry".

Last night we went to see the poet/author Kim Addonizio give a lecture/reading on campus. She talked about mining already existing stories and myths for source material, about writing about the characters on the edge of well known stories, such as the current trend toward books about people like Jo's father in the new book "March" and of course Gregory McGuire's series of revisited fairy tales and stories. I had an epiphany about a story that's been percolating in my head about characters from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that it doesn't have to be a novel, it can be a poem, and I am excited about playing with the idea again.

Words have been begging to come out, while I am sewing my head is filled with words: Frida telling me about blog posts we can write, ways to maybe help other people find good even in the middle of this economy, thoughts about the creative process that are "profound" and "thoughtful" and "mature" and all those things that all those "other" bloggers manage to write, but which stop just at the end of my fingertips when I sit down to actually write them, even though I know they are in there. (I am seriously considering a recorder to use while I am sewing, because this is maddening).

And I close with this, a sort of prose poem/morning page/free write that I made this morning, describing my trip home earlier this week in this place of magic and wonder:

"Green grass on the hills short and fuzzy like down on a baby duck. The mists surround the hills, bringing the sky to the ground once more. The words itch, they burn, they beg to come out and play, to do the somersaults and cartwheels I could not do. I hear the wet whoosh of the wheels as they slice through the water as we speed along through this landscape where gods used to walk. Today no gods, just me in a turquoise Tempo."

Writer's Block: Swine Times

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:51:26 GMT

Are you worried about catching the swine flu? Do you have a plan for avoiding contagion or dealing with quarantine?

View 501 Answers

Not worried, but kind of stung after being iced out of power and water for two days in January

Shelter in place:
duct tape (Red Green's best friend)
the jug of water per day per family member
maybe fort "no pooping" set up (in case any services got disrupted)
already have dozens of cans of tuna (make sure we have can opener!)
dried beans and rice
peanut butter
staples: flour, sugar, yeast, salt, baking powder, baking soda
dried milk

not sure what else. first aid stuff? coffee? paper towels?

Writer's Block: Celebrating Friendships

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:50:08 GMT

Over the past ten years, many friendships have started and/or been renewed on LiveJournal. Of your current LJ friends, who have you known the longest?

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moderngypsy She's the one who sent me my code to sign up with, but I also have known meinoel , bluejenaand boodzoo , about the same amount of time. It's been so long it's hard to remember who I found/met where :)

Blogging the hair

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:34:26 GMT

Maybe one day I will do one of those "before and after" posts/shots but for now http://andibeads.blogspot.com

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:51:54 GMT

Just posted on my blog "How to Get Ahead in Life" http://andibeads.blogspot.com

Because He's Only 10, and Obviously My Kid

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:57:27 GMT

Izzy is reading his history book. He says "OK, if BC means Before Christ, then AD must mean After Dinosaurs"
Then he doesn't understand and gets angry when Ben and I fall down with laughter... :)