Paths Taken

I've been really enjoying making toys lately. It's fun. It's therapeutic. But, I've also noticed that I am putting off painting. This happens to me, more frequently than it should. I can easily overcome my nervousness by just doing it, which I will do soon. I realize that I let this happen to me too often. A lot of anxiety about making art is wrapped up in fear of failure, or even fear of success. There is even a certain amount of fear in just putting what you've made "out there" for people to see. Art is personal, and no matter what form it takes, it expresses who you are on some level. I'm comfortable enough, at this point, with these issues. What gets to me, and I am embarrassed that it gets to me, is the negativity I encounter from other people. I'm sure this happens to other artists...

People come into my life, usually people I've dated, people who say they "like" or even "love" art. They've usually dabbled in drawing/painting/sculpting, taken a class a more, gone to galleries, museums, etc. At first it seems great to have something in common and an encouraging person around. Then this weird thing happens, and it happens a lot. It usually starts with a statement to the effect that they "always wanted to be an artist" but they "just didn't have the time." It sounds innocuous, but really, I need to learn to run when I hear this. Usually, there is also someone they blame for their not becoming an artist as well, like an unsupportive parent, a needy ex-spouse, or children, and there is the-job-they-hate-that-makes-them-miserable. Before I say anything more, please, if you feel this way about your life, do what you can to change it now. Make yourself happy, even if that means being an artist part time. As far as I know, we only go around once, and it isn't worth it to spend our lives being unhappy. Throughout my childhood, we lived on my mom's art. Life was hard sometimes, but it was fun too. I don't think any of us would trade it.

Instead, so many people choose to resent their lives. These "thwarted artists" are the people who are like poison for me. At first they are very interested in what I do, and I think they might want to participate or join in in some way. Then they start putting me down in some subtle, and some not-so-subtle ways. They insinuate that I will fail. They try to "help" by suggesting new careers for me. One of my favorites was that I should become a "tooth carver" (I'm not sure what that is or even if it exists!) or a hair stylist, because those are "almost the same thing" as being an artist. I am sure they are someone's passion, just not mine! They imply that they would be doing what I am doing, if they only could, as if somehow, I had anything at all to do with their own choice of profession. They imply that it is unfair that they should be doing the work they are doing, while I am doing what I want to do, as if I were stopping them from a change. Somehow, if it weren't for me, they would be trying all sorts of things they never had the confidence to pursue before. Oddly, I imagine, of the people they know, I would be the person who would most encourage them to try something new. Usually, with or without me around, they continue to toil away along their chosen paths. Sometimes, one breaks free, and I hope they are happier for doing so. Most fail to see that what I do has nothing to do with what they chose to do. They are unhappy and, in their minds, it is only fair that I should be unhappy too, when really, I am happy and they should find a way to be happy too. Of course, it would be better for them to find people they don't resent in the first place, rather than try to change me.

So, the sad thing for me is that I feel the impact of this lack of faith in me. Every time I spend too much time with people like this, I have to recover. Even after they have gone, the shadow of that devil on my shoulder remains, a voice that says, "No, you can't." That is the poison. Fortunately, I still believe the angel on the other shoulder that says, "Yes, you can."

I'd like to thank everyone who sends me their well wishes and encourages and supports me, especially my parents, who have never wavered in their confidence in me.

I'd like to thank Jess today, for including my print "The Rabbit Dances", in her "EFA Birthday Bash!! Help Animals!" treasury on Etsy. Etsy for Animals is running a promotion right now, 20% off from participating sellers using this coupon.

More supplies!

We are busy getting ready for fall around here. We have put Max's first original folk art doll, a Pug dog named Tillie, up over on the Ruffing's blog this afternoon. We also went out for more supplies. I have an idea for a new doll and maybe some other creatures using socks and yarn. I was inspired by a sock doll I have, that I got when I was little, maybe when I was five or so. I can still remember the shop where we found her. I don't know where it was, but I can still see both the inside and the outside of the shop, in my mind. I know it was a very rustic building, in a woodland area, and inside, it was loaded with handmade goods. I can still remember how excited I was that there were all these colorful sock dolls lined up on shelves and placed around the shop. I was allowed to pick one, and I still feel joyful when I hold her, even though she has aged. Well, so have I!

Just so you know, an Official Foot Holder is, apparently, required when you are taking photos of craft supplies. They are like sleepwalkers however. You must be careful not to wake them, or they become deranged!...

Cinderella's Floppy Shoes

In keeping with my recent Cinderella theme, I went out last night and lost not one, but both of my shoes! The soles on each one split right in half, in the same place on each shoe, clean through the soles. I can't imagine why they broke in half at the same time, except perhaps the one just couldn't bear to live without the other. The funny thing is, just before it happened, I was walking along, not sure exactly where the place I was looking for was, thinking it would be a humorous time for me to lose a heel or something. I will have to curb these kinds of thoughts! Maybe I have some Carrie-like telekinetic powers. At least the Pliers from Heaven didn't fall on my car, like they did that time I went out for coffee.

I wonder what this means? If nothing else, that it is time for me to put some new shoes on! Figuratively? Literally? Both?...

In other news, we spent the morning photographing new dolls. Be sure to check over at the Ruffing's Blog to have a look. We are going to try to be more organized this season and introduce the original hand-sculpted folk art dolls there first, so people will know where to look for the new ones as they become available. Then anyone who wants to can subscribe to receive email updates. There is an area in the upper right hand corner on the Ruffing's Blog where anyone can subscribe. I'll still be posting about my cloth dolls and toys here too, as I make them.

Thank you for all the slug love! There is still time to vote for Gerard! Please do! He loves attention ;)

Wow. September is here. I suddenly feel the need to clone myself again! There is plenty to do around here. I'm feeling kind of nervous! There are toys and dolls and paintings and prints and web pages and ads to be made. Oh my.

By the way, I recently purchased these two very adorable books on hand-knitted toys. I love looking through them.

They come with complete instructions for making the toys too, not that I have any time to do this, but I'm really enjoying the inspiration just the same. They are Knitted Toys by Zoe Mellor, and Knitted and Felted Toys by Zoe Halstead. They are great fun.

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday weekend!

Then the light bulb came on

I traced my drawing, preparing to transfer it to my canvas with transfer paper, when I got an idea! Why not just print my drawing right on my canvas with a digital printer! Why didn't I think of that in the first place?

Here is the stapling order, which is in the video, in case it goes by too fast, or you want to click on the photo to get a bigger picture.

And here is a photo of the two tucks in the corners that you make when you do a gallery wrap, which means the staples are around the back instead of on the sides. Again, you can click on the photo to make it bigger.

So much easier!

The question of the day is...

Why do I have so much acrylic paint?!

I was trying to get organized today, and put all my brands of acrylic paint together by color. I've got the higher grade Liquitex and Golden paints, and I've got many brands of craft paint. They have different consistencies, some being more fluid than others. They also have different opacities. The professional, or artist's grade paint varies from some craft paint in that it doesn't have additives, and there is, generally, more pigment in the paint. Additives theoretically weaken the chemical bond that holds the paint together to some degree, and thus, weaken the adhesion of the paint to certain surfaces. Water does the same thing. It is best to mix acrylic paint with mediums instead. Mediums are acrylic polymer emulsions, which is what the paint itself is made of, only the paint has pigment added to it.

By contrast, these are my boxes of watercolor paint. Not nearly as large a collection. Here's the deal...Watercolor mixes so much more nicely. The colors are soft and natural looking. I can also mix watercolor instinctively, probably because I grew up watching my mom paint. I'm sure I passively absorbed a lot of mixing knowledge.

Acrylic, on the other hand, is so vibrant in its purest form, the professional grade, that it can be frustrating to mix. Colors don't do what I expect them to do, and they come out too strong for my taste. The craft paint comes in hundreds of soft colors that I like much better. So, to compensate for the possible additives, I try mixing craft paint with, and coating it with acrylic medium, and then coating it with varnish. Mediums can also be like glue that lock things in, like when you do decoupage. I also mix both grades of paint together. Sometimes it isn't clear from the labels on the acrylic paint brands that you find in craft stores, which grade they are, or if they have additives at all. The only thing I can say is that the pigments are not as strong, which can work to your advantage in some instances.

Oil, with its more natural-looking colors, is of course an option for anyone who doesn't mind the smell, the longer drying time, and the cleanup issues. I like to take the non-toxic route and clean up with water. I can't stand the oil smell either.

I shrank a loose canvas recently, but then someone furry, with pointy ears and a tail sat on it. It got all saggy again. I had some unprimed canvas, and this morning, I pulled the factory canvas off to replace it. I had to staple and re-staple to get it right.

I finally got two canvases done, primed with gesso, and coated with a couple of layers of white paint. The texture is still not as smooth as the factory canvases, but I can't keep fussing! Sometimes these small, fix-it projects aren't worthwhile. I think these will work out okay though.

Sunday afternoon

I'm gessoing some little, very little, canvases this afternoon. The canvas looked wobbly and loose on one, and so I dunked it in hot water to shrink it. I should have done that before I added more gesso, since it did shrink and my new coat of gesso came puckering off.

I'm going to try some mini animal portraits. I have no idea what that will be like, especially with acrylic paint on canvas. The texture of the canvas and the heaviness of the paint might be a challenge to getting fine detail. They are only 3 x 4 inches. They should be relatively fast to get painted at least, and I need some quicker path to satisfaction while I'm making all my dolls. It's good to make a bunch of things simultaneously because you can be more organized about it, but it's bad in that you have to wait so long to have that sense of accomplishment you get when you are holding something finished in your hands.

I also picked up a new journal for myself. I've been journaling since I was twelve or thirteen, but I've always picked out plain school-type spiral notebooks. I'm intimidated by anything too "fancy". I used to write in them more regularly. In recent years, I've tended to turn to them almost only when I've been sad or angry, and don't want to overburden anyone else by talking about it too much. I hate to think what my life will look like to anyone who might read them someday! I am cheerful most of the time, and I am hoping by having a more cheerful looking journal, I might be tempted to "branch out" again.

I've had this Cat Steven's song in my head for a couple of days now, "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out", from Harold and Maude.

I've had a lot on my mind lately, and there have been moments when I've had to stop myself and remember that my life really isn't, and doesn't have to be, complicated. I have a home, enough to sustain me, people (and kitties) who love me, and things to do that I enjoy and find rewarding. I've tried too hard, in recent years, to add one more very-important-to-me thing to my life, a family of my own, and in doing that, I have tried too hard to accept a lot of unhappiness. I feel like I am at a crossroads, emotionally, where I need to choose to release myself from the pressure I feel, choose to have faith in my own future, and not be sad about it. I've said a lot of things would "never" happen for me before in my life, and been very wrong.

I have big shoes and a messy room

I'm still working on a bunch of dolls all at once. They were all getting appliquéd hair today. That is a pile of ponytails-in-progress in the upper right of the top photo with my "Gumdrop Baby" faces.

This one is a Lucy doll in progress. I pull the paper backing off my fusible web as I go, and drop it on the floor. I know that isn't so nice, but there isn't anyone here who is going to complain about it. As long as no paper-chewing pets are in there, it's okay for a while. We have one cat who will chomp on all sorts of weird things if we're not careful. He's not allowed in there. It's important to keep pets away from art and craft supplies they might eat. You just never know what might be intriguing to them and it's best to be safe.

My floor looks like this until I come through with a waste paper basket. I don't like to trip over anything extra in that room. So it's easier for me to leave the waste paper basket somewhere else and come through with it when I need to. I am a clutter-aholic.

I also finally got new sneakers. I have been putting that off for months. I think I mentioned before that I hate to buy new sneakers. Don't you know, they redesigned them, and made the toe area bigger. I am floating in the usual size I get, which I ordered by mail. I don't think I mentioned before that I also hate to return things, and so I will be floating in these for a good long time! I wear sneakers most of the time, even with sundresses. That should be an even better look for me now ;)

"Babushka Babies" Treasury on Etsy

My Gumdrop Baby was featured in this treasury on Etsy today. I think it will be up until Friday. Thanks Susan, for including her! It's always a really nice surprise for me when people pick one of my dolls or prints out of the blue like that to share with other people. I appreciate it a lot.

I asked my mom to take a couple of pictures of me today. Today didn't seem like a good day for that, since I haven't been feeling well and just yesterday I was struggling to eat Saltines, but...I actually look pretty healthy. Yay!

I cut my hair recently, and I think I might be close to my natural hair color now. Why is this of interest to me? I don't know...sometimes I can't remember what it looks like and it's come a long way from last summer. Actually, so have I. Maybe that's why I wanted some new pictures, so I can have a new look at myself :)

Dolly Onlookers

I've been painting new doll faces today with my other dolls looking on. The slugs seem the most curious and eager to see what I'm up to. I need some shelving, maybe stadium seating.

I was making good progress until I had to take allergy medication for a bad insect bite I have on my foot. Nothing else seems to control the awful itching and the swelling, but then I nearly nodded off right in the middle of my faces. I kept going, but one or two didn't come out the way I planned. I hate doing "negative work", a phrase a friend uses for creating more work for yourself by making mistakes. I cut one up just to stop myself from continuing to try to fix it. I always feel compelled to try to fix everything, but sometimes it is just better to start over. Besides, most of them came out quite well. I've always been a perfectionist in regard to what I make, and that can make things unpleasant for me sometimes. I've been told that by the time I reached my current age, lots of things that bothered me before wouldn't bother me so much anymore. In some ways that is true, but I haven't shaken the perfectionist drive.

How did I miss this?

How did I miss Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog? I had read that it was going to streamed online but I didn't write down the dates. Oh well. If I had written them down, the note would have been lost in the cascading pile of notes I leave for myself anyway. This is why I try to take care of everything right here and now, or at least as things come up. Except for cleaning up the pile of notes. Who wants to do that?! Snore.

Update: Dr Horrible seems to be on again here. Did I miss that too?

Chance Encounter

While I was in town the other day, I stopped to pick up some thread and more fat quarters of quilting fabric for my toys. As I said yesterday, I've been feeling kind of down, and so I hope this doesn't come across as too morbid or too much to share. Believe me, I hope and plan to be around a good long time, knock on wood...But anyway, many years ago it struck me that when my time has come, that I don't want one of those dreary, depressing headstones that you see. I want mine to have a bunny on top.

Yes, I actually mean that. I've shared that with a couple of people in my life that I hoped might be around, but sadly, people come and people go. So, I might as well say it here. I hope you don't mind. The first question has always been, "What kind of rabbit?" I usually say one sort of like Maurice Sendak's Mr Rabbit in Mr Rabbit and the Lovely Present, but I want him to be his own bunny, unique, someone's own invention, maybe even mine.

Well, as I was paying for my thread and fabric, I looked up from the checkout and thought, "Like that!"

I know he's not one-of-a-kind, but he struck a cord I guess and I took him home. Kind of like that. Maybe some day, someone will make a bunny for me, but I'd still like him to be his own bunny.

Why a rabbit? I'm not sure. Maybe I think rabbits represent me on some level, or maybe it's just my love of animals. They are guileless, loyal, sweet, and capable of unconditional love. I've never been convinced that people are superior to them. Some are certainly just as great, but we all have our flaws. One time, my mom and I were sitting at a stadium when a bus emptied out from a group home for people with special needs. We were listening to one conversation in particular that stayed with me because it was so poignant. It was a simple dialogue, but it said a lot to me. Two women who seemed to be developmentally disabled were talking about how much they liked animals. "I like animals." "Me too!" "Animals are much nicer than people." "Yeah, people are meaner than animals." "Yeah, they are! Animals are much nicer!" I thought that was the sweetest and the saddest thing at the same time, because you couldn't deny that that had to have been true for them.

Back where I grew up, there was a sweet elderly woman with Alzheimer's who always remembered to tell you one thing, "Don't trust anyone who doesn't love animals." You might not think much of her remembering that over anything else, but I do. She was dependent on others at that point in her life, and I believe it was a fundamental belief she held as necessary to well-being and survival. It told her who was kind and caring, and she was frail as a little bird.

A friend of mine sent this video to me to cheer me up. I'm sure it has been already seen by millions, but it is still remarkable...

Duck rescue mission

One of our duck friends, the mama duck above, came to visit us with a badly swollen foot and leg two days ago. I couldn't get close enough until evening to see that the swelling was caused by what turned out to be fishing line wrapped very tightly around her leg. I didn't know how I could catch her or get it off since it was embedded in the swollen leg. We called everyone we could think of yesterday for advice, and found an avian vet who could see her if we could catch her.

She didn't come up from the pond until after the vet's closing time, and I could see her dragging the line. We took what advice we had and grabbed a sheet. It took some running around and a couple of failed attempts, but we finally got the sheet over her. I picked her up and tucked her under my arm. She was very upset about the sheet being over her head, but once I gently pulled it off, she just looked at me as if she were saying, "Oh, it's you." She was so good and well-behaved and sweet, we couldn't believe it.

I petted her head and talked to her while my mom and dad put my kitty assistant in the house (he was ready and willing to help, but unfortunately we didn't think he'd add to the calm), and found my little sewing scissors. I handed the duck over to my dad while my mom held the sheet ends out of the way, and I snipped away, a tiny bit at a time, at the tops of the knot heads. There were two knotted areas, with multiple knots very tight against the leg. I kept the scissors pointing at an angle away from her leg, trying to avoid pinching her with them. I managed to get the line free without nicking her, and we were all very relieved. She seemed somewhat disoriented, and so we followed her at a distance to her pond, where she got back in the water with her friends.

This morning, they all came back for some cracked corn. She was determined to come, even though she is still limping. Her friends were going to go back for her, since she was trailing behind, but she limp-marched past them up the hill. She sat right next to me while she had her corn. Her foot and leg are not as swollen, and hopefully they will go back to normal soon. We'll keep an eye on her.

So, please, if you fish, make sure you leave with everything you came with, and everyone, please take a moment when throwing out dangerous items, to dispose of them carefully. It only takes an extra minute before you throw something into the trash to wad up string/twine/fishing line/yarn/thread/ribbon/etc and tape it into a ball with some duct tape or sports tape, or put it all in a jar/prescription bottle/coffee can/etc. Cut those plastic loops that hold six packs together into little pieces, cut up plastic packaging bands, and knot the ends of the plastic bags you throw out, or cut them all the way open. Just please take a moment to think about all the suffering you can prevent by making some extra, small, conscientious gestures part of your routine. There are lots of little feet, legs, heads, and necks that get caught in those things every day. And if you see this kind of dangerous litter, please take a minute to pick it up and dispose of it properly. It only takes a moment, but you might just save a life.

Space Fish and Web Design Manuals

I've been doing tons of web junk lately, adding PayPal buttons to our Ruffing's site, enlarging the print images, showing the prints in simulated frames, adding dolls to the doll gallery. The unfortuate part is that most of it isn't "live" yet because it needs more work, and you can't even see it on the Internet yet. So, none of that feels very rewarding. I got bored today and made these "Space Fish". I have no idea what that means. I was was watching Doctor Who again last night. Maybe I'm just on a SciFi kick.

I like the way these two are swimming side by side. I wish I had remembered to set my resolution higher when I took the original photos. This one is very small.

I printed out my web design program manuals, because I really can't look things up while I am working on the computer. It is more than my brain can handle, trying to remember complex directions while I toggle from one window to the other. I think I printed out 699 pages worth. And I punched all the little binder holes in them. At least my helper likes them.

I'm still trying to find a way to absorb the information by osmosis, maybe by leaving them, one at a time, under my pillow at night, but I am afraid the osmosis will work in reverse and drain what little is left of my mind away instead of adding to it.

Okay, yeah, too much SciFi and too much work...

Gold Medals and Arboretums

So, S.B. gets a gold medal for delivering my scrapbook to my grandma and visiting with her for awhile. She seemed to really enjoy the book and the visit. I actually made S.B. a "gold medal", but I forgot to snap a photo of it.

We visited the J C Raulston Arboretum, and I was hoping to get some flower photos, but everything was a little past its bloom time. There were still some very pretty lilies and these Gloriosa Daisies.

I used to have bunches of these in my gardens at our old house where I grew up. They are amazing when you see them open for the first time. Some of them are just enormous, and their colors and markings vary a lot. They're quite dramatic and easy to grow from seed.

Scrapbook for Grandma

I've been spending most of this week scanning and editing old photos, and arranging them onto scrapbook pages. My grandma has recently gone to live in a nursing home. My uncle had been trying to look after her in her home, but she needed around-the-clock care. It's very sad that she can no longer remember things she once knew, or recognize some of her family or, often, her own belongings. She does seem to be cheerful most of the time in her new home, and has plenty of people around her, as she has always liked to have. But I am not sure she knows me, or many of us in the family anymore.

So, I have been putting this book together, matching our photos with our names, and descriptions of who we are. I've been told not to expect her to know anyone, and I'm adjusting to that idea. Still, I'm hoping something will look familiar to her, and will give her a sense of who her family are and where she came from, if only for a few seconds at a time. I'm also saving the pages on a CD so everyone in the family who wants a copy can have one.

This is my grandma in front of her old house with the hollyhocks I started from seed. They grew much better at her house than they ever did at mine.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Little me with my mom. Mom tells me she used to be little too :)

Happy Mother's Day!

My palette

Here's a shot of my watercolor palette, my brushes, and my applesauce jars full of water. I took a long time cleaning off my desk and setting up today.

I meant to include this with my video post but I can't seem to do much blog post editing from Flickr!

Sick Days and Ducks in the Rain

In between sketching and resting, I watched the goings-on in our backyard. This is one of the first iris of the season. I ran out and got a photo just before the rain started here. It blooms faithfully, but I cannot remember its name. I will have to look it up sometime. I took some artistic license with the color of this iris for my "Jubilee" watercolor.

"Jubilee" was one of many paintings (and other projects) that I started and finished years later. I believe I had painted the iris in the upper left, and most everything else, except for the remaining matching two iris. There was something I didn't like about the already painted iris, like the direction the light was coming in from, and so I intensified its color so I could move the shadows. The existing dark areas became the new light areas. With watercolor, you can't just paint over what you've done, and so you have to get creative when you want to change something. That's how all the iris ended up much richer in color than my model. I thought it looked quite joyous when I was done, which is why I named it "Jubilee".

Once the rain started, we got some visitors. We used to have geese wandering through, and I was sad when they disappeared. This year, we have ducks on the pond down the hill, and they wandered up in the pouring rain to nibble on our unmowed grass.

I got a little wet photographing them, and my zoom lens doesn't zoom as much as I might like. Still, they are awfully cute.

Not long after the ducks showed up, a pair of rabbits came to play leap frog, or leap bunny? I didn't manage to get a picture of them, but they were very amusing, running and leaping over each other. At one point they each anticipated a charge by the other and leapt, simultaneously, straight up in the air.

"Afternoon Delight"! That's the name of the iris. It just came to me!

Painting my kitten doll

I'm pokey, but I am making progress. Little Ziggy (I've decided he's a boy now) has been coming right along. He's got a pastel yellow onesie with a periwinkle blue collar and buttons down the front. I'm having quite a time keeping his whiskers white. I've had to repaint them a couple of times and I'm sure I will again. Painting thread is not as easy as I might have thought. I think what takes the most time, aside from painting his multitude of kitten hairs, is deciding how I want him to look. He is a stylized version of a kitten after all, and there are plenty of choices to make about how I want to do that. All in all, he's a cute fellow.

Just an aside...Those are my African violets in the background. They are getting what looks like white mildew on them. I was so glad to be able to get them to survive, and I am not happy about this new turn of events. Does anyone have any experience with this? I read keeping a fan going helps, but it is cold for that! I've been trying to get rid of the infected parts, but I seem to be losing the battle :(

Another aside...We're on "vacation" from our eBay store this week, in sympathy for the current eBay boycott. We'll be posting our new dolls over on our main website. I'm working on expanding our art doll pages over there so people can visit, take a look at available and already adopted dolls, and read their stories. I don't know if a boycott will have any effect, as I imagine eBay will continue to cost sellers more and more, but I do think the changes to the feedback system are insulting. In the coming months, sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedback, but buyers will continue to be able to. Personally, we have never left any or received any negative feedback, but whether buyer, seller, or both, we should all be subject to the same policies. To do otherwise is to invite abuse. If eBay wants to reform its feedback system, I believe it would be more fair to do away with the positive, negative, and neutral signs, and just have plain, honest feedback. I believe if eBay users don't feel threatened by potential punishment for saying what they think, that they will leave more accurate accounts of their transactions. I think that would be much more valid and much more fair to everyone.

Kitten in Black and White

Here is my little kitten, with his/her (still haven't made up my mind) face sculpted and dry, and some basic lines marked with pen. I'm going to use that adorable tuxedo kitten to the left as a model when I paint.

It was bound to happen some day...I've been tagged. I may be the last person who hasn't been tagged yet, ever. I think I just passed my first year blogging anniversary too, roughly. I erased my first post that said something like, "Just testing." So, no accurate date there. I digress...I've been tagged by Annie Oakleaves (I like saying that. It makes me smile.) Here goes... five random facts about myself:

1. I am an only child. People have always asked me, "Did you miss not having brothers and sisters?" I never understand this question, but I try to answer it politely. The truth is that I never had them, and so I have no idea what it is like to miss having them.
2. I like to watch campy TV. My dad says that my mom and I will watch anything that "sparkles". Dancing with the Stars, American Gladiators, Passions, Dr Who...if it has some element of the ridiculous, I'm in.
3. I hate to buy new sneakers. I will wear them until they die. I've been known to strap them back together with duct tape. I really need a new pair right now.
4. I am a pack rat. I had to reduce the number of my possessions when we moved several years ago, and it still pains me to think about it. I must have saved everything I had ever had, including piles of junk mail.
5. I usually remember to take the laundry out of the washing machine, but I usually forget to take it out of the dryer.

Okay. Since I can't believe I am not the last person to have been tagged ever, I will leave it up to anyone who hasn't been tagged and who would like to be tagged, to volunteer five random facts about themselves. Or even one random fact. I'm not fussy about rules. Even if you don't blog, you can just leave one or more in the comment section :)

Organizing the Accumulation

With all the sales going on, my mom and I have been out stocking up on supplies. I've been prewashing, ironing, and stashing assortments of fabric, which I tried to get into some sort of order by color.

I've put my quilting thread, ribbon, and Rick Rack away in Ziploc bags, and I'm rather proud of my little box (I got mine at Michaels) of embroidery floss. I wound all the colors around white card-bobbins, and did a slightly strange job of arranging them by color too. If I can get my mind this organized, I think I will be in good shape.

Etsy for Animals: Artists Helping Animals

Mom and I joined Etsy for Animals just recently. This is a group of artists and craftspeople who have shops on Etsy, and who love and want to help animals. Many of them donate a percentage of their Etsy shop sales to animal charities each month. They also have an Etsy for Animals Shop. Items from this shop are donated by members, and 100% of the proceeds go to animal charities. You might want to check out their blog too.

We will be donating 10% of our Etsy shop sales (less shipping) to animal charities each month. My mom, along with Max Bailey, and later Abby Laurence, can be found at Art from the Studio of A E Ruffing on Etsy, and I can be found at The Art of Elizabeth Ruffing on Etsy.

Incidentally, I've also added the EFA links on the right sidebar of our blogs, along with a new categories section on the Ruffing's blog. Now it is a bit easier to find things...I hope.

Support Independent Artists and Craftspeople

I had a lovely dream last night. I was in the company of a bunch of very nice men and women who all liked art and crafts and making things with their own hands. We had gathered in one of those old buildings with the high ceilings and the leaded windows. It reminded me of college. Everyone was talking about things they were making, or things others were making. They were sharing books about dollmaking and beading fabric, and they were talking about dance and galleries and museums they enjoyed. I felt like I had found a niche for the first time in my life.

It came up that my birthday was a month away, and some of them surprised me with presents that they had made themselves, and other handmade items, and pieces of fabric they thought I might enjoy, all personal gifts that I really, genuinely liked. I was so touched by the whole experience, I felt like crying. When it was time for me to leave, I stopped to leave a message for them, which I wrote in chalk around the hem of a vintage dress made of a beautifully patterned fabric. My ride arrived, a pleasant smiling lady in an old minivan. I waved for her to just wait a minute so I could write one more thing, "Thank you." Then I woke up.

It, of course, struck me immediately that nothing like any of this has ever happened to me, and that I wished it would. Then I thought about it for a while and realized that although this place might not exist in the physical world, it does exist, in a way, on the Internet. There are thousands of independent artists and craftspeople out there, and I read many of their blogs every day. They share what they are making, what others are making, books and materials they enjoy, places they like visiting, and their joys and frustrations. It is hard to be an artist, hard to persevere in what is usually a somewhat isolated work environment, and it is a great comfort to have that connection with other people who are sharing your experience, even if you don't personally know them.

These people are also worthy of your support, especially in this time when there is such a concentration on conspicuous consumption and cheaply-made, mass-produced wares. Consider buying handmade, directly from artists and craftspeople. Consider supporting Mom and Pop businesses, and farmers' markets. Consider buying directly from the source.

And one more thing, before I go...To all the people who put their hearts and souls into what they do, and to those who take the time to share that...Thank you.

You know you're a nerd when...

...you spend the better part of a perfectly beautiful morning inside at the computer, making animated GIFs for no better purpose than to decorate your MySpace page. But, hey, aren't they cool? I never tried making one before. It's kind of hypnotic. Yes, I am a bit of a nerd :)

Okay, actually, according to this test, I am 69% nerd:

"Your Score: Pure Nerd

69 % Nerd, 13% Geek, 26% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendencies associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST "

Stranded

I've been hitting some snags with the new doll pattern I've been designing, but I've had plenty of time to sort them out. My car overheated for the second time in a month or so, and I've been stranded here for days. On a positive note, it overheated around the corner from the place that usually tows it for me. I drove at a crawl to the nearest parking lot, not even sure where I was on the back roads, and that lot just happened to be the towing place. Pretty lucky. It turns out I've had a hole in my radiator that went unnoticed the last time. So, I am even more fortunate that I didn't get stranded while coming home at night along one of those new and very convenient, but very much unpopulated, stretches of highway here in the past of couple weeks when it's been 106 degrees to boot.

I've been lucky so far with the car problems. The only flat tire I've ever had happened this summer too...right across from a car dealership, with an attached tire repair shop. And then there were The Pliers From Heaven a couple of months ago. I was driving under an overpass on my way to coffee, and heard something very loud hit the car. My first thought was that someone had thrown a rock off the overpass, but I didn't see anyone in my rear view mirror. I didn't see any dents when I got out of the car either. Later, after coming out of the coffee shop, I saw my windshield wiper looked rusty. On closer inspection, I saw that wasn't my wiper at all, but a pair of heavy pliers.

They are about a foot long, and they had landed maybe one inch below my windshield, on the driver's side. I think they must have been stopped by the grate below the wipers because they didn't even move. The ends curl downward, and they must have dipped into the grate. Not a scratch anywhere. And they didn't kill me, which is the best part of all.

I reached for the nearest thing to place the pliers on so the rust wouldn't get on anything. When I got home, I realized it was an old church program with the hymn "Blest Are They" on it.

Say what you will about Princess Maertha Louise, but you've got to wonder.

I also went back to blond.

A little sad.

Not so sad.

No, not sad, not really. Unless we look at these in reverse.

But it's better this way, I think.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Vintage me and vintage Dad.

Weekend quilting

Over the past couple weekends, I've been catching up a little with my quilt projects. Above is my progress so far on my (mostly) blue and yellow quilt. I'm assembling it as I go it won't get out of control.

This is the latest block that I did for this weekend's class.

These two blocks are from Lori's class. I've got three more blocks to catch up with on that quilt. We are now at the putting it all together stage, or some of us are :)

I was also repotting my African violets and saw their bowls and pots made an interesting color combination that I might want to use for a kids' quilt design I'm working on. I've wanted to put a free pattern, or set of patterns, on my site, for charity quilts. I've been looking at the Project Linus sites in particular, working out the preferred sizes and materials. I have my drawings done, but I haven't made up my prototypes yet. I also need to figure how to make up the PDF files and put them on the site.

My experiments with color these past couple weeks expanded to my hair color as well. I'm seeing what life is like as a redhead now. I've been blond all my life, except for a brief period after birth when my hair was black, oddly. But since it fell out and the bl