Day Five - Last Sneek Peak

Day Five

I finished up my bead embroidered cuff this weekend.  I'm so happy with it.  It's fun and colorful.  I love using bead embroidery to paint little pictures.  Here is the last picture of it as a work in progress.  I'll drag out the light tent and hopefully get some pictures of it before this weekend (2 art shows and J's band has 2 shows this weekend, what were we thinking).  Stay tuned for the final reveal.   

Day Four

Here's a [crappy iphone] picture of day four progress of my latest challenge piece.  I didn't get a chance to work on it Thursday night because we were screen printing t-shirts for J's band (which turned out really nice).  But I did sit down on Friday night and got almost all of the blue finished.  I'm making good progress.  I've finished all the beading today and should be able to get almost all of the beadwork sewn on to the leather tonight.  So hopefully by tomorrow, if all goes to plan, I will have a finished cuff to show off.  Stay tuned for day five pics. 

Day Three

Here's sneak peak day three.  I know what you're thinking, this doesn't look that much different from yesterday's sneak peak, what's up with that?  I know, I wasn't quite as productive last night as the night before.  But I did get some things done.

Day Three

First, the green on this side of the cuff wasn't completely done, so I finished that up.  Then I added my little frog friend there.  I also added little pops of color that are supposed to be flowers, it's hard to tell in this crappy phone picture, but they're there, you just have to take my word for it.  I also started on the blue.  That's on the other side of the cuff, so again you'll have to take my word for it again.

I'm really happy with how this cuff is turning out.  Stay tuned tomorrow for the next sneak peak.      

Day Two

Just a quick post today. Here is a sneak peak at my challenge piece. It's only day two and and half done with the bead embroidery. Now just to finish up the second half and start working on the embellishments and attaching it to leather.  I'm really excited about how this one is looking.  I'm starting to grow quite fond of bead embroidery.  There are so many possibilities with it. Stay tuned for day three pictures tomorrow. 

Day two! It's really starting to take shape.

*Storm Update*  Yesterday J stayed home to clean up the flooded basement and I left work early to help.  We got it all cleaned up just in time for the storms that hit us last night and this morning.  Now the basement is flooded again and this morning there was water leaking from a light switch up stairs.  I don't know about the rest of you that live in the area, but I think I'm done with the crap weather.

You gotta love living in the Midwest!

EBW challenge piece in progress

So after an exhausting couple of weeks, I was really looking forward to spending Monday relaxing a bit.  I just wanted to sit down and work on my current challenge piece.  I really need to get my butt going, I only have a couple of weeks to get this bad boy done and I just started.  That was my plan, run to the store, make dinner, and then sit down and work on this challenge piece.    Oh how that didn't happen.

We ran to the store after work, did all our grocery shopping, which I have been putting off for quite some time.  We got home, put all the groceries away and were discussing what we wanted for dinner when the sirens went off.

Basement window as it stormed, yes that's water!

Now we only live two houses from the Fire Department, so we're use to the sirens.  But this was a continuous one, and if you're from the Midwest, you know what that means, tornadoes.  So on went the local station and sure enough there was a tornado warning for our county and about three severe storms headed our way.

So I packed up all the animals and to the basement we went.  We brought a lap top and what not with us so we could keep up with what was going on.  And as we sat down there we could hear the rain and hail hitting the house.  By this time there were three tornado warnings issued, not watches, warnings!!!!  The sirens kept going off and we just sat and waited.  And the all of a sudden Nacho jumped up from behind the couch and just gave us a crazy look (she was hiding behind the couch).  We couldn't figure out what brought her out of hiding, well we soon relized it was the large quantity of water pouring in through the basement window.  The water was coming down so hard that it was over flowing the gutters and filling all of the basement windows.  There wasn't much we could do, so we just moved things around and started pushing the water towards the drain as it poured into the basement.  Nacho was not amused.  She just sat on the couch with worried face.  So even after the storms passed, at a little bit after 9:00, we were up trying to clean up as much of the basement as we could.  So much for that relaxing night I was hoping for.

I think they said WI had six tornado warnings total.  Tonight is supposed to be strong storms again, but hopefully not this bad.  We don't need to deal with flooding again.  J stayed home from work today to finish the clean up.  Hopefully there isn't too much damage.  So I really love living in the Midwest.  Heat, snow, tornadoes, flooding, etc, etc.  Gotta love the Midwest.  Hopefully I'll be able to work on my challenge piece tonight and not have to mop up water :-(  

Number Two Down!

Okay, so our crazy couple of weeks are over (I think).  Jeremiah had his interview, we're just crossing our fingers and hoping for good news.  And show number two is over with.

This show was during Strawberry Fest in Sun Prairie.  It was a decent show, not the best I've been too, but definitely not the worst.  I was a tad disappointed with the whole Strawberry aspect; really no strawberry smoothies or daiquiris?  And most people told me that they had no idea where the strawberries were even located.  J said it was pretty difficult to find them.

But as for the arts and crafts show, it was okay.  I made enough money to make it worth my time, and I even had enough time to work on some necklaces.  My setup was very different for this show.  I actually was in the middle row, so I had both sides of my tent open.  I wanted nice walk through, so I just put the tables to the side.  But the wind was something else, so we eventually had to give in and put up the wall.  But the wind gave us a nice break from the heat.  It was in the upper 80s/lower 90s, with no clouds at all.  The heat really made J unbearable to deal with; I love that he comes with, but sometimes he's difficult to deal with in the hot heat.  But who's super excited to sit in the hot heat all day?

I did sell two large pieces, which made me pretty excited.  It's nice to have people appreciate how much work goes into a piece, it really makes me happier then the money that I get for it.  I sold one of my Autism Puzzle cuffs, which the woman actually had me take the toggle clasp off because she wanted to use it as a book mark.  I also sold one of my ArtBead necklaces.  The woman really seemed to light up when she saw it and just kept coming back to look at it and try it on.  It just put a smile on her face, as well as mine.  She snatched it up and then gave me the name of a women who owns a local store that only sells high end clothing and jewelry.  She said that I should go talk to her and see if she would be interested in some of my jewelry.  She said it would fit right in and the woman only sells items from local designers.  And the store is right over by the vet school, so I'll have to stop in and see.

Well I'm off to work on my EBW challenge piece.  This month's challenge is secret garden and I'm really excited to work on this one, I'm just a tad behind on finishing up.  So wish me luck, and have a fantastic rest of the weekend.

Busy Week

Mamma, are you done yet?

This is going to be quite the busy week.  I'm still recovering from my first show of the season and then going out that night to spend time with our good friends that were back in the states for only a couple weeks (I had a lot of fun and wouldn't have missed it for the world).  Plus, I'm still sick.  What ever this is I got, I sure wish it would go away.

Then J has a huge interview on Wed with the University.  He's so nervous (he has to take a test) and has been preparing for this interview since he got home from class last week.  I hope him the best and I'm sure he'll do great.

I also have my second show this Saturday.  We have to be set up by 8:00am.  That's after a 30 min drive to get there and 1-1.5 hours to set up.  I am just dreading Saturday morning.  But it should be fun.  It's in Sun Prairie (the same town as last weeks) at Strawberry Fest.  They have a whole bunch of things going on, so I'm hoping that the attendance is really good.  And the weather is supposed to be beautiful, which will be nice.  Hopefully I'll do a little bit better then the last show.  2010 Show Dates

Peridot chips on pink triangle

I'm still trying to be as productive as possible this week even if I'm exhausted.  I've been working on triangles.  They seem to be something that I can work on to calm myself down and relax a little bit.  Which is what I need right now.

This is one that I just finished, actually I finished it up at my show last week (sorry I used my phone to take the picture).  I used peridot chips as little fringies.  I didn't start thinking I would use the peridot, but while I was making it, I remembered I had the chips and thought they would go great with the pink and bright green seed beads.  So I added them.  I think they really add a lot to the triangle.  I've seen people add fringe and other accents to the triangles, but I've never tried myself.  I'm very happy I did.  So I guess I'll have to try this again with some of the other chips I have.

Well I'm off.  I have a few more things I need to finish up before my show this Saturday and I have to make sure J is as relaxed as possible tonight.

*Thank you to everyone who gave me pointers on my set up for shows.  I'm going to try a few of them this weekend and see how things turn out.  I'll have pictures next week.*

One down, five more to go!

Well yesterday was my first art show of the season.  I worked pretty hard to make sure everything was ready for the show.  I got my new table cloths made, and they look great, if I don't say so.  I even put little ties on the bottom, so that they won't blow in the wind.  So I was pretty happy with those.  I'm never happy with the set up though.  I just feel like I haven't found what works best for me.  We took the tables out and tried a bunch of different set ups, and I just always fall back on the same one.  So I guess I have to work on that some more.  I'll find the right one some day.

The weather was okay, it was overcast all day, but the rain held off. There was a nice breeze and it was no where as near as humid as Friday.

My show set up yesterday (I changed it a bit later in the day).

I again, didn't get a chance to walk around and see all the booths, but J did.  He said it was a little confusing, but okay.  He also went down to the wine, beer, and cheese tasting.  Hey, it was only $5, one of us had to stop down.  K, a friend from work stopped down and joined J at the wine tasting.  She ended up buying some cheese for later.

Overall, I wasn't to impressed with the show, the booth was on the more expensive side and there just didn't seem to be a lot of people.  There were no signs and it was kinda out of the way.  But it might just have been the weather, maybe it was keeping people away.  I think that if I choose to do a show this time next year, I'll apply for the one in the Dells.  That one looks way more fun and well, it's in the Dells, so at least we could go mini golfing or something after wards.   

And you live and learn.  I'll never figure out what shows are good ones without actually going there and seeing.  But on to the next one, I have one in Sun Prairie next weekend at Strawberry Fest.  And if that tuns into a day of fail, at least there will be tons and tons of strawberries. :-)

Only 11 Days Until....

My first art show of the season.  I'm so excited.  I'll be at the Sun Prairie Taste of the Arts Fair.  This is the first year I'm doing this show, so it's exciting. 

Then I have my second show the weekend right after that.  Crazy.

I have decided to apply for six shows this year.  That's twice as many as I did last year.  But I think I'm ready for this. 

I finished my new sign over the weekend.  I'm really happy with it.  I have been trying to find really fun stencils and have not been able to, so I just decided to make my own.  It was a little bit of work cutting them all out, but they turned out so well, it was worth it. 

I painted the whole sign on one of my furlough day, it was a perfect project for that day.  Then I dropped my brushes right on the sign.  I got blue paint everywhere.  Of course, why wouldn't I ruin the sign after I spent all that time working on it.  So last weekend I went out and bought some pink and blue dye and a spray bottle.  I sprayed a layer of each color of dye on the sign to hide the spots of blue paint.  And low and behold it worked great.  Now the sign has a fun spatter pattern on it.  I'm so happy with it. 

Now I just need to sew those pesky table cloths.