Home Sweet Home

Good sense would tell me to go to bed because I teach in the morning at 8am. But the next few days are going to be very stressful and busy, so goodbye good sense!
First off, I've been photographing my dollhouse before I rehab it. I wanted to get some straightforward before and after shots to highlight the changes. Here is the before:

The house has these little pictures on the walls of the previous owner's grandchildren, their boat, and a dead deer. I feel a little bad taking these off.

I've got a bunch more to edit.
I'm also in the process of repainting a bunch of thriftstore frames for another project.....

On top of those things, I've got some paintings started in the studio. I am hoping to get some images of those up soon as well. So much to do! I think I already need a vacation.

In the Studio

I've been working on some unresolved work lately, and I think I'm getting more towards where I want to be. The piece above is about 4 x 6" including the frame, it was done from this salvaged frame from the thrift store. I really like how it turned out.
This next school year is going to be the last year of my MFA degree, and I am both nervous and excited for it. I am going to be teaching Life Drawing again, which is going to be great, but at the same time balancing teaching, graduate assistantships, my classes, studio work, my marriage, family, and friends can be exhausting and overwhelming. I am trying to really get a good start on my thesis work (or at least work out all of the big kinks) before this semester starts. Sometimes I've got a tendency to psych myself out about the amount of work I've got ahead of myself, and it can be crippling to my studio work. I really want to avoid that this coming year.

So I'm starting some work ahead of time, and really trying to figure out a general direction for my thesis show. These paintings may or may not be a part of it, but they were something I had to do just to see if they would work.

The second painting is much larger, but still has an oval format. The frame I'm using is this one, which I thrifted a while ago. It is painted in the same color as the frame above.
They are both dealing with issues I am really interested in. Longevity, decoration vs. fine art, absence, presence of the hand vs. machine made items, and so forth.
Hopefully they will take me somewhere new. Also, I am more than open to feedback on these, let me know what you think of them!

Spinning Wheels!

Yesterday I was given the amazingly generous gift of two saxony spinning wheels.
The second wheel came in pieces, and was missing a few, but with a little improvisation and elbow grease, I've got it up and running.

Both wheels still have a few kinks to work out, but I think I'll be able to have them fully functional with some more work. For now I've thoroughly cleaned and oiled both wheels, and have started to spin some lace weight singles on each one. Having a saxony wheel along with my louet is wonderful because it spins lace weight yarn so much more efficiently than the louet which is better suited for spinning worsted weight and heavier yarn.Today I met the girls for some coffee and then did a little thrifting on my way home. I found this wonderful 3/4 sleeve cardigan from banana republic that still had it's tags on it (originally $60!) for $1. It fits perfectly, and I am a cardigan-a-holic, so I'm sure it will get lots of use. You can't see it in the picture, but it has pretty golden sheen. I also picked up these sandals, they are leather, and they were marked as my size, but I think they are a little on the small side. :( Maybe I'll stick them up in my Etsy Shop. I also picked up these lovelies. The large ceramic ikat planter was $1 and the lotus bowls were 50 cents each. It was a good thrifting day. Now I'm off to do less fun things such as cleaning my room so I can actually see the floor.
My friend Ann and I were talking aout blogging a few weeks ago and how we rarely focus on the things that are going wrong, or the 'less glamourous' parts of our lives. Well, I can assure you that my house is messy 85% of the time, and that many of my dinners consist of frozen pizza and a PBR. I just didn't want to be fooling any of you. :)

Armwarmers, Thrifting

I finally wove in the ends to this fingerless gloves this morning, not that I'll be using them anytime soon! I started them Sunday night, and worked on the bulk of them at my G-ma and G-pa C's house on Monday and Tuesday. It has finally started to really warm up around here. They are made from cotton-ease, in a dark blue/grey color. The pattern is my own, maybe I will write it up someday. Yesterday I went to the studio and then had coffee with miss Ann. I worked on my crocheted lace painting, but I stil have quite a ways to go on it... I want to finish it so I can work on something new. :)
I also did a little thrifting. I got this awesome leather portfolio for $2. It fits my laptop and a few books. It had initials printed on it, but with a little elbow grease, they rubbed right off. Not bad eh?
I also picked up some fabric so that I can make more fabric scarves. I especially like the floral fabric. I just need to find enough quarters now so that I can wash the fabric.
Also, Bo says hi.

Sweater Project - Continued

I may have gone to the thrift store the other day....
I think I made out like a villain. I got all of these lovely sweaters for about $13. The light colored ones are all cotton, and are destined to become part of future art projects. The darker ones, on the other hand, are very nice merino wool sweaters. They are destined to become knitting projects, or at the very least, lovely skeins of yarn.

There was one sweater in particular that I spotted from yards away:
It was a boxy short sweater made from beautiful self-striping wool yarn. Think Noro but softer and 2-ply. Lovely eh?
I got a pretty good amount. Enough for a sweater or a hat/scarf/mitten set.
Lastly, here my piece from the Ars Nova show!
I've stolen this photo from the gallery's website... On the right of my piece is my good friend Kim Strom's piece. She landed first prize in the show! Congrats Kim!
I also went to two other shows last night, one at Gallery 214, and one at Bad Dog Gallery. More on those later though, I'm off to head home for Easter!

Old Sheet to New Rug!

We needed a new bathroom rug, so I looked around online and found a bunch of people making rugs from old t-shirts, but I didn't really want to take all of the time to cut all of the shirts. I thought I would try this with a bed sheet instead. Here is the finished project! I love it, it is super cushy and the texture is really fun.
The sheet I got was a king size flat sheet (for $1!) and it was 100% cotton. To get it into a continuous strip, I cut off all f the edges, and then I cut a notch about 1" from the side and tore it almost to the end of the sheet. Then I cut another notch and tore it in the opposite direction making one really long zig-zag strip. Then I crocheted it into a big rectangle until I ran out of yarn. I love the texture!!I had a little bit of the sheet left over and so I decided to make a little pot holder. I also got a little wooden box at the thrift store. I love tiny boxes and containers. I always fill them with buttons or beads.Tomorrow the show that I'm in opens at the Jack Olson Gallery on campus. The opening is at 4:30pm! I have two pieces in the show, so if you come out, make sure to say hello!

Thrifted Bag Redo and a Continuation of the Sweater Project

I had been looking for a nice leather bag for a while. I have a few stipulations when it comes to bags. First, they've got to have a long strap. I am always doing stuff with my hands, and I hate having to keep a handbag on my arm. Also, it can't be too big. I hate huge bags-- that's what backpacks are for. So I went to the thrifting Tuesday and found this pretty:
But, it needed something. Lace!! I sewed some of my vintage lace onto the purse on the train into Chicago yesterday. End result = LOVE!It was the perfect size for walking around the city all day. I could fit my sketchbook, wallet, small digital camera, and my cell phone perfectly.
I also made some progress on the Sweater Project. I spun these up this weekend, and they are drying - they take sooo long to dry because they are bulky and cotton.
I'm going to post some pics of our Chicago adventure later today or early tomorrow. The lecture we went to was amazing as well, I'll post a link to the podcast once it is posted on the art institute's blog. :)

Thrifting, Weaving, and Cats

I'm working on some Christmas projects today. It is chilly outside, but it snowed for the first time this winter a couple of days ago and I've been cuddling up on my couch working on paintings and final projects. I'm almost done with everything for this semester. All that is left is some grading of student work, some documenting of my own work, and a couple of critiques.
So today I can indulge in a few distractions. Here are the 'kittens' helping me with my weaving.
Here is my view. It is one of the best things about living in our apartments (along with being able to have cats, gardens, and the large kitchen).
I've been doing some thrifting as well the last few weeks in order to collect sweaters for recycling yarn. I went in last week with a mission. "I am going to find an awesome pair of leather boots." Ok, so I go in with these kinds of missions all of the time, and I never find what I'm looking for. This time was the charm though! They fit pretty good, they just need to be worn in a little bit to fit my feet, but I can tell they are already fit better after wearing them a few times. I bought new insoles for them as well which helped increase the comfort level. Now I just need to find a pair of skinny jeans that fits right....
I also found this little cute owly. I think it is a candle holder (it has a space in the back for a tealight) but for now he resides on my secretary desk, bringing cheer to my work space. I also made some woven coasters from the excess warp yarn from a scarf I was making. They match the colors in our apartment which is mostly greys and yellows. After I took the pictures, I decided to felt them, and now they look more even and less wonky.
I hope you all had a nice thanksgiving! I did, but I forgot to bring my camera, so you will have to trust me on that. :)

Gardens, Chicago, and Thrifting

Last weekend my good friend Tony came down for a visit. He just got done with teaching (he's an art teacher at a military academy) and we decided it was a good time for a get-together. I will hopefully have some pictures from our adventures soon, but until then there are these.
We started our little 10' x 10' garden plot over the weekend, and got it planted Sunday afternoon. Here's Nate 'carefully' planting some red pepper seeds.
It is a salsa garden I think. :) We planted spinach, tomatoes, wildflowers, parsley, chives, red peppers, beans, cayenne peppers, jalepenos, and thai basil. Next week we are going to plant squash and cucumbers (in another plot) and also transfer seedlings if any of the seeds in our original plot are too crowded. Hopefully we will have something to show for it at the end of summer! :)

Thrifting was quasi-successful as well this last weekend. I got these little mugs:
And I also picked up a leather camera bag. I know it's a little frumpy, but I'm working on ideas for stenciling it with. It's super durable though, and I was in dire need of a new camera bag.
Tony brought us some wonderful yellow mugs as well, but they are in the dishwasher, so I'll get pics of them soon as well. What a great weekend!

Good News!

Here is a sneak peek of what I've been working on recently. It is a group of interiors on 6"x6" hardwood panels. I've been using water-soluble oil paints in effort to nix the migraines I've been getting from paint thinner, and I really love them.
I found out this week that I got a Teaching Assistantship for next year as well, and I am VERY excited. I'll be teaching a foundations drawing class all by my lonesome. I really love NIU's MFA program because with my TA I'll be the teacher of record, so it will count as the precious 2 years of teaching experience that is necessary to score almost any university teaching position. I've been on cloud nine all week!
In other news, I'm completely ready for spring. Winter is starting to wear on me, and I'll be happy when I can feel the warmth of the sun again!
Speaking of winter, I went with the hubby's family to see Wicked in Chicago last weekend. It was a good show, and we stayed at an amazing hotel, but I think it could have been a little nicer outside- haha.Nothing like a good windy-ass sleet storm to get you in the mood to go walking around downtown!
Lastly, in lieu of nice weather, I've been doing some preliminary planning for the trip I want to take this summer. Nate and I, and possibly some others, are going to take a train up to Glacier National Park and camp/hike/paint for a week and a half. We are fairly set as far as camping gear goes, but we needed a nice backpack for Nate. Anyways, we were at the thrift store the other day, and *poof* right in front of me is this never-been-used $100 backpack with a $4.50 price tag on it.
I might have done a happy dance, or two.

New Items?

My Etsy shop has been in a sad state lately. I've been letting it go pretty badly since the semester started, so it's my goal to beef it up again this week. I've also been toying with the idea of starting a second shop for my jewelry, so the yarn and the jewelry are separated, but I'm not sure yet.
As if that's not enough to think about, I'm also starting some wood-burnings for fun. Who knows were that is going to go- hah- maybe I need to start doing some craft fairs....
Here is one of them, and I've got six more ready to be drawn on. Also, I went to the thrift store a couple of days ago and hit the jackpot. I got all this for $10!I got:
- 2 new scarves from Target
- A jacket and a tank top from Target
- A pretty glittery headband
- A new long-sleeve shirt and
sweater from Old Navy
In the fiber realm, I've spun three new yarns this week, and this is my favorite. It is super bumpy and bulky merino plied with a orange wool yarn. It is super squishy!
I've also started brainstorming for my EcoArt Project, and I'm really excited to get started on it. I'm going back and forth between doing a project involving handmade recycled clothing, or handmade recycled bags. Either way, I'll be trying to take a positive angle on consumption, and the encouragement of smart consumption.
But more on that when I'm further along with the project. :)

$12 = Awesomeness

I almost died when I saw this lovely cabinet at the thrift store the other day, especially after I saw the price tag! I somehow managed to fit it into my Corolla and carry it all of the way across my parking lot and up the stairs to my apartment. It was quite the feat, but well worth it indeed. It matches all of our furniture that we already have, and although we are going to be moving in a week or so, I still believe it will be worth the extra effort of moving it, don't you?
As far as yarn making goes, here is my latest skein of yarn where I experimented with coils for the first time. I think I may be keeping this one for myself :) After I made it, I was going to make myself some dinner, and thought to myself, "hmmm, don't I have some hummus already made up?" much to my disappointment, it was was in a sad sad state..... My sadness was quickly vanquished though when I sat the nasty rotten hummus next to my beautiful yarn, and they were the same colors! Go figure...
Nate and I are going to dinner at Tony's tonight, and I am kind of sad because it will be one of the last little gatherings we will have here in Oshkosh before we move to Sycamore. I'm sure there will be good food though, as Tony is a most excellent (albeit messy) cook.