It's Ingrained In Me

 My (art) passion this week has been paint, textures, and faux encaustic. This, of course, means layers and drying in between layers. I manage to keep busy during the "drying stages". Aside from housework, I putz with other art projects. Like, for instance, these little numbers.
 When I was growing up during the '50's and '60's, we really didn't have much. Money. For things. Growing up like that I learned about hand-me-downs, about rummage sales and second hand stores, about sewing and "making-over" clothes. I learned how to work hard to earn money for things I wanted. And to look for bargains to make my hard-earned babysitting money go further. So what does all this have to do with my accordion files?
  I was "mousing" at a craft store this week---therapy shopping as I call it---and I found these in the clearance section....for next to nothing. It's ingrained in me to mouse through clearance racks.  I knew I could use these for my ephemera and my schnibbles and my "junky little pieces" that will one day find themselves in a collage. I knew that with a little bit of imagination and Mod Podge and junky little pieces and letters, I'd make them into something for my blissroom. So in between layers of paint and gel medium, I made these. They're pretty simple. But they're mine. From the clearance section.  Happy.

Shame On Me

  When I decided to make a blog, like so many other bloggers, I told myself that I'd post on a regular basis, not letting lots of time pass without adding new posts. Unbelieveably, 2 1/2 months  have passsed since I've added anything to this.  So what's my excuse? So what have I been doing?
  In addition to working at our office, taking care of our house, yard, and my vegetable garden, spending time with a friend's mom, escaping "up north" a few times, and learning my new smart phone, of course I've been making art.
 I've finally learned to solder. Admittedly, I've not quite mastered it to the point where I'm very comfortable with it, but I've done a few nice pieces. I've been introduced to Zentangle which is very relaxing for me. For a while this summer making little books filled my time. I've played with a little bit of decoupage and just played with projects from magazines. Of course I've done a few journal pages, sewn aprons, submitted one project for publication, and made a monthly project for an art exchange I'm doing. Oh. I did a wallhanging for my bliss room and made greeting cards for our church....and I'm trying to keep up with an on-line art class.
 In retrospect, I guess in the future I should put down the paintbrush or soldering iron or put the sewing machine away, let the house or office work go for a bit, and post to my blog. Well, maybe at least let the office and house work go.