Size does make a difference!

I made this bag for my darling husband to schlep his stuff back and forth to school. It has all the features he likes: padded computer space, a gorgeous brocade lining, extra pockets for paper and small items in velcro attached vinyl, a large outside pocket, and a print he really likes and secure handle and straps. Well! It fits my computer, but not his! We both forgot that he got the super delux version of the Mac laptop. It's too big to fit. It was part of being an economist doing detailed analyses -- two full pages can display on it at once. He got out of economics and is not in school to be a counselor at the Adler Institute. Brave and I'm very proud of him. So now I have another completed bag. And a new design for a back pack. Not only does it fit his laptop, but also his lunch and cup for tea. If it's a good bag I'll make one to hold water bottles. I love it when problems allow the space for creative solutions.

Collaborating with my Dad

Well! Amazing and unthinkable a year ago. My Dad is an amazing wood worker. He built this side table that frames my prints. My job was to cut them down to his beloved (and clunky in my opinion) Aristotilian rectangle. In this case he agreed it was a clunky lamp, and was delighted when I suggested a table. That gave me my other task, buying plate glass. Dad lives in a small town where you get everything the day you think of it. He couldn't understand why it took me a week to find a good glass cutting company we can develop a relationship with here in the big city. The wood is walnut cut off our cabin's land. And I'm surprised how well it sets off the teals and meadow greens of these spring time prints. He's just completed a second one. And that will probably be that as he likes to solve new puzzles. The project I'm sure he began yesterday is a six foot tall lamp with three tiers of prints that will light up that dark corner we all have in our homes. It will have maple uprights and walnut horizontals. Cool huh? I'm busy putting epoxy on 12 prints! No small feat! Any ideas on how much to charge for these in the fairs this summer?

Wash that Gray Right out of the Landscape

I took a walk with my camera to catch the last evenings of this glorious winter sun. It is a pale yellow surrounded by a warm grey. The summer sun is honey colored surrounded by pinks and oranges brought to us by air pollution. Last week I was cursing that darn groundhog because I would love another month or two of deep winter. Today I've gotten more comfortable with spring. It could be these puddles. Or the new light. Or the songs the birds are singing. It is a time of discovery. My Dad called to ask if it could be the Norse god of mischief and shapeshifting, Loki, could be responsible for his misplacement of his wallet and glasses. Of course! Monday had incredibly strong new moon energy --- I started six purses and didn't finish anything! And it's the spring energy -- east. Loki is from the East. Gotta get back to Norse mythology again soon.

The trees will soon have some leaves. Hmmph. I do like surprising the squirrels with my gaze. The Bald Eagle in Zumbrota has been cleaning out her nest. She's always sitting on it before the leaves come out on the trees. I so love their shapes without their leaves...kinda like black coffee....great on it's own, but a bit of sugar is nice too. I got a shot of the snow melt around the tree trunks. It's always proof to me that they are starting to move their energy upward. So it's time to enjoy the day as it is rather than as something it isn't... So I dyed a bunch of T-shirts I'd used Shiva Paintsticks on. And a whole bunch of my grandmother's linen tablecloths and napkins. Next blog will be those gorgeous colors and shapes.

Bags Bags Bags

Allen went to Texas and I've been in the studio for 24 hours every day he was gone! Tired... and supremely satisfied. Such a lovely notion, being satisfied. There's a Sanskrit word of a similar meaning, "sattva." I have definitely not been in sattva, which also means balance and moderation. Ca va say the French. Now, about these bags. I finally finished the buckskin bag for my friend Cid. It was the first bag I attempted...many months ago...and have ripped out various parts of more times than I can say. My trip to visit the guys at Tandy solved the problem. Now I have to go back and buy more rivets! The other two bags are of hand painted gaffer tape! Allen's briefcase has a gorgeous brocade as a lining as well as a secure laptop pocket. He also wants a white board in it so I added velcro to the bottom and made a couple of vinyl pockets that have velcro too. All will stick to the bottom. The last bag is mine...not selling this one (sold 4 this weekend!). It's big enough to carry lots of stuff. And the gaffer is stamped with tjaps from Bali...carved in pear wood 100 years ago...that's not a typo.

Rivets!!!

I have been struggling to attach hardware to some of the bags I'm working on. I've tried eyelets, glue, tape, even staples. There is nothing that fixes firmly to this epoxy. So "Aha!" the smarter and less stubborn part of me said to the frustrated part of me holding a hammer, "the leather people use rivets. Maybe rivets would work." Well, the stubborn part took that to the internet and ended up at the Tandy Leather site. Oh my! Lots of toys. I just didn't know what they were all for. So in desperation, I trotted over to the Tandy Leather Store on Portland. "Amazing" chorused the two part harmony in me. Three very knowledgeable men who took my problem seriously and explored all of their powerful glues and rivets and wow! I am home this morning pounding rivets happily and not so loudly as I'm using a wooden mallet -- on steel. It's so Fun! And even better, Larry, one of the fabulous men at Tandy, used to work at 3M in adhesives. He wasn't in the least bit surprised that the power glues at Tandy didn't work. He pushed me to reveal that it's not really epoxy I'm playing with, but instead a polyamide. And the best bit was he surmised that there would be a flexible version of this polyamide that will work better in bags and lampshades while the stiff version I'm using will continue to be optimal for lamps and tables I'm building with Dad and Allen. So. If you're struggling go see the wonderful men at Tandy. I'm trying to think of a reason to stop back over there today!

Hat Artist Trading Cards

Our Artist Trading Card meeting is tonight. The topic is Bonnets or Hats. One of the gals has suggested we wear one! Perhaps. I'm not into Easter so the bonnet thing didn't resonate. The Kentucky Derby came to mind, but how to get it on an ATC! And I've been into sewing and fabric lately more than paper, so I decided to play at being a milliner. I used more glue than I bet those gals did, but the materials are otherwise those that they used. My Great Grandmother Susie was a milliner. So I covered some buckram with velvet, silk and brocade. And then it's a collage isn't it. I made the organza roses by rolling up the center and making a couple of stitches at the bottom to hold it. I then fold the ribbon backwards at a right angle to make the first petal. Wrap it around the center roll. Again tack the new petal at the bottom when you get it where you'd like it to be. Continue making petals by folding the ribbon backwards and tacking at the bottom. Indeed you'll end up on the opposite side, and of course you'll make it your own as you go along. Clearly I don't stay inside the lines as these ATCs will show. The lace on the one with the blue flower just above this text is from my grandmother's wedding veil. The feather at the top is from my friend Carolyn's head strong Sun Conyer. My husband is beginning to understand why I have "one of each". It's times like these ATCs that I need a full pallet.

Shiva Paintsticks

I've been playing with Shiva Paintsticks to make the fabric I use behind the light panel in my purses. They're oil paints in crayon form and can be used so freely and happily. No matter how many mistakes I make, the piece I'm working on is always fabulous. They are permanent without heat setting in 24 hours. And I like to do them over textured stencils, stamps or die cutting texture plates. They cover one another if I allow a bit of time between...and they can be cleaned up with water and lots of soap!