Too much of a good thing!?!

I have lots of supplies.  I have supplies for several different crafts.  Each craft has its own set of supplies & tools.  Some of the supplies & tools, however, crossover.  In other words, some of the supplies & tools are used in more than one craft.  HOW does one organize supplies & tools in that situation?  I guess I'll need to visit some blogs of crafters and put the question to them & their followers. 

Yet another class, and another hobby, and . . .

I took another class at The Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville yesterday.  The class was Stamping 101.  Although I've had some rubber stamps for over 30 years, I've never had a class, and I've never really done much with the stamps.  I worked in office supplies in the late 1970s, and that's when I got my first rubber stamps.  I had (and still have) Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, stars, and several other stamps I used to stamp paper bags, plain paper (for wrapping gifts), and toilet paper (fun for birthdays).  I did that about 30 years ago - before the stamping & scrapbook craze.  I've accumulated some more stamps over the years, and now I want to do more with them.  Besides putting the images onto paper, I want to put them on fabric too.   Anyway, I made two cards & one card container in class.  I love the idea of making containers/boxes.  I've always had a thing for boxes, baskets, bottles, bags, and bins.  (How's that for alliteration?) I like containers!  So, the stamping - another hobby or an enhancement to what I already work with - fabric.  Love fabric!  I love to touch fabric.  My husband laughs at me because I'm always touching things in the stores.  Anything of a textile nature is fun to touch.  I even have a soft plushy bear by my bed for when I don't feel well.  The touch is very comforting.   It soothes the little girl within.

Oh no! More hobbies to pursue!

I went to a Beginning Stencil class yesterday at The Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville.  What fun!#!  Although it's a whole new hobby for me, I've been wanting to get into Mixed Media and use my many many fabrics in new & different ways.  Yesterday I used small stencils,  embossing pastes & glitters to create beautiful images on paper.  I also used a stencil, stylus and pigments (no paste) to create a different look - again on paper.  As it turns out, I can use some of the same tools/supplies to create images on fabric.  I've been wanting to try Shiva paintsticks on fabric so now I have some ideas on how to do that.  I already have a couple of books, stencils and rubbing plates for using the Shiva paintsticks.  So, bottom line, I can justify more of these classes because I can incorporate the new techniques into creating new art & wearables & whatever with my fabrics.  Yes!!!!  I also signed up for a Beginning Clothing Construction class at Sierra College (SC) this fall.  I've made some clothing on & off over the past 40 years, but I've never had any outside instruction.  I'm really looking forward to the class at SC, and I have my eye on more classes at The Stamp Art Shoppe and at The Tin Thimble in Loomis and . . . .   Can't wait!

Spring has certainly sprung . . .

I love this time of year.  Everything is greening up, and all of the birds are busy.  We have about 10 hummingbirds at the feeders a good part of the day.  They're going through about  1/2 gallon of nectar every 2 days or so.  The geese are back.  Last year the female made her nest on the roof of the shed closest to the house.  (That shed houses the chickens, a storage/work area, garden tools, and wood.)  I could watch the goose tend to her nest from the house.  She had six babies.  Mom & dad took very good care of them until they were grown.  They all flew away at the end of the season.  This year the mom built her nest on the roof of the shed out in the pasture.  I can barely see her from the house.  This year she only had two babies.  Again, mom & dad are taking great care of them.  The babies are usually between mom & dad, and dad gets uppity if anyone (or anything) gets too close.  Great parents.  The orioles are back.  Gorgeous colors!  Bright orange & yellow-orange.  In the past we've had two pairs.  At least I think it was two pairs.  There were two brightly colored birds and two that were less so.  Anyway, we've had a woven, hanging nest in the willow tree the last 2 or 3 years.  Mother Nature is amazing.  I could watch birds all day.  I think of birds as my guardian angels.  I can never be sad while watching them. 

Lizard in the larder . . .

Lizard in the larder, lizard under my chair, lizard in the cupboard, lizards everywhere. 

This time of year we have lizards everywhere.  I don't mind.  I like to watch their antics on the granite outcropping I can see from my kitchen window.  (I call it Lizard Rock.)  I'm not afraid of lizards, and I certainly don't dislike them.  However, I am started when I come across one in the house unexpectedly.  Several years ago, I had a brief encounter with a lizard in the larder (our food storage space in the basement).  There, on a shelf at my eye level, was a small pair of eyes staring at me.  It's a bit startling to come across a lizard when reaching for the pasta noodles or other dinner ingredients.  Another time I found a dried up (and dead of course) lizard stuck in the web-like facing on the bottom of my easy chair.  For a while we'd had an overabundance of flies in the house.  I guess the dead lizard was the answer as to why we had flies.  There are many, many times I've come across a lizard in the walk-out basement where I've set up my work space.  Sometimes it's just a tail that I find.  My guess is that one of the cats found the lizard before I found the tail.  Right now we have a lizard living in our upper cupboard above the microwave and fridge.  We tried to catch him a week or so ago and he fell out onto the floor and then went under the stove.  Frank found him later and put him outside.  Well, now there seems to be another one!  (Or the same one is back???)  Oh well.  I much prefer the lizards to rodents in the house. 

A Work In Progress and . . .

I visited a friend's blog, and it looked really nice compared to mine.  I set up my blog quite a while ago, and then I hardly did anything with it.  I can see that I need to do a bit of "remodeling" on my blog.  It's kind of dull as is. 

My friend mentioned something about "HOUSE CLEANING."  What's that all about?!?  I'm not sure I know what that is.  Oh yeah, I think it's related to the "Spring" cleaning I've been working on.  I've been trying to catch up.  Yeah, I'm working on "spring" cleaning FROM 1998!  I've never been too big on house work.  Too many other things to do. 

Speaking of other things to do, I have lots of quilting, sewing, and other crafts to get around to.  I need to think about creating a new blog just for my crafts.  I have lots of other things in mind for this blog.  We'll see.

Make Magic!

I've been doing some quilting since I retired almost five years ago. I also have an interest in Mixed Media. However, I have had too many doubts about my abilities. I've been reading a lot though, and I'm not alone. Not everyone can be published artists. I need to just do what I can and enjoy the process and whatever comes out of it. It's mostly for me anyway.

I've also been doing research for my family tree. I've been finding a lot out about my paternal uncle. He was a ventriloquist and magician. Howie Olson, aka Chester LeRoy. Howie learned ventriloquism from my grandfather. Howard Olson, aka The Great Chesterfield. They both had an interesting life. (More info in later posts.)

Anyway, while reading about Mixed Media, I thought it would help me to have a theme. As a result, I've decided my theme is MAGIC. Ventriloquism is the magic of voice, and since my uncle was also a magician, I thought I'd work with that somehow. The Magic of Art, and so much more. It will give me some direction for getting started.

Can’t wait to get started! I need to have a quilt done by mid-March before I can start on anything else though.

Spring has Sprung! No wait . . . & There's a New Roo in Town!

A week or so ago it was very spring-like. There are green buds on some of our trees, and some of our fruit trees have blossoms. Love it! Then, the rains came. Cold & windy. Had to build a fire again. I made some fire-starters the other day. They smell good and they seem to work just fine.

I've been having fun this past year doing some canning, making our own garam masala, liqueurs, and more. It's so much easier now that I'm retired. It's amazing how the time fills up though.

Got a new roo a couple of weeks ago. (roo = rooster) He's beautiful! We lost our only 2 roosters in November of 2009 when three bears attacked our chicken coup one night. According to Fish & Game, it was a mom & her two 18-month old cubs. Apparently they had been in the area for a while. Too bad we hadn't known. Anyway, when Frank brought the roo home, I walked down to the chicken coup with Frank, the roo, and our two dogs. Woody, our Border Collie, ran away to hide when he heard the roo crow. Tootsie, our Chihuahua, wanted to get the roo. Even the next morning Woody ran & hid from the roo while Tootsie barked at the roo.

I have lots to do. A quilt for one. Off to work!

My, how time flies!

It's been forever since I last posted to this blog. Life gets busy, and things get out of hand at times. A lot has happened since my last post, but I don't want to go over that now. I came across a blog last night that was by a woman who grew up with a magician father. Since I've been doing research for my family tree, I've been finding a lot of information about my Uncle Howie, and just a little bit about my grandfather. Both were in show business. Howie was a ventriloquist & magician. My grandfather, Gramps, was a ventriloquist. Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to add what I find about Gramps & Howie to my blog. That way others can see it. Oh, I don't expect most people to be interested, but I'm finding that others in the "trade" seem to be interested in this stuff. I've had some great help from strangers. Perhaps I'll get more if they see my posts, and perhaps my posts can help others. I have other things to do now, but I'll start to post my notes & photos here in the near future.