• Art - Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: randomness abounds edition

    August 26, 2019 - By 

    I’m not going to lie…this post might just give you motion sickness from how all over the place it will be.

    I guess we’ll go with chronological. Mr. G was tasked with creating some trophies that he’d 3D print at work for the company go-kart racing day. He said I could paint them up so we got to go shopping at the craft store!

    These were printed on a resin printer so they are quite smooth and would take spray paint really well.

    They turned out pretty darn cool if you ask me.

    I got this in the mail from my friend, Sandy.  When we were at the cabin in Idaho, we had a few drinks and she said…gosh I better quit cause I’m slurring. To which I said…You’re not slurring, you’re speaking in cursive! 

    On Friday we loaded up the van to bring J to college for his second year. Mr. G picked up the horrible virus mini-me and I brought back from our trip…likely from the airplane. He was completely out of commission for nearly 4 days so Mini-me came with to help out and be my home travel companion.

    Since we were in Duluth with no boys after setting J up at his apartment…we did what we love…look for seaglass.

    We found a very small amount of very tiny glass. It was still fun but bigger pieces are definitely more fun.

    I sat down to do a bit of art journaling yesterday. I was really feeling the need to play with paper, paint, and glue. I’m not in love with this page but it certainly felt good to play.

    Today was yet another step back to the reality that summer is nearly done. I had a work meeting. It was nice to see all those faces again. After my meeting I ran to the grocery store…

    Had my name tag on the whole time…duh. No wonder people kept looking at me somewhat oddly.

     

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Blog - Creativity

    It’s all about presentation

    May 27, 2019 - By 

    Over 30 years ago, I mined these lovely black rocks and since then they have resided in an old Christmas tin…such a shame. The other day I decided that I wanted to gift another rock loving gal with some of my treasured Apache Tears.

    Technically they are obsidian but the ones found in this particular area of Arizona are named Apache Tears.

    The Apache Tear is named after a legend of the Apache tribe. In the 1870s, a small group of Apache warriors met the US Cavalry in a battle. They were horribly outnumbered and it became clear that they could not win the battle. Instead of conceding defeat and being captured then murdered, they decided to ride their horses off the side of a mountain to their deaths. According to the legend, when the wives and children of these warriors mourned, their tears turned to stones when they touched the ground where their warriors fell. Those stones were the Apache Tears so we would always remember what happened.

    My friend’s mom is waving at us from our high vantage point….likely worried we’d scare up a rattlesnake or fall from the cliff behind us. But teenagers are fearless.

    I took these photos during our time adventuring around at the mine. It is honestly one of my favorite memories of my spring break trip to AZ my junior year in high school. Getting to use a small pick ax to gently tap away at the perlite unearthing the rounds of obsidian was so much fun. I can see how miners could get “gold fever” very easily.  It’s my understanding that this mine is now closed to the public. So glad I had the chance to experience it when it was available.

    When I came across this glass jar, I was instantly inspired to create a lovely displayable gift. The rubber stopper is removable so she can take out the stones to admire them any time she wants. I used an old dreamcatcher earring as decoration along with a specimen tag. I plan to make another for myself as soon as I find just the right bottle again.

  • Art - Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    T Tuesday: returning edition

    June 26, 2017 - By 

    Hello!! I am still here. It’s been a while.

    Gosh, that sounds like the beginning to a song… I’m awful with names of songs/singers/authors/actors/movies/etc…so if it is one…sorry, I’m just not going to be able to commit any brain cells to that information. I have WAY too much other pointless trivia floating around in there.

    So I took a bit of a blog hiatus after mom’s passing and funeral. I just wasn’t able to “find my voice” for the blog. I think my bout of laryngitis is over now.

    During my break we traveled to north to do another college visit. This one was University of Minnesota Duluth. I completely forgot to take any photos on campus likely because our tour remained inside all but one brief walk outside as a shortcut. The awesome thing about UMD is that all the buildings are connected by tunnels and concourses. You literally don’t have to step outside if you don’t want to all winter long. I’d be blissfully happy if that’s where either kid decided to go to school.

    Mini-me and I did our traditional sea glass hunting. The view is lovely…

    and we always manage to find treasures.

    The kids and I walked down to Grandma’s (host of Grandma’s marathon that had been run just the day or two before we got there)

    Both times we’ve eaten there, we’ve been seated right by this sign. Too funny! I didn’t take the obligatory beverage photo but rest assured it was there and it was of the adult variety. Why not…we were walking!

    Back at home I’ve been keeping busy with gardening, driving back and forth to the high school for volleyball and some volunteer work I picked up. The choir director put out a call for anyone with sewing skills to mend the robes before they are dry cleaned to save the program some money. So far I’ve mended 20 robes. 

    It’s mostly split sleeves but there have been some zippers and collars as well.

    It’s all hand stitching and the stitches need to be hidden. Thank you Mrs. Wilwerding for teaching me how to sew in the 8th grade. My kid’s high school also thanks you for indirectly saving them lots of money. I’m hoping when I drop off this latest batch of 6 robes that at least some will have been taken by the others to mend.

    I have been a little creative as well. Here’s a little sneak…

    What are you doing today?

    T stands for Tuesday