who knew

a garage door could simply tear down the middle. this was discovered as the crack/tear/weakness there in the center caused the door to pull away from it's tracks which caused the mechanisms in the motor of the opener to slip and grind against each other and break.

replacing the 2 doors and openers will significantly reduce our emergency fund. money comes in, money goes out. i wish it would stay a bit longer, when it comes.

there are garage door websites that allow you to upload a pic of your house and "try out" different doors. we're thinking of going with faux wood this time....

my teeny, tiny baby turns 10 today.

here she is with her cousin.

polymer sweater pin

i made the skinny one first, out of premo, i think. i baked it 30 minutes (i think). and as soon as i spiraled it into the 2 layers of the front of my cardigan, it warped out of shape. I made the big one (45 minute bake time) in response to the warpyness of the skinny one, but it stretches the fabric of the knitting out too much. i think i'll re-bake the skinny one to see if i can get it to stiffen up a bit.

my mornings...

start like this. 

the cats race me upstairs and settle into their favorite shower-watching spots. then, they don't move till i actually turn the faucets on them.

necklace disappointment

i have actually been working (for weeks, a few minutes at a time) on this necklace. It looks pretty nice, doesn't it? 

it hit a bunch of my own personal challenges i had set for myself-first and foremost, an asymmetrical necklace. also, using leather. and multiple strands. and a BIG toggle clasp used as the focal point. so i should be tickled that it worked out so nicely, right? unfortunately, what that photograph doesn't show is that it's so long that the toggle doesn't have any tension on it so it lays funny and jangles around a bit and also the bar slips down; so it JUST DOESN'T HANG RIGHT. also, the little scribble beads that i made with 28 gauge argentium are itchy and picky, kind of like wearing something made out of human hair.

it's frustrating to have so little time to make jewelry and to have spent so much time on a piece that is just going to have to be disassembled.

still life

i'm not doing anything particularly creative outside of work, so i'll post a few pics from the watercolor still life i just set up for my juniors.

      

                   

this last view is my favorite....it's the view i will paint for my example.

                                         

window seat. after.

new curtains-jc penney. new pillows-target. done. oh yeah, except for the rug that we don't own yet.

overwhelmed and goofy

somehow, it seemed like a reasonable idea to take an online class this month. y'know, in my free time.

i pushed through 6 of the 10 required assignments in the first couple weeks thinking "whew! i'm almost done." well, now it is perilously close to the end of the month and i have not yet completed the other assignments. one of the assignments is a series-of-3 digital self portrait. setting up meaningful, symbolic still lifes, etc. i think i will include this goofy, smirky pic entitled "portrait of the artist in her environment". in my kitchen. with my apron on. doing the camera-at-arm's length thing. notice i captured the reflections of 2 perplexed kiddles in the window.....

well, i'd better run. gotta write a poem to go with a painting i did.......