Round Toit

One of my friends retired recently.

So, I made her a card. Sort of. The "envelope" is a coffee filter that was painted with watercolors.

The card is an ATC. Instead of being rectangular, it's round with a 2 1/2 inch diameter, and it's called an Artist Trading Coin. This one is called a Round Toit.  Now that she's retired she'll have all the time she needs to get all those things she put off doing until she got around to it. Well, now she has one. She's fond of her dogs so I included a paw sticker and charm

The back of the ATC painted with watercolors using the plastic wrap technique

What would you do if you ever got a Round Toit?

When Your Muse Takes A Powder

 

From June 22, 2009

An author friend posed some answers to the question what do you do when your creative well runs dry?

Creating something with my hands is such a rush. Though I sometimes refer to my work as play, it's still work. (Though some don't view it as such). It's hard to be creative every single day. Sometimes the demands of work and family just sap my energy. When I feel that happen, it's best just to step back and leave the drawing board. I find if I'm not in a good mood, not happy, my mood comes through my hands. But there's also the need to get that creative energy back. Some things I do:

1. Being a couch potato and watching movies.

2. Cleaning and organizing the studio. Though this can also be a procrastination technique, touching the art supplies sometimes cause my fingers to itch. Sometimes I just have to get my hands in the paint. Afterall, art is a contact sport.

3. Reading blogs by creative friends and colleagues. Looking at what they are doing can be very energizing.

4. Flipping through my calligraphy books, art books, and color swatch book, makes me want to get back in the saddle.

5. Making ATCs just for me and not a trade. Too many times things made are given away or sold (a blessing). I can try a new technique and have fun without the pressure someone is waiting for a piece to be completed.

What are some of the things you do when your muse takes a powder?

Throwback Thursday

 

From March 2012: My Theatrical Experience

When I was a sophomore (18 or 19 yrs. old) at Boston University, I was in Equus starring Brian Bedford and performed at the Shubert Theater. That is, I was in one performance.

My friend, Teague, was a theater major at Northeastern University. She asked if I wanted to see the play Equus. She could get us special student tickets which allowed us to sit on stage. We would be medical or psychology students seated in an amphitheater and listening to the psychiatrist (Bedford) describe his treatment of a disturbed young man, Alan. Perfect! I was born to the role as I was a pre-med student studying psychology. We arrived at the theater and were shown to our seats on stage.  We sat on risers with other students. I didn't know the play, but it was very exciting to not only watch the performance, but to be "in" the performance. Until...

Jill, a stable girl, entices her co-worker, Alan to go into the stable late one night. Jill pulls off her sweater and peels out of her jeans.

 Okaaay. I squirmed a little in my seat. It's nothing more or less that I haven't seen before.

And then Alan takes off his shirt.

 I fidgeted a little more which earned me a hiss from Teague. Sit still!

Alan fumbles with the waistband of his jeans.

Ohmygawd, he's not going to...And then my parochial school training kicked in and I was repeating small prayers (coincidentally called ejaculations). Jeez Louise! He's not wearing his Holy Fruitofthyloomies! Jeeze Louise! He's Mother Buck Naked.

I could feel the heat rising to my face and my ears were burning. My eyes were bugged out of their sockets like a cartoon character, the pupil detached from the iris, which was detached from the eyeball, all stretched beyond the character's nose. I was sophisticated. I had traveled to Germany. I was a pre-med major. I had studied Anatomy and Physiology. I owned a Merck manual.  I'd seen the diagrams of the male anatomy.  But the young man on stage didn't resemble those flat pictures, and he was obviously excited to be on stage.

Understand, this was Boston founded by Puritans. Boston where Hey, Little Suzie by the Everley Brothers was banned. Boston where I had attended parochial school,  where the nuns wouldn't allow us to sing Louie, Louie because of the suggestive lyrics.

I didn't know where to look, and I was sure my eyeballs were going to burst into flame. Then an angel saved me. In the first row of the mezzanine, I could see a man in a dark suit and white turtleneck. I focused my attention on his turtleneck until the scene ended eight days later with the psychiatrist mercifully wrapping Alan in a blanket.

So ended my theatrical career.

Accordion Fold Book with Pockets, "Moi" - Days 28 - 31

Days 28 and 29

What household job do you hate the most?

I hate cleaning the toilet.

What is your profession?

I wear many hats

On any given day I am, the Artist in Residence, Wife, Social Secretary, Chargé D'Affair (the person in charge of an embassy), Doctor, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Mama, The IT Department, Cat Whisperer, a Cheerleader, the CFO, and the Chief Cook, Cleaner, and Bottle Washer.

Days 30 and 31

What is your favorite month?

My favorite month of the year is July. Besides being a Summer month, the girlies and I celebrate our birthdays during the month of July.

What state do you live in?

I live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Finis

Accordion Fold Book with Pockets, "Moi" - Days 22 - 27

Days 22 - 25

Beach or Mountain?

The beach photo is from Ogunquit Beach, Maine. The mountain photo is from the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

I think if you've come this far with me, you know...

What's Your Astrological Sign?

I'm a Leo

July 23 to August 22.

What was your favorite age?

There are several favorite ages so I chose three. 

When I was 7 years old, I won (my Dad actually won) an Honorable Mention in the Science Fair. Our experiment was materials that would conduct electricity and would light a light bulb. 

When I turned 17, several friends gave me birthday parties. Lots of cake was involved. We drove through the center of town with me in the back seat sticking my head out the open window and yelling to all the passersby, "Anybody want a piece of cake?" Yup, I thought I was hot stuff. 

At the age of 29, I finally got a really good job. I was a computer consultant to banks. The company I worked for sold back office accounting programs. My job was to customize the programs for the customers.  This was in the early days of business having mini-computer systems. My favorite road warrior outfit was a navy blue, pinstripe skirt and blazer with a red and blue "power tie". When I visited my banks, people would stick their head out of their offices and whisper, the programmer is here. the programmer is here. I always thought I should have had my own theme song to announce my arrival or presence. Something like Darth Vader's theme. I would be shown to a terminal where I could work. The rule was I was there to fix a specific problem. So no one could sneak in a while you are here could you fix this? There would be hisses, Don't bother the programmer. The boss's secretary would timidly approach and ask, Can I get you a coffee, tea, anything? Those were the days when programmers were gods and not just code monkeys.

Himself and I were dating at this time, too.

Are you a day or a night person?

I'm a day person. My day begins at 5 am when I have to get up to feed the kitties. Sometimes, I go back to bed until 7 am. Then it's go, go, go, with an occasional nap, and going again. I go to bed between 9:30 or 10 pm unless I'm at Camp Ogunquit.

Days 26 and 27

Are you a cat or dog person? 

I have been owned by 5 cats.

Ginette, a male tuxedo cat with an unfortunate name. The Brother was dating a girl whose cat had kittens. She asked my brother to watch the kitten for a week. They broke up and she never came back to get the kitten. I was 12 years old. I called him Kitty. He would wait on the front steps for me every afternoon as I came home from school. When he saw me walking up the street, he would run to meet me and walk me home.

Mitty was the cat we had before Ink. Mitty was a diluted tuxedo. He was grey and not black. We adopted him from a shelter. He was a very loving cat. I think he was so happy to be out of the shelter. Every morning at 4:30 am, he would let me know he wanted to go outside. At 6:30 am, he would bring me a decapitated mole. Every. single, morning. Sometimes, he would jump up on the kitchen table while the Young One was dawdling over her breakfast. He would finish it for her.

Ink was my beloved, black cat familiar. He was all black except for 6 white hairs on his chest.He owned me for 19 years, and has now been beatified as a saint.

My two, new furry overlords, are Calli. She stretches her back legs like she's a ballerina. She does not stretch the way normal cats do. Quill is a chill, big boy. He does not like to be held, but likes to be where the people are. He is dog software running on cat hardware.

Coffee or Tea?

A cup (of tea) a day keeps the bear at bay.

Accordion Fold Book with Pockets, "Moi" - Days 11 - 16

Days 11 -14

My First Car

A 1979 Ford Mustang named Hubbell

"Cruisin' and playin' the radio

With no particular place to go" - Chuck Berry

My Favorite Kind of Music

I listen to Classical and Semi-Classical Music

The ATC is a Hitched Stitch Booklet

Inside left, Beethoven's Für Elise, one of my favorite pieces on the sheet music with notations from my piano teacher.

Inside right, Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger.

Today's music ain't got the same soul,

I like that old-time rock n' roll.

Days 13 - 16

My Favorite Holiday

Halloween and Ink's Birthday

My favorite Movie

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal

Directed by Robert Wise

I've watched this movie a million and two times. It never gets old for me. Sure, the special effects might be hokey compared to today's technology, but this story still hold up after all this time.

My Favorite Season

Summah!

Am I an Introvert or an Extrovert?

Can you guess?

Accordion Fold Book with Pockets, "Moi" - Days 7 to 10

Days 7 to 10

 Day 7, Sunrise or Sunset

Both for me. "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof was the Father-Daughter dance at our wedding. The lyrics from this verse are fitting as we will be celebrating 38 years married in August.

"Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset

Swiftly fly the years,

One season following another,

Laden with happiness and tears."

Day 8, My Favorite Flower

There are so many favorites, but there's a soft spot in my heart for dandelions. They were the first bouquets my girlies would bring me clutched in their chubby, toddler hands. The puffs are wishes.

Day 9, Sunshine or Rain

Please, don't take my sunshine away

Day 10, What Are You Afraid Of?

I have an irrational fear of spiders. I'm apt to break out in a high pitched song accompanied by a little dance. It hasn't helped that I've been bitten twice by spiders and had nasty reactions, but no cool super powers. 

Accordion Fold Book with Pockets - Cover and Days 1 and 2

Scrolling through some projects from last year in the Creative Hand Lettering & Doodling with Lindsay (Waltman-Ostrom) group on Facebook, I found an Concertina Book with Pockets with the theme of All About Me. The project took a month to complete making the book and filling the pockets with Artist Trading Card sized art (2.5 in x 3.5 in.) A prompt list was supplied. I used most of the prompts but substituted a couple.

The book was made from 12 in x 12 in. cardstock cut in half with a 2 inch fold for the pocket. A hard cover was made with chipboard recycled from cracker boxes. The book has a ribbon and Baker's twin enclosure. 

The title of the  book is Moi and features a picture of myself and Ink. He loved to sit on my shoulder. The picture was colored with colored pencils.

I found the perfect charm, too. The letter, C for my first initial with a little blue crown.

Day 1:Hoisting My Colors.

A small flag with colored stripes of Royal Blue, Black, and Red. These colors are my wardrobe palette.

Blue: The Favorite Color, Royal Blue is fitting for a Little Princess

Black: For Ink and slimming fashion sense

Red: The secret color and a little naughty

Day 2 Spirit Animal(s)

I have two. Ink and a Black Bear

The Black Bear ATC was done for an exchange in 2007, but was perfect for the book.