KpacoTa CnaceT Mup-Beauty Will Save the World

(Quote from Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky's THE IDIOT, 1869)


Saturday, August 30, 2008

Getting Ready for Boonsboro Days....

Taking a little time from the blog to make final preparations for my upcoming show, which gets thousands of people.(Also have 2 full days of interpreting conferences right before the show-ehhh!) Of course, I always feel like I'll get more done than is humanly possible. I'm doing the show w/my friend Jenny. It'll be her first show. I haven't done an outdoor show in years. I usually stay away from them. But everyone has a good time at this one.Hopefully we'll be successful!


When I 'get back', I'll post pictures of all my wonderful goodies from Vivian.:)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Vintage Apron Swap hosted by Garb-oodles Soup












So my swap partner is viv out on a whim. Here's the apron that I made her. Hope she likes it! My hubby really liked it and said he wanted one like it,it was so nice.Te-He- Isn't he sweet? My Model daughter is modeling it in her skinny jeans.(Just found out yesterday at her sports physical that she is now 6' tall! Wow!)


I also made a couple of coordinating kitchen towels and a heart 'pin' cushion. ,  some collaged magnets out of her pics, and tags out of the originals (no pic. of tags  here)- hope it's ok to post these here, Viv.

The apron has deep comfy pockets w/big vintage, cranberry buttons. The tie- back is a universal size to fit all sizes. I double lined the pockets, then scallop-trimmed one side. The corners are tacked down as well, and I double stitched in many areas so that it would hopefully withstand washings.

I had so much fun designing and making the apron! And the funny thing is,about 15 years ago, my Mom kept asking me to make aprons to sell. I said,"But I don't even wear aprons, Mama!" She kept asking me. She was, I quess, forward thinking. I actually wear them once in a blue moon. A great idea to protect nice clothing when getting ready for a party. I want to make some more now.

A great book about aprons, w/wonderful pictures is: The Apron Book, by EllynAnne Geisel. It's a fun little book, w/vintage pics , stories, and patterns. The apron I designed was inspired by 2 vintage aprons I have and some pictures in the book.

Have you made any aprons? If so, did you enjoy it? I loved mixing the fabrics.  Later-Lydia

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Grab Bag Collage at the Library


So in the first art session that I held at our beautiful new library, I had everyone grab 20-30 pictures from torn magazine pages very quickly.Then they answered a bunch of questions such as " What were 5 favorite movies of yours growing up... List 5 favorite books....What 5 characters did you like the most in any books/movies that you enjoyed".....This process was loosely based upon activities from author Julia Cameron(Vein of Gold).


They then collaged these pictures onto cardstock/cardboard. The collage results are neat, after looking through your answers to your questions. You find a lot out about yourself. It's a fun activity that jumpstarts the creative process.(This is not an artsy collage-You are not supposed to spend time making it into art work.) 

For example, in my collage above, I found out that I was a lot more positive then I had been feeling, when I made the collage a while back. What with my husband's lung cancer and brain surgery, my Lyme, 2 girls in collage, and a son in middle school, and 2 cats (now 3)- well, you get the picture. Let's just say that I was held up by a thread more than once. So this positive quality was a surprise. I always look at the glass as half -full, but low times are low times.

I learned a lot more about myself--- but just wanted to share the collage. I really liked how it turned out. I had so much fun making it one night on my bed as my hubby slept.( The left side got a little cut off when I scanned it into the computer).

Maybe you could make a grab bag collage. If you do, I'd love to hear about it, or see it if you'd care to share. You can email me if you'd like the questions or more info.. 

Later alligator-   Lydia

AN UNEXPECTED AWARD


Patti at Treasure Barn gave me AN UNEXPECTED AWARD ! WoW! Thank you patty.

It means that she likes what I do in my blog.

The rules are simple. I just have to pick 6 blogs that I love, and post the logo on my side bar and share my link back to Patti at Treasure Barn. I need a little time to list these. Thank you for your patience:) Lydia


Tuesday, August 12, 2008

2nd Library Session, Nieces Coming, House getting worked on...What's a girl to do???


Wait a second.... So, I'm a little 'out of breath', can you hear me panting??? :)There's nothing like being on the phone for over 7 1/2 hrs., only to have your internet connect continue to be here or 'there'. Yeah, it's going, yet I have to do something every time to get on-line. Another 3-7 1/2 hrs. on the phone coming up. I don't want to bore you with all the details. When I whine, I might have a pity party, and I've had enough of those, thank you.


And yesterday and today I was prepping for my 2nd library session, which I feel went well. More people signed up for this session, and more time is allowed for next session. Hopefully , it will be a continuing  art session. Today was transformation. They had to transform any item, we shared our special notebooks and the grab-bag collage that we made to open up the series.There's a lot more that goes with that, but I'm being brief here. 

In between the internet being out and my library session today, my friend Tania Baeva (Moscow doll artist friend) called (while  in the states for NIADA), and I scurried to get a package out to her- some Mongolian Tibetan goat hair. You can see her wonderful dolls at NIADA.com. Just look up artists to see their work.

And of course there are the Olympics, and the Georgia/Russia conflict. Since I won't be politicizing here, I will say that I'm very interested in what everyone has to say about the latter, and am constantly amazed by people who 'know things' yet have never visited the area, nor do they know about the history and conflicts within. It's not always black and white, but many shades of grey. I think there are many people escalating tensions for NO good reason- people that I may normally agree with in many other situations. Seems to me that a  lot of people want to 'jump on the bandwagon' without really understanding all sides. OK- I've said too much....................and, it is really neat to see developments in China, since I was last there.

Oh, yeah- my new camera never came- it was cancelled without them telling me that it was cancelled. The warranty came, but no camera. When I called they told me that it was discontinued.EHHHH! If you only knew how long it took to decide on a new camera, and the research that I did. Oh, well, back to the drawing board.

And the wood for my office is coming very soon, so I hope the builder will correct the "Water coming in through the wall, windows, and front door!" situation...because, I'm laying a wooden floor this week!!! Got my  reconditioned Bostitch Nail Gun and I'm ready to GO!

Sense a little excitement? I'm actually better organized, and trying to maintain a certain level of job completion. I have at least one more art session, the apron swap, about 5 shows to get ready for or to deliver to, plus a Home Show and Bake Sale, Translating in the schools for adopted Russian children,....and the list is too tiring.

The story is that I've been dealing with( Mono and) acute Lyme on top of acute Lyme, on top of acute Lyme, on top of chronic Lyme, and 2 co-infections(Bartonella and Babesia), and my husband's lung cancer, so it's been a little hairy at times. OK- a lot of the time. But, I don't want this to be a whining blog, soooo I  like to look at the good. 

The Babesia's gone, and we're working on the Bartonella. I have way more energy, and have reduced a great deal of the symptoms, and have a fantastic doctor who is one of the few nationwide who specializes in the Lyme and is also extremely knowledgeable about natural supplements that help. I do not like drugs, so I seek out the alternatives.Unfortunately, one must deal w/the anti-biotics w/the Lyme. It is not to be messed around with. My doctor keeps switching them according to the symptoms. In Nov. it will be a year and a half since being diagnosed, (after being mis-diagnosed for many years ). And I would never wish this chronic Lyme, etc. and its miriade of symptoms upon anyone. 

Anywho- my great excitement with the listing of what is on my list, is that, I am starting to feel more up to the task. My family comes first, so for me to start to regain my wonderful energy to do a lot more is just great! I still have some great fatigue, but it's less and less, and lasts a lot shorter. I'm gaining so much of my endurance.

...AND, my 2 beautiful and smart nieces are coming from California to visit. Well, actually one of them is coming for a few days, and the other may be coming, but to just pass through,. They're going with my oldest to see the cousins on Long Island. Natalie is staying for a few days. She just graduated Berkeley in 3 YEARS!!!Olga is trying to come also, but for a shorter time. We have fun. Not only are they smart, beautiful, and loving, but they are creative and love to create like me and especially my oldest. So, I think that a side trip to the Ribbon factory is in order.:)

Yeah, that's me in the picture above:)  Later.

Friday, August 8, 2008

WEBLOG Honors- Wow!

  1. Wow! What an Honor! My first blog land award- and how NICE! given to me by Jann of          
A Vintage Heart !!! 
THANK YOU, JANN!! You are truly so very sweet:)
OK- So as I understnd it, I am to list 7 people whose blogs I find inspiring.I hope that you will visit these talented and inspiring blogs, soon to be listed.

10 Hours Later...



So it took 6 hrs on the phone w/ Mac and HP to get me on-line (in lieu of my store appt.), then I lost the wireless connection again, and then another hour and a half with an extremely knowledgeable self proclaimed computer geek named Andrew, to get me back rolling, and all I want to do is artwork..! Andrew was great. But, I still need to do a full system check either by phone, or in store- ARGGH!!!


...and tonight's the first night of the Olympics... I wish someone else in the family, ANYONE, could do all the things that I do for the computers and runnings-on in the house---EHHHHHHH!
That felt good-

So the moth above landed on our doorstep not too long ago. Does anyone know what it is?The other picture is a very old piece. They do make repros. of this, but this is the real thing- a plaster peice that greets us at the front door.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Wireless Out...

So with the latest ridiculously loud storm my wireless went out. Posting from another computer and don't have access to my Mac I-photos- oh, woah is spoiled I-Mac me.

And the rain came through the front door, all front windows, and through the wall in my office where I'm about to lay a wooden floor. Hope the builder takes care of this one without much angst. ???

Hope all is well in blog land w/my new found friends. I also don't have my links... I may also have to leave my Mac at the Mac store an hour and a half away for a couple of days to do a complete system scan/check tomorrow.

And , the first art session at the library went well. Hope to have more time to get to know the participants a little bit more. The next class is transformation- of any item under the sun.

Well, another storm is coming. The thunder has been soooo loud for every storm all summer.Later.:) la