Hurry up and wait: a moving experience

Those of you who follow my blog know I've been helping my friend Dana move to her new home. She and her husband hired a moving company to move them about a mile from one home to another. Now I have moved, but I have either done it myself (when I moved to Wichita), or my company hired movers to pack and move me. I've never been on site when movers were involved. Here is the saga of Dana's move.


The movers were supposed to be there between 8 and 8:30. They were late, but Whisper took it all in stride.

Before you ask, this is NOT BLEUBEARD. It's Dana's cat Whisper, who could be Bleubeard's twin, except he doesn't wear a collar and Bleubeard does. Whisper is unaffected by the hustle and bustle as Dana, Richard, and I finish all the details of the move.


While waiting, Dana and Frankie spend some quality time on her back patio.


Finally! That's my motto, too: GET A MOVE ON.


Richard is showing the guys where to park as they block the street.


After about an hour and a half, they are making a bit of progress.


About 1:oo pm, Dana and I head to her new house, where these things are waiting to be loaded onto the truck going back to Dana's. They will be sold at her sale.


It's time for me to make coffee and Richard's brother John and his wife Jenn show me where the coffee is stored.


Still no movers, so Jenn and Dana head to the back yard to inspect the new gate


while Dana's dog Roxie meets her new neighbor.


Wow, the neighbor doesn't want to play. Might have something to do with the fence being in the way.

Still no movers. We thought we were just ahead of them, but John, Ryan (Dana's son), and I had time to remove the built in microwave above the new gas stove while we waited.

Finally. It was my responsibility to show the movers where to put the basement furniture. You can see Dana's loom in the background and the chairs the movers dumped in the center of the room. It took them over 11 hours to move the furniture and everything was boxed and ready to go. I think I know who I wouldn't call if I had to move, but that's just me. Dana said Richard was quite happy with the move. And that is all that matters in any moving experience.

Today's blog is all about recycling. I could not end the month without one final recycling blog. This one is called Olympia Dumpster Divers. Olympia's own Ruby Re-usable started the project in 2006. Here is the blurb quoted directly from the site:

Olympia Dumpster Divers was started in 2006 by Ruby Re-Usable to promote the appreciation of art from recycled, reused, discarded, unwanted, unloved, tossed and found, pre- and post- consumer waste materials.

Challenging perception and creating new ways to look at the world is what artists do. Recycled artists do this not only by their choice of subject matter but through their deliberate choice of unconventional materials, forcing the viewer to reconsider preconceived notions of what materials are appropriate for creating art . The most successful recycled artists elevate recycled art above mere novelty and whimsy, beyond egg cartons and cardboard tubes, past the goofiness of randomly gluing a bunch of junk together and calling it modern art; they are serious artists with a sense of humor, engaged in heroic acts of trashformation. Ruby Re-Usable, March 23, 2007

I agree that these artists have a sense of humor. Some of the art will make you laugh and some will have you marveling at the amount of waste that can be salvaged when confronted by an artist's imagination. Enjoy this fun site.

My 10th post

I first saw this concept over on Pat's (Artfully Ooglebloops) blog the other day, then on a few other of my favorite sites. I decided to share this 10th post with you today. It was originally posted on 9/2/07 at 9:20 am. I was not much of a blogger back then, had no following, and didn't know anyone in blogland. Things have changed a lot in these two and a half years. As I reread this post, a couple of the photos (D through G) don't enlarge, but the rest will. This book also fits in with this month's recycling projects, since it uses mostly recycled products. Yes, my art has changed a bit in the past 2 1/2 years, but I still use basically the same materials. I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane.

Several of my dear art friends have had birthdays in the last two months. Sadly, I've not given them anything, although they bent over backwards for me on my birthday. I finally got one gift made last Sunday. Ironically, I awoke having dreamt about the concept. I was on a mission and spent the entire day and night and next day working on this until it was finished. I didn't sleep and barely ate. I was on a mission. Now my dear friend has received the gift and I want to share it.

Here is the completed book.
Made completely from large Behr paint chips, this is a book of A to Z birthday wishes for a friend. Please click on the photos for a better view. In this photo, A and Z are shown. A is for antique and Z is for the Zodiac. Most of the pages have original dictionary definitions and stencils.








Bamboo is from my garden. The B is stenciled on a small paint chip.

The cameo is a magazine image.

December dawn came straight from the paint chip. Face is poly clay. When I met Ruthie, the recipient of the book, she showed me how to draw flowers. I had to show her I learned my lesson :>)

The "Imagine" above the gal's head is polyclay. The Japanese image is the cover of a book. The K is inside a bottle cap, and the kite is made from a smaller paint chip.

The Lattice was made from Starbuck stirrer sticks I stained, cut, and assembled using E-6000. The M is behind a metal slide mount. The letters are stenciled on the pages.

Yes, this is a NUDE. If you are offended by nudity, please don't click on the photo to enlarge it. The O is surrounded by a shrink plastic piece. P is for a pair of portraits. One of the few pages that had neither a dictionary definition or a stenciled letter. Queen Victoria was printed from my computer and sprayed with Spray Mists. The oval ring surrounding her was cut on a Sizzex from a soda pop can.

Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE rocking horses. So, I have to share them with the people I care about, too. The "S" star was so thick, it wouldn't scan properly. So, I took a photo of it in the completed book. Wood, fabric, confetti, felt, and a button, each made of "stars" were used in this spread.

T is for the Teacher she is. V is stenciled on a small paint chip. "Wish" is made from poly clay and the "W" is stenciled and EP'd.

The "X-ray" is part of a real one. The black in the upper right states it's from a 52 yo male. You can't see it now that it's added to the page. Of great note here. You cannot use vellum tape on transparencies. The tape shows thru, although it is pretty invisible on vellum. The Y is a stencil, the "oung artist" is in my handwriting and I used red EP to get it close to the right color I needed.

These are the outside covers (front on left, back on right).

These are the inside cover pages (front on left, back on right). When I dated it, I didn't even remember what month it was. Can you tell it was the last page I made??

Today's blog is the eclectic mix of great art from Anne at Liverpool Lou. In case you can't tell, Anne lives in the UK. I first met Anne through the Wednesday blog hop, and really enjoy her style of art. She will alter anything that sits still, including an old doll she made many years ago for her DD. That doll has changed radically since the first stitch. And if that doesn't put a big smile on your face, I don't know what will. So be sure to say hi to Liverpool Lou (Anne) today.

WOYWW (What's on your work desk Wednesday)

It's my third week playing along with the fun people at WOYWW, the brainchild of Julia. Although it took several days, I managed to visit all 99 or so blogs. Needless to say, I was one tired gal in the end.

To begin, I often joke that my entire house is my craft area. So let's see what's going on today.

So what's on my work desk this week? Well, it's still dark out, but there is NOTHING in this area. And my sewing spot looks the same as it did last week.


I've not made or used any of my handmade paper, nor have I cleaned the lower cubbys that have gotten messy. My paints haven't been touched, either.


My work studio in the basement sits idle.

When I pull the chair away, you can see a print for an upcoming project, along with a mess on the microwave, but nothing in progress.


Sometimes I stage items going outside, or take photos on my kitchen table, but not today.

All this mismatched furniture that I laughingly call my patio has the most activity. After mowing yesterday (this photo taken yesterday evening), I saved a bunch of those whirly seeds to turn into angel wings. Other than that, NOTHING. Why, you ask? Well, I haven't had time to craft. I've been helping a friend move.

Sorry you came this far only to find no art projects. Hope you weren't too disappointed by the snoop. I promise to either show my craft room or basement studio next week, along with SOMETHING that I am in the process of making. By then, I may have my life back. And if you haven't already, please sign up for my bEARTHday giveaway here.


Today's blog is Sue's Stamping Stuff. In fact, Sue's lovely desk with the pop crate is what drew me to WOYWW in the first place. From there I followed the link to Julia's Stamping Ground (hostess and keeper of the links), just like you should, too. Sue's art style is nothing like mine. She is a Copic designer and an avid stamper in a style totally unlike my own. But I was drawn to her blog by that picture of the pop crate on her work desk and how useful it can be for storage. I love novel storage solutions, so she gets extra high marks for that and her coloring abilities.

Happy WOYW Wednesday to all.

T 4 1

Sometimes tea is best enjoyed in solitude before the bustle of the day begins and the lists have been made.


After working long hours yesterday, and anticipating another busy day today, it is a real treat to sit and enjoy a cup of green tea made just for one.

And in case you think I forgot the plastic lids from last week, they simply had to take the back seat to my dear friend Dana's move. After working with her each day, I would come home and deal with many of the items we decided would be stored at my house, while packing all the fabric and other items to be stored at her house. I promise to get back to art next week. In the meantime, have tea for one or tea to share, but visit Kimmie to see what all the Tuesday Tea players are up to this week.

I'm off to mow my yard as soon as the sun is up, then more unpacking and packing to go along with my Tuesday Tea. Don't forget to sign up for my bEARTHday giveaway, if you haven't already.

Today's blog was a real accident. I was trying to find a specific blog and got Country Blessings @ Lakewood instead. Cindy, who lives in KY, is the blog owner. She has a folksy and fun blog, takes great photos, and her posts show she has a great sense of humor. Once again, off the beaten path as far as my art goes, Cindy proves you can find a great blog even when you are initially looking for a different one. So please check out Country Blessings @ Lakewood and you'll be entertained all day.

It's spring and Dana's moving day

It seems so long since I've made any art, and today is no exception. Today is Dana's big move day. The movers will be at her place, as will I, in less than an hour. Since I've made no art, I thought I would share a day last week when I got my veggie plants.


Lots of color.



Flowers everywhere you looked.


For me, it was all about the veggies: Roma and Sweet 100 tomatoes, yellow and green bell peppers.


They were busy sunning in the garden, getting used to their new home


while the rest of the garden was growing at a good pace


except for the spinach, which has yet to show itself.


I even managed to plant some of the tomatoes before I ran out of garden space. What's a girl to do?

Since I'm not making any art (and haven't since last week), I thought you might like to see a blog that is filled to the brim with awesome art. It belongs to the talented Marie Segal, who lives in the land of sunshine (CA). I had bookmarked her blog during OWOH and imagine my surprise that this talented artist would actually follow ME!! Her clay art is beyond belief. She makes hearts that are out of this world, and some are steampunk inspired, a style I really hope to get into soon. Marie's blog is called Art from my Heart and I can assure you it does. In fact, it makes me want to get out my polymer clay and start playing. If you like polymer clay, hearts, color, and a great artist, you must check out Marie's blog. She's also having a great giveaway that ends tonight, so don't dally getting there.

And wish me unsore (is that a real word?) wishes today as Dana's move takes place with me in the thick of things. Sorry I have NOT BEEN ABLE TO VISIT everyone this weekend (not enough hours in a day), but I promise to show up after the move to see what everyone has been up to.

Silent Sunday: I don't care who you are, you don't get my box, or my face on camera

Silent Sunday's blog

Today is for all you photography lovers. I found this blog and fell in love with the name: be yourself, everyone else is taken. The blog owner is Beth, who lives in Wisconsin. Her photographs are spectacular, fun to look at, have human interest, and are always in focus. She writes beautiful poetry and words along with her posts. Beth's blog will make you smile, even if you aren't a photographer.

Packing for Dana's move

For those of you who are new to my blog, I love to organize. It's relaxing and always so satisfying once an area has been cleaned and organized. Yesterday I promised an organizing tip. It involves staging. So here is a short and sweet post because today you'll find me between my basement and my main floor, doing some much needed cleaning, packing, and staging of my own. However, this staging is all at Dana's upcoming move on Monday.

This is the same photo I showed yesterday.


What I didn't show were all these adorable


ZEBRAs. Aren't they simply precious? Can you see the Zebra fish on the far left?

How about this Zebra bowl? Sometimes collections are too cute to pass up photographing. So, before packing, I had to take some photos of Dana's adorable collection.

I'm really certain most everyone knows how to do this, but my organization tips seem to help some who struggle with organizing their things. When you have disparate items, especially breakables, be sure to sort everything before you begin packing or rearranging. Because the bowls and plates were stacked better, I started with the smaller glasses.


I sorted them by size and shape. How you sort things is up to you. For my craft room, I will sort materials by category, like old books, fabric, thread, paper, charms, etc. Then I will sort each category. But in order to do that, you must have a staging area. Your staging area should be large enough to hold the pieces as you sort them. We were lucky because Dana had this large table we could use that was close to the china cabinet. My craft area will be more of a challenge, since I have limited space, even walking around space, something to consider when choosing a staging area.


For packing purposes, it was easier to tell what we had when the stemware and glasses were all lined up. That way, smaller pieces could be wrapped and stuck into larger ones. This is only appropriate for moving, not storing. Not much of a post, today, but at least it was relatively short and sweet!

Today's blog spotlights Patricia Zapata, of A Little Hut. She has written a book entitled Home, Paper, Scissors, designs a line of fabric, and is eco-friendly. She is a master with a craft knife (wonder if she's ever tried to cut plastic lids!), and has a page of tutorials I'm going to check out once I have a bit of time. When I found her a couple of days ago, she was on hiatus, but her blog is worth mentioning and worth checking out, anyway.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.