Changes

Today at work was the first day in our new office. It was tiring and hectic, but not nearly as bad as I had feared. That was mostly due to the hard work of Brandon, our sweet shipping clerk, who worked his ass off getting the stockroom organized. I really like Brandon, and tomorrow is his last day with us, as he is moving to Boone to go to college there. He’s been attending college in Greensboro but a school in Boone (Appalachia State maybe?) is better suited for what he’s majoring in, so he is moving. He will be sorely missed. We haven’t gotten his replacement hired yet, but we do have several resumes, and will begin interviewing ASAP. We received two resumes from retirees looking to work part time, and I hope one of them ends up getting the job. At lunch I visited the nearby Farmer’s Market that I had mentioned before and got tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupe and corn. I also discovered a fabric store that I didn’t know existed until today, so I will be checking that out soon. I have started gathering supplies to take to work for my lunchtime art making, and here is what I've got together so far:



I wont be starting my art lunches tomorrow because we are having a lunch in honor of Brandon, but Wednesday I will shut my office door and lose myself in the paint.

New Journal

Today the only artistic thing I've accomplished is painting the cover of a new journal. I am having a hard time taking the plunge into journaling so I think I'm just stalling by making more journals...LOL. But this one used to be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:



This is what the front looks like now after several layers of gesso and paint:



I planned on getting so many other things done today, but laundry and laziness intervened. Yesterday I got my new office all set up and talked to two friends I hadn't talked with in a while, so it's been a great weekend.

And just for kicks, here's a pic of my worktable:



What a mess!

Too much time on my hands...

Well, while I'm at work, anyway. Business is really slow right now, so I don't have nearly enough to do during my 8 hours here (yes, I am actually posting at work, a first for me). While this may sound good at first thought, trust me, it isn't. The days drag on and on, and my frustration grows more and more intense because there are so many other things (outside of work) I want to be doing! The office is moving Saturday, so most everything is packed and/or in a total state of chaos. I am a Virgo and therefore can't take much more of it! Thank goodness I will be leaving at 3 today...although the reason I'm leaving isn't too pleasant...let's just say it's medical, and leave it at that, shall we? I hope I feel well enough after my appointment to stop by Hobby Lobby. They have a 40% off coupon this week, and I want to use one to get some matt medium to keep at work for my lunchtime art escapes. And speaking of art, I have collected a box full of "stuff" that we didn't want to move to our new office that could one day end up in some projects...everything from hardware odds n' ends to old filters that we can't sell. If it looks halfway interesting, I'm keeping it! ***Sigh*** Two more hours to go till I can get out of here....

Temperamental Tuesday

It was a struggle to get through the day at work today. I am so unmotivated to do anything I'm supposed to do there, and just had to make myself do the bare minimum. It seems that there is always so much tension there, and I think it's beginning to take it's toll. Another thing that is bothering me is our office is moving--Friday is the final day at our current location. For the last year and a half I have been able to come home for lunch, so no matter how bad the days have been I have had a reprieve in the middle of it getting to come home to visit the kitties, and recently my husband as well, since he now works closer to home. But starting Monday I wont have that to look forward to, and to make matters worse the new office is in a rather secluded area of town, with no restaurants or stores to get anything for lunch. So I will begin brown bagging it on Monday too. The only saving grace is the farmers market is 4 miles from there, so I may go on Mondays and stock up on healthy things for the week, and only have to bring a few things in to supplement the fresh fruits and veggies I can get there. Another thing I plan on doing is beginning an art journal, finally, to be worked on during lunchtime. I really need my "me" time during the day, so my plan is to close my office door with my lunch and my journal and have an hour alone. I just hope my office mates will respect that...they are much more social than I am, and want to talk talk talk, so we will see....I may have to take my journal and lunch and go sit in a parking lot somewhere in order to get peace and quiet, we will just see how it goes. Since I'm starting this journal, I ordered some Caran D'Ache neocolor II crayons, a small set of 15...I just love how they look all nice and new in their little case:



And the pic at the top is another piece of mailart I am sending, which will include this ATC:



I am still loving the vintage nudes!

Lazy Sunday

I snapped this pic while Max was looking out the bathroom window yesterday:



Hubby didn't get it, but I thought it was adorable. Here is a pic of my favorite piece of spray art I've created thus far. It was done mostly by pressing wet stencils over the page...as I use them on one piece, just slap the wet stencil on something else for a cool monoprint:



And here's Mr Puss in his favorite spot...in our bed between my and hubby's pillows, where he knows he will get lots of lovin':



Hope you're having a fab weekend!

Crusade No. 10

This month's crusade over at Michelle Wards's GPP Street Team blog is to send mailart, so I am! I apologize for the horrible pics, but hopefully you will be able to get the general idea of them. Two were spray painted and one was painted with acrylics. I used paint, stencils, stamps, homemade stickers, and holy paper.




Two of the peeps getting them are expecting something, and the other one doesn't have a clue. I sent these three out today and am going to finish up a fourth this weekend that isn't pictured yet, but I will post it when it's done. These three contain an assortment of goodies, and an ATC will be sent in the fourth. It was a blast doing them!! I even painted the address labels to coordinate with the envelopes, then wrote the addresses on with a Sharpie. I got postage stamps with different values so I could load up the envelope with an assortment of them as well. I wonder if postal employees hate mailart or if it brightens their day?

The necklace

At long last here are a couple of pics of the necklace I made a few weeks ago. I tried to do a Nina knot to attach the key, and again on either side of the glass rondelles between the lengths of chain....doesn't look too bad, especially considering I haven't been able to learn from the master yet and just did my own interpretation. Click on the pics for a better look. Somehow I ended up with my maternal Grandmother's old foot-peddle sewing machine, the kind that has it's own base, and the top lifts up and you pull the machine out, etc. There are drawers in the base, and in one of those drawers I found two old keys, one of which ended up on this necklace. My Grandmother died before I was even born, so I never got to know her, and I don't have a clue what the key could have been to. But regardless of what the key opened up, it's fun having a piece of family history incorporated into something I can wear and tell people about if they happen to ask.

Big Love

Man, where has the time gone!!!??? The good thing about it going so fast is getting past some of the hot weather we've been having. If I could jump straight to September I think I would. I've had so much going on, and the best news is my "dark" state of mind is behind me, and my back hasn't felt this good since I don't remember when. Don't know what to attribute that to, because the main thing that's changed is my attitude....yea, I definitely think there's a connection!! We bought a sleep number bed but it is only being delivered tomorrow, so I may feel even better in a couple of days. And speaking of tomorrow, it's my anniversary! Twelve years married to hubby Jeff, and we dated/lived together a year before that, so we've been together thirteen years. We're going out to our fav place to eat, and who knows what else we'll get into...we will have a new bed, ya know! Over the weekend we moved furniture around, turning the guest room back into only a guest room, and moving my computer into my craft room. This took away some of the stroage space in my craft room, so I promtly installed a tier of wall shelves, and am now faced with having to organize yet again. It's a labor of love though, there's no other room of the house I'd rather spend time in. I'm still madly in love with spraypainting, and plan to do more of that Wednesday when I'm off work. I also made a cool necklace that I will post pics of soon. Now I'm off to watch one of the two TV shows I'm watching right now(the name of this post!). Ciao!