Discouragement... and Hope

This week I've been bouncing around between the two!  I started off Monday morning determined to take a step in the right direction so I did something drastic:  I joined Weight Watchers online!  According to their plan, my goal is to lose only 6 pounds, and I've been trying very hard to stay within my daily points, but it's hard!  I'd really love to lose closer to 10 pounds, but I don't know if I have the will power... and tomorrow night I have a big retirement party to go to, as well as Easter coming up in a few weeks!  I'd love to be slim and trim for our trip to Italy next month so maybe that will be enough incentive to stick to it!

Later on Monday, I got a big disappointment.  Cloth Paper Scissors magazine listed the finalists in the Tunnel Book reader challenge and despite over 400 views and 8 positive comments in their online gallery, mine was not selected!  I wondered if something had gone wrong with the e-mailing of the photos - that's how surprised I was not to see my name on the list, and how certain I was that my mixed-media garden was one of the best there!  I felt angry and cheated - judging art can be so subjective - who are they to decide mine wasn't good enough?  I question their criteria - it seems like dark things are so popular these days, and mine was cheerful, innocent, and hopeful.  If I see a bunch of skulls and other ugly symbols on the tunnel books that make it into the magazine, I'll really consider cancelling my subscription.  I'm tired of ugly art being popular because it's different!


 But I tried not to dwell on it all week and moved on to my next projects.  After all, I make things because I enjoy doing it, not to sell magazines.  As a break from fabric, I began thinking about the next charm I need to make for the bracelet round robin.  This bracelet has a bird theme like the one I did last month, and the distressed "vintage" brass color of the chain is similar as well.  I purchased a mixed bag of bird charms in January in anticipation of these bird-themed bracelets, so I had the little dove in the bottom left corner in my stash which was a match for the chain.  The bracelet owner said she'd love to have little inspirational messages included if possible, and being it's a dove, I immediately thought simply, "world peace."

So I got out my polymer clay and began playing with ideas for a charm or bead representing the earth.  I decided to try making a cane, a technique with which I've had only mediocre results.  Here's what it looked like initially:

Then I squished it down enough so I could roll it like a log.  

After refrigerating it for a short time and slicing it up with a tissue blade, I got some reasonable representations of the earth.  I rolled the messier ones into earth beads that I might use for another project.

But I still wanted something that said "peace."  I thought about going out to the craft store and picking up a metal alphabet stamp set and some blank charms to stamp words on, but I resolved in January to Use What I Have, so I opted to try to imitate metal with polymer clay.  I mixed some gold metallic clay with some black to get that sort of distressed brass color, rolled it out flat, stamped it with my rubber stamps, and cut them with the mini cookie cutters, shown. 

The little Peace tags came out cute, but I'm not sure if I like the way they look with the dove and the earth discs.   

I don't have to mail this until April 1st, so I have some time to play around with some other possibilities.    Meanwhile, there's a new pope, tomorrow is Friday, and spring is on it's way - good reasons to be hopeful!  (Maybe I should celebrate with some ice cream....!)

Tunnel Book Tah-Dah!

 It's finished!  What do you think?  It's like a little walk in a springtime park, I hope.  I had so much fun making use of a wide array of fabrics, ribbons, threads, paper, paint, wire, beads and clay!  Below are some detail shots:

 I wasn't sure how to cut out such a small child on a swing, but I was able to pull it off!  At the last minute, I was inspired to paint a little castle in the background.

 This cheery little polymer clay robin greets you at the gate, as do the daisies on the other side, below.  (Their centers were originally pink, so I just dabbed on a little yellow paint!).

All in all, a fun and successful venture.  I'll take it along to my FANE meeting tonight (very carefully!) and send a couple of photos off to CPS magazine.  Then I can get started on the next thing, due in about a month!

Winter Reality, Spring Dreams

More wintry weather left us with another coating of snow and ice, early school closings, and a free afternoon.   I put a few final touches on the second layer of my tunnel book.  It's been fun dreaming of all these spring flowers while the weather outside is so nasty.  Here's what it looks like:

Here are a few close-ups of my favorite parts:  the ribbon irises, a row of daffodils, and an embroidered robin...

and a weeping cherry tree leaning over a birdbath fountain.  I found this thread-wrapped wire to use for the branches and knotted on some pink seed beads. The fountain is a piece of wire and a sheer fabric scrap.  I still want to add a little bird sitting on the rim of the birdbath.

Here's what the two layers will look like placed one over the other.  I need to create one more window-like layer and then a solid background.  How many months left til spring?

Frozen

 Maybe it's just the frigid temperatures around here lately, I'm feeling almost frozen in time.  The days pass, but not much changes - everything is just creeping along.  It's almost like I'm hibernating in a way -  I get up and do what needs to be done, but I'm sort of sleep-walking through the days, just so I can get back in bed soon after dinner and cuddle under flannel-covered down comfortors with a good book or the TV remote.  Any of you feeling the same way?

Maybe it's partly because the girls had midterm tests this week, so they were not on their usual schedules.  This morning was the first morning all week that they all had to be up and out of the house by 7 (and of course, it's the coldest morning of all!).  Also, we're having carpet delivery issues so the completion of the bedroom-enlargement project downstairs is stalled and things are still somewhat in disarray.  It will be early February by the time the right carpet comes in (the manufacturer sent the wrong one last week), so we're making the best of it.  At the library, we are gearing up for the next session of Early Literacy programs, so things are beginning to move there.  I need to rev up myself up this weekend so I'll have enough energy to devote to my toddler and baby programs on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I signed up for a Kripalu Yoga class on Monday afternoons, and I'm hoping that will be a positive step towards better overall health and energy.

Meanwhile, when I have some spare time and energy, I've been working on my little "tunnel book," as you can see below.  I finished the first frame by gluing on the ribbon roses and leaves, and adding the wysteria vine along the right side.  I'm really happy with the way this part turned out...

so I started on the next layer.  This one was fun also, and I used fabric, felted wool roving, and embroidery thread to create it.  I still have some more details to add in the form of flowers in the foreground and hanging from the trees.  I think the tree on the right will be a weeping cherry.  The foundation for this is that thick, stiff interfacing (like Timtex) so it's a little hard on the fingers when I'm hand stitching.  That slows progress a bit, but I still hope to have it completed by the end of the month, so I can get moving on the next two projects waiting in the wings!