Beelieve

bright ideas

a chair makeover story

and if you please, feel free to entertain yourselves with the slide show:
a whimsical anthropolo'bee' chair anthology

Getting my hands dirty again

This summer has flown by and my moments on the computer have been dedicated to a lot of photos.  I have to go where my muse takes me and a camera named Venus leads the way.   Now that the sunlight is changing I feel more at ease sitting and drawing. I have decided to merge the 2 loves a bit.  I have always taken photos for art...body positions...ideas...facial features, etc.   Over the weekend I was playing around with some various photo programs...still have lots to learn.  In any case I took a shot of my face, cropped it and did some rendering on it. Here is what I came up with.

then i decided to draw it with charcoal.

 

My next merging project i decided to use my first sp picture of my 52 weeks project and used it for Cathie at Clevlandgirlie sketch book.  I have been quite the slacker with the Girlfriends  art book swap. Back in business.  Cathie's book stumped me as she wanted words or favorite quotes.  What if you have 1000 favorite quotes?

  I chose

"Happiness is not in having or being—it is in the doing"

 which was Lillian Eichler Watson's definition of happiness. As it should be all of ours.

This is mixed media with sheet music on canvas, gesso, paint, charcoal drawing in which I painted with the charcoal. The whole thing is sprayed to prevent smudging. I really hope you enjoy it Cathie, it took me so long because it just had to be right!

based on my photo.

pardon the typos, and the grammar... i am so tired and need to go dream now!

Dreaming of the magic picture

...and more sleep!

I have been living in my car....at least it seems so these hot summer days.  Pajama girl has been at a reading enrichment camp this week with her way too soon to be 1st grade teacher. I have only had a few interactions with her and love her.  She has such an energy about her, and the kids are enamored by her sense of humor and creative ways.

Yesterday was the last day of this program and at the end of the session all the children came outside to release some dreams. 

They had red balloons with notes tied to them that read...

There was a space below to color a picture and a request to let the school know how far the balloon made it.  I thought that was brilliant...and they have had a few people write back to let them know where they found their dream balloon.

Should you be lucky enough to find a dream balloon, remember it would not have been possible without the thought from another human being.

If i had a chance to dream last night it there would have been a picture of a very happy comfortable little girl under my pillow.  My baby has an ear-ache, the kind that prevented her from sleeping...and me.  Even if she dozed off a bit next to me, i still found it hard to sleep knowing she would be up again in minutes. She is resting now and soon we will be at the doctor's...and dream to escape on the boat when done...I plan on dreaming the rest of the day on the lake. It is a beautiful Adirondack morning here and the mist is lifting.  If I had the energy I would take a picture of the sunlight streaming through the mist and hitting the small farm table in the kitchen just perfectly.

Speaking of the kitchen table, thank you to Carrie of Apartment Therapy ohdeedoh for sharing our fun bird house window treatment there.

Here is a red balloon for a day of dreams coming true to all of you!

Eye gratitude

The first thing I saw today when I opened the door has been a stranger this season.  My soul jumped for joy at the sight of this color blue. 

Then my brain reminded my soul that my body had to get in the car and drive an hour to Albany for 2 appointments today. Note to self: turn that brain off once in a while.  My soul whispered on the way out the door "grab at least your point and shoot camera, there is beauty to see"

 

 

The best sight of the day was this one. It goes deeper than the visual.  My baby so little once in my arms loves to read.  My eyes have filled my soul over and over but today they smiled as I reflected  on the past 6 years and my baby being able to read.  Pajama girl wanted to know what her friends were reading and loves her own eyes because "they can read".  She also wants to tell you more about it here.

My eyes, brain and soul have a lot to be thankful for.  A day that could have been a bit different if I did not leave the house with opened eyes.

Thank you to the 2 Sherrys who inspired this post.

Sherry aka rovinggirl and her new group of "eye" self portraits

And to Sherry at our local library for helping PJ girl get her first library card yesterday! (Please click this Sherry, this one is for you)  XO!

One last credit to Peter Woytuk, the amazing artist who sculpted "The Apple of His Eye".  Below is full size.

make your own t-shirt skirt~minimal skills required!

 

supplies:

• old t-shirts
• sewing machine
• something to cut with

1. I threw in a pile colors that I might like based on a fun graphic (bad grrrls).  I do mean thrown and nothing was ironed or cut perfect during all of this.  I ironed when it was finished.

 

 (I was even too lazy to take the polarizer off my camera so the pictures look  bit off in color.) 

2.Basically you are going to build a giant rectangle.  I started with the orange graphic as potential placement on my backside...the "bad grrrl" side that shows how much chocolate I eat.  This was done all in whimsy for the tutorial and will be the perfect for the beach. 

* From there I work much like the mixed media artist in me by "framing" it with colors that look nice near each other. I tape down the "frame".

 

*I prefer the bottoms of t-shirts with their hems for most of the skirt.  They offer a bit more weight to the hanging of the skirt and they are perfect as a guide for sewing.( I also like to use them inside out) In the above picture I sewed right across the hem stitches to attach the orange piece.  The top of the orange piece that you can not see has a lot of excess and is far from straight.  Once the seam is done, I trim the excess from the back.

3. have fun and experiment, even if you have to cut a piece off that you don't like, what you leave behind leaves an interesting element.  (you can click on the pictures for easier reading)

 

 

 

4. my rectangle is complete so I fold it together with the outside (right sides) together. I do hold it up and wrap it around to test it out several times for size.  Remember it is drawstring so a little roominess is fine but too much is a moo-moo.

 

you can see even my hemline is not even but it works!

5. I used a piece of tape as a line (not pictured) so I knew where to sew.  It served as a straight guide line. Then I cut off the rest.  This one I sort of did  on a diagonal down to the hemline from just below the top part that will be folded over(that part will be straight) . The diagonal adds an interest to it.

 

6. no pictures to show for the waist, this one is drawstring. For the hole the drawstring comes out of, I just created an opening in the seam about an inch or so from the top and folded the seam side edges of fabric back where the hole is and sewed around it sort of like a square button hole.

7. The top edge was folded down to show on  the front of the skirt and I sewed around once.  I then inserted the drawstring which is just more fabric strips.  I then tried it on, tightened it just enough to fit over my hips. Tied it tight and sewed around 2 more times so the waist would not be so bunchy looking.  Be careful when you sew around anything circular that you do not have the other half of the skirt underneath what you are sewing.

 

 

 

The last skirt I made was a wrap around style.  I took the giant rectangle and tri-folded it with the right side out this time.  Then folded the top over from the inside out and sewed a seam pocket around it and the drawstring ended up on the side.

I feel like a kid with homework...whew!  Want to go check out all the Flickr Bench Monday shots but had to FORCE myself to sit here because this was a goal I wanted to finish earlier than now!  If you do not understand anything...and it is not because of you it is because of your teacher.  I am burnt out on answering all of PJ girl's questions!  I also remembered what that brain cell burner question Pajama Girl asked yesterday was when I typed the word "moo-moo" above.  She very sweetly in all seriousness asks me "Can cows sometimes have two heads?"  Just wait until I get my hands on that Mr.Honey....she did not come up with that anywhere else in this world but from something he told her.  Mr. Honey if you are reading dear...guard your t-shirts well boy!

Last night's Art Show

I am thrilled to show you some pictures from Pajama Girl's art show last night.  It is so wonderful to have something like her art school in such a small area.  This is the second year and just look at the success. 
 

Hands from artists young and old can exercise their talents there.

 

The older students were challenged with a car door to paint instead of a canvas.  How many people actually do that?

I could go on and on and on about it but am running out of computer time so I will let my little star take over from here so she can show off her art...as soon as I can find her.

Have you seen my Pajama Girl anywhere?

Bench Monday~upcycle t-shirt skirt addition

I am typing before I even have my picture ready.  This skirt I made very quick on Friday afternoon.  I upcycled a bunch of old t-shirt scraps together randomly...I mean sloppy cutting, sewing, etc.  I love it and wore it to the Relay for Life where several people stopped me just to tell me they loved it and ask where I bought it.  It was such an impulse thing to do.

This new/old school bench I scored at an antique shop yesterday...cheap.  This is the last week kindergarten for my pajama girl so thought I would mark it with a bench!  A little commemorative item of her hard work, may she always remember how proud we are of her.

Bench Monday~Memorial Day

I am thankful for this beautiful morning...

  

but it does not go without a moment of Memoial Day silence

Bench Monday~homemade poodle skirt addition

If you remember my works in progress post from the other day you will remember a scrap of gray fabric on the floor.  That was a t-shirt knit top sheet I upcycled into a poodle skirt for an upcoming 50's school concert event.  It was an impulse to make the day I started and did not feel like going to the store to get new fabric.  This was going to be a re-invented poodle skirt ala Karen style.  I started probably against all rules of sewing by cutting a giant circle out of the sheet.  Pattern, smattern...no seams in this skirt.  Then I cut out a smaller circle in the center, put a tiny slit in it to make a fold over hem that houses the elastic the size of Pajama Girl's waist...done.  Next the detail was done with scraps of fabric, cut up old t-shirts, ribbons, beads and buttons.

There is even a necklace clasp that acts as the leash clasp...this poodle has ditched the leash and is rocking to her own beat.  Notice the little blue bee, that is mommy nearby the sweetie that is having some stage fright issues.  My way of letting Pajama Girl know to beelieve in herself because I sure beelieve in her.

I had fun making the leash with just "drawing" with my sewing machine and hot pink thread...gotta love hot pink stitches on gray fabric.  I doodled this all the way around to the back of the skirt where you can find a little bird ready to sing.

There is no fold over style hem in this, just the raw edge where I "raced" around with the sewing machine randomly about 6 times.

My bench Monday stand in had something so much prettier than I on today.  She was happy to show it off.

 

Below she has it on with another white skirt underneath for the full fluff effect of a true sock hop singer!

Works in Progress

This Hodge-podge post is what I have been up to in this week.  My creative  time gets interrupted by spontaneous Spring cleaning and fixing up.  It has been a very busy week and little time to myself. Here are a few glimpses of what I have been up too.

A "progressive" painting.  Whenever I do have a few minutes to myself I have been adding paint to this canvas, here is a portion of it and I am beginning to see some things develop.  I started it on Mother's day and will tell you more about it soon.

 

This next picture is the part of a t-shirt knit top sheet I cut a giant circle out of and soon you will see the coolest poodle skirt a kindergartner could have when she rocks around the clock on concert night.

 

I also had to take some time and clean up a small enclosed porch off our kitchen.  It is the entrance way, hence mudroom, dump for things that need to go to the garage...you get the idea.  It was also a party location for cobwebs and sand...we have sandy soil and it gets everywhere!  So, not a cover shot of any magazine...but cozy!

 

This old green tote has served as a centerpiece for bowls of paperwhites at Christmas, an herb garden, a rock display and now a nature shelf on the porch.

'

Looking for another fun thing to do with an old drawer, add sand and toys and get hours of play.  This table top sandbox is as fun for adults as it is for kids and we have been playing in it almost year round for 2 years or more now.  (the frog sign I painted when I was a kid!)

 

The most exciting package arrived yesterday.  I have waited what feels like a lifetime to make the next leap I am making...and it is all in the box...and has consumed me!  I did not even open it until today and it is the most remarkable thing that I think money can buy.  Anything better is not for sale.  You will have to wait just a little longer though.

Because right now we are waiting for the tooth fairy!  Yes, this little angel of mine has finally lost her first tooth.  She has lost it the most elegant of ways too, my fairy princess bit into a chocolate covered strawberry then exploded with a light from within.  "MY TOOTH, MY TOOTH CAME OUT"  "MOMMY CAN YOU REALLY LIVE A DREAM?"  "I FEEL LIKE I AM DREAMING"  Pajama Girl is close to the last in her class I think to losing a tooth, yet older than a lot of her friends who have lost them.  She has been besides herself all day, dancing around like a cool kid.  She earned her right of passage to the tooth fairy experience.  Her bedroom is set for the grand ball of tooth fairies to come.  She even designed a tooth on her light bright thing to use as a guiding light.  Sleep tight me love, there will be a celebration of fairies as you sleep.  Twinkly dreams everyone!