It's cold. In a couple of days it will be officially winter, but I'm already frozen to the bone. This year, so far, isn't even having the decency to be a proper New England winter, in that it's a week to Christmas, and there isn't even a hint of snow to be seen. Just cold.

*sigh*

So, since I'm too cold to do anything else right now, I'm going to look at pictures of summer. :)

On second thought, I decided to rebind the sketchbook.

I'm also working on figuring out hardcover books. Got a request for the possibility of a hardcover variation, which I'll be honest that I've never done so it's a new challenge. Depending, I may need to learn how to do a Coptic stitch, as Japanese Stitch isn't as forgiving for hardcover. Or I decide that's a bit much for right now, with the supplies I have on hand. Don't know yet.

I will definitely be doing up a couple more of the softcover ones, though, and putting them up for sale. I'm rather fond of making them, though it would definitely be easier if I had a paper cutter. Someday!

While digging through a few more boxes today, I found some old sketchbooks. (I also found a pair of old, clean, canvasses, which also makes me happy.) I put them aside, figuring I could scavenge them for blank pages to make a couple more art books out of, and then continued on my way.

Later on, when I sat down to go through them, I found one of my later books. My early sketch attempts are laughable (like you do), but there was definite improvement as time went by, even if it was all mostly copying other people's stuff (I was very good at Calvin and Hobbes and Whinnie-the-Pooh). Then I found one that I'm now KICKING myself for a.) not finishing, and b.) not having a picture of so that I could finish it at a later date.

This one is all mine. While the stuff that comes out of my head is the previously encountered linework trees and critters, when I'm actually looking at something I can do a pretty good job. This particular piece is a bridge in Embreeville, PA (which, of course, makes it INCREDIBLY hard to just pop back over to in order to finish or photograph).

I think that when the spring gets here, I'm going to start taking my sketchbooks out for walkies...

Earlier today I mentioned joining in on the Sketchbook Challenge. Somewhere across the course of the day, I decided that I wanted to make my own sketchbook for journaling in. So, after I finished hanging Christmas lights around the room (I have no idea why I decided I wanted to drape Christmas lights all around the room, but I did, so now I have pretty purple and white lights around me. It makes me happy), I dug out a pad of sketch paper to cannibalize, selected paper for the cover, and grabbed a manila folder for extra support for the cover.

Silly me, realized halfway through cutting up the sketch paper that I'd wanted to do a Japanese Stitch binding, which was just not going to work on the size paper I'd cut. Oh well, next time I guess...

The finished book! (Next time, definitely use the Japanese stitch...it's much neater.)

*grins*

One of the blogs I follow posted a very interesting link today for a "Sketchbook Challenge". After poking through the main site, I'm very intrigued. Definitely think I'm going to give it a go and see what happens.

If nothing else, it'll give me an excuse to spend more time with my sketchbook/journal...

Sunrise and haiku

The boy, he is helpful. I should remember when I get stuck on a piece to run it by him. He has good ideas. Or at least ideas that can be made good. (The last one, which happened to be "The Salmon's Tree", involved him telling me it needed a fishy. And insisting it should be a swedish fish. No one ever said muses were required to be remotely logical or serious, I don't think. Or if they did, I don't think this one got the memo.)

Anyway, I was stuck on the text on this bloody thing, and wasn't getting anywhere, and being generally grumpy about it, and when I mentioned earlier that I was bored, he suggested I go work on something. Which is all well and good to suggest but when one is likely going to sit and stare at things (and maybe play with crackling medium and paint but not anything actually productive) it's, well, it's... Hmmph.

So, I had to grudgingly admit I was stuck. And so he poked me with a few questions, and started poking the internets. Which I was at first slightly grumpy about, but didn't say anything 'cause he was being polite and helpful and meant well, and besides I'd never said anything about wanting to come up with original stuff to write, so I couldn't very well be grumpy at him for something I hadn't told him. Then I realized that I didn't have to only use stuff I'd written. And then I thought about haiku, which made me realize that I bet Basho had something terribly appropriate that I could use. Sure enough, he did, and after some digging around on the internet for copyright stuff to make sure I wasn't going to be stepping on anyone's toes, I printed it out (with a tweak in structure) and got to work.

Since my scanner was being cranky, ya'll will just have to deal with an artsy shot until I finish arguing with my technology again.

On the mountain road the sun arose

suddenly in the fragrance of plum blossoms

~Basho

Details: "Sunrise" 8x8, pen and ink, assorted papers, paint. Original artwork. Poem by Matsuo Basho. $45

So, Neil Gaiman has this oracle on his webpage. It's kinda neat. Just because I'm me and may have a small fondness for a.) oracular devices (Tarot, Ogham, runes, etc.) and b.) a deep-seated need to push buttons that are placed in front of me, I decided to ask it a question. I asked it if I'd ever be able to make a living as an artist.

After "shaking" the globe (yes, when you click on it, you have to hold the click and "shake" the globe), I got this response:

"If the project reaches its funding goals then the money changes hands."

*sigh*

A little housecleaning

Hooray I have a table again! And a useful storage dresser! (I store small bits in a lovely wooden jewelry box with 9 drawers.) This was today's task. Get a new light bulb, clean my table and make it a bit more organized. I ended up with a small collection of things to send onward to a new home.

The whole lot is for sale for $25 (plus $5 shipping) on Etsy. The highlights include silk thread, a porcelain and silver pendant, handmade polymer clay beads (made by Liz Smith of Made in Lowell, and denizen of Western Avenue Studios), assorted findings, and miscellaneous other bits. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think may be interested, I really want to get this stuff gone as soon as I can. I hope to add new collections of things at least once a week until I weed out all of the things I just have no use for.

Important tip of the day: Do not watch scary things while sitting next to a window at night. It makes your eyes play tricks on you. (Also along these lines, don't drink anything involving alcohol while watching Ghost Hunters in a big, old house when you're the only one home. I learned this one last summer.)

Been a quiet week for me. Some employment stuff combined with the season and various other things and well, I guess I just sort of fell into that limbo state of "What's the use?" Or, as I wrote in my Morning Pages yesterday, I walked down the dark paths in my mind. The ones where the vines have grown so thick and tangled that no moonlight, starlight, or even sunlight can penetrate. Where the only light is the blue-green phosphor-glow of decay and despair. I ignored the internet. I ignored my work. I curled into a ball on the couch and alternately stared listlessly out the window or lost myself in books to try and escape, even just for a little while.

Then I realized what I'd been doing, dragged myself back to my feet, and am forcibly not letting myself go down those paths. Dwelling on things I can't really affect does me no good. (I'm also going to be informing the temp agencies I supposedly work for that they are NOT to call me unless they actually definitely have an assignment for me. This new thing they do of calling you to see if you're "interested" in an assignment, then contacting the company to see if they want you to come do data entry for them, just doesn't work for me. It's wrecking my already severely battered self-esteem more, and I refuse to do that anymore.) So, today I sat back at my table, pulled out the piece I'd started before all this hit, and got back to work.

Not done yet. There's some text to be added that I'm unsure of just yet, and I need to make the butterfly less, um, OMGPURPLE. Soon, though. Maybe tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm not dead in a ditch on fire (though at least if I was on fire I'd be warm *grumblesstupidwintergrumbles*), I haven't given up (though it got closer than I'd have liked), and well back to work with me.

For tonight, though, I have hot cocoa and the Chernobyl episode of Destination: Truth to finish watching...

All the cookies in the world...

Today I went to the cookie swap and came back with OMG ALL THE COOKIES IN THE WORLD (Okay, maybe not all, but man it sure looks like it!)... Chocolate cookies, pecan bourbon cookies, chocolate "mice", pistachio cookies... So. Many. Cookies.

On the list of productivity, I added a new page with a listing of my recipes (or at least the ones for the Amarula cupcakes and the Absinthe Cookies) with Paypal buttons. Price is $1.50 for each. Both recipes are converted to PDF, which I'll email to folks once purchased. I hope to continue to add things to the list as time goes by.

Tomorrow I plan to work on the new Foxen piece. For tonight, though, I have Sweeney Todd to watch...

I will drown my sorrows in a pale green confectionery sea.

Or rather, I will spend my day up to my elbows in sugar cookies, absinthe, and green sugar for tomorrow's annual cookie swap at my friend, Susie's. I had to make a double batch so that I would have enough to bring some to a party tonight, so the kitchen was absolutely covered in palely green cookies on every available surface.

Hopefully folks like them. I need to make myself sit down and write up the recipe, as I've had a couple of people ask about it. I'm thinking I may put the recipes for them and my Amarula cupcakes up for sale. Not much. $1.50 each. Probably do tomorrow, actually.

Now, though, I need to get ready to go...

Been a rough couple of days. I got waylaid by a fit of depressed, but I've dragged out of it, more or less. Cookies and a mug of hot buttered rum help.

I'm amused. There was a thing going around several blogs I read yesterday having folks commenting with things they "Need, Want, Wish For" (with the additional bit of if you see something one someone else's list that you can help with, go for it!) which I guess was part of what triggered me to fall of the edge for a bit. I tend to try very hard to not worry about things I can't change, which has the side effect of I don't often really look at how precarious my current situation probably really is. I wasn't going to respond to any of them, as well, yeah... Then I realized that I could use them as an opportunity to at least get my shop a little bit of interwebs traffic, and so I did. I got responses that a couple people are interested in both the "Foxen Tree" and "Retracing" pieces, which makes me happy. Hopefully they will sell soon.

Of course, this also means that I should probably start making a few more pieces. So, after dinner, I shook myself free of the cobwebs and wandered back out to my table, plunked myself down, popped Jeff Dunham onto Netflix (seriously...extension cords are the best thing. I get to have my computer plugged in and streaming things!), and stared blankly at the paper for a while.

Eventually, I realized I'd started scribbling trees again, and figured I'd run with it. Eventually, I found my little foxen sitting under his tree, watching the sunrise.

I have no idea where he came from, but he's been visiting me an awful lot. I'm fond of him. He shows up in a rather lot of my sketches and scribbles.

I think this one is going to have the words "There is always hope", though I have no idea how big it's going to end up or what the rest of the piece is going to look like yet. I suspect this piece may be a little larger than the last 3. We'll see, I guess.