Art stuff

I spent most of yesterday morning, no, actually, ALL of yesterday morning, finishing up my Art-o-mat pieces so I could mail them off to Clark at Artists in Cellophane before we left for our trip. I stuffed all the boxes with shredded paper to give them some additional weight, making sure they'll drop down the machine without problems. There are 53 pieces in this box. Woo Hoo!!

I had sent a piece to the Mail Art show, We Are One Human Family, and found that my submission had been posted on-line. This project is in honor of Dr. MLK jr. There's still time to submit, if you're interested.


I posted a mail call on the Mail Art Projects blog yesterday. It's all about tea, for a show that will be in a tea shop here in Richmond. Check out the site to see details and also see all of the calls for entries. I'm planning on working on submissions to shows while I'm in residency with Chuck at the Cité again. I'm inspired! Now, to pack up all my supplies.

Rainy day look at the Elflog

We've finally had some rain, what a relief; the shelf had stones and a Picasso "birds" magnet on it, looking cheerful in the mistyness of the morning yesterday. The leaves have started to fall off the trees but there is still a lot of green going on.

Robots

Ryan sent me this terrific drawing of robots. I love the detail and all of the color.

Dancing shoes

These are my new dancing shoes with leather soles.
I took a photo of my feet as I was doing a salsa step. We'd been to Emilio's and had danced for an hour, it was nearly midnight, but the shoes felt so good that I had to dance a bit in the kitchen before heading to dreamland.

Halloween is coming...

Our neighborhood is gearing up for Halloween. Here are a few of the things I spotted while walking Smitty yesterday. There are new decorations going up every day. Hanover Ave. is especially active, with lots of blocks participating in a big neighborhood event on Halloween. I'll take some photos of it this weekend so you can see how involved people get.

Elflog

Isn't this so cool?! One day, kinda bare, next day so lively! I love this shelf!

Elflog & more

On the 19th of Oct., a stone with the word "Peace" written on it, reappeared on the shelf. I'd placed it there on the 9th, which I know because I dated the stone. Where was it for 10 days? On Saturday, there was a tiny pink rose bud and a yellow flower, as well as an assortment of pebbles. I think that the smiley face sticker will remain for a long time. Today, I'll put a stone in place that says "hope."



Check out the trees in front of our house! We call them Stick Trees. Some trim job, eh? This is the first time in many years that we've been able to see the house from the street. The Rock garden is planted with shade plants, which are now in the sun. Oh well!

I wanted to share two, no, three, things that make me happy. I've been helping my friend Amy at her new shop (Alchemy, in Carytown) and she has the coolest things. So, I had to shop (this from ME, the non-shopper!) I got this little clutch purse made from kimono fabric, perfect for when we go salsa dancing and I only want to carry a few things. Then I got a holder for my cell phone, made from recycled polyester. I decorated it with some charms and an owl pin (which reminded me of Hedwig) and I use it when I walk the dog, when I want only my phone, a piece of ID, money for the newspaper. It attaches to my purse strap, too, where I can find it easily. Amy said I'd love it and I do.

I knit my self some wrist warmers this weekend. I'd made some before but these turned out the best and the yarn feels so good. It's merino wool. Now if the weather only would get cool..it's going to be 80F (26C) today and tomorrow.

More Bags

I'm feeling green~ my new blog look came about so that I could learn how to add my favorite sites to a side bar. I had to have a new template! I feel all new and refreshed. Now to take the time to add sites.

I'm not sure that I related my previous post to Blog Action day, read all about it here. The action was to post about the environment. The Stats are impressive for a first time action.

Here are a couple more bags that I made. I got up early yesterday to make the black and brown one and the other I made this afternoon. I'm on a bag making roll. Don't forget, carry a bag with you and use it whenever you shop. Mother Earth will like that.

My bags and the environment

I began making shopping bags this summer, after seeing the plastic sacks fly off their hook at our stall at the Farmers' Market.
I had already been sensitized to the problems caused by the use of plastic bags: harm to marine life,
500 years in the landfill, use of petroleum products to make plastic, etc. and it just hit me, AGAIN, that day at the market...too many plastic bags used when a cloth bag could be used. My first bags were made from fabric left over from our upholstery project; then people began to give me their left over fabric. The bags were a success! I loved seeing people show up with my bags. Making them has been very satisfying and Voila! ~ one tiny step in one tiny place, we're helping the environment. Make a cloth bag, buy a cloth bag and use it, recycle bags, re-use bags, do your part. It's easy!

Blogger Action Day

I've registered to participate in this action. Check my blog this coming Monday to see what I'll be talking about. You can participate, too.

Elflog & more

Yesterday, the shelf still had the "Make art not war" mini-poster, some stones, a button, a tile with "Be compassionate" written on it, and a blue paper flower. This morning it was a bare shelf, until I put three little round pebbles and a photo in a plastic sleeve. I've been dating some of my additions to the shelf and writing "Elflog" on them, on the off chance that someone will put that in their search engine. I wonder what the bare shelf is about...maybe the coffee cup guy sweeps it clean so he can put his cup down!

Three blocks down, I found another random art work. The man waiting at the bus stop said that it'd been there awhile. I'm glad I got this photo of it.

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this lovely tiny city yard. What a sweet yard full of flowers.

Pickles and toes.

Two disparate images, eh? This is the jar of pickles that we bought at the fair last Sunday. It's one of those big canning jars so we're glad that we like the pickles. Lots of pickles.

On Tuesday, I walked around the nieghborhood with Smitty ...paying my bill at the dentist, stopping in at the frame shop to see Jude's new glass work, checking in at Red, one of the many hair cutting shops on Robinson St, to see if they did pedicures. I had in mind to pamper my feet. My last pedicure was for my birthday last July, and the blue polish had held up really well. However, I needed pampering and a change of color. Red didn't do nails but they referred me to the Hair Theater further down the street. Yes, they did nails, and yes, I could get an appointment for Wednesday. Smitty got lots of attention at the dentist's office and the hair places. He enjoyed the petting and the oohs and ahs. He's a very cute dog. And don't my toes looks cute? The violet polish is so perfect for the fall.

Collages

Wow, these look SO enormous! In reality, these collages are 1 5/8" (appx 4.2 cm) square. They're my entries in the upcoming ThinkSmall exhibition, which opens the first Thursday in Nov. With the frame, they'll be 3" (appx 7.7 cm) They're based on the larger pieces I did while in Paris last year. Medium: found paper

St. Andrews' community fair, cont'd.

This was the cool thing about the fair...men in skirts, I mean kilts. The sound of the bagpipes, the smell of the grill, sent me back to our visit to the chestnut festival at Olargue in the south of France. Okay, not exactly the south of Fance here, but that was the last place that I'd heard bagpipes in person.
I like bagpipe music, I like seeing men in kilts, and the little dance troop was delightful. People were sitting at tables under umbrellas, eating, watching, listening, and for a moment...it was a little village.

St. Andrews' community fair

Last Saturday, our friends Susan and John told us about a community fair and invited us to join them on Sunday to see it. "They're going to have homemade pickles," they said. Wow! Who could resist homemade pickles! Sunday noon found us at the fair. There was a tiny pen with livestock, a burro, a llama (or alpaca, ) a few little goats, a pony. There was an even tinier pen with two bunnies and a piglet. A small fire truck was great fun for kids.


There was a grill, a plant and bulb sale, and lots of great books for only 50¢ each. There were police officers on horses. And pickles, homemade bread and butter pickles. We came home with pickles and books.