Wow, it's already Sunday!

 Yesterday was a sad day. It was gray and drizzly, and we went to the memorial service for our colleague/friend Jerry. There was a big bowl of button/pins for us to wear. They were photos of Jerry at all different ages. My honey chose the one of Jerry when he was a student and we first met him. I chose the photo of how he looked my last chat with him at the pool this summer.  We went off to lunch after the service and had a beer in his memory, balancing the pins on the rims of the glasses. He was a real sweet guy!

 I decided to add one of my sunglasses people and see what I could come up with. It seemed like comments were being made, by using more of those practice bits, which made it asemic. I like the way it turned out.

 Okay, I have to say, I cracked myself up with this one. I've had this guy in my supply of scraps for quite some time and never could figure out what to do with him. His smile was just so good!  To say I'm pleased with this one is an understatement. I love the way it turned out. 

 This is today's mail art. I was searching through the scraps for a face but this basket of apples somehow just worked. Maybe it's the crispness in our weather at the moment or my thinking about the good applesauce that we made, waiting to be eaten by us. In any case, the residents of Tiny Town are presented with a big problem. How the heck will they get those out of the basket, how will they distribute them, how will people get them into their homes? Notice how they stand their in confusion looking at the basket?

Our doorbell rang yesterday afternoon. It was the neighbor girls. Sage held this up! They were both excited to tell us about their new dog.  Cute drawing, right? They said that their dog doesn't exactly look like this.   I can't wait to see the real deal.

Mail art, produce, and buttons

 I still have a few of these Greek Cycladic figure postcards. They are a challenge, like the pig postcards, but I think I've got my default for them: hats and something to balance on.  The hat is from a map I received from Alexis in Canada, who recently sent me a package full of maps, and stamps, and buttons (see below.) Lucky me, a present and it's not even my birthday!

 All of yesterday cards were altered cards with something red on them. It was fun to set a "theme." Doesn't this red bird look like he's just popping out through the gate?

 Okay, this one is a bit of a stretch, but the title is something about a red square emanating orange squares in the sky above Tiny Town. I wish I'd left enough room on the card to write a response from the Tiny Town residents. What did they think about this? What was their response?

 The pig cards give me a challenge and I have no default for them. This dream was all I could come up with, and I wrote something like "The pig had a strange dream about a red thing." Can you come up with some alternative?

 Yesterday was pick up at the Farmer's market. I couldn't resist the bell eggplants. I got this lovely striped one and a solid purple one. I've got one of them cooking on the stove with tomatoes and onions in a sort of caponata/ratatouille dish. Yum, my favorite thing to make with eggplants.  Tomatoes were abundant as were small pickling cucumbers, potatoes, onions, basil and more.

 My honey's fruit share was a peck of peaches and one small container of raspberries. The peaches are firm, I hope they don't all ripen at once! I think I see peach preserves in our near future.

Here are the buttons I received. They're big, which is perfect for use on my Pocket/purses. Love the colors, too.  My next batch of purses will be from vintage tea towels, which my honey has been buying for me on eBay. They aren't big sellers in my Etsy shop or even at fairs, but I'll be participating in a MadHatters Tea Party in the spring, so I'm preparing for that.

Good news, our weather is cooler than it's been, no earthquake after shocks, and our new A/C might be totally installed by the end of the day, just in time for autumn weather!

Mail Art, pens and Fritzi (my Etsy shop)

 I had such fun thinking up titles for these cards. This one is something about how she thinks about the number 5 when she sees a de Kooning painting.

 This guy's job is to keep records on the fox hunt but he gets distracted, right, cause he looks like he's not paying attention.

 Ah, my Tiny Town series. I just love doing these. I bought lots of them, so hopefully neither you nor I will tired of them.  This is something about her bright smile lighting up the sky over Tiny Town. By the way, the painting is by Maurice Utrillo, in case I never gave him credit.

 I didn't buy many of these Cycladic figure postcards when they were on the 10 cent sale shelf, and now I'm a bit sorry about that. Since I realized I could add features to the figures, it opened up ideas for me.  The title of this is something about how they practiced to perfect their balancing act. ha ha ha. I cracked myself up, really.

 I really like these pens that I got at Muji, in New York City. Now, whenever we go there I pick up a few refills, in any color available. I prefer the .38 for that fine line.

While we were in NYC, I got two sales on my Etsy shop, Fritzi. I sent the items out soon as we returned and the next day, I had another sale. Wow! I added a couple more purses (pockets) including this one made from a 1950s era linen tea towel. I found a Dutch woman's name for it. Lena. Why was Dutch imagery so popular in the United States back then? Anyone?

Catching up on Mail Art and other stuff

#220

I used a cereal box for the base of #220.

#221

1965!

#219

I went by Gallery 5 for the ending of the Skull Appreciation Day exhibit, and they were having a yard sale there. I scored some 1965 editions of Life and McCall's. I could have gotten more but realized I'd broken my own rule: no more stuff, use what I've got (yes, Jordan, I remembered the rule! But over rode it!)

#219 was done on a base from a cereal box. It would have been enough with the old pansy flower and dots but I really missed using my Washi tape and somehow the gingham fit with the 1959 era flower.   I did another with the torn color paper, which I'm finding very satisfying, but then this morning, I really felt called to alter another card. These Cycladic figure ones are challenging, but I like seeing them as calm, balanced This one I entitled "Nilsa demonstrated her balancing act for the Big O Circus." Fun!
Our dove is still there and now has 3 teeny babies as of 2 days ago. I didn't want to disturb her so I'm staying far back and peeking. No photos for a bit.