Brrrrr, so chilly here!

 We've made some new friends, the owners of NEST, where my honey will have an exhibit in February and currently has 3 pieces on preview.

My mitts are now for sale there, too. I've got to get busy knitting more with all the new yarn from my favorite yarn shop, now closed as of today. waaaa (me crying)

 Every day, I find Bizoo being places that I didn't know about, like IN the fern in the shower. The fern was going into winter mode and Bizoo was taking advantage of a nice outdoor experience while watching water go down the drain.

My friend, whom I call Prima because we share the same family name (with one letter difference,) is now the owner of MerryMaker. This is a shop where our kids used to spend their allowance money on Mrs. Grossman stickers! Here she is holding, for all you Harry Potter fans, a quill pen set. It's a fabulous set and she only has a couple left. Run over there and buy one. Very cool!

  Everytime I visit I find something I need, like Washi tape, notecards in Spanish, cool paper to make into Mail Art cards, and lots of things to just look at.

Stop in and say Hello, if you're in the area.

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Here are the series of cards that I made relating to the chilly weather this week. Brrrrr, that's what these cards say.











I used pen and ink with water, and then some rubber stamping to complete the composition.












Can't you just feel the chill?

About a Pen, and mail art received

 I was going through a LIFE magazine from 28 May 1965, looking for something for a Tiny Town card when I saw this advertisement for a pen. OMG!! Just read the copy. "Girl-sized hands" Hmmm, was this aimed at female children? "Lady-like hands" Hmmm, was this aimed at royalty? My goodness, how could I ever hold a "man-sized jotter?"  aaagh! Comments welcome on this one for sure.

My young neighbor put this through my mail slot so I'm counting it as mail art. She's quite the artist!

Post birthday catching up

 So much has gone on since I last posted. On the 30th, I did a workshop using Mail Art as the medium. I'll post more on that next, but I didn't get to do any posting, then came a busy Friday, then my birthday and wow the days flew, though I did make mail art daily. Amazingly!

This is the new patio arrangement, like a little living room. It's been too hot during the day, but we sat out there a couple of nights, and chatted, just me and my honey.

 This is the cake we were surprised with by Micheal Sparks at a happy hour he called on Friday. He's showing Chuck's photos at his design studio/gallery. We were sooo surprised. The cake was delicious, a tres leches cake. We liked it so much that we're having more for our birthday party fun. We're having a pot luck fiesta!

 Here are two things that I got for my birthday from my son and STBDIL. They think the pen will only last 3 years in my case. I'll let you know how long it actually lasts. The other item, in case you aren't a Dr. Who fan, is a Dalek keychain torch (flashlight.) I'm delighted by both items.

Here's our little dove. She sits there so still and pays no attention to me as I poke my mobile phone into her space. Her next is so flimsy. I hope the eggs hatch and we get to see some of those big dove babies.

An assortment of things

My REAL WALL

Wire sketches

Letter openers

Studio view

where I've been spending lots of time

I decided to show you my REAL WALL, which is a term that my IUOMA friend, Andytgeezer, uses to show his postcards. You won't believe how his blog looks like a certain social network site. Check it out here.Such a clever guy! Anyway, my wall is such a jumble these days. Andy's recent Mail Art in on the wall, among other items.

I spend a lot of time at my sewing machine these days in preparation for the Bizarre Market holiday shop. I love the view out my window, nothing but sky and a giant holly tree, and sometimes birds. On the window ledge, I have lots of my small wire sketches.  I collect the wire bindings from old calendars, paper sample books, and others items before the paper part gets tossed into the recycling bin. I make "action sketches" out of the wire.

I've been wanting a letter opener for a long time. I saw one on-line that I wanted but it's no longer available, a very modern metal one by Montblanc (of pen fame.) I went onto eBay and found these two, one a plastic replica of an ivory item and the other a vintage plastic opener. They were each less than a USD. I'm quite happy with both of them. They work!! No more ripping open mail with my fingers, I can nicely neatly slice it open.   I write and receive lots of real mail, and felt badly about wrecking the envelopes. Okay, I know, I could use a knife, but a special opener is cool.

Now back to my studio!