Mid-week update

 This guy is Mail Art #970. Oh my, only 30 away from 1000! I decided to alter a postcard today, instead of being dotty. The text makes a random poem that turns out not to be so random. The postcard is from the hotel we stayed at in New Orleans, Jan. of 2011. Place d'Armes.

 This dotty card was made yesterday. I like the way only the recipient will know if the dots are punch outs or dots on top. It's one of my minimals. I have to be minimal in some part of my life, since my studio is maximal!!

 Ducky looks like he's alone in the ocean, doesn't he? The water was only 85F this morning and the sky overcast. This photo was taken on a sunny day, as today's photos were sort of blah.

I've posted a few more items in/on my FritziMim Etsy shop. A couple more of the small purses made from vintage tea towels. While I think they are adorable, as well as immensely useful, they aren't generating much interest. What do you think - should I tag them as Tea Bags? Would that get some interest? Or what? Any ideas? I'm going to do a blog post about tea, soon, so maybe that'll get some attention. I have lots of vintage linen tea towels that my honey got for me but don't want to make bags if there's no interest. You know what I mean? Any thoughts welcome.

Mail Art, of course, and a tea bag!

 Oh dear, you can't see where the card ends and the back ground begins, oh well. It's a 4" x 6" piece of dotty mail art! My honey likes it so I might keep it for his birthday card, oh right, I should mail it to him!

 This hand and foot bit fit so nicely with this card, I just had to break away from JUST DOTS. In fact, as I look at this more, I'm quite fond of it. I could mail it to myself! Oh no, it'll go to someone.

 This is Mail Art #960! 40 more to go for 1000 since 01 Dec. 2010. When should I stop numbering? What do you think? Your opinion counts.
With this one, I like that the gray and the pale violet are the almost the same value and the boundaries are soft, as opposed to the yellow with the pale violet.

I re-opened my Etsy shop FritziMim, after a long hiatus. I've put a few bags in it, including a vintage Tea Towel bag. A TEA BAG! Get it? You can see my stuff at FritziMim.

My #250 series, the JonnyZFest & a new purse/tote

Playing in the waves?

I'm really enjoying using my 9B graphite stick. I worked on a large sheet of watercolor paper again, then went over the lines with a brush and water. The color circles are from old silk screen colored paper. I wanted a feeling of the sun today and when I was finished, I felt like the sun was up, or in one case, coming out from some clouds,  and it all felt like playing in the waves.

More playing in the waves

 These cards are all being sent out to new members of the International Union of Mail Artists Hopefully, they'll all be happily surprised to find then in their mail boxes all around the world.

 This is the postcard that came last week, announcing the JonnyZ Festival, which I'll be participating in, vending my sewn creations. My Etsy shop, Fritzi, has only four items in it, but my house has LOTS in preparation for the festival.

This is one of the new bags I've made. It's roughly 15" x 15" (38 x 38 cm) with straps that go over the shoulder.  The fabric is a really sturdy Ikea cotton dated 2005. A big red acrylic button is the closure. These new bags have a small pocket inside for a cell phone or your keys. They're an upgrade of my totes, in that I've added the pocket and a strap closure. I'd like a new name for these, cause they're more than a tote, but not quite a purse. Hopefully, I'll come up with something soon. I plan to start working on my display and signage on Wednesday. Any ideas? I'll take suggestions.

Two new purses!

Whew, two bags done, except to sew the buttons into place. These will be for the Jonny Z Fest.

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?

#210, Panda news, Dove update, and my asemic book.

 This card went off to a mail artist in Chicago, who has one blog focused on fish. I found that the entry for poisson was still in my old Larousse (that I cut up) and this fish image is from an old drawing (like 1708) of a sturgeon fish that existed in Jamestown, Virginia when it was first settled. The background is an oyster farm in southeast Asia. See Adamandia here.

 Here's Ace with the second to the last Panda Pocket. The last of the 1970's era Panda Pockets was sold and sent to Michigan. That's all folks. I saved a tiny piece to make into a tiny pillow for N. It was the fabric I purchased at his request, to cover his nap mat for school. It's exciting to see people enjoying my Pockets and especially to know that the Panda fabric (made in America, now a piece of our history) is being used. I've put up a few other Pockets in my Fritzi shop.

 I'm participating in an Asemic book project. Here is what I've done for it. I made 8 collages using strips of text cut so that they can't be read, made compositions using flat color grounds on black background. I individually glued down each strip of text, which took more time than I thought it would. I couldn't create 16 books (x 8 pages.) I copied the work two per sheet double side. It's on heavy stock, which worries me as I hope it won't interfere with the binding process. I like the way the compositions turned out. Now I'm added a letter form to each and every collage, so that no two books are the same. Rather none of the books are the same. I'll have the first 8 ready to mail by the end of the week. The rest will be send by the deadline, 22 July. I know this would be a challenge when I took it on, and I felt stretched by it, but that's a good thing. 

Here's our dove, as of yesterday. See her little eye looking at me?

Now back to work on my asemic project.

New in Fritzi, my Etsy shop

I just posted this new item in Fritzi (my etsy shop) and added a couple other little purses. I'm starting to get the urge to sew again, after the urge went dormant for the winter. Something about spring and summer and the need to work with fabric. I love Toile, I really do, it's not a passing fancy. You can see FRITZI here.

Check out what's new in the shop!

Check this out. My sister made a new beaded purse and we posted it in Fritzi (our Etsy shop.) She has amazing patience and is very careful with her work.

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.