Puppet Master

I was invited to a birthday part this weekend. The birthday girl was turning one, and her father mentioned that it would be a puppet party, and then went on to say that they actually only had one puppet, so he would be making a run to Toys-R-Us... I decided I would add to the inventory! I knew that the Old MacDonald puppet was on his list, and I decided to go with the farm animal theme as well. As I have not made a puppet for many years, and remembering that I always made them too small to get one's hand into, I thought it was a good idea to do some research.(I never turn down an opportunity to do research!) I saw a great puppet family on Wilma Flanagan It's Storytime site: http://www.geocities.com/mystorytime/index.htm. I copied the shape for the puppets, but then I made some slight modifications: I made the hen blue so that the chicks really stood out against her.


I also zigzagged in bright red just for fun. I used flannel for the coxcomb and chin-waggle. Being a city girl, I was confused at first by the picture--I thought that only roosters had that! But after more research I saw that I was wrong, so now I don't know how I can tell them apart!

I thought that I could glue on some eyes, but for some reason the glue did not work on this felt. I had a temporary insanity moment where all the eyes started dropping off and sticking to the table, the floor, me...I did not want my friend's daughter to pull the eyes off and eat them, so I opted for the laundry-marker method. I did find that if I used the marker on the spot where I had tried to glue before, that the ink did not bleed at all, and was much darker than if I had used it on dry felt. So that worked out well.

Now all the little chicks and the mother hen are in baby's hands, so to speak...

Back to Work: Obama and I return to the daily grind

Such an exciting week! To have a big holiday, followed by the most exciting inauguration I have ever experienced. The thrill in the air is palpable, and I hardly ever talk like that!

Another wonderful thing about this week is that I am working again…for now. I am at a company that is a temp’s dream: great hours, nice people, breakfast, lunch (yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a free lunch in this town) and snacks provided, casual dress accepted…and they keep me busy. No time to worry about the origin of Palin babies*, alien life in Arizona or the looming Bush divorce as reported by the National Enquirer.

But, that being said, I have been too busy to make anything fun this week. I spent the weekend at a friend’s house and she taught me a really cool stenciling technique that I will be trying and talking about very soon.

I do want to give a shout out to The Steampunk Home. They picked up an excerpt from my post about Robbii Wesson’s artwork. If you have never seen this blog, you MUST. It has something to appeal to just about everyone—oh, the wonders you will see!

*don’t get me started on this-—but I do have to say: Google “Sarah Palin “and the”Target dog,” then tell me if that is a 7-month pregnant women, bending over, in a zipped-up coat, to pet a dog . That’s all I'm going to say...

Finished!

Well, I got busy and didn't have as much time to make my Valentines for fredflare.com as I had planned (isn't that how it always works?) I had started two, and was going to finish them up yesterday morning and then mail them off by the Jan. 15th deadline. But of course after ages of having no work I got a call to go in for a few hours to train for a long assignment...so I got home in the afternoon and made a mad dash to complete the envelopes for the Valentines, and rush them to the Post Office before 5:00 pm.



This is done with water color and decoupage on a heavy watercolor stock. The envelope I made from brown craft paper.




And for once our notoriously crowded p.o. was empty except for one man in line...but where are all the employees? Not one at a window! Finally someone showed up to take the next person...and then she disappeared again! It's always something at that location. I have to say,though, the employees are all very nice.

Anyway, back to the Valentines: off they went and will hopefully be sold off to raise some money for the Elder Care organization. And I have a whole month to make some more for my family and my own Valentine. So do you!!!


I covered a wooden heart (from any craft store) with small pieces of red tissue and watered down glue. I used paper from Crate and Barrel: it had lettering on it which added a nice touch of texture.

Then I added a flower...

and a bit of glitz...

and put it in a little brown paper envelope. I used a button and some red ribbon to create a closure.

The Tempest

The Steampunk Tempest

A lot of my friends who couldn't come to see The Tempest are asking me about it, so I am posting an old entry from my myspace page:

From The Tempest

Farewell, Prospero

Today was The Tempest's last performance. It had a great run, many nice things were said, and I had a lot of fun working with this cast and crew. Shout out to Aaron Diehl--he did an awesome sound with the sound and music. I highly recommend him to anyone looking for a sound designer.

Today was the second high school talk back that we had. I love to sit in on those, because it reaffirms my faith in the next generation. These students asked such thoughtful, diverse questions, and you could tell they weren't just study guide questions, but things that these kids just really had thought about and were inquisitive about.

So, now I am thrown back onto the uncertain sea of fate--who knows where I will land next!

****************************
The Tempest was a fun show to work on, given my interest in Steampunk. The research alone was captivating, plus I got to make some little gadgets, like this fob and monacle and a chatelaine,



and some fun costume pieces,



and I used some of Janet Bloor's silicone caulk techniques to create Caliban's costume. The idea behind Caliban's look is that he lives on the beach, under rocks, in the surf, wherever he ends up. I imagined all the detritus that washed up onto the beach sticking to him: I even had little bits of the other character's costumes sticking to him. Caliban was one of my favorite characters--I felt very sorry for him!

From The Tempest

Winter Brunch

Today we hunkered down, prepared for the snow that was coming. I was looking forward to it, as it was the first weekend at home for some time. Taking full advantage of the prevailing mood, I slept 'til 10. Once I got up and had some coffee in me, though, I started feeling pretty hungry. I remembered that we had bought some Johnny Cake mix when we were visiting Gray's General Store in Adamsville, RI. Gray's is an old-fashioned general store, and has been in operation at this location since 1788! The man who runs it now took great pains to let us know that the corn meal for his Johnny Cake mix comes from Harry Here Farms, though, and is not the corn that is ground over at Gray's Grist Mill...there's a story there, for sure. And in homage to the Rhode Island Red, of which there is a big ol' statue in the town, I made eggs as well. Yes, even a city gal like me knows that the rooster doesn't actually lay the eggs, but I believe he does have some part in the process.

I figured making Johnny Cakes would be just like making pancakes, but I was wrong. It is like cooking a pile of grits, hoping that it turns into a cake-like object instead of just remaining a pile of grits. I made the first round a bit too thin, so they smushed up when I tried to flip them. I added in a bit more mix, and the next round was better. I also found it easier to use the flat griddle, rather than make them in a pan, because I could get the spatula under them more easily. Be prepared for it to take a while--unlike pancakes, Johnny cakes have to cook for about 5 minutes on each side!


I have some yummy cranberry-citrus relish that my mum makes. As I don't eat turkey, though, I am always trying to come up with innovative ways to use it. So I mixed a few spoonfuls of the relish into the J.C. mix. I also put in a bit of Greek yogurt, because I think yogurt goes with everything. It all turned out nicely. Just a hint of cranberry, and with the maple syrup it was sweet enough.

Someone thinks she is getting a treat!


The snow kept falling, so after breakfast we just continued being lazy. Our Christmas tree is still up, so it was like having another Christmas Day. Later in the evening we took a walk in Inwood Park. It is just so lovely there. Look how bright it is, even at night!


No flash needed!

People were out with their dogs, running around in the snow, or just strolling along and taking in the beauty of it all.

I love that kind of day! Too bad they don't come around more often.

Have a Heart

The Brooklyn-based shop Fred Flare is having a fun[d]raiser to help Elder Craftsmen, an organization based in NYC that brings craft workshops to local senior citizens.

The idea is simple: make a Valentine, send it to Fred Flare (with an envelope that the Valentine will fit into) and if they sell it the proceeds will go to Elder Craftsmen. Pretty cool, right?

While you are at it, make some for your friends and family, too. I have made Valentines in the past--and I guess this is just the kick in the pants I need to get going again--and it's always been a fun project. After all, if you can't give something that is truly from your heart on Valentines Day, when can you give it?

So, go to Fred Flare for more info, and for some fun shopping ops, too!


Valentines here are made with red poster board (often you can find precut hearts at dollar stores and crafts stores), onion paper, lace, thread and buttons.

Clear out!

Today I am at home, after having had a great Christmas/New Year's break from all that grueling desk sitting I have been doing.

I have decided that my resolution for this year will be to keep my emails in control! For Mac or PC users, organizing your email is a relatively simple task--just a bit time consuming at first. My new system is to create separate folders for all the emails I get daily: news alerts, shopping/sales tips, theater-related emails... I have made rules for each to be moved out of my Inbox, into the proper folder when it arrives. Then each day I can view and delete each category when I want to, and I can see my more important emails clearly in my Inbox. If I lag behind, I can just go to my Pets Tips or Philatelists News folder and empty it all at once.

I know, all of this seems totally obvious, but sometimes we keep putting off the simple things that we know would make our lives easier. I don't know why we do it--I am not a trained therapist. But I do acknowledge this trait in myself, and resolve to move past it!

So, Happy New Year..now go do something simple.