Laume's Studio

I said I'd keep checking in, so here I am. Nope, nothing new to show you. I spent the energy that one always gets in the afterglow of accomplishment to catch up on housework. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Dumb. It's not me, it's my family. For some reason they think just because I'm home all day, I should do things like keep them in clean laundry and hot meals. I know, silly. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but some days it's just easier to go along with it. It lulls them into complacency for a while.

I did go to the store last night and buy some Pentex. Apparently this is the same stuff as the much discussed Timtex, of the infamous fabric bowl craze that swept through most of my arty community last year. Somehow I manged to avoid the bug that gave a person chills, fever, and the unsatiable need to make these odd fabric creatures (maybe it's the way fabric bowls reproduce, by infecting innocent carrier hosts....). However, that didn't save me from being entirely unaffected. I did end up WITH a fabric bowl, as part of a art swap. My online art buddy Frank made it for me. I remember I threatened bodily injury if anyone made one for me. Apparently Frank finds the word 'NO' challenging, so he made me one. Can't blame him, if someone told me No, I'd probably have to do whatever I was being told not to do too. (I also threatened bodily harm, nay, death, if my family bought me a puppy. They didn't listen to me either.) Fortunately, I have found the bowl very useful as a safe home for stray spools of thread, buttons, etc., on my sewing table, so I've forgiven him. (and I love my Rosie puppy, so I forgave my family too, except when it comes in handy to hold it over their head for leverage, like when she whines to go out to pee and I'm snug in my bed and it's 20 degrees with an icy wind out there in the the dark - that's when I pull out the "YOU decided it was a good idea to get a puppy!" comment - hehehe)

Anyhooooo, I didn't buy the Pentex to make any fabric bowls. I bought it because I've got this itch to make some fabric postcards for Valentines Day giving. I doubt very much whether I'll actually manage to accomplish this, certainly not by Valentines Day. I'm already okay with that, in that case I'll just decide to make them for May Day. And when that date swooshes by, I'll make them for Midsummer.... and then Autumn.... and then Halloween...... you get the idea. I've got Plan B (C, D, E...) all figured out. But even knowing the unlikeliness of it all, I am an optimist, so I went and bought a half yard of the stuff so I would have it ready in case I suddenly felt the urge to create at, say, midnight. I mean, I had to buy it, because I was thinking about making these post cards, and wondering HOW to make them, when Synchronicity waved her wand and plopped Deb's very easy (even I can understand them!) instructions in my mailbox. Magic. See why I had to go buy the Pentex? Of course you see.

This morning I went wandering through assorted art blogs, and stumbled upon someone who's doing the 2006 Journal Quilts. Suddenly I felt inspired. Hey, I should do the 2006 Journal Quilts! I almost did them last year, but came to my senses before I could be insane enough to add something else to an already overflowing calendar plate. Of course I've already got a full plate this year, and I made a big commitment to go in another direction completely, and I made a promise to myself to KISS myself this year. (KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid) So, as one side of my brain was thinking all these wise counter-arguments, the other side of my brain (the one that has selective hearing, just like my kids) was happily ignoring her while simultaneously finding her way to the Journal Quilt sign up page online.

The deadline for sign ups was January 16. WHEW! Saved from myself once again.

I'm off in about an hour to be the parent-on-duty. I have to go up to our local snow resort and while away the afternoon on the deck or, if it's cold, in the lodge by the woodstove, waiting for William and his buddy Brandon to finish snowboarding.

This year Jeff takes the morning shift and I do the afternoon, but last year, because of his work schedule, I had to spend all day up there every weekend. Some weekends I even got talked into two days on the weekend. (no one will ask me to do two days this weekend as, duh, tomorrow is Superbowl Sunday - build up the nachos! pour the sodas! spread out the sandwich buffet!) Back to my point, the reason I'm going on about the snowboard watch duty, is because last year I made the best of it and with a bit of organized planning, managed to get a lot of projects done during those hours. I knitted a Gryffindor scarf for my sister, and then one for me. I worked on some applique quilt work.

I don't have any portable art projects ready to take up there today, alas, but I have needed to clean out my purse and change over to a new wallet forEVER, so I think I'll bring a shoe box and some plastic bags to give me a little work space and finish that job. I should bring my laptop and work on finishing my nanowrimo novel, but I don't feel like it today. I'll bring the mystery I'm reading and call it free reading time. Hopefully, however, by next weekend I'll have a something artsy all ready to go.