schnitzel, stained glass and hurricanes.

Holy schnitzel Batman!  I fell off my blogging wagon for a couple of days.  Many apologies.  I figured I'd do a brief recap of my extravagant filled birthday weekend.  And by extravagant, I mean hurricane/tornado induced hysteria.  Onwards!

Thursday was my 28th birthday.  It was also the 10 year anniversary of my first day of college.  It was also the 28th anniversary of my mom's c-section.  I thought I'd throw that in there since she's always asking me if I want to see her scar.  I find myself getting off track of this recap in mammoth proportions.  Onwards, once more!

My day was spent yelling at stained glass and crafting with my good friend Lauren.  After telling the stained glass to go f*** itself numerous times, we carried on to Michael and made a quick stop at the Salvation Army.  I got some supplies at both places for my next project... secrets, secrets!!  I spent the rest of the weekend tracking the hurricane, succumbing to tornado warning instructions, and riding my bike taking videos of the flooding and damage.  I also watching numerous episodes of gypsy weddings.  That s*** is ridiculous.

I realize that I haven't set a goal for myself to actually finish cutting and foiling The Beast... I'll say by Sunday, September 3rd.  The design has changed slightly, but I still think it embodies much of what I want it to.  Look at me, using big words!   This post also feels naked, so I think I'll just upload a picture of myself.  Your welcome.

PS... the cucumber soup tasted like glorified vomit.

NOM NOM

Small post!  I finished foiling the middle panel last night in between eating grilled cheese and watching Cupcake Wars on the Food Network.  This is what happens when I'm left home alone.  I lapse into a state of simple meals, stretch pants and entertaining television. Don't hate.  This also means that I reached my goal one day early!  I think I'll reward myself with more cheese.

In other news, I am planning on cooking a lovely dinner tonight and catching up with a dear friend.  Here's my menu:

Cold Cucumber & Dill Soup
Goat Cheese and Cranberries with Crackers
Sauteed Spinach with Shallots and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Grilled Portabella Mushrooms with Couscous

OH OKAY.  I'll take a picture and post it later. 

foiling the beast.

left panel

You know what I just realized? I can type in different colors if I want. It's about to get silly up in here. ... on second thought, no it's not. That took me entirely too long to type. Screw colors.

right panel

Last night I finished cleaning and foiling the right panel pieces that I had previously cut. Tonight I'm going to finish up the pieces in the middle panel, which I already cleaned last night. Then... onto cutting the new pieces... SHIT, that is scary! I'm terrified of messing up.  Maybe I should do some practice pieces first so I don't throw a fit if I break a piece. Good idea...

beginning the beast.

As of yesterday, I re-started working on the stained glass piece... I think from now on, I'll just call it The Beast.  Here is my original sketch for the piece:

The sketch was made before I went glass shopping, but luckily most of the colors are almost exactly the same. I chose opaque glass for the project for one main reason: The triptych will eventually be back-lit, so I thought using opaque glass would give the piece a really unique glow.  However, I couldn't find an opaque glass in the purple/fushia category, so I decided to go with a deep fushia translucent glass.  I thought it would contrast really nice with the opaque colors, and will definitely give a focal point to the finished piece.

Here is what I'm starting with.  The pieces that are in white are the ones that have already been cut.  All of the spots that are blank... well, those are the ones that I still need to cut.  The blue and black glass is still on back-order for the time being (FROWN) but I check the site every day to see if it's back in stock.

In the meantime, I'm going to clean and foil all of the pieces I have already cut.  Yesterday I finished the left panel.  I forgot to take a picture though... I hope to get them all cleaned and foiled by Wednesday, which is my first goal date.  I'm hesitating on setting a final goal date until I can get my hands on the materials I need.  Don't judge me.

MUST CONQUER THE BEAST!!!!!!
(that's what she said.)

two more purses! 2+2=4

Well, well, well... look who finished a project early?!  Again! That's right, I slapped those two purses in the face with my sewing skills.  ...That came out a little harsher than I meant it to.  What I meant to say, is that even with my time constraint this week, I still managed to sew the purses by my deadline.  See?  That's what I meant to say.  Now, for my obligatory purse shot:

The one on the left had a lot of red, blue, paisley and a two different polka dot fabrics... the one on the right has American flags, shamrocks, more polka dots, and red plaid.  These two were a lot of fun to make!!  I even learned a little short cut while I was sewing the front panel ties together.  Awesome!!  Here's close up pictures of them...

hot sauce and bunnies.

I just realized how sad my other posts look without pictures.  So here's a shot of me gazing into the future and reading the words that you're seeing here.  Nah, I'm just thinking about cookies, fried chicken and hot sauce.  I had two of the three for lunch today.  Guess which?!

Last night I sewed the bases for both purses and fully completed the front panels, buttons and all.  High five!!  I even had time to choose the tie flap (which will be sewed to the back panel) and cut out the fabric for the back panels, too.  I'm working hard to get back on track to finish up everything by my goal date of August 21st.

As I mentioned, my next project will be to complete a stained glass piece that I started back in April of last year, and promptly abandoned one month later in May.  There were two main reasons that I put the project on hiatus.  A handful of the pieces are extremely complex to cut, and at the time I was not successful in scoring and breaking those pieces properly.  I quickly exhausted my glass supply on mistakes.  Also, my bunny Moe developed a habit of running and jumping on to my kitchen table where I was working.  Twice, he skidded onto the table and sent glass pieces a'flyin and a'breakin.  But I can't stay mad at my fluffybuns.  How could you stay mad at this?

This glass project cannot be rushed: But when it comes time to do so, I will set a goal date.  I have run into a little snag so far: Two of the colors that need are currently out of stock, and they cannot be placed on back order.  I'm not sure how this will affect the piece, or my ability to reach my goal.  But I guess we'll see when I start it up again! 

holy s*** batman, my renewed energy is ridiculous.

On Monday night, I was thinking about how tired I was from running around like a nutcase and how I hoped that I'd be able to stay awake (and un-grumpy) to fully enjoy Tuesday night.  Little did I know then, that my mind tried to secretly sabotage me into thinking that way.  All because of that tiny bit of self doubt!  Shit, this thinking is impressive.  I need coffee to finish these thoughts.  Let's reflect.

How do I explain this properly?... if I have tasks to do today, I'll do them in the order that I've placed them... A,B,C, D, etc.  Before I go about these tasks, I think about how I will feel when I complete them. Remember?  On Monday night, I thought that I would feel tired and grumpy last night.  However, for one reason or another, last night I diverged off my usual path of inadvertently predicting my feelings, and I meandered into uncharted Jill waters.  It was very freeing, and it felt wonderfully un-anxious.  At the end of the night, I felt enjoyment because I did enjoy myself, not because I thought I would enjoy myself.  I think that's about as clear as that thought is going to get.

Diverging off my set path breathed life into my night and gave me this renewed sense of energy.  That sentence might not be grammatically correct, but honey badger don't care.  I face today with excitement about upcoming art projects and about life.  Move over Confucius, there's a new thinker in town. And she just finished her coffee.

f-f-f-f-f-faaaaaaaaaaaaaaail.

Yesterday was a whole bunch of fail.  But I feel oddly content about it.  Maybe because I was busy until 11pm at night doing other things I mentioned in my post yesterday... grocery shopping, going to the gym, cooking, spending time with friends and family and (oh joy!) banking.

The gnocchi was a fail.  The whole dinner was pretty much a soupy-potatoey mess.  It was still pretty tasty... But the two hours I wasted on making glorified mashed potatoes was a downer.  Sewing the bases/straps to the purses?  Fail.  Didn't do it.  Making a list of the supplies I need for the glass?  Win!  I ended up ordering 1/2 of the things I needed because... FAIL, two of the items are OUT OF STOCK.  Let's hope that I can actually get those piece of glass, or I will be in big trouble on the next project.  On the plus side, I ordered a new glass cutter, too.  I'm hoping that it will help cut down on the glass breaking into pieces after I score it.

Today there will be no time to work on those projects because... WIN, I'm going to the Phillies game with the DTGP's. 

balancing act.

Something just hit me.  No, not a flying tomato nor was it Lou.  It's this: My next goal date for completing two new purses is August 21st.  In between now and then, I'll have only two nights during this week to work on them.  I might have some time on the weekend, but I'm not quite sure as to how much I'll have.  Could this be a potential problem?

I want to be able to successfully set goals and meet them, but how does one balance those tasks with other daily responsibilities?  Grocery shopping, work (HAH), spending time with friends and family, going to the gym, personal upkeep... hey, I like to try to look nice every once and awhile!  Don't judge me for wanting to color my hair and paint my nails blue. 

Maybe for this project, I'll set smaller daily goals to see if I can accomplish them.  Today I'll be sure sew the ties for the base/straps together and make a list of things to order for the stained glass.  Of course, I'll be doing all of this after I make AND EAT my first batch of handmade gnocchi, with spicy sausage and Swiss chard.  See details below.

great success!

s-u-c-c-e-s-s, that is how you spell success.

TA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!  Peppers added and painted in, varnished and ready to go! I'm excited that I've finished project #2, and I'm ready to conquer the next battle!  I decided to sew another two tie-purses as my 3rd task.  I'm hoping that while I'm doing that, I can take a look at my stained glass project and figure out what other supplies and materials I'll need to finish the job.  Hopefully by the time I'm done the purses, I'll have those materials in hand and I can begin to finish what I started!  I'll set my next goal date for finishing the purses as..... August 21st.  Let the great experiment begin...

ninja with a paintbrush.

Well, well, well... lookatdat.  I actually did manage to squeeze in about an hour of work before my nights festivities.  The text is 100% finished, I transferred the design onto the sign and painted the jalapenos green.  Just a little bit more work and I'll be ready to seal it and deliver it! 

The weather here has been glorious.  Stepping outside is like a breath of fresh air!  Lou brought me lunch today:  Eggplant parmesan, made by Paul with fresh vegetables from our garden!  It's getting me more and more excited about dropping of the sign to Gary at his farm-homestead on Sunday.  I might pass out with glory from seeing so many vegetables in one place. 

symmetry

I think I just came up with a better design for the peppers.  It's not random like I was doing before... but completely symmetrical (except for the pepper in the middle).  Symmetry brings me organized happiness.

text me sometime sugar!

Last night, not only did I trace on all the text, I COMPLETELY FINISHED THE TEXT.  Well, not completely, I just wanted to write that sooooooo baaaaaaaad.  I made such good progress that instead of doing all the text black, I decided to add some colors to habanero, cayenne and jalapeno.  So the only thing I have left to do is add the black outline to three words... then I'll be COMPLETELY FINISHED (with) THE TEXT.

I also decided to add an outline to the logo... it just looked like the odd man out on the sign without it.  The one thing I have to do today is change my chili pepper design... it ended up being too small for the space I allotted to it. So instead of it being 3" tall, it will be 5" tall. At least I'll have something to do at work today. I don't think I'll be working on the sign tonight, though.  I'm hiking after work, then I'm off to meet the DTGP (downtown gal pals) for a BYOB dinner/catch up.

I should start thinking soon about my next project.  I was thinking of doing another two purses.  Maybe get on a trend of completing purses and wine bags every time I finish a project.  One thing I have been itching to work on is my unfinished stained glass project.  Some of the pieces were truly difficult to cut, and I abandoned it about a year ago.  Good things to think about, for sure.

a long post full of small details.

I've managed to keep up the good work on the pepper festival sign!  Let's see, where did I last leave off?  On Monday, I completed the triangular border design on the second piece of the sign.  I was certain to make sure that the pattern would match up where the two pieces join together.  Then I started moving onto lettering... so much lettering...

Here's a fun nugget about the lettering.  For this sign I thought it would be wise for me to print out my text, scan it as a JPEG, then blow it up to the size that I needed in Photoshop.  There's just too much guess and check when you're trying to freehand text on such a big sign.  What if I ran out of room?  No one wants to buy HOT SAUC.

I decided to paint the hot sauce text red to make it pop out.  I added a black border because the red was alas, not popping out and getting lost against the background.  Then came the logo.  I started by drawing a 12" circle where the logo would be, then primed it.  Painting the orange and burgundy around the lettering was a little difficult, but smaller brushes did the trick!  I'm still thinking... should I add a border to this as well?

I think tonight I'll try to trace on the rest of the text.  I have to make sure that none of the text fall on the line between the two pieces!!  That should keep me busy!

On other non-sign related news, I finally watched Black Swan last night!  (Thanks to Steph... I hope she didn't mind my candor too much, since I tend to ramble and shout during movies.)  The cinematography was quite beautiful and erratic.  I thought that it matched the main character's inner turmoil, which was a key element to the movie.  I'd love to watch it again, as I think I missed a lot of little things that could help me understand it a little more.

OK... maybe I'll post more tonight depending on the progress I make.  Toodles for now.

oh, so that's what it was.

OK, so I figured out that my mind wasn't a jumble of projects on Saturday.  It was just a jumble of negative feelings that I needed to sort out, all of which I will not post here.  This is an art blog, not a "lemme bitch about this" blog!  Despite my lack of motivation and my attempt to watch as much TV as possible, I did manage to get work done on the sign.  Actually, I got a lot done.  I started by sanding it down, then staining it a light pine color.  Since the design has a 3" border around the edges, I taped it off and painted it a light yellow.  Once everything dried, I hauled the two pieces back inside and started drawing the triangular design. The design isn't something I made up completely... the company that will be selling the hot sauce has this design on their website.  I thought I'd try to tie everything together, ya know?

the top 1/2 of the sign w/pattern

I only managed to get the pattern down and painted in on one side of the sign, which you can see here to the left.  The two bigger squares in the corner will have the same colors as the company's logo. 


I printed out the text that I'll be using, as well as the logo.  So now all there is to do is repeat the design on the second half of the panel, hinge it together, sketch the text and paint it in.  Today is the 8th, so I have a couple days until my August 15th deadline.  I think I can do it.

shoot.

I can't seem to find the motivation today to start any projects... or do anything special in general.  Why is that?  Ooh, I started the laundry.  Big deal. I've showered... yay, now I'm clean and unmotivated! My mind seems to be a jumble of projects.  So where do I start?  I've been awake for 3 hours and still no motivational-dice.
...
..
.

What will drive me today... what will inspire me today TO GET MY BUTT MOVING?  I've been on a roll the past week, so what makes today any different? Shit.  All these questions and no answers yet.  Maybe I'll look up a recipe, get out of the house and recollect.

gangsta, gangsta...

I just inhaled a chocolate glazed donut.  Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta. (Note: I didn't realize that gangsta was a real word, as my cool red wobbly-lined spell check indicator did not appear underneath it. Touché, urban dictionary...you win this round.)

So here's the scoop:  Materials for the sign?  PURCHASED!  I got a 4'x4' piece of 1/2 pine and had it cut down into two 18" panels, as the final sign will only be 3'x4'.  I bought hinges so I can easily fold the sign in half for easier transport and storage.  I'm going to use a light wood stain for the whole sign, acrylic paints for the design and lettering, then a simple varnish to seal it all in.

Also, I am leaving work early today.  I overslept and showed up 20 minutes late, too.  And I took an hour break to go purchase the sign materials and my donut.  GANGSTA. With any luck, Gary's sign will looks as glorious as the MS Paint version of me painting the sign.

done-ski DONEBALLS!

That title is whack, but HEY!  I finished my first goal by my deadline and I feel great!  So wonderful in fact, that I made a lovely meal to congratulate myself... spinach, mushrooms, onions, carrots and garden fresh tomatoes in a delicious broth.  So screw you FOOD NETWORK I cooks alls bys myselfs.  It's still raining out.  But the air is cool, fresh and smells like leaves, grass and dirt. A perfect end to a deadline day.  My next project is to make a 3'x4' sign for the Pepper Festival in September.  I already have most of it worked out, so onward and upward.  Next deadline date?  I'll set it for August 15th.  Until then, LETS ROLL.

YAY!  BAGS R US!!

Purse #1 with a paisley interior

Purse #2 with a gold satin interior

tonight, tonight!

Today is August 3rd: My deadline for finishing up my first two purses of the inspiration season!  I have plenty to accomplish tonight, but I am 100% sure that I'll have everything done later... as well as have pictures to post! Purse #1: finish securing bag interior, sew strap together.
Purse #2: sew back of purse to straps, finish securing bag interior, sew strap together.

I wish I could say "feet, don't fail me now!"... but alas, I'm not running anywhere.  Not in this rain.  I should probably say "sewing machine, if you break I'll f****** kill you!"  That's more like it.

goal in sight

I am almost done the purses!  I'm positive that I can complete them both by tomorrow night, which happens to be my deadline of August 3rd.  I'm really excited that I'm sticking to my goals.  Originally I was thinking that I could complete them earlier and then brag about it to myself, but sometimes you just need to put a little padding on your timeline, right?  Things come up!  I was going to try to finish them last night, but then Mexican food and a pitcher of margaritas happened.  Yes, I know it was Monday.  Don't judge me, blog or I'll start calling you the blaaahg.  Good times don't discriminate against Monday nights. 

Here's a haiku.

Mural-ing tonight.
Bubbling paint.  Fix the bricks.
Don't rain, let's do this.

cheers inspiration, you strike again.

Two things happened today: Back in May, I ordered a commemorative brick for my dad's birthday and it was finally put in it's place at the Battleship New Jersey.  How is this for inspiring?  He volunteers his time two to three days a week to help preserve the Battleship so future generations (as well as current generations) can learn about our past.  I couldn't be more proud of a person, and I thought this was an honorable present for a well deserving Dad. 

I also went to the local spice shop on my lunch break today and picked up a couple tubs of spices and seasonings for ma'boyfriend's friend.  Technically he is my friend too, but I must give props to the original friend of the friend, since they've been friends for probably 30 years.  OKenoughofthat.  I can always tell how much he enjoys cooking both for himself and for others.  The words he chooses to describe how he cooks, the aromas he smells, and the flavors of his dishes are simply wonderful.

So I got him a couple things that will hopefully inspire him to experiment with new flavors.  To inspiration!  (I'm lifting an imaginary glass to cheers myself.)

hazy, lazy summer days.

My weekend was anything but lazy!  It certainly was hazy and quite hot, but I made the best of my time and continued to be productive.  I found a lot of inspiring things this weekend, so let me dive right into it.

I finished up the fronts and the backs of the tie purses, minus the 1/8" stitching that I need to do around the edging.  I'm getting close to my goal of finishing both purses by Wednesday! It feels really good to set a goal, and it feels even better when I think about completing a task I set out to do.  Productivity:1 Laziness: 0. 

Saturday morning was spent volunteering at Art/GAGE.  The event was great: Interesting vendors selling handmade items, wonderful live music and familiar faces that I remembered from HomeSkooled Gallery openings.  There were so many things that sparked my interest during the day.  One in particular was Coalition Ingenu ( www.coalitioningenu.com ) Two people commented about how much they liked my tie purse.  One of them wants to buy one!  She asked me "Why didn't you sign up for a booth here?"  Good question!  Looks like now was a good time to start sewing again, ay?  Maybe a new long term goal is to get a booth next year and sell my purses! 

Saturday night I was helping Lauren with her mural downtown.  She's done an amazing job: Check out the details on the audience so far!  We started on the bricks... but my sponging technique for the bricks was a FAIL.  But, it turned out much much better when we taped off the grout lines and painted the bricks.  Lesson learned: Don't get discouraged when something you try doesn't work.  There is always another solution, and it could work out better than you planned! 

The rest of my weekend, both Saturday post-muraling and Sunday was spent with great friends and filled with interesting conversations.  I think that those times were the most inspiring moments in my weekend.  Being lucky enough to create art and ponder inspiring moments is one thing, but aren't we lucky that we can share them with friends?