angry chicken

mini cacti and succulents

I always seem to work on these at night, when it's too warm in the kitchen (we don't have AC) and I have the oven on. I just sweat and am constantly putting these little figures in the freezer because they are getting to warm to work with. But, I prevailed. There are so many tutorials on you tube for making polymer clay succulents and cacti (who knew?) and I think I watched about 5 of them and then just mashed them together in my head. They were very fun to make. I need to make a display shelf. I do have people asking what I do with all these figures I have been making. Um, I look at them and play with them, I guess? They make me happy. I also tuck them in gifts for my friends and for the girls' friends.

I have been on a small sculpture kick for the last few months, although I did have a flurry of sewing last week. I have been making small paper-mache shrines, air-dry clay runes, and more small figures. I am now tempted to make a peg doll set of Penny Dreadful characters, like my Downton Abbey set.

a new tote for summer

I wanted a new summer tote and was very inspired by this Nani Iro double gauze that I bought at Modern Domestic. l've been making bags and zip pouches so much this year, but not really for myself. I didn't use a pattern for this, just used the complete fat-quarter that was the size of the fabric. The double gauze is really light so I lined it with a canvas and interfaced it with a heavy-weight cotton. I used a contrasting fabric for inside pockets, which makes me very happy. There no closure on this because I never close my bags. Although I probably should.

I have been sewing a lot, 2 gymnastics leotards, dance shorts, pillows, zip pouches, all that. It's been fun but leotard are so fussy, they can be prefect or just horrible.

Unrelated:

I am watching both Penny Dreadful and Bojack Horseman right now and this is an unholy combination for my psyche. I am enjoying both shows quite a bit.

An incomplete list of books I have recently read.

The summer is moving fast around here. After a very hot May, it's been a very cool July. I'm not complaining. Maybe just a little. It's been too cool to swim most days—that would be my only complaint. I have been knitting, sewing, working on more art prints and some small sculpture, and reading. Finally reading. I just wasn't feeling it with the books I had going. Thank you all for your suggestions. I read a sample of The Rook, and have the ebook on hold at the library but I haven't been contacted to download it yet. The library did provide physical copies of these books, however (except, the Dan Clowes, which I bought.)

Mary Swann, by Carol Sheilds. I had read her biography of Jane Austen years ago and loved it, but had never read her fiction. This was good, but frustrating in a way. It was written in the 1980s and had a dated David Mamet style twist which I found a lttle contrived. But it was a good read despite me yelling at the book occasionally. 

Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff. I did a weird thing with this book. I read it to the middle and then read it from the end backwards to the middle and then started again from the middle to the end. I have never done anything so bold before while reading. I just was getting so annoyed with the main character in the first half (it's told in two parts by two different people, who are married to each other) I had to skip to the wife's perspective to see if I could hang with the book. And it was worth all my craziness and I'm glad I then finished it by reading it like  normal human.

Patience, by Dan Clowes. I loved this, and I love his work. It's a graphic novel and involves time travel.

Killing And Dying, by Adrian Tomine. I also love his work. This is a graphic novel of short stories. I will buy a copy of this.

 

new art print-Postal Restrictions

I'm so excited to have a new art print in my etsy shop. I've been wanting to do this one for a long time. This is a color print illustrating various restricted items to mail to various countries. All this information is real, I found it all on the USPS website. I also offer this in a Black and White version. It's 8" x 11" and all the info about the fancy paper and inks is in the description.

no one lost a finger

We made it through another 4th of July with no injuries. Well, I got one during the archery tournament, a band snap from the bow on my inside forearm that will be a horrible bruise few 2 weeks, but besides that, we are all good.

There was much debate in my brain about what to make for the dessert this year and I decided on these adorable watermelon shaped rice krispie treats with mini chocolate chips, made by the two younger girls. We saw a tutorial on Kawaii Sweet World and they were very popular. My cousin brought something like these s'mores bars which were also devoured by everyone, as was Grammie's stone fruit tea cake (recipe here, originally from Rustic Desserts.)

Thank you so much for the oil orders, I hope they are traveling well in the heat. I'm adding some more new items to my etsy shop, including an art print that I will blog about soon in more detail. It feels good to get some of this creative work out of my brain and out in the world.