Happy 2014 To You!!
I hope you all had a splendid new year's celebration!
We spent the evening with our neighbors. Had a bonfire, that Barry kept stoked very well. Would have never known it was in the 30's...until you walked away from the fire. :)
We had a great evening, Barry grilled and we had a few (wink, wink) drinks.
Got home and in bed around 1am. And...at 4am my phone rang.
My youngest grandson, Preston, had a fever of 104.7. So off to the emergency room I went. We spent four hours at the ER and it turned out to be a virus. After x-rays and drawing blood, which he was not happy about (and screamed like it was the end of the world), they gave him some medication and sent us home after his fever came down.
It would appear that 2014 will be filled with the 'never a dull moment' as the previous years have.
But, my kids and grand kids come first. That will never change.
I thought they said that as you got older things slowed down. Yeah, ok. Mine seems to be picking up speed. HA!
Now that the holidays have passed, I guess it's safe to show you what we were working on. Lots of handmade stuff for friends and family. There were glass ornaments, quilted ornaments and an array of other things. So, onward with the photos...
I hope you all had a splendid new year's celebration!
We spent the evening with our neighbors. Had a bonfire, that Barry kept stoked very well. Would have never known it was in the 30's...until you walked away from the fire. :)
We had a great evening, Barry grilled and we had a few (wink, wink) drinks.
Got home and in bed around 1am. And...at 4am my phone rang.
My youngest grandson, Preston, had a fever of 104.7. So off to the emergency room I went. We spent four hours at the ER and it turned out to be a virus. After x-rays and drawing blood, which he was not happy about (and screamed like it was the end of the world), they gave him some medication and sent us home after his fever came down.
It would appear that 2014 will be filled with the 'never a dull moment' as the previous years have.
But, my kids and grand kids come first. That will never change.
I thought they said that as you got older things slowed down. Yeah, ok. Mine seems to be picking up speed. HA!
Now that the holidays have passed, I guess it's safe to show you what we were working on. Lots of handmade stuff for friends and family. There were glass ornaments, quilted ornaments and an array of other things. So, onward with the photos...
some of the quilted ornaments...
these take over an hour each to make
i just realized that i have not one photo of these
completed...aaarrrggghhh!
glass initial ornaments, set one
and set 2
glass glitter balls
the glitter is on the inside
no mess, at least that was the
lie that was being told
made with floor polish
a few of the first glitter balls that
we made...
snowmen
socks and rice
with handmade hats and scarfs
hard lotion for soft skin
bath teas
relaxation in a bag
and i made scarfs to keep everyone warm...
good thing, the high today is supposed to be 37 :)
Remember the 'tease' from a few posts back? (link) It was a gift for our daughter-in-law. My wife and Amanda had been out to the 'junk shops' and came across a set of manikin legs. For what ever reason, my daughter-in-law just had to have them. Sally came home and told me about them and then we decided to make a table out of them. After going back and picking them up things got really fun (not). Let me say that walking into Victoria's Secret and asking a room full of women for black panties and lace tights will get you some really odd looks. I'm still not convinced that they don't think they were for me. HAHA. Sally and our neighbor Amy painted the legs and got them ready for me. Aren't I lucky? Of course, nothing went as planned. Am I surprised? Not in the slightest. After many attempts and a lot of adhesives, I finally got some epoxy that grabbed the material that the legs were made out of. I did a round bottom (chair blanks) and did a double top. The manikin has multicolored leopard tights and black panties with pink bows. The skirt is made from black lace. Amanda seemed to be really pleased with it, so all the work was worth the effort. Oh, did I tell you that I got it finished the night before? Yep, last minute, that appears to be when my best work comes out.
trying on the tights and panties
on our way...
waiting for the epoxy to dry
the finished piece
and this is what the tree looked like
this year. lots and lots and lots
of stuff
think they're spoiled? NAH, not at all
In a previous post (link) I showed you the brooch I was working on. I did the sculpt and made the mold with Dragon Skin. I did a test pour with Ice Resin and was really happy with the outcome. Well, after getting all the Christmas projects completed I went back to work on the brooch. I used Smooth Cast 300 (white) and Smooth Cast Onyx to pour the molds. All of the pieces came out great - very little clean up. The first pour I attempted to paint the mold with a silver acrylic. It looked horrible. I absolutely hated it. Fortunately I was able to fix it with several layers of paint. Hopefully my friends will be happy with the finished piece (which is not the silver one). I poured two white ones and a black one. The black one is the piece that I created for my friends wedding. I was trying for a 'pewter' look. I think I achieved what I was after. Only time will tell.
the painted mold and Smooth Cast 300
the Smooth Cast setting up...
this is so cool to watch this solidify
pulled from the mold
HATE this!
Smooth Cast Onyx
the mold setting up...
the SC300 set up in 30 minutes...
the Onyx had to be left overnight,
took forever for this to not be
'rubbery'
the finished pull...24 hours later
the three pulls...
the squares above them are the 'waste'
I quickly learned how much the mold
would hold...this stuff ain't cheap!
the pieces painted and adorned
the top one is the wedding gift
it's sitting on popsicle sticks due to
the clasp on the back.
I use iridescent copper and silver
on the other two which do not have
any beads as of yet.
I finished the custom portrait on the 23rd. And of course the client was out of town until late on the 24th. So we made arrangements to meet on the 26th. He seemed pleased with the outcome. I have not heard a response from him yet. I am hoping that his wife was thrilled with the portrait. I will wait until I hear from him before I post a finished picture, just in case she hasn't seen it yet.
I have decided that since everyone is doing a 'top of the best' list that I would do one as well. The following are the top five viewed posts of my blog...
Number 5, with 228 views
Number 4, with 443 views
Number 3, with 455 views
Number 2, with 503 views
and the Number 1 post...with 582 views...
there you have it...the top five posts. And they continue to grow. Thanks to all the folks that show up and read my little rants about life and art! Your support is greatly appreciated! I can only hope that you will continue to stop by and visit with me in the coming year. I look forward to seeing and hearing from you all! I'll be sure and keep the tea hot for when you stop by.
Here's to the best year yet! May all your dreams and wishes come true. May life grab you by the chin hairs and show you how many amazing things await you.
Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!
TTFN
can't wait to see what 2014 holds!
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