Just do it!

Ok. I'm finally going to open an etsy shop. If I write it down publicly, will I actually do it? We'll see. I don't have a huge amount of traffic here yet, so there will only be a few people to hold me accountable. So here is my big plan for this week:
Open the Etsy shop
Get the web page up and running
Take the Painting a Day challenge
Host a giveaway (really looking forward to this one)!

The Etsy shop I hope to have open by the end of today. As I am pretty computer-challenged, this is going to be a big deal if it happens, but that's the plan. I've been a member of Etsy for a long time, but have just never gotten around to putting any items in the shop. I'm tired of thinking about it. It's time to make it happen.
The web page requires a lot of help from the husband, so I have to be a little more flexible with that.
The Painting a Day Challenge... I've seen a lot of artist that participate in this. I am going to bend the rules a little since this is my first time. My challenge for myself will be to create 15 painting over the course of three weeks- one a day on the weekdays. I will be starting tomorrow. I am a little scared.
The giveaway is probably my favorite... What I'd like to do is give away a print of one of the daily paintings at the end of the three weeks. I will give out more details on that later.
So that's that. I guess I'd beeter head over to Etsy and see what I need to do!




Putting the gesso on the masonary panels for the Painting a Day challenge



Putting on the second coat of gesso and watching Martha Stewart. She would have these all done with 5 coats and would probably OWN Etsy before I even figure out how to post anything.

Unpacking shouldn't be this hard

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago, but I had to share. I had big plans to get unpacked COMPLETELY on the first day back from our Plymouth trip this year. The cats had big plans, too. Their plans involved re-covering everything with hair and making sure no unpacking would get done on my first day back. There's an unwritten rule at our house that pretty much I follow and my husband doesn't. "Don't move a comfy cat". So I figured Lia would probably only need a little time sleeping on the suitcase and I would go put other things away. My plan was to return in a bout half an hour and break the house rule.



Apparently, they work in shifts.

Pottery Class... the end results

This is ONE of the tables of pottery that five ladies created over the course of 6 weeks. I signed up for this class at The Gandee Gallery in Fabius, not really sure what to expect. Turned out to be not only a great learning experience, but more relaxing that yoga (once I got going)!

Two of my four class mates who provided endless entertainment and several bottles of wine! Maybe that's why it was so relaxing.


Scully, the studio dog. Every studio should have a dog. Even Bad Cat Studios has a dog- we should probably jut reconsider the cats...

Goodbye

Monday June 29, 2009

Dear Grandma,
I'm wearing that big, goofy, fold-out hat you gave me so I can go out to the garden and do some weeding. I'm going to weed the garden, clean the house, make dinner and go on about things just like you'd want me to. I won't promise not to cry. And I won't promise not to have moments of overwhelming sadness. But I promise I will remember how to make Garbage Soup and how to play the card game Spite and Malice. I will write letters and thank-you notes and make rhubarb pies. I will make crafts with my niece and nephews and I will give things away. I will be kind to animals and I will be a good teacher. I will always believe that nothing is more important than family. I will never forget who you were and I will always remember who I am. And I will miss you for the rest of my life.

And it's not even summer yet!

Back when we first started dating, Dan and I used to love to squeeze as many activities into a day as we possibly could. It was early June and one of us would often remark, "And it's not even summer yet!" surprised by how much fun we were able to cram into our evenings and weekends and knowing that when summer came, we'd have even more to do.
This weekend reminded me of that. But it also reminded me that I'm a little older than I was then. I'm so ready for a nap.
I went rollerblading on Friday after work and when I headed for home, I got stuck in Balloon Fest traffic. I had forgotten it was going on this weekend. So Dan and I scarfed down dinner and ran out to the clearing to see if we could see the balloons. The wind was JUST right. All of the balloons headed straight towards us and ended up landing all over our neighborhood. As you may remember from a previous post, Bandit is NOT a fan of balloons. So even though Dan and I really enjoyed this, we ended up having to put Bandit in the house because I was afraid he'd have a heart attack. The balloons were coming right over our house!



The Barn Balloon landed down the street from us. This was Bandit's least favorite balloon.


We spent all evening running from the clearing to the yard and up and down the streets (literally running- did I mention that I'm getting old?) chasing balloons.
Then we spent most of today in Ithaca. We took my parents out to Moosewood and then wandered around Cornell where my dad went to school. We walked through all the gardens, checked out the buildings and got to go up in the bell tower for a little one man concert that was being performed. Those bells are REALLY loud when you're standing directly under them. My dad was a little dismayed, though, by all the new buildings and changes over the last 40 years. "How's a man supposed to reminisce if they keep changing stuff?" he asked at one point.


And, since I have another show coming up at the coffee shop, I thought I'd better spend a little time in the studio today, so I worked on the butterfly painting when we got home.


There's always a distraction... I kept looking up and seeing more balloons out the window, so I finally took a break and walked Bandit down to the clearing to see if they were headed this way again. But the wind wasn't quite right tonight- probably for the best. I need to put curtains up in the studio and chain myself to the table or I am never going to get these paintings done. And it's not even summer yet!

Spring

I've been waiting to post the pictures of these little friends... I wanted to make sure everything turned out ok first! Dan was looking for the step ladder some time in mid May, and when he finally found it in the shed, he also found a nest on top of it. This was after he was dive-bombed by the mama robin. A few days later, I had to go down to the shed to get mulch and I brought the camera with me. The robin was not in the nest at the time so I reached up and took a picture of the eggs. Every couple of days I would sneak in and take another picture. It was amazing how fast those little birds grew. And how they came out of those tiny eggs! It was kind of scary, really. I know some of the neighborhood cats wander around near our shed sometimes. Ordinarily, I don't mind the cats dropping by for a visit, but I worried about these birds everyday. Today when I stopped by for a picture a bird flew out of the nest, but it wasn't the mother. The babies have learned to fly. So I guess we can have our step ladder back now. I don't even remember what we needed it for in the first place.

SPCA Pet Walk

Dan and I participated in the Finger Lakes SPCA pet walk last weekend. I have to shamefully admit that it was really hard for me to tear myself away from the gardens, but it was worth it. Worth it, of course, to raise money for this organization AND to get this photo...


Look carefully at the front porch of this house. There is a very angry looking cat sitting there watching the dogs go by (and there were at least 50-60 dogs or more). What's really funny is that he was out there LAST year too. I thought this was hilarious, but I didn't have my camera on me then. I kept telling Dan that I hoped he'd be back again, out watching the dog parade, thinking how this is probably the worst day of the year. Dan said "No way- that was a once in a lifetime shot." But sure enough, there he was.


He's probably thinking he'd like to plant some land mines under the sidewalks for next year.