a fun field trip and figuring out new things

yesterday we decided that it really was time to make sure we knew how to get to the library where my solo show will hang for the month of November -- after all I'll be doing the hanging in less than two weeks (yikes!)

our excursion to check out the library sort of morphed into an extended artist field trip

for one thing, when we were driving to the library we went past a quilt store that I knew about (one of the store's owners had been a speaker at a guild meeting) but had never been in, so of course a side trip to visit was required

her store is in a very cool old building, and the back door is nothing short of amazing!

I took pictures of it from several angles

there's something about this door that just "speaks" to me -- it's already creating an art quilt in my head


once I could quit snapping pictures and got inside the store there was a whole lot more that got me excited

for one thing the inside of the building is just as cool as the outside, and they have used vintage and antique show cases and furniture to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere

in one corner she has her work area where she had the ironing board, the long arm quilter and a very inventive design wall -- she had picked up two extra large flannel backed vinyl table covers that were stapled to the wall side by side -- inexpensive and very effective! when I rearrange things to set up studio in a more "user friendly" layout, I'm going to borrow this idea!

I found this amazing group of fabrics -- bright colors, whimsical prints (both this bird one and one that has equally cool reindeer) and a good amount of metallics -- I couldn't say no -- I had already picked up 4 of the individual fat quarters when I found the bundle, so I just bought the bundle

I'm thinking about a Christmas runner to use over my entertainment center

just down the street, in another character filled building was a rock store

so we walked down to take a look at what they might have

I really wasn't planning on buying anything, but I have long ago learned that when you find something unique at a reasonable price you probably won't get a second chance at it

the two "shells" are ammonites - it was one piece that had been perfectly sliced then polished, and some of the chambers are full of tiny little crystals -- like druzie

I've been looking for something like this for a while because I have an idea for a necklace that involves shells and a mermaid that I've been collecting pieces for for quite a while -- I've never seen a perfect pair like this for such a reasonable price -- less than half of what it would be for just one at a show

and that strand of crystal beads is to go with that peacock necklace I'm working on the design for

on the whole a very serendipitous trip!

this morning I learned how to get this look in a different piece of software than I usually use

usually I do the cropping and sizing in my Photoshop software then take the result into the Printshop software to play with the colors

with the help of some pointers from someone on one of my email lists, I did this all in Photoshop

I'm delighted -- the fewer places the photo has to go, the less you loose in the translation



and after several hours of fiddling with this piece of beach glass I finally figured out a technique to put a ring around it

all of the usual methods just don't work with these odd shapes with multiple sides, so I just kept messing with it until I got something that would

now I'm hoping the rest of the necklace will move right along

(especially since I have a couple more ideas crowding up in my head to be the next one on the production board!)

the sleeves for the Christmas sweater are done!

so tonight I'll start stitching the parts together while I wait for the skein of yarn that I ordered to arrive -- and hope the dye lot will be close enough that it will work for the hood


I had hoped to get to the art supply store to pick up more material to cut another Great Ape stamp yesterday, but we just spent too much time in other places, so that's top of the list for this morning's errands

onward!