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Transit of Venus June 5, 2012
I was lucky enough to be able to leave work an hour early and not have cloud cover until the very end.
I loaded up Valentina, my telescope, this morning without knowing where I’d be able to set up. I ended up in a grocery store parking lot then ended up moving to a dollar store parking lot before cloud cover rolled in.
I took these photos through my telescope’s lens with my cell phone’s camera.
Venus & Power Lines
Venus & Clouds
21 Secrets Art Journaling Workshop Giveaway March 26, 2012
Zom Osborne is giving away one spot to the 21 Secrets Art Journaling Workshop. I reeeeeally want to win but I also want my art journaling friends to enter too.
Click here to see the blog post about the giveaway.
There’s also a 2nd chance to win a spot over at True North Arts.
Something Weird In The Garden March 18, 2012
Every year, when I begin my spring planting, I find something strange in the soil. Last year, I found what looked like a tiny skull. One year, I found bones that look to be human. This year was no different. I went out to turn the soil today to get ready for some early spring plants when I came upon this in my garden box:
Yep. That would be a small black Pound Puppy stuffed toy. Note, I said Garden Box, meaning soil I installed myself last year. Which means that this appeared in the garden box sometime between November & today. This wasn’t just laying there, it was completely buried. I’m assuming that someone’s dog may have buried it there but it doesn’t look like a dog toy. At least not like what my dog’s toys look like; mangled and destuffed. Which leaves me to wonder is someone buried it there of the non-furry-and-four-legged persuasion.
So there you have it. This year’s edition of “What’s Hiding In Paper
Kitty’s Garden”.
The Crafty Kitten is on Facebook March 14, 2012
I just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve created a facebook page for The Crafty Kitten (my Etsy shop). I hope you’ll Like me!
Click this giant Facebook button to go to The Crafty Kitten facebook page.
Sorta Kinda But Not Really Dyed Buttons January 16, 2012
I saw this on the Rit Dye website and wanted to try it. It was perfect for the amount of buttons I need for my spatterdash mitts I’m making. Hand dyed, hand spun, and hand knit begged for custom dyed buttons to match. Since the project needed 28 buttons, I jumped on this.
Only…
Rit Dye lied to me.
They have the tutorial on their website complete with beautiful photos of colorful buttons supposedly dyed with their dyes but they also say that their dye will not dye plastic.
I picked up a bottle of Sunshine Orange.
I bought a bulk supply of buttons (notice that these are the same buttons they use in their tutorial).
I followed their instructions….
What I ended up with is something that is sort of just tinted yellow. The photo makes these buttons look better. They’ll look better on the project than the plain white buttons but I’m still not happy with how they turned out.
I attempted it again and added salt because the bottle recommended adding salt for some fibers. It was worth a shot but it didn’t help. They came out the same.
Origami Box January 15, 2012
I made a little origami box to hold my smaller books. This isn’t from Making Handmade Books but is from instructions found here.
One more thing… January 4, 2012
Well, its really more of an add-on to something I mentioned yesterday.
I recently bought Making Handmade Books: 100+ Bindings, Structures, & Forms by Alisa Golden and 365: A Daily Creative Journal: Make Something Everyday and Change Your Life by Noah Scalin. This got my little brain thinking. I don’t always have the time to make something daily but I usually have time to make something at least twice a week. I’m planning to work though Making Handmade Books (MHB) to expand my skills. There are many structures and bindings that I’ve used before but I tend to go back to my old faithful, the Coptic Stitch. I have other instructional books to play around with after I get though MHB too.
The first section of MHB is about folded books and I think I’ll be able to get though that chapter without even having to clean my studio. hehe!
I’ve also ordered 642 Things to Draw: Journal and I hope to get back in the groove of drawing daily. I attempt this every year but I always give up after about a month because I run out of ideas of what to draw. I’m hoping that with this book I’ll have something to inspire me when my own brain just can’t seem to find that something.
I have a few other books that are on my wish list right now. Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists by Carla Sonheim, Print & Stamp Lab by Traci Bunkers, Drawn to Stitch by Gwen Hedley, Pockets, Pull-Outs, and Hiding Places by Jenn Mason, and More Making Books By Hand by Peter & Donna Thomas. I’ll get them eventually but for now, I’ll just play with the ones that I already own.
Goals for 2012 January 3, 2012
I hadn’t really given much thought to New Year’s resolutions until New Year’s Day. After sitting in my recliner like a zombie for 12 hours eating junk and watching an Absolutely Fabulous marathon on BBC America, my brain did a little sorting on it’s own and let me in on the secret the next day.
Here’s what I want for myself in 2012.
I want to knit less. Now, now, don’t faint. You did read that correctly. I want to knit less. I feel like that is 90% of what I did in 2011. I took my hobby and made it my job, and my side job, and still kept it as my hobby. See, that turns into a whole lot of knitting. So, here’s how I think this is going to work. I’m not going to buy any yarn. I have yarn. I have lots of yarn. I have lots of nice yarn that is waiting to be used. If I don’t give in to the ooh, shiny then I have to plan out my projects according to what I own. Also, I’m going to have to turn down some commission work. That is going to be the HARD part. I can ignore my own stash and just not knit but when you dangle that carrot money cold hard cash in front of me, I cave.
I want to read more. I have a stock pile of great books just waiting to be read. They sit there staring at me while I’m knitting. They taunt me with their bookie goodness and I just want to dive right in and get lost in an imaginary world. What do I do instead? Yep, Knit. See… there’s a method to my madness.
I want to go camping more. I was only able to escape into the woods twice last summer. Now that I own all the equipment, I will be able to go whenever the mood strikes. I could even take my telescope!
I want to save up money for a super-duper-extra-special telescope. My goal is to save money though selling my handmade books and knitting (even though I’m knitting less this year) to buy a fancy telescope that is programmable and can be hooked up to my laptop. ANNND, I want the camera attachment and a super nice SLR camera to go with it. I’m guessing it will take me all year to save up for something like that (even if the camera comes later). This could be a Ooh, Shiny moment for me. If I still want it after saving up the money then I’ll get it. If not, then hey, I’ll still have the saved up money.
I want to pick my other crafts back up, mainly making books. That’s another way that knit less thing comes into play.
I want to keep up with my blogging this year. Things really slowed after I switched jobs but I hope that cutting down on my knitting time will give me more time re-kick start my online life.
Last, I want to spend more time with the people in my life. Sitting at home knitting doesn’t leave much room for getting out in the world and being social.
That’s what I have so far. I may have a few more goals crop up and if I do, I’ll let you know about them.
