luxe

lots of excitement at chez luxe today. at 10 a, jake calls to say he is heading home because the power went out at his work 2 hours prior. it had been raining pretty hard. it has been incredibly hot and humid here, getting up into the 80′s and 90′s and rain was needed. the ground is hard as a rock, so everywhere is flooding. anyway, he comes home, i was working on some papier mache birds in the studio, so i continued to do that and not long after, the power flickered, went on, off, on, off and then…off…from 3:30 until 8ish, i think. anyway, it was really kinda nice. we sat in the studio (which is fairly clean right now) and chatted whilst jake played around with his guitar and i worked on the bird stuff. i realized how nice it is to really just hang out and not have a tv on or anything (not even lights). it rained like crazy, i haven’t seen rain like that in a long time. i guess they are saying that a tornado came through and pittsburgh has been put in a state of emergency because there is so much flooding. our basement flooded, but our house is 100 years old with stone walls and a dirt floor, no drain, so it isn’t that big of a deal. some people closer to pittsburgh had water 6 feet high yesterday, i can only imagine the disaster it must be today.

we had to run out to get some food because we couldn’t open the fridge or cook, and a nearby road (119) was washed out. crazy. it was fine when we went out, but on the way back, 10 minutes later, washed out. woo!

anyway, we had such a nice time. jake and i just get along so well. i know you are supposed to like your spouse but he is such a fantastic person. he really is.

so, i overdid it a bit. i wanted to get further along with the piece i was working on than i did, but i made multiple parts to use with a lightweight body as well as the amigurumi ones, i will see how they work. i will probably do some wings that way also. i did some research on smaller sculpture and am really eager to try some different approaches for the toys, and some other things. i have lots of ideas swirling around in my head. i am a 3d person and always have been. as much as i love painting and drawing and collage, i really love sculpture because for me, it is easier to feel like it is a part of my world, and i am a part of its world, as opposed to just looking at an image. does that make sense? i can usually make something 3d more easily than 2d…it just comes out better. we will see, anyway. lots and lots of ideas.

when i was doing my internship/apprenticeship, i worked with an artist named adrienne heinrich, who is so talented and smart that i can’t even put it into words, anyway, she does so much…from the permanent collection of the national gallery to starting art programs for some of the city kids in pittsburgh…so much stuff. when i was paired up with her i instantly loved her work, but somehow i didn’t understand how similar our aesthetic was. i guess i was too immature and young. i wish i could go back and do it again, although it was really really hard work. she makes lots of vessels, boats, figural vessels that are pagan goddesses-but a bit more abstract than that…more about myth…and these are out of bent reeds and tissue and resins and hang outside from trees, all kinds of incredible otherworldly things. i looked at a few of her photos and remembered the things i was working on back then that also dealt with translucent things. vessels, glowing translucence…lots of things. and i woke up really early, really tired. it was so dark and foggy out that i couldn’t see anything beyond the windows. once i got up, i was ready to get cracking. and i did that all day.

here’s to hoping that the legs and beaks i made will work okay with softies. i guess we will see, indeed.

i am pooped. seriously. i have been crocheting more of the mountain things, but out of different shades of brown, taupe and cream yarn that barbe sent me. and these things are biiiiig. i am thinking that i will stuff them a bit and put a bottle or jar full of sand inside it before i sew it up to recycle a bit and make them stand up and not fall over so easily. i initially planned to just do some hose with stuff in it, but i think a bottle or jar will work better. jake was concerned that if i sold it and someones kid bonked their sibling on the head with it, i would be to blame. you know, if your kid bonks you other kid…whatever. it happens. i know i have done it. and had it done, too. bonking, that is. not boinking my brother. that is not appropriate. i’m just saying is all. here is the first of many, this one is wee…about 18 inches, i think…

just another thing caught in my brains. i crocheted 2 more, big ones and used a small hook to make it nice and tight and my right hand and arm are hurting. and i am falling asleep as i write this. so i best go before it makes no sense at all.

more to-morrow, plus some new things in the shop…www.luxe.etsy.com. woot!

sleepy smooches,
n.

i feel like i really should post because i feel like i have been on a different planet all damned week. i got my meds switched and have had more energy, but in a different way, so that i have been overdoing it all the time and screwing my self, although i feel so much better about myself when i get stuff done. i feel better in my brains. like my body is tired and things ache or whatever, the usual, but my brain feel more able to shut it out. that is not so good sometimes. i really zone out when i am doing things.

i forced myself to get up early, even though i haven’t been sleeping, but shite, what difference does it make. i might as well get up and get stuff done. i feel like utter poo until i get some coffee…seriously like i am ill. dying. sick. coffee…okay, in honest, what equals4 cups of coffee in one cup…i am ready to get going. i have just been pushing through, ignoring, doing, going, painting, spinning, cleaning a bit (wot?) i am just in fear that my body will normalize to what i am taking and i will feel like poo again. i am hoping that the old meds were the cause of the big change in my energy. and, i have no appetite. i eat meals, but i don’t snack. i feel good about that. in control of myself. not that some fruit or cereal is sooo bad to eat at night, but for someone that doesn’t exercise…it can have s dire result. we know. don’t we. i don’t want to be sick and unable to move. i want to look young and healthy. just those that see my guts and blood will know i am gimpy.

okay, clearly, i am totally out of it, i have tons to say, but not the brain strength to say it. i finished another bird and some artwork almost. photos tomorrow if i have the time to do it…

xo
n.

my allergies have been acting up, in fact after handling some of the carded vintage buttons yesterday i was wheezing. yay asthma! anyway, today, i was sniffing and my eyes were watering and now my ears are both feeling all clogged up, like when you are floating in the pool and can hear your pulse. and. it. won’t. stop. jake told me to hold my nose and blow, and it did nothing at all. driving me bonkers.

today, everything hurt. my hands, my feet, my legs and i also felt antsy and my feet were like ice. i sat in the house with the a/c off with wool socks on. i used to be cold all the time and for some reason in the past 6 months i think it has gone away. my hands and feet stay pretty warm and now i get hot easily. before, i always had a cardigan with me. dunno. anyway, i did pretty much nothing, although i did finish off two amigurumi that were waiting to get their personalities. one of em is a bird made from one of my first ever handspun on a spindle yarns. not good for anything…but that! who knew? i think it is kool-aid dyed, although i am not sure and it has white silk in it, which is strange. no clue where the fiber came from. especially because when i first learning a few years ago, there weren’t many suppliers and i didn’t know what i was looking for and where to look for it. so. hm. anyway, he has a tie and a mohawk. jake loved him and offered to pay me for him. um. anyway, i told him he could have em and he got all excited. i need to take photos of him. and then a cute pink bird that needed his wings, and i crocheted him a white fuzzy scarf.

i think that is really it. i mean, when you do nothing all day, there doesn’t tend to be much news, you know? pray for me that my ears will go back to normal. you know, hearing? grumble grumble grumble.

mwah!
n.

well, i got up and did dyeing. i did loads of loose fiber for batts and to sell as is. i did border leicester, kid mohair, baby cotswald locks, mohair locks, a gorgeous merino loose fiber that still has the nice squishy-ness to it. ummm!(all of this is from a rescue farm), some 80′s grade merino and some superwash merino. i used my vintage roaster, as i have been doing lately and packed it full of loose fiber and made sure it was covered with water. i brought it up to a simmer (somehow that is 150 degrees on the roaster, the lowest temp possible) and then poured in the dye and used tongs to squish it into the lower layers. i was surprised that it didn’t strike right away, but it was a ton of fiber. i did it in shades of hot pink and fuschia with a bit of golden yellow, so those parts are a really pretty orange. i did the superwash in a separate plastic bag which i had used so much that it sprung a leak, so i put that in a used grocery bag and then squished the loose fiber in the roaster aside and put the bag in there to get hot. the superwash was orchid with black and gray. i know i don’t usually do dark colors in the summer, but after some overly dark yucky fiber i got, i had an idea of what it maybe was supposed to be and i thought it would be pretty.

it rained like crazy here so i couldn’t put it outside to dry, so i left it all where it was and will hopefully put it outside to-morrow. i think jakie and i will hit some yard sales to-morrow. we will see.

so after all of that, i made more of the wire framed paper and mod podge wingy figure 8 thingies for the kinetic pieces. i am excited to put it together and see how it looks. these are some of the first ones, the ones i have made since have much thinner paper and the wire is more stretched out. i am hoping that it will move with the air like those pods that fall from trees…like propellers. here are some of them, and i have way more…

have a fun weekend!
mwah!
n.

several people suggested that pavel might be not feeling well. he has been keeping to himself, so that does make sense. the fact that he was so incredibly aggressive was really different than anything i had experienced. i guess he will be going to the vet. and he isn’t gonna like it. he gets so upset that you can smell the fear on him…and it smells really really bad. i never knew what smelling the fear was before. if i can smell it i wonder what it smells like to an animal!

i got all of the orders done including the orders that came in yesterday packed the that day, too. i am really trying to get orders out super fast. it is a bad bad thing i do if i feel sick i do it the next day. bad. no more of that.

i am going to do some dyeing today and some of it will be for making batts. i am out of bright loose fiber. plenty of loose fiber, just not bright. so. i put gael the polar bear up on etsy, although i was so tired i forgot to mention it anywhere. i also put up another batt, and i will put up more tonight. they are really really fun to spin. it is a challenge to not spin em up for fun. must. not. spin. batts. ay!

okay, up i go, work to do.
mwah!
n.

in addition to adding the two softies (and more to come…i am working on a pirate right now) i added two really gorgeous soft new yarn. wanna see?

move it on over!luxe.etsy.com and see! there are some really good yarns there that i was stunned to see them still there. seriously, some of my all time faves. dunno. i will be listing at least one new yarn a day, so please do pop on by.

last night i was up doing spinning until the wee hours. i spun up fiber i bought from someone else that is really really coarse, i think it actually may have gotten kind of burned because it smells like it. after spinning it and later crocheting it into the pirate, it turned my fingers purple. that is a bad thing. anyway, i have some really gorgeous things done and awaiting listing. they will be coming gradually. so keep checking in.

oh, for those of you who have trouble reading my bloglines feed…i also have a livejournal feed that is exactly the same info, although i do rarely do a friends only post, if you want to be added just let me know. that journal is luxefibre at livejournal. pop on by if you fancy.

oh, and i hadn’t seen these before until a lj friend linked this adorable site that has softies of all kinds of diseases, infections and more. i always wanted a rabies doll! especially because it is what the book i am reading is about. kewl!

off i go.
xo
n.

i got nothing done today. i had a doctor’s appointment, didn’t sleep at all, took a shower around 5:30 this morning because i felt yucky and then had a headache for the rest of the day. and now…tired. grrrr. tomorrow. i swear it. so. i have been making notes for links to tell ya about…
a handbag making blog u-handbag
have lots of scraps of fabric? wanna know what to do with them (that sounded rude) tipnut.com has some answers!

whilst cruising shannon’s new booksite i found some more good links…sew hip and the blog for adorn magazine that is actually a really great blog. the first and only issue of adorn that i read was not so exciting, although it was their first issue and i wonder if they weren’t sure what direction it was going to go in? anyway. the site is really good. craftzine or whipup-ish.
and more!

somewhere else, not sure where, i found this fantastic one:sewmamasew fabrics and more!
swapstyle clothing swapping! and it’s FREE!

redifining craft really incredible for those of us interested in the crossover between “art” (use air quotes) and “craft”.

need more hobbies? well, here is the book for you!get a hobby!

a little while ago, i read about alison of wonderlandq having emergency surgery and not having any insurance. her shop is not even up at the moment. you girls know that for our shop to be down, or our crafting and artsy endeavers screeching to a halt, things must be bad. kind people have started an etsy store on her behalf. you can donate stuff, or buy stuff…here is the post about it with the links to the etsy store. also, tess of madebytess.com has adopted a really sick dog that needs expensive treatment, so there is stuff for her, too…go here. can you believe how incredible the craft community is? it blows me away. and from her LJ, these hilarious kitty pics i am sure i am the last to see them, but they are hilarious!

i am hoping to make myself some new tanks this week. i got rid of most of my wardrobe, which was fine, because it didn’t fit anyway. i have a couple favorite shirts that fit really nicely, so i think i will use them as patterns and see how they come out.

oh, i was rummaging through my purse today at the pharmacy and found pavel’s favorite ball in there. it cracked me up. he has been carrying it in his mouth. excuse the pic, it is hard to catch him carrying it and get a photo without him moving. unless he is sleeping, he is really hard to take photos of…

i went outside to tend the plants this evening, and the scary woman who recently moved in across the street started to talk to me about how her boyfriend (?) tried to burn her up and cut off her hair and she still gets rides from him…you know, because she has no car and has had her license taken away. and has no checking account. among other things. you know those people that don’t work, may or may not be under the influence of something all the time, or it could just be their fantastic personalities. who knows? anyway, thankfully, jake came home and i was able to just wave goodbye and go in. i need to remember to stay in the backyard. hopefully she won’t start asking me for rides. sigh.

i am getting sleeeeepy.
xo
n.

that is a direct quote from the real world in denver. i wrote it down. it seemed noteworthy.

so clearly, i am back from vacation. we got back this past saturday and i was a bit wiped and behind on house stuff. additionally, i realized that it would be better for me to try to blog early in the day because in the evening, i have been too tired and out of it to blog, and when i do, it is just reflective of my being tired. so.

additionally, because i haven’t blogged, but was too tired to blog but wanted to, i decided to make notes for myself late at night to mention today. wanna see?

-vacation
-rob and big
-closet cleaning
-garden, new plants
-socks
-attempted freeform sewing
-RANT and other books
-mac is back!
-pav scooped out all of his food from his bowl.
-baby noses-cute from the front-sketchy from the sides
-use up stash for charity knitting
-take photos of plants, front and back, socks, art on walls, mound of old clothes (why?)

-vacation-it was okay. there was a family blowout, which i will say no more about. whilst we were gone, pavel didn’t come out, so i worried the whole time. additionally, right before we left, he was so upset that he threw up twice, poor fella. my mom had been with us for a week before that, so i hadn’t really gotten much done, although it was nice to see her. she and my dad went to my cousin’s wedding in sydney and then to visit the other rellies out that way.

-rob and big…the best reality show ever. they have a mini horse named…mini horse. i love those guys. love em.

-closet cleanout…i decided to get rid of all the crap in my closet 90+% of which didn’t fit me or was trashed. i was surprisingly liberated. i didn’t even ditch all of it, but i completely stuffed a contractor bag and a big garbage bag full of stuff and i didn’t even deal with shoes yet.

-socks-i finished the socks for my dad. they are modeled here by my father-in-law… i dyed this yarn for my dad, and still have a skein of sportweight left. i also started these socks out of my most favorite dye job to date… although i managed to make them too small, so i need to rip em out. sigh. and the are almost done, too. they fit, but are TIGHT. so.

-attempted freeform sewing…well…i took a plain top that i attempted to do some freeform stitching on with the machine and it didn’t work out so well. it punched holes and made the fabric bubble up. i think maybe it needs backing? wanna see the chaos? it is a monster with a bunch of legs and sharp teeth and then it says…help…it looks like a small child having a seizure tried to draw it with his foot. advice?

-booksrant…whilst on vacation i picked up the newest book from chuck p. i had been waiting with bated breath for his new book. squeeeeee!
what else? well, i ordered some things from amazon…last minute fabric gifts
kath kidson’s in print which is a discount book that i had never heard of. it isn’t the most novel ideas in the world, but the pictures are nice. it is like a less stylish amy butler. much less. but still, it is a cute book.
sewing toys…
more toys
the cute book which i thought kind of…sucked. if you need this book to make this crappy stuff…um…okay. i got the bad book, too, which was rather crummy. i am going to send it to my niece who may think it is funny. not sure.

our mac is back and well (yaaaaaaaaay!) i sent it out on thursday and it came back on tuesday! how insane is that? we didn’t get it until the following tuesday, but i was blown away. that is FAST. after using a pc laptop, i missed my pretty mac so much. i love you mac. and! it came back even fancier, with TIGER on it! whoa! jake had saved my firefox stuff on the harddrive, but it is gone. other than that, no worries.

we switched the cat’s food to organic stuff (to their chagrin) and then got some holistic (but not organic) food from jake’s parent’s store, dogs rule, and they really like it. i came down for coffee in the morning and pavel had scooped all of the organic stuff out of the bowl onto the floor so he could pick out the “good stuff”. it was neatly piled up next to their bowl. he is a character. i know you want to see some photos of him. i let him outside for a bit yesterday and he wanted me to show you that he is a wild animal and was in the jungle…

i have been letting peeps out in our little yard while i am out there, but she has started to try and wander off. i forgot for a second she was out there, ran in to get something and then realized and freaked. jake found her on the sidewalk looking a bit confused. i feel bad doing it, but i probably should keep them on harnesses so they don’t get spooked and get lost or something. gah.

i am not sure why i felt the need to write down a note about baby noses, but i did…i have always been jealous of people with baby noses. one of the most memorable ones was a high school friend, monica…i swear it was transplanted from a baby. so cute. and then chris cornell from soundgarden and brad pitt. baby noses. jennifer aniston…hers, too, but it looks odd from the side. cute from the front, though. mine looks better from the side than the front. not that i have a baby nose. peeps does, though. i am not sure how to pull images off of the web or i would put some in. damn that flickr for taking that feature off. i loved it.

okay, so the garden. i planted a big pot with baby lettuces, oregano and thyme, so i can have em all year. we also got two biggish flower pots for either side of the door, some wildflowers, i planted some catnip seeds which are slowly growing and some catmint, which no one seems interested in. i couldn’t find catnip plants. anyone have some? anyone? i planted basil and berries are getting ready to come up. yum! wanna see?

and here are some shots of fun stuff around the house. i need to do some better ones that have good light.

okay, that is about it for now. i am hoping to do some changes in lifestyle to be healthier. i am uncomfortable with my body and my face…everything. i don’t feel like myself. i am just going to try to cut out processed stuff and attempt to move more. you know i will keep you posted.

i missed ya!
xo
n.

i have been feeling really strange and emotionally drained. physically drained, too. it could be the impending vacation, i always get really stressed out before we leave. i hate leaving the cats. sigh. anyway, i know, boo hoo, poor me, going on vacation. my mom has been staying with us since sunday and it has been nice to see her, although i think i am a bad hostess.

i found out that one of our only old family friends has breast cancer and i feel oddly numb about it. it happens a lot with me when things happen. i don’t know why.

wow. i really wanted to blog and now i am at a loss for words.

i will do my best to blog from vacation. we will see how that goes. squeeee!
xo
n.

sooooooo. tired. is that all i ever say? kind of. on the up side, i have some gorgeous yarns and fibers to list tomorrow. my mom is in town until friday, and pretty much right after we drop her off at the airport to go back to iowa, we leave for the beach. yaaaaay! it snuck up on me. one of the things i don’t like about it is that i love may in pennsylvania and i hate missing a second of it. i know, boo hoo. i wish we could do our vacation in the miserable wintertime. anyway, i need to find some time to get some beach gear, i imagine my mum will go with me. she is using my car whilst she is here (goodness knows i rarely use it) so most likely she will be with me. unless she is out getting her hair done or something and DONNA wants to go with me? hmmm…

we had a cookout here for my mum and jake’s mum for mummas day and jake’s papa came and they brought the dog, annie, who really wanted to meet our cats. peeps actually sniffed her and didn’t seem scared. we were just worried that they would hurt annie, who is a bit high strung. we just had hamburbers and some hebrew nationals (i even like them, and i NEVER eat hotdogs) and grilled yam wedges (why did i take no photos of anything?) and i made a baby red skinned potato salad with fresh chives on top, jake’s mum made a broccoli salad, a cucumber salad and fixins for strawberry shortcake. we ate outside and the weather was incredible. jakie got a nice big weber charcoal grill at the end of summer last year and up to that point, we had used a 10 buck little grill from vacation that is super ghetto, but works pretty well. he has the nice cover on it, he bought this little hanger thingy so he can hang his grill gear from it and he got a little bench that stores all of his charcoal and his chimney (you put the charcoal in it and light it and it gets it all ready to go with no lighter fluid necessary). it was nice.

we almost had some bad political talk, but it fizzled quickly. so that is good. we try our best to keep jake’s dad from knowing that we are hardcore democrats. it would make him sad. and mad. so, we just keep political talk out of the equation. or suddenly go to the bathroom. the thing is, with politics and religion, you aren’t going to change anyone’s mind, you aren’t going to change mine. why bother trying? all that happens is you get mad. or really mad. or decide you hate people.

my in-laws are the nicest people you will ever meet, would give you the shirt off of their backs, and they take us on vacation every year (this year the bro and sis in law are coming, too!) and we do all we can to pay for all of our part and as much of their food, etc, as they will allow (which isn’t much) we usually don’t eat out a lot on vacation. i am there for the beach. i am a super picky eater, so most often i am not impressed anyway. i want the food to be at least as good as i could make at home, hopefully better. and then we go from there. got it? hee.

any time you want to see insane amounts of cute fuzziness… click right here. oh my. too. much. joy.

sleeeeepy.