A Craft Day

It was freezing the other day, literally, but that didn't stop Ann and me from crafting the day away (thanks to David's handiwork with the studio heater). Ann painted ornaments that she sells at Booth #B038 in the Strasburg Emporium, while I oiled my rusty book-making skills, folding paper accordian-style.

It's so hard to stop when the creative juices are flowing! These short days are messing with my head. The cold weather is saying, "Come on, stay in today, get some artwork done," while the sun is smirking, "Oh, no you don't... well, OK, but only till four o'clock, then it's quittin' time for me." I guess this means I just need to get some more lighting for my studio.

And here's a baby T-shirt I silk-screened for my cousin's new daughter with a combination of two old designs I had. The bubbles are actually fill-ins for circles from another design, but I thought they worked pretty well together. Until I realized I printed the design on the BACK of the shirt. Doh. But Ann suggested continuing the bubbles onto the front of the shirt, and voila! It works! I can't wait till my mom and dad finally buy their dream summer home up in Pennsylvania. Then I can have my mom over to make jewelry on weekends in my new fancy-schmancy studio! (hint, hint, mom & dad...)

Indoors for the time being

It's gotten really cold lately up here on our mountain. Today it stayed around freezing all day long. I made the first fire of the season in our wood stove this morning! The hibernating stinkbugs hidden in the crevices of the stove were quite confused, emerging in a daze thinking it was spring already. Little do they know, sitting in their jar, that they'll be fodder for the chicken-folk tomorrow morning... A bleak day for the stinkbug, indeed.

On a brighter note, here's a cheap (but a little time-consuming) winter decorating idea I've been wanting to try for a while now, and finally got around to it while watching Four Weddings and a Funeral for the first time. All you need is oranges (on sale right now!), about 1/2 ounce of whole cloves per orange (cheap if you buy in bulk at your local natural foods store), and a toothpick (which you may or may not end up using). Directions: push cloves into orange peel in a design you like, using the toothpick to pre-poke a hole if necessary. Voila! It smells amazing, and it'll keep for 5-7 days.

And I couldn't resist some cat-in-basket photos. Phineas sure is photogenic.