Smarty pants with no smart phone

I don't have a smart phone....I'm not really smart enough! But I have been fascinated with the cool-looking photos people post on Facebook, taken with Instagram. I like moody, misty, washed out, photos. Romantic, spooky, they just speak to me. But Instagram is only for Iphones, and I don't have any cool graphic design programs like Adobe or Photoshop, so what's a girl to do?

My favorite tool that comes with PCs is the Microsoft picture manager program; I like it alot better than the Windows manager that comes up on my home PC; I end up opening Microsoft manager there, too. It's easy, basic, I feel like I can handle it!

Sooooo.....I thought I'd explore a little more. I mean, I've used the tools to increase brightness, contrast, color on photos that I'm using for my Etsy shop, to enhance or correct. But I thought I would take it even further, and see what happens!

So let me show you:

Here is the original pic of my Kashmere Kitties, made from recycled thrift shop cashmere sweaters. I think it's sweet and endearing!

and Here is the pic with a bunch of the contrast and color taken out.

And the Last shot, I took the washed out version, and slid the hue and intensity over to the blue side! I think I like the middle version; it reminds me of a black and white photo with just a shot of color!

Ha! Now I can instagram, too!

First day of Autumn (where did my summer go?)

I don't know about you, but it almost seems as though I completely missed this summer. June went by in a blur, July was a week long, and I don't even remember there being an August! And now, it is Equinox, and the leaves are falling, and I dumped out my leggy petunia pots to get ready for pumpkins.

I have been busy, though, and it looks like I'll be stitching night and day from now until New Year's!

Beehive Bookstore is now selling "D-Town Totes...locally made bags for local folks"; yes, Red Panty tote bags, mostly made from scraps of upholstery fabrics given to me by an interior designer friend.

December First Friday here in town will be the opening night of a joint art effort between myself and supremely talented Cyrus Fire. I'm created plushies based on his paintings. The first is a character he painted as a label for a new, local beer brewer. Evil Cupcake Ale! See the pointy teeth?? See the disgruntled cherry on top?? Bad cupcake! I'm going to sneak some of my own plushies into the show, too, especially the Li'l Devils and Ghost Kitties. Maybe they will feast on zombie santa??

Re Vamped Hoosier Cupboard DIY!

My neighbor Mr. P remembered me saying ages ago, that if they ever got rid of their Hoosier cupboard, to let me know....well, a couple weeks ago, he called, and so on my back patio there's a cupboard!











Now, it needed a bit of a re-do, so I washed, sanded, primed and painted it with the help of Dear Daughter & Hubby, and now...Voila! A fresh cupboard in my blue room!

Originally of moderate quality, probably always painted, now super sweet! I ordered jadeite green glass knobs and they got here on the very day we were ready to move it into the house, yay! Dear Daughter "fluffed" it when she got home, so it's all done.

Now, I'm going to paint my OTHER cupboard to fit into the kitchen....I'm thinking red glass knobs this time!

a little Red Panty for me!

Lately all the Red Panty clothing has been for the shop...even the pieces I made for myself have sold! I did manage to "steal" one away, then promptly got grease on it, so it's ruined, drats!

But last week, I finally had some time to myself, and dug thru my box of thrift store finds for some cool fabrics that spoke to me! Tried out a new style for summer, and now I've got 2 new pieces for me!

I started with a Coldwater Creek linen wrap skirt, in a medium, ha! Green linen with wonderful dark pink roses in a faded out print. Almost despaired of finding something to pair with it, then, Voila! A Chico's linen shirt, also a medium, ha ha, but put them together and I have something great!

I actually tested the fit out on another top for me, from a black printed jumper, not shown here, but it's fun for summer. Straps to allow me to wear a proper bra, because no one wants me without one! Me either, though!

The pink & green number is nearly a dress, although I usually wear shorts or leggings under even in the summer: hate to chafe!

What?? Ghost Kitties & Devils in a movie??

Yep! That's taken up a good portion of my time lately! Well, that and Dear Daughter's Graduation from College, yippee!

alright, movie talk: I sell my Ghost Kitties on Etsy (love etsy!) and on the evening we got back from DD's graduation, had a message asking if I could make a quantity of L'il Devils and Ghost Kitties to decorate a set for a movie being filmed in Louisiana. My response: uh, YEAH! So, after a day or two working out the details, got the order for 2 dozen assorted!

Of course that meant I had to quickly make 10 Black kitties and 10 L'il Devils. Devils made of fabric that's out of print. So I dyed some, and finished them this morning. UPS'd them to Louisiana, and am hoping I will be told the name of the movie eventually, cause I certainly want to see these guys on the big screen!

May is for Beginnings and Endings

It's May, and I'm not sure where April went!

The Red Panty trunk show at the City Art Center was a success from my point of view; lots of ladies came to check out the clothing, try it on, and purchases were made!



Trista Hill & I led the First Ladies Night ART evening at the http://www.cityartcenter.org/. We had 6 participants, and through centering, expressive movement, drawing and observation exercises, opened up our creativity! Trista & I will lead another Ladies Night ART on Friday, May 25th, so don't miss it!

Over the weekend, I spent 2 days at the College of Wooster; Friday was IS presentation day, and of course Ana was fabulous! She's so natural, you don't even realize she's reading from her notes. Then Sunday the Equestrian Team had its first ever Rodeo, featuring dressage, hunt seat, all types of stirring horse & rider drills set to wonderful music. The Western riders gave a calf roping demo, and Ana was the first to snag hers! She looked so good! I didn't get to take a single picture myself, since I was the announcer reading the script that gave the riders' bios, horse information, etc. But it was a gorgeous day, and a lot of fun!

What's up next? Well, in the next 14 days, I'll hang 2 quilt shows at work, dismantle the senior art show on graduation day at OWU, see my beloved daughter graduate from Wooster (her father is wearing full Scottish dress, Prince Charlie jacket, Wallace plaid kilt!), move said daughter back home for good (for awhile), give a talk about my art quilts to a big guild in Columbus that I used to belong to, enjoy First Friday in Delaware, try to clean, organize, sort and get rid of some stuff around the homestead. In the meantime, still trying to exercise my thumb and get it fully recovered....I had no idea it would be such a slow process. It is, however, better than BEFORE the surgery, so I don't regret it. Apparently, I am old and do not bounce back from things like I used to!

Red Panty Workshop!

Yep! I'm doing it!

If you'd like to make your very own Red Panty style garment, sign up for a 1-day workshop! Saturday, June 9th, from 10-5pm, ending with our very own little Runway Show!

I'll take you through the steps I use to create a top from recycled thrift clothes, from fabric selection, layout, deconstruction, pattern choice/making, to the actual sewing. At the end of the day, you should be able to strut down the runway looking fabulous, darling!

Sign up! you know you want to!

(I can email the flyer to you, just contact me!)

New Red Panty clothing

Surgery's over, yay! Stitches are out, double-yay! No, I did not take photos because I get a little queasy just thinking about it, let alone looking at it! I start some therapy on Monday, to try to bring the swelling down and loosen up the thumb. Right now, it's about like it was before the surgery, but this is supposed to improve from here.

I DO want to share some photos of the last piece I worked on right before I had the cutting, though: a little dress from 2 thrifted men's dress shirts! The olive green knit coordinates with the stripe in the white shirt. I've still got a few seams to finish, and I'm thinking about some sparkly embellishment for the neckline. Also trying to decide on a detail to just bring in the waist a little bit, for some figure flattering shape.

I have some more shirts to deconstruct and whip up into a couple more dresses, so those will be posted as they're finished. Using scissors right now is a challenge, they hit right where the incision was, and that's still a little tender (yes,I'm a big baby!)

Red Panty Runway Show!

Yay! I'm doing it again!

April 15th, Sunday afternoon 2-4pm (ish) at the City Arts Center in Delaware! New spring designs, of course featuring upcycled thrift finds. The timing coordinates with the City Arts Center challenge for the month of April: artists will be given vouchers to the ReStore where they can get overstocked paints, lumber, lots of stuff, to create new works for the gallery. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Great Weekend!

Even though I came home early Friday sick from work, went straight to bed for 17 hours sleep, and was shaky all Saturday, it was a blast!

First, performed at MacConnell Arts Center in Worthington with Honk, Wail, and Moan. We opened for Planet D NoNet from Detroit, another Sun Ra inspired group. At the end, both groups TOOK the stage, and played together, and THEN I joined them for the very last tune, Love in Outer Space!

After the applause, hubby & I dashed to the Short North and 83 Gallery to see the opening of this month's show, where I'm one of the featured artists. Lots of people, a blue grass band playing, and my work looked great, although there was a lot of really killer art there.



That's baby brother Mike and girlfriend Cathy checking out the exhibit, and Hubby on the bench, watching my coat!




A little more resting Sunday, then Monday I drive to Flint, Michigan to pick up art for the museum; we're switching shows again, people!

More New Art Quilts

It's 11:34pm, and I've finished a few more pieces for the exhibit for February at 83 Gallery! (They're also on Facebook!) The black & white and the Black & Red are pieces I silk-screened my very own self, thank you very much!




The bouquet of "roses" goes along with the whole Valentine series (a little creepy)




yay!

Valentine Hearts

....and here are 2 finished Valentines! Yay!

I used madiera metallic thread on the ex voto heart, for a little sparkle!

Hearts for Valentines

I'm making new work for February, as I am one of 3 featured artists at 83 Gallery in the Short North that month! Very excited, only a tad bit worried about getting it all finished.

I'm expanding my Valentine: anatomical heart series. Had to replace Burning Love, which sold last year (yay!) and am doing a larger one, "Hearts and Flowers", thinking about stitching a bony hand holding the creepy "flowers". It all depends on how cold it gets in the studio, and how much my own right hand hurts. Yep, that blasted trigger thumb is a bitch, people. Surgery is scheduled, though, so there's hope down the road!

Super Couponing

Dear Daughter and I have watched just about all the reality shows in the weeks that she's been on break, and one of our favs has been Extreme Couponing. I'm still not sure exactly how they manage to do it, but DD & I have decided to really give it a try, and see what we can do.




Yesterday, we went to CVS & Kroger's, armed with DD's research and packets of coupons. At CVS, we stocked up on some laundry detergent, personal and beauty items. After the store discounts, store coupon and manufacturer's coupon, we saved 50% PLUS got a $10 CVS card! At Kroger's we stocked up on personal items, some pasta, cleaning stuff, and saved 42% after all the store sale prices, e-coupons loaded on my Kroger's card, manufacturer's coupons, plus bonus savings.

It's not the stunning 90-99% savings they get on TV, but way better than I would normally do! I'm hoping to do even better each time; we would have done better at Krogers, but we missed some fine print; if we had broken up our purchases into 2 transactions, we'd have saved another $4.

Our goal is to get a nice stockpile going, so this summer when I'm off work from the museum, we'll be good!

Heart and Soul

Just hung a nice little show, "Heart and Soul", at The Works in Newark. A really great space, with an art gallery, children's area, lots of glass blowing, ceramics, all kinds of workshops. The main draw is the Ohio Art League juried 3-D show in the museum, but I'm just across the courtyard!

If you take the link above, they mention me at the bottom of the page. Just found out today, there's a reception this Friday the 13th from 6-8pm, so I'll be there! Wine and fruit!