Craft Pirate Lounge

new blog...

2009-11-23T05:28:00.001-07:00

i've had so much fun here at the craft pirate lounge...arrrrr, catch more pirate shinanigans over here... http://yogapirate.wordpress.com/

love to all of my four readers...

pizza muffins

2009-03-30T17:11:00.006-06:00

i got lazy a couple of weeks ago and didn't want to roll out my homemade pizza dough...i got the idea of just putting them on the bottom of muffin cups and making little pizza muffins...lo and behold, they were delish! i told a co-worker about the recipe "a-ha" moment...she said i should enter a contest...

a taste of home just happens to have a pizza recipe contest that closes tomorrow...i have spent the last week perfecting a writing down the how-to of it all...

the top prize? 500 clams...i am totally envisioning winning this grand prize...

here's the scoop:

These deep-dish, oregano-infused pizza muffins make a great meal with a green salad or as an appetizer. Use a bread maker or hand knead this easy dough recipe. Use the ingredients recommended or substitute your favorite pizza toppings: chopped olives, pineapple, Canadian bacon, artichoke hearts, pepperoni--the sky's the limit. The key is to chop all toppings into small pieces. Pop these into a lunch bag--they reheat in a microwave in one minute. Freeze a batch for later.

SERVINGS: 12

CATEGORY: Main Dishes

METHOD: Baked/ Broiled

TIME: Prep: 90 min. Cook: 20 min.

Ingredients:

DOUGH:
1 1/2 cup white flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbs. oregano
2 tsp. baking yeast
3/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup + 2 Tbs. warm water
TOPPING:
3/4 cup favorite pizza sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced mushrooms
1/4 tsp salt
OTHER:
non-stick oil spray
1/4 cup corn meal for dusting muffing cups
standard 12-cup muffin tin

Directions:

DOUGH:
Place room temperature ingredients into bread maker in the order recommended by the machine instructions. Hand mixing is simple! Mix dry ingredients well in a bowl, drizzle olive oil over dry ingredients then slowly add warm water while mixing with a spatula until dough ball starts to form Begin, then, to knead by hand for approximately 3-5 minutes. Transfer dough to a bowl lightly coated with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area (70 degrees) for 1 1/2 hours to rise.

When dough is almost done rising, pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Place rack in the middle position. Saute' ground sausage until almost brown. Add onion, mushrooms, bell peppers and salt. Continue to saute', stirring until sausage is well browned and the veggies are tender.

Spray muffin cups with non-stick oil spray and sprinkle corn meal,making sure all sides of the cups are covered.

Pinch off about an 1/8 cup-sized piece of dough, gently patting into a circle bigger than the bottom of the muffing cup and about 1/2 inch thick. Place dough in the bottom of muffin cup and pat into cup shape. In the dough cup add 1 Tbs. of pizza sauce then 1 heaping Tbs. mozzarella cheese, then 1 heaping Tbs. sauteed toppings.

Place in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove when done. Let sit for 5 minutes. The pizza muffins will be easy to remove with a small spatula or fork. Enjoy. Yield: serves 12

a commitment...

2009-03-19T09:54:00.005-06:00

i've joined a facebook group to go through this 12 week workbook...the artist's way...as already mentioned, i have no studio in which to do art...so i must do what i can (i've been going slightly crazy not being creative daily)...but i can find a way...drawing is not my strong suit but i can work on becoming a better one, plan out my sewing projects, writing the requisite "morning pages" from this book...

i have a creative writing degree...haven't written is quite a long time....blog aside...

now, this book has been around since the early 90s...i once thought about doing the lessons....now is the time to plumb the depths...there are many ways to be creative...

this is my current fave mag...where women create lets me see how others make a space for their art...studios, stores, homes...i can dream of my attic space one day going from a dusty, wall paper falling off the walls room to a reflection of me...how do you make space for your creativity?

sew what!

2009-03-12T16:21:00.007-06:00

been down that i can't have a permanent place to play at art in...won't be available probably until next winter...so, what's a crafty pirate to do? take over the laundry folding table, that's what!

i quickly got overwhelmed by having to follow directions on the pattern...i don't play by the rules very well... but i did make my way through to come out the other side with my friend jen's birthday gift...a full apron! turned out swell...

thanks for being one of my four readers who cares about what little ol' me is crafting up...i appreciate being seen up on the "internets."

eat, pray, love...

2009-02-26T18:38:00.001-07:00

here is a long-ish video of the author elizabeth gilbert speaking about creativity....totally worth 20 minutes of your time...happy creating and...ole'

you make me wanna shout...

2009-01-24T12:08:00.002-07:00

i've been toying with the idea of guerrilla art...what does this mean to me...why do it...what form or media...with whom might i do it with...here's another taste of the fun...

...eary january

2009-01-12T19:29:00.009-07:00

...finally hanging the art...

...not acting my age...

...replacing the old aluminum, single pane bathroom window...

...reading the new york times magazine and knitting what's supposed to be a baby hat...

....getting my ebay score framed...and hung...

...january and february are my least fave months...trying to find the silver linings in all the clouds...

and that calls for a party! had an open house/house warming party on saturday...no pix, just great memories of having 45 or so of some of my fave peeps in our new home...120 homemade enchiladas, brie, pears and grapes, chips and salsa, punch and vodka shots...lots of great conversations, house tours, even our mortgage lender and the selling agent showed up...looking forward to a snowshoe day trip in feb and a team snow shoe charity event in march...

we are blessed...

2009-01-01T11:13:00.012-07:00

if we have friends and family and a warm roof over our heads...

bless those in Gaza

...and the homeless

and the people who still deal with the fallout from chernobyl decades later

and the folks in tennessee who are knee deep in heavy metal waste in their backyards for xmas...

i know it's sappy but i love this scene in a favorite movie...

we are blessed...thank you for joining me here at the pirate lounge...

happy happy...

2008-12-22T08:34:00.001-07:00

to you...and you...and you...

guerrila art

2008-12-14T11:08:00.006-07:00

there are times when a grrl has to shout out, do something subversive, become less sedate...dneese, of grrl+dog , has been sharing her adventures down under doing some great knitting graffitti...

if you don't know what that is, check out these grrls who knit and tag around the world...

it tempts me to skulk around little farming town Ault where i now find myself living and introduce them to some pole art, maybe a little library door handle tagging...

heartbroken soul....

2008-12-10T08:12:00.001-07:00

new artist from the U.K....Adele...take listen...

cheer!

2008-12-05T16:35:00.001-07:00

god is too big for one religion...

2008-11-30T10:31:00.003-07:00

michael franti & spearhead...the filmore... billowing puffs of mary jane in the air...happy happy music...oh, so quotable lyrics...beautiful man...saturday night in denver...

CHANGE HAS COME...YES WE CAN

2008-11-04T23:06:00.003-07:00

and the winner is...

2008-11-04T12:22:00.001-07:00

playing catch-up

2008-11-02T10:23:00.027-07:00

found the scanner! so much has happened while i was away from all of my four readers...we moved on the last weekend of september...the realtor offered a free moving van...

some friends, todd and jen, came over to offer some very valuable help...

mr. pop pirate vacuumed everything (suprise, suprise) saying we were not going to take any of the effingham dust to the new bungalow...

the piano ended up being donated to the local ault elementary school because we could not sell it on craigs list to save our lives...

we ended up looking like the beverly hillbillies, complete with grannie's rocker, while we were at it...

we got straight to work, tore down the existing fence, started the new one, and friend sara offered to paint my kitchen...it's a candy apple red... from this...

to this... i bought an art print on ebay to go on this big wall...

and we are just a bit more settled now...the front porch tea room... (where i'm currently blogging from)...
i had to work but mr. pop pirate got to go see obama when he came to fort collins...here's a family that has always voted republican and are now obama fans...

long lines...

50,000 people...he couln't get a shot of The Man...

last night i thought i was going to a costume party...but this pirate grrl, andi, had a trick up her ruffled sleeve...
a suprise birthday party for me! pop pirate grrl!!!!!!! it's the best party i've ever had... a million thanks and shout outs to my fellow pirate!!! sorry not everyone could be there...

here's jen, me , and emily above... and some more great friends...erin...(french whore)
and grant from behind...he had a baywatch costume on complete with big boobies and a crotch area that had a bunch of (fake)hair down there...he has no idea i'm taking this pix from behind of his behind...

steph (whore), sara (unmasked) and mr. pop pirate himself
andi, todd as orville redenbacher, and jen as little debbie
emily as suzie chapstick
jette as a madame and kelleen ...
it's a beautiful 70 degree day here today...indian summer will come to a close at some point...mr. is now making campaign phone calls for the next three days, doing his civic duty by volunteering for obama...

finding the scanner

2008-10-20T21:03:00.003-06:00

...still unpacking after moving the last weekend in september...love love love our new house (see 2 posts back)...we are slowly making headway...if it wasn't for friend sara who is painting my kitchen, and friend john who dug post holes for the new fence, we'd be at square one...sorry, no pix as of now as i don't know where the scanner is...i think it's in the VW bus that is packed to the rafters with "stuff'." we are living fine without all of that stuff...funny how that goes...simplify, simplify, simplify...stay tuned, my 4 readers...i will return...

better her than mccain....

2008-08-06T08:27:00.002-06:00

props to paris...

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Adfunny videosFunnyOrDie.com

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

our house, is a very very very fine house....

2008-07-23T05:51:00.007-06:00

so sorry to be away so long but i've been very distracted by this:

oh, and this:

couldn't get my mind off of this, either:

we are in the throws of purchasing this great 1700 sq. foot home in Ault, CO, 14 miles east of fort collins... it was built in 1904 BUT it's not our until 29 august when we sign on the dotted line...

what a stressful and exciting time...every notice that they both feel the same? back soon...

vacay...

2008-06-28T18:05:00.014-06:00

mr. pop pirate and i went on a much needed vacation for our 8/12 anniversary...it has been over a year and a half since the last holiday off on our own, without kid, dogs, cat, birds, plants, work...we made our way down on our big adventure to pagosa springs...it's a cute little village just this side of the new mexico border...here's mr. looking awefully handsome with the vista of the collegiate ranges...we were only a few hours outside of denver here...

we got on our way...going just a few miles an hour too fast...ahem...the trooper was facing the opposite way...i looked behind us and the line of cars and he had certainly turned around and, wow, had his lights going....hmmm...so mr. pop pirate, in his true form (read: many cops ditched in his younger years),we flew off on a blm land road and skirted around the bend... on rd 49xx apparently...

we found ourselves out here...not bad...(we were not followed...)

we made the final climb up the continental divide and stood in awe of wolf creek pass...this is mr. making me nervous...

another view....
we soaked in the mineral hot springs ( a lot like yellowstone park)...climbed to a waterfall...looked at the prices of property ...

and had a restful time of four days (read: we napped a lot)...

in the end we said good bye to our fab bed and breakfast...and made the long roadtrip home...

good bye...

my goal is to vacation a lot sooner than in another year...

p.s. the rush concert at redrocks on wednesday evening was so fun, and it didn't get rained out this time...

p.p.s more art soon i promise myself...

stolen booty...

2008-06-10T11:40:00.002-06:00

went over to northern light this a.m. and so enjoyed this clip that i stole it...that's what pirates do, no? aarrrr...

art mimics life mimic art

2008-06-09T05:54:00.003-06:00

facinating...
http://www.yeondoojung.com/artworks_view_wonderland.php?no=88

something...

2008-06-05T16:26:00.009-06:00

i've done "something" with myself...this piece is done on a scrap piece of wood brought home from mr. pop pirate's job site, combined with tissue paper, acrylic paint, stencil, rusty nail, yard stick, silver spoon, alcohol inks cloth ribbon and (as kieth lobue always lists) soil...

here is "something"...

mr. and i were going to see a concert at red rocks tonight for our anniversary but, just as the rain clouds were parting, they canceled it! we've been looking forward to seeing rush for months...arrrr!

and the winner is.... (a little late on my part)

2008-05-28T10:42:00.012-06:00

do i know how to pick a winner...david cook was my choice since day one...american idol is inspiring in that people think they might have talent, they try and try again and some even become artists...

here is my mess on my studio table...some art has actually come from this mess...

bread and water can so easily be made into toast and tea

2008-05-09T14:55:00.006-06:00

...or banana bread...

this recipe came from the ol' work horse, the joy of cooking...simply the best banana bread on the planet...

went to nunn, colorado yesterday for some grrlfriend time...kelly and i went out junking, finding this sale of repossessed storage unit junk...found pastel-colored yard sticks for decorating my studio, a small rack of antlers that will be painted chartreuse...

then we sauntered over to "oak n' tokens in ault, colorado where these two gems run their store that never changes...

happy spring (finally)...

off to my very first mammogram....aaarrrr...

saturday

2008-04-27T10:12:00.010-06:00

went junking after my yearly exam...(don't all women do that?) my friend jette's son, forrest, is graduating high school and we'll party next month to celebrate...hmmm, what would an 18 year old want from an antique mall...whoop! i found an old cardboard suitcase, great shape, with a leather handle and the original key...i thought he might use it for storage...i love it...it looks masculine and cool...

then i came upon these beauties... in great shape and just the right color for my red/blue kitchen...they now sit in a corner on the counter which is historically cluttered...no before pix as that would be evidence of disorganization...just take my word for it...baaaad...now--gooood! all vitamin,pill bottles, herbs, and doggy treats are neatly tucked away...

speaking of doggies...she's a treat...had her first day of doggy school on tuesday...she is an A+ student....

mr. pop pirate loving on this doggy, lacy...(sorry, hun...showing off your hairline)...
the cat was busy this weekend getting his summer "lion cut"...from big white fur ball and resident shedder to ferocious suburban menace...

don't you just love his tail? it's very dr. suess...

went to a charity bowling night...it was 80's themed ....haven't seen that many shoulder pads and leg warmers and big hair and neon colors in a long time...mr. had a skinny tie and i went for the punk look complete with safety pins in my ears, a Mohawk and my old motley crue tee...it's authentic! i'm no poser...

here's the neighbors...hard to look preppy, nick, you hippy, you...

Evenflow

2008-04-23T12:58:00.006-06:00

every morning in my art studio...art ideas flowing, spring has sprung...here's a brand new piece i'm working on...it's for the art challenge the artist's nook is sponsoring in june...take an everyday item and go...i've got a dustpan, light bulb and a pair of scissors....i'll work on the background using linoleum self-made stamps...layering along the way...

as promised, here are pix of my artfest finished projects i did in my three classes...linoleum prints on deli paper...
copper necklace in susan kasmer's class....i absolutely am pleased with the results....

i stamped a couple of my "word salad" phrases on both the tube shape and the open box...

here's my drawing done with a large feather dipped in water then ground charcoal... others raved in class about it but i was less pleased...

work for two days coming up...i know i sound like i whine a bit about work...i only work three days a week...nice...but twelve hour shifts are tough for me...age? attitude? a certain difficult workmate? i don't know but NEED. ATTITUDE. CHANGE.
arrrr....

seattle redux--three days of art bliss

2008-04-12T06:55:00.013-06:00

a.m. on the beach at fort worden...

first day class: drawing with tiphoni, daughter of the fest organizers...

second day with ann bagby, (see this post) ...she never, ever stops moving...thus the blurry pix...

here's christine, owner of the fab artist's nook here in town....(she does internet sales too...)...we had fun sharing tools and laughing at ourselves...

third day...jewelry making, metalsmithing, cold joining...all with susan kazmer ... what fun! my fave class...
here's my table mates hard at work, making treasures...

the fun didn't stop at night...here is a gang we joined...

tomorrow, pix of the finished products....

seattle--day one of artfest

2008-04-07T16:52:00.015-06:00

I was thrilled to be on the jet plane on my way to seattle for artfest...you see, i registered for this event waaay back in september of last year...talk about lack of instant gratification...not to complain (but i will just a little) i haven't been on a vacation in waaaay too long...

my flight was, thank fsm, uneventful...all have to say is i'm also grateful for ipods...keeps me from going postal on public transportation situation....

i met up with lisabeth who flew in from Anchorage AK to meet up with me...sun was shining and we had the top down on the convertible sebring....here are some pix from the bremerton ferry...

lb in all her beauty with hair flying in the cold breeze on the sundeck...

we arrived for check-in at fort worden and the first thing i saw was this automobile assemblage...i knew i was in the right place...

the car belongs to a woman of a certain age (in her 70s?) who wore a different crazy beany hat every day...it has happy meal toys, mosaics...even (my favorite toy) devil duckies (see left side of the pix)

we checked in, received a bag of cool artfest swag and i took some time to look at the gallery of art...the theme was woodland creatures...here's a look...

what talented people...all woodsy and delightful...

some didn't quite stick to the topic...

great nontheless...

as fate would have it, lb had friends from Anchorage sailing on the puget sound at the very time we arrived...they invited us to see their water craft... at the marina...

here's the cutest darn houseboat ever...complete with container garden and scrolled porch decoration...
we all ended dining in town at a great local restaurant instead of artfesting it that night....great choice...

more to come on thursday as i must (gulp) go back to work for a couple of days ...arrrr...

new books on day #14

2008-03-28T11:28:00.011-06:00

i shouldn't even go to barnes and noble...it's like crack for me--irresitable, i shake and crave when i pull into the parking lot, pocket book in hand...i came out with not one but two new art books...

"art making:collections & obsessions" another book by artist and author lynne perrella...it is strictly an eye-candy coffee table book full of lovely pictures of artists' collections and their confessions regarding their inability to walk past rusty metal googas, gorgeous printed fabric, old plaster doll heads, turn of the (last) century cabinet card photos and not snatch them up to use in their art...or maybe just to look at, satisfied in their findings...

featured is fort collins' own photographer, memory jug maker and massive, ginormous altar creator laurie zuckerman...

also featured is ann bagby, one of the presenters at artfest this year and i'll be in her class making the very thing shown in the book, lino cut pattern making...her collection of hand-cut stamps are shown here...

the second book is "mixed media collage" by holly harrison, a book of interviews and how-to's not found in other books...here is teesha moore's spread...and she is the facilitator extraordinaire of artfest!
my advice to you is: either slave away alone in your studio without these inspiring books or share my jones and go directly to your local, independently-owned bookseller (fort collins, alas, has no such endangered species) and order these books pronto...

day #13--the hissing of summer lawns

2008-03-28T11:06:00.008-06:00

if you are ever stuck, out of the flow, missing your juju, and having artist's block, just put on joni mitchel...it has to be her 1977 release, "the hissing of summer lawns" on mint-condition vinyl, analog recording, on a new, old-fashioned turntable...once again joni has moved me, this time through the problem in my "no wonder" rusted piece...

i finally worked through this problem, a term i got from the (little bit of ) rock climbing i've done in my youthful past...when you get to a part of the climb where it's not obvious how to navigate the next few moves, it's called figuring out the problem....i've successfully navigated...joni was my compass...

fear and loathing on day #12

2008-03-23T16:10:00.003-06:00

now i really wanna share this little tale with you, dear reader, about our new pupster, lacy, however, let me be clear right here, right now: i promise i won't be like some bloggers who go on and on (and on and on) about their dog...but this was a gem of a story, so here goes...

i'm sitting on the red chair watching the idiot box when lacy starts growling...i look over and gently say come here, lacy....

she takes a more determined stance and starts yipping...i see that she is looking towards the bird cage and figure she just now noticed them and is trying to make her presence known...

she continues barking and growling, now with her hackles up...she is quite upset...

then i noticed she wasn't looking up at the birds but straight ahead at the stereo ....

the stereo system sits in a large dresser that is missing its large middle drawer...it's actually a hand-made antique that used to sit in the trident cafe, boulder iconic cafe' and bookseller... but i digress...

so i get down on the floor with her and look closer at what has obviously riled her usually sweet temperment...

more barking...more growling...

a lightbulb goes on...

i grab said offending item....

sure enough, she goes wild with consternation and disdain....

i place it on the floor and it's all she can do not to pee the floor...i'm laughing...

i put it in the pantry and she barks at the pantry door... i'm laughing so much now i am going to pee the floor...

i calm her by holding her on my lap, stroking her head, trying to get the awful image out of her wee little brain...

garden gnome...horrific... i'm laughing still...

lacy-day #11

2008-03-20T05:57:00.006-06:00

well i know my four readers are just chomping at the bit to see what the heck has been keeping me away from my 28 days of art posting commitment...no, it just that, you see, i've taken on another commitment, and this is her...

her official name is lacy kimball, a terrier mix that we found at project rex in loveland, colorado...we just knew it was time for another dog, a somewhat normal dog other than our special needs, differently abled, rides-the-short-bus chihuahua, mr. kite, seen here somewhat perturbed by this six month old cuddler...

they are both very tired here...mr. kite for putting up with lacy and lacy from the long trip up from new mexico where she stayed in a shelter there...all we know about here is she is young, a stray that seems to have some street smarts and she is a lover not a fighter (what song is that line from, any guesses?)

she picked us...you can see gratefulness in her smile, a somewhat leery look in her eyes, but what a lovey...

day #10--exploring

2008-03-10T09:39:00.012-06:00

i've been inspired lately by this artist, andrea fuhrman...her composition and juxtaposition of simple scraps creates what i think is eye-appealing art...

so , thus inspired, i spent time making this piece, "gives up the goods"... mr. pop pirate, my in-house art critic, really likes it...

here's a closer look:

this one, "stereo," is a work in progress...

still working on "no wonder" (see this post)...i know what this is needing, and that is paint...now, i have a blockage when it comes to painting...i took a watercolor class way back around 1985 when i first went to college...i liked the medium and felt proficient in still life rendering but...that was back then and now i'm using (or in this case, not really using) acrylics...some would not agree that water colors are more forgiving but that was my experience...acrylics are there--permanent, bold and not easily (for me) manipulated...i worry that i will "ruin" my hard work and vision with painting it...not quite getting the results i see in my head...

i went out friday night to our village's art walk with my best friendy, emily...we sauntered about, looking at tradition (read: boring, been there, seen that) and modern assemblage, photography...in the fort collins museum of contemporary art you can tour working artists' studios upstairs...i had a chat with a gal named lyse whose oils and acrylics have traditional landscapes but with luminescent qualities... she asked me if i am an artist, of course i said yes (and so are you, dear reader) but confided that i hesitate when it comes to adding painted elements to my art...she encouraged me to study other painters and to enjoy the process of learning about the qualities that paint has to offer....

i see on many art blogs that artists have art journals they play around in...trying techniques, exploring visions and feelings...i have a couple of them that i woefully ignore...no more...time to reintroduce myself to them....it's time to explore, to encounter my blockages and bust through them...we'll see how it goes...arrr

day#9--Freeze!

2008-03-07T14:22:00.003-07:00

this clip reminds me art can be for just 5 minutes...no framing it , no signing it, not for keeps...just a brief moment to make people respond...things that make you go "huh"....

day #8--no wonder

2008-03-02T18:05:00.010-07:00

my current piece is under way...i love how the rusting solution made my plastic mass-produced thrifted canvas turn this great mottled shade of , well, rust! i brushed the antiquing solution on and did not like the first attempt so i repainted the entire thing with the iron paint and rusted it again and boy howdy it looks like i've set out this metal rectangle out in the winter weather all season...grant thinks it almost looks like wood...

i've been having fun taking elements off and on, trying on this or that...i am going for a certain mood or feeling...don't ask me to elucidate this as i can only look at it and know when it's right...i took away the polkadot and bird "scrapbooking" paper...i also removed the word salad i had chosen and replaced it with these words: "layering, and" "no wonder" in case you don't know." as i've said before in another post, i like the play of punctuation, fragmented sentences and fonts to offer up a found poem of sorts...

i secured the bird's nest with blue wire and added a rusted smashed tin can i found where??? as a cornice or finale on the wooden boxo.k. the can looks better in person...

next: another local artist review

Day#7--local art or aren't we lucky

2008-03-01T08:29:00.009-07:00

we here in fort collins are blessed with a new and expanding art studio/gallery space for mixed media and traditional artists...poudre river arts center is just at the railroad tracks north of town ...if you are local you know that the north side of town on college has traditionally been filled with lower rent businesses like auto shops, mexican pasterias and the bowling alley...not bad businesses but just cheaper rents and with a bit of a run down look...the arts center has been successful in bringing alternative art and its makers to the upper north, not gentrifying it but accenting it with the energy the arts bring...

the center itself has cathedral ceilings with a rustic wood interior that gives it a feel of a western state gallery...amber lovelace, a mixed media artist rents studio space there... i think her dolls are indicative of the trajectory women's current assembla'ge has been taking--crowns, party hats and watch parts are ubiquitous right now...however, i do like her dolls' clay faces that are hand pressed, the articulated limbs and her use of the simple box form for the body...over all her dolls are simple but engaging...here is a sample...

also found in the center is one of my fave art supply stores, the artist's nook...now i have a lot of supplies already in my cache and i am always on the lookout for rusty things...in fact last fall i parked my car outside of town and walked along the railroad tracks and found a plethora (don't you love this word?) of rusty bits (as opposed to nasty bits for you monty python fans) so i usually don't buy my assembla'ge detris, flotsum and jestum....

a new tenant there at the center is the colorado coalition of artist or Cocoa...an art organization for and by artists..

up next: revelations and evolutions ...

day #6--my bucket list

2008-02-26T14:28:00.008-07:00

i haven't seen the movie with morgan freeman and jack nicholson yet but i get the jist that it's about finding out you have a terminal illness and figuring out what you really wanna do before you kick the bucket...

on the way back from a hike with my friendy emily, i was spouting off something about something i'd like to do before i die... she sagely handed my a notepad and a pen and told me to write that bucket list....that moment has remained with me as a profound smashing up against my own mortality...

you'd think i was pretty aware of this for as an oncology nurse, i see people, well, get the word that they might just be leaving here soon... people who are just cruising along in their lives, making dinners, seeing kids and grands grow up, making plans and boom...arrrr...they get cancer and look ahead to weeks, months, years of chemo, nausea, doctors appointments....do they have bucket lists? well, i've never asked a patient this but i bet they have one at least at the back of their minds...

i'm gonna die one day, so i GET IT that i gotta make my dreams, plans and goals reality....sooooo, here's my first efforts toward one of my goals....in 2009, i want to have my art shown locally say in a coffee shop...this is the year to create the body of work to be shown...

so i bought a piece of mass produced art (i think it had gondoliers on it) at goodwill...i liked the shape, the plastic frame around it that makes it a deep canvas and it had a ready-made texture painted on it....i painted it with sophisticated finishes iron metallic surfacer on the canvas to ready it for the rusting solution... it comes out black/grey before you antique it...

you can see where i wiped it away to allow gluing the box with a found nest in it on the surface...

i added one of my "word salad" cut outs...

and collage papers...i love the one of the iridescent bottles found in a national geographic ( i find the best pix there)...

as the piece evolves i'll share it with you...questions? comments? constructive criticism? let me know.....

and now, for your viewing pleasure, not my art: day#5

2008-02-25T05:27:00.007-07:00

while i wait for dear mr. pop pirate to bring back the camera from his job site (ehem!) in berthoud, i will share another fave artists, david wallace ...this time a collage artist that, again, uses minimalist aesthetics. What i enjoy is his use of vintage, fifties paper ephemera and at times color that pops....so much of today's collage work seems to use antique, senna colored victorian imagery....static and boring for me...

the piece below is a collaborative work that was sent back and forth a few times between artist rebecca trawick and himself. check out his site for interactive pictures that follow the evolution of a number of collaborations...

back next time with a larger piece i am working on...part of the " get to that list of things to do before i die" plan....

day #4 james michael starr

2008-02-21T17:24:00.008-07:00

here is a peek at one of my fave assemblage artist, james michael starr... i love his simplicity, an almost stark approach to his art...i appreciate this as i'm not really into a lot of precious collage detris ...

happy day...

day #3 cook book art

2008-02-21T17:07:00.004-07:00

last year i joined my second altered book swap...all of us came with a book decorated on the outside in a theme we chose...one was "forest lovers" another a vintage cookbook by erikia ghumm, famous for her paper crafts and collages....it was a three ring binder of better homes and gardens full of color saturated food pictures that almost looked inedible...we all have seen these pix that make the food look gross...

well i finally got around to (ehem) finishing mine (looks down at her feet in shame)...you cannot see the buttons, the recipes and the collages very well from the pictures i took but here they are...the section i selected was "pies"...i had snagged some of the cut out newspaper recipes her pack rat family member had squirreled away...helpful hints from helloise, newspaper articles about hugh hefner's business prowess (????) and a recipe for millionaire pie...

the above pix (sorry it's tipped on its side, i couldn't make my photo program run today..could bode ill for my future posts...) but this one is my fave...it has very rusty bottle caps...i rusted some vintage material...i learned the technique from an article in cloth, paper, scissors ...the fun old photo i cut from a national geographic mag of a class for immigrants to learn verbs related to cooking...thus, "cooking with verbs"...

off into the mail it goes...back to its rightful owner...arrrr

day #2 who knew ipods got cold...

2008-02-20T06:03:00.003-07:00

montana my teen pirate, has an ipod nano that she has not sleeve for so i googled "ipod cozy" and came up with a few different ones including this cute hoodie ... i didn't feel like something so intricate so i jumped over here and started right in to the sweet pea cozy...felted wool to keep that little micro chip warm ... i had her pick from a number of cute large buttons for the i-cord loop to wrap around...there is even room for earbuds at the top...also, i love lamb's pride wool...felts up nice, feels good in the hand and is very inexpensive...
sorry for the shady yellowed pix...still working on the photography side of blogging ....also, my mom just sent me a new-to-me h.p. camera...fewer pixels but somehow better pix...aarrr...

28 days of art---day #1

2008-02-19T08:09:00.010-07:00

hello my four readers! i have been on a blogging sabatical so to make up for the long absence i wanted to offer up 28 days of art and craft...i have been busy working on several projects, one for sale and others for fun...

art number one: beaded mirror candleabra...i saw something similar in a craft mag awhile ago but it involved buying a ready-made form...i thought it looked a lot like an old vanity tray, the mirrored ones ladies used to put their perfumes and makeup on...i am hoping to put this and another two mirrors (soon to be revealed) in an art sale that happens three or four times a year at my friend caterina giglio's home...

it's been placed on a white wraught iron candle pedestal and has three crystal tea light holders placed on top...the flames are amplified by the reflection in the mirror...pretty! you can see i've attached vintage millinary flowers as well as found objects like an old key and a vintage diamond ring...
i've beaded some draping pieces, added a few chandelier crystals and vintage necklaces to create what i think is a one-of-a-kind functional art piece...let me know what you think...

have a great day...it's 60 degrees today and just two days ago it was snowing...aarrr....

surfing for knit and craft

2007-12-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

i was surfing yesterday and i came across threadbanger, a craft/sewing site with useful videos like this one...

also, more poop to peep...i forgot to give the link so you, too, (not youtube) can knit a mr. hankey the xmas poo...whoda thunk it

arrr....

merry merry silly

2007-12-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

hidey ho, andi in fort collins wins the very silly prize for the very silly answer: the very silly hankey the christmas poo said that very silly line...rent the south park xmas video (don't go to this link if you are easily offended--very irreverent) and see for your silly selves just how silly a pile of poo can be...

mr.pop pirate was escorted to the shuttle at a very silly hour to catch a plane southeast...i already miss him...i am also going to miss the computer he took with him...it's the one with which i use to upload pix to the blog...this one on which i am writing is screwy with the printer program....

so for your viewing pleasure, here are my e-cards to you, my silly and few readers...may you be creative in all your endeavors this season. until next year...

tagging (not the graffiti kind) and a contest

2007-12-18T15:35:00.001-07:00

"howdy ho boys and girls..."

things have been hopping here at craft pirate lounge...taggers have crafted and conquered! all ten of us created fun and cheerful tags for presents...here are (in some cases blurry and shiny because i have a crappy camera) some close-ups of some of the ones i made....

this last one is so cute i wish it came out...it says button up your overcoat...its from the end of a player piano roll box...then there is the pix of the gal in a heavy 4os coat... a piece of veil from an old hat completes the collage...

drum roll please...

i now present the group shots of each crafty gal who participated...their names are on tags in the pictures themselves....(except this one which is mine...of note: i didn't do an xmas theme at all...i went with my usual multi-media assemblage/collage gig)...

thanks to all of you who participated in this swap...i'll be hosting another one soon if you care to join the next round... it will either be "inchies" or atc's (artist trading cards) ...i'm open if you have an opinion...don't know? google these and see what you like...let me know...

things at the lounge are mellow .... we celebrated the season last sunday night as my in-laws are leaving this week to be snowbirds in arizona and mr. pop pirate is leaving for alabama soon ...we ate a lovely turkey dinner...now, i didn't take pix of said bird but it was a small one--9.75 lbs--on the serving platter it looked like it could be a big chicken....turned out great...didn't do a fancy glaze like i did for thanksgiving (honeyed fig balsamic vinegar glaze gleaned from the food channel ) just slid my hand under the skin and applied a rosemary,garlic,salt 'n pepa, sage and basil rub...delish....we've been playing waaaayy too much guitar hero....this is our xmas present to ourselves...

i'm on to searching out my UFOs...in knitting lingo that means unfinished objects....i've got a sweater i've been working on (or not) for too long to say...wanna wear it...gotta finish it...... new pair of socks is on the needles for mr. pop pirate...the first (and only so far) pair of socks i made turned out perfectly....i mean, they fit his feet and everything...they both are the same size and there is not one imperfection....hard to live up to ...the pressure's on....

ok-- now for some more fun....go back to the top of this post...see the quote? it's an xmas reference...who says this? the first one to comment with the right answer gets some arty goodness from me....

ride

2007-12-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

at work we have a "secret santa" gift exchange...i know my recipient may read this but doubt it...here is what i made her...

it's called "ride"...rita the nurse is a horsewoman, owns them, rides them...

here is a close up of the barn wood and painted wish bone...love the western paper...

this is an original old photo of five children on a horse...on the back it says "if everyone wants to ride at once they go and catch old clyde. see turkes the dog under the hay baler." there isn't a date on it...

i know she'll like it...

we are all doing well here during this holiday season... mr. pop pirate is getting ready to leave for alabama for a visit with his family...i'm working xmas day...i really like to work holidays as people are usually in great moods and there is a sense of "well we're working on this holiday, let's make it fun"...

taggers! only a few days left until the due date! the ones i've received....wow! you are each crafty and artsy in your own sweet ways...these will be great for tagging your gifts!

i'll be posting this weekend a sample of the tags so's you knows who made what tag....most of you didn't sign them so i'll just post 'em...fun!

a banner day

2007-11-26T14:03:00.001-07:00

who doesn't like to get packages in the mail... well, this gifty came all the way from palmer alaska
from fellow crafter lisabeth ... she decorated the jewelry box complete with pop-up armadillo... inside was a great jewelry pendant "inchie"...

lisabeth, who went to art school before she became an A-#1 R.N./F.N.P., made a linoleum print card...love the raven...thanks l.b....only 126 days until artfest, baby...

the day the package arrived, i was busy...i took these....

cardboard templates, beautiful papers and sparkly letters and made this...

it says"grateful"...i think it turned out fab...it is hung above our new xmas tree i picked up at
a&j antiques, where i have a booth, as many of you know... it's plastic and white and pre-lighted, and has glitter all over it...

for someone who really could take or leave xmas...i sure am having fun with the holiday spirit already...ho ho arrr...

grateful

2007-11-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

i'm grateful for so much these days...morbid as it may seem to say, my mantra has lately been "every day above ground is a good day"...it gets to the heart of the gift here on earth...only so many days i will have... being an oncology/hospice nurse makes that perfectly clear to me...

i am grateful for my family and friends...you all make me who i am and you are my only wealth...

i am grateful for my healthy body that is going to carry me on the four mile turkey trot run this very very cold morning...gotta earn my extra slice of pie...

i am grateful for art/craft and how it is a vehicle for my heart's expression...i'm sure you all can relate to this as you are all creative people...

i am grateful for technology that allows me to talk with you and share my visions, humble as they may be...(i am currently not grateful for my digital camera however...broken...no pix for a bit here in blogspace..)

eat ... drink... and be merry....life is a gift....

inch by inch

2007-11-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

been working on getting my "inchies" on...what kind of debauchery is that, you say? inchies are one of the latest new art swap...or maybe i'm getting in on the fun late in the game...either way, i'm having a blast working with paint techniques and working in simple assemblage accouterments, as well as working with what i call my "word salad," scrapping incomplete sentences, mixed with visually pleasing punctuation, creating grammatical tension...all that in one square inch...or at least that's what i'm shooting for.. this is in preparation for Artfest...whoopie!

sorry for the blurred pix, still learning the ins and outs of digital close-up snap shots...i love lumiere by jacquard ...iridescent, pearled paint...

tags are in the mail, compadres... tag! you're it!

swap update

2007-11-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Great news, crafters! craft pirate's tag swap has been linked up by Swapdex , a site dedicated to crafty swaps everywhere! so here's the skinny...the cut off date for our current swap is the 15th.... tags will be sent straight away and due back to me by 15 december... i will get the finished tags to you all swiftly for holiday use if you chose...simply email me your street address (don't leave it on the comments as that is public) at waters at frii dot com....i will email you with my address as well...let the tag-fastic fun begin!

swap-o-rama

2007-11-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

wow, seems like an age since i was back bloggin'...so sorry to my three readers, but....iiiii'm baaaack....(snicker)

so, in case you didn't have enough to do around the beginning of the holidays, i am going to add to the chaos... join up for the tag swap! what's that, you say? this is how it works: the call for participants is made, i tally the number of us and send out that number of plain, manilla shipping tags to each of you...say 10 of us sign up you receive 10 tags...then you proceed to decorate, paint, alter, sew on, collage, glue found objects....all of them the same or each a unique work of craft and art... you send them all back to me and i'll organize them so that you each receive one of each of our tags.... you can use them on gifts or, as i'll be sending them back on a string for hanging them up, you can just enjoy them as a hanging piece of art.

so, who's in? here's the guidelines: on one side leave enough space for us ,if we wish,to write on them. Have a string of some sort in the hole so that we can hang them on the gift. send them all to me by 5 december...this is important for the swap to go smoothly...

here is my example:

collaged tissue paper, paint, old children's book cut out and magazine words, wire, plastic flowers and lace.

here are some other examples i gleaned from Somerset Magazine...

email me at: waters at frii dot com or just leave a comment if you wanna do this!

recently i took myself on a walk along the railroad tracks just off of trilby road...look at the rusty stuff i found.....yippee...

i love treasure hunting...aaarrr!

boo!

2007-10-30T18:19:00.000-06:00

...did i scare you? i'm back on line after a major epic, saga, story that i will not bore you as it really bored me... aaarrrr...

friends emily and mark came over for dinner a few nights ago and we did what every dinner party extravaganza ends up doing....pumpkin carving! guess whose squash has an eye patch???

back to more art this week....posts soon...

kitty update: eating, grooming, happy chasing kitty toys...jaw is quite crookedly hanging off his skull...it doesn't seem to bother him....he's happy, we're happy...

we are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by ...(while i am pulling my hair out and saying, "AAARRR!)

2007-10-13T10:08:00.000-06:00

my computer's harddrive had a bad, fatal accident...while i am away, please know i am thinking about all 3 of my readers...

cat update: he got his resin posts undone yesterday and is finally eating full plates of food instead of just a teaspoon at a time...he's lost a lot of weight and his jaw bone wasn't ready to be mobile but ...his jaw is crooked but he is a happy boy now...depression is lifted...

now go forth and make a great day for yourself...back late next week ...

aarr....

what's important

2007-10-06T15:57:00.000-06:00

not much art has happened in the past week as we are dealing with a broken kitty...last week i came home from a twelve hour shift to find my kansas city kitty walking from the back yard in shock...his jaw was broken in two places we soon found out...he was at the vet hospital for four nights... on the fifth day he had surgery to wire his jaw back into place and to have his top and bottom "canines", if you will, resined together, essentially wiring his jaw shut...

here's before the operation...

the cutiepie is our vet, Eric's daughter, Erica...you can't see the mess kansas' jaw was in (do you really want to?) but you can tell somethings not right... here is a very unhappy cat...

there is just enough space for his tounge to get through.... no, grant didn't take a bullet in the forehead, he bumped it on some stainless steel edge in the kitty kennel before the kansas surgery...there are more details but i'll pass--let's just say he's had to return two more times to the vet, gone under general anesthesia twice more .......

he is now a very depressed kitty, hardly eating....

soooooo....

i like to look at the ground....in search of treasures ( i am a pirate)...i find my best rusty things along busier streets...more detris, flotsam and jestum....while grant and i looked at a run down 1910 farmhouse on trilby road this week, i looked on the ground...it wasn't hard to find junk....the yard had been used for a dump. literally. some people....

here's what i found... the gnome was delighted as i was...notice the small machine gun? that will become a charm on a gun necklace i'm making...

now, what to do with junk one finds... art dolls are a great choice... i get great enjoyment in assemblage...taking disperate items and making them congeal into a coherent piece...

these are three that are from earlier in the year that i thought i'd share... salad tong fork, key, soldering dripping, copper wings from a nasty 60s wall art...the wings were put in a solution of miracle grow in order to get that oxidize look real quick...

here's one with a sewing machine lightbulb, wire screening, a crushed piece of thin metal i found in a parking lot in ithica, ny...and some solid metal thingy....it stands or hangs on the wall...a fav...

the above piece is poorly fotographed...i'm still learning...it's a vintage spoon from some hotel, a sewing machine lever, wood, electrical parts, a watch face etc...

i invite you to go for a walk, look down and find that buried treasure that might just make it into your next art project... pop pirate, off looking for buried treasures....

here knitty,knitty

2007-09-24T18:30:00.000-06:00

the weather is turning a bit to the fall direction...wet, cool, cloudy...i bet i'll be able to see my breath tonight...so i've pulled out my knitting...a co-worker is having a baby in october so i've started on this...

the yarn is a baby-soft, champagne colored acrylic i got at hobby lobby for 99 cents a skein... once i knit all the funny twists and turns it will turn into a tiny version of this...

it's an orgami teddy bear pattern that is knit up flat, and then folded in such a way as to, all of a sudden like, look like a bear...i gleaned from one of the many mags and books i copied when i first got into knitting... the multi-colored one above is for a bear auction in november to benefit the children's harmony house in fort collins...

here's a very warm lion wearing the scarf i'm knitting for my mom...

she (my mom, not the lion) picked out the nubby grey and white yarn and i am cruising through it while we watch the hbo series "Rome." great entertainment that fall of an empire is..

new art soon to be posted... i got commissioned by emily and marc to create some art for the wall space above their bed...i have been in quite a flow and can soon reveal it ... it is an interesting process to make art that fits with another's vision...more later...caio (yes, pirates can speak italian as well as say aaarr!)

TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!

2007-09-19T09:21:00.001-06:00

... AAARRR mateys, i can't believe it's here again. ...my blasted favorite day of the year next to thanksgiving, ( montana's birthday...my birthday, grant's, dates with friends...) well, ok it's up there with my favortite days....i've got pirate-tude, how 'bout you, you scurvey landlubber???

festerin' boils! it's cold as a witch's tit this mornin'... well, i hyperbolize a bit here but it's a cold 'un...so i sit at the computer with tea in hand (i'm certain pirates can drink tea...should i get some grog and splash a shot in it?) and see just how many of us pirates are about... there's this one...and here's one that you must take some time to ckeck out...

so pull on your boots, grab your sword, but most of all get your pirate on and have fun searching for buried treasure today... you might be suprised...

AAARRRR!

to market, to market, to buy a ....

2007-09-16T15:51:00.001-06:00

i invited grant to come with me to the Ballpark market in denver saturday...i've been wanting to go all summer and i finally made it happen...it turned out to be a flea market that is a bit more focused and doable in a morning than milehigh fleamarket ... look at the first booth i saw and just know i was in heaven...

i saw vintage and new aprons wafting in the morning breeze at the just picked vintage booth...

and just look at the plethora of vintage clothing...

and here's just one of many boxes of rusty things i picked over...

grant initially really didn't want to come, but decided to join me in my junkers world...he ended up spending way more money than i did...he bought an oak sideboard we will use in the office... here he is wheeling and dealing with steve the funiture guy...

what a great way to spend a gorgeous fall day...

...home again, home again, jiggity jig!

art benefits many

2007-09-09T12:35:00.000-06:00

"art simply keeps me sane..."was i ever crazy? Maybe...or maybe life is. Crazy isn't being broken, or swallowing the dark secret. It's you or me--amplified." from the movie "Girl, Interrupted"

for the hand up charitable art show and exhibition, each participant was asked to write a little something regarding how art has given us a hand up in our lives as artists. this was my "little something." the soiree was aparently a success with all the red sold stickers ...but before i leap ahead, some fasion news...

before:

and.....

after:

back to my short do...melissa, at cost cutters, did such a great job i tipped her big-time... i love it...so i was ready to go to the art show...

there was soo much great art on the walls....

and these:

fabulous friends:

mark and emily

jette, as she saw all the art and my hair

my clinical director and the oncology social worker, Katherine and Janet

kelly and her family and her art were there:

fab husband, grant

and the best picture i have of my piece,

"bird in the hand: 2 & 6"

in all of its off-centered, poor lighting glory

i'm so glad it sold ( love ya' kelly!) more than half the price goes to charity...what fun and yes i will do this again...

so, today, it's cold here in fort collins. oh so cold. high of 67 but it ain't close to that yet. slippers and sweat shirt pulled out of hiding...

ok, so this doesn't look cold with all the greenery in the front of the house..how's this:

doesn't it just make a chill climb up your back looking at all that cold steel on the white-loaf-of-bread volkswagen bus next to the steel grey sky???

have a warm day...

there's 2 things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tamaters

2007-09-05T16:39:00.002-06:00

yesterday my across-the-street neighbors, the Brunson-Williams' , brought me a sieve full of garden harvests....

mister kite obviously had to give it a sniff...

this is the garden goodness they brought just a few days ago...

now they can't give their tomatoes away fast enough...is your garden as fecund as theirs?

now, i have never paid attention to those in the art circles gush about going to Artfest but i happened to be cruising around the cyberhood yesterday when, lo and behold, i came across the site for Artfest 2008...the more i investigated the more excited i became... i downloaded the registration form and filled it in, thinking, ok, maybe i can make this happen....i got really excited when i thought about telling my friend, lisabeth, and begging her to consider the notion of meeting me down in washington state.... she only hesitated for a quick few hours and then shot me an email saying yes!!!!! she would get in her application... here's mine...just a bit of mailart ( i overnighted it today)...

i am excited to have the potential to hang with some high caliber artist and LB...more as we go along...

i spent way more time on this mailart for my sis in sacramento...

the gal at scotchies, the dry cleaner/mail place, thought i was wacked to be taking pictures of my mail...you can't see it well but there is a section of steaming romance novel up where my address should be... i hope she reads all about Teal and Chase's love life... a surprise gift for her...can't tell...shhhhh...

do you do mail art? i would love to get links to it or even better, receive some from you.... there are blogs dedicated to mail art....more on this later....

this place

2007-09-02T12:05:00.000-06:00

having art assignments that give me a deadline help me get into my "studio" more often...having been in academics (read: being dazed and confused in higher education for 9 years) so long i work best with homework being due...so i join altered book clubs, art swaps ....people depend on me to get my contributions in....well, now i am scaling this back and want to focus more on my own art... i want to eventually hang an instillation in a local coffee cafe, where they are infinitely generous to local artist...

so every artist has their space, their nook, their studio... i have half of a 15 x 10 room...studio tour?...

i walk in and look left.... chaos corner...i use a lot of vertical space for all things rusty, unused and full of potential...

coming around the white shelving you get a look at....

look right and you see my desk...and the filing system i like to call "piles"... shining in the flash is this computer...
turn 180 degrees and here is where all things art and craft happen...

shelves that grant hung are bowing with schtuff...

and that ends the studio tour...some folks have an outbuilding dedicated to creativity...(sorry you had to go and move away from yours, l.b.) some have a basement or whole, entire room.. and some simply have a corner desk... but it just is another example of "it's not the size of a thing but what you do with it"...

so i will attempt personal bench marks in art/craft, imposing regular time in this chaos corner...

here's a book that i am loving right now called living the creative life in which the author has a running conversation with 15 different artists, some of whom are my current faves... in it they talk of what they have in common and one of those is that creativity is natural but channeling this into your interpretation manifest is a matter of getting into your studio space and simply sitting with your media whether it be beads, clay, rusty detris, or paints...having a disciplined time, even it it just one time a week, puts you in a place of increased possibility....

so here i go...

lisabeth won the very competitive game of guess the lyric ( although montana gave an impressive answer naming the band given that she doesn't even like them) ...the lyric is from katy lied album by steeley dan and the song title is "gold teeth II" expect a package in about 10 weeks alaska time....

throw out your gold teeth and see how they roll...

2007-08-30T18:40:00.000-06:00

i started my day with my usual cup of tea, harney and sons teas in winter white earl grey ...deelish...but there is a consequence when you scorch your red tea pot the week before until it melts into the burner and that is.... you get to buy a new one in robin's egg blue!!

having been so fortified i made out towards the eastern plains to visit my red-headed friend kelly out in rural nunn (is that a redundancy?) i just had to follow county road 100 east until i saw the purple studio...

this is currently her teenage son's glass blowing place but sooner or later, hers ???

we caught up on art and life... she is a member of the altered book club i belong to and have really enjoyed getting to know her and her art... now we jumped into her honda and made straight for ault, another little eastern plains town with not one but four antique stores... we made out of there with inexpensive treasures plundered and ,for me, a bit of heartburn from the burrito at the little cafe (note to self: get the special next time)...

here's what i made off with...

a bunch of rusty, broken things that perplexed the two old ladies who ran one shop why a young grrl like me would wanna, a cute peice of jewlery kelly showed my, some old post cards

and some great old letter printing blocks...

i said adios to kelly and her kiddos

she told me about the big sunflower field, the ones with huge heads on them, just a mile or two up the road so i high tailed it to get more pix for the masses of you reading and lo and behold....

the fields were harvested and i just found a few left on the outskirts...almost dead... i certainly didn't think this one thru...its almost september and all.... but i did get a snap of it's wild cousins dancing on the sides of the roads right and left.... (this pix is for you, l.b.....for your colorado fix)

i ran back to town, grabbed my art from the artist's nook(the entallation ends tomorrow) and sat down with a bowl of cereal to blog... or not....

crunch...my temporary crown fell off and i am now digesting half of it....emergency call to the dentist, dr. bob. ooh boy, i have been in that dentist chair a lot lately with this darn molar...note to all who will listen: don't open essential oil bottle tops that stick with you teeth...

an hour later i got in the chair...

said hey to trina, the ever lovely dental assistant,

and saw my gold crown that had happened to be ready today....i got it because it will last my entire life...but how ghetto!!!

dr. bob made sure it all looked good...( round of applause for trina, please)

i love how my dentist looks like he just got off a surf board...dude! yes, he's as nice as he looks...i am not telling grant about my tooth just to see how long it is before he notices

i just love the blogs that have prizes for stupid trivia stuff, so... the title for this entry--who sang it and what is the song title...arty goodness comes your way with the correct answer...so now i can finally take a breath and...make dinner, feed the dog, do bills, clean the living room....aaarrr!

giant bisquit

2007-08-27T16:57:00.000-06:00

montana and i went to lucille's restaurant this morning to catch up with each other before she had to get to work...you see she moved out the day after her 18th birthday, 6 august...she is off on her own living with Boyfriend and doing quite well...she's saving money, taking a gap year before returning to school....so it was girl time today...

we were happy to sit on the patio, with the flies and yellowjackets and the geeky man who kept flirting with the cute waitress...in fact grant has said, and i concure, that all the waitresses there are dolls, cute alt grrls... speaking of cute grrls, here's one...

montana was happy just thinking about the giant bisquit heading her way...

here she is in all her big mouthed glory

alas and alack, i didn't get a shot of the scrumptious doosie of a carb hit before the massacre, only the dead one left, bleeding the homemade rhubarb jam that comes with it...

i devoured mine with chickory coffee....not a coffee drinker but i always get this....bitter bitter bitter....yum..

she and i had time for getting real, talking about her life and the not-so-easy parts so far...

tomorrow i have a oncology class and the next day a respiratory class...busy...maybe grant and i will here this week if our offer on the house on galaxy way was accepted....

blank canvas

2007-08-26T13:59:00.000-06:00

summer is waning, the moon is almost full. northern colorado nights are cooling and i'm just warming up to this blogging gig. click on the box to the west of this post...see it? this site manifesto proclaims that blogs are not olbiged to be anything other than what is offered...kapische? i have been paralyzed, unable to get this blog off the proverbial ground since july because i thought i must be witty, prolific and,well, have something profound to say... so i'm just sayin'...

why craft pirate lounge??
craft--because i love art and craft and see no boundary between the two...
pirate--because i fancy myself a romanticised version of a pirate in metaphoric and mundane ways....
lounge--because this is a not only a nod to the mid-century era and aura that i love but also an invitation to sit for a minute or three with me....

artwise, i have two pieces in two venues.... one is to go up at the creative underground for charity... the show is called "A Hand Up" and the money will go to hospice of larimer county and a program for autistic kids....the art has to be on the provided 8" by 8" canvas and has to include a hand in it...i really like how this turned out...

the other one is currently hanging at the artist's nook in a show called "A Body of Art." Each participant was given a plastic body form about three feet long that christine, the owner, got at (evil) wallmart that they use as hanging mannequins...anyway, this show turned out some great art.... heres my contribution...the picture does not show great definition...there is a real bird's nest in the cut away heart area and beautiful japanese paper with brass fixtures....it's called "empty nest."

grant is hiking hallett peak in rocky mountain national park today with our nephew, justin... at over 12,000 feet above it all, that is some hike for that young flat-lander... sorry he didn't take the camera with him for some vistas and panoramas to post...

time to get off my pirate ass and (here i gasp) clean the house...aaarr!