Last Day of the Decade!

    Wow...what a ride that was!  I find it hard to believe that for the first time in more than a decade, I have no diapers to change and no babies to nurse.  I am slowly getting my life back, but the biggest hurdle is to figure out the wisest way to spend it.  I have lived my life consumed by baby responsibilities that it has become second nature to deal with those issues and not even bother to think about other things.

    I have begun to rethink my priorities and even though the kids don't consume 100% of my time, keeping up with the four of them and the house fills up most of the day.  Between the art-making, tattoo shop, gardening, hundreds of SCA projects and knitting, I have to figure out how to balance it all.  Throw in the fact that I need to focus more energy into my health and priestess-y skillz.....

    So, although I don't bother with New Year resolutions, I think that this might be a good time to sit down, assess and come up with a game plan.  It may all fall apart, but I need to give it a go!

One Handed Art Making

I've been trying to get some things made - thank goodness for Craftster swaps that give me deadlines to work for. This cool altered Altoid tin was for a nice lady in the UK who was a closet goth, I covered the top with purple silk quilted with a spider web and the beaded spider is actually a pin that comes off. I think I like the inside better...

The sides are cool cobalt microbeads and w/a transulcent overlay on the bottom.

I've just finished this piece and I'm planning on making a lot more along this line - it combines collage, altered art and stained glass YIPEE! The back and then the front! "she"

There's a pagan in bushes!

We finally found some other like minded folk out this way (thank goodness for the one other pagan family in town we already knew before the move!)...they are out in Kitchener, but they have an amazing kid group and we are planning on checking out their circles. Their next workshop is on Fairie, but I don't think the kids will sit through any type of "adult" discussion on the subject (although I'm a bit wary of what the adults would be talking about anyway...FLAKE ALERT!). But the kids really enjoyed talking with other pagan kids and they learned a few things and made some candles for Imbolc which made our sabbat celebration more meaningful for them. We've been trying to get back to our spirituality...I'm planning a cool garden with quarter altars, etc. Not the stonehenge I wanted, but someday.....

I've just found this amazing website with the most astounding art!!!! www.michaeldemeng.com I love his use of found objects and the small scale of his work - very intimate. I've been hoping to capture some of that sacred past in my stuff....keep trying. Maybe I need more layers of meaning.

Very busy down on the farm...

Well, I think we have all been adjusting well to the addition of our latest princess. As to be expected of our clan, she is enormous! 15 lbs last count. I've been keeping sane, catching minutes to knit Fin's Harry Potter scarf and play with my soldering iron making cool glass encased collages:

The kids really adore Iona, and most days I don't have to get them to leave her alone (thank gods for school!) The only glitch is that she seems to be sensitive to caffine - so no coffees for Mama. Which is not so good for a sleep-deprived, snowbound, cabin feverish, Toronto exile. Oh, did it sound like I'm not having fun in Leathertown? It's been tricky not driving and there not being much going on in town and it's too yucky to walk to the library, etc. I've been finding the people are a bit narrow-minded, but I've decided to give the drop-in another try and I've signed up for a papercraft workshop this weekend, so maybe I'll meet some nice people there. I really miss my friends and hangouts in the Big Smoke :(

But on a cheery note, here are my cool kids!

I'm a student again! YIPEEEEE!

I finally got off my butt and applied to OCA to upgrade my diploma to a BFA...and the letter came in the mail today telling me that I can start in January! I am sooooo excited. Yeah, I know that I'll have a new baby, but I can wait and start in the summer semester (May), and it'll only be one course at a time, so really, it'll be a lovely weekly distraction (with homework ;) ). I went and checked the course calendar and now I'm shaking thinking of all the amazing classes I co uld take - Human Form and Function: Introduction to Anatomy (with cadavers!); Vision and Ruins in Post-War Visual Expressions; Japanese Cinema; The Construction of Animality in Western Culture. I am so thrilled and maybe I should have done it sooner, but nothing is going to stop me now! WOOHOO!

Oh yeah, no baby yet....

Swap Addiction

I just got a wonderful package in the mail from one of my Craftster swap partners. They are sooo amazingly cool and I admit to spending wayyyy too much time on their swap boards. But how can I resist when such adorable stuff arrives in the mail?

LIke I don't have enough hobbies...

I'm really excited to have been contacted my SP7 buddy and I'm putting together a little something for the person who I get to spoil for this round. This is so much fun...I especially am having fun getting to know this person through their blog postings and links. I've been thinking about knitting stuff so much that I had to cast on Luna's funny pink hat. I was planning on making her a cool square hat with two "ponytails", but she placed her order with me requesting a bunny! I guess I'm going to have to figure out how I'm going to make the ears (that's assuming I have enough yarn).

I'm almost finished my wrist warmers, wow they go together quick...I can understand why people like to make them. If I wasn't swamped with tons of other stuph, I would have finished them in a couple of days. I am in love with this thick'n'thin slubby yarn and OOOOH the colour!!!!!

I've been finding so many cool things while I've been packing...when we were living in England while Matt was studying to be a Brewmeister, we had photos taken at the school in this funny photo-booth for our rail passes. They are so incredibly funny, we both look like axe murderers. I don't know what was up with this booth that made both of look deranged, but now I know what my mugshot after I have just gone on a psycho rampage will look like. And no...no one in this life time (other than Matt and those poor BritRail employees) will ever see it, so there :P

I've also remembered that I still love to make miniatures. I found all this amazing stuff in the basement and it has gotten the creative juices flowing. I have all the fixin's to put together an entire Japanese diorama of a traditional house as well as the medeival witch's cottage (complete with mini mandrake and flying potion!). The problem is that I have to pack it all up and THEN find a place in the new house to set up a workshop. I've got to get a good organizational system set up to keep all my materials in order, between the knitting, stained glass, minis, found object sculpture and bookworks (not to mention whatever craziness takes my fancy), I don't think the entire house is big enough. *Sigh* I really need a studio. But hey, maybe in Acton renting a space might be more feasible than in Toronto. Here's keeping my fingers crossed. And here is a small taste of the inspiration I found on a mini web site (this is in 1/12 scale)! I can't wait to make my own small piece of Japan.