Pink Crow Stirrings

¡Adios español!, & Today's Desk

Tomorrow morning I go to my final Spanish class of the winter session, and I've decided to give Spanish a well deserved break from me for a few months...it has been very patient with my linguistical fumblings and we've just been taking one another for granted lately.

Truth be told ever since I've gained that extra day in the studio each week I've become very selfish with my studio time. Just that one extra day has allowed me to produce so much more, and so much more quickly that now I find myself scoping out every corner of my schedule for a few more hours here and there that I can apply to my work. I have to say that I'm feeling a bit like a junkie looking for coin in seat cushions and pay phone coin returns...enough for one more hit, just one more hit!!!

And now for a bit of visual honesty:

A few weeks ago after a long studio day I looked up at the state of my work surface and saw for a split second my desk the way it looks to 'outsiders'. It was an instant of enlightenment, and for the first time I saw what others see...for that brief second this actually looked messy to me:

I shot the above picture sitting in my seat, then to be sure I captured the feeling and the moment I stood up and shot another picture of the scene from above:

Words to live by.

A card I have framed that hangs above my work area:

True that! 

Welcome to my world.

-c

Studio Update: 1 Down, 4 to Go

I'm happy to report that one of the five stock certificate pieces is done, and the others aren't too far behind. 

 

This one is two layers of the antique stock certificate encased in resin sandwiched between three layers of silver. 

The assembly was a bit complicated so I decided to work on it first, and I'm glad I did as it's making assembly on the others seem so simple. I love the way this one has turned out. The design reminds me a bit of an old sheriff's star.

The piece pictured below incorporates a piece of onyx in the middle. The rivets are set, I just have to saw the 'tabs' off of the backplate (slight design change), finish the edge and then oxidize the silver:

And here we have a piece that I know is going to be one of my favorites...alternating layers of stock paper and glass which makes this piece very dimensional. All I can say is I CANNOT WAIT!!!

And another "I can't wait" piece...just love the "soft" star contour of the frame, and the hint of gold foil that peeks through between the two layers of the stock certificate.

And last but not least two layers of stock certificate, gold foil and a magnifying lens. Still have a bit further to go on this one, but I couldn't leave it out of the update.

I'll be working on these pieces this week, and hope hope hope that if assembly goes smoothly I will have them finished by the end of next weekend. I'll keep you posted.

-c

Onward and Upward

First off a shout out to Sharon for bustin' my chops. She reminded me that it has been SIX days since my last post. I'm almost feeling 100% again, and I finally made it back into the studio yesterday for the first time in over two weeks (since my long weekend in Florida and the subsequent cold I caught). Yes, it has been WAY too long for both studio and blog! Yesterday morning I thought, 'I should post a quick =I'm finally back= post', but then I was SO itching to get my hands on some metal again...so I skipped the post and got my hands dirty right away. Sorry for my absence. So, things are rolling again, my studio is back up and running and my mind is just clear enough to begin working with sharp and dangerous stuff again, and also just clear enough to communicate what the heck is going on here.

Thanks for the gentle nudge...and I'll be back to post VERY soon.

-c

Not that you want to know, but...

I planned on being in the studio this weekend, and I was hoping to finish some of the stock certificate pieces that are oh-so-close to being done, but I have to admit that haven't been in there as planned...I've been here instead:

And as my brain isn't working at full capacity at the moment, I've had to refer to Thesaurus.com to find a few words to adequately describe my life over the past several days:

a wreck, afflicted, ailing, below par, bummed, diseased, down, down with, feeling awful, feeling rotten, feeling terrible, got the bug, ill, indisposed, infirm, laid low, off one's feet, on sick list, out of sorts, peaked, queasy, rotten, run-down, running temperature, sick, sick as a dog, under the weather, unhealthy, unwell, woozy.

Yep, that about sums it up. Thanks for checking in...I'll be back to my ol' self soon.

-c

30 Second Rave: The Bloggess

I'm feeling a bit under the weather at the moment, but I came across something today that I just had to share. I find humor in many situations, but it is very rare that I actually laugh, out loud, uncontrollably. Well today I laughed, then cried laughing, then went into what I imagine looked to Lisa, my coworker, somewhat like a seizure. 

You may wonder what it was that had me in stitches today, despite my not feeling so well...please, read this.

-c

Today's Desk: Back Home & Packaging

I'm back from my long weekend in Florida and I have to say that there's nothing like a little sunshine to recharge the ol' batteries. What's even better is that I came back to temps in the 60s today, and forecasts of 70s tomorrow!

Once I settled in I spent the rest of the day packaging up a few pieces that sold last week, so if you're expecting a package from me it will be on its way out tomorrow. I had a record 4 orders in just over 24 hours last Wed-Thur (which also just happened to be the 24 hour period that I was packing, flying to, and arriving in Florida). Busy times...hectic but I love 'em!

I'll be back to "assembly" on the latest stock certificate pieces starting tomorrow evening. I'll give you an update here as soon as I make some marked progress.

-c

Dog Abs

OK, I have to start this off by saying that there have been times in my life when I took exercising WAY too seriously...like crazy obsessive seriously...like having a chin-up bar across my bedroom doorway and setting a goal to use it each time I passed through. Yes sillies, use it to DO CHIN-UPS, not to hang my dry cleaning on. This was back in the early 90s...back when Linda Hamilton was Sarah Connor in Terminator 2 and even if you weren't into those movies you couldn't help but be inspired by her busting out some serious chin-ups...NO SPECIAL EFFECTS NECESSARY.

That stage was ages ago...before college. In college staying lean was pretty easy because once I bought all of the materials I needed for my art projects I had no money to buy food...there's an effective diet plan for you.

These days I'm finding it more and more challenging to pull on a pair of jeans without scolding myself. I know, I know, we should all have good feelings about our bodies, etc., but you know how it is. And these days I really don't enjoy exercise quite like I did all those years ago...sure I feel great afterward, but it's the 'during' part that is hard for me to get into. Sometimes I even hate it.

Today I went to the gym for the first time in like FOREVER because I decided that doing something about "it" was much better than scolding myself. I'm not sure if the following video was what inspired me, but I'll tell you that when I saw it for the first time a few days ago the one thought that popped into my head was:

"Damn, if only I could do that in MY sleep I'd get my cardio in and have some PHENOMENAL abs to boot!"

And then from about 0:40 on perfectly captures what I look and feel like after a workout.

Go Bizkit go!

-c

The Listing Has Begun

Great news...I will soon be able to remove the reference to Ol' Mother Hubbard's cupboard from my Etsy shop announcement because I HAVE BEGUN LISTING NEW ITEMS!!!

I have five more "Parts Lite" pieces to list before Wednesday, and then I'm off to a long weekend in Florida (my final thaw-out before Spring finds its way back to Chicago).

I have some more good news for those of you who have been patiently awaiting my listing the latest manifestations of the Stock Certificate pieces...I'm hoping to have them assembled and listed the weekend of the 20th - 21st - 22nd. Here is a pre-preview of four of the five pieces:

If you've requested an ultra-exclusive sneak peek (wink, wink) no worries, once these pieces are assembled you WILL see these pieces previewed here on the blog before they are listed in my shop.

Be back soon!

-c

A Little Bit about a LOT of Goods

I'm sorry I've been completely invisible here lately, but the good news about my not blogging is it's because I have been spending every last available second in the studio FINISHING lots and lots of pieces...which means I will have an Etsy shop full of goods soon!!!

In the meantime I'm posting a completely random photo. This is the wintertime courtyard at P.O.S.H., my other job (where, by the way, there is a HUGE sale going on right now).

I'll be back soon with updates!

-c