Day 5 :) Finally....I'm updating

Well as you can see from the date of my last post...I suck at consistency! If I was going to make excuses, mine for this would be, I've actually finally been working on soo many projects and I've actually finally been so successful with my projects, that I haven't found time to write about them and upload pix and share them. But Alas I've decided it's time to share.

Since I started the blog with my main house, I'll update what's going on there, except I'm writing this while on an airplane (cause that's where I found time to write) and I truly have no idea where I was in the project last time I blogged about it. Crap. Well I'll start backwards I guess. This past week I got inspired to landscape and work on the outside. No the shingles aren't complete, but the awning is no longer masking taped up. I haven't 100% decided on grass, but I'm almost positive they (they being George and Annabelle...my young couple who live here (without a kitchen or living room)) are amazing landscapers, George loves to mow this lawn perfectly and can't stand weeds, so it shall always be amazing! I've had lots of inspiration for a large tree, but its still in the forest (so to speak). With Halloween right around the corner, and my new found talent with clay, the front steps are adorned with pumpkins. And thanks to the beautiful weather, a picnic has been underway for a very long time. Wanna hear a funny little story? Good. I was recently at Michaels and saw something cute (can't remember what now, probably not important for the story, except that its important to know it was for a baby girl) but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what I had chosen for a baby girls name, so I call Casey (my husband) and I say "Hey, do you remember what George and Annabelle are going to name their baby girl?" To which he first replies "who?" But then after quick thought says something like "you've lost your mind, no". But then the funny part (at least to me) was, he started thinking about it and tossing names at me. None of them sounded right, so I guess it's still a mystery, I guess it's a good thing Annabelle hasn't given birth yet.

 

 

I can not seem to figure out why I rotate and save the pix on my computer, but then I upload and they are on the side.  WTH!

More pics on there sides.  Cripes, I finally get to updating, and something has to cause an issue.  O'well.  I love the dirt on the pumpkins, how many times in life can ya say that?

Since I've brought up clay (cause I did somewhere back there) let me do something I'm not very good at, I'm going to boast! I had this "a ha moment" about 2-3 weeks ago, and the clay (with all the equipment) that I've had for years and wanted soo badly to use and actually turn into something, came out of the nicely organized box it's been in, and in 1 short afternoon, I made the most amazing quesadillas. The first success got me soo excited about clay, that the next day I broke out the box again, and made lettuce, salsa and sour cream (garnished with a black olive) to be served with my quesadillas. I can't explain enough how excited I am for this. It put the thought into my head of nachos, but like all great things, they would have to wait till I had inspiration for them.

My first one...I'm NOT a photographer, so you'll have to take my word, it looks better in person :)

A few days later, inspiration hit again, sushi! Like with the quesadillas, I looked up some tutorials, got out my equipment and got to work. I can't say I loved my 1st attempt as much, but I was mildly proud. Another few days later, I thought...Pizza...with the take out box. Now I've also been in a serious love affair over the past few weeks with the Internet, my scanner, my computer and my printer, but that is another story. Anyway, I made a pizza (it sucked) but then I started working on a pizza box, cause I think it's gonna be easier to make pizzas to fit the box vs the other way around. The mock up box (for Anderson's Pizza and Pub) came out kinda cute, but it still needs a lot of work.

So pulling all this into yet another direction, let me tell you about my other great success lately, the previously mentioned computer work and printed stuff. Well thanks to a swap I do, I was forced to think about books. Then 1 night while laying in bed and attempting to sleep (which doesn't seem to happen for long) inspiration hit, I NEEDED to make miniature books, of miniature books. So crawling out of bed (leaving my husband that can sleep forever, through anything, to continue his slumber) I grabbed a book, turned on the computer and scanner, and went to town. The 1st book took me hours. I scanned, I cropped, I fiddled with it in my art program, I printed mock ups, I adjusted, I reprinted, this went on for what felt like forever...then it was just perfect. So not even knowing yet what quality print I could get, I inserted what I thought would be a nice finished weighted semi gloss photo paper, adjusted all my settings to "print perfect" if there were such a button, and Wa La... Out came the most perfect book jacket,

and with it an obsession that has blossomed into a project that I can't wait to share with you, but I will for a few more lines, just in case someone actually reads this, that way maybe you'll stay interested and keep reading it :). Back to the book story.... After I did 1, the next 3 were much easier.

I'll work on the sideways pix for my next update :)

So I did those,the husband got up (cause it was probably almost 11am...I told you he can sleep forever) and I showed him. He was highly impressed and then said, you should do some of my beer books, wouldn't they be cute, ya thanks, just what I needed, a further push into a growing obsession. Well ya know what I did, I reproduced all his beer books on the shelf.

Well what the heck, those uploaded straight.  Apparently there in 'magic' in beer.  Anyway, here are a few of the beer books :)

 Then ya know what happened, I decided I should reproduce ALL the books in our house, cause in this room box project I'm working on (which no, but thanks for asking , I haven't shared here yet) has a book shelf in it that needs to be filled.

Here is a sneak peak at the book case :)

Then I thought, that's not enough, I need more books (and BTW, I haven't even printed out any except the miniature and beer books at this point...but I need more) so I think where can I get more books? Light bulb! The library! So off I head to the library. I scan those in, adjust, etc. the process isn't so quick...but it's soo cool. But then I think, I should do a whole book store! Crap, I'm completely out of control. Going to the library, getting books, scanning, cropping, editing, adjusting...this is ridiculous, there must be a better way. Then holy wow, inspiration...Google images! So I get on my iPad and start searching and saving. Within 2 hours I have 250 or more books. My 1st 50 or so books took me roughly 8-12 hours to get to the point of printing, the next 250 took maybe 3. But then the inspiration struck again, the scanning,cropping, editing, resizing, printing came out so good on the books, why can't I do other household stuff, well lets just say we have a new rule in our house now...open the package perfectly, cause after its eaten, it's being turned into a miniature item. O' and I haven't even gotten to the part about the diner signs, the Brew Pub signs, the home wall decorations or the book store project.... OR the living room room box i custom made a sofa for last week. I'm seriously on a miniature artistic binge that is crazy and wonderful and the ideas keeping flowing and the success of each idea is overwhelming! Did I mention that ALL of this has happened in the past month or so? After over 35 years of a love affair with miniatures, that has been on-again off-again, I think I have hit a serious stride. I've always considered myself a half way decent crafter, decorator and artist, but the past few weeks have actually made me feel truly successful. I can't wait to continue to share my future projects. I hope your a little curious about some of them :)