Studying Up

Well, I spent the day straightening the desk in the office and my art and crafts nook.  Then I spent a little time on the lanai enjoying the feel of cool spring breezes and the smell of freshly mown grass.  When I came back in, I grabbed my new art book and started reading.

I have long admired Cathy Taylor's watercolor paintings.  When I learned that she had a new book available on alcohol inks, I checked our library system and found that none of our libraries even had it on order.  So I asked the Tarpon Springs Public  Library to add it to their stacks -- and put me first on the waiting list for when it came in.  A couple of weeks later, I received notification that it was there.

I immediately fell in love with it.  I know, I know.  It's an inanimate object.  But it's a book.  And it is about art.  What's not to love?  I grabbed my laptop, pulled up Amazon and ordered a copy for myself!

I showed it to some of my "artsy" friends who also loved it and a new group will be forming soon.  Beginning in June we plan to meet the first Wednesday of each month and we will call ourselves the "Crafty Ladies." First on our agenda?  A few classes  using the lessons in Cathy Taylor's book.

Today I looked at the list of materials for the first lesson.  91% rubbing alcohol.  Well, that's pretty simple.  Or is it?  When I looked at all the bottles of rubbing alcohol in this house (and, believe me, there are many) they were all 70%.  So I needed to order some stuff from drugstore.com so I ordered two 32 oz. bottles of the 91% alcohol so we will have plenty for our workshops.  I already have Yupo paper.  Sandy may have some, too.  The rest of the materials are amusing:  a drinking straw, toothbrush, old credit card (Seriously, who keeps those around? Don't we shred them?), hand sanitizer, white glue, paper towels, and felt.  I ordered a supply of felt sheets the day I first read the book so we're good to go.

The beauty of alcohol inks is that you can paint on just about anything with them.  I am really looking forward to playing with this new medium. I have a friend in New Mexico who told me not to buy anything but a small supply of the inks as she has LOTS of them and is not using them anymore.  When we get together on Perdido Key in May, she will bring them to me.

And that is a story for another day.

Perdido Key.

The next "Irresistibles" trip.  In May.  Five of us.  Girlfriends.  5 nights. Penthouse condo.  On the beach.  We can hardly wait.  It has been a long time in the planning.

And, guess what?

They are going to learn to make paper flowers.  I already have their kits and glue guns ready to go.  We'll order in pizza, open a bottle (or two) of wine and make flowers on the walk-around balcony as the sun goes down over the Gulf.

Lots of good times coming up -- at home and away.

And "sew" it begins.....

I think I lost my mind a couple of weeks ago when I decided to clear out the guest room closet of old clothes while I cleaned and reorganized the room.  The closet was the receptacle for clothes of many different sizes -- mostly business attire.  Items I would never really need again.  So I bit the bullet and donated practically all of them to The Haven, a not for profit organization that assists abused women and their children with everything they need to be safe and, eventually, start a new life apart from the abuser.

Sizes 4 through 10 and some 12's went out of here, leaving me plenty room to begin the "closet sewing center" I had been so anxious to create.  My husband was happy to see some of the purging but had no idea what I had in mind until these fateful words popped out of my mouth, "Honey, could you move the old sewing machine table for me?"

"OK, where do you want it?"

"The guest bedroom closet...."

"What?"  His voice elevated slightly.  And I got that look that husbands and wives are so good at giving one another. The one that says, "I love you but...."  and the "but" can mean a million different things.

I said, "Please don't argue with me.  Just move it for me and I'll show you what I have in mind."

So he did and I did and he, as he always does, jumped right in and helped me make it a reality.

He measured, he foraged in the garage, he took me to Home Depot where even the young man who helped us got deeply interested in what we were doing.  He sawed, he painted, he drilled and he pounded.  He put up lighting and pegboard.  He gave me his precious stash of pegboard hooks and fashioned an additional shelf for those items that don't do well hanging.  While he was doing all this, I was finishing corsages and doing the door prizes for the fashion show and finding storage units I could re-purpose for my new sewing center.

The new sewing center was finished two days before the Woman's Club Annual Charity Fashion Show at Safety Harbor Resort and Spa.

I love it.

I still have a few accessories to hang and I want a new task chair with good ergonomics.  This center only cost us about $30 in materials but it was the result of a lot of loving labor.  My new folding cutting board is on its way from Amazon along with some other inexpensive items.  I'm watching for a good sale on task chairs.

And I can hardly wait to use my new center.

But first, I have to reorganize my art supplies and all my paper and paper craft tools as well as my library of books and DVDs.

Garden Club Monday

Today is one of my favorite days of the month -- Garden Club Monday.

I don't dig much any more.  That is primarily because I am so allergic to fire ants and other insect bites.  But I love plants and learning about them.  

We learned about native Florida wildflowers today and I came away with a new appreciation for them.  My favorite is one I see every time I go out to the beach.

It was a very interesting and informative program and gave me a few ideas for ground covers of native plants.