Big Bowls of Bunny Bits

A bunch of new bunny rabbits are awaiting their finishing touches on today's table.

In between painting rabbits, we've been in the midst of sorting through our lives' accumulation of possessions. As of this moment, I've gone through the entire studio, most of College Girl's room, and half of the hall closet. Dylan has been working on his domain, the most-dreaded frontier of all, the garage. He has definitely made a dent, but it's still a crazy mess. Three months left before the major downsize and much to do. Tick tock.

Bunnies, bunnies everywhere!

Lots of rabbits-in-the-making on the ole worktable.
And a mouse too.

The bunnies and I had a visitor in the studio today too! It was my adorable little mom with her newly pinkified hair. Her birthday was yesterday so she came over for a slumber party. There was homemade potato soup, time with us "kids", Catch Phrase, presents, and a birthday candle to wish on. Isn't she just the cutest grandma ever??

Perfect Timing

I love checking the mail. This is why.

I was so excited to find this gorgeous pile of scraps from my gorgeous online friend waiting for me in the mailbox this morning! Wheeee!! And the timing couldn't be more perfect. I was feeling rather burnt out on my scrappy-quilt-in-progress, and this was just the goose I needed to get me back in the mood for more tiny squares!

Now, thanks to Dixie and Jodie, I have all the scraps I need to finish my wonky blankie.

But first I have to finish my regularly scheduled artyness. 

The Big Four-Oh!

 It was my birthday yesterday! I turned 40. Sounds so respectable, don't you think? I was thoroughly spoiled by my family. They had rented an oceanfront condo for the festivities. This was the view from the balcony. So amazing!

And there were presents! Lots of presents!! Like these super wonderful bendy monsters from my super wonderful mom (who had dyed her hair pink for the occasion). I love them so much!

But the best part of all was time spent with the whole family. My folks, my brother and sis-in-law, my sweet Dylan and Boy Kid, even College Girl and her fiancee drove all the way down! So many hugs!! I'm a very lucky 40-year-old. 

Something-New Sunday (Moon Girls with Dollies)

I finally finished this trio of odd little moon girls with their odd little dollies. They've proven quite difficult to photograph on account of I'm not the best photographer, plus they're quite small as far as paintings go. The biggest (the circle one) is 5 inches across, and the littlest is only 3 inches. I quite like them and I'm hoping to get really good prints made of them eventually so I can have one to keep. I don't know which one I'd choose though, I keep going back and forth as to who my favorite is. Anyway, these originals will be up for grabs this evening,
5:PM Pacific Time, in our shop.
But first I have to figure out what they want to be called. . .

Hope you're all having a delightfully odd day.

Whittling and UFOs

In between playing with clay and painting, I'm continuing to pass judgement on EVERYTHING (right down to the last button) that we own. Whittling it down. Does it stay or does it go? It's actually a pretty cool project, as long as I take it one little step at a time. I started with the studio, and now my table is covered in UFOs (UnFinished Objects)! We probably won't be able to do any wood working for a good long while once we're mobile (no garage), so anything that requires clunky loud power tools needs to be done now or never.

 I already have a big ole pile of garage sale fodder. A cool pile, full of artsy craftsy goodness! I'm tackling the hall closet next. There is so much to do! Oh yes, lists will be made.

The list of things we'll need to bring is much much shorter than the list of things we won't, but we've realized that we're gonna need to go wireless once we're mobile. So that means having to get a laptop and a smart phone. And we'll need some sort of trailer thingy to tow our car. I hope our pending garage sale is super lucrative!

For all those who are asking. . . YES, we'll still be making art! We're turning the RV into a mobile studio so we can work from anywhere. We're hoping to bring it home this Wednesday, which is my 40th birthday! (Right now it's at my folks house while we figure out how to somehow get it into our side yard.) In the meantime, I'll be in the studio.

PS-
I'm hoping to finish those three odd little paintings today so we can offer them for sale tomorrow. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

We actually did it!!

We've been dreaming of this for so long! We bought ourselves an RV, and over the next 3 months we will be preparing to move into it full-time! In the meantime we'll be fixing it up, turning it into a mobile studio, and waiting for Boy Kid (soon to be College Boy) to graduate. We'll also be continuing to work on our arty stuff, of course. The first order of business is to do a major edit of all our possessions. What art supplies can I let go of, what is the bare minimum I need for maximum artiness? Can I live without my little collections for a few years? What are our very favorite art pieces that can fit on our new tiny walls? So many questions! In between our regularly scheduled shenanigans, we'll be sorting and purging and having garage sales. And painting and building and nesting. And reading lots and lots of stuff about living well in a tiny space. And learning all the techy stuff. And figuring out the nuts and bolts of RV life. Let the down-sizing commence!!

Something-New Monday

I did it! The Goode Sisters are all painted and dressed and fit to be seen in public.
They'll all go up for grabs this evening,
8:PM Pacfic Time,
here.

I'm partial to Jennie.
Don't tell the others though; they can be a vindictive bunch.

Sunday!

I don't have anything new all done today, but I've got these beauties in the works.

I'm hoping to finish them today.

I think I can, I think I can. . .

I wasn't able to get them done by today on account of we had a little impromptu road trip! We had the crazy idea to drive three and a half hours to go look at a piece of property that seemed so perfect that we couldn't wait another second to go see it. We were basing it's supposed perfectness on pictures we'd seen online. Pictures apparently taken in the Summer. Pictures that could not accurately portray the reality that this particular piece of property was at about 5000 feet, and covered in snow 7 months out of the year. We were looking for a little adventure, but not this much adventure. I think that the following picture more accurately portrays the reality of the situation. 

Too much adventure! There's no denying the beauty of the area though. The breathtaking beauty and the amazing night sky was almost enough to convince us to take the plunge. But the water was just a little too icy for us.

Plus, it would've been an hour's drive to the nearest grocery store or library. Nice place to visit, but we don't want to live there. On to the next crazy idea!

Step-By-Step

I like step-by-step work-in-progress pictures, don't you?

So I snapped pics of this one as I merrily rolled along.

The making of The After Party. . .

...............................................................................................................................................

 After making my drawing, I traced it onto cloth.

 Dylan made a cloth/batting sandwich and quilted it all up.

Then I commenced to painting, one color at a time.

Snip, snip, snip.

Painted the back. 

And stained it. 

 Stitched and buttoned and drew in the details.

More paint.

All done!

Something-New Sunday

The Queen of Broken Hearts

Rose Emmett

Opal Emmett

Pearl Emmett

Today.
5:PM Pacific Time.
Here.

Sneaky-Peeks and Embracing the Wonk

I finished a few new pieces. They're kinda odd. I like them.
Today I'm gonna be working on playing with my scrappy quilt. Thanks to my buddy Dixie surprising me with a package, my fabric stash has just practically doubled! So now I can finish with the strip-cutting bit and commence to sewing. I'm realizing (too late) that I should have maybe been a little more conscious about the whole measuring thing. See those little "squares"? Yeah, they're supposed to match up at the corners. And be, you know, square. I'm not worried though, just embracing their wonkiness.