Still fuzzy in the middle

1. Not available, 2. Not available, 3. Not available, 4. Not available, 5. Not available, 6. Not available, 7. Not available, 8. Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie9. Not available 10. Not available 11. Not available 12. Not available

Here's a fun meme I've seen on a couple of blogs, most recently Leah's. I barely ever use flickr, so this was a fun exercise for me, but I don't know why all the photo credits show up as not available.

* Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search.
* Using only the first page, choose an image.
* Copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker over at FD's image maker.

The questions:
What is your first name?
What is your favorite food?
What high school did you attend?
What is your favorite color?
Who is your celebrity crush?
Favorite drink?
Dream vacation?
Favorite dessert?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you love most in life?
One word to describe you.
Your Flickr name

So I had my surgery back on 7/2 and life has mostly been a blur since then. They actually removed a bone spur from inside my nose, so I had a tremendous amount of pain at first. After several days of nothing but eat, take pain meds, sleep, I had the splints removed and immediately got violently ill from the antibiotics I was taking. I'm finally feeling better, although still a bit shaky and rather fuzzy in the middle where my nose is supposed to be. Where my nose is actually, it's just that it doesn't feel nose-ish, it feels fuzzy. But the good news is no pain meds at all for the past several days. No pressure causing the vague headache between the eyes. Fingers crossed that this might just work!

It's a structural problem

So I've got a deviated septum and enlarged turbinates. English translation: I finally know why I have a sinus headache pretty much all of the time. And all of the allergy meds and antibiotics, etc. never do much good because there just isn't much space for air to go up my nose. I'm having surgery in a couple of weeks.

There's been a bit of craftiness going on here, but mostly I've been working and feeling crummy due to my structurally unsound nose. :-/

Boise for the weekend

Mom and I went to Boise for the weekend to watch AshLee compete in the Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships. The lovely AshLee, pictured here in blue, ran a personal best in the 400 and helped earn points for her team in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. The fine young women from Idaho took 2nd place overall!

When we weren't at the track meet, we managed to stay busy shopping. And then we went shopping. We finished things off with more shopping. My excellent friend Sarah introduced us to the wonders of anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Sephora, all of which are sadly lacking in Spokane. Upon further reflection, I think it's best that there is no anthropologie in this area. If there were I might pack up my little cat and move in there (yes, I know they have a website, but it's not the same). Oh yeah, and then there was the shoe section at Dillards. Oh my goodness.

So now, having fully indulged in a weekend of fun out in the world, I'm ready for a nice quiet weekend at home with my little cat. Kelly Rae Roberts posted on her blog the other day about how she's always been on the cusp of being an extrovert/introvert. And I thought "Yes, exactly!" I love hanging out with family and friends, but my only-child-self also craves time at home alone. I adore puttering around the house, staying in my pjs all day, baking or sewing or reading or napping, just me and Pistol. With that in mind here's my to-do list for this weekend:

Read blogs
Read books
Make stuff
Take naps
Take a walk
Theoretically, I suppose I might do some cleaning. Lord knows, the house could use it.

I think that should make for a very full weekend.

Here's some stuff I made at ArtFest

This is the adorable little suitcase I made in Pamela Huntington's Just In Case class. I was a bit apprehensive going into this class because Pam's style is very pretty and vintagey with soft muted colors. I love her work, but my style is very different. I thought I would be the weird girl with the bright colors. I was the only one with colors this bright, but it was all good as everyone in the class brought their own unique style. The cases all turned out very different and each was a very personal expression of its maker.

One of the many cool things about ArtFest is how down-to-earth the teachers were. The three I had were almost more facilitators than teachers. They showed us techniques and they answered questions and gave excellent guidance, but most of the time in class was spent making and there was an expectation that we would pretty much do whatever the heck we wanted. The teachers were so accessible and encouraging to every single student. The atmosphere was "we're all artists here" not "I'm the teacher and you are the students." Pam was just delighted with all the different directions we pushed her techniques.


Here's the inside of my case. One of the main reasons I chose this class was to get some instruction on making fabric paper. I've tried it before and never could get it right, so I was very excited to finally figure it out. The inside top and bottom are fabric paper made with a batik and tissue paper with embedded bits of paper and fake flowers.

The other technique that was super-cool was the way we applied the fabric around the outside edges (the hot pink "binding" in the top photo). You soak the fabric in watered-down glue. The fabric gets all sticky and stretchy and you can just stick it right on your surface and manipulate it to fit. It dries nice and tight and very solidly attached.

I'll post more about my other classes soon.

Finally

It's finally spring.

Sunday I went for a walk. More of a stroll really.

It's finally warm. I wore shorts, a t-shirt and sandals. My hair is long enough for a ponytail now.


Trees are finally leafing out, flowers are finally blooming. I just ambled along, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin, the chattering of the birds. Letting myself get distracted by flashes of color, wander into fields for a closer look, literally stop and smell the flowers.

This one smelled exotic and spicy.

Lovely.

Garden Party Dresses

Here's my excuse for not posting more about Artfest yet. I'm very busy making art! (OK, and I haven't gotten around to taking pics of the art I bought and the art I made.) But I have been busy finishing up this quilt. I'm calling it Garden Party Dresses and it's 21" by 27". And it has a sleeve and a label and it's going to hang in a show this weekend. That's me, right on time!

The show is Imagination Unleashed: Dreams and Illusions put on by Sew Uniquely You. Saturday and Sunday, the 26th and 27th at The Old Church Arts and Cultural Center, 405 William Street, Post Falls, ID. It's a contemporary/art quilt show and Anna has promised that my paper quilt won't be "that weird quilt made by that weird girl."

Pistol took an active helper cat role in finishing this up. Such a good little (gigantic) helper cat.

"You should definitely use this thread mom. It smells good." (Yes, he's the one who put the thread on the quilt block.)


"Hmm, and maybe some of these buttons. They look tasty!"

ArtFest 2008

So...umm...wow. I'm having a bit of a hard time being coherent about ArtFest. I use superlatives like wonderful and amazing a lot here at art:quilt:play. And that's ok, because I'm all about appreciating the wonder of everyday life. But ArtFest was something...more. ArtFest has a reputation for its great atmosphere, its creative energy, so I was hoping for a really cool experience. I got that...times 10.

It was magical. Yes, the classes were awesome and the setting is beautiful. But the atmosphere...Wow! There was such openness, energy, sharing, acceptance, understanding, friendship, freedom to be yourself. I lived completely in the moment for 3 full days. After all the stuff I've dealt with over the last year-and-a-half, I was so ready for this time and place. It felt like a miracle.

OK, enough babbling. This picture of me with new friends Kristie, Cheryl and Layla sums it up much better than I can. Just plain joy.

Exhilarated. Exhausted.

Home from Artfest. Unbelievably wonderful and amazing. Lots more later. Must take nap now.