busy busy busy . . .

i don't have a whole lot of time to chat today - meet the teacher night!  thing 1 happenes to have the same second grade teacher as i had for second grade, so the whole "meeting" thing seems a bit silly, but i digress.  the joys of a small town.

today i'm going to show off some of the winter gear i've been toiling away on.  scarves and cowls aren't that exciting to look at, but i try to make them interesting?

 this cowl is real wool and alpaca, in gray and cool shades of purple/green/blue/brown

 cream cowl with teal buttons

 lime green cowl with aqua buttons

 plum colored cowl with wood toggles

long cream scarf with red and periwinkle peonies cascading down one side

thanks for looking,

jo

ack!

geez . . . i have not posted in for.ev.er!  so much loveliness has gone down and i have so many things to show you!  now, i cannot show you everything today, because your brain would bust from overload, and you'd be simply heartbroken at not having all of the greatness for yourself.  it's okay, we'll take this slow.

today, for you, some airbrush.  i keep getting requests for more airbrush, and so you're going to get it!  this is stuff i've been doing over the blisteringly hot summer, so enjoy . . .

here's one i did for a swap on craftster . . . i'm pretty proud of it

 (in process)

(finished)

more to come tomorrow!

jo

i'm a stalker, too

i find great joy in perusing the work of other artists and crafters, and one of my favorites is having a give-away!  check it out . . .

oopsicraftmypants

and what is she giving away, you ask?  why, it's one of these:

i know, right?  you cannot run over there and sign up fast enough, huh?

have fun, and take a look around her site and see all the lovelies she's making!


jo

getting my swap on . . .

i've been out for a bit, but things have been getting super crafty in here, lately.  the heat advisory is partly to blame, but mostly because i've been involved in a few craft swaps.

here's some of the stuff i can show off, because my partners have already received it.  the rest will have to wait a bit longer.

this is a painting i did of our lady of guadalupe as a sugar skull for redstar13.  she mentioned loving the images of our lady of guadalupe, as well as skeletons - so i put the 2 together.  i do hope she likes it.

around the outside i painted a rosary's worth of roses ( the roses with 2 leaves are the mysteries/our fathers and the single leaves are the hail marys).  and to be accurate, you would use the three roses on the front and the cross in her hand to complete it.  no, i'm not obsessive at all.

these are 2 sets of magnets i made for troublet, one set for each of her kiddos.  this was my first adventure in polymer clay, and it was alright.  i would rather use ceramic, but i am without a kiln so i guess i'll stick with the polymer for a bit ;)

i've got a lot more to show you, someday.

jo

proof in the pudding . . .

so i do this airbrushing stuff, and at least a dozen times a day i get asked if the paint fades.  the answer is "not much . . . if you take care of it right". 

the right way to to iron or heat press the shirt before wearing the first time, then when washing turn inside out, wash in cold water, and line dry.

but who really does that?  i sure as hell don't.  i make shirts, iron them, then abuse them like crazy.  inside out, paint side out, hot water, cold water, soiled setting, and always always throw them in the drier.  sure, i don't care as much because i can just make a new one, but let's just call it an experiment.

so here's a shirt i made for my dear husband in 2009:

this is before i even took it off the shirt board - it doesn't get much fresher than this.

now, after 2 years of being worn and abused at least once a week, this is how it looks:

modeled here by my studliness himself.  a little faded, yes, but still looking awesome.  imagine how good it would look if i did care for it 'as directed'?!? 

so, in summery, the paint does stay.

jo

make like a tree . . .

why must summer be so blessed busy?  so very many things going on and i'm just treading water in the storm.  oh, and to actually accomplish something is a small miracle!

soooo, months ago i was asked my my sweetie of a friend, who is expecting her second child any minute now, to paint a tree on the wall in her kiddo(s) room.  and last week i finally got to getting to it.  sara wanted a tree that looked old, and that worked with the baby's comforter - can do!

some in-process pics:

and the final product:

i think it turned out pretty fabulous.  now that his room is ready, hopefully he'll make like a tree.  come on, baby!

jo

happy happy . . .

birthday to me!  yup - 28 today.  having a tough time with a number that is so certainly not how old i feel.

so, anyways, yesterday we had a party/luau for my little man and i - he'll be 1 on the 16th.  this is merely the first of many birthdays he'll have to share with his mama.  so our theme was luau, and i found some great little luau rubber duckies, so it worked for both.

his cupcakes:

and my cake:

my first 3-layer cake!  i was very impressed with myself.  and, it was a pina colada cake, which was fabulous and super easy to make.

recipe:

2 boxes white cake mix
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
2 cans pina colada mix
1 cup rum (i used parrot bay)
whipped cream (turned out to require less than 1 tub)

make 3 9" round cakes as directed, only add 1/2 cup rum to the mixture.  mix the colada mix, milk, and remaining rum.  right out of the oven you poke holes all over the cakes and pour the mixture over until it's absorbed (next time i will cut off the tops of the cakes, as you do later to make a layered cake, before pouring the mixture on).  chill before constructing the cake.

nom nom nom

jo