Erulisse Dances

 So after more than two hours of frustrated work to get the lettering onto my Big Bang collage, I finally succeeded in exactly what I wanted.  I may still go over the lettering with my wood burner, but I'll test that out with my signature panel on the back of the piece first. 

( Banner and more below the cut... )

The central image is an antique ivory comb that was

heavily carved in the center.  It's a stunning piece!

Yesterday I thought I would work up some userpics and banners for my Middle Earth Fan Fiction award nominees, and noticed that I had been nominated for a sixth story.  Yippee!  I'm so incredibly honored and just floored that anyone would find my writings moving enough to nominate.  Thrilled doesn't even begin to describe my feelings.  So I worked up a banner for Morning Song shown above.  I'm still working on my user pics for my LJ pages.  So, I'm doubly happy.  Unfortunately, I'm looking at four days in a row of work, definitely a downer.  But...I've got good books to read on my NookColor, good coffee and oatmeal for the morning, and only the chapter headings still to draw for my Big Bang things (and those are bonus, not required), so all is well.  Now to get beading on my BFAC piece for the year...

 I thought that my car was going to cost me close to $1000, bad enough when I don't have ready money available.  It ended up having more issues than I had originally thought, and ended up costing me $2100. 

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But, sorry to unload on all of you, and I'll move forward.  I brought my glass and my BFAC beads together yesterday, trying to see how they will all work together.  It's starting to pull together, but I think I need to at least start my bezels around the stones and then I'll be able to tell much better.  I'm still unsure about whether I want to bezel or do bead embroidery for this, but I have to move forward and have to decide before too much more time has passed.  And the illustrations for Big Bang are becoming  more clear in my mind.  So I am forging ahead, even if I don't know where the path is leading me.  Live creatively today!  

 So, the more aggressive firing for my glass worked. 

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I was starving by 3pm yesterday and DH and I went to the local sports bar - Grumpy's - for dinner.  They had $4 build your own Bloody Mary's and $2 beers.  We were happy.  The food was really good too.  When we got home, DH went outside to look at the damage that our patio has been experiencing.  We have a drainage problem and we're losing a lot of soil and coming close to flooding the den with heavy rains.  Some serious work needs to be done.  On the way back into the house, I heard some serious noise coming from the fireplace (DH, with his lousy hearing heard nothing, of course).  The D____ed squirrels have built a nest in there and they now have babies and they are making a lot of noise and I'm very uncomfortable with having the darned four-legged critters living that close to me.  But I don't think I have an option right now because I won't evict young ones. 


And yesterday was an afternoon/evening for tornado warnings.  We didn't get hit as hard as Joplin, Missouri, which was hit very, very hard.  But we did get some touchdowns in northern Minneapolis and had a lot of property damage and one death.  The season is starting a bit early and with some serious clout.  Not good!  

 Well, Malcom came through and I was at his glass saw yesterday at 1 pm.  I love using these - they just cut right through like butter.  I do have to grind things smoothly before placing them into the kiln for a final melt, but I'm really happy with the results, and it was fun seeing Malcom again. 

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This is NOT one of Malcom's lights, but it's very cool, isn't it?

I got my author assignment for the LOTR Big Bang and was contacted by him last night.  I think we'll be able to work very well together.  I've never done story illustration before in my life - I only have to produce a single picture, but who knows?  I need some clarification from the organizers on the deadlines, but once I receive those and do a bit more thinking about what I want to portray, I'll be ready to start work on this.  How fun!  Have a great Thursday!  

 It's my Studio Day today, and I'm so pleased. 

( Studio Ramblings below the cut... )

This isn't even close to what I'm working on in glass

right now...but isn't it just gorgeous? 

I also have a story by my German friend to edit, three stories of my own to work on, and I want to play with digital painting and I really need to get some house cleaning done, and the usual laundry, and the NookColor has a program update that will make it more of a tablet computer that I want to get loaded, and...and...  Well, it's a certainty that the grass, such as there is, won't be growing underneath my non-moving feet today because my list of things to do is a mile long, but my actual roadway is closer to 500 feet in length.  In other words, I have too much to do for the time I have available to do it in.  Happy Wednesday!  

 Step one of my BFAC is now complete (there will be a lot of steps, so don't think that I'm that far ahead of anyone - LOL). But the glasswork that I wanted to make for the piece turned out very well. Now I have some decisions to make - size and whether or not I'll do any embellishment. I have a bit of time to spread my beads out again and make sure I have everything that I want to use available. 

Today I get to go glass shopping. I have an idea for my Beading For a Cure kit, and to do it I need to play with glass. "So" disappointing (just ignore this big grin on my face).

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 Yesterday, my DH was awakened by my father-by-marriage phoning him shortly after 7am. He complained that his power had gone out shortly after 4am. So, I got to phone the utility company and report the outage. They came over and checked, and it was actually in the wiring going into the fuse box, so then I had to call an electrician to come over and get that fixed. Well, code won't allow them to do anything but a temporary fix because the electrical system needs to be upgraded and brought up to code. So next week the electrician will go over the house with DH and his father to give them an estimate about bringing the wiring up to code. Anyway, when I arrived home last night, there was a stunning red rose in front of my place at dinner with a note thanking me for my help. Sometimes my DH comes through in spades!


I have two stories in for crit right now, and I'm actually happy with both of them. So those will be posting onto ErulisseDances soon, if you are subbed to that board. Look for them by the end of the week.  

 So I received my kit for the 2012 Beading For a Cure yesterday (to view the current 2011 auctions, follow the link).  This annual charity that I participate in has a variety of beads in the kit.  Each bead must be used at least one time in the project. 

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I want to continue writing, and since most of what I write is short that's probably not going to be a major problem.  But I also edit for two friends, and that cuts into my time also.  It's worth it, but it's time. 

I committed to produce artwork for at least one story in the Tolkien Big Bang.  I knew I would have the BFAC commitment also - I have done this challenge for years.  But I still need to fold everything into the 2 hours or so that I have in my nights and maybe an hour in the early mornings. 

And I have charms to make for the Metal Clay World conference, enamel work to finish, other beadwork projects sitting on my desk (currently there are four in process) and...and...and.  I need to design something for BFAC that will not be a time hog but will look excellent and meet the criteria of the challenge.  The designs are already shifting in my head, just by writing this down.  It'll come clear...