I had a nice, chill day yesterday. Hung out at home all day, did some reading, some vegetating, etc. ladygwyn joined gossamer_gull and I at The Crackhouse for some quality crafting time. It was definitely nice to have company and I actually felt a little motivated to both start new projects, and work on old ones. I started work on a new mask, which I am happy with, so far. But I need to make a trip to the craft store for the kind of ribbon I want to use around the edges. So that will have to wait until I get paid. On the plus side, by the end of this week, I should no longer be completely poor. Since I couldn't do anything else with the mask, I pulled out my cross stitch and worked on that until my wrists got sore. So that was a fun evening.

Quote of the day

Things overheard at work: 

"Oh. I mispronounced that? Sorry. The only thing I know about California is the Beach Boys."

Why is it that Brynna has the whole bed to sprawl out on, and she just has to sleep in the square foot of space occupied by my newly cleaned and folded laundry? And finally, here is my finished cross stitch project:

   

 Now I just need to figure out where to get it framed.

Well. I did it. I finished my cross stitch. After only 6 years or so. A new record. Yay! I will take a picture of it tomorrow when I have better light so that those of you who care can see the finished product. To celebrate the successful completion of this project, I began on another partially completed cross stitch which has been mocking me from the craft drawer for a number of years. Go me.

I am marinating chicken to cook for dinner tonight. Go me, with the cooking. We'll see how this comes out. Did some dishes and am waiting for them to dry so I can put them away. I don't believe in the whole using a towel to dry the dishes thing. They can air dry and like it. So, not too much on the agenda for today. More bad TV and cross stitching, I suspect. I am moving right along with the backstitching and it looks really cool. All of the castle is done, and bits and pieces of the dragon are also finished. I have a lot more work to do...but assuming that I just spend the next couple of days hanging out at home...and at the moment I have no other plans...I should finish it fairly soon. Yay!

The weekend went pretty well, I think. Our group got along well, we had plenty of food and drinks, and way too much Buffy and Angel, as evidenced by the fact that I dreamt about fighting demons last night. I finished the cross stitch part of my cross stitch on Sat night, and started the tedious process of backstitching on Sunday, so I am feeling very accomplished. It looks cool. That's the nice thing about the backstitching, it makes such a dramatic difference right away; I really feel like I am getting somewhere. Need to take a break for a couple of days though as my neck, back and wrists are a little out of whack from spending the weekend hunched over my canvas.

I spent a lot of time yesterday working on my crafting. =) Still, I made good progress and have finished one project and am nearing completion of another (if only it didn't keep needing extra stuff - glitter, paint, etc.) Also worked on the dragon cross stitch, which is coming along nicely. At this rate, the cross stitching should be done by the end of the month, and then begins the tedious process of backstitching all the outlines. *sigh*

I ended up being pretty productive on the crafting front yesterday. While I watched/listened to The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers I added another 4 inches to my afghan, and stitched this cute cross stitch Christmas ornament:

   

 Then I read some more Wolves of the Calla and finally turned in at around 6 am. You'd think that given the time that I went to bed, that I would sleep all day...but you'd be wrong. I woke up at around 8, with my brain buzzing. I think I need to get a job. I have too much time on my hands.

Saturday I was pretty much sick as a dog all day. Blah. More tea, more cough drops, more cold medicine. Movie watching, video games. Sunday...more of the same, though I started feeling a little better in the evening. I worked on, and finally finished, the cross stitch project I started about 12 years ago. It has been pitifully close to being finished for about 6 years, but I haven't worked on it in all that time. Finally it just seemed a shame not to complete it. So, here it is:  

Of course, now the question is, what do I do with it? Any suggestions? What's that I hear? I think it's the crafting supplies calling to me. I better go see what they want.

Picked up fired flowerpot at Claytopia. I am pleased with the results.

Yesterday, I met heathertea and one of her friends in Northampton to do some pottery painting. I didn't have anything specific in mind, but was thinking that I would like to make a Christmas present for my dad and stepmother. I had considered doing a vase for them before, but I wasn't really happy with the shapes of any of the vases, and didn't know what to do with it, anyway. Looking through their basket of stencils, I found a cool celtic knot dog stencil, and went searching for something big enough to use it on. I ended up choosing a planter, and painting it in earth tones, a base coat of brown, with a sponged on layer of red to give it some depth, and the design done in two shades of brown, dark in the center of the design and fading to a lighter color on both sides. HT did a plate in yellow, with orange flowers, as a present for her parents, and her friend did a cup and saucer, blue with witch design on the saucer and a day/night theme on the cup. They all looked pretty cool, and I can't wait to see what the finished products look like. I can go pick up my project on Thursday.

I also hit the craft store and picked up some yarn so I can start on an afghan for my nephews. It's about time. I made an afghan for my sister about 4 years ago, and the boys have been bugging me about getting their own ever since. One wants shades of blue, and the other wants red and black. I picked up some multi-colored yarn that is red, black and white, but didn't see any good blues. I'll have to hit some other stores later, but at least I can get started on one of the blankets now.

Spent an afternoon crafting with and , during which I finally finished the mask I began on Valentine's Day. The remainder of my time has been filled with "actively seeking employment," crafting projects, hanging out with J, watching movies and way too much TV, and generally enjoying the respite from work.

Decorative office supplies

And more stuff:

Yesterday was a very productive day at work. See? 

So this weekend, my roommate and I went to Claytopia to paint some pottery...and I took pictures. We had already planned out our projects for the day, and brought along some pictures to use as guides. So, we picked out the plates we wanted to paint, and then had to decide what colors we wanted to use:

 
Then we got to work painting the background color. And then painting it again. And then painting it again. (For those of you who have not attempted this sort of craft before, in order to have a nice even finish that isn't streaky, you have to use three coats of paint)

 

With the background done, my roommate began drawing her design on her plate. I traced my pattern and started painting.

 
Approximately 6 hours after we started, we had completed our painting projects.

Finally, today we were able to pick up our finished projects, which had been fired over the weekend. Love how this came out.

I walked in the door this evening, looked around my apartment, and decided that it was time to vacuum. For those of you who think vacuuming is no big deal, I say, "You obviously don't live in an apartment with five cats, and two women with long hair."

Vacuuming is not about taking out the vacuum cleaner, plugging it in, making a pass or two across the carpet and putting it away again. This is cleaning on an epic scale.

First, you have to pick up the worst of the cat fur and people hair to prevent it from getting wound around the vacuum, causing the motor to burn out. Next, you take out the vacuum, plug it in, turn it on, laugh as the five adorable reasons why your apartment is always a mess go scampering from the room.... Then, you get to run the vacuum for a few minutes before the smell of burning hair alerts you to the fact that the person who vacuumed last probably skipped step one. You extricate the clumps of hair and dust from the vacuum cleaner with a pair of scissors, then run the vacuum some more. Back and forth, back and forth...it makes absolutely no difference. It's time to break out the attachments. You run the hose directly over the carpet, attacking the worst of the cat fur and listening to the rattling of something (a thumb tack? a paper clip? who knows?) stuck in the bowels of the vacuum hose. Finally, when the carpet is as free of fur as it is ever likely to get, you put the vacuum away, and break out the scissors again, to cut away the parts of the carpet that the cats have been using as a scratching post.

If you're like me, and allergic to practically everything, you perform this whole operation with a paper mask attached to your face, steaming up your glasses and hoping that you will still be able to breathe when it's all over. Then you can survey your handiwork and try to convince yourself that the living room looks a little better. Really, it does.

It seems appropriate, given today's holiday, to share some pictures.

I did a little crafting this evening. I had a pair of plain black hair sticks, and I wrapped wire around the ends and dangled little blue beads off of them. They look pretty cool, I think.