Lou's Last Ryde

I know my friend Nancy would get a chuckle reading this post. She always calls me Lou/Lu.

On Saturday I had to run some errands in Shelburne when I saw a CAA truck behind a funeral car and the coffin was hanging half out of the trunk. It was a bizzare scene. Side road assistance for funeral cars?

I parked my car when I noticed these words:

Lou's Last Ryde

The drivers looked like  real funeral employees taking their job very seriously but forgot to close the trunk door.

This was a great door stopper. The woman who owned the car told me Halloween is the highlight of the year for her.

The ghost pope and the HB pencil

My son Felix is Halloween baby. Every year I would ask him " how do you want to dress up"? Every year the same answer " as a ghost"! I think he was in grade 2 that he put a little spin to his outfit. He wanted to be a " ghost pope". I would like to stress that there was NO religious influence from us. My other son wanted to be an HB pencil and I remember sewing this giant costume. It was a hit! The pencil tipped always over going up the stairs for trick- or- treating with his entourage, the Pope.

The apprentice week four " The night before Halloween"

And the raven, never flitting,

still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas

just above my chamber door.............

Nevermore

While I nodded, nearly napping,

suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping,

rapping at my chamber door.

For the rare and radiant maiden

whom the angels name Lenore -

And the silken sad uncertain rustling

of each purple curtain

Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic

terrors never felt before.

Edgar Allan Poe

These are my photos I used. Full moon last Friday, country side abandoned farm house,not real blood stains! acrylic paint on frosted glass, ravens - store display, rainy day in the country photographed while driving , vintage portrait

make your own biweekly Moleskine journal

We all have the best intentions to journal, but are we following through?  I am sure I am not alone.  Pages for day one and two are getting the artistic outlet to color , write and draw. Weeks later I find the journal  with plenty of white pages. So I opted for smaller version 4"x6". 10 pages (8"x6")  folded in half gives me space to scribble my daily notes. The chipboard cover gets a stamped image for the occasion of the week.

I use an industrial cutter die cut the text and cover stock. On our Heidelberg machine I lock up a die-cutting die for round corners.

This is the " home version " . The Crop-A-Dile does a beautiful job going through several layers and leather.

I used a security envelope to draw my image on because the paper is so thin. Then I lay it down on the front cover and start sewing the line drawing with charcoal grey threat and outline with orange. The paper can be easily torn away and you

are left with the stitched image on the front. I decided to leave some paper parts with the image.

things I like

This vintage CP Rail soup cup and saucer I discovered with lots of other grunge tools in a lane way.

I love to see my blue glass "ball" jars. They filled with buttons, acorns, stones and chestnuts.

Bleached branches are ready for art projects.

Guess what that is? Send me your answer. This will be filled with "finger-licking" crochet goodies. 

I often pick up things for free. This is a heavy metal antique filing cabinet from an old pipe factory.

A stash of old egg baskets I keep in my shed with lots of rusty findings.

A ball jar filled with antique buttons was a buy at Clarence for $ 5.  These are some of my items I like to look at my studio. They inspire me while working on a piece.
The next project to come, my homemade Moleskin journals.

The apprentice week three

Paris in December.

A week before Christmas my girlfriend Ursula and I spend 2 days in Paris and I took this photo of the illuminated Eiffel Tower. This was our original photo that Nancy and I worked in photoshop.

 Nancy made a blk/w stamp reverse with a text background

.

The second image with a mask in blue.

The 3rd image in pink as a postage stamp.

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I choose the vintage style, reversed mask and used the threshold for the image.

Here I went all out and played. 

This was week 3 and I have to share it's great to have a photoshop

buddy when you get your blogging blues. You will do your homework.  

Workshop in Ann Arbor

After 3 days starting between 7 and 8 A.M. and working until 5 P.M. ( yes you heard right) I finished my book with a Greek binding, a headband binding, centipede stitching, drilling, polishing and jig sawing a window. Ann Arbor had the homecoming weekend and a big football game at the Michigan stadium, so I decided to go shopping at Trader Joe to avoid the "tail gate zone", got great food and a bottle of wine. I love the images on all Trader Joe's packaging and had to buy a bag of flour because the package was so beautiful.  

Day One we practice the centipede stitches on a cardboard box and prepared our maple wood covers from scratch to give it the ultimate look-a-like leather finish. There were no step-by-step instructions for this bug. It felt like a secret society of centipedes. Some students figured it out to have them stitched on top of the book edge. We ask book buddies over and over again what the next stitch was. I do love my tiny little book which took me 3 days and skipping lunch one day to finish it off. Now I know why Daniel Essig sells this books for $400 US.

Gone, gone, gone

This is not an ad for Travelocity.

 I am off to take a book making workshop with the best of the best. See you next week.

Whodunit?

This morning I had time to drop of my work at OCAD. Once a year OCAD is hosting the mystery art sale. Whodunit will take place from November 17 to 20. The mystery for buyers is that each piece of art is signed on the back and the artist's identity is revealed after the work is purchased . Each piece is priced at $75. The fundraising event supports the art and design communities.

The apprentice

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This is week two and our original photo.

I spent hours to get it right. I am still not happy with my result. 

This is from Nancy. I love the background light. I still have lots to learn.

The acorn that felt really good

I have an abundance of felting wool purchased in Germany. On my return flight the suitcases were packed with any colour you could imagine. In Germany they like to use olive oil soap and this water sprayer for hot soapy water.

Collect acorn hats and clean.

Pull the felting wool in very thin layers crosswise and punch with a felting needle. Roll up to a ball and gently wet it with hot soapy water. 

Agitate the felt to a firm touch and let it dry over night. Drill holes in the acorn hats and attach.

This makes a beautiful gift, a delicious apple pie with a nice tag for the host. 

beautiful summer moments

These are my most memorable moments of this summer 2010 

  

it's all about innocence  and nature. Like in a fairy tale the boy kissed the fawn and both walked off into the field with the chicken in tow.

Why I love Buffalo

Last week I schedule my day trip to Buffalo. There is a routine I established to get the most out of it.
1.) Be in the car by 7:15 A.M. and miss the traffic on the Gardiner and around Burlington
2.) approaching the US Border
Have your passport ready, fruits and sandwich ( with cheese) should be eaten. You never know what they are asking.
Be lucky and pick the lane where they don't ask the 10 questions. I tell you I have my experience of
unexpected questions. I just want to shop and don't treat me like a suspect. Roll down your back window and have your car empty. I only take my plastic container with some of my craft stuff. You will be around 9 A.M. at the border. Know your destinations! They are happy to know this mother is only shopping for 4 hours. My GPS is guiding me to my first destination, the old Jo-Ann's  store. The staff is soo... friendly there.   Here is the reason why I go. Last week they had the 50% coupon on everything . You can apply it on non- reduced items. I print out a dozen, as well for Hobby Lobby. I know we should support the canadian economy but with these price differences I can't say NO. The largest size OLAF cutting mat here at Fabricland $90, Jo-Ann regular $55 with coupon I paid $27 ( only 8% taxes),1 Olaf cutting blade Fabricland $11.95, Jo-Ann regular $ 7.95 get the second one free! How lucky is that.
The next stop is the Polo Factory outlet. They have the cleanest restrooms and I have a quick glance in the store. If your blood sugar level drops by that time, there is a Lindt chocolate store and they offer free samples.
Off to the next destination , a 20 minute drive to Barnes and Noble. I love that book store and have a membership card. Friends who have been with me know the routine, solo expresso and Chai Latte and we hang out at the craft section. The selection is enormous, the membership card can be applied at books, in the Starbucks store and for magazines. This what I bought , the 3 pack Moleskin journals. Here in Toronto the price is between $10 -$12. My lucky day (regular $7.95) they were 20% off plus 10% membership it came to $5.50. By noon I start timing myself that I don't drift off between the clothing racks at Target. They have a house designer label Mossimo which I absolutely love. I bought a pair of jeans $ 19.99. The guy in front of me bought the greek yogurt Chobani (so good) for $1.59 and I see it here for up to $3.59. Hunger - no problem across is the restaurant Panera, famous for home made bread and salads. The last stop is again at the giant Jo-Ann located in the next block. The fabric selection is overwhelming. Here I buy Kona fabric natural colour for my art projects. Buy as many yards and apply the 50% on the complete purchase . ( $10 here, US $3.99-5.99 minus 50%) I have learned to control myself, yes my friends, and didn't buy any other fabrics. Threat, metalic with coupon $1.69 here $4.50. Checkout at the cash you see the big bottle of FabricTac $6.99 minus 50%, here up to $13.00, StazOn $9.99 minus 50%, here $13.00, AA batteries ( here $8.99, US $5.99 minus 50%).
Now it's time to hit the road back to Canada by 1:30 P.M. but my GPS will guide me to my last stop
 ( only 10 min away) and you are in for a treat. The Buffalo Stamp and Stuff store, beautiful decorated with vintage and grunge stuff and you will find unusual stamp images and anything a stamper dreams of.
TJ rubber stamp sets are $25 ,print out there monthly coupon and apply 20% and you pay $20! I have to say they only had one left and I didn't buy it ( inner control). There class sample are beautiful and I wish I could take the banner class or the Alice in Wonderland book. Well, I have to come up with one of my own. Welcome back to Canada. The canadian border patrol ( this time not too friendly) asked me what I bought and I showed my receipts of $73 dollars. He starts asking me question " you came all the way from Canada to buy only stuff for $ 73"? Well, Buffalo is only 1 1/2 hour far from Toronto, so what's your point ?
If you think there is time left on the way home stop in Niagara-on-the-Lake at Bee. This store is run by two sister who really hand pick the nicest prints and hand dyed wool.  There is always a fat quarter you want to buy.
Option two for another day is to drive to the Buffalo University area, stop at the fabulous museums the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and see the Charles Burchfield exhibition. As you know from my previous posting my husband was done in 15 minutes ( but he came with me!)  and that leaves you time to go to Elmwood Fabrics. Find a student cafe for your hubby and enjoy her large print of Marimekko fabrics.

Sincerely,
The Art Girl gone shopping

tunnel vision

 

one more.....................

Have a wonderful weekend!