Tuesday, August 24, 2010

I SIMPLY MUST STOP WHAT I'M DOING, JUST FOR A MINUTE...

Okay, y'all saw my crack house in the last post.
I'm trying to make it into a studio again - alone -
though my "little girl", Skyler, helped me last Saturday.
No one else has been knocking on my door...
(that was a HUGE hint).

Anyway, I must stop what I'm doing to share with you
 a gift I received in the mail today.
Now, I'm about 8 posts behind and have
my eldest son's Valentine's candy to mail,
an "I hope you're feeling better" box
that should have been mailed to my friend,
Molly Alexander, about 8 months ago
and a giveaway + many extras for her patience,
to the winner of that giveaway that probably thinks
 the Tank went ahead and put me in the home
 if she read my last post.
.
BUT, all of that waits while I show you
 this most wonderful gift I received.

My friend, Jan Armentrout, ordered a nest for me
made by the amazingly talented (I could go on and on)
Victoria Boster.
She had sent me to her website to look at these nests
and when I did, I swooned.
So, what does my most gracious friend, 'the other Jan' do??
She orders me one.
I simply must show you pictures of it.
Now, if you have trouble understanding
what it looks like because my photos are, well, lacking,
you can go to Vicki's blog and see pictures.
She makes a lot of these and
sometimes when you order one
you have to wait MONTHS to get it -
that's how good she is,
how amazing the nests are,
and how much demand there is for them.
(I really think Where Women Create should do an article
on her studio - can someone pass that on??)

Okey dokey, I've got to get back to the crack house,
so here are the pictures that don't do the nest's beauty justice...
one side of the nest
another side of the nest - really, go look at them on Vicki's blog
I really love this side of the nest-it has some twigs w/ white glittery 'flowers'
Okay, now you're going to be totally confused-
this is the center of the nest.
You know, where the bird sits?
The sides of the nest are built up to surround the center
just like in real life.


Now I must get back to the studio crack house.
I will start posting all of those old posts on my next break.

One more little thing,
You know what?
I have found that my artist friends make the best friends.
Thanks again, Jan, I love my nest!

Until later,
thanks for reading,

      Jan

Thursday, August 12, 2010

"MY NAME IS JAN AND I'M A HOARDER"

My sweet and precious fellow hoarder, Shell, of Bungalow Bling, is hosting this Hoarder's Event.
There's a second part to this party (party??) for
Crafts Gone Bad.
Yeppers, she covered just about everything.

She and I are recent blog buddies.
She's the sweetest thing and we hit it off right away.
Though a bit skeptical at first,
I believe she was sincere when she told me that,
no, this event was not created to mortify me
in front of my fellow bloggers and dear friends.

*Anyone know different??*

So, it is with a wee bit of trepidation that I show you the photos of my studio, aka "the crack house".
Won't it be nice to finally understand why I would nickname my studio "the crack house"??

The photos tell the story.
I just have to tell you first that none of this is any of my fault.

The main area of my work space where I work.
This is to the right of my work area. I try really hard to keep things
out of the front of my sewing machine so I'll actually use it.
 Darlene on the floor. Horrors.
And, she's under foot. My foot; feet.
Right where my chair is
supposed to slide under the table.
Dar' thinks she's pretty hot and can land where ever.
Ahhh, yes, everyone needs an orderly jewelry making area.
See the stamps?? I have about 750 more.
NO, I'm not kidding.
Look at the good use I make of my second work table.
Makes you wanna come and take a class doesn't it?
The Sizzix area on the left and the soldering station on the right.
It's great to have all this room to spread out.
The corner to the left of the second work table.
The paper??
Oh, it's okay, don't feel sorry for me.
I have at least 700 more sheets of printed paper 
and I'd guess about 150 pieces of card stock.
I have a bit of a weakness for Paper Whimsy collage sheets.
I have hundreds of them and her newer digi sheets.
The overflow into the "workroom" of our house.
I like tall paper and messes a lot.
I have tons of the best fabric and lace.
You're seeing about a third of my stash.
OMG, this is so cool.
So I was at this estate sale and I bought a king size
chenille bedspread for 25.00 - a steal in itself.
I cut all of the really large poms off of the edges
and I still have all of that fabulous chenille fabric.
I adore trims.
One could say I collect it,
but that would be snippy.
And though I have a really lot of trims,
it's the fancy, elegant ones that I treasure the most.
If I was sitting at my work table and looked to my right,
this is what I would see.
Oh, hush. I'm talking about Baxter,
dumbest dog on the planet.
If you came for a visit tomorrow
when you walked through the door into my studio
and looked to your right, this is what would greet you....
an amazing dressmaker form that I just bought at a flea market.
If I'm busy or sick and can't work
I make piles.
Lots and lots of piles.
Walking into the studio from the garage
you would look to your left and see treasures.
Bottles.
I've been sick and haven't been able to work.
I'm doing so much better now that
I'm going to get these bottles
and the rest in another big box,
all fixed up so beautifully that you're going to
buy at least two.
That's what I told the Tank would happen.
Blah, blah, blah....but look at those vintage clocks.
The rest of them are scattered throughout the house.
I love, love, love collections of vintage clocks.
More crap.
Oh, come on!
 It's crap.
I'm way past the "stuff" phase.
I have three isles in the studio.
This is the one that runs in front of the built-ins.
We haven't been using this isle; just Maytag.
I still buy Scrabble games at garage sales for the pieces.
I want more.
The neatly stacked ribbon is a lie.
The rest of my ribbon is.....here somewhere.....
Oh, yeah, my sister reminded me that I have
boxes full of ribbon in the built-ins. *sigh*
After being forced to photograph and validate my hoarding
I have come up with some wonderful ideas how to
make groupings of supplies that you haven't even seen
and vintage pieces for you to purchase in my Etsy shop.
Except, I am going to have to give some real thought
about sharing my vintage jewelry.
I'm just sayin'.
We're working our way up to the best vintage jewelry box;
my favorite pieces.
My best vintage rhinestone pieces...
They're even more spectacular in person
and I love each one of them
as much as I love my children.
Oh, good grief, wipe that look of horror off of your face.
I'm just sorta kidding.
Mmmmm, pearl wanna bee's and vintage pearls
living in harmony in the crack house.
The garage takes care of the overflow.
Keep scrolling.
Oops. Turn your computer or your head sideways
to check out this pile.
Junking, the art of it, is what drives me.
......and drives me.

Oh, for heaven's sake!
I am exhausted after taking all of these pictures
and I have to admit that you really haven't gotten a realistic
look at the Crack House.
I have much more that I'm too worn out to share with you....
my creepy baby doll head collection, all of my trims, vintage flowers,
millinery pieces, ephemera, embellishments;
oh, the stacks of boxes full of my jewelry makings
............I'm sure I know there's more.

So, here's what I'm going to do.
In between helping my son set up his classroom for his first teaching job,
and helping Brat set up hers,
and Craig's wedding *rehearsal dinner* invitations, place cards, center pieces
and gifts I'm making for everyone that attends,
and spending two days at the Round Top Antique show,
and out of town company,
I'm going to get organized, take pictures of all that will be listed in my Etsy shop,
get it listed *gagging*
and I'll post pictures of that process and show you what a
decent Crack House should look like.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog!
I appreciate my readers so much - please let me know you were here
by leaving a comment (don't be mean).

XXXOOO, Jan
Baxter - spook

Friday, August 6, 2010

I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN

I'm blessed to the max, but a fairytale??
.......not so much

How do y'all do it??
You make it seem so effortless.
I've come to the conclusion that some of you
might be a wee bit O.C.D.
And the rest of you never sleep.

Me??
I feel like Barbie every minute of every hour of every day.
Did you know that I qualify for that Hoarders show on T.V.?
Yeah, I'm a Mixed Media Hoarder.
It's gotten so bad that I haven't completely unpacked from two art retreats....
both held last year and then there's this year's p.c. retreat...
Oh, and estate sales, flea markets, resale shops, junk shops,
people's trash by the side of the road,
crack house apartments being demo'd - I stopped to see
what treasures I could find.
I found a pick-up load. No kidding.
In an effort to keep up with something,
I made a promise to myself - it was about a week ago -
I was going to keep up with my blog roll.
Then I got this great idea that I would "rotate" some blogs
 off to get the number of blogs I read  I'm supposed to be reading
under 200. It didn't work.
I added six new blogs.
Oh, and my blogging??
I think it's so cute that you feel you have to ask.
I'm about 8 or 9 posts behind.
I plan on catching up.
Surely I can find the time.

The rest of you manage to blog, read your blog roll,
scour estate sales, create!, list all of your many creations
in your Etsy shop,
mail out all of the orders you get "the next day",
host swaps, be in five or more swaps at a time,
teach workshops, attend art retreats,
raise your well-behaved children,
cook well-balanced meals for your well-behaved children
and your darling husband,
and I'll bet you clean your own house, too.
AND, you work.
YOU WORK!...
I don't.
Work, that is.
I will admit that I have a couple of medical adventures
that I deal with on a daily basis, but I DON'T WORK....
Where are you finding the time??
I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't a master plan
of *church lady's voice* "Saaa-tan".
I can hear him now, telling his evil little elves,
"Let's drive Jan nuts. I know just how to do it..."
I see you looking at the picture above of my kitchen
and at the picture just below of our bedroom.
These pictures are a few years old.
I've been pretty immobile off and on for the last six years
and I can assure you that the kitchen doesn't look
like the picture above.
The Tank's had free reign and that speaks volumes.

And the bedroom??
Well, both areas had probably just been cleaned
by my cleaning lady when these pictures were snapped.

That cleaning lady was 'let go' yesterday.
Let's just say I didn't vote for Obama
and we use to have money left over
every month for that cleaning lady...
for the last 25 years.

I'll be doing the cleaning from now on.
Well, all except the Tank's bathroom.
I refuse to go into that room.
There's a reason a man should have his own bathroom.

Oh, and one last special little thing I want to
share with you about my life...

I haven't cooked or baked in years.
Mostly because of illnesses, broken bones,
snapped tendons and leg braces, blah, blah, blah.

I told Frank yesterday that I'd start cooking again.
Yeah.
I think my meds need to be adjusted.
So, here it is, sweet friends.
I'll probably re-read this story and realize
that it's completely disjointed
but, heck, I really don't care.
I have dinner to cook.

And, I'm doing the best I can.

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