a new point of interest~

if you create, craft, make jewelry, take pictures, draw, work with paper, paint, sew, or any combination of these things, i encourage you to join up with a wonderful new community of like-minded folk at artsee bloggers.

artsee bloggers is, in creator geri centonze's words, "a place of inspiration for the creatively inclined"

and she invites everyone to link up. she has built a spot where we can meet fellow artists, in an environment much more friendly than a techno-google search. i'm excited at having so many resources at my fingertips, and at the chance to meet other fabric-dyers or rusty junk lovers that i may never have met otherwise.

you can choose to be listed in up to three different categories, with thumbnails of your work and a link to your website. it's super easy, geri walks you through it step by step.  she has a lot of great ideas for the future of this site, i can't wait to watch it grow. go check it out!

on another note, we are packing up ready to head out to the bay for a few days. it's just gerry and myself for the first time in many many years as cullan has headed out to bristol bay to commercial fish with a family friend for a couple of weeks. sure hope we can remember how to talk just one-on-one...

and i have a confession to make. after all my praise for our beloved xtratuff's a few posts back...i have become a ship-jumper. a traitor. a turn-coat. or turn-boot. i couldn't help it. take a look at these and you'll see why:

can you stand it?? i couldn't. they feel sooo good. they are rated to 40 below, and have soft neoprene uppers with handles to pull them on!! yes! that was the clincher. i can have my new boots on quicker than you can say bob's yer uncle, and i can put them on standing up. need i point out how lovely they compliment my rain gear? this will definitely make the slop bucket duty a little more bearable.

have a wonderful weekend, where ever you are and whatever is on your feet!

texture tuesday ~ in the pink

this week's texture tuesday challenge from kim klassen was: pink. she told us to think outside the box. which i had to do, as there is not a whole lot of pink floating around in my life here. i thought about bagging on texture tuesday. then i remembered the two rubbermaid totes full of thea's old ballet slippers and pointe shoes. years and years worth. taking the lid off that tote was sure a treat...phew.

from the audience a ballerina's feet may appear to be made of spun sugar, but i am here to tell you this is not the case. in real life those satin shoes are beat to a pulp, along with the feet that go in them. nothing pretty up close. serious work horses. but they were the only pink i had to work with~

first i used the watercolour filter on the background image, which gave it a subtle painterly look. i adjusted the brightness & contrast a bit, then added a pink warming filter at 59%. i placed a layer of kim's dusty rose texture on normal blend at 45% opacity. set a mask so i could erase some of the texture off the shoes. then placed a layer of kim's love in layers texture on soft light blend at 85%.

when i printed it out, i was surprised at how artsy it looked.

i liked it.

most of the folks who participate in kim's texture tuesday are pretty serious photographers. their work is stunning, and very inspiring. i am not a photographer, and many times after viewing all that beauty i wonder what in the world i am doing plugging my thumbnails in there with them. but, what the heck. it's making me use my new camera every week. i'm okay with not being ansel adams.

that said, please go view all the textural masterpieces of the week at kim klassen's texture tuesday!

happy birthday buggy!

today my little girl turned 23.

how in the heck can time go by so fast?

i'm sad that she's too far away for me to wake up with my awful singing.

or give a birthday hug.

so i'll just post a little birthday tribute for her here. i bet it gets me a phone call...

she's always tended to be a little crabby on her birthday.

too much emotional turmoil i think.

thea has always liked everything orderly and executed according to a plan

that no one ever knew about except thea...

and okay, yes, i admit she gets that from me.

in her defense, she has many other qualities that far surpass the moody birthday blues...

she has her future on a great track.

yup, she's right on the ball you might say

(she really is)

she's quite stylish when the situation calls for style

 

(no xtratuf's on that girl)

and she is fabulously talented

(i know! so awesome! all that and a college degree to boot!)

in all seriousness, her best qualities are that she knows who she is, and what her roots are.

she understands how important those roots can be in the big picture of what she will become.

i couldn't ask for anything more in my little girl.

she's not perfect, but she's good enough for me.

i just wish she wouldn't have so many birthdays so close together.

happy birthday thea rose!

texture tuesday~ three (3) trois

after the rocket's red glare there is...texture tuesday! our challenge from kim klassen this week was to incorporate the number three into our image in some way. and she gifted us with two new beautiful canvas-y textures to work with as well...she is such a generous soul, such a gifted artist. visit her inspiring blog...you'll see what i mean.

what a great challenge! so many ideas came to mind, but one couldn't be ignored. i see it every time i pass through our front door:

here's the skinny: i set the background image at multiply blend on 49% opacity. adjusted levels & contrast. added a layer of kim's canvasback texture at multiply on 100%, a layer of luminous at vividlight blend on 25%, and a final layer of paperstained light on multiply at 100%.

here is the before:

mine are the clean ones in the middle. which isn't to say i don't work as hard in mine as my husband & son. i just hose my down before i come into the entryway. like they are supposed to.

xtratuf's are the epitome of haute couture in the vast kodiak fashion world. i prefer insulated, as my feet tend to get cold, (and i like the little bit of height boost from the extra padding...) but you see both types walking the streets. some fellows like to cut the tops off and treat them like sneakers.

how many types of footwear can cross the wide gap of gender and age the way a pair of xtratuf's can? you can find feet in xtratuf's pacing in the local hospital's maternity ward...sitting quietly in church pews...pondering produce in the grocery store, picking berries, on the monkey bars at recess, on the feet of lawyers running late, driving school buses, flagging traffic, waiting in line for a latte, riding horses, hiking, riding bikes and delivering papers.

i have a tiny pair of size one xtratuf's that my daughter wore as soon as she learned to walk. then both my sons wore them. now they guard our front steps. i'm a little sad looking at this photo, as just a few years ago there used to be five pairs crammed on our blue bench...and in a couple more years there will only be two pair...(i think.)

folks use their worn out xtratuf's to plant herbs in and hold doors open. they are part of our island heritage. we will probably never see a pair of xtratuf's walking the red carpet at any grande celebrity function, they may never walk on a distant planet, but they do bring our dinner home every night!