Monday Metal Art

It's a gray and chilly morning here.  I believe I'll continue putting away the show stuff, before venturing outside to work at the shop this morning.  I had a great time at the show, meeting vendors, shoppers, and  fellow blogger, Stephanie.  Joseph's pig, some smaller pieces, and lots of soap went to new homes.  Some sweet orange lotion and herbal tincture from Henrietta at Edge of The World Farm came home with me. And a goddess from my friend, Eve.  The tincture is one to help lift spirits, helpful on these gray days.  The goddess will fit among what I think of as my altar, a space filled with found bits of the natural world~ shells, feathers, stones, antler..., and objects that have meaning to me, including an angel holding a bird, a smiling buddha and a little blue glass bird dish that belonged to my grandmother.  Wishing you a lovely week ahead!

Fun With Metal

There are just a few days left, before the Handmade Holidays show. 

Joseph and I have been busy creating. 

Yesterday, I put the finishing touches on a pig and a chicken.  No picture of either of those yet, but if I have time, I'll share them with you later this week.

Though I am very grateful for all the recent orders, and am excited to be a part of the upcoming show, I'm looking forward to time to make like this turtle, and slow down a bit!

Having a Blast

 In the past few days, I've got my creative mojo going again.  There's a new pumpkin spice soap, some embroidery pieces, and some metal lanterns I had a blast making with Tuesday yesterday.   The soap uses organic pumpkin puree from our garden, along with some essential oils that smell good enough to eat.  Think pumpkin pie spices, citrus and vanilla all rolled into one.  A sprinkle of cinnamon, and layers of orange and white.  I can't wait until they've cured, so I can try one.

My plan has been to use all recycled metal for my metal art.  I got to thinking about all those olive oil tins I've been saving, and a lantern idea a friend shared, and this is the result.  I'm really enjoying creating with the plasma cutter.  I got another welding lesson from Tuesday too. 

I'm not steady enough to take good nightime photos, but hopefully this gives you some idea.  Tonight, I'll borrow a tripod from the shop and try again.  I've almost used all the tins I've saved, so if you know of a source of olive oil tins, or other large cans, I'd love to know!

Something to Cluck About

In between several biodiesel-related jobs last week, the fab shop worked on creating these gates. Their client gave them a few pieces of metal he asked them to incorporate; otherwise it was up to them. This is the design J came up with, which the client was extremely happy with. There was also a smaller gate to go along with these large ones. They're some talented guys, I tell you!

Snakes & Snails & Pig's Tails

The last minute preparations for tomorrow's show are being done.  It looks like it's going to be a gorgeous day, weatherwise.  These are some of the metal art pieces J & I will be offering, all from recalimed metal.  If you're in the Asheboro area, come on out and support this group of awesome local artists.

Nourishing Traditions and a Couple of Pigs

Several weeks back, I read Nourishing Traditions.  I'd seen mention of it on several blogs, and waited for it to become available at the library.  Before I returned it to the library, the bits of paper hanging out of it made for quite a festive looking book.  I mentioned to Joseph that there were many recipes I'd like to try, and a few days later, he gifted me with a copy.  There are still many recipes I want to try, as all I've made is the breakfast oats. It's impressive that with the addition of some kefir and sometimes whey from my yogurt, water & salt, and left to sit overnight, it takes only about 5 minutes to cook, instead of the usual 25.  I really like how tender it is, with just a hint of sour from the kefir.  I've also been buying whole milk, instead of 2%, due to reading the book.  Does anyone have experience with other recipes from the book? 

Some new metal art was taken to a local shop yesterday.  It's great fun painting Joseph's creations.

New Chick in Town

My new thrifted jar has a fresh batch of laundry detergent in it. Looking back, I realized the first batch I made lasted over 10 months. I'm sorry to say I lost track of the price of the pH Up, otherwise I could tell you the cost. I'll see if I can get a current price for it (this week, I used up what I bought last year), and report back. The recipe is here. The borax is plain old Mule Team borax, found on most grocery shelves. The washing soda can be tough to find these days, so I used a pool product called pH Up, which is Sodium Carbonate, the exact same thing.

I had so much fun yesterday, painting this chicken and doing a few final touches on a new pig. When J got in last night, he spray painted the grill part of the chicken tail gold, which looks great. I think we're a good team.

Now and Zen

This is Joseph's latest creation. His uncle taught him bell making when he was a young man. The sound reminds me of an old church bell; a wonderful, resonant sound. I've been freezing some of the garden's bounty... sweet pepper, okra and pawpaw. We've had a relaxing Sunday, visiting and having brunch with friends. I hope you've had time to relax a bit and enjoy yours.

Fido

J & I met friends yesterday, to attend the Jr. League Rummage Sale in Winston-Salem. It was J's first rummage. Teresa & I have been going for 20 some years now. It's always fun to see what treasures we can find. We shared some especially good food and wine afterwards, and shared all our finds.

Today we're working around the homestead. Laundry... gardening... & J has been creating the most wonderful dog. The inspiration was an upcoming show at Circa Gallery--It's Raining Cats & Dogs. His pieces have been selling pretty quickly lately, so I won't be surprised if this fella doesn't make it to the June show. Happy Saturday, friends. Send some rain this way if you can!

Skeeter

I took some pics of Joseph's latest creation today. I guess you can figure out why he's calling it Skeeter. I had a good massage day at Hospice, which is encouraging, because I only have a handful more nursing days left to work. It will be interesting to see what new things show up once that door is closed.

Bountiful Tomatoes & Hand-Painted Silk

It's been a great week. Circa Gallery now has Joseph's Star Turtle sitting in it's front window. Woohoo! I played at Circa with Cori Cagle, an artist friend, painting some silk that I'm going to turn into eye pillows. There's such good energy there; so many creative folks coming & going. It was great fun to be around it all. Cori is painting a silk poncho for a wearable art show. I can't wait to see it finished. I rinsed my silk this morning & hung it on the line. We attended the "grand opening" for Lumina Wine & Beer's new porch last night. Even with a few sprinkles, it was a lovely way to spend a summer's eve. Our garden is producing lots of good things, even with the lack of rain. The tomatoes are amazing. Joseph & I are canning the first round of them today. Still, we may just do a rain dance this evening.

Star Turtle

Joseph & I have had our creative wheels turning lately. I've got a new soap in the works & he's been gathering materials for metal art. His latest creation, Star Turtle, is made of an electric box, rebar & a ball hitch. Star is a friendly looking fellow. I got to visit with friends at Badin Lake after getting off work last night. As is often the case during holiday weekends, they had a full house. It was a fun way to begin the holiday. Happy 4th!

Foiling the Squirrels

The weather has been interesting lately. Thursday morning, we got 5 1/4" rain in about 3 hrs. It flattened the corn, & I had to take an alternate route to work, as the creek was up over the bridge. Today has been hot & steamy. After our garden chores, Joseph said he was going to work on a pole to put the bird feeders on. This one was going to be a lot taller, to keep the squirrels from eating so much birdseed. I'm happy to have them share what falls to the ground; not happy when they empty the feeders! Anyway, it seemed Joseph had been working on it a long time out in the heat, so I went to check how it was coming along, & found this... I love creative minds!