JoJo Lost Her Mojo

I'm so tired.  The exhaustion of the past few years is really catching up to me and I just haven't had the motivation to blog at all.  I post all my pics on FB and it's been feeling like a chore to put them on here as well.  

I haven't gone into much detail of my trials and tribulations because we really don't like putting a lot out there.  Before Facebook, only a few people read my blog.  Some cousins and my fellow Vincent D'Onofrio fans.  I didn't care about what I said about my life 'BR' (Before Russell) and pretty much aired all my stresses.  However, more people have access to it now and although I have no idea if anyone from FB reads it, they could and just not leave comments and my dirty laundry would be known to people.  The one cousin who wasn't into social media use to follow my blog to keep up with what I was up to and would occasionally send me an email, but she passed away suddenly last summer. 

Speaking of, my dear friend Joe passed away suddenly in June and sent us all reeling.  By 'us all' I mean my fellow 'group' who hung out together in high school and are still friends now.  Joe was part of our group.  Then I went with Val when it was time to send her beloved pupper Tia over rainbow bridge.  And now, my own sweet little guy Sagan has also crossed and I'm still grieving big time.  This is the first time since 2003 that I've had no dogs, and the first time since 1991 without a pet of some kind.  At least we still get Shadow for a couple days a week. But I miss being followed around, pestered for food, met at the door and solicited for belly rubs and snuggles.  Been trying to organize and purge some stuff in the back rooms cause it's the only thing in my life right now I can control.

The weather's been horrid all summer.  Hot & humid every single day.  Very little rain.  The kind of weather where you need a second shower after toweling off from your first shower cause it's so damn hot.  Can't really cook.   Definitely no baking. 

Haven't really done anything of interest other than meet up with Sheila to explore an old cemetery in Barnstable off Rte 6A, browse Parnassus Books and tour the Edward Gorey House.  We found all 26 Gashlycrumb Tinies hidden throughout the house.  Some are obvious....some you really have to work for!

Going through a ton of stuff as my mom's house is for sale which brings with it a whole other host of emotions that range the gamut.  It's been so hot that we haven't done much there lately but I have to get back to it.  Car repairs up the kazoo. 

I craft as much as possible.....really try to make time for that every day no matter what it is.  This is what I've done so far:

Got these tiles in Dec and used resin to stick them to this cool window frame.  Unfortunately it leaked through to the dark blue background which bummed me out. 

Finished the bead embroidery yin yang.

The Jack diamond painting only took about a month to complete.  It's all framed and ready to go to Ohio on our next trip.

I thought this was a cross stitch when I bought the kit but it was embroidery.  Charted kits like these are not my first choice and I ended up having to use the picture rather than the chart, even though the colours are also stamped on the canvas.  It has sparkly ribbon in the large dragonfly's wings.  It looks good in the frame but it wasn't a fun project to do.  I pushed through cause I wanted to put it behind me.

This is a custom piece I did for Sheila, for her brother's birthday.  He's a mechanic so I did nuts, bolts, chain, screws, drill bits, washers and little light bulbs.

This little birdie was on this branch for hours one night.  Russell said he was still there in the morning, but eventually he was gone.  No idea what was wrong but he let me get really close for a picture. 

I'll try to post some pics of the few travels I had in July.

My Quirky Yard and Some Crafts

Finally got the yard stuff outside and also had the dump run guy come and take a bunch of stuff away so things are looking better.  We've had a stretch of great weather though.  Perfect to sit outside.  We got the new a/c units in and we're ready to usher in summer.  Time's just going by way, way too fast. 

Finally got the HP signpost put outside.  I wish the pole had been longer but it's good for a first try.

When I got that birdbath, it never occurred to me what a pain the ass it would be to keep clean.  It's plastic and lightweight and the scum grows incredibly quickly.  If I had known that, I never would have gotten one.  I'm on the fence if I'm going to bother keeping it filled this year or buy a plant and put it in the bowl.  I know the water is good for the birds and bees, but scrubbing it every couple of days is definitely not what I'd signed up for.

I saw a project where someone bejeweled a pink flamingo so of course I had to make one.  I used a clear silicone glue and worked on it over the course of a few days.  The weather was so perfect and it was really zen to stick the stones on while listening to the wind and the birds.  

This represents about 2 or 3 days of work, about an hour or two per day.

I really love how it came out.  

It's very sparkly.

My flamingo usually resides in the front yard but this was way too much work to possibly have stolen, so it's in the back.

My friend Jack sent me a Metal Earth Empire State Bldg. kit.  He had attempted the Chrysler Bldg. and got so frustrated he dumped it down his garbage chute.  I figured this one would be easy and quick.  Oh was I ever wrong.  The copyright year on the kit was 2011 and I could tell that this was of lesser quality than their current kits.  The tabs and slots were off by just enough to make one part meet and the other almost meet.  I had to force the pieces in and that caused the metal to bend inwards.  The pieces also broke really easily.  By the time I was done, I had abandoned the tab method and was gluing it together.  It was coming out so bad that I had to finish it to see just how awful it would look.  hahaha  

I call it the 'Day After Tomorrow Empire State Building, Post Flood'.  

I've been wanting to try some different mediums on the glass frames, besides doing beach themed. The gears and stuff on this aren't really pink, it's a reflection off my shirt.

I wasn't sure if marbles would work and stay put but they did and the effect is pretty cool.

And one with glass tiles.  

I did a couple more piece of organite but I wasn't happy with the results.  I have to figure out how to suspend the stuff within the resin because it all sinks to the bottom.

Seascape Windows and Orgonite

Last week Val came over for a 'craft day' to do seascape windows and try our hand at orgonite, which is an interesting item made with metal, quartz and resin, and which is supposed to bring balanced energy.  You can read about it HERE. 

I prepped a bunch of frame a few days beforehand by cleaning the glass and gluing it to the frames.  I went a bit over the edge on this small one.  I wanted to try it with just glass blobbies.  I like how it came out.

This one is my fave of the ones I did.  The resin came out so crystal clear!  I used Czech glass beads and unintentionally created a Cape Cod looking design.

This is Val's and it's freakin GORGEOUS.  My pic doesn't do it justice at all.

This is Val's orgonite and it's so incredibly badass I could die.  She used metal skulls as well as metal bits and quartz crystal.

The sides and bottom of the silicone mold weren't shiny so the resin set cloudy but the skulls peering out of the fog is wicked cool.

This is my piece just using metal bits (from the models I made recently), quartz & moonstone. 

Since I had the beads out....

I actually LOVE the way this looks.

 I made skull pendants for Val & Casi.

I did a hodge podge collage on this frame. 

Then I did 2 large frames too.

This is my fave of the two and I wish I'd noticed it was in a heart design cause I would've used more stuff in the top center to define the 2 sides better.  

So now I'm on the hunt for great frames because this craft is pretty addictive!  Marsha, Annette & I are hoping to get together soon to make them too!

Resin Crafts

Now that I know how to do those seascape windows, it's a little hard to stop thinking about making them out of every frame I have!  The first design I wanted to do on my own was Cape Cod of course. Why take the easy route when I can pour hours of time into it?  lol  First I had to free hand a map of the Cape to place under the glass as a guide.

Then I did a dry run, painstakingly placing every pebble on the map outline.  Then I put shells on it where the different towns are located.  After I was done, I lamented having to dump all this off the glass so that I could pour the resin.  

Not being able to trust my memory where the town shells went, I drew a crude Cape and placed them thusly.  

I was a bit nervous about mixing the resin cause if it's not done precisely, it won't set.  But I bit the bullet, mixed up WAY more than I needed and poured it onto the glass.  Then had to place each pebble back on, one by one.  That's a piece of Sandwich glass for Sandwich.  The filled in part is with sand (from here), then I used blue sand, blue glass bits and shiny silver glass bits for the water.  

I wasn't sure that I liked the final result but it's growing on me.  Russell, on the other hand, loves it and was happy to hear that I was keeping it.  He likes it better than the one I did at the class!

I haven't found a place to hang it yet....I think he'd be happy if I swapped out my first one, which is in the kitchen window, with the new one.

As I said, I had a ton of resin left.  I poured some pendants but the results were 'meh'.  The last couple didn't even set.

However, I did fill a glass jar with pretty marbles and poured resin on top of them.  It set perfectly and I'm very happy with the results.  It looks like water! You're not supposed to have bubbles in the resin, but I like how it looks.

I am hoping to get some more frames so that I can do a few more of these seascape windows.