its a mad mission

So, while Michelle Crafton tells us about good recipes  (and I can verify, this one is good), I will provide the counterpart on my blog: what NOT to eat. You can’t appreciate light without darkness, right? So consider me the contrast.I got it into my head the other night that the components of shepherds pie could be combined into a handsome hash. Ground beef, corn, potato chunks, mushroom soup and onion mix. Turns out they certainly can, with tasty results (note: use the onion soup mix in moderation–if you use too much, your boyfriend will tell you this meal has a “unique” flavor). Only problem is, you’ll need to close your eyes to stomach it.

You may remember the pelt.
Here it is felted and dry felt stitched (I call him “Bobby the Beakless Bird”). The handles came from M&J Trimmings, the most fantastic trimmings store in Manhattan. I could have spent hours there. They have an entire wall of just bag handles. I wanted to buy  them all, though I own no other handleless bags. The next two weeks of class: slippers. I still have my swiss felt clogs from 10 years ago, and now I get to make a pair. Very excited.




  

pretty eggs I made at the crafton’s easter egg craft night. 



closeup 

These are the eggs Bill decorated. Turns out he is much more creative than I am, as you will see.
We’ll call this first one, “Race track,” because, and I quote, “The ribbon looks like a race track.”  

This is the “love egg.” Enough said.  



 

And this is the “meadow…

 
on fire.” 

This next egg is interactive art! It greets you as you walk toward it…


 
and bids you farewell as you walk away. Genius.

 

This last one is mine. It is Brad Pitt. I made Angelina, but in an unfortunate incident, she was dropped, and suffered extensive head injuries.

Some places for you to check out.
Local crime
Great advice
The place from which I steal ideas
The people with which I worship
Fellow decorating fiends
Great resource

***Deb and I have a running list of people who we see regularly on our commute. Even in a city this ginormous, you begin to recognize people. I often wonder if they recognize me. We’ve named many of them. There is “surfer boy” (nothing at all about him suggests he is a surfer, except that he has longish hair). If we see him on our walk, we think it is a good omen for the day. He disappeared for a month or two, and we were afraid he’d been laid off. But we recently passed him again, and all is right with the world. There is also “guy with a distinctive face.” There are “the sisters.” One looks street tough and the other flatirons her hair. There is the “blonde girl,” who happens to have a great coat and hat. The “beard guy” recently got a girlfriend. I could go on. I find it funny that, despite knowing not to judge a book by its cover, all of the above names are the result of me doing just that. Some names are based on choices that person made, others from features they happen to genetically possess. Either way, I wish I had a better look at who they really are. Maybe their names should be “girl whose mother abandoned her 10 years ago” or “guy who collects garden gnomes.” Do I share a train car with “husband of wife who is leaving him,” and do I squeeze up the stairs alongside “ivy league girl who wants to quit and be a musician”? If they DO recognize me, I don’t really want to be known as “big nose girl.” I know bigger things than my schnozz define who I am. I suspect the same goes for them.

***I enjoy the contrast of these two google maps satellite shots. The first one is where I grew up. The second is where I live now. In one spot, the first seems gridded and developed like NY. That’s actually rows of plants.

I finished laying out my fibers in class tonight for the circle purse, and realized it looks like I skinned me a subway rat. I’m considering just leaving it as is and glueing some google eyes to it.

I’ve been wanting to get plugged in to the massive art community in this neighborhood, and last week began by embarking on a 6-week felting class. What is felting, you ask? And can’t you just buy felt? You can, but you’d be missing out on a lot of fun. Felting is basically like painting with fibers, soaking it in hot water, and beating the life out of your creation. In the pictured piece, our first project, we laid out the fibers (the dijon and blue lumps) in four layers. Then with a sharp needle, you jab other fibers in to create an image. At this point, it’s like a shag carpet. Then the wetting/soaping/beating part commences, and while later, you have a finished creation. We will be attempting a purse, shoes, and a hat. I’ll post those, if they are any good. Another great part is meeting the other students. Joanne is the former art chairman at NYU Albany and a sculptor. Two other ladies are social workers here, one going for her doctorate. Our teacher is an accomplished felter and member of the Gotham Girls roller derby team. She has a lot of bruised ribs, she says.

Check out the pics at our Worship Leader Extraordinaire’s blog.

On the panorama, make sure to scroll over to see the whole thing.
We’re working bit by bit on making over the place. If you have a spare weekend, come on into the city and get your hands dirty! All us office rats agreed it was quite cathartic to do manual labor this weekend. And that it’s amazing what gallon of paint can do.
Here’s the original place when we were looking at leasing it.