Resist Bad Coffee

Hello Everyone!

Ahhhh, summertime and sometimes the living is easy and sometimes it isn't. And sometimes when we realize our harvest (or the fridge) is close to nil, nada, zilch, T and I go to the Athens Farmers Market. Found a lovely Russian Black heirloom tomato this time (to the right there, and they are as good as they look!) and a butternut squash with a delightful butternut squash and apple soup "receipt", and some great soups and breads. The apricot scone at the bakery tent was delish! and filling without being heavy.


While there, T and I checked out each and every tent including Slow Foods U.S.A. , which is where we picked up this fabulous postcard.


I have to tell you. This is how I see America, getting 'er done, tromping thru the fields with a terrible swift sword of her own, only it's not a sword. "Get out of my way, I got kids to feed. Stand up or stand down, Mister!" Isn't this concept great?!

I might have to duplicate this outfit for November's election night. THIS gal is who we need to vote for, imho. To find out more go to http://www.slowfoodsusa.org/

And I had a delicious cup of coffee (again, fair trade, etc.) called Aldo's Coffee where I picked up THIS postcard from 1000 Faces Coffee. Resist Bad Coffee!

LOL. No kidding! Now I admit, I have been drinking coffee since I was four or five. Yes. Years old. They put cream and sugar in it to cut the caffeine -- they thought this was good -- totally forgetting about the zippity-doodah effects of the sugar. No wonder I never wanted to take a nap! And that is how I drink it now.

We gave Joe one of these too, a couple of days later. He is a coffeehound from the word "Go." So is Pita. You might remember seeing them on this little blog before. We meet them at Starbucks (I know, I know) once or twice a week among other places, so we thought they would get a big kick out of the "Resist Bad Coffee".

YUM. Now I personally prefer Community Coffee & Chicory New Orleans Blend, when left to my own devices. But I do have to admit, Aldo's is good to the last drop, too!

This weekend is going to be an incredibly busy and artful weekend for Me. Busy in a good way. I am finishing up the ShadowBox and also doing some fun stuff I haven't talked about. Cross your fingers! I still will probably drink a pot of the most illustrious java (to the right here) before Kitten comes over for Our Art Day Sunday.

Until then, I plan on getting more of what I love.

You do the same.

Later, Candace

Hanging On For The Weekend

Hello Everyone!

This poor fellow found his way into the rafters of my basement office and could not/would not come down until completely exhausted and dying. We finally found him panting on the floor in a corner, the end obviously nearing. He goes to Kitten who will know what to do with him. I found a cicada for her too, drowned in the extraordinarily torrential rains we've had here during the last 24 hours. She makes gorgeous jewelry out of these creatures, which can be seen here.

Look at this sweet little pin T made of Sculpey. I wish there were more like this to show but alas, this is it! I think I am going to put a nice back on it, and wear it on a textured scarf this fall. "Home Sweet Home", indeed. Don't know if you can tell but it's 3-D as T built upon each layer and color with a new one, instead of making it of one piece and painting it.

T is very talented, also, as is Kitten and another couple of pals I wish would step up to the plate and just knock it out of the park. Sometimes, however, I think the art which people do for themselves is more than enough. It's not about anything or anyone else, not about fame and glory (as if), or getting ahead in some crazy drama or some rat race.

Remember: Get More of What You Love!

Later,

Candace

Three Ring Circus 4AM

Hello Everyone,

Where is Androcles when you need him? As if work itself does not make me brain dead by Friday.... Molly had one of her infamous tears and kept me up till -- mmmm. FOUR AM. The Boys became very active, practicing for the Animalympics so enjoy, dear reader. How do people with little babies manage? Oh wait. They don't.



This is what I felt like the house turned into in the middle of the night. Somehow I managed to work today but thank God nothing really overtly demanding popped up other than the usual. I had to take a long ass lunch and that meant, not lunch, but an N.A.P.

Will check in Sunday. All sorts of fun this weekend.

Meanwhile, get more of what you love.
Candace

How Beautiful A Day

Hello Everyone!

A quick look at The Baby -- she's coming along nicely. Kitten said, "Don't overdo it, Miss Lady."
I hope I haven't and am sure someone will tell me if I have. Will I listen? Uh -- no.


The birds indeed have those jeweled eyes I promised and jeweled flowers await The Baby in the Garden of How Beautiful A Day. I have one of the flowers missing a petal but WAIT! There it is on Baby's wrist... like an invitation. Or a ticket, maybe, or like a retelling of those old faerie tales of crumbs -- or bling!!! -- left on the forest floor for Our Young Heroine to follow and find her own way.


Perhaps I should have made The Baby's dress pink but I don't think This Baby wears pink. You'll see her again in another more elaborate piece called "Outside The Box", and maybe I will put her in pink there...


with this bit here to the right! Say, some punkin, huh?!?

This was a postcard from a Paris gift shop presented to me some years (20?) back on opening night of a world premiere play I helped with. The director gave it to me because she said -- and it was true -- "She looks like you."

You'll see her again in "Outside The Box" also with The Baby (as mentioned) and The Girl (not seen here yet).

Hopefully, all of you have enjoyed this little glimpse into "How Beautiful A Day". And while I myself am not sick or under the weather these days (being simply peevish!), I do know some of you have been and I pray and trust you will be up and at 'em before you know it.

On the other hand, if you simply need a good laugh, go here and/or here. (Forget anything you know about cooking. And forget everything you understand about retirement planning.)

I guarantee you'll forget that there supposedly "ain't no cure for the Summertime Blues", never mind the Who, the Heat and the Tired Tired Trail to November.

And on yet another note -- since I am running out of hands! -- I'll be kicking it Old Skool this weekend and you'll see the fruits (and nuts) of my labor in a few days. Yes, it's still a bit of a secret, but wish me luck anyway!

Get More of What You Love.
Candace

Whew!

Hello Everyone!

Wow, what a busy weekend. I'm almost too tired to post... well, that would be like being too tired to talk and of course, that's not going to really happen! As my mom used to say, "Your mouth's going to be the last thing to go on you." I guess it could be worse, though.

On top of working Saturday as well as taking a one-day roundtrip to SC the same day for family biz, T and I met friends on three separate occasions. First, a light supper Friday night w/ Tony and Faye, but no pictures. Dang! The Trappeze Pub is pretty cool, too. Sharing later because I am so going back there.

To the right here is my friend and coworker Michelle (any day now) and the Hubs, Chris, whom we met today for Sunday Brunch. Dig that art on the walls! I'll get back to that in a sec.

You may remember these guys from a March post when I mentioned she had just found out she was going to have -- TADA!!! -- their first baby, whom I called Little Mister until two weeks ago when she and Chris finally decided on the name for their boy. Devon. It's Irish and it's perfect and this is going to be sweeeet!

We met our two lovebirds at The Last Resort, my (and Michelle's) favourite eatery in Athens. No kidding -- good food, excellent prices, good staff and a lovely lovely atmosphere. Everyone was happy and quite stoked about everything in general. It was great seeing them. Last Resort always has local artwork up, as does Walker's Pub and a few other places in Bulldawg territory. For a place that is mostly about sports, I find Athens embracing art on a more or less continual basis.

Well, it's a college town. So... I guess they can afford to be generous.

Then a little more work at home and a few hours later, on to the Golden Dragon to meet Ron and Allison. I ate very little -- and made good food choices. Fresh fruits and steamed vegetables... water... white tea. Yum. It was delicious as well and I will recommend it to anyone.
Then back home to continue more work. blech...

On a more mundane note, I did find the type milk I need (in SC) for the butter Kitten and I are making again. Plus she is growing kefir grains and as soon as they are up and at 'em, I will be making kefir.

Enough for now! Back to Artwork Shenanigans!
Later,
Candace

Let's Get This Baby Off The Ground!

Hello Everyone!


Here are a few in progress things I'm working on. And having a ball doing it. I want and need to get a couple of smaller projects wrapped up before this weekend which will be busier than usual, even though I'm basically doing what needed doing last weekend.


Wanted you to have the first gander at the process I go through sometimes.

I want the baby to look like she has just stepped out of wherever, and entered the world awaiting her. Hope these photos get the idea across and you know very well you will see the finished product when all is said and done.




I copied the baby from an old black & white photograph and made a colour copy of the birds from the circular at a popular food market here. I know, I know. Credit must be given, as if I wouldn't...







A slightly different shot here in this last photo
but essentially the same --

The dress and hairbow will be painted and other tricks of this wonderful trade will show up, such as "jewels" placed in the birds' eyes, maybe, fabric over the flowers... or even a paper dress over the painted dress in the next step.

Really, "The Sky's The Limit"... or is it?

Should it be "To Infinity and Beyond!"?

Maybe I'll let the birds take it away! Let's Get This Baby Off The Ground!

So now, work over, dinner eaten, dishes put away, the Girls walked, I can go do what I really love. Tramp around in my colours and papers, some of that "shiny stuff", paints, wax, buttons, cloth and fabrics -- mmm. how'd THAT happen??? -- relax, read and write! If I am lucky, bed before too much longer.

Later, Candace

Quick Note, Gotta Go!

Hello again


Am I the only one -- I know I'm not -- who goes to the thrift stores "just in case"?

It's amazing what one can find there as well as places like Hobby Lobby, Michael's, et cetera.

As the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. And I have found some lately that are going on the art project I have begun...

Meanwhile, life and work (blech) goes on. The tummy trouble improves and then returns so I am on probiotic kefir and such... Kitten and Don were ill. Thought at first it was food poisoning but now we are none of us sure. Don was having the same symptoms -- okay. Not. Okay. Not.

A box or two to alter and give as gifties -- one in memoriam. One just because. And someone mentioned a fundraiser -- here. A couple days ago, there was an interesting suggestion on Jeanne's site, read the August 6th post. Real food for real thought...

Later,
Candace

Jazz for a Sunday Afternoon

-- or morning.

Hello again!

Do you start weekend mornings with music? Quiet jazz or blues are wonderful esp on Sunday mornings. Music is so very important to me, and I use a lot of it when I create, whether it is art, writing or cooking. Typically, I save the heavyduty fun stuff (i.e., music with lyrics) for those times I am just relaxing, thinking, or chatting with friends while at the same time wisely staying off the stage.

I was listening to "road music" -- you know, Route 66, etc. -- when I started working on these pages first seen here. Yay, a world premiere sneak peek of a new art journal!

Both these fotos are of You Know Who -- one from lo! these many years ago when I was just learning who I was and my place in the world. (Whew, glad I got over that!) The one with the hat is from the Polaroid Instamatic days. As I wrote in an earlier post, the backgrounds are courtesy of the uber-talented Misty Mawn in the July/August issue of Somerset Studio.



That's Bose Chumbe (Boh see Chum bee), which is Dine (Di nay) -- or Navajo -- for "Sweet Cat I Am". Gee, who would have thought the Navajo would talk like Yoda? But they did evidently, according to Etowise, a Dine friend. Bose only weighed 6 pounds but wow, was she feisty.

A real charmer, she could still clean up a bar room brawl quicker than most, trust me. Dogs feared her, cats wanted to be her.


This new art journaling book was jumpstarted by several things I will leave out of this for now. I know all my pictures seem to be of me this week, don't they? Yes, yes, like Frida Kahlo, I am my own best subject matter for as she said, who really knows me best?

On an ironic note, the economy really did a nosedive here this summer as it seems to be doing everywhere. Several shops at the small, local mall are winding down, throwing in the towel and having "out of biz" sales or "this location is closing" notices.

But their unfortunate loss is my fortunate gain. I am only sorry it comes at the workers' expense.



So here we go...

Look at these gorgeous beaded necklaces, each only $2... as opposed to $10 and more. Basically, I was able to buy over $60 worth of necklaces (for the beads, mostly) for $12. Wow, was I lucky today! You will see them again, trust me. And oh yes, I do have plans for the rest of the little darlings. Waste not, want not.

Seriously, books need threads for stitching... and those little books are going to have very colourful signatures and spines, I would imagine. One of my plans is a giveaway here on these pages. Stay tuned.

Let me tell you, just when I think this blog is under control, something goes off the beaten path. I will have to share friend Kitten's jewelry pix when I can find them.... geez!


Get More of What You Love.
Candace

Dog Days

Hello Everyone! It's Saturday, 9 August no matter what the header says... LOL. The more I learn, the more I need to learn...

It was in the upper 90s a couple of days this week and over 100F Wednesday... heat index made it 106F. We couldn't even take a walk with the Girls as it was still 92F Wed night at 11PM. The air was like buttermilk, sans taste.
Ugh.

Speaking of the Girls, Molly is enjoying the Dog Days. Being a Greyhound, she has no body fat and lazes about in the heat whenever possible. Just a big couch potato... here she has just come out from the basement (the office) where it is always cold, I kid you not. Doesn't she look totally groovy on her little plaid bed? She's 7 now. Big girl.


And get a load of Bess with her kong... with all that fur, you know she prefers a cool hardwood surface in front of the tv while I drink Ginger Ale. Bess is such a good girl. We totally enjoy her presence and her hijinks. I call her the Clown Princess. I mean, look at that face!


As for the ginger ale, that is not to cool off. I'm just now getting up to snuff. Haven't been at my best the last two days... I've inherited my mom's tender tum. Either that or I have an odd little niggling virus.


In the meantime however, I also had to work today, Saturday, and miss My Turn taking care of our dad this weekend. I don't like cancelling that especially at the last minute. I will be back on duty next weekend and see Sis's new house.

Yay! On her blog, it looks like a sweet little cottage style home -- I think she will like it much better, all in all. imho...


This Sunday, there will be more artwork and fun jewelry from Kitten. And -- in case you didn't notice, cowboys are and have been on their way! The true American Myth. Long may they ride...



Later,
Candace

You Can Do It!

Hello!

Kitten and I took a break from art a couple of Saturdays ago, and made these lovely strawberry treats she had brought to a party once before. And the crowd went wild. A second request sprang -- like Athena from Zeus's head, fully grown and ready for action.

Big humongous strawberries, split and piped with a light but tasty cheesecake filling, sprinkled with chocolate and pecans. YUM. We don't eat like this often, but when we do...

However, here they are in all their splendor Before The Fall, with Me in all my Susie Homemaker (not!) glory. I am wearing an apron borrowed from Kitten ... now presenting for your edification and amusement. And don't forget, the camera adds ten pounds -- never mind those treats!

She also kindly took time to teach me how to make real butter this past weekend, from SCRATCH. One batch ended up being a honey butter while another had herbs in it. So good, and really so easy...! You Can Do It, she said. And no, it didn't take hours. 15 minutes, tops. (Alas, my fridge went out Saturday night -- of course! -- and they were quite sad the next day. So were we, as they were deemed totally unacceptable for human consumption. Thankfully we had had several the evening before.)

I've found some wonderful "art to be shared" backgrounds in the new Somerset from Misty Mawn as well as dribbling out My own... always fun.

And although the Summer Altered Book is going/has gone well, already thoughts turn to Autumn... it even feels a bit "fallish" today, in spite of 90+ degree heat. There is that underneath coolness coming up from the earth as I have a walkabout in the backyard. And that's just fine with

Very Truly Yours,

Candace

Rough Times, Good Times

Hello everyone!
So sorry these little photos are so tiny....
they are really quite dazzling. The first is titled
"Melody as Princess Mombi", from
the movie, Return to Oz. Melody, here,
won a Master Achievement award.
This second one is titled
"Melody as Morpheus"
from The Sandman Comix. It is not
a faded photo. The costume is in tones
of grey, white and black. I believe Melody
won the Master Recreation Award at WorldCon
for this one.

And the story is below...

Yes, it's been rough times at work, but even rougher elsewhere in my life. Went to see The Dark Knight, being the true SF geek girl that I am... and T and I thought, "wow, wouldn't Melody love this movie?" She is such a JOKER fan, she made, wore and won awards for her JOKER costume among many others. That's her to the right, by the way.

When we were all spring chickens, not so long ago, T, Melody and I traveled thru high and low places to fun events, conventions, parties, etc., in and out of costumes and hijinks, all over the country. Melody's true artform was recreating costumes, as T and my art is writing and some of what you see here on this blog.

But the real joke was when I Googled her to get in touch. It had been too long and besides, we had had a tiff which she hadn't gotten over. Even tho we spoke and tried to be okay, it was awkward. She had, admittedly, done something really nasty to one up me... and a couple of folks came down on her. "Friends dont do that to friends." So enough is enough and my hand and heart again reached out...

This time, maybe it's time to make amends, all the way around. T and then I had let her know more than once, "we are still your friends, no really, we are" or we could be if she would just forgive herself for that one misstep.

I immediately saw the obit as it popped right up, first thing in the queue.

Melody died December '07 just 3 days past Christmas and 1 day after her 53rd birthday. T and I have both cried uncontrollably off and on this week, for the friend we had lost then, and now, we've lost again, for good. Nobody knew she was sick. Nobody knew anything and they still don't. We have had the unpleasant task of calling other friends and letting them know. Shock is not the word.

The day after the news, the next morning, we found tons of photos we had packed away. And I thought you might enjoy seeing her in some of these terrific hand made costumes she won so many awards for. She was a big movie hound and took great care and pride in her work.

If you had seen her in person, you would have known why... she sparkled. Even when she wasn't in costume, that gal sparkled.... and for a little while, I wanted her to be seen again. Wanted to recall to new friends the old friend who really was one of a kind...

Five days later, we are to the point where we can talk without feeling wretched over not having had real closure with her. We are each at a place where we know the good times totally outweighed and even were worth the occasional bad time.

Happier posts later, I am sure. But for now, I am still shaken and hope you understand why I must be a bit quiet while Melody still sparkles for a while.

Again, Get More of What You Love.

Candace