Black Friday Finds

Yesterday I caved in to cultural peer pressure and ventured out into Richmond on "the largest shopping day of the year".  But unlike "normal" people, I avoided the malls and electronic stores.  Instead I made my way to Tandy Leather Factory!  Black Friday was the first time I'd seen the Richmond store, and I was very impressed.  The staff was very nice and incredibly helpful!

Leather working is a new hobby for me.  Like many of my other new skills, this one is motivated by a desire for better costumes.  I would love to be able to make custom belts, pouches, and holsters for me and the other members of the Mandalorian Mercs.  I could also use leather for a whole host of Steampunk costumes.  If I stick with it, I could potentially gain a great skill and earn a lot of money.  Most of my tools were packed away for the summer, and now that they're out of storage I am itching to get started!

I've had the supplies to cut, case, dye, and hand-sew leather, but what I lacked were the stamps needed for tooling.  Thanks to Black Friday, two of the kits I wanted were 40% off!  Below are pictures of the basic stamp set used for standard floral patterns and a very nice set with more elegant floral designs.

I also bought two of the stamps that will be discontinued in 2012.  With these I can make some pretty flowers!

I bought a rawhide mallet for three dollars at a yard sale a few weeks ago, and that will work fine for the stamps.  However, I still need a slab of marble so that these stamps will make good impressions on the leather.  Marble will also be necessary to keep me from tearing up the surfaces in my apartment while I learn to use the swivel knife!  The wonderful chicks at Tandy's recommended that I find a place that does marble countertops and ask for any scraps.  I might be able to pick up a good-sized chunk for pretty cheap!

Soon there will be some leather projects in the works, but the next update will feature Christmas cards.  Stay tuned!

Courage in Art

"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  ~Joshua 1:9b

The above gem from Joshua has been one of my favorite verses since the fourth grade.  It has special significance now.  I have travelled 1,200 miles to make a new life for myself, and there are days when it is difficult to be strong or courageous.  I have moments when I just want to cry myself to sleep or get on a plane back to the East Coast.  On some days it's easy to forget that God brought me here for a reason.  Moving here was clearly part of his plan for me, but it's hard to figure out why!  Those are the moments when I have to step back, take a deep breath, and focus on living in the moment.  After all, I don't want to waste the day I've been given.

Speaking of wasting stuff, I have had a couple of failures in my experiments with alcohol inks.  On the first canvas I layered the inks too thickly for anything else to be seen.  I was going to give it up and toss it in the trash, but I decided to give it another shot last night.  After many pieces of felt and lots of rubbing alcohol I lightened the inks enough to start something new, and now the finished piece is hanging in my bedroom!  Here it is before and after:

The colors were about ten times darker than they look here.  Flash does that.

Without flash--shows the colors better

With flash--shows details better

Embossing Details

Blended inks, acrylic paints, and Tombow markers made for a pretty bird.

This whole look was accomplished with Adironback alcohol inks, Adironback blending solution (later replaced with plain old rubbing alcohol), Folk Art acrylic paints (Copper and a mix of Burnt Umber pigment and Shiny Wicker White), Tombow dual brush pens, embossing ink, and Zing! embossing powders in Clear and Denim.

The other canvas was coming along nicely...and then I ruined it.  With pink.  I just wanted a few pink highlights, but I put way to much ink of the felt.  Here's what happened:

This was just too hard to look at, so I didn't keep it.  It is now in the trash.  However, I did try some embossing experiments before I tossed it.  Waste not, want not!  Below is a picture of embossing done with Jim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder in Vintage Photo.  This is an embossing powder that's designed to look like rust.

The final effort was on a smaller canvas, and it actually turned out quite well.  It is now hanging in the house of my mentor teacher and principal as a gift for all of their help the last few months.  Unlike the other pieces, I used a mask to achieve some more professional-looking swirls.  Since canvas absorbs ink it did not give me nice, clear lines, but that worked to my advantage.  Here is the finished piece, again done with alcohol inks, stencils, stamps, and markers:

Making art has been incredibly therapeutic for me.  I can come home, turn the TV on for the illusion of company, and work for an hour or so on something beautiful.  I have definitely felt less stressed since I pulled out the art supplies!

I'd also like to mention now that I am open to taking commissions.  I'll have much more of my art to show here in the future, and I dabble in a little bit of everything.  If you see something you like, feel free to contact me and we can discuss the art you would like to see!

        

Pains in the Night

It is almost midnight here, and I should be finalizing lesson plans for tomorrow.  Better yet, I should already be in bed.  I'll regret staying up this late when my alarm clock starts beeping tomorrow.  At work I will probably have to down a 5-Hour Energy Shot, that wonderful nectar of schoolteachers everywhere.  But I am in pain, and I will not be able to sleep until it quits hurting.      

I have lived with pain for a long time.  In 2009 I was diagnosed with costochondritis, and the spring before that I was on crutches a couple of months.  I have had bad knees my entire life, I've damaged both rotator cuffs, and there's a very real possibility that I have arthritis--as a 23-year-old!  I don't remember what it's like to not have a little pain somewhere in my body.  On some days I can hardly walk because my entire left side is stiff.  On others I cannot get a deep breath because the cartilage in my chest is swollen.  I doubt there is much I can do about it.  There is no cure for costochondritis, and the best you can do is take some anti-inflamatories and snuggle up with a heat pad.  

But the physical aches and pains aren't the only things keeping me awake tonight.  My body is not the only thing that's weary.

My mind and spirit are exhausted.  I knew that my first year of teaching would be an enormous undertaking, but I did not expect the constant loneliness that has plagued me here in Arkansas.  In college we are thrown into environments in which it is relatively easy to make friends.  It is not like that in the workplace.  Most of my coworkers are considerably older than me, and I never see the few who are close to my age.  I have not lived here long enough to build a support network of any kind, and my family and friends are 1,200 miles away.  I have good days and bad days, and thankfully today was a good day.  Part of that was because I could show off something I made with my own hands.

I have been building a set of Mandalorian armor for the last two years.  It has undergone many, many changes since the early cardboard days, and it is almost finished--I only lack a back plate and some armor on my boots to cover the laces.  Tonight I armored up for the first time since July, and I was exhilarated by how wonderful it felt.  Suddenly the simple music teacher was gone.  In her place was an invincible, faceless warrior.

I have a need to create.  I think all humans do, in some form or another.  It is a byproduct of our own creation.  I am happiest when I am taking disparate elements and turning them into something new.  After two months I finally have the tools to do that again, and as soon as I get my new apartment in order I will be making cards, starting new scrapbooks, and finishing up my armor.

The largest pain I've had to deal with is the constant loneliness, but right under that I have suffered spiritually because I could not make anything new.  Now I can.  And I am hoping that this creation therapy will soothe all the pains...because I truly am exhausted!