my first free clinic visit and some bit and pieces of neato art

so i have been m.i.a. since wednesday. 

wowzer what a day that was.  since the hubby is still 'officially' unemployed, he is working with a temp agency, and we are without insurance i had what i hope to be a first and last experience with a local free clinic.   i needed a refill on a medicine that keeps my heart rate and rhythm in check.

first of all let me just say God bless those people.  they are volunteering their time. 

second of all...i will be applying to our local large well known hospital for future care.

this free clinic is located in the basement of the salvation army....behind the soup kitchen....and it looked just like it was out of a t.v. show, and worse than what you are imagining!

all of the nurses and doctors are, and i kid you not, 70+ years old.   the doctor i saw said he was a youngin' and he was in his 70's.   he was a big wig at our local large well known hospital until heart surgery forced him to cut back on office hours.  he was the kindest man, but forgetful as could be.  he said my heart sounded great.....and that always makes me feel relieved...i just hope  he remembered what a great sounding heart sounds like.

one female doctor had to use a cane, it took her about 15 minutes to make it to the bathroom, which was about 25 feet from her office.  one of the nurses had to ask her if she needed help.  as she approached i notice the white-see-through-sweater-wearing-cane-toting-woman-doctor  did not have a bra on.  it was a bit chilly in the room.  and oh-my-lawd  i could see her....areolas.  uh...according to google plural would be areolae.   i suddenly turned in to a teen-age boy and had to hold back a bout of hysterical, i can not believe i am seeing this, giggles.   i then asked God to forgive me, as i am doing now, and then prayed that she would not be my doctor. 



there were no computers, calculators.....the nurses station i was at had one of those clip on auto lamps....my nurse was so sweet and was just as deaf as i am!  *snort*  thank God my daughter was there to translate for the both of us!   it did not help that my tinnitus was roaring so loud i could not hear, and to top it off my hearing aid battery died and i was out of new ones. 

the free clinic had just the group of people you would expect...your average person who you can tell works for a living but does not have insurance, and then couple on meth....or some form of drug, the gansta, a poor woman who had a stroke in january...she broke my heart.  it was her first visit there as well.

the doctor wanted blood work done to check on my anemia, which was life threatening a few years ago.  he took me to this room with a woman that i swear was about 90 and there was a place to rest your arm....an old wooden t.v. tray.  i have had my blood drawn so many times over the years that i have track marks and look like a druggie so it does not bother me.....but,  oh holy crap there was no way this woman was going at me with a needle while my arm was on a germy tv tray.....but thank God this was the medicine room.  she could arrange for financial aid on presciptions if we could not afford them.   thankfully my meds are only 12 bucks.

ok....so now on to happy schtuff......

ohhhh.....forgot to upload photos....hold on......

oh, as a treat for being a good girl at the doctor my daughter took me for some froyo at my new favorite place.  orange leaf. 

coffee, chocolate, and cheese cake frozen yogurt topped with mini chocolate chips, mini caramel turtles and reeses pieces.....i just know this is what heaven tastes like!

this one was steph's

so on the way home from our treat we were stuck in after school and construction traffic.  i was thinking to my self how sad i was that i had not seen a sysco truck.  the hubby and kids see them all the time, and since it is a rare treat lately for me to get out of the house i was sure hoping to see one.  my dad was working for sysco when he passed away almost 8 years ago.  it has always been taken as a hello from my dad since then.   right as i began to then tell my daughter that i was sad i just happened to look up and see a tree in the shape of a heart.  i reached for my camera, but was too late to snap a photo as traffic began to move.  

my daughter and i caught the attention of several young hunky construction dudes....they waved as we drove by.   that makes a girl feel good!

we decided to pull back around and sit in traffic again so that i could take a photo to add to my collection of hearts from heaven....and great,  now the construction dudes are going to think we are out to pick them up....*snort*

on the way back we noticed the tree did not look at all like a heart from the back.  as we approached the tree from the other direction it was not looking hearty in the very least and if my daughter had not also witnessed this i would have thought i was losing my mind.  now i was really sad that i missed the photo op for this.  then traffic began to move again and there must have been the slightest breeze and it looked like a heart again!  i was able to snap a blurry photo of it.  not quite as hearty as the first time we saw it, but hearty it was.

this project originally started as a necklace.  wellllll....i decided mid construction to turn it in to a bracelet. 

the top reliquary has a bird skull i sculpted out of polymer.  the bottom and smaller reliquary has a coyote toe bone.  (i bought the bones from a fellow etsy seller who promised the coyote was road kill and not just killed for the bones, just in case you wondered about such things)

when i first told my daughter she said 'you know that is huge mom' and i told her not much huge-er than some of the chunky bracelets girls were wearing lately. 

ok...i am just way out of the box.....like i can not even see the box i am so out of it!    i spent way to many years stuffed and crammed in the box.....i am now allergic to boxes. 

so here we have the bracelet put together....but if you notice the end pieces....i had to remove the jump rings and re-solder them on a bit different to get the 'clasp' i chose to work.

this is a tim holtz doo-hicky.  i believe it is a pocket watch fob. 

and here are the jump ring do overs

and all patina-ed and the clasp attached.

and pics of the bracelet on in the studio and kitchen....

today was a wee bit of a nutty day.  oh....but last night this night owl fell asleep at just a bit after 11 pm the night before and woke up without the aid of an alarm at 9ish!  ....come to think of it, maybe that is why it was wonky?! 

i have been looking on the internet for a tute on how to texturize solder.  at least 2 years ago, maybe a wee bit longer,  i have had a few bird nest reliquaries ready to solder, but i wanted the solder to look like tree bark.  

today i found several photos of what i wanted but not a tute to be found for free that is....then it hit me.  i know this look...i did it to my bathroom a few years ago.  our bathroom paint kept chipping and for some reasone i got this idea to schmere the walls with joint compound and then give them texture with a wadded up plastic bag.  the paint no longer chips!

well, i could not use a wadded up plastic bag on hot smoldering liquidy solder, so i used a paper towel...that was not quite it...then i added water to the paper towel and wah-freaking-lah!  squeeeeee!

there was still condensation on the inside....the ants in my pants could not wait for the photo op.

now i liked this....but not quite what i wanted....

a few hours later i realized that i wanted the high spots to look more shiny, as though time had rubbed off the patina.

i wanted to use steele wool, but we had not a bit of it and the budget did not allow for a run to the hardware store....thankfully i had some bazillion grit wet/dry sand paper used in auto detailing that i used for the time being.

now this is just how i pictured it looking!  like a dork i keep looking at it with the biggest grin on my face that i figured out how to do this technique, and for free even!

today, the 22nd, i get to share my birthday with earth day.   according to the calendar i am 47.  my mind begs to differ.  it feels more like 20something.  

i received this in the mail from someone i feared i might never get to talk to or see again and that made me happy beyond words, and that is a pretty difficult thing to cause when it comes to me....to be beyond words. 

i have also received some of the sweetest and kindest and most unexpected birthday wishes.  i believe this arty girl's smiley face might just get stuck this way....just like my mom always told me! 

much love to you all.   big sloppy smooches and squishy hugs.

reliquary bracelet in the making

today i only had a wee bit of time in my studio....it was an off day and by the time i was able to make it to my studio i was in a wonky mood.  i kinda really did not know where to start so i started playing with cutting glass in house shapes while trying to figure out where to start. 

i am going to need some more play time cutting house shapes free hand or make a pattern that is for sure....i did find that i am good at cutting myself with glass.  twice.  in a row.    with the first mishap i ran upstairs and washed the boo-boo and then put a band aid and neosporin on it, made it back downstairs and rammed the end of another finger in to the pointy end of a piece of glass and then ran back upstairs and washed that boo-boo out and figured that one would not need the boo-boo be better medicine.  at this point i figured i should work on something else. 

i began this reliquary with a necklace in mind and now i am planning on making it a bracelet.


on the inside is one of the bird skulls i sculpted from polymer.

ummm......i played with instagram....remember i said i did not see what the big deal was?  i am kinda liking that little app the more i play with it!


here a just a couple of elements of the bracelet.....have more to put together tomorrow if i have time.

it is going on 3 am...sheesh i told myself i was going to be asleep by now since the first alarm will go off in just about 3 hours from now and i need to be up by 7am.  oh i need to get on a normal people sleep schedule! 

nighty-night.....smooches.

ummmm....stuff i did today? i really can't think of a title.

i finished the first one today....squeeeee!   i love it....but after a minute or so of celebration i was not 100% in love with it anymore.   there was just too much space all in the middle there, and once i put it on i was not loving where the feathers hit.

i added another hook so that i could wear it this way too....and i am back on total and complete love.

this necklace has a lot of things i love.  my love of asymmetry, science, found objects,  and all things vintage. 

in the process of finishing the necklace above,  my arty-a.d.d. kicked in and i saw these beige-y pearls sitting in a baggie, and they almost perfectly matched the vintage paper i lined the reliquary boxes with ......and then i heard them whisper.....hey...you....stick us in one of those oh-so-soon-to-be-reliquary boxes over there.....hey you....don't ignore us......you know you want to....it's ok...put the necklace down and just do it. 

ugh....alright already.  i give in to you my arty-a.d.d.  i will do it.   i am glad i did, because it will take a good 24 hours for the diamond glaze to dry completely.   i have no clue what i will add to these at this point and that is because i would not give in any longer to the arty-a.d.d.  i went right back to work on the necklace.  yea me....

ok....so when we watch a scary or gorey icky movie we always do a happy chaser show to wash away all the yuck from our brains.....well after i finish a prototype or a first of a mulitple of something i kinda do the same thing.  i give my brain a little mini break and work on something little before starting on the second of something. 

i have some vintage plastic pink beads and matching pink freshwater pearls that i can't quit thinking about, and i think because it is spring, so i decided to put some vintage pink appliques under glass and solder as a focal.

 i soldered the first one, and did not like the dot placement.  when i don't like something i push it aside and then come back to it.  sometimes i have to fall in like with something first, and then love will follow.

i soldered the second one and liked the dot placement on this one much better.   i knew there would be no falling in love or like with the first one at this point.

  thank goodness i had other pink appliques to choose from, and quickly had another one under glass and ready to solder in no time. 

one thing i have learned is once you put dots on something, you can't really remove them with out it getting messy and the piece looking like there was some serious solder overdose going on.

 i knew this, but i hated where the dots were and figured if worse came to worse i would break the glass and remove the vintage applique smooshed between the layers of glass.

so i began to try to undot the piece and remove some of the solder....and of course it became a mess. 

right about the time i was ready to reach for the hammer and smack the ever living crap out of it and take my frustration out on this molten mess i remembered how years ago i made spikes on a piece that suffered a solder o.d. .  how perfect would that be?  these are suppose to be roses, i think, and rose bushes have thorns....so when life gives you sucky dots make thorns.....ok not as catchy as ' when life gives ya lemons make lemonade....but close enough.

it took me a minute or so of playing to remember how i did it a couple of years ago.  the first time i made the thorny spikes it was an accident while playing with the temperature on my soldering iron.  you have to turn it down, the temperature, so that as you lift the iron up the solder begins to cool almost immediately.  

i really like this, and i am thinking of keeping it for me.  on a short chain or strand of beads i think it would be fine.  anything too long and as i move it could flip over and stab me.  yipes!  i would have to carry a supply of band-aids and neosporin every time i wore it.  not good. 

i would love to be able to sell it, but i am afraid someone would get stabbed by the spikes and then it would be like mcdonalds and a lapful of hot coffee kind of thing.....and i don't want that.

the hubby and daughter said to just put a disclaimer on the listing....but i think the coffee cups had a disclaimer on them and that did not work for micky d's now did it?!

anyway...i just keep picturing the wear-er hugging some poor soul and putting a bazillion puncture wounds on them.  i think it is better i keep this one as it could potentially be a lethal weapon!

i know i said i would post photos of the progress of the weed killing, but i is so tired and i have about 40 ounces of water that has made its way through my digestive system and is screaming to break free to the other side of the ride.....so i am going to say nighty-night sleep tight and i will type at ya later.

big squishy hugs and sloppy kisses to you.

a bit of art, a lot of baking, and a ghostly visitor

yaaaaaaaaawwwwwn....this girl is pooped....but happy.  my arty-mojo is back in full force and boy did this girl miss it while it was away.

i wanna do everything...NOW!   my arty-a.d.d. is in danger of rearing its ugly head, so i need to make sure i slow it down and finish   e v e r y t h i n g   i start. 

this has been a long weekend, but not long enough.   its seems like just hours ago we were all just waking up to friday commenting that it felt like saturday, all muh peeps had the day off for good friday.  

saturday the beast hit hard and bad and i thought maybe if i ignored it, just maybe, it would go away and let me play artist girl in the studio.  i managed to solder two of these before i had to call it quits. (i just realized that i did not take a photo of the entire vase, i still need to add the wire so that i can hang it)  i will take a finished photo of it tomorrow after i add the wire.

i should not have been playing with anything sharper or hotter than a crayon, as the vertigo became more intense my lack of coordination became comical and dangerous at the same time.

i have had these wee hanging vases for about uhhhh...2 years.  i told the hubby i knew i would figure out something nifty to do with them, and pretty them up.  it is amazing how just a bit of solder and a dangling thing-a-ma-bob can make a huge difference. 

this first picture is actually with the vase upside down, it seemed to be the only way to snap a good photo of it. 

my daughter introduced me to instagram and i played with it for the first time tonight.  it is neato and all, but i just don't get what all the excitement is about. 

this is the bottom of the vase.  the tear drop piece hanging down has a vintage applique under the glass. 

i added a bit of texture to the tip by letting the foil/tape wrinkle up a bit, and during the soldering process i played around with rolling it over a textured paper towel while the solder was still drippy and hot. 

i am thinking i might need to do some more playing with this idea.

today the beast started out a bit more well behaved and while the hubby and boys went to the annual easter car show and my daughter watched a chick flick.....i am more in to what we call 'dick' flicks around here (as in dick and jane, not the naughty slang term for the male anatomy)....i could not wait to get to the studio. 

i soldered the second dolly reliquary, and i decided to patina one of them.

i like it both ways.  3 of my four peeps like it both ways as well.  my oldest son only likes the shiny one.  

i am thinking about offering this shiny one up for sale with a photo of the patina-ed version as an option.  i dunno.  

if all goes as planned then i should have them finished by tomorrow. 

next up, i soldered the second one of these as well.....

instagram again, i do have to say i like the aged look it gives the photo.   i must surely be missing something though, right?  i have facebook friends posting every photo they snap using this app at an annoying volume. 

a few weeks ago, when i was suppose to be cleaning my studio, instead of putting the peacock feathers away, i just hadda play with them first, and after grabbing a doo-hicky, its name *poof* just slipped my mind....i came up with this and set it aside.  i just knew someday soon i would use it, and i am thinking maybe i could use it here?! 

ummmm....i mean here.

i rummaged through my vintage bead stash to gather bits for this necklace, and its twin.  i am thinking i will have to hunt down some more.  i am hoping i can get the better part of these two pieces done tomorrow as well. 

and instagram again

oh, i did not want to stop playing artist girl at this point.  i was having so much fun.  my inner kindergartener wanted to throw herself on the ground and kick and cry for more play time, but  the guys were home and i promised kolachis for dinner and crack cookies for not only our family, but another family which meant a double batch because no way were we about to give up even 1 of these addicting morsels out of our batch to an outsider!  so i put on my big girl panties and went to work in the kitchen.

kolachis are pretty much yeast rolls stuffed with goodies.  tonight ham and cheese.  to help make the day feel a bit more festive i decided to tint the dough in a blue-green pastel shade.

the photo does not do these round mounds of stuffed nummyness justice, but it gives you an idea.

sadly i did not get to eat one of these tonight as i had a self induced case of monster heartburn caused from sampling  snarfing cookie dough earlier. 

crack cookies.  with or without instagram they taste devine.  i will have to wait until tomorrow to eat an actual cookie since the hubby jinxed me.  never before did the cookie dough samplings snarfings i took made me sick....but nooooo the hubby said to me ' your gonna get sick from that' as he took about 3 cookies worth of dough for himself and here i type with the taste of store brand mylanta clinging to every taste bud on my tongue like it was a life raft and heartburn and a blech stomach and silently praying  begging that this goes away by the time i finish this post.

3 hours in the kitchen baking, and thankfully the hubby was there to help.  there is something about baking and cooking and such in the kitchen that always seems to set the beast on extra ornery mode, and that makes putting things in and getting things out of the oven a no-no. 

it did not help that it was nuts during the entire process....

my daughter....mom when are you going to make the icing, as i was spooning dough on a cookie sheet
my hubby........hon are you going to put dough on the other cookie sheet yet (after i already explained it needed to cool down first)
my daughter....can we make the icing now  (she is 21 by the way)
son number 2...i think the toilet might overflow the next time we flush it cuz.....(i am thinking we should flush it with the plunger in hand to fix the problem but before that comes out of my mouth....)
my hubby....i need to put our sheets and pillow cases in the dryer and the laundry basket is full, what should i do with the laundry in the dryer.  (because the kitchen table also serves as the laundry folding table)
son number 1...when is dinner going to be done
son number 1.....the toilet overflowed
my daughter....can we make the icing now
me to the hubby.....soften 1, 3, start...do this 3 times (so we can soften butter to make icing)
hubby....but 3 means 3 sticks of butter, we only have 2 in here
me....remember last time i told you the microwave can not count....if you press 2 then you have to do it 5 times not 3 which takes more electricity which costs more money which really makes you grumpy when you get the bill

over the 3 hours i was baking and making i had mike attached to my ankles with my each and every move just waiting to be the first one to slurp up any droppings of cookie dough

mia was scurrying at any and every sound and dashing off to run under the hoosier cabinet for safety, i am most sure that she was a scaredy cat in her previous life.

and molly the princess kept scooting her blanky throne to the middle of the floor, and right under my feet.

there were approximately  257 other decisions that i was asked to make as well, ok maybe not quite that many....but it sure felt like it. 

not only was the beast being a pain, but i am hearing impaired and have auditory processing disorder, which means that my brain and ears do not connect properly and i have a hard time understanding words, especially in sentences and son number 1 has a speech impairment and bad timing and i love this boy with all my heart but he seems to have a knack for spewing interesting facts at the least convenient of times. 

after the cookies were scooped, baked, and mostly iced i started working on the stuffing part of the kolachis, for some reason the dough was a bit stickier tonight and was quite a pain to work with, and as i was dealing with the dough i was waiting for it.......and finally the hubby said it...'you know it is probably the food coloring that did it'.   a few years ago i dyed our mashed potatoes pink on valentine's day and my gawd the hubby turned in to my dad and spewed don't &$@# with my mashed potatoes....i swear he was channeling my dad as that was so out of character for the hubby.  since then we joke about dying food....cookies are the only exception to his rule.    as soon as the kolachis were shoved in the oven the table was cleaned and laundry folding began. 

ok...so i was gonna stop yammering on and say goodnight, but i added the 'and a ghostly visitor' to the title and if i don't tell you now i am gonna forget.

last night i was in the kitchen by myself facing the fridge....ok i will admit it, i was swigging out of the milk jug.  i have good reason though since the dishwasher is still not working and i hate the thought of washing a cup if i don't have to.....so anyway,  the daughter was at the gym,  son number 1 in a gaming coma in his room with headphones and mic on, the hubby was on the computer in the bedroom and son number 2 was at a friends house.  behind me, in the livingroom  i heard a man say 'hello'. 

my hearing impairment can make figuring out what direction a voice or sound came from tricky, but as i turned to see who and where the voice was mia and molly raised there ears and looked in to the livingroom. 

just to be sure i checked on son number 1 and he was still in game coma and then i asked the hubby, who had the tv muted, if he said anything, pulled up a site on the computer with volume.  nope. nada.

i told the hubby what happened and it made the hair on my arms stand up on end.   we have had a ghost with us for quite awhile that we swear we brought home in an old armoir.  just in case you are thinking i am nuts, we have a list of witnesses.  'frank' never has spoken, and he seems to not be around during stressful times and as you know it has been a rough year. 

so, my daughter and son number 2 came home and we were in the kitchen talking and my daughter looks to the livingroom and said did you hear that man talking, it sounds like dad. she could not tell what he was saying though.   i had not told her or either of the boys what had happened.  and there goes the hair on my arms standing on end again.  after i told her what happened just a bit earlier we ran back to tell the hubby, and double check to make sure it was not him talking.

i so wish i knew who he was and what he had to say.  a few weeks ago my boys were woke up, awoke, awaken.. 4 or 5 days in a row at the same time every morning by a robin pecking and scratching at their bedroom window about 3 hours each day.    for the last couple of weeks something has caused my hubby to wake up between 4 and 4:30 am.  there have been a few other little odd things here and there. 

ghostly stuff does not bother me, but i have to admit this is making me a bit on edge.  the recorder on my phone is amazingly sensitive and i thought about doing some goofy amateur evp session.....but what if i get something.  i just know i would pee myself and not be able to sleep, even though i find all the ghost stuff fascinating. 

well, i think i have exceeded my jabber limit and i am going to say nighty night....and chug another bit of mylanta-y stuff. 

sweet dreams to ya.  mwah.

girlfriends reliquary and a charming wish

i did not get to spend the time in my studio today like i wanted.  the peri-menopausal pms insisted we stayed curled up in bed whining about feeling crappy. 

so i made a deal with the pms...we go downstairs to the studio and if i did not feel better we could come back upstairs and curl back up in a ball for the rest of the day.  neener neener i did not feel all that much better but i stayed put and played anyway.

yesterday i had cut the paper linings to the 5 future reliquary boxes, today i secured them, and i made sure it was corner to corner this time, with double sided tape.  believe it or not that took a bit of time and was sooooo boring, even with something good to watch on my ancient tiny tv that i am so thankful for.


once they were done i realized i had no idea what i was going to put in them.  yipes!  i wandered the studio searching for ideas and things to put in these little boxes of happiness.  i put wee little farm animals in them, the little yellow pipe cleaner easter chicks....have you ever noticed that only 1 out of an entire box of those chicks has their face on straight and not all smooshed and off to the side? 

i then remembered i had a ton of vintage plastic baby dolls.  for a bit i played with them trying to figure out how i wanted them positioned.  i decided on this.....

don't they have the sweetest faces?!   makes me think of that special person a girl has in her life that she can confide in and know their secret was safe.

i also used 2 vintage postage stamps in the box for a bit of color.

  the hardest part is waiting.  i had to e6000 the dolls together, wait for them to dry enough to then glue to the bottom of the box.  if i solder it too soon then the glue may not be set enough or the condensation that builds up inside during soldering sometimes could cause some real messy problems.

  patience, patience, patience.

   i am a patient person when it comes to many things, but not in the studio.  today's project is not just art, but a test in patience and i am gonna pass.  it is now 11:45 p.m. and i have not run back down to my studio to begin soldering.  i am being a big girl and waiting until tomorrow to give the e6000 plenty of time to dry. 

after gluing the girls in the box i cut some glass to solder a separate stamp charm for the reliquary necklace. 

i have also been in the backyard collecting some of these.......

probably should have cropped this photo, but the pms said ppppbbbbbtttt to that.  it is a clear cup with dandelion blowy things in it,  up against my belly.

i used them to make a couple of these.......

it still needs to be soldered.  i figured i would just make tomorrow a soldering day.  i am also going to put a few more of these together....i figured my baby girl would love it, and she did.  i would love to make several to keep on hand.   everyone needs to make a wish now and then. 

the 'little' dog that i posted about last night is back safe with her owners.  we found out she is a shiba inu.  the photo i took of her last night being loved on by the hubby

was a very slimming and flattering photo.  i bet she weighed at least 60 pounds....and those 60 pounds were stuffed in a fur made for half that.  kind of makes me sad.....the reason her eyes looked so tiny is because she is mostly blind.

 she is also going deaf....maybe that is why she and i communicated so well? !

her owner told me she gets out all the time, but she makes her way home.....the dog was in the middle of the road late at night and she is nearly blind and deaf......i think it is time to fence in the yard buddy.  my son's friends say that their dogs get out all the time and we should not ever bother picking her up again. 

i better run, i just realized i have a load of laundry i need to do before tomorrow morning. 

hope something wonderful happened to you today.

lots of love....mwah!