Burning Desire

After two winters with a plastic covered hole in the family room, we are getting a firplace. Dave is doing it himself. We were not quite in agreement over how the fireplace should be redone, and no progress was made until an agreement was reached. THis time, it took 2 years of someone to cave. In this case, it was me.
The motivation for the capitulation was Joseph's burning desire to get one of those Chimney Sweeping Logs he saw advertised on TV.
The cats are happy too. They didn't like the plastic. On windy evenings, the plastic would "breath" and creep them out. Ferm, cool and calm guy that he is, would just leave until he got used to it. Girl cat, on the other hand, would broadcast her unease and share it with anyone who didn't actually work at not getting sucked into it.
So now we are ready for grout.

Mystery Fruit

Our neighbors gave us this fruit at Thanksgiving. There were 3 of these and one persimon. I like persimons, but Dave won't eat them because they don't grow in New Hampshire and he never saw one until he came out here. Joseph won't eat them because Dave won't eat them. I didn't have to share the persimon.

We don't know what these are. I ate one, they are good. Tropical, no question. Very very good, with pale insides and small dark seeds. I ate the seeds too. Mild in the innermost, becoming tart near the outside. We discussed ripness, but if it was too green, it would have caused problems, it didn't.

The obvious thing would be to ask the neighbors, but we don't share a common language.

Of course, not even knowing WHAT fruit they are, Dave (and so Joe) won't eat them. That's good, I don't have to share them either. They can have the chocolate!

Happy Thanksgiving

I took this picutre a while ago. I had to. This is how turkeys can look in the spring when they start making new turkeys. They dont look like this in the fall, when we make all the construction paper and ceramic ones.

When I first saw turkeys like this in spring, I was so surprised! My school teachers always taught me that they look this way in November! I wonder how many of them acually knew?

These turkeys are right by Calavers Road in Ed Levin Park, part of the Santa Clara Regional Parks. The black fence is around Laguna Cemetery, an historical cememtary where many of the town founders are buried, or at least bought burial plots. Who know if they actually got burried there.

I have never heard any stories of ghost in that part of the park.

photoshop cat

Here is my first photoshopped picture. Photoshop is some pretty powerfull software and takes a while to learn. I have had so many other things goin on that it has been hard to find the time in big enough pieces.

So this is Afternoon Cat, one of my batiks. I framed it, and had enough presence of mind to photgraph it before I added the glass and had to deal with the glare. It wasnt quite square in the photograph, a little skewed in perpective. I learned how to fix that. I had to learn something called "layers" first.

And then there was a thread on it. I took the thread off before I framed it, but it was in the photo, so I had to figure out how to take it off.

And then there was the rug. Because the hanging wire goes on last, after the paper backing, I couldn't hang it to photograph it, I leaned it against the wall so the rug was at the bottom edge. I had to get the rug to look like it was wall, so the picture would look as it will when hanging.

This took a lot of playing around with different pics over the course of weeks, and reading the book and trying stuff out. But I got it.

That could happen only after I aquired the software. By that time, my computer engineer husband was working at home and I never got to use the computer, so I had to aquire my own. When I got it up and running, Jr. loaded his train town into it, within the first 24 hours, and crashed the hard drive. Start again!

I have been trying to frame the batiks on my website to sell as wall art. Being able to get the photos on the site is the longest and most difficult step. If you go there,
doublecatbatik.com
you will see that there are a few, but the photos are just plain and show the glare of the glass. Or you could just click on the banner down there.

This one is the best. I am on my way!

Christmas Ornament Swap

Already!
Some of us got together and made ornies to trade. For some people, the time of year between Christmases is a waiting period. Mostly, I'm a little bit of a scrooge, but I jumped in on this one to see if it might be remedied.

This is the ornament I recieved.
It was inspired by Janow, but smells like vanilla and coffee instead of dirty hair and a hole in the ozone layer.
I think it is fantastic even without the Christams tree, so I can enjoy it without haveing to 'go holidays'. Long live Scrooge.


This is the one I gave. I hope it is as well liked as my horse one.

It has two sides, and I have managed to get my computer to show both sides in one picture. I am still struggling with photoshop. The biggest hinderance is the lack of time I have to spend on it.

I have done two craft fairs this month and come out RED again. Way red. Last weekend I didn't sell anything over $5.00. Other vendors told me I need to concentrate more on items that I can sell for a few dollars. I said that's not what I want to do. Wal*Mart and Target can beat me anytime on the price of handcrafted knick knacks because they can buy materials by the truck load and their crafting hands pennies per hour. If I buy the stuff to make it with, I've already paid the retailers any profit.

I think I have to rethink my marketing. But I know that until I can spend more time on it, it won't work.

stitcthery kits

Michie of MyKai Creations and I have been working together to delelope so kits for people to make their own folk art stitcheries. We have started wit small one that an be coaster of candle mats. These are simple enough to do so that even begginners can make them as christmasn presents for teachers and Aunts.

A great indroduction to folk art for anyone to beging to get a feel for it before moving on to thier own desings, or jjust to have fun if they expect to spend some time waiting for soeont else to do there thing, like finish soccer proactive.

These are two desings we are working on now, hoipefully to be ready for the Holidays and the Selby Lane Boutique in San Jose next weekend.

A great indroduction to folk art for anyone to beging to get a feel for it before moving on to thier own desings, or jjust to have fun if they expect to spend some time waiting for soeont else to do there thing, like finish soccer proactive


The kits will come with ready to stitch coasters, an ample supply of thread, and a kneedle. Instructions, of course, thought they are quilt simple.



They are about the size of a CD. Intentional coffee staining, preferred by many prim artists, is left up to the stitcher. I still have a hard time doing this myself. It's not the technical difficulty, it's the emotional one.



Selby Lane Bouutique:

961 Selby Lane,
San Jose, CA 95127

Thursday Nocewmber 9th 4-8PM (by invitation only)
Friday November 10th 10-7 PM open to the public
Saturday November 12th 10-7 PM open to the public
Sunday November 12th 10-4 PM open to the public






Email me with this address: Cara@doublecatbatik.com
or visit my website by clicking on the Doublecatbatik banner

See it here!

The Neighborhood $230.00

Seven Flowers $230.00

I have two pices on display at The Little Table coffee shop. These are batik, a meduim that uses wax on fabric to resist the dye. They are hand embroidered onto ticking or batiked fabric to make the mat, rather that the traditional mat board. They are custom framed using archival quality glass.


Several other artists are also featured at The Little Table, which has not only coffee, tea and smoothies, but the most fantastic mouth watering lunch speicials around! (and snacks, I love snacks)


Visit thier blog:
Thelittletable.blogspot.com
there is a link to a map in case you need to find them easily. You can also call and ask about the special for the day (408)263-2268

As you may know, I work in many areas of textile art, including quilting and clothing. I am participating in a Holiday Bouitique this year, with many other artists and crafters. A great place to begin your holiday shopping, or in the case of a smart and lucky few, to finish!

Selby Lane Boutique:

961 Selby Lane,
San Jose, CA 95127

Thursday Nocewmber 9th 4-8PM (by invitation only)
Friday November 10th 10-7 PM open to the public
Saturday November 12th 10-7 PM open to the public
Sunday November 12th 10-4 PM open to the public








You can contact me the easy way by leaving a comment on my blog,
-or-
Email me with this address: Cara@doublecatbatik.com
or visit her wqebsite by clicking on the Doublecatbatik banner

Veldt Loops

Here is my latest quilt. It's a child's quilt, I havent measured it yet so I don't know the exact dimensions. I still need to clip the threads too. The back is pieced, so you can tell it is a unique one-of-a-kind blankie for that special little kid.
As soon as I get the threads clipped. I can add it to my web site.

Tomorrow we are planning a trip to the Tech Museum in downtown San Jose. If I can convince Dave, we may even take Light Rail from Great Mall.

Jessalynn's Quilt

I made this quilt for Nancy's new grandaughter Jessalynn.


There was a lot of fussycutting, and I even matched the stripes in the sashing. That was harder than I thought it would be, so I got it messed up and had an even harder time figuring it out! I had to line the stripes up with each other and get the star points on the correct star enters at the same time.
The little dinos are aligned so that if it is over the top of you, you look down and see the most dinos closest to you are right side up.

Pacific International Quilt Festival

Pacific International Quilt Festival is nearly here! It begins on Thursday and runs through Sunday. It has the biggest vendor fair I have ever seen in my life!

I've had two quilts accepted for entry into the show this year. I have sewn on a sleeve and checked labels, so they are ready for delivery today.

Sue Cracks Up 30x30

I batiked the Sunbonnet Sues instead of applique which is more traditional. The sashing is batiked onto the same fabric asw the Sue, so this quilt is pieced from only 9 pieces of fabric.


Key Search 82" x 105"
The little 2 inch squares on this are pieced from scraps that were too small to cut a 2 inch square from, yet too large to just throw away.
I had a good time with the quilting, I didn't feel serious and so I quilted outlines of old skeleton keys, and then quilted around them so they are hidden. When it hung in the Legacies of Love quilt show, just an exhibition of quilts made by guild members and not juried, people had a good time finding them. They are not impossible to find.

I had plans to sell this quilt, but I'm having trouble parting with it because it's so fun to look at.

Sweater

My mother decided to knit me a sweater. She had knitted socks before, before I was born. She had knitted slippers for me when I was in Nursury School. (That's what they called pre-school "back in the day") So this sweater was a huge undertaking! But she did it! I couldnt believe it! You would never guess from looking at the sweater that it wasnt made by someone with a lot of experience.


I wore it to the quilt guild meeting last Tuesday and brought it up for Show-n-Tell at the end of the meeting. Everybody I had spoken wiuth that evening was surprised that it was a hand knit sweater! "Look at those cables!" "Show the back!"

I held out my camera and asked "Could somebody take my picture so I can show her I showed it off to everybody?" Everybody cheered. Marta took the pictures.

There is a raffle drawing for everybody who brings something to Show-n-Tell. I won the prize. I knew I would send it to Knitter-Mama, but everyone made sure I was going to do that in case I didnt think of it.

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

Saturday we went to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. Barbara recomended it when we saw her at Mickey D's on Friday afternoon.
It was fantastic. They had more live animals than I expected. The owls were up high on a shelf without glass or wires between us.

All the animals were native to the area, and all were there because they were unable to be released due to injuries or the results of people tying to tame them.
The bald eagle had electrocuted his wing on a wire, the mountain lion had been declawed, a hawk had imprinted on humans instead of other hawks.
I liked the bats best.

Urniture

We bought new Uniture. Actually, just the sofa, loveseat and chair. Should have got two chairs, no loveseat. I said the room is too small, he said it will fit. Well, it fits, but it's more crowded than I like. Then we picked out a new entertainment center, one to match the sofa and fit around that old 61 inch TV. It's NOT a flat screen and it takes up a lot of space! We are still movng stuff around trying to decided on placement.

Then the computer hutch we had was all wrong, so we ordered a new one to match the entertainment center.

I went in search of an occaisional table. No coffee table, they just collect stuff and you have to walk around them. I hate walking around furniture. I found one that was OK, but the wrong finish. I would have had to refinish it. It was easily worth the $250 price tag, but I could see paying that much for one I had to refinish. So I decided to head on over to Cost Plus and see if I could get something wicker or what and paint it. On my way, I saw garage sale signs..............

The table cabinet I bought was definitely in need of refinsishing, it had the 70's heavy varnish and dark stain. $5.00. A good price even for firewood. Then the work started. Oh boy. But I got it to match the new entertainment center and computer hutch.

We are still moving stuff around........

Auctions

Pokes, just the pokes, not the hearts.


Nine auctions on ebay, I've never had that many at one time before. Of course, procrastinating on something else helps. This time it's Photoshop. But I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Lei Bear

Ice Box Magnets

Pokes


More pokes







click here for auction listings

Shopping

I have been wanting new furniture for the living room for years. The family room sofa is to old and soft, it hurts my back to sit in it and I haven't sat there with my family since Joe was in 1st grade, now he is in 5th grade. Dave has been putting off the expense, but I said it was time.

My friend Denise went with us, we left Dave at home. He shops by price tag alone, and I needed a sofa I could sit on comfortably. It doesn't matter if it has the best price, it is a waste of money to buy it if I can't sit comfortably. For anyone who doesnt know, my back is a major problem. I have had 4 spinal fractures at four different times in my life. I have lumbar fusion between L5 and S, and spondylolesthesis between L4 and L5.

See the sign that says ROCK BOTTOM PRICES? I asked Joe if those were different prices for people with rocky bottoms and did he think I qualified. He just rolled his eyes, like "I can't take you anywhere!" We took the camera shopping with us to take photos of sofas and the price tags, so Dave could see them and not feel too left out. We sat on a lot of sofas. I thought we were lost in IKEA, but Denise said they make you walk around a lot to get out, so youwill see something you can't live without. It didn't work.

It was a fun afternoon.

First of Fifth

Here are some pictures of the first day of 5th grade at Pomeroy School. Grandparents and other relations can right click to get the pictures into their hard drives.

Joseph's class is a mix of 5th and 6th grades. His teacher, Ms. Maultsby, is really on top of things. I helped in her classroom a little last year. Mrs. Torres drafted me for an art project.

The truth is out there.

Very busy here. New furniture, old furniture moving around, computers turned off and moved, power outages, road repairs and walking home, first day of school, PIQF entries, making curtains for three rooms.......
Mary Shelley looks like I feel.

Do-Dads

This is my recent listing on eBay. They are kind of silly, made on impulse. Well...... the idea was an impulse anyway. They actually took much longer than I thought!
Do-Dads on eBay

Just the four Do-Dads are for sale, all the other stuff is just for ideas of what to do with them.

Of course, I made more than four. The other ones will be available at Doublecatbatik.com soon. How soon? Good question!
Click on the sign to go there.

Another thing that has recently occupied my time -or my mind, anyway- is the demise of an eBay Group, AKA message board, that I belonged to. The group was originally set up for communication among members of a Folk of Art.com. I joined the group, then became a selling member for 5 months. Even though I was no longer a member, I stayed with the group, about 80% of which were not members either. It was decided that the members needed to have a site for their own use. Rather than one faction or the other leave, it was decided to disband and form two new groups. They are Beneath The Attic Eaves, or BtAE, and TWOTH. I now belong to BtAE, which you can search on eBay( not a case sensitive search) or click on the new link that you can see on the right. Searching TWOTH will get you some nice primitive folk art things too.