blog award

Uhhh, thanks to the tremendously talented Janne, for this FABULOUS blog award!!! I'm so "honored." Here are the rules of the game, for all to play along:

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you.
4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth.
5. Nominate seven "Creative Writers" who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.
6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

So, can you guess which of the following is completely true? (No fair spilling the beans if I've already told you the truth!) P.S. ANYONE CAN PLAY THE GUESSING PART! Or even the making up your own lies and passing the game along, as far as I'm concerned!

1. Part of the movie The Karate Kid was filmed at my grandfather's ranch. We were allowed to come and watch the filming of the scene and I got Ralph Macchio's autograph.
2. The big bike chase scene in ET started in my neighborhood park. A bunch of us kids took our bikes and rode over to watch the filming in action.
3. Valerie Bertinelli lived in my neighborhood during her One Day at a Time years and we rode the bus together to school. We were really good friends before she became so famous.
4. Super Bowl champ John Elway, former quarterback of the Denver Broncos, went to my high school. He invited me to prom but I turned him down because I thought he was too young for me!
5. After my parents divorced when I was young, my father moved away and I didn't see him for years. I thought he was living in South America as an artist, but I found out he was actually a drug smuggler shuttling back and forth between Europe and India, and being chased down by Interpol. They finally caught him and incarcerated him in London for awhile before sending him back to the States.
6. Family parties on my mom's side of the family were pretty wild. The wine flowed freely during one auntie's birthday celebration, and the grown-ups all got pretty toasty. They got the bright idea to go to Hawaii the next day, and since Grampa was away, Nana said "OK!" It was the best vacation ever!
7. I had a brief romance with the drummer for The Village People.

Ok, this was too fun - we'll see if anyone can sort this out!

And now, to nominate seven more "Creative Writers"...
1. Priti.Lisa @ Priti Studio
2. Miz Katie @ mizkatie.com
3. Tina @ Embellishments by Tina
4. Patti @ Bungalow Gals
5. Jenea @ Dispatches From the Me
6. Jessica @ jessica thinks & says
7. Beverly @ Beverly Gilbert

Have fun, everybody!
: ) lulu

Dolls for Haiti

Today I'll be hanging out with the PDX Sewing Circle, working on some dolls for orphans in Haiti. I invite all my doll making and stitching friends to click on the dolly link and think about participating as well. Thanks!!!

: ) lulu

Greetings from out of the fog

It's been a couple of busy busy weeks with some beautiful sun and lots of being out and about and socializing and making things. Now that it's rained again my head (sinuses) is kind of in a fog and I'm not sure if this post is going to turn out right, but I feel the need... (I think it's kind of funny that I get fb requests and then I feel guilty that I almost never go on there - bad enough that I don't keep up here!)

One project that I've finished is the Artfest charm exchange. I want to thank Kristin again for this great idea from her tutorial. Instead of matryushka dolls, I made my charms story book characters to go with the the Artfest theme this year. Each charm, about 1/2 inch tall, has a front and back character, like Goldilocks on one side and the wee bear on the other side. I did 5 each of 5 different stories (plus one more of each for me to keep (because I just get too attached!)).

Here's Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf,
up close and personal:

Just around the time I was finishing up the charms, I got to meet Patti, an online doll pal, face-to-face. She came for a visit last Sunday, and we had a great time getting to know each other as we worked on dolls. I am continually amazed by the turns my life has been taking ever since Artfest and Art & Soul 08 - how is it that I now have such wonderful friends and contacts - old and new? I must finally be finding my way out of the dark fog I had wandered in since high school!

I was feeling shy about snapping pictures during Patti's visit, but trust me, she's a beautiful person inside and out! Here's a peek of the doll I started while she was here - I don't know why I haven't taken a pic of the further progress yet - she actually got her face and hair all sculpted that same night.


During this week I was overtaken by upcycle fever! Last year it was the Green Queen, this year it's my bottle cap bracelet for the 2nd annual Vose School Reuse It contest. Just like last year, the contest is actually for our students, but we teachers like to get our hands on cereal boxes, egg cartons, and all manner of Useful Stuff to make things to inspire the kids. I had totally intended to finish my tin can and cardboard giraffe, but then I came across my stash of bottle caps, and tiny woohoo images that fit perfectly inside of them without photocopy manipulations, AND some stick on plastic circles that ALSO fit perfectly so that I wouldn't have to bother with resin - was it fate or what!?!?! I went manic while making it, staying up 'til all hours of the night because it was just too much fun. (Good grief, Charlie Brown! You're so weird!) I hope this image will be clickable so that you can see it in detail. Thank you...Sara Vandepas? probably - for leaving old cut up issues of Communications Arts magazine in my classroom cupboard!


What else... I am loving the English class for adults that I just started teaching last week. My students are wonderful and I am having so much fun! I hope they are, too.

Lots more coming and going - life is good!
; D lulu

And the winner is...

Congratulations to ANJI GALLANOS!!!
Dear Anji, you are the winner of my One World, One Heart giveaway, and I'm pleased as punch!

After the random number generator selected you, I visited your blog and was ever so happy to see that you have a wonderful sense of humor and a very eventful life (like your doorknob dilemma, and your sub adventures - I can TOTALLY relate!). I know my ballerina doll will be very happy with you - well, on the other hand, since you live in Alaska, and she being my child-creation and all, she will likely be very chilly there, so I think she will need warmer clothes...

Ah, much better!

I want to thank EVERYBODY for their participation, and I hope you will come back to visit again. I've already been making some new friends out there, and I'll continue to visit and explore the wonderful connections we've made here. Thank you so much Lisa Swifka, for another wonderful One World, One Heart event!!!

p.s. happy valentine's day

Lately I've been enjoying hand-stitching again as I work on my Oaxaca quilt, and delve into textile blogs. I felt inspired to do this little valentine piece which I started on Friday, finished today. I think of it as a vintage textile postcard, the stitches are the text. I coffee dyed the backing cloths. The heart fabric was something I had dyed a l-o-n-g time ago, and the doily was from a yard sale last summer (I think). Something small, something light, but oh so satisfying.

i hope your day has been sweet!
xoxo lulu

Benefit for Haiti / OWOH giveaway winner announced tomorrow

What a treat it has been to meet new people through their blogs. Today I would like to help spread the word of a benefit for the earthquake victims in Haiti: Kathy of Amusing Muses is organizing an auction to help raise funds. Please visit her beautiful blog and read more about the benefit here.

Last day to sign up for the OWOH giveaway - good luck!

something...

The "February fakeout" as Liz Kiernan calls it, is in full swing around here. Sunny skies, juicy green spears of crocus, daffodils and tulips poking through the soil - one would think that winter went away (except that the temp was in the 30s this morning). There is an undeniable happiness when I turn my face to the warmth of the sun. And yet, there is still something tugging at the hem of my skirt, pulling me downward, calling me into the deep end. That is exactly it - the deep is calling, and I am wanting to go to it, but I haven't found it yet. By the deep, I refer to the deep space of the soul, the core, the thing that needs to be said and done to fulfill me. I am at once inspired by and envious of artists like Sara Lechner and Jude Hill whose blogs I have visited most recently- I see from the work they share that they have found that depth in their work, they have found their calling, they are fully immersed in that which speaks to them. I'm too much like a little kid at a carnival right now - everything looks fun and exciting, and it is for awhile, but then you just want to be back in your very own special place, not just going on ride after ride.

The deep is calling. It is a dark pool, a cool and refreshing swimming spot hidden along a shady river in the summer, a special place, unknown to all but me. But at the same time there is something about the deep, something foreboding and uncertain - you don't know what could be beneath the surface, you don't know how cold it might be and your body resists jumping in because in your head you convince yourself you're not ready for that shock, that sudden change...

the deep is calling. I can hear it, but I haven't found it. When I do, will I jump in? It is exactly what I need.

In the meantime, I made some valentines at Myra's house the other day, with Myra and her friends Amanda and Joyce (they are real live artists). Here are my valentines.

And then I came home and made these. What are they? Little tiny baked pears? Actually, they are unfinished. I hope they will become charms for the Artfest charm exchange. And I hope they will be very charming, indeed. We shall see.

(And when they are done, I hope I will find something deeper.)

DONE!!!

These fatbook pages for Artfest are FINALLY done! Phew!

(Please note the cute kitty gazing lovingly upward at her mama.)

FIFTY-FOUR OF THEM! Yikes.

I have to send 53 of them, so one is for me.

(Guess.)

As a reward for all my diligent work, I... washed the dishes. Well, it needed to happen - the sink was almost to overflowing. My other reward will be going to bed early. Yay.

For real. G'night!