Unending Parties

This is me today:

It is over a week later - what a 90th Birthday celebration!  I wound up with 10 gallons of gumbo (took two days to make), 3 dozen steamed crabs, 30 pounds of marinated shrimp, and a bushel of oysters done up every way you can think.  And somehow, a different dinner party every single night until Saturday.  That is 8 days of cooking, cleaning, and hanging out with family - in addition to going to work every day!  Good Lord.
So today is down time, and I've been browsing through books, mags, and blogs that I love, trying to gear down.   Except I've been invited to a North Carolina Spot Fry over at Jamie's, to celebrate HIS mom's birthday.  Maybe a little nap, then off to another party!

Shrimp Throwdown!

Today is the big Cooking Day for Grandma Mac's Birthday Party - which is tomorrow evening.  My house is spic and span, and my husband's bubbly cousin is going to stay with us.  I think the rest of the crowd is spreading out into other homes, including the house next door that our lovely neighbor turned over to us.  Take a look:

I will be cooking 40 pounds of shrimp today, and peeling most of it for a marinated shrimp dish, and should sign off now and get started!

Now We Are Cookin'

Okay, I figured it out.  Had to check a box on my settings!  Now I'm off to early bed, in order to be up before the sun to finish hanging pictures and then move over to the house next door to clean and freshen for the big party!

No Blog List?

Well, I guess I DIDN'T figure out how to list the blogs I'm following!  So, here are a few:
Marmite lover
The Washerwoman
Sheep and Chick
Suzy's Vintage Attic
Abuncandance
Textile Treasure Seeker
   All are at .Blogspot.com...

Cowgirls, Cleaning, and Blogging

I've spent the better part of the day cleaning like crazy and wrestling two window treatments up on the windows in my upstairs, in anticipation of all folks who are coming into town for my Mother-In-Law's 90th Birthday Bash.  I felt like a dingle-bunny as I dashed down to the basement two dozen times to retrieve the tools actually needed to properly hang a window treatment.  My legs are tired.

Everytime I needed a time-out to rest, I would return to the computer to roam through a few of my favorite blogs, and finally figured out how to post them on my "Blog List".  You should check these blogs out if you love textiles, food and gorgeous photos.

And then I started combing through my artwork to see what I could find to adorn the newly cleaned and still-being-decorated bedrooms, and somehow, the cowgirls just look perfect in there with all those fishy motifs.  That would be the Cowgirl Canvases/Pillows that I showed at the Atlanta Market in January.

That led me to search out the Cow Tassel to see if she would fit anywhere in the scheme.  Don't tell her, but I don't think she's going to make the cut.  Wrong color dress.

Market Basket goes to Australia

I've been conversing (emailing!) with a very nice lady from Australia, who tracked me down from a photo of a French Market Basket she found online.  We haven't done those in years, but the warehouse has some - partially finished - lingering on the shelves, slumbering in their protective covers.  

She pleaded for the one with the horse on it - she's an equestrian, and simply HAD TO HAVE IT.   So I whipped up a liner/bag on Sunday, popped it into the one remaining equestrian basket, and here is the finished product on my workbench, getting ready for it's long trip to Australia.

Now I am psyched to get the rest of the Market Baskets down from their shelves and finish them off!
 

Mitzi Cornelius Wakes Up From Her Long Nap

So.  Last weekend, after almost two years of tiptoeing around all the mitzi Cornelius parts stored in my studio, slumbering in what was an increasingly restless Nap, I gently woke them up.
On Saturday, we just got to know one another again, as they stretched and yawned, and grumbled a  bit about how long I'd left them in bed.
By Sunday, we were dancing, and very chummy again.  Here are the first ladies out of the dressing rooms:

Giant Clam Shell Comes to Life

So, Mr. Piggy is now taking a backseat to my paper "clay" Giant Clam Shell, which I finished and photographed this week.  I put lovely pewter colored shells in it that I had collected from the beach, and I think it looks quite lovely:

I'm so excited by this medium - the sky is the limit!  If only there were more hours in the day...but that is just whining.  If I would just quit drinking wine and eating fabulous dinners every night, look how much more time I'd have to make stuff.  Plus, I'd loose my extra 20 pounds.  Sigh!

Fabric Shenanigans

     Mr. Piggy has languished on the bench as we have enjoyed a tremendous spike in business at the fabric store; today is my first chance to get back to him and finish him off so he can be a part of the party at Tideline Fabrics & HOme Decor (My fabric store!).

     My original plan was to let him be a natural kind of guy, hanging out in the nude to show off his piggy flanks and belly, but now I'm considering whether that is the proper thing to do...after all, one simply loves getting dressed up for parties!

     Here are the fabrics I'm considering for his attire...

     If I have these put into a brick repeat by Spoonflower Fabrics, he would be very beachy!  What do you think?  Seahorse or starfish?

Mr. Piggy Gets Fine Tuned

Okay, I promised a photo of Mr. Piggy on the workbench, so here he is:

 He's almost ready to fly...I just need to add some jowls to his face to fatten him up.  This new papier mache mix I'm using is really amazingly easy to build with.   It's just like clay!

The recipe needs to get written down before I forget what I did - 

• Soak cheap newsprint with Clorox until it gets soft.
• Grind up in blender until it is mush, drain well.
• Add white glue, linseed oil, drywall mud and stucco mix - I'm using a Sto product. 
• Store in covered container in a cool spot.  That's it!

I made a wire armature out of expanded metal, and went at it with a spatula until I got to the tight places, then I used the back of a spoon.  Pretty cool.

After his bigger cheeks dry (they won't get put on until tomorrow night), I'll sand him down and paint him.  Maybe with a bathing suit, since it is so darn hot!

Tomorrow I'm back at Tideline Fabrics...my REAL job!

Here Goes Lula Belle!

Taking a deep breath and opening the doors of my studio for the first time - welcome to my studio!  Here is where all the creative demons flourish and whiz around, bouncing off walls and generally trashing the concept of neatness.

Lula Belle Tassels, Lula Belle Satchels, Mitzi Cornelius Handbags, Stationery, Custom Fabric and a whole bucket load of other things the world never sees get mooshed around in  here, and I promise to let you in on the fun.  

Right now, I'm secretly working on a recycled newspaper stucco mix that can be used and worked just like wet clay - it's sort of papier mache, sort of mud pies.  When it dries, you can sand it down and paint it, or leave it alone and let it look like stone.  I'm thinking that I'll use some of my fabric designs to decoupage onto this life sized pig (really!) I'm building, just for kicks.  I'm supposed to be finishing up my presentation of custom fabric botanical prints for perusal by Paragon Art, but just can't keep my hands off this pig.

Since this is my first post, I'm not ready with photos yet, but I will get some posted this weekend.  Right now, I'm just learning how to use this blogspot!