Up In My Attic!

While my fabric pieces are drying, I thought I would show you my new(old) digs.  Here is my backyard with the creek running through it...

             

And, here is the back of my house...

             

Being Spring and all, of course we have Robin Red Breast and all his clan...

It rained all night last night, along with thunder and lightening, so it was cozy sleeping, and this morning I had these views out of my new Graphic/Office/Studio window...

                   

And this is the view from my desk:

         

So that is the tour for today - I'm off to check the dryer, and to figure out how to link to the binding tutorial that I'm going to use for my project!

Cranking the Engines

So, now it's time to work!  This is what I've been doing since coming to Atlanta...cleaning out six years of neglect, mold, mildew, dust and -UGH!- rat and squirrel poop from my poor house.

Here's a before shot of the graphics and sewing side of my workroom/studio on March 3:

Pretty awful.  Just open the door and throw it in for years while I tended to the store in North Carolina.  After a couple of day's work, this is what it looked like:

Getting better!  So, today, after spending ALL DAY yesterday cleaning up the new office area I will be using for the graphics and computer work, I decided to crank my creative engines and get started on some multi-panel table runners:

I'm going to make these quilted runners about 90" long and they'll finish out at about 14" wide.  Now that they're all cut, I'm going to put them in the washer for a few minutes to take the sizing out.  After they've dried, I'll start sewing them together and figuring out what to use for the backs.  And the binding!  I have to find enough fabric to be able to cut it on the bias without buying any more fabric.  That's the rule.  I just sold a fabric store, for crying out loud!                                



                                
                                    

Life Does Go On

It has been a month since my husband's surgery - the doc says all the cancer was contained in one area, and no further treatment is necessary.  I guess that good old Guardian Angel includes my loved ones, too.  Thanks, dude!

I could (and probably should) write a book now on the immediate aftercare of a man who has undergone prostate removal.  Just to give everyone a Head's Up if you are facing this situation any time soon - take your pajamas to the hospital when you check in for his surgery, and be prepared to set up camp in his room.  During the surgery, don't sit in the hospital - give all the attendants your cell phone number, then go find some peace and comfort for three to four hours while he is in their hands.  You will need your reserves so that you can be alert every second of the first night to support and comfort your man.  The nurses will check on him periodically, but you need to be there every second for the next 48 hours.  Just sayin'.

We are in Atlanta now, and loving it.  There is a beautiful Spring going on over here that just doesn't happen at the beach...on the island, there's no verdant grass, no tender blossoms, and no sunny corners to curl up in out of the still-chilly breeze.  The island has its own charms in the Spring, but I guess I'm just a woodsy kind of girl, and love the smell of all the trees and vines waking up, stretching, and shaking off the Winter.

Yesterday, my husband called me to look out at an abandoned flower bed that is overgrown with ivy now (so much to do!) to show me a single tulip that had arisen and bloomed 12 years after being planted, just at this particular time.  He remarked that if you were Japanese, you would probably place deep spiritual significance to that bloom; you would probably translate that as a sign that life would go on.

I'm thinking he's about right.

                                                                  

It's A Man Thing

It's Sunday morning, I'm finishing off my zucchini/onion/egg pancake over jasmine rice upstairs, and I hear husband rustling around in the kitchen.  

Refrigerator door opens....silence.  Then, "Where are the flour tortillas?" comes wafting up the stairs.

Is this a man thing, or what?

Stars and Guardian Angels

I was born at a tiny little clinic in Leighton, Alabama.  The doctor who had delivered me was the only one in attendance besides my Dad, and as he was cleaning me up he smiled and held up my foot to my Mom.  "Look at this", he says.  "She will always be lucky in life!"

What he was pointing out was a perfect five-point star, made by lines converging on the bottom of my foot.  When I was a teen, I stared at that star many times, wondering where the heck the luck was.  More than once, Mom told me that it was the sign of my Guardian Angel, and that he was watching over me, never fear.  When I was barely 20 years old, I got married and left my parents and childhood home and flew away to live in Hawaii.  Right about then, my Angel went to work, and hasn't stopped since.

After I ended my last post on November 14, I got in the van to go to Jamie's Spot Fry and saw messages on my cell phone.  Heading down the street, I listened to them and learned that a young couple was driving around the island, trying to find me.  What followed next has changed the track of my life at exactly the right time in my life...which can only be attributed to that good old Guardian Angel who put his stamp on my foot and claimed me while I was still in the womb.

They wanted to buy my fabric store, Tideline Fabrics, which is located in Shallotte.  We talked for about an hour in a parking lot (I missed the Spot Fry) and to skip over all the details and get to the present, we are moving toward closing in mid-February.  

That will release me to move my home base back to Georgia - to my beloved home, gardens  and studio there, and most importantly, it will release me to be with my husband 24-7 as he enters the battle against cancer.  He was diagnosed November 30, and last night his surgery was scheduled for February 17.  He has chosen a doctor in Atlanta rather than Duke...see how all this works?





 

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!