More Art, Less Housework

This weekend Ocean Shores hosted a change saw carving and sand castle building contests.  Wow.  I've never seen anything like it. 

Needless to say, the chainsaw carving was LOUD.  We didn't stay long because it was really bothering the kids, but I went back on Sunday and took my time watching them carve and looking at the entrants in the "quick carve" category.  It's a big deal this chainsaw carving and really fun to watch.

We spent considerably more time down at the beach watching them make sand sculptures.  There were "master" carving teams right down to families who showed up at the beach and decided to compete.  The master carvers are pretty darn serious about this with tons of equipment, forms, buckets, water sprayers, etc.  But in the end, it's all sand.  Lots of fun.

My silly project is done.  I'm taking these to the cottage to put my shell collection in.  Okay not all of it, but the better samples of a few of the types of shells we've been finding.  We have the most gorgeous window ledges at the cottage it is tempting to fill them up, but they are looking a little junky right now.  This should tidy them up.

hmmm, which should hold the collection of shells with googly eyes?

I love our cats.  I really do.  I don't love when they bring their toys in the house though.  Bo brought in this little guy to play with.  When we realized he was still alive we bundled him up and took him outside.  P tended to him until he was sufficiently recovered to run off.

P said he loved him and wanted to keep him.  I explained that he was a wild mouse and would hate living in a cage.  P said that he felt the same way on his first day of 1st Grade but he got used to it.  So, wouldn't the mouse get used to it?  hmmm.  I think my argument there would be that P hasn't really adjusted to school yet.  He's still a little wild.

These are brilliant.  I absolutely had to make them for my kids.  So a trip to the dollar store later we have buckets and sponges.  Add water and we have a water fight ready to happen.  Sweet.  And a little more environmentally friendly than balloons - which Miss R was quick to point out.

(Note to cousins, bring your own ammo.)

Derick bought himself a new inflatable kayak for the cottage.  Here's a couple of pictures of him enjoying it.

There are days when I feel like I've no time to craft.  So, I try to have projects stashed around the house so that even with just a minute or two I can pick it up and work on it.

At the moment I'm embroidering on some squares of linen.  The patterns are all from Sublime Stitching, the Under the Sea iron-on transfer set.  I love the patterns that Jenny has, they are simple, easy to stitch and definitely unique.  I'm a big fan.

These squares will end up being little containers to hold seashells in at the cottage.  Why so complicated you might ask?  Don't know.  Believe it or not, this is the simplified version of what I was originally going to do.  Anyway, I'll work away at them, a minute here, a minute there and when I'm done, I'll let you know.

Certain dishwashing detergents to be banned in Whatcom County

 Certain dishwashing detergents to be banned in Whatcom County

updated 11:15 p.m. PT, Tues., June. 17, 2008

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Starting July 1, all dishwasher detergents for sale in Whatcom County can't contain more than 0.5 percent phosphorus.  The new law affects only detergents for automatic dishwashers, such as Electrasol and Cascade.

Note:  this is just north of us.  hopefully this type of initiative will spread.

Last Friday I got to chaperone for P's class on a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo.  Yikes.  Talk about loud and non-stop.  Another mom and I combined our groups, the two of us and six boys.  They won.  But it was fun, a nice day, and lots of cool animals.

The last picture is P with a Komodo Dragon, whom he'd written a report about.

I'm trying to find this cool web site that I found a couple of years ago.  It allows you to type in a message then choose a background and the message appears as graffiti on said background.  I'm sure I posted a picture like this on my blog with a birthday wish for someone and I can't find it, and I can't find the web site and I've decided I really really need to find it.  I've got so much to do this week (last week of school) and I know nothing will happen until I find this stupid thing.

a little help??

•  okay, found one.  Not the one, but one.  Am still looking.
•  another one, pretty good, and may just be what I need.

until September anyway.  Three of us who have been in the class together since January will be coming back in the fall to take Intro to Printmaking one more time.  Okay, we're a bit slow.  There is just too darn much to learn and it is an awesome class. 

Anyway, here is the last of my big press, oil-based inks work until fall... a couple more paper lithographs.

This is a tryptic that I thought would work better but it wasn't doing it for me.  Not to mention the center print is crooked and smudged. 

This is the light post on our street.  I just loved all the wires and lines on this.  The process made it so abstract looking.  I have to say I love this print.

I had blue ink up to my elbows, in the water bowl, splashed all over my work surface, rolled out on my work surface, man, it was everywhere.  What a mess.  I still have blue ink on my hands.  The women in class said it looked like I had a job cleaning toilets on airplanes.  niiiice.