There is something very zen-like about mass production. I don't have to give much thought to what my hands are doing, so my mind is free to wander. Yet I am also in the moment....the smell of freshly brewed coffee, the feel of sunlight streaming through the dining room window and warming my face...
Six days of my pictorial notes, in chronological order...
Much better!
I'm sick of sewing, so used double sided tape to adhere the fabric to the pillows....just don't look at the back side of them. ;)
I sewed the pillows yesterday, while watching reruns of Archer, now I have to make pillowcases. I don't think you can tell in the pictures, but in person, the white of the pillows is not as bright a white as that of the spread and in the headboard fabric, making the pillows look dingy. I will not make white pillowcases now, as I had planned. Besides, now that I'm far enough along to see them in place, I think it's plain.
I think I'll cover one pair in white fur and the second in gold fabric (I got it out of the remnants bin today, Susan, I couldn't find cheap gold Valentine's panties.) Or do I want to cover one pair in the patterned, the second in fur, and make a gold throw pillow? Hmmm.
I spent a few hours yesterday and this morning making my hands sore with punches. I knew the markers Nancy raved about were going to arrive today, and I wanted to have shapes ready to color. They did arrive, but were sitting in a box on my porch all afternoon. It's a whole 14°F here...feels like 1°F with the wind chill factored in. Sigh. I feel I need to let them come up to room temperature before I start to play.
I started making the bed first, since it's the largest piece of furniture in the room. It doesn't look like much yet, but it will be luxurious (hopefully) once the base and pillows are on. I have to sew pillows next. Ugh. Sewing. Boo. It will be nice to get it over with, though, so I don't have it on the to-do list to dread.
Giving thought to the parts of the build I dread makes me wonder what else I can do in the beginning, when my motivation and creativity are in high gear. I can't think of anything else, at the moment, that I dread, but I can see the tedium of making a bazillion echeveria. I'm going to set up an echeveria station on a tray, at the dining room table, and devote an hour a day to them, so that when it comes time to plant the roof I'll be ready, or at least have a good start.
Puttito cats, imported from Japan. Thanks to Bridget, who texted me a pic of the one she bought.
I went shopping yesterday. Michael's, Pet Smart, and JoAnne's. I hate shopping. Pet Smart was the worst...crowded...horrible, twangy, too loud country music...and some small horse that looked like a cross between a Standard Poodle and a St. Bernard thrust it's entire snout in my crotch, from behind, and almost knocked me over. I have got to start ordering cat food online.
All the paper at both Michael's and JoAnne's was looked over at least twice. Also stick-on vinyl sheets, wrapping paper, etc. I didn't find anything I liked. There used to be a proper art supply store downtown, with large sheets of artist's papers. The big chain stores put it out of business years ago. I miss it dearly. One cannot purchase a just-right shade and texture of paper without seeing it in person.
Once paper was made an impossibility I wandered over to the fabric section. Too many choices! I spent an unreasonable amount of time examining the three dozen almost-the-same-shades of light tan before I shook my head to clear the cobwebs and just picked one already. I'm going to cover the walls with fabric this year. I also picked out a patterned fabric for the chair....or rather, it picked me...I was walking past the patterns to get to the solids when it stopped me in my tracks.
These are this year's colors. Thalo Blue and natural wood for the exterior. Deep blues and browns for the interior, with white, tan, and small shots of gold. The roll of paper at the top of the picture is from my stash, it was one of the contenders for the floor in the beach house, it will become bathroom tiles in this build.
I am going to turn the house to move the front entry to the side, and change the placement of all the windows. This makes the overall proportions a bit awkward for my needs, so I'm going to cut at least two inches from the depth of the structure. While I appreciate that grooves make a nice, tight fitting build, it doesn't make it easy to alter (is that the point?). Thankfully, I have my fabulous little table saw, so can recreate the edge of the walls.
The best course of action for this build, I've decided, is to make and fit the furnishings first, before I make irreversible alterations to the structure. I'll leave the build in dry fit for quite some time, I expect.
The flat section of the roof will be a succulent covered green roof. I've estimated I'll need to make a bazillion paper echeveria. But then I found these at Michael's yesterday. They may be a bit big, but I can remove the bottom row or two of leaves if necessary. They will add some variety in plant size and thickness to the roof, and will reduce my labor.
I'll close with a gratuitous picture of a fuzzy round ball.
I've decided on an interior layout. I'm not going to show you just yet.
With that done, I dug into my basket of fabric to lay out possible color schemes. Carpet, bedding (white), curtains, and chair.
I picked one, then second guessed myself all week in favor of another. When I looked at this picture again this morning I knew my first choice was the right one.
There are not enough pieces of the same paper in my stash for wall covering, though I did pick one for bathroom tiles, so I'm off with my fabric swatches to Michael's today, to spend the gift certificate my brother gave me for Christmas.
Ester has moved from the seat of my her recliner to the top. I thought it meant I could sit in it again; that we could share. I was mistaken. Instead she places her back feet in the center of my head and pushes.