Novel Eye

I'm having a vote for the title of this one--again from random collected fabrics. Choices are: a) Cats in the Crypt b) At Play in the Boneyard c) Kitties in the Graveyard

I've been creative these last few weekends. There are a lot of reasons--some pharmaceutical, some not. So I've been crafting. First I made a chatelaine. Chatelaines were used in the middle ages as a sort of pocket (pockets are a very recent invention). The idea was re-embraced in the Victorian era (of course). Housekeepers would keep them on their belts with useful items. I'd been thinking about making one for a while because of my Steampunk fascination. Then when I found the little scissors pendant I knew I had to. Mine has scissors, a needle case, a paperclip which is holding a suede envelope with safety pins and straight pins. There's a little metal envelope at the top with a little metal letter in it (I had it and I didn't know what to use it for. Mine can be clipped on or the safety pin can be pinned to the clothes. Mainly I'm keeping it on the end table to sew in front of the tv . Here's a real one: http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/grko/exb...

This is a doll that I made for my husband. I meant it to be ready at Christmas, and I got everything except the apron done. Then it took me three months to get the apron done. D'Oh . It's the character Schnitzel from Cartoon Network's show Chowder. Schnitzel only says Rada Rada --it translates for everything: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtlqKUwdqqc (about 5:13). I put in a sound disc that plays " Rada rada , raaada ," when you push on his tummy. No reason, just amused me to do so.

I can't seem to get back into posting every day. First husband was sick, then cat was sick, now I'm sick. Work continues to be less than fulfilling. I have actually been somewhat productive in other ways. I've been only touching Facebook . I made this: It's a wall hanging for my b&w and yellow bathroom. I call it "Time in the Labyrinth." I've been collecting the scraps for years although I had to supplement with purchased fabric. The stripe at A5 and C3 came from a sink skirt in our house in western MA. The little checkerboard from a border on another wall hanging. The patterns at C6 and F3 from that purse from last year. I picture it as a sort of game. One can follow the patterns or the dark appliqued path (which is shorter but has more obstacles). One would move one or two spaces using either a coin, button, or perhaps an Othello piece. I also made a new coat, but I have some finishing to do on it, so hopefully will have a picture tomorrow.

I often dream of fashions I cannot sew. Last night I dreamt of jewelry and art I cannot make. I lack even the ability to draw them as accurately as I would like so that someone else can make them. I can hear music in my head that I cannot transcribe. Should I take classes to try and learn the skills I would need to bring these to reality? And what would I do with them then? What do I do with the things that I sew and create now? I also dream of stories that I should write and that I can do, but then I grow afraid--thinking of what will I do with it when it's done, when I should just think of getting it down and seeing what it is. Does this happen to other people?

...except that I finally confirmed that I had the correct spelling and usage from a Japanese friend, I opened a CafePress shop . I have done absolutely nothing to promote it yet. My husband hopes to add some Dr. Whovian related items and I have a few more ideas. Two thoughts on that--one, should I report the people who are blatantly stealing copyrighted work and passing it off as their own, or leave it alone? And two, and this will only be funny to half of my tiny readership. There's a shirt that I covet there that says, "I wanted to learn Alchemy, but it costs and arm and a leg." Bwa -ha-ha, ROFL, snort. Oh, and even more one more thing--should I add "Nan dai yo, ne ?" to the back, just to be more clear?

I worked part of the day in my sewing room, mainly doing small repairs and ironing. I've felt the need to do something with my hands lately, build something as opposed to just writing or working, but I couldn't do anything until I caught up with the ironing which was piled on the sewing table and dealt with the repairs piled on the machine. I finally put together a document room at work yesterday. It felt just like my old days in visual merchandising, moving shelves, unpacking boxes, rearranging as new things emerged. One of the things I really liked about Visual was the sense of having really DONE something at the end of the day, something you could point to and say, "That's what I did today," as opposed to administrative or HR work where one sometimes feels as though all one is doing is shuffling paper and sitting on the phone. I'm not really selling the insurance I'm just making sure the paperwork goes through. There were many things I hated about Visu...