Reflection on my Birthday....

Yes, today is my birthday and I've received an abundance of flowers/plants....which is very nice!!!  I love color and I love the flowers...hubby gave me the roses and the Bromlaid plant, my daughter Jenny the cactus display and my friend Malinda in Port Orchard Washington sent me the carnations...we share a birthday, spoke this morning and then the lovely flowers arrived on my doorstep this afternoon...quite a surprise.

Turning "69" is sort of mind bending for me right now....mainly because that means I'm at the end of my 60's and the next number is .......70.     I guess I should get used to the higher numbers because I intend to live many more years and with that means more aging.  Someone said to me "you sure don't look like you are 69"....but when I think about that, I wonder what 69 is supposed to look like at all.  We are who we are and we look a certain way no matter what....I don't drink or smoke and I take an abundance of vitamins and I stay busy in my body and my mind....that's the most I can do to keep myself going at this point in my life.  And yes, I get aches and pains....my hands hurt a lot from arthritis and sometimes my left leg bothers me (had polio as a kid in my left leg) but other than that, I feel very good.

It's all a state of mind over matter.....my mind doesn't matter what age I am, I am who I am and that's the end of that conversation.  So Happy Birthday to me, myself and I and onward into being 69.  I hope this year is clear of health issues for myself and Lynn and our family unit.  

Week One of Five

Week One of Five.......................sewing like a mad woman this week....the above dress image is similar to what I am just completing for my daughters wedding dress.....last night was our last fitting and it was decided that the zipper in the back of the lace should go...so I spent about an hour carefully taking that out of the lace...hard to determine stitch versus lace at times, but I got it out and now I'm going to create a smaller opening without zipper...looking nicer for sure.  Fishing off some seams left naked until the last fitting and the hem on both dresses...the underdress a normal seam, the lace over dress will get scalloped lace added to the bottom and she's all finished.  I also cut out the bodice for the flower girl dress yesterday and will sew that up today/tomorrow and then move on to the skirt and then the first fitting before I put in that zipper.  The maid of honor dress...that's another issue...silk chanteuse with two  under layers...not looking forward to that task.

I got accepted into the Blue Line Gallery 30 x 30 exhibit, which means I have 32 days to create 30 6" x 6" pieces of work......I have been working on getting all the parts/pieces together and I have thirteen of the thirty ready to go under the sewing machine needle this week...my goal is to finish these thirteen by end of this Saturday and I'll start another set on Sunday.  When I'm not at the sewing machine I'm either coloring the remainder of black/white images for the 30x30 or hand work on the wedding dress/other dresses.......................and of course when it rains it pours, acquired two new commissions in the course of all of this and I have a new piece I need to get down to the gallery to hang...........maybe later this week.....

Enough time on the PC for the day....need to get back to the work on the work table.....L

REcpetion Day

This afternoon is my reception at the Artists' Collaborative Gallery in Old Sacramento, sharing with Verena Borton, weaver.....anyone that knows me knows that I hate being the center of attention, that I don't like artist receptions, but I know I need to do them in order to keep the customers happy.  I don't like explaining myself for my art; I don't like hearing the questions "how much time did it take you to create this piece";  I don't like being asked whether I used my own fabrics or store bought fabric..why does it matter, it doesn't alter the finished piece.     I guess I just don't like being asked questions about my work as I feel people are criticizing me instead of praising me.    Must be a character flaw on my part, because I feel that way when asked.  I know, "get over it".  Part of who I am.

I'm right in the middle of creating my daughter Jennifer's wedding dress and once that is finished, I'm on to the bridesmaid dress and flower girl dress.

I'm also hoping to be accepted into the 30x30 exhibit at Blue Line Gallery in Roseville...thirty pieces of work 6" x 6" in thirty days attached to a large board that is hung in the gallery.  I've already printed off about 22 of the images I plan to use but am stuck with not working out the back plan because I don't know the size of the back board...I plan on painting a design on the backboard and that design will also be in the background fabric of each piece, so that when you stand at a distance you see on design, but when you come up close to the full display you see all the different images.  We'll see if I can make this all work with the time constraints and my daughters wedding on Nov 21.  I should be able to create up to ten pieces a week, which I'll need to do to meet this deadline.  I won't know if I've been accepted  until Oct 16....only six days and waiting.    

I know I'm nuts to get involved in all of this, but this is what I thrive on....pressure and creativity and it's good for me right now.