there is a bear in my house

It looks like I probably won't be getting the cute puppy I've been gushing about.  The lady that called to give up the pups hasn't answered any of the rescue groups phone calls... 

BUT.  For the next week and half I'll be taking care of a much larger foster dog named Molly.  She is a 1 year old Saint Bernard who is very sweet and loving!  She has been staying at the rescue day care but they thought she would enjoy some at home attention.  I have never dealt with a dog this massive before, but she's really no trouble at all.  There's no way she can fit in the crate the puppies used to stay in, so Molly gets to roam the apartment 24/7.  When I went to bed last night she curled up in a corner of the living room and didn't budge until I called her to go out this morning.  She's staying at home by herself until lunch today.  I must admit I'm having visions of slobber covered furniture dancing through my head.  I hope she behaves herself!

Molly

After I bring Molly back at the end of next week I'll be taking a trip to California until April 18th.  Once I get back there will be a precious pit-bull waiting for me named Luca.  He is 2 and a half years old and apparently very mellow mannered and lovable.  He gets along with other dogs and children and seems to be a great pitty.  I'll be inviting him into my apartment until we can find him a forever home!

Luca

As for my art?  I showed the map drawings to Derek (my friend who got me this job and is overseeing its completion) earlier this week and he seems to like where I'm going with things.  He even thinks I might be able to do more drawings for them, like profile pictures and little plant doodads to put around their website.  I'll post some pictures soon of what I've been working on!

isn't this blog for art?

I originally started this blog to keep tabs on my art-making, yet all I seem to be posting are pictures of pit bulls...

Allie went to her new family last night.  Everything was going so well that I thought I might make it through without a waterworks display.  Wrong.  I went to say goodbye and was scratching behind her ears when it hit me.  I tried so hard to keep it together but ended up walking away with tears streaming down my face.  I blubbered 'really! I'm fine', as I tried to open the door and make my escape...

It was a rough night and a semi-rough morning.  I need that new puppy soon.  Hopefully tomorrow.

Bayou?

chico/ferdinand

I wanted to quickly share some pictures of my first foster dog, Chico.  He was adopted by a dog-sitting client of mine whose own dog had recently passed away.  He has since been renamed Ferdinand and is in love with his new owner!  Pictures of the new pup reminded me of him :)

new puppy!

Today at 6pm Allie is going to her new home.  We are having dinner with the family, getting her situated with new toys and a new collar, and then I will give my sure to be tearful goodbye.  I bathed her on Saturday, and have a pretty blue ribbon ready to tie around her neck for her final departure from the apartment.  She seems to know something's up.  All she wants to do recently is curl up in my lap and get her belly rubbed.  Damn I will miss her... Fortunately the new family has assured me I will get to visit and possibly dog-sit for her.  This will not be the last we see of Miss Allie!

And now ... drum roll ... I am getting a new puppy!  Possibly tonight!  The rescue group has been going back and forth on whether I'll foster a little puppy or an adolescent dog next.  Last I heard I was going to get a 10 month old full-bred pitty on April 19th.  Then this morning I get an email asking if I can take a 3 month old as early as tonight!  Of course I said yes.  The pups are pit/rottweiler mix so I wasn't expecting anything over the top adorable like my Allie... They sent me a picture... and lo and behold I am smitten!  Check this out.

You see that wrinkly thing second from the left?  The cutest puppy you've ever seen?  Yeah.  She's gonna be mine for a while (forever?).  AND  I get to name her!  I'm thinking she deserves a good southern name so I've been compiling a list of favorites.  Bayou, Harper, and Cotton are at the top so far, but I'll have to wait and see what her personality reveals.  

Oh man... what a life.

allie the foot pisser

I'm starting to get things under control again.  The sewing machine is going to the repair shop tonight, hopefully it won't cost too much to fix.  The guy at the shop will also go over proper machine care (like cleaning and oiling) so I can prolong the Elna's life.

I took a job creating a hand-drawn map for a local organic/sustainable farm.  I was going to volunteer my time and energy to make the drawing but decided to be proactive and ask for payment (since that is what getting my art degree was all about)...  It worked!  I'll be making sketches for the next couple of days and will show them my ideas this coming Tuesday. 

The best part of my week so far?  Allie, the incredibly well-behaved puppy who will do anything to make me happy, took a nice long pee directly on Pat's foot last night.  I was on the computer when I heard Pat say "Jen?  Allie just pissed on my foot..." I know I should have immediately disciplined her but I could not stop laughing!  She's never EVER done something like that before.  I continued to giggle as I cleaned up the mess.

Allie the foot pisser

where to begin

1. Oliver finally found a new foster home!  The rescue group did some foster dog juggling and he is now happily housed with a few older dogs.  Hopefully they'll teach him some puppy manners. 

2. Last Friday I packed up the car, secured Allie in the back, picked up my boyfriend (Pat) in Buffalo and drove out to Cleveland to spend some much needed time with my family.  Saturday morning Pat headed off to Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park to practice for an upcoming race (the US Open Downhill MTB race in New Jersey this May).  Normally I would go with him to the park but I decided to stay back and drink coffee with my mom.  Just as my mother and I were about to head out for some shopping I got a call from Pat.  He'd broken his collar bone on the jump course.  The x-rays show he snapped his clavicle near the shoulder.

I took Monday off work and drove him to a specialist that morning.  The verdict was surgery which was scheduled for Wednesday.  They gave him a pain pill prescription which Pat, of course, decided not to fill.  Why do guys do that?!  I drove out to Rochester on Tuesday for work.  Wednesday morning I woke up bright and early, coaxed the puppy back into the car, drove to Buffalo and brought Pat to the hospital.  He ended up being in the OR much longer than was expected.  He has a metal plate reattaching his clavicle to its former home at his shoulder and sutures securing the ligaments in place.  There is a chance the tip of the clavicle will die and they'll have to extract it.  In any case the plate will probably have to come out in 6 months to a year as it may start to bother him.  

I then took work off on Thursday since Pat was not allowed to be left alone the day after going under the knife.  On the car ride back to Rochester the anesthesia finally wore off and the pain set in.  The pills we got after the surgery seem to have no affect.  It's terrible to watch his face grimace as I help him sit up.

3. Allie will officially have a new home in 1 week!  A wonderful family with an 11 year old son has fallen in love with her.  I could not have found a better family!  I will definitely be spoiling her this next week.  I'm really gonna miss my little wiggle worm.

4. My sewing machine has stopped working.  I really wanted to start and finish a bag last night since I may not be able to visit the studio for a week if not longer while I take care of Pat.  Things were going well, then about 3/4 of the way through the bag the machine started to squeak and then stopped moving all together.  There's no thread bunch up, its something more internal, something which will have to go to a shop to be fixed.  I'll be finishing the bag by hand tonight.

I'm doing my best to keep the stress levels under control but I've already blown up at Pat a few times when things get to be too much.   I think its time for large amounts of yoga and tea.

Bag 4

It's almost midnight.  My normal bedtime is much closer to 10.  This bag has taken up way too much of my life and doesn't look all that great. 

I think it's time to step back and realize that I am a complete n00b at sewing and shouldn't expect miracles - something I have certainly been hoping for.  It's going to take me a while to perfect my sewing skills so I just need to keep practicing and wait for that 'aha' moment.  Damn.

In other less frustrating news I'm currently dog-sitting for my all time favorite pooch, Minnie.  She is pretty much perfect except for the fact that she will eat any other dog that crosses her path.  Because of this a good friend of mine is taking care of the puppies for the time being.  They'll be coming 'home' this Tuesday.  I can't help but feel guilty for enjoying my puppy-free days... 

Minnie trying to snooze

eh...

The blue and white ticking bag is finished.  I'm not so keen on the way I decided to attach the button and loop  - but overall I'm happy with the outcome.

I spent a good portion of today trying to play around with the burlap I've collected.  Needless to say burlap is a TERRIBLE material to sew with.  I have no idea how some people are able to make such gorgeous items from it.  I ended up putting together a little bag of sorts.  I still need to figure out how to keep it closed.  I'm starting to get rather frustrated.  The images in my head are not translating to the fabric as I hoped they would.

Sigh.

finished clutch

I'm 99% finished with my first clutch bag!  I spent a frustrating few hours trying to clamp the vintage clasp around the fabric last night. It is finally staying put but I need to tighten it up a bit more.  I was thinking an anvil and small hammer should do the trick.

I've been on a role in the studio and should be done with another bag soon.  This one will be a fold over satchel made out of blue striped ticking with an awesome leather button from my mom's collection.  I can't believe how quickly I'm burning through the vintage materials I've gathered!  I'm gonna have to visit some antique stores this weekend... an activity I will never complain about :)

thread window

I mentioned in an earlier post that Nancy Topolski was going to use some of my work in a window display at Thread.  Well she's finished installing and it looks fabulous - thank you, Nancy!  I'm so excited that she wanted to use my pieces in her gorgeous installation.  I'm especially pleased that the strange pods I made for my thesis work have found another purpose besides sitting awkwardly in my living room.

The white pod shapes with cream and yellow flowers are mine.  I had at least 15 of them in various sizes for my thesis show, including one that grew from the ceiling and was about the size of mini van.  All are made from constructed chicken wire covered in hand-stitched muslin fabric.  Some of the pods are hollow and stitched on the inside as well.  The flowers are made from found paper that I have collected over the years.  Most of the paper was saved from a warehouse I worked in helping my paleontology professor sort through the university's fossil collection!  The flowers were cut, twisted and then individually dipped in beeswax and sewn onto the pods.  The finishing touches are horse hairs (collected from my family's farm) that are threaded through the muslin fabric and left to poke out in tufts at various points on the pod.

The garlands are a more recent production.  Over the past summer a friend of mine who was getting married asked me to create something out of the flowers for her wedding decorations.  Voila, the garlands were born.  I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.  I was thinking about trying to sell them on Etsy once they're done looking pretty at Thread...