the many hats we wear ...

oh what shall i write about when my course is completed? ...

working on my various class projects opens the stream of thought on so many topics ...

this week's project is to design and create 5 pieces of wearable art and each one must also be a self-portrait ...

which got me thinking about the many hats we wear ...

most of us are spread so thinly ... we wear many hats within one day ... on any given day, we are mother, friend, daughter, partner, teacher, chauffer, chef, neighbor ... just to name a few ...

some of these hats feel way too large ... the teaching hat springs to mind ... teaching our children often makes me think i should take that hat off immediately and put on a jestor hat instead ...

there is our creative hat which we sometimes want to tear from our heads (like for instance when we are assigned FIFTY collages in one week) ... but it is often this hat through which we express our feelings and touch those around us ...

is your hat balanced firmly on your head or can the slightest change blow it off ...

if i designed a hat with all these components, what would it look like ... do i change my hat often ... is my hat battered and bruised from being worn too long or not cared for ...

ah ... the many hats we wear ...

perhaps that's why i always feel so compelled to knit and create hats ... they are like a tea cozy for the soul ...

keeping the warmth in ...

where oh where have you been ...

i can hear you now "where have you been ms heart?" ...

let me just say that this night class of mine, while pushing me to places i haven't been before, is very demanding ... so my humble apologies to those of you still paying attention ... but FIFTY collages in 7 days (yes indeed you did hear correctly--FIFTY) really took its toll ...

so, as i sit down to write, my recently temporarily retired husband and eldest cherub are having a nerf gun war ... my youngest cherub is off to a sleepover ... and finally i have a moment to myself to sit and catch up with you all ...

but first i must share some cute photos with you ... cute cat photos ... even better ...

how can you not love a sweet cat ...

so what's new in my world? ...

well we had a lovely trip to whistler over the long weekend past to celebrate my eldest cherub's birthday ... it was a fun-filled time of great skiing, fabulous dining, playtime in the pool and strolls around the village ...

other than that, i am working working working on homework for my certificate of fiber arts program ... we have started a new session and our instructor is very engaging and informational but also demanding ...

so let's talk about FIFTY collages in 7 days ...

our challenge was to create FIFTY collages of at least 7" x 7" and of course we were given a set of guidelines etc ...

here's what mine looked like mid-working phase ...

in my collages, i chose to tell the story of an upcycled sweater from original purchase, to deposit in the goodwill bin, thrifted by ms heart, fulled by ms heart and upcycled into something new and lovely ...

so i was pretty much done with glue and paper and cutting and pasting ...

our next major project is to create 5 wearable art pieces ...

so far, i have crafted an upcycled bag from recycled bags ... you'll rcognize some of the labels ... the sweet owl came from a bartell's bag way back during halloween ... he's been waiting a long time to be reborn ...

and now, since a nasty cold seems to be making it's way through the household, i shall make myself an EmergenC drink and sit with my knitting needles and a cat or two ...

'til next time ... enjoy your weekend ...

it's raining cats and dogs ...

well it's a wet drizzly day in seattle--the likes of which we haven't seen for a long time ...

only the birds are truly happy today as they flitter about the back yard from feeder to feeder, knowing that the neighborhood cats are sleeping ... they can splash in the puddles to their hearts content ... knowing no furred creature would hazard a trek outdoors today ...

after a lovely weekend ...

i am knee deep in felted sweaters and collages ... my stomach lurches every time i wander past the dining room ... the dining room table looks like a paper shredder lost its mind and regurgitated the past years worth of offerings ...

even the floor is beginning to take on the appearance of a printing house floor ...

despite being 39 collages deep in a requisitie set of 50, i'm still not quite sure exactly where i'm headed with mine ...

but, in the meantime, i keep cutting and pasting, flipping through old magazines and art books ...

and the dishes keep piling up, the laundry is calling out from the hampers ...

pets are feeling unloved, workouts are being skipped ...

emails are being ignored ...

meals are haphazard ...

hair is limp and lifeless ...

no wonder artists have that slightly wonky off-kilter personality ...

their fingers are glued together, they are wearing yesterday's bloomers and they are surrounded by starving dependants ...

maybe in my next life, i'll come back as a cat ...

makin' biscuits ... (warning--don't read if you are dieting) ...

is there anything better than homemade lemon curd served up with a wee spoonful of homemade strawberry jam (thanks mom) dolloped onto a slightly warm homemade buttermilk biscuit ...

if there is, i don't know what it is ...

here are a few photos from a fun-filled day with a wee friend who came to stay for the day and made my day ...

the 'joy of cooking' always at the ready ...

whisking the eggs and sugar ...

squeezing the lemons ...

cutting the biscuits ...

ah ... time for tea ... (and no you can NEVER be too old for a tea party) ...

and if that wasn't sweet enough, we squeezed in some sewing time as well ...

and her mom thinks she owes me ...

but the truth be told, i think i'm the one who is indebted ...

thanks K ...

i'm just sayin' ...

it's been a long day, filled with inspiration, a dose of desperation and a tiny bit of consideration ...

i've been working on my fifty collages for night class ... yes you heard right, fifty ... not fifteen ... i suppose we are taking this course to expand our creative selves but sleepless nights don't necessarily lend themselves to expansion of creativity ...

all that said, i'm about twenty percent (dear god) there ... here's a photo of a few of the pieces in my series ...

and a close up of one of fifty (well one day in the near future hopefully there will be fifty) ...

my concept is to take a look at a "found object" like perhaps a sweater ... found at value village ... how did it go from a treasured piece to a discarded piece ... was it too large, too small, did it get a hole, did it just not "work" anymore ...

let's hope at the end of it all, it makes some sense ...

in the meantime, for inspiration, i found myself at, can you guess where? ...

ah, right on the first try ... there's nothing like pawing through the shelves and racks of value village to find inspiration ... and a beautiful crocheted creamy throw ...

so, back to the cutting board, literally, not to mention the glue stick and sewing machine and, if you don't hear from ms heart for a few days, you'll know that i'm in the study cutting and pasting and praying ... a lot of praying ...

oh and you might be wondering about that consideration part, well that's a story for another day ... but it involves one sweet 11-year old boy who always sees the good ...

whatever possessed me ...

to think that i could seriously keep up a blog, maintain my household, work on my certificate of fiber arts, coordinate craft sales, make christmas happen, stay in relatively good shape ... etc ... but i think i did a pretty good job ...

so let's take a wee peek at some of the highlights from 2009:

amy turned the magical 13

beth turned, gasp, 47

jake learned to knit

jake and i flew to monterey to visit friends

along with some friends, our family spent a week on san juan island

i bravely put some items in my etsy shop

i had my first sale on etsy

i put more things in my etsy shop

the kids and i flew to ontario and then to prince edward island and spent a blissful two weeks with my sister

jake turned 11

i returned to school for my certificate of fiber arts

jeff turned more than 11

i started planning the happy valley arts and crafts fair

i began a blog

i created more and more

jeff retired temporarily but hasn't really stopped working although he now has time for nerf gun wars with his wife and children

and so on

and so forth ...

it's been a good year ...

but alas a new year has begun ...

and by now, a few of you have probably broken resolutions ... i wisely made my resolution to not make any resolutions and i'm doing extremely well so far ... there is a chance that this might be the one year that i actually do not break my resolution(s) ...

but while my knobby knees are still shaking from a busy fall 2009, i wish you

all the best for 2010 ...