i keep getting sick and it's so frustrating. but i have actually been eating an apple almost every day! i need to rebuild my immune system but not sure how. i might go talk to my dr. but i'd probably pick up something in the waiting room... at least work just for flexible spending accounts for medical expenses and i am quite happy about that. i will certainly use it!

i mixed up a tasty batch of bead soup in blue the other day and am having some fun with it. so far i've done 2 necklaces, 1 button, and now this brooch in process.

the way i bead is that i find a bunch of beads that i like together, in various sizes, colors, and textures, then i dump them all in a tupperwear sandwich box and go. in some ways it's a pain, if i want to do an area of say, slate blue matte iris beads i have to fish them out, but overall it works for me because it inspires me to be a bit.. well, relaxed. freeform, spontaneous.

i am enjoying this color pallet, blues and greys. i love these ammonite beads, which are actually glass. it does make me happy when i can combine my love of earth sciences and paleontology with my artwork!

also an odd little note about the color grey. well, the english spelling is grey and the american spelling is gray. but i always use
grey for cool greys, it feels cool to me, like wet sand with puget sound in the distance on a stormy day -- such as today! and gray feels warm to me, like a napping kitten. this beadwork is oceany and cool so i shall say it is grey.

another one of my little drawings of nothing and everything all at once. i do enjoy doing these. this one is about 5 and 1/2 inches by 4 and 1/4 inches. it is actually a card so if i send it to you please try to act surprised even if you saw it on my blog before. it's better in person.

anyhow. i was down for a few days with a fever, as has been seeming to happen to me every couple weeks. always about the same: fever, fatigue, mild sore throat, and headache. i wish it would stop! it's not even winter yet!

i am feeling better and came to work today and think i should not remain well and spend my free time beading and drawing and reading. and drinking some cocoa with jesse, of course.

this necklace is to go with the dress i am wearing to our company holiday party (which is so early this year - this week - before thanksgiving even! it's because so many people are scheduled to travel for work starting the thanksgiving weekend and going right up till christmas. i really wish the schedule was much less busy but it's good to have work so what can you say?

anyhow, this mermaid is something i had hoarded for years but i think i should start making some wonderful things out of my treasures, don't you? so i made this necklace for starters. the mermaid is from green girl studios!

http://www.greengirlstudios.com/

i spent a quiet evening listening to music and beading. i wish i had more time to spend in such peaceful activities! i listened to AJ roach, susan tedechi, and christine fellows. i also made a mermaid necklace and another necklace i won't share pictures of yet since it is a christmas present!

more drawing. this one is pitt pens on paper. it is about 8.5 x 11 inches. to see the larger size click this photo then select all sizes from the menu above the image.

does anyone need a moleskine notebook (pocket sized) that wants it for writing, not art? i accidentally bought the plain unlined moleskine when i meant to buy the sketch-book one that has thicker paper. the one i had is the one with the green label. any takers! i could post it off to you post-haste. hate to waste.

my friend Anna Katherine Curfman is having 2 trunk shows this weekend and selling her beautiful Nunofelted scarves and accessories. The scarf I am wearing in this picture is one that I bought from her. Here are the details!

Friday, November 13th from 5pm to 9pm at Skookum on Queen Anne (1690 Queen Anne Ave N., Seattle 206.285.2184)
In addition to Anna Katherine there will be Andrea DeLaRosa-Hildebrandt representing fabulous jewelry from Karazi Design, cp jewelry design, and Cintli.

Sunday, November 15th from 1pm to 5pm at 22201 Makah Road, Woodway, WA 98020 (which is just below Edmunds).
This is a home show of holiday shopping and fundraising for Prosthetics Outreach Foundation. There are three other artists as well:
Eco-friendly hand forged jewelry handmade by Jill Jandreau - Hats, scarves, and bags handmade by Tory Browning and Silpada Jewelry represented by Jodi Griffiths.
Each artist will be donating a portion of their sales to Prosthetics Outreach Foundation.


Anna Katherine's website is :http://indigocrane.com/
and her etsy shops are: http://www.etsy.com/shop/IndigoCrane
,
and
http://www.etsy.com/shop/indigocranefiber.

i drew this a few weeks ago. goodness, i am glad i am not a crow today. i mean in addition to the whole west nile virus thing, it is howling windy out. and rainy, the weather man said 6 goulashes on a scale of 1-10! i am wearing my cute rain boots for sure today. but i'd rather just hole up and draw! perhaps i shall do that tomorrow!

well, i turned 39 today and mostly it's been a pretty good day. jesse and i went out to breakfast this morning and i had my beloved gluten-free blueberry pancakes. later we went to the bead store, where i got some beautiful new beads to play with. we also watched some dr. who and i did some much needed cleaning and sorting.

my twin sister asked me if i was having issues about the number 39, and i said not really, just some of the things that come with it. like looking older, changing metabolism, etc. the last few years i really feel i look older, and i am not sure how i feel about that, but i figured if i looked twice as bad at 78 as i do now i'd look great for 78, so maybe i look ok for 39. which should not matter but i wanted to look good for 39 anyway -- even if it doesn't matter.

my mother observed that my art is going well, she keeps up on my blog, and that is true, and that's a good place to be at 39. i wish i could be more deep and philosophical about it but i am a bit depressed at the moment, and worn out. but soon for bed with a good book.

this picture was taken at the new fabric shop on vashon, or at least fairly new, i consider anything new that has not been there at least 20 years... island quilter. this is their kaffe fasset wall. kaffe fasset actually visited them and apparently his partner liked the wall so much he took pictures - and so did i. after asking permission. now i must say this shop would be worth a visit, it's just a short ferry ride from seattle or tacoma. you could have lunch at the monkey tree, vashon hardware, or the red bicycle, all within a few blocks, or coffee at luna. and you should visit both book stores too as long as you are there. i need to go back soon again,

this is island quilter's website:
Island Quilter.

jesse and i had a very nice visit to vashon island, where i grew up yesterday. we drove around, went to the lighthouse at pt. robinson, poked around town a bit, then went over to see our friends phil and kathy - where i was given YARN and jesse was plied with guatamalan rum, had lunch at the vashon hardware, which is now a restaurant. i got cordials at my favorite little shop (the little house) and we went to the amazing new fabric store, island quilter. it was a good visit.

i insisted on stopping and taking a picture of this llama. i miss the farm i grew up on! we had sheep and boarded llamas. they can be quite sweet, except when they are not, and then they are kind of nasty brutes, but still pretty indeed.

yesterday, i drew, pretty much all day long, while listening to the bbc production of douglas adams' long dark teatime of the soul and watching the documentary of grey gardens.

i am home with a headache and sore throat and i am hoping it's one of those 24 hour things. this is a picture i started a couple days ago and finished last night. i wish i could draw things all day.

pen and ink with colored pencil
3 x 4.5 inches

this is the view from the 100 level of the space needle. this is one of three arches that mark the seattle science center. in the distance is puget sound, bainbridge island, and the peninsula.

i took this picture on the way to work. the sun was coming up and catching on the dew. it was a beautiful but cold morning. i am sorry that work was too busy to permit a walk at lunch time. i had a lunch time meeting at the space needle, though, so there were views of downtown and the water. the elevator operator said sometimes people ask if bainbridge island, in the distance, is japan. (no.)

it is autumn, and it's really a mixed blessing. i LOVE the colors and the crisp air, and indian summer (which the Northwest has had about 3 days of, mixed in with rain.) But the shorter days do make me blue.It's really too bad because autumn colors are my favorites, and i love apples and pumpkin pie! this little fellow is someone i drew this weekend. he seems autumny to me as well. he, and some of his buddies, are on etsy. mostly i just like to draw and draw and draw. and i would not mind sleeping some too, and knitting, and having snacks. and then sleeping some more. but i do work 40 hours a week and that sort of puts a crimp in my natural inclinations. i have a notion there should be such a thing as a hibernation grant, that one could apply for, it would pay your bills while you slept through winter.

i had a pretty good weekend. jesse and i had breakfast with a friend saturday and enjoyed the sunny autumn weather. that was followed by an evening out for halloween, and a trip to the <3 fabric store <3 today. i spend the afternoon working on my pen and ink drawings. i've been drawing a lot of nature scenes.. some of the smaller ones are on etsy, and more to come in future days. this afternoon i watched grey gardens, which i enjoyed very much.

halloween was fun, but i am glad it is over and am glad to be into november, a month that i prefer to october, on the whole. yesterday was gorgeous, warm enough to go out with a warm sweater and no coat, and the colors are beautiful, all gold and orange with a few bits of red. i hope today will be nice enough for a walk!

here i am in my belly dancer's outfit, i have zills, the little cymbals, but i was not holding them in this picture. jesse was a jesse'o'lantern.

jesse and i just went out to breakfast, mmm, gluten free pancakes! and then we went to the library, i had some books waiting, and starbucks. i also went to la tienda, a cool boutique in ballard and got my sister's birthday presents! :) and managed not to buy anything for myself but i can't promise i won't go back! they have gorgeous scarves and jewelry and clothing and ceramics and .. i could go on. they also are known for their celebration of the day of the dead, so the place was very festive and one of the clerks was wearing traditional mexican folk dress.

this is a picture jesse took of my new sweater i knit, modified from knitty.com's sonnet, and a hat i crocheted.