Getting ready for class

Well, this is what the basement is supposed to look like in anticipation of my JoAnn Kelly Catsos workshop in a few weeks (Nov. 9-12, 2013), but I have a long way to go still. I have been working on it this weekend and it is looking better, but where did all this crap come from? I am a hoarder in waiting I think (or am afraid). I will get there. I am in purge mode, so am gathering up stuff to donate and to sell.

Look for class photos as they happen in a few weeks. I will be posting them on my facebook and instagram pages.

What I have been up to lately

Well work has still been kicking my butt, so there hasn't been a lot of time for fun stuff like crafting and basket weaving (or cleaning the house for that matter). I did take a week long vacation last month for my birthday and that was really nice. I bought a number of projects to work on, a book (I had almost forgotten what those were) and a bunch of DVDs. Besides crafting, reading and watching movies I did get to do a bit of junks (I would say antiquing, but that would be a stretch for a lot of what I was digging through) and I actually found a nice antique white oak ribbed basket for a fairly good price. I need to photograph it (sorry).

One of the projects I did get to work on was a new waxed linen knotted basket. Knotted baskets are nice for taveling as they don't require water and the only tool you need is a pair of scissors.

Nothing like sitting out on a dock on a lake working on a basket.

This is about as far as I have gotten. It is hard to tell, but the blue section is flat. Also my finger tips are orange from dying some bottle brush trees orange for Halloween (OK, so I guess I have worked on a couple other things).

Unfortunately now that I am back at home and back to work I have hardly touched this basket. It is still sitting right in front of my chair, so I haven't completely forgotten about it.

I did get the itch for whatever reason to start and finish something, so decided to dig through the tubs of felted wool sweaters I seem to have accumulated and through the stack of ideas I have printed off the web. I ended up making a little mouse kitty toy. As you can see in the photo below, it was a success, or at least Grayson liked it.

It never even made it off the table, it was ready, set, play!

So, that's about the extent of my non-work creative output lately. One of these days I will get back to all the other projects I have started ...