Bukowski ATC's

I'm not sure exactly when (or how) I discovered Charles Bukowski. He's the sort of famous that plenty of people would say "Never heard of him", while others would be horrified if you didn't recognise his name. He's gruff, vulgar, and honest, a vulnerable asshole.

I love his work. His poem "Bluebird" is one of my very favourite things in the whole world. It's sadness with a tinge of hope. 

Much of his work is like that, a recognition of the beauty in the overlooked.

He's also full of piss and vinegar, passion and determination.

I made this set of ATC's with some of my favourite Bukowski quotes...

... and his wonderfully life-lived face.

These have been sitting in my studio since the summer and I'm glad to have finished them. There's something extra satisfying about finishing a piece that has been sitting around for far too long.

Makes me feel sort Bukowski-ish. To say "See! I told you I wasn't done with you yet! TAKE THAT!"

And just in case you were wondering, the tray is from 7 Gypsies. The cards are made of all the things. Tape, wax, ink, paint, lace.... all shmooshed together!

Here's hoping we all walk well through 2017.

Day 24 - A Merry Little Tin Ornament

And finally, day 24.

Just a wee thing to wish you well and hoping you have a merry little Christmas... or enjoy whole heartedly whatever your celebrating... or just wishing you a very nice day indeed.

Day 23 - A Painting and Self-Doubt

I've got my fingers crossed that my father-in-law won't peek at today's blog post. This little painting is for him. It's of his dog, Granite, that he lost a couple of years ago.

The painting is small. Just 4" square. Painted in acrylics.

I showed Mr Pixie the painting in-progress and he said "That's supposed to be Granite?"

BOOM!!! crippling self doubt.

I showed him a photo of the dog (which I can't find right now... of course) and put the two side by side. They are damned near identical.

He said he was misrembering what the dog looked like. and I know he certainly didn't mean to cause distress... but damn if I'm not a baby of huge proportions with a delicate ego to boot. And STILL, while I know this looks like the dog. I can see it with my eyes... anxiety does stupid things to the artists mind.

Here's hoping Nono Pixie cries when he opens it because I'm fairly certain that's the only thing that will calm my stupid self-doubt.

Ugh.

Day 22 - SPINNERS FOR EVERYONE!

The Yule celebrations were a lot of fun last night. I ate, and drank, and built a fort, and fell asleep BEFORE my bedtime. So today I am well rested but WAYYY behind.

Now, I know I showed off a bottle cap spinner yesterday... but today I have spinners for the whole dang family.

There's something for the kids (or kid at heart).

Something for the person you like to play 'slap and tickle' with.

Not to generalize... but this covers most men I know.

There's a traditional judgy Christmas version too.

And because I love you (and number of people said they wanted to make spinners yesterday) here's a sheet of 1" spinner boards of each of the spinnies pictured for you to make your own. (Be sure to download the full sized image, not the preview for proper size.)

Now back to the holiday prep. I'm beginning to feel like I'll never be done everything in time *sigh*.

Day 21 - Emergency Altoid Tin Stocking Stuffer

First things first: YULETIDE BLESSINGS TO YOU! It's the Winter Solstice today and our pagan bottoms are celebrating with a feast. The seasonal holiday fattening begins in earnest this evening.

Now, on to today's project, which I am super stoked about!

Every year Santa's elves get into the nog and he asks for a little help with the stockings. As much as I love opening my own stocking, stocking stuffing for others can be a pain in the rump. Searching for ideas is frustrating because so many of the suggestions need to be ordered in advance or are totally ridiculous. (I'm not sticking a $60+ item in a stocking just because it fits in there.)

One of the ideas I came across was for an emergency kit in an Altoid tin. I've got tins galore and it's a cute idea, so I compiled a list of necessary items. Having been teetering on the edge of a panic attack for the past few days, my items reflected a more emotional magical emergency.

Inside I've included stickers, glow in the dark band-aids, a pink unicorn, thimble, a glittery ring, a small book for jotting down good ideas and happy thoughts, a wee pen, friendship pins, good luck charms, chocolate, glitter, a wee crown and a spinner to help make life's difficult decisions.

 I'm well pleased with the bottle cap spinner. It's cute and the only options are good ones.

And believe it or not, all of that fits into an Altoid tin with a smidge of room to spare!

I've got some dinosaurs and slightly less glittery items to make a more 'masculine' version... but to be honest, if I'm giving you love, you're getting glittered.

Day 20 - A Tag for Lubbly Bubbly

Mr Pixie insisted that a wine tag be included in this crafty-advent-Christmas-countdown-madness. Who am I to argue with 'the idea guy'?

So I made this pretty sparkling thing with a Large Tag from Graphic 45 as the base and added some snips of trims and lace from my stash, a splosh of glitter and a vintage image.

Speaking of sparkling... we drink sparkling wine fairly regularly in this house. Even so, it always feels like a cheeky treat to pop open a bottle for no particular reason.

I'm not one for making resolutions, but THAT sounds like a lovely goal for 2017. To make and extra effort to celebrate nothing in particular, just celebrate. 

And perhaps we'll strive for a little more good natured cheekiness too.




P.S. How are you holding up? I'm frazzled.

Day 19 - Yuletide Magic

These glass domed doodads were sitting in the reduced asile in Michaels. I picked them up with the intention of putting little winter wonderlands inside. Finding myself in need of a boost of holiday magic, plans changed.

Instead of a miniature world, I've packed those baubles with magical herbs and a drop or two of oil.

I have one to hang to encourage glad tidings and sweet blessings for Yule. (We celebrate both Yule and Christmas... I'm greedy for the spirit of the holidays.)

There's a ring too, filled with herbs, so that I can keep some magic close by :)

I hope you're chugging along and not feeling overwhelmed. I'm just about to enter panic mode.

xoxo