Design Decisions

I have been working on a sample piece, in preparation for a larger one the will be done with the same hand dyed fabric.  I got the hand embroidery done while on a business trip a week ago, and finished the machine quilting today.

I tried all kinds of quilting designs on paper, and nothing much worked well- or at least, that's what I thought.  I want the quilting to contrast with the curvy lines of the spiral- that decision was made after drawing some curvy quilting, kind of like McTavishing on a grayscale photocopy of the piece.  Nope.  None of the straight line designs did much for me either, so I went with this.  I'm not sure about this one either, but at least it's only journal quilt size so I haven't got a lot of time or materials invested.

I like how the outline around the spiral appears almost like I did trapunto.  That is an effect I will do again on the larger piece.  I'm also happy with the hand embroidery, although I may play with color a little more in the larger piece.

I used a golden yellow for the straight line quilting, and although the colors of the thread and fabric blend well, I think it washed out the entire piece more than I like.  I will probably use monofilament in the larger piece, so I get the texture without the color. 

I will have more surface design going on in the larger piece- more stencilling and stamping, and probably some done after I quilt.  I want the large spiral to be the focal point, but I want the viewer to see layers also once they come in for a closer look.

I am still feeling totally uninspired in the studio, unable to focus for any length of time.  Diane summed up how I've been feeling very well, even though I haven't been doing any mindless piecing.  Maybe I should try it, I can think of at least two UFO's I need to get done this year.  I'm beginning to wonder if what creativity I have melted away with the fat I've lost the past few months??

Travel, and Repurposing

I have been gone for the past week in southern Utah- not fun, work.  But it was gorgeous in St. George at least one of the days I was there- it was hard to leave to come back to the cold.  Winter is supposed to return this week, and I am heartily sick of it.

I did get some hand stitching done on a sample piece for a larger work I'm doing.  I've dyed, overdyed, stenciled and stamped this fabric.  I knew I wanted to add hand stitching, so I managed to get some done during meetings.  It's already sandwiched, once the handwork is done I'll be figuring out the quilting.  Yes, I know, sounds backwards but it was what would work for me.

 

Seed stitch adds such lovely texture!  A detail--

I also stayed up late last night, working on a tee.  I dyed and printed this tee from Dharma a couple of years ago.

It was big and baggy back then, and it was even bigger and baggier now that I've lost a bunch of weight.  I've been going through my closet, weeding out clothes to sell at our annual garage sale this spring.  I decided I didn't want to get rid of a couple of tees I dyed, though.  So I found a Burda pattern for a basic tee, used some I already have that fit well to help determine measurements and sizing, and altered the pattern.  I had to redraft the necklines a bit to make them fit on the fabric pieces- finally found a use for those French curves I bought!!  Then I picked out the hems, took off the ribbing at the neck, and cut the shirt apart.  I couldn't make it long sleeved- the sleeves are very different.  The original had a flat cap, the pattern has a more fitted cap, so there wasn't enough length for long sleeves.  But I am happy to say it worked, and was well worth the effort!!

It fits really well- skims my body without being overly clingy.  I think it shows off my printing even better than the original.  I even managed to reuse the ribbing around the neckline!

I have another tee to alter- I think I'm going to try something a little different.  We'll see-- but boy am I having fun being skinny again!

Symbols

I got several comments about the book I just got, and thought I'd post a few pages to give anyone interested a taste of the book.  The table of contents shows the wide ranging variety of symbols the books covers--

I liked the relatively short entry on Silence--

 

And another, longer entry on Flood--

And finally, one on Hand--

 

The entire book is like this- all 700 plus pages.  With my psychology/social work background, I find the information about a lot of the symbols fascinating.  We'll see how it impacts my art!!

It Arrived- Finally!

This book 

that I ordered from Barnes and Noble the end of January FINALLY arrived in my mailbox yesterday.  Can I just say I am not impressed by the shipping company they use?  It went from Reno to Carson/Los Angeles, sat there for a few days, then went to Provo (nine miles north of me), to Salt Lake (fifty miles north of me!!), sat there for a couple of days, and finally came to Spanish.  It would have been faster and probably better if they'd just shipped it priority mail.

I'm glad I got the book, though.  I was expecting a coffee table kind of book- big, and on the thin side.  It is just under 10' by 7', and at least two inches thick.  There is a massive amount of written information in addition to visuals- but in smaller, very readable essays about the symbol in question.  I expect to spend many nights reading this before I go to sleep!

So, if you have any interest in the symbols mankind has used for millemia- I'd highly recommend this book.  I just don't recommend B & N's shipper- use the post office if at all possible, or order from Amazon.

Motivation

is something I have been sorely lacking lately, hence the dearth of posts.  I have been feeling flightly, unable to concentrate on much of anything.  I go down to the studio, ditz around at something for fifteen minutes, and leave.  Pathetic.

At least I can say I'm motivated in other areas.  This weekend I decided I was going to put the carpet cleaner I got for Christmas to good use.  We got the living room and our bedroom (which is huge) done.  Not perfect, but a great improvement.  We also rearranged the furniture.  I got daring- it's on a diagonal, NOT lined up along the walls.  I've watched way to many HGTV design shows!

With nice clean carpet, I wasn't about to have a dirty dog running around.  So Sadie the Border collie got a haircut and a bath.  Unreal how much hair that dog has, especially in cold weather.  While she doesn't enjoy the experience, she does act like she's feeling better afterward.

So now that I've bored you with my weekend doings, I do have some fiber pictures.  The scarf I used the DeColourant on is still waiting for its second layer of screenprinting.  This is a scarf that was ugly, then got a couple of overdyes that greatly improved it.

I'd thought I'd use the DeColourant with metallic gold for the next round, and I probably still will.  I used it with regular DeColourant on another scarf, and I could hardly tell the difference between the two.

I've also been slowly working on the first piece I'm doing for my ECHO group.  I finally made the stamps with the spiral design I've been playing with, using sticky backed fun foam.  It does work rather nicely!

 

The third stamp is one I did using an idea from a book I got last year, on making surface design tools with household objects.  Those are corn pads, just stuck on a piece of acrylic.  

Doing these, I learned that if I pay attention to how I cut, I can end up with two spirals that are slightly different.  Look closely at them and you'll see what I mean.  The unbroken spiral on top is actually the other part of the stamp directly below it.

Another work week tomorrow- then next week I am in southern Utah all week for work.  I'll be paying a visit to the Superior Thread headquarters while I'm there!!  Maybe I'll get some motivation in some warmer temperatures--

Catching Up

I have been working at art, although I haven't posted much of it here yet.  Here's my attempt to catch up!

The Interpret This! group comes to an official close tomorrow.  We've been posting our favorite piece from the year, along with thoughts about the group and how it affected our own creative process. My piece posts tomorrow- I had a really hard time choosing one.  Some were easy to eliminate, but there were three that stood out for me- not because they were perfect pieces, but the learning that went with them.  Click here to see what everyone has to say and post.

Probably the one I had the most fun with is this one, because I learned I can do realistic!

This one still makes me smile, I love the colors.

I also thought a lot about choosing this one-

I loved how the hand dyes created a foggy, mysterious world behind the fence.  I think it evoked a mood, one of my criteria for my choice.  But in the end, the fact that I used my 'fall-back' of strip piecing made my decide against it.

Although this group is ending, four of us that participated and one other artist are working together in the coming year.  We will not be doing the same pieces, but rather critiquing and encouraging.  The blog is private, which we hope will foster honest communication.  We had our first work-in-progress weekend, and I am happy with how it is going.  I think it will help me with my biggest frustration from the past year- namely, developing my own voice!  My goals is to use my own hand dyed and printed fabric in wholecloth quilts, a specific size, exploring symbols within the context of an overarching theme- seasons of life.  I'm glad we are only looking to do four pieces over the year- I could not do a monthly piece again!  I'm hoping to be more disciplined in my approach, and try to use my sketchbook as a tool to develop the pieces.

That lime green fabric you saw on my last post ended up in a third dye pot.  The second dyeing helped, but it was still a kind of blah fabric.  So I swirled it (from Benn and Morgan's Tray Dyeing), and poured turquoise dye into the bottom of the container.  I'm happy with how it ended up--

I'll only be using part of this, so I think I'll make a 'frame' to audition and figure out what part I want to use.  Since I plan to make all my pieces the same size, I can use it all year.

I've also done some discharge samples, and figured out that discharging isn't an option with this piece thanks to the turquoise dye.  I think I will be using white paint greatly diluted with fabric medium to give me the ghost images I want to print on this.  Shiva paintstiks will also be part of it.

I tried to get this new book through inter-library loan recently.

It looked really interesting, and helpful if I'm exploring archetypal symbols in my work.  I was told I'd have to wait six weeks to request it again, since it is checked out.  So I went to Amazon, where I'd first seen it for about $25.  No any more!!  It's not available from Amazon, just from other sellers, starting at $30.  I looked around, and everyone else was the same or higher.  On a whim, I checked out Barnes and Noble's website, and found it there for $24.  I didn't hesitate, bought it right then.  I hope it's delivered this week.  If it turns out to be a dud, I guess I can re-sell it on Amazon- they had used copies starting at over $100!!!

I have some silk scarves that I've discharged with DeColourant in the washer right now.  Photos when they are done!

Why I Dye

The picture does not do it justice!  This is cotton, dyed with a yellow from Pro Chem that I've never used before, golden yellow from Dharma, and charcoal gray from Dharma.  The combination of yellow and gray makes some of the most glorious greens I've ever seen.

Originally I was going to use the Pro Chem yellow with cerulean blue in a snow dye to get the green I want for my next piece.  When I put the blue dye in the yellow, I could see immediately it wouldn't work- I had a bottle of baby puke or baby diaper (take your pick).  I did the snow dyeing, but not until I'd mixed up my trusty lemon yellow from Dharma.  (More on that later in the post.)

After I did the snow dye setup, I figured I might as well use some of the dyes I have in my dye frig just for fun.  I took the Pro Chem yellow 114 and golden yellow and splattered them across a length of cotton.  I wanted to add something, so I looked to see what I already had mixed up.  I almost grabbed light red- then I saw the charcoal gray sitting in the back.  I grabbed that, and liberally doused the fabric.  I left it to batch overnight, just scrumpled up in a container.

I washed it out this morning, and loved what I saw after I ironed it.  Those lighter spots up at the top just glow against the darker values!

My snow dye was much less successful.  It came out yellow, not green.  I now know why you don't use old snow to dye- it has STUFF in it.  Yes, it all rinsed out ok, but still- what a pain.  After rinsing, I dumped the fabric in soda ash again to soak, while I mixed up more lemon yellow and turquoise dye.  I laid out the fabric on plastic, and sponged on color where I wanted it.  

 

It is now scrumpled up in a container, batching under a heat lamp.  I won't wash it out until tomorrow afternoon, since turquoise likes a longer batch time.

I also grabbed three silk scarves I've had sitting in the studio since I rust dyed them last fall.  They came out ugly- so what the heck, I decided to find out what happens when you mix MX dyes with rust dyed fabric.  I soaked the scarves in vinegar, then chose colors.  One got charcoal gray, one got turquoise, and one got that baby puke/diaper color I'd mixed up yesterday.  After nuking them one at a time, they got washed out with the cotton.  Here's how they came out--

An improvement for sure.  I was floored at how turquoise the one scarf is- I figured it would  be more brown-y, since the whole scarf had a tan undertone.

I also decided the turquoise scarf needed more- so I screened on some DeColourant, using sequin waste.  It is now hanging on the design wall, drying.  I'll iron it tomorrow to see what happens.  Since turquoise is notorious for NOT discharging, we'll see what this new product does.  And regardless, I think I will do some more screening on this scarf.

So, to answer the question at the beginning of the post- how else could I get such unique, glorious color?  I don't worry about running out of a fabric, I can always create more since I keep a pretty good record of my dye sessions.  It may not be identical, but it will definitely blend and coordinate with anything I created with the same dye colors and similar process.  And, as Margaret Miller, says, why use four fabrics when you can use forty?

Interpret This!- My Last Piece

Hard to believe I've made a piece every month for a year with this group of talented women.  Here's the photo--

And here's my interpretation of the photo.  No realism this month, I wanted to abstract it.

I pieced the strips, then sliced them, offset the colors, and put them together with the skinny strips.  After machine quilting, I spent lots of hours doing hand embroidery, enjoying how the colors and texture of the hand stitching played against the quilting.  The yellow 'flowers' are torn pieces of hand dyed cheesecloth.

I thought the quilt needed more presence, so I backed it with a separate quilted mat- something I learned from a Jean Wells book.  The pieced part is bound with couched yarns, then attached to the quilted mat.  I really do think that dark mat lends the piece more presence!

Although this isn't a perfect rendition of the picture I had in my mind, I'm pretty happy with it.  There are some parts of this that I will be playing with in the next year.  Although Interpret This! is coming to an end, I'll be working with some of the members of that group this year.  We'll each  be working on our own goals, and I'll be blogging about mine.  Most importantly, it will be a piece a quarter, not a month- so I'm hoping to do more sketching, thinking, and developing of my ideas.  That's one of my goals, anyway.

From Under the Smog---

That's what it feels like here.  According to the news, we have the worst air quality in the country right now.  I believe it- this California native knows smog when she sees it.  Yuck.  It is the perpetual dilemma of winter here- no snow (no storms), and look at the ugly brown inversion, the Utah name for this stuff.  If you want clean air, you better hope for successions of storms- which means dealing with all the other stuff that goes with snow.  What a choice!!

You'd never know it from this blog, but I have been working on some art.  I hope to have the last piece for the Interpret This! challenge done in a few days.  I have been working on some hand embroidery- as long as my hands cooperate, I enjoy the slower pace.  Can't show the whole piece, but here's a really close up look at what I've been doing.

 

I just love the texture that seed stitch can add to a piece.

And I reached another goal- the weight I was aiming for.  We'll see if it's still that way on Monday, since that's when I 'officially' weigh in.  But I am happy, it has been so much fun finding clothes I like that fit.  I even hit our local Saver's (a thrift shop) and found several tops I like. 

I'm debating going for another five pounds.  Tracking my calorie intake has become such a habit that I plan to stick with it.  It should make maintenance easier!  I've gotten some comments at work, but not a lot.  I suspect that the layers of clothes we wear in winter contributes to that.  We'll see if it changes with warmer weather.  Yes, I'm vain enough to like some comments and compliments about the skinnier me!

Happy New Year (and Good-Bye to 2010)

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the coming year and where I hope to go with my art over the past few days- thankfully, away from work.  I can look back at 2010 and know that I did consistently work at my art, although the work isn't as cohesive or unified as I would like.  But I've done some pieces I'm happy with, and others that will just be added to the crap quota, and that's ok.

A lot of people on the Quiltart list are choosing a word for the year- one to inspire and perhaps provide direction.  I'm thinking my word will be FOCUS: on the creative process, on staying healthy, and choosing to concentrate on all the positives in life rather than dwell on the irritations we are have.  I want to take my time and do more thinking about my art rather than jumping in with the first or second idea that strikes me.  I suspect I will produce fewer works this year, but I'm hoping they will be better, and more representative of my voice.  You'll be hearing more about that, and sharing in my journey and work.

I have a lot to be grateful for this year.  I'm 22.9 pounds lighter than I was a year ago- I've rediscovered the fun of shopping for clothes.  I'm making a habit of exercising and eating healthy- although I will say it is a good thing dark chocolate in moderation is now considered healthy!  I have an absolutely adorable granddaughter far away, two grandchildren here, and loving family even if we are all spread across the country.  And if I don't say so myself, I look pretty good for someone who's only days away from turning 60.

I'm thankful for doors the world wide web has opened up to me.  I have friends I've never met in person, but we share common bonds.  I'm connected to the fiber arts world in ways that would not have been possible even ten years ago.

I wish you a blessed 2011, full of family, creativity, and whatever brings joy to your heart.

Hibernating--

because it's the kind of day where you don't want to be outside.  We haven't been hammered with 3 feet (yet!) like the folks on the east coast, but I still have no desire to venture outside except to shovel the back patio occasionally.  Our chihuahua objects strongly to going outside in the cold, and absolutely refuses to  walk in the snow- so the shoveling is for her.  At least then I can throw her outside without guilt!!

Here's our table at the moment--

The storm is supposed to stick around until Friday- glad I'm off work the rest of the week.  I started on my IT! piece yesterday, and I'll be down in the studio all afternoon.  I may even forego my workout today, that's how much I don't want to drive!

I'm thinking I am changing what I'm doing- I'm just not that happy with what I have so far.  So I'm off on another idea that involves playing with Google Earth, something I like to do anyway.  Dinner is already taken care of, I have a big pot of chili in my new enamelware Dutch oven.  The oven will help keep the house warm, and the smell is heavenly!

Wishing You the Blessings of Christmas

 

Merry Christmas, may it be filled the joys of family and the love of the Savior!

It's Gonna be a White Christmas

Here's the view out my back patio, 6 am this morning.

Even with the warming temperatures predicted for the rest of the week, I'd bet we'll still have plenty of the white stuff- it continued to snow until mid-afternoon!

I'm counting the days until I can hide in my studio and forget about work!!

Quiet before the Storm

I'm not referring to the weather, although it does look gray, gloomy and menacing outside.  It is the hour before the family start arriving for our annual Christmas party.  The house is clean (smells of Pinesol, even), the salad that is my contribution is ready, and Christmas music is on the stereo.  It is my rather eclectic mix, to be sure- to DJ's chagrin.  I have everything from Transiberian Orchestra to medieval Christmas carols, and lots in between.  I can only take so much of the stuff you hear all day on the radio this time of year.

And I have been sewing- the stockings I started last year are done and hanging by the fireplace!

 

I am dressed, and admittedly feeling rather pleased with the new skinnier me- even found some jeans that fit great and show it off!  If I have to hit my sixth decade shortly, I can do it looking good.

I have also been doing some preliminary work on my last IT! piece.  I've done some playing in PSE with the filters, and done some sketching.  Still haven't decided which direction I'll go, but I'm not stressing- I'll have time off the week between Christmas and New Year's, and the reveal isn't until mid-January.  Plenty of time to think and ponder before jumping in with the fabric.

If there's one advantage to getting older, it's learning that the holidays aren't worth stressing out over.  I do the best I can with the time and budget I have, and just try to enjoy the season.  It sure beats the alternative!

December Dash

Yes, it's begun- and it's at least some of the reason I haven't posted much lately.  But so far, I've managed to keep my equilibrium and notd become hysterical over what I'm not getting done, since there is always some of that with our schedules.

I have sent two boxes off- and it's actually fiber related.  I finished Christmas stockings for both sons and their families/significant others, and shipped them Friday.   The box that went to Chicago also had a completed memory quilt made for my son's girlfriend.  They've seen the picture, and said they love them both.

The stockings are based on ones my mother and aunt made for our families when I was a kid.  They just glued the felt pieces on the stockings.  I'm guessing that glue no longer exists, because the one I found (specifically for felt, mind you) was clearly not going to hold the pieces on.  So I stitched around them too, and quite liked the effect it gave.  I also did some beading, another thing my mother did not do!

I realized I forgot to post our last photo for the Interpret This challenge- so here it is.

 

This will be a pleasure to work on in the midst of winter!  I love all the greens, and it has such a serence atmosphere about it.  I've decided I want to get back to trying to abstract, so I've been running ideas through my head.  The December pieces won't be posted until mid-January thankfully- so I have time to sketch, maybe even play with my watercolors to come up with a design.

And I'm thinking about what I want to accomplish with my art in 2011.  The Interpret This group will be ending, but I will be working with three other members during the year.  The way we are setting it up, we'll each be working from our own choice of inspiration, and are only committing to four pieces.  I'm glad I've kept up with the monthly pieces for a year, but I knew I couldn't do it again.  I want the time to be able to put more thought into my work, and with my schedule I need more than a month.  I also want time to finish some UFO's that have been taking up too much space in the studio for too long.

And, what would the holidays be without baking?  With me watching calories, I won't be doing a lot of traditional baking.  But I am trying some revised recipes that I can eat guilt free.  I just took a cheesecake out of the oven- it's intended for a work party tomorrow.  It uses nonfat yogurt chee.se and Splenda instead of cream cheese and sugar.  If it works, I'll post the recipe- it came out to less than 200 calories per serving!

Christmas

is officially here at our household.  The tree is up, the decorations are on the fireplace and walls- I think I just have to dig out the Christmas music CD's.  Best of all, it was a gorgeous weekend- warm enough that I could be outside cleaning my car without a coat.  We'll see how long that lasts!!

I am starting to make plans for my fiber work next year.  Fewer pieces, more focused and cohesive.  I'm thinking I will start with one design strategy and stick with it through the year.  I'm hoping to sprinkle some UFO's and pieces requested by family in there too- that should help the brain cells recuperate!  And, I'm taking a weeklong dyeing workshop from Carol Soderlund in August.

Probably the best bit going on in my life right now is the weight loss- it continues, and I feel like I've made changes in my eating that I can stick with.  I'm down a pant size, and those aren't tight.  It feels really good, and it's nice to have clothes shopping be fun again!

Somewhat Eccentric- My Charming Engflish Cottage!

 

I have actually completed a realistic piece!  This is my latest Interpret This! piece, and I'm pretty happy with it.  My perspective on part of it (the steps) is a bit off, but everything else looks like I wanted it to.  No question what this is!

I had a lot of time to think while I was making this.  I did enjoy the process, but kept wondering- is this really ME?  Is this the art that only I can make?  By the end of the month, I'd pretty much decided it isn't.  I'm glad I met the challenge of proving to myself that I can do a realistic piece reasonably well, and I'm sure it would improve with more practice and time.  But it's just that- a fun piece, not something pulled from my guts or psyche.  And that's really what I want to do.  I just am still figuring out how to get there.

Fun pieces have their place, and I'm sure this won't be my last one.  I have several UFO's I hope to finish next year that I'd put in that category, or the "traditional bed quilt" category.  But I'd also like to have a cohesive body of work that just says 'me.'

I do think there are some hints in this one.  I didn't realize how much saturated colors dominate my stash until I went for fabric for the red bricks.  I knew they were a pretty dulled red in the photo, and even eliminated my original choice because (even I) could tell it was way too saturated.  I thought I'd done a good job of toning it down- until I got the brick wall mostly constructed.  Bottom line, my stash of de-saturated fabrics is woefully lacking.  But apparently the use of saturated colors is part of my voice, since I got a couple of comments to that effect on the IT! blog.  It's a starting point!

I think I've learned that I need to pay attention to the details, even on an abstract piece.  I was thrilled to hear that I'd successfully portrayed sunlight and shadows on the big tree/bush.  I sure tried, and I'm glad it came off.  I loved making the smaller plants, using variegated and multiple thread colors.  How good are these??

So the journey continues, I keep doing the work.  At some point I hope to look back and be able to say "That's MY voice speaking."

And thanks for reading my musings and thoughts!  If you haven't already seen it, there's more photos of the piece on the IT! blog.

November Reveals

have started on the Interpret This! blog.  There's already some wonderful work posted, mine will be up tomorrow morning.  And I'll have more to say about that tomorrow night!

Crazy Friday

No, I did not get up in the middle of the night to fight with shoppers over deals.  I just got done putting something in the crockpot for dinner, then I'm down to the studio to work on my IT! piece for a couple of hours.  Then I head up to Salt Lake to Sidney's house.  Today we are quilting Cory's (middle son's girlfriend) memory quilt on Sidney's Handiquilter with the computerized stitcher.  We already picked out the pattern, I can't wait to see how this is all done.  I do know I love the idea of having a totally done quilt in a matter of a few hours. Pictures on the process tonight!!

I will probably stop at some stores on the way up- how can I resist? (Hey, I'm down almost 15 pounds and a pant size, and even the smaller size is loose!) We'll see how traffic is, since today is also the BYU-Utah game, in Salt Lake.

Thanksgiving here was pretty quiet and laid back- we went out, since only three of us were home.  DJ's sister met us at the restaurant, a buffet.  I thoroughly enjoyed skipping the hassle of cooking- but the food wasn't as good as ours, of course, and their turkey was downright disgusting- a processed turkey roll.  So I opted for broiled chicken and roast beef, much better.  There was lots of salad, and even some of the vegetables were not bad.  I waited til I got homed for dessert- my less than 200 calorie chocolate cheesecake.  Yum!!

All in all, I have a lot to be thankful for.  I plan on enjoying the rest of the long weekend- sewing, relaxing, maybe even a trip to the gym in there.  I hope your Thanksgiving was full of family, friends, good cheer, and gratitude.

Snow and Cold--

is what we woke up to today.  After a lot of it has melted off, here's the view up our street towards the mountains.

It has been a weird year for foliage.  Most of the trees are bare, but a few are still hanging on to their leaves.  I love the fall colors against the white snow!!

The kids and grandpa went out back and made a snowman.  He's all dolled up in bright colors!!

 

It's a good day to stay inside.  I've been working on my IT! piece- after almost deciding to hold off finishing this one and do something else.  This afternoon, we are all going to see the latest Harry Potter movie, and we have a nice pot roast in the crock pot.  It's a short week at work- so right now, life is looking good.  Stay warm- or if you are fortunate to enough to be in the Southern Hemisphere this time of year, enjoy the warmth!!