Iris sketch

The photo on which I based this is here.

Sunglasses

My life is reasonably well organized, but not especially tidy.

When I arrived home from work yesterday evening I found Scott lying on the bed reading and hopped in beside him for a greeting hug. My sunglasses were still perched on top of my head and Scott pulled them off so they wouldn't be in his way.

I protested, since they would never end up in the right place if I took them off there. He asked where the right place was, so that he could ensure that they landed there.

I replied in earnest that there isn't a right place, but the bed is not it. He knows me well enough to believe me when I say such things, though he did tease about it a bit. True to his word, he remembered to hand them back to me when we got up to see about dinner.

I replaced the sunglasses atop my head, where they remained throughout dinner. They came to rest on the bathroom counter some time later. Here is where we differ. Scott was making a point to notice where they went, so he has decided that the bathroom counter is where they go.

What I think is that I have to be the one who puts them down. They may land on the kitchen counter, on the little table beside my purse, the nightstand, or my desk, but if I put them down myself, I am more likely to find them the next morning. It's just the way I operate.

Mandala

It's been a long time since I dabbled in collage. I should remember more often that paper can be used for quilting and mosaic, too. This one is a serendipitous intersection of the solid purple page that is the end page of my current drawing notebook and a bit of junk mail that appeared today. The blue circle shows through a ring on the front cover and the design grew out from there.

Collage is a mixture of creativity and opportunism.

Counter-rant

I went to a different craft store yesterday. We were in that end of town for an assortment of other things and I hadn't been in that one before, so we wandered in, just to take a look.

This one is, in my mind, far more of what a craft store should be. For one thing, it's a hobby-and-craft store. That means there are things from the "guy" side of the spectrum (model trains, Warhammer, radio control helicopters) alongside the traditional crafty stuff like fabrics and paints. One consequence is that you'll actually find things like pliers and screwdrivers in this place, not just a token tool here and there like the one pair of pink-handled jewelry pliers in the beading section. (I don't put much faith in tools that are pink.)

It's a single store, not a chain. We don't get the weekly sales circular, though I seem to recall occasional ads on the local TV stations.

The thing I like most, though, is that there's vastly more variety there and more emphasis on raw materials and basic supplies. Even within the basic crafts categories, you'll find things that aren't in the major chain stores. There's paper and tools for quilling and leather working beside smaller (but somehow reasonably complete) sections for things like beading and scrapbooking. I don't think cake decorating figures in, but it doesn't seem to need to. Also, though they carry various prepared kits, I think I'd be a whole lot more likely to find plain, basic items in this place: a sheet of copper, a length of plastic or wooden rod in various cross sections, wooden and paper shapes awaiting decoration or incorporation elsewhere. There is vastly less plastic, and a smaller selection of things like yarn and beads, but if I want those things I can find them easily.

It's a bit cluttery there, but it's an awful lot of fun wandering through the clutter. It guarantees that there is some new discovery around every turn. I get the distinct impression that the people there can not only help me find something specific, but tell me how best to put it to use.

What I'm wearing

No, no plans to take up fashion blogging here, but I was hunting around for drawing practice the other day, to try out my new pencils. I drew the necklace, thought the page looked empty, and decided to try adding the collar underneath. Here's what came out: