Surf Cabin 2011 in Ocean Shores

Every year a group of my friends rent a cabin/house at the Ocean.  Usually we find a place close to surfing, but this year the house we found was in Ocean Shores WA located on 23miles of canal and only miles from the beaches.  The house was closer to a mansion than a cabin, with beds enough for 12, a Bed and Breakfast type dinning room, a garden Rail Road, and a private movie theater seating 14 with a ice cream parlor.  Crazy!

Our days were spent combing the beach, riding mopeds around town, and paddling the canal.  My days were also spent doing some fabulous water colors.  To see more of the watercolors, follow this link to my Sketch-A-Day Page.

For more pictures of the house.  Follow this link to the Gibson House B&B.

Hot Air Balloon clocks

 

Up and coming clocks.

Stay tuned, they should be released next week!

Does Sand Sketching Count as a Sketch-A-Day project?

Out at the Ocean this last weekend and I went a little nuts on the beach!  Check out my Sketch-A-Day page for more pics.

I made the front page and it made my day!

My Vending Booth

I've been waiting for a dry and sunny weekend with a bit of free time to set up my full booth for the first time and this last weekend was it.
All my pieces that I've been collecting for this booth over the last few months fit together perfectly.  Having it up gave me some great ideas for unique signage specific to my upcycled records and I'm excited to get them started as to have them up for my next show.

The Henn Coop!

My husband has been talking about getting chickens since we met.  At every mention of chickens he would raise his eyebrows at me.  I wanted nothing to do with chickens, but since we have the yard and the know how I figured what the hey.
He started the coop a little over two weeks ago and what do you know we already got an egg out of our efforts.  Well it's mostly him.  I helped paint and that's about it.  I did recruit a good friend of his to help, mostly so I could spend the time in the studio creating new clocks!  I'm so thoughtful.
Any-hoo... pictures tell a better story.

The Start

My Goofy Husband

An old dear friend of saved this home made screen door just for us.

  It's perfect!

Sailor puppy took care to carry away every scrap of wood that hit the ground

He didn't use any plans, we just looked around at what was already done and winged it.

We have very large raccoons in are area and we made sure to take extra precautions against any infiltrators.

A few of the ladies.  We got five laying hens total.

Waiting for the chickens to come down.

Where I'm from dosn't define where I'm going

An old friend of mine approached me to design a tattoo for him.  If I had a dollar for every person who asked me to draw a tattoo but never got back with me to disccuse design I'd be much better off than I am now.  But this friend knew exactly what he wanted, he had been thinking about it for awhile and had already decided that he wanted me to draw it. 

I grew up with this friend in Nisqually Valley located just North of Olympia WA.  He had just gotten the Rainier beer logo, essentially a giant red "R" inked on his arm and wanted the Nisqually glaicier side of Mt. Rainier partially wrapped around his arm as the background behind the logo. 

Now Rainier beer is not the best of beers, but it is well know in these parts.  It definitely defines Nisqually and he is after all one of my oldest friends.  So I sat down and completed his image the day before his birthday.  I'd say it was a successful birthday present and am looking forward to seeing the completed tattoo.

My first rough draft looks like a cow

I'm no fool, I put my light table to good use.

Pencil drawing turned into ink drawing.

Ready for the tattoo artist!

What do I do with it now?

Once upon a caffeinated late crafting night just before my wedding last fall, I created a card box that emphasized our desire to have contributions toward fixing up our house instead of typical wedding gifts.  I was very proud of my creation and still am, but now what do I do with it?

What I would love to do with this creation is pass it on to another bride who will use it.  Or possibly a little girl who would use it as a play house.
If you know anyone let me know.  I'm willing to gift this to the right person.
--Laurel--

Home Made Shrinky Dinks!

 This last weekend a group of friends and I had a Shrinky Dink Craft Night.  I've been seeing some awsome jewelry made out of this stuff I use to play with as a kid.  If you have never had the chance I suggest you try it.  It's an excellent activity for all ages and you can ReUse some of your recyclables!

Here is how.
Find any #6 plastics, some examples are fresh berry containers or deli lunch containers.

Cut out the flat bottoms and tops of the containers.

 Rough up the surface with a piece of sandpaper, or you could just rub it on the concrete for a minute.  Your just prepping the surface so it will hold the medium of your choice.

 Apply medium of your choice.  Markers, colored pencils, rubber stamping all works great.  Just keep in mind you color will come out super concentrated as the plastic shrinks, so plan accordingly.

We used a toaster oven which heats up faster than a conventional oven and saves on energy.

There is no specific time for baking the plastic, you have to sit there and watch it, and it goes pretty fast.

 Place your plastic on a piece of baking parchment on a pan and make sure your oven is pre-heated.  Your shrinky  will curl and shrivel and your heart will jump because you think it's ruined!  But fear not.  99% of the time it flattens itself out.  When you take it out of the oven slide the parchment paper off the tray onto a hard flat surface like a counter, and put another piece of parchment on top.   Have a plate, or something hard and flat, and press down on your covered shrinky to flatten it out even more.

You have to be quick when it comes out of the oven because it cools quickly.  You can always put the shrinky back in the oven if you are not satisfied with it's shape.

Baby Shower Card!

Months ago I found a Niki McClure Book Mark for a past show of hers.  The image was perfect for a baby shower card and I knew I would be needing to make one for a friend soon.  So I tucked the bookmark away.
The baby shower was this past weekend and I put this card together last minute after having a laps in memory of where I "tucked it away".  Luckily I found it, and turned it into a beautiful card that got a lot of attention, but not nearly as much attention as my Mothers hand knitted pink baby sweater did.

I'm finding all sorts of uses for my button collection!