Holiday Masks from The Vintage Table

 I had been chatting with a friend, and the talk turned to masks. She was saying she bought some holiday masks because we'll probably be wearing masks for a very long time.

Now, I have some fun mask prints, but nothing for the holidays. Looking around, I wasn't able to find anything with holiday prints that I liked or masks that were made in the USA. Then Karen, one of the karate family friends from the karate studio where Himself teaches and works out, posted on Facebook that her company, The Vintage Table was not only selling vintage tablecloths, but she was making masks, too. Mask not only made in the USA, but made in Natick, Massachusetts, the town where I grew up. 

Karen offers fitted and pleated mask styles for both adults and children. Cute vintage and retro patterns. I ordered a bunch. 

The masks practically arrived the day after I order them in this cute flamingo, vinyl envelope. The Eldest's favorite color is pink so the envelope will be recycled to send to her.

The Young One and I already have masks that we can wear for Halloween, but Himself didn't. His favorite color is purple so I ordered the mask with the spooky eyes. There was also a mask with Fall color pawprints that looked like leaves to me. Vintage snowmen and reindeer for Christmas. Snowflakes on blue to get me through the Winter blues. The Young One and her Beau have a thing about owls and the black cats sitting so their tails form a heart will be perfect for Valentine's Day.

The masks are well made from very, fine cotton so they are soft on sensitive skin. Not only cute patterns on the outside, but some also had a print on the inside. Made so well the masks can be reversible! They launder well and no ironing!

If you can't sew (like me), and you're looking for some masks made in the USA, follow the link above to Karen's website. There are lots of patterns to choose from  and you'd be helping out a small business.

A mask and a roll of toilet paper would make a great Christmas gift.  😺 Karen also has a fine selection of vintage tablecloths, too. ( I have a couple of those, too.) 

Karen, I hope you'll have some prints for St. Patrick's Day.

So You Want to Be An Artist or Work From Home?

Well, you're in luck. My friend and former WAM colleague, Andy Fish, is posting a series of articles on the subject. Andy and his wife, Veronica, are successful artists, and Andy is wicked smaht as we say in Boston. He's my E.F. Hutton. 

Even if you don't want to be an artist or work from home, Andy has some great tips for organizing and time management. He began the series this past week.

FREELANCE GUiDANCE: A 10 Part Series #1: ORGANIZATION

How To Work From Home and Stay Healthy And Sane

Bookmark his blog so you can follow the series: https://andytfish.com/blog Andy's blog is listed on my blog roll, but for some reason Blogger doesn't update it.

If you need to Google Andy, be sure to look for Andy T Fish. Like Andy Tiberius Fish. That is his real name except his middle name isn't Tiberius. Just Andy T Fish

Anyway be sure to follow his series as you'll pick up some good ideas. Don't just stop at these articles. Andy is a Comic Book artist, among other things, so knows all about the history and art of comic books. Plus tons of other topics like movies, Photoshop, marketing...

Index Card A Day 2015

I heard about the Index Card a Day challenge from Robin at Pink House Studio. 

The challenge involves creating art on a 3 in. x 5 in. index card for the months of June and July. 61 cards. The idea is to create something each day, not worry about creating a museum piece. Sounds good. Prompts for themes and materials can be found on the ICAD 2015 Index page in case you want to play, too.

I found some index cards, and then....didn't like the idea of index cards scattered all over the place. Where could I put them? What could I do with them? I know, I know. I shouldn't be worrying about this.

While picking some things up at Target, I found a spiral bound book of index cards. Perfect. Until I sat down to do the challenge. The index cards are screaming fluorescent colors. It shouldn't make a difference, but it did.

I have tons of  scrap paper inside the hope chest. I found a bunch of small, watercolor paper samples bolted together.  Really nice paper. Shades of white and pastels, one side plain and the other printed with the name of the mill and type of paper. The paper was just languishing in the pile. So I cut the paper down to 3 in. x 5 in. I'm happier though I still don't know how I'm going to corral them.

I thought I'd just jump right in not worry about catching up. To get me going I'd follow the prompts. My first card. Owl, from the Warner Bros. cartoon.

Connections

A few weeks ago while browsing through Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I came across an imported box of Yukon Gold Tea. Didn't need it, but I liked the packaging. Tea is delightfully robust, too. What's the connection?

Blog buddy, Ann of ann@studiohyde has been sharing her gorgeous photos of her trip to Wales.  She took a video of a drive through the Elan Valley . Fluffy clouds of sheep dot the green fields just like on the box of tea.

Pop on over to Ann's blog and take an armchair trip through gorgeous countryside.

Bugs

usually have me hitting the high notes, but not when they arrive as mail art. Mail artist, Finnbadger, recently sent me a hand-made envelope with brightly colored beetles. I especially love iridescent blue and greens on the back of the envelope.

He even used bug stamps to complete the theme. How fun is that? Finn's postal clerks must have liked the stamps, too,because they are not cancelled. The cancellation mark is on the back of the envelope. Though it does look like someone took a pen and drew a line across the two stamps. I thought each stamp had to be cancelled, but maybe a pen line counts.

Visit Finnbadger's blog, Envelope 100, to see more of his creative use of paper and stamps. The Tucker Tuesday series is hilarious.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Dhuit

and a Happy Birthday to my dad, miss you, and a Happy Birthday to Master Beef

P.S.: It's St. Paddy's Day not St. Patty's Day. Paddy a nickname for Padraig (Patrick) as well as for an Irishman. Patty is a female nickname for Patricia. Information brought to you courtesy of the Pedants Society

A New Blog

The Young One has a new blog showcasing the art she has created using tools like Maya and Z-Brush. My favorites are the video of Ember's Inklinko,  the game she and her team created for their MQP (Major Qualifying Project) for Disney Interactive and the Humpty Dumpty animation.

Pop on over to Corinne Kennedy - My Art to see what the next generation is creating.

Yondan

The rank tests are brutal both physically and mentally. No doubt Himself would come through with flying colors.

Testing

Wish Himself luck as he tests today for his fourth degree black belt in Karate.

The Lights Went Out

It was a dark and stormy night. Just as the natives were dancing and chanting "Kong, Kong", the lights went out. Wait, it wasn't dark or stormy while the natives were dancing. They were dancing in broad daylight. Never mind.

It was pouring. The rain made a din on the sun room roof. We were having trouble hearing King Kong, the movie we were watching. Just as we got to the part where the natives stopped their dancing and chanting because they were interrupted by the crew of the tramp steamer, the lights went out.

I chanted a string of phrases. We waited a few minutes to see if the electricity would come back on. I grabbed the iPad and went to the National Grid site to report the outage. It took forever to get  a 3G signal from Verizon. Verizon boasts the largest coverage, except for the dead zone where I live. And they want me to upgrade to 4G and they can't even provide 3G service, but I digress.

National Grid has a pretty good way for customers to keep up with status updates during outages. After  you sign in at the site, there's a display that lets you know how many in your area are without power and a time estimation when power will be back.

Ten. There were only ten customers in my area without power and power would be restored by midnight.

While I was reporting the outage and making status updates, Himself set out the lanterns and went to the basement to hook up a portable pump to a battery generator to take over sump pump duties. In the time it took him to accomplish this feat, a puddle of water accumulated in the basement. Himself came upstairs and we settled in the sun room to wait for the magic hour.

A short time later I noticed flashing lights in front of a neighbor's house. It was an electric company truck. I could have almost cried with relief. We watched the flashing lights and could make out the cherry picker ascending the heights. I thought what a crappy job the line dudes have. Miserable weather, so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face, and there they are heroically restoring electricity so the rest of us can be comfortable. We cheered when the power was restored.

We got between 2.5 inches and 3.0 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Andrea and a small puddle of water in the basement. It could have been so much worse. So here's to the electric company dudes for their speedy and efficient service and a hope that this year's hurricane season fizzles out.

WAM-tastic Opportunity

I'm the little bird you've heard tell about. I'm here to tell you about a WAM-tastic opportunity.

In recent years, hard financial times and budget cuts forced the Worcester Art Museum to close the magnificent, bronze doors at the museum's Salisbury St. entrance. WAM director, Matthias Waschek, started a campaign to raise money to open the doors. Through the generous donations, large and small, the goal was reached. To celebrate, starting today and through the months of July and August, admission to the Worcester Art Museum will be free during gallery hours. Yes, you read that correctly. Free! And you'll be able to enter the museum through the main doors.

I know what you're thinking. Worcester has an art museum? How could there be culture past Route 128? On a map, the edge of the earth (anything west of Route 128) is marked Hic sunt draconis, Here There Be Dragons. That was my thought, too. I grew up close to Boston. Went to school in Boston. If someone said "museum", I immediately thought of the MFA or the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. When I moved to the Worcester area some twenty odd years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find Worcester is a seat of culture, and its crown jewel is the Worcester Art Museum. 


Don't just take my word for it. Come and see for yourself. (From Boston, Worcester is only an hour away.) Take advantage of the free admission during July and August. Make a day of it. Beat the heat in the climate-controlled galleries, be inspired by the works of art, have lunch in the museum café, and stop by the gift shop for art-inspired gifts. 


And then come back. The museum isn't static. It's alive and always changing.  There are always new exhibits. Be sure to stop by the Education Desk to find out about the wide selection of classes for children and adults (like calligraphy! (-;  ). 


 I saw a poster online: Remember the Earth is just eh without Art. See you at the museum!

Shout Out

I want to give a shout out to Erica Vetsch. Erica's novel, The Bartered Bride debuts today. Isn't the book cover just gorgeous? You can find ordering information at On The Write Path

26. October to 30 October, Erica will visit and be interviewed on The Pony Express as part of a blog tour. The week will end with a sweet treat just in time for Samhain (Halloween). You'll have to come back to find out just what it is.

Congratulations, Erica. I'm so happy for you. Squeeee!

Enough dancing! Get back to writing my hero, Cal!

Shout Out

Since Erica posted her good news on her blog , On The Write Path, I can finally give a shout out to her. I've been busting to tell the news since I learned about it late Friday night! Erica sold her first book, a historical novel called The Bartered Bride.

Congratulations, Erica!