Root canal, part 2... worse than the first, I think because I knew what to expect. Not pain (although it did take 3 Novacaine shots to make everything numb), but because I knew I'd have to sit there with my mouth open for more than an hour. By the time he was done, my shoulders and back hurt (a lot!), just from being tensed up for so long. And, it took quite a while for the Novacaine to wear off- I was numb up past my ear, and practically all the way up to my eye, on that side of my face. But, at least I can eat without worrying about the temporary filling falling out, now... I'm still not done with the dentist, though- the cracks in my tooth are still there, so I'm not out of the woods until the crown gets completed. I have no idea what caused my tooth to crack, but I think I'm going to try and stay away from the hard candy from now on. (I'm one of those people who has to chew a Lifesaver, or any hard candy, for that matter, to bits as quickly as possible... probably not the best for my teeth!)
These are yesterday's collages... I worked on designing them in my head all day long... on the way to work, I listen to NPR- I don't remember what the subject was, but someone used the phrase "circles of knowledge" during a story, and that was my inspiration. These took me lots longer than 30 minutes, though... first I prepared a few pieces of watercolor paper, and let it dry while I dug through my stash of papers... the paper I used for the circles includes vintage music, a diagram from a nature book, a page from a book in German that I got in a trade, and text from a couple other vintage science books. It's hard to explain, but the "plant" is loosely based on a giant tree in one of the alternate worlds in the 2nd and 3rd books in the Golden Compass. The first collage is 4 x 6 inches, and the second is ACEO sized.
Since my dentist appointment was this morning, I took a personal day off of work (by the time I would have made it to work, it would have been just about time to come home). I stopped at the video store on the way home, and picked up a couple movies... I now have the urge to get out my watercolor paints, because I watched the movie Miss Potter, starring Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter. I have absolutely ZERO chance of painting anything remotely as cute as Peter Rabbit, though, so I know better than to even try. Instead, I'll probably get out some rubber stamps, paper, and glue, and see what happens!
This sequined and beaded beauty (pic above) was a great score at the thrift store... it was the entire kit, never opened, from LeeWards, and it was actually pretty fun to make! Okay, so my thumb hurt by the time I was done from pushing the pins into the foam ball, but it turned out great in the end. This was actually one of my presents to Tom-- we try to add to our ornament collection every year, and he has some similar ornaments from his Grandma in his collection, so I was really happy to find this kit. (I know there are companies that still make these kits, so I may make some of these for next Christmas, too.)
These two photos (above and below) are from another of Tom's presents, which is still not quite done, but almost. It started with a clear glass plate (again, from the thrift store) and some of his collected cigar bands... I saw an article about these kinds of things in a Mary Engelbreit magazine, and thought it would be really fun to make a keepsake out of the cigar bands-- he's collected them ever since we've known each other (because I asked him to, for crafting purposes!), and has quite a few saved up. This plate also was a lot of fun to see the design come together-- the artwork on (better quality) cigar bands is incredibly detailed, in terms of color and design. It only needs a backing of paper on the backside to cover up the wrong side of the bands, and then it will be ready to hang up in his office.
a detail photo, just to show the color and design of the bands... click on the photo to see it larger.
And, finally, a couple ATCs... I rearranged the furniture in my crafting space (!! It was a lot of work, but I just had the itch... I think I did this growing up, too-- I remember rearranging the furniture in my bedroom quite a few times.) It still needs to be cleaned (as usual, of course!) but in picking up the desk, I collected some interesting scraps and put them together to make a couple trading cards. I added them to some premade backgrounds I had stored in my stash. The one above is collaged from a die-cut piece of scrapbooking paper, more scrapbooking paper, glitter, and some random words I cut from a vintage gardening book.
This one started out with another premade background of watercolor paint, a napkin, and some handmade paper... I added a tiny vintage photo print, a German scrap frame, and more vintage words. Now if I just do some more organizing, I might find some more neat stuff, and get some more crafting done!
