Staycation (Craft Week!)

 

(from The Repurposed Library)

I booked the week off. For no reason whatsoever.

It's great. It's really just the greatest.

Except that I'm sick. I spent Day #1 pouting and eating soup and watching back-to-back episodes of so-bad-it's-good TV (err, Drop Dead Diva. Any fans?). But yesterday, Day #2, I said eff you bubonic-devil-cold, eff you. I DID sleep in a little, but was far more productive.

The purpose of this week was inteneded to be productivity + relaxation. I can't quite manage the latter. Unless it's forced upon me by, say, being sick. Well, there you have it. Success?

Anyway, I'm trying to prep for the holidays, Etsy-wise and just maybe get my Dudley & Bea goods into at least one retail shop before Christimas. It's not that the interest isn't there. Really, I've has wholesale requests from shops in Toronto, Florida, Austin, and even Australia. It's my readiness. I'm not ready. During my previous crafty venture, I rushed things. I didn't nail down my methods or patterns or even a cohesive style. This time, I'm doing it right, dammit! So that's what this week is about: getting closer to "right".

Also, this week is about: hot yoga, brunches with mat-leave moms & night-shift friends, finally getting my passport updated, blogging like crazy, cleaning out the basement, painting the washroom, painting (as in canvases! as in art! as in omigosh I'm using my big expensive art school education for once!), finishing the art wall in our bedroom, and crafting while devouring season 3 of The United States of Tara. All while Alex is at work. I might also book a facial or a massage or a pedi. There should be something a little lavish in this mix, yeah?

Since much of my Staycay (or as I've been calling it: Craft Week) will be spent DIY-ing, here are some images that have inspired me:

So we bought some old maps at a flea market in Kingston this summer (that's Alex thumbing through the box)...

I've framed a vintage Pacific Ocean Floor map and I'm contemplating these for the rest:

On the same antique adventure, we snagged some burlap coffee bags and they'd be pretty awesome as a makeshift bulletin board:

All of this is part of one big masterpiece: the yet-untouched accent wall in our bedroom. It's been sadly empty for so long, but I've been working on Alex to recreate something like the below. He's in.

I'm also painting. "Starving Artist" is one of my many alter-egos. I put enough money and time and blood and sleep loss into becoming the illustrator that I never actually became. It's nice to get a little pay-off occasionally. Even though I was never really cut out for starvation. 

I'm painting jellyfish. Too much Blue Planet, I guess. Or Saturday-morning Spongebob. Too much TV.

I'm still fussing with the water. I'm no longer fully confident wielding a brush.

This inspired me:

My equally craft-loving friend Cathie bought me this book (The Repurposed Library)  for my birthday. A book-cum-lampshade project is calling my name. If painting in the living room has taught me one thing, it's this: the place is a bloody cave. DIY lamp to the rescue! How does once craft project always spawn six more!?

I'd like to say that's it, but I've managed to fill my to-do list with an impossible number of projects for just one short week. During half of which I've been sick. 

Stay tuned for the craftermath....