Weight Loss, Finally!

I had my physical a week ago and have a nasty bruise on my arm to prove it. They took 3 vials of blood to run all sorts of tests and I'm anxious for the results. The one thing we could all agree about was that I am overweight. So...

On Sunday I finally started that diet I've been talking about for a year. I found Bob Harper's Smart Weight Loss Starter Kit and decided, why not? His plan consists of a low calorie diet, exercise and taking the pills 30 minutes before every meal. The pills, I found out, have a lot of caffeine in them. If you're a caffeine sensitive person, this plan probably isn't for you. I've been a hardcore caffeine addict for years and these pills have been making me shake uncontrollably. I've cut it back to just one pill before every meal instead of two. So far so good.

As for the low calorie diet, I've been doing well. Lots of fiber, protein and fresh fruits and veggies. I have a major sweet tooth so it's been difficult to say "no" to cookies and candy. To make up for that I've been splurging with 3 sugar-free wafer cookies after dinner. A major stride I've made is giving up soda. If you know me, you know I love soda. I've had a Dr. Pepper or Coke every morning since I was in high school.  haven't had one since Saturday. I've only been drinking water this week. Again, so far so good.

The exercise, on the other hand, isn't quite as easy. In the afternoons I've been working at my church to clean out and reorganize a craft closet and that's been a bit of a workout. No enough, though. I've got to work in some walking or crunches or something somewhere in my schedule. You know I hate exercising.

The good news: I've lost 3 pounds since Sunday! That's a pound a day! Amazing. I'm gonna be back in those skinny jeans by Christmas. (Okay, maybe by my birthday...)

A New Chapter.

Alright, folks. I'm moving on to a new chapter. I received my diploma in the mail yesterday and that means I'm officially done with undergrad. That means I'm done with school (at least for a bit). It was weird to not start classes this fall and I often have that "oh my gosh I'm late for class" dream. So now I'm doing the same thing so many other people are doing now: looking for a job. In the meantime, I'm helping clean out and reorganize my parents house while I live with them this month. I'm also reorganizing my church preschool's library for fun. Yes, for fun. That's how exciting I am.

The biggest stress in my lift right now is my health. Lately I've been getting lightheaded after I eat. I'm also way out of shape. So tomorrow I've got an appointment to have a physical. It's been five years since my last one and I'm afraid they won't have good news for me. Mom and I are already psyched to start a diet and exercise plan. This is supposed to be the part of my life when I look my best, right? Wish me luck.

In the meantime, here's a picture of my cat!

Beyond the art projects.

Finally a post that's not about my artwork! I cleaned out my studio last weekend and after I turn in my keys tomorrow I will say a final goodbye to the art building. It's been great art building, but I think we're going in different directions. It's not you, it's me.

So what am I doing now? Well, when I'm not working at the library I'm.... well, doing nothing. This week I've been house/dog sitting for Robin and the pups and I have been mostly chillin' all day. I may be a cat person, but who can resist this cute little face?

Also, on the 30th of the month I will be leaving Greenville for good. I'm going back home to Lewisville for a while to help mom prepare for the yard sale and to reassess what the heck I'm doing with my life. Most likely I'm be moving to Charlotte to live with my brother and hopefully finding a job down there. Wish me luck!

Write it down in your own handwriting.

My second art piece for the summer finished up very nicely. When meeting with my professor she made a good comment, "Why do these have to be on fabric?" My immediate response is "because I'm a textile artist," but I need more of a reason than that. So I decided to give the pieces some depth and interest with stitching. I found a quote online that summed up the idea of this piece: "Write it down in your own handwriting." So that's what I stitched with a few letters on each panel. I chose a light blue embroidery
thread that wouldn't be too distracting.

Then there was the problem of displaying these pieces. My first plan was to put them in a quilt. I decided that that was so... expected. Plan B was sandwiching each in a simple wooden frame. I bought the wood and had Richard but the pieces. Unfortunately, I gave him the interior measure as the exterior measure and the frames ended up being too small. I should not be trusted with a ruler. So I had to implement Plan C. This used the same frames but had the fabric stretched over them like a canvas.

That turned out perfectly and the piece was finished! Here it is hanging in a gallery (excuse the quality of my phone):

This piece turned out better than expected and I'm really proud of it. As for the first piece, I used the same hanging mechanism that I do on my weaving. I cut thin strips of wood and painted them white. Then I drilled two holes in each and applied a strip of velcro to the wood and the back of each fabric panel. Here they are:

As for the third piece, well... it's having technical difficulties.

All it took was a loom to brighten my spirits.

This weekend my family (and Richie) traveled to Asheville for some relaxation time. On Friday evening we arrived at the cottage where we would be staying and discovered that it was, well, less than wonderful. But, being the troopers that we are, we began to make dinner and settle in. Unfortunately, but not totally unsurprisingly, while making dinner we met three of the cottage's inhabitants. Three tiny brown mice come to join us for dinner in the kitchen. An hour later, we were relocated to a log cabin which was conveniently owned by the company right next to the first one. What a difference. This was the first place. And this was the second place. See what I mean?

The next few days we visited several art galleries including The Blue Spiral and The Grovewood Gallery. Both really nice spaces for artists. I even found weavings! But by far my favorite part was finding the Homespun Museum located right next to the Grovewood Gallery. The gallery space and adjoining buildings were once home to the Biltmore Industries textile business. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The loom! A pretty fancy (and huge!) contraption:

Skeinwinder:

Fabric swatches:

Apparently this place was kind of a big deal. They had documents for orders from very important people like presidents and celebrities. There was an Antique Car Museum also, but if you know me you know that I was uninterested in that. While waiting for my car loving family to peruse the cars I fed the squirrels. These guys were obviously used to being fed on a regular basis as they came right in the door and looked at us expectantly. The guy working there directed me to where they kept the peanuts and I was more than happy to feed the cute little guys. The walked right up and took the peanuts from my hands. Cute!

We also visited the Biltmore Estate while in Asheville, a quintessential destination for any tourist. Gorgeous. Pricey, but highly recommended.

Now I have to finish up the last of my school work so that I can be officially graduated. Next month, I'm doing art for my own pleasure. Also, maybe learning to drive?

This week will be a saga.

The next week and a half will be action packed. But first, my first independent study piece is done (except for the hanging). I stitched up all the edges with white on all the pieces first and then used more white on the last four, beige on the middle four, and brown on the first four. The first pass with white made the darker colors of the first pieces stand out too much so I had to cover it with something darker. I think they turned out nicely and Christine agrees.

Here's the first panel (cave paintings) with the finished edges:

And here they are stacked up again with finished edges:

Now I'm working on the second piece. This one is about how personal handwriting can be and how the digital age is robbing us of that personal touch. First, I asked 11 of my friends for a picture of their writing hand. Then, I asked them to write some phrase or quote that was significant to them. I took these photos and phrases and layered them in photoshop. I then printed them out on paper-backed fabric that went into a regular printer. In case you're interested, I used Crafter's Image PhotoFabric and it worked perfectly.

Here are two of the printed pieces:

Now I plan to cut each to 8x8 and sew them together in a quilt fashion. I'm not sure whether I'll need some sort of stitching or other decorative element on top of that, but I'll have to see once everything is together. I think they turned out pretty well, even considering I used a mediocre camera.

As for the action I mentioned, this week is not only the ending of summer classes, but also my trip to Asheville. That means that I have to finish all three pieces, a midterm, an article review, a discussion board, and pack for a trip. Oh, and go to work. Action packed!

Almost Done With Project One.

According to my independent study proposal, I should start working on my third project this week. As it turns out, I am just now finishing up my first piece. To be fair, the first project is the most time intensive so it's not surprising that it took longer than my projected week and half.

Today cut the pieces to the proper size and finished the edges with layers of zig-zag stitching. A simple finish that turned out as well as expected. Before the stitching I noticed that the stacked panels made a nice gradient. Ignore my amateur photo skills with the obvious finger in the corner. Here's the ancient Greek and Telegraph panels, two of the most successful pieces:

After sewing today I'm pretty positive that my sewing machine pulls to the left. Is it something I'm doing or something wrong with my machine? Perhaps my feed dogs are messed up? It's not bad enough to warrant a trip to a repair shop, but it is troubling.

Tomorrow I'll start on Project Two! This one involves collecting photos of hands and handwritten quotes. Luckily, there's a party tomorrow where I'm going to bring camera and paper so I can get it done!