i fled...

...but before I explain the title, the studio and I reconciled for a bit and I did get a little bit done today.

Leann has turned me into a handmade rubber stamp addict so I thought I would carve some of a doodle that I obsessively cover everything with. I have some of this stuff and to be totally honest, its garbage. It crumbles if you look at it the wrong way.

But its what was in the studio so I figured I should see if I could stand to work with it. I made these two stamps:


And then ordered this. I only have one small piece of the lousy stuff left, maybe I could use it as a doorstop.

I was determined to redeem myself after yesterday's "adventure". I dug around in my U.F.O. container to see if I had anything in there that I could use for the fabric box. I struck gold:



These 6"x6" squares were meant to continue the Fragile series (see Fragile 1 here and Fragile 2 here) but I sort of lost interest in the series. I think its because I was doing double stitching the design on it with regular sewing thread and it was taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I used size 5 perle cotton today and I really like how it looks so I think I may pick away at the other pieces in the series that are hanging around waiting to be finished.

I started stitching it together too:


Its feeling sort of industrial. I stopped assembling it after I got three sides put together because I'm considering stamping or screening some kind of imagery on it. Wish I would have thought of that before I started attaching the sides. I would have kept working on it but that's when it happened.

I heard buzzing behind me. (My plant stand is right next to my work table.) I turned. I looked. I saw the most disgusting mutated bee I have ever seen in my life. (The bug phobia is second only to the water phobia but it kicked in full force.) It was huge. It made me whine. I actually said aloud "AwwwwwwWWwwww, maaaaannnn..."

I hate bugs but I also hate crushing them. I can't stand the crunch but it was clear that this thing could do some serious damage if I allowed it to live. So I grabbed one of the boards I use for hanging slats for my work and before I (or it) had a chance to think about what was coming next, I pulverized it.

I admit I squished it far more then I needed to but I had to make sure it wasn't capable of revenge. And why do they smell so weird when they get crushed? Wait...never mind. I don't want to know...

The only thing that bothers me more then it being in my studio (I mean really, what's the point of these freakish things even existing other then to instill horror and phobia? Can anyone explain that to me please?) is wondering where it came from...

And if it has friends...

It was the kind of bug that makes me want to scrub the walls down with bleach. (I tried to find a picture but all I really ended up doing was giving myself the heebie jeebies again looking at all the creepy bug pictures.)

I kept looking around the studio like the walls and ceiling were going to close in on me at any second so I decided to flee.

I grabbed a bunch of supplies and set up camp on the sofa to work on my art journal:


That's coming along just fine. (Although I'm beginning to wonder if its ever really possible to finish one of these things. I feel like I could keep adding to it until its six inches thick.)

Okay, so today as an improvement in the artwork arena. I actually got a little bit done but me and that room still seem to be struggling. I'm not that easy to scare off, I'll be back. I'm nothing if not persistent...