First post of the New Year

It seems that the new year has come and gone and it has all been a blur.

I think I had best post a picture from January 17th since the water is still open on Lake Simcoe.  I should have posted this then, I have no excuse but I didn't.

I grabbed this snap early in the morning after working a night shift and the sun isn't quite ready to show itself to those of us who live on the west side of the lake.  I just peeking around the point.  I was so cold and tired, I couldn't wait.  My bed was calling and I listened.

I am hoping to begin the finishing touches and then writing my message and signing my postcards in preparation of mailing them off.  I will be a bit late once again but I am sure the recipients will be satisfied with the notion of better late than never.

The firs time I took part in the International Postcard swap, I was very disappointed when I only received 8 postcards.  However, one participant sent me a postcard back as a thank you.  What a lovely surprise!  The second time I joined I received all ten cards and once again I was late sending mine out in the mail.

So, to that end, I had best get back to work on getting them ready for mailing!

Postcard #9 - Painted Lace & Twigs

OMG! Is it just me or is time ticking away a lot quicker than usual.  I had hoped to get all of my postcards mailed out by now but I'm not quite finished.

I can't believe how late I woke up this afternoon!  Why is it that when I am working and need to sleep I can't?  Why is it that when I don't need or want to sleep in, I do??!!  I think I got to get off the sleep deprivation shift work roller coaster sooner rather than later.

Okay....this picture shows how I was "thinking" I might put this postcard together.  I had painted two different types of lace ribbon that I found at a charity shop.  I had "made" quite a few thread wrapped twig "buttons" and had arranged them on the card.

As you can see this is not what actually ended up happening.  I thread wrapped another twig (yup debris from the maple trees that fell on my deck) in a variegated thread.  I had ironed some pleats in the transparent turquoise coloured organza and then beaded that down with monochromatic coloured glass beads.  I finally did use the embroidery floss above but not until the end.

I like leaving the frayed salvage edge on the fabric piece and I didn't finish off the edges of the pleated piece either.  The thing I had difficulty with is applying the twig button embellishments.  They were not as easy as I had originally thought.  I'm just glad that I was able to save this postcard from the garbage but at first I had thought that I had really made a dud.

I applied the fabric to the postcard using matte gel medium.

As you can see my "design" was not well planned in advance....I had a notion of what I wanted but the final design just sort of happened.  I wanted the embroidery floss to be in the card and had not really factored that in.  

I hadn't really thought about it much other than I wanted turquoise and orange and it took me a while to see the boat and sky with clouds that this card finally became.  I had wanted to keep everything in balance; the "sky" is one third and the water is 2 thirds of the card.  My "boat" takes up half the card and it meets edge to edge so I think there is a balance there as well.   If I was to do this again, I think I would add more turquoise beads to depict the ripples in the water.  Of course, I didn't think of that until I had already finished off the card. 

I think now that I might like to make another one but use a creamier orange colour and just dull it down a bit.  I think I have some lighter coloured orange thread around is my old sewing box that might be the ticket.

Again I applied acrylic paint to the metal foil finishing tape to dull down the shiny gold surface.  I do quite like the abstract nature of this postcard and was happy to see that it "finished up" quite well.

For this card I used:

- Strathmore watercolour postcard
- acrylic paint
- paint dyed lace ribbon
- organza
-glass beads
- embroidery floss
- thread
- wood twig "button" embellishments
- metal foil

I think that is it!  Very pleased

The Horror

Okay, so I'm being slightly melodramatic! However, I wonder what other people think these days about the night shift worker (like myself) driving home. I took a course at OPC on "facilitating adult learning" and I did my major project on the EFFECTS OF SHIFT WORK ON THE SHIFT WORKER! One of the important nuggets of information that I gleaned from the research is that when I am driving home following a night shift I would in fact be considered an "impaired driver". Sometimes I can sleep in late on the morning of my first night shift; if that happens, I am still fairly alert at 7 o'clock in the morning. Often this is not the case; I wake early and can't return to sleep! This morning was one of those mornings where I was so tired that I felt dizzy on my drive home. I could sense the frustration of the driver behind me as I slowly weaved my way along the concession that takes me "cross country". I believe that "he" was angry that I was holding him up; that I am not speeding down a side road that is not monitored by the police. The problem is I can only drive so fast while focusing on the road and concentrating on keep my eyes open. The frightening part here is that these anxious and angry people who are tail-gating me have no idea why I'm driving like "an old woman" (yeah yeah, I know; I hate the reference too but couldn't help it). I wonder if they would be horrified at my lack of physical capabilities if they actually knew my true condition. I hope to never have to find out and have a break in my concentration and have an accident. What is worse is when I am so tired I can't even get out of my car; in the spring and summer my hubby has found me out in my car sleeping whiles on his own way to work at 7 a.m.

Unfortunately I enjoy my job, I enjoy the excitement, the adrenaline rush when there is something going on. The morale of the story is to not to take a job that requires shift work.