Last Day Lament.

Today is my last day of summer vacation. I have loved every minute of being off. Even though I didn't actually go anywhere special or do anything particularly fun or adventurous, I enjoyed all of my free time and felt very happy being home in peace with my family and pets. I discovered a new hobby and got to share it with many people which brought me so much joy. 

The above photo of me was taken at a church where I was invited to speak and show my painted rocks to a group of teen girls that came from troubled homes. We had a rock painting session and the girls really got into the whole idea, so much so that they didn't even realize that they had missed their lunch time. On a later date, they were planning to go on a field trip to hide their rocks. I wasn't allowed to take photos to protect their privacy, but I was honored to be invited and spend time with them. 

I painted a LOT of rocks this summer. Many I gave away, many were commissioned or sold, but I'm still painting more to display for sale at a fall market event in October. I'm trying to make at least one rock a day until then. Here are some rocks I've done recently. I will add notes underneath each one.

This rock was made for a giveaway basket for our local rock group. We had a drawing after we hit 500 members. As of today, we have just over 800 members! Rock painting has really caught on. We even had someone post photos of residents at an assisted living center getting into the spirit. How great is that?

Here is the lovely gift basket the admin of our rock group put together with my crab rock in the center of it. I donated some plain rocks and funds for the added art supplies as well. A local lady won the basket and she and her daughter were very happy. We're having another giveaway when we hit 1000 members, which, at this rate, won't be too far off.

I could probably make a living doing pet memorial rocks. This was done for a close friend who commissioned me to make this for a family member of his who had just lost her cat. I couldn't say no. He paid me more than I asked for, which was nice.

Another pet memorial rock for a recently deceased pup.

In case you didn't know, the latest decorating craze is "Farmhouse." I wanted to do a farm animal, but had  trouble finding inspiration until I saw this donkey. I thought it was cute. I want to do a cow also.

This was commissioned by a friend who wanted something dragon themed for her son.

The same person wanted this for her daughter who is a swim coach for a team named the Seahorses.

This is very recent. I wanted to try this effect. I'm very happy with how it came out.

Here is another version I did yesterday.

I wanted to try a sunflower. I think I went for too much detail in the center. Flowers can be very difficult to paint, so my hat is off to those who are good at it. I saw a tutorial on YouTube on how to paint lilacs using q-tips bundled together. I tried something similar on a smaller scale and made a vase of lilacs as a gift for someone. It came out fairly good, but I forgot to take picture of it.

I had a wedge shaped rock that just told me it was supposed to be an orange slice.

This was fun. I even managed to get an orange peel texture on the rind by dotting it first and then painting over it, similar to how I did the football.

And that's what I've been doing all summer long. It has been a self discovery of sorts and quite an interesting journey. You may recall that these were the first rocks I painted back in June.

I've come a long way since then.

In other news, hubby and Megan traveled to St Augustine, Florida last week to deliver some Black Flame Creations merchandise to Aunt Matilda's Steampunk Trunk. It was a very successful trip and hubby did an artist appearance there at the store which is fabulous. They said that the area was just beautiful everywhere you looked and full of tourists. We watched a live cam from inside the store last night and it was non-stop people. Hubby will be selling this way, on consignment, from now on. No more conventions. If you are ever there, please stop in and check out all the cool stuff.

Hubby with the store owner. Yes, she dresses up like that every day!

So, tomorrow it's back to the real job. We have a newly hired assistant manager and I've heard nothing but good things about her, so I expect it's going to be a great year!

Rock on and steam on, people!

Steampunk Sunday: Getting Ready for Pensacon 2017

A couple of weekends ago, Chris had a booth at Kami-Con in Birmingham, AL and he did so well that he was worried he wouldn't have enough merchandise for Pensacon 2017, which is his biggest event and it's coming up this weekend!. Lowe's has given him the green light to work more hours per week because they're heading into their busy season so between that and crossing guard duty, he's been working almost 7 days a week and at the same time trying furiously to get more things made for Pensacon. Here are a few one of a kind items he's made for the big event.

He had a lot of clock faces in his collection of parts, so he made a couple of whimsical, light-up top hats.




He also made more walking sticks, since most of his others sold at Kami-Con.





Here's a fancier one that lights up, made with real deer antlers.

And this is a Storm Trooper helmet that is a work in progress. The lens is still masked with tape, but it will be really cool when it's finished. This will be his showstopper piece.

If you plan to attend Pensacon, be sure to look for Black Flame Creations and say hello.
Megan will be there on Saturday to help out in the booth. There will be an incredible line-up of stars including some of the cast members from The X-Files. Star Trek, Game of Thrones and more!

Steampunk Sunday: Black Flame Creations interview!

Chris was interviewed by SciFiction.com while he was a vendor at Mobicon in Mobile a couple of months ago. The interview was just put up, but you have to be on Facebook to see it. It's not on YouTube so there's no other way of embedding it. Below is a link to their video page. Currently it's the first video listed, however as time goes by, it will move down the list, so I circled it in red in case you need to find it later on. I think Chris did a great job. The video has had almost 300 views already.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/scifiction/videos

Furry Friday and other random stuff.

The fluff migration.

You may recall that I have this problem with The Muffin taking up residence on my desk. She lays on my keyboard and activates everything from Chrome Help to FreeCell and sometimes she puts me into full page mode or worse. Her tail gets in my coffee and her fur gets virtually everywhere. I'm sure the fan inside my computer is completely encased in orange fluff.

Well, you may also remember (or maybe not), that one of my new year's goals was to create a guest room. I bought a used wood bed frame and planned on painting it over the summer break. I started sanding it and got very discouraged. It was a lot of work. It was hot working in the garage and the head and foot boards were heavy as heck! I worked on it a little at a time and eventually I just lost my motivation and ended up giving it away.

Heavy heavy wood!

A couple of weeks ago Megan asked me if a friend of hers from Texas could come and visit for a week in September. I said "Sure!" but then realized that we still didn't have a guest bed. Amazon to the rescue! I bought this white metal daybed frame for just $75, free delivery and no tax (which is 10% here! Even on food!) It went together fairly easily and I think it will do the trick nicely.

I also ordered a foam mattress like the one we got for our bedroom, except in a twin size of course. It will arrive next week. Meanwhile, I put some flat cardboard down with a quilt over it in the hopes that The Muffin would migrate from my desk to the bed. It worked! At least for a while anyway, but then she was back on my desk again. Once the mattress comes, I'm sure she'll love it. I intend to take her off my desk every single time she jumps on it until she figures out that it's off limits. 

From the "We want something else!" files...

So, how about this election? (cringe) Been watching the conventions? (eek!) Speeches? (yawn!) I saw this website via Facebook the other day that quizzes you regarding your views on different topics to see which candidate your beliefs align with the most. I was surprised when I got the following results.

Raise your hand if you have no idea who this woman is. Well, I started following her on Facebook and hopefully I will learn more about her by the time November rolls around.  Of course anything can happen between now and then with this race. Here is the website if you want to take the quiz:  http://www.isidewith.com/

A little steam in the trunk is a good thing!

Hubby met a vendor at the Jacksonville convention that he had met last year. She told him that she was going to be opening a store in St Augustine, FL and she wanted some of his creations for the shop. So they worked out a deal and he supplied her with some goggles and custom Nerf guns. She just opened last week and has already sold 3 pair of his custom goggles! Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful business relationship. If you're in that area, stop in! The official grand opening is August 13. 
Aunt Matilda's Steampunk Trunk Store

Good vibrations please!

Well, as luck would have it (and hopefully it's good luck), a lunch lady position opened up at the school where my former co-worker and friend became cafeteria manager in March. She was fortunate enough to land that job shortly after we got our new "lovely" management team. Well, one of her girls just quit and she wants me to fill the position. Unfortunately they have to post it until August 10 and give other people the chance to apply and interview for the job. My friend has already put in a good word for me with the principal. I handed in my letter of interest and resume yesterday and am now waiting to get called for an interview. I'm a nervous wreck about it and can't concentrate on much. If I get the job, I will have to re-apply for benefits as if I was a new employee. Kind of a pain, but worth it. Hubby is still waiting to hear about a permanent position at his job. They've been busy doing inventory, so I guess it hasn't been a priority. He's waiting patiently. We could use all the good vibes we can get, so if you wouldn't mind, could you please send some our way! We'd really appreciate it.

Have a good Friday and a great weekend!

***************

Steampunk Sunday: Time Machine Boxes

Here is a video showing some of Chris's recently created "Time Machine" boxes. They will be on display and for sale at Ancient City Con in Jacksonville, FL this coming weekend.

If you could travel through time, what year would you go to?

Have a great Sunday and if you have time, check out the Black Flame Creations
Etsy store. I added some new magnets yesterday!

Steampunk Sunday: Words and numbers

In my previous two posts, I showed you some mixed media pieces I've been working on as additions to hubby's booth. I'm trying to give them an old looking metallic finish like the masks, guns and goggles so they look cohesive, like they are related to the other merchandise.

I made some more magnets. I even sold a few already to a friend. This "Think" one came out really nice. I have good intentions for each piece, but they don't always come out looking like I imagined. I'm still trying to perfect the coloration that I want them to have.

I really like this "Time" one.

Fans of The DaVinci Code might remember what this means.

Here are two with a horror theme.

Remember REDRUM from The Shining? Room 237.

This one is just blatant gore. lol

And here is how all the magnets will look when they're displayed together.

 I'm hoping to make at least a dozen more in the next 10 days.

And finally, I made this piece below out of a circuit board from an old printer. I call it "Motherboard." It's kind of a play on words as well as a social statement of how technology has become our mother. It feeds us and comforts us in a way it never did before and we feel lost without it.

I'm still experimenting with things. The trash is always close by, but I'm starting to keep more pieces than I'm tossing out which is a good sign. 

Getting crafty.

It's been 10 days since I found out I lost my job. I've been going through the 5 stages of grief. After feeling very, very, very depressed on Sunday, I decided to fiddle around with some crafts on Monday. I started a few things, but they ended up in the garbage. I watched a bunch of "how to" videos on YouTube and felt very incompetent. I mean...the art supplies I'd need would cost me  a fortune. There's a glue, a paint, a texture, an ink, a tool for every little detail. Ugh! Every 2 seconds they're holding another product up to the camera!





Well, I finally came across a video that had an aesthetic I was looking for and it looked like a fairly easy project I could tackle without needing too many expensive art supplies. There's a guy named Mike Deakin and he has tons of crafting videos. I found this one and it got me inspired. I had some small canvasses that I had purchased at a garage sale for pennies and I assembled a pile of bits and pieces and got to work.

First I painted the canvas black, but next time I won't bother. (You'll see why in the next step). 

 I hot glued all these little odds and ends things to it. This was fun and therapeutic for me as I have a penchant for knolling.

Then I spray painted the whole thing black.
This part was scary as I was heading into unknown territory.

Then I used metallic paints to give it an aged metal look. 

I printed "IME" on my printer and decoupaged it with Mod Podge onto 

the canvas next to the "T" Scrabble tile.

I used a key as a hanger in the back.

I think this is something I can add to hubby's booth. I have some ideas for more. 

What do you think? 

If any of my local readers would like to donate their junk drawer bits and pieces to me, I'd be happy to accept them. Just send me an email or get in touch with me via FB. Thanks!

Steampunk Sunday: Evolving

Things are getting kind of scary around the Black Flame Creations workshop these days. Chris finds himself slowly evolving into another genre known as Dieselpunk which is explained here in this article about the movie Mad Max Fury Road. This latest round of masks could even slide into the horror category. In either case, it's what he's been doing and he finds himself liking this new style.

All but two of the masks he brought with him to CoastCon* last month sold which are the two over his shoulder in the photo below. And yes, the trumpet gun sold!

Below is a customer trying on one of those masks. He looked great in it, but didn't end up making a purchase. This particular style is super creepy.

And here is another cool customer checking out merchandise in the booth.

Megan had an adjoining booth where she sold her prints and did commissions.

She was busy drawing during the entire convention. I think young people find her more approachable than some of the other more well known artists.

*Many thanks to CoastCon for taking and posting the convention photos of Chris and Megan on their Facebook page.

If you have a minute and 46 seconds, you can watch Megan's speedpaint video of this Boba Fett.

Have a great Sunday!