Some Poetry for Y'all

art therapy

See my brush skip across this canvas

To obliterate the memory of you

Removing form, blurring lines

Out of focus, Out of time

An ironic echo of what we once shared.

The steady strokes of paint to clear away

The stubborn silence gray

Surrounding the reds of brutal fights

A white wash of surrender

Tinged blue from lonely nights

With opacity I can cover up

But that doesn't make you right

I'm painting out the memories

That used to make my life complete

With a perplexed sigh

And brush in hand

Using color and line to erase

The friend I thought I'd always have

And the hole in my heart

You left in your place

Misaligned Perspective reveals

Disorienting mis-communications

With your true colors now exposed

I finally see I made myself blind

That dazzling kaleidoscope of your attention

Is shattered from falling

From the pedestal I placed you on

And you, the actor not the artist,

Will pretend this never happened

But this hole in my heart

Is my constant reminder

That you only played your part

The crystalline clarity of hindsight

Gives me hope for my future

I will not close my eyes to

The glaring orange of indifference again

My painting will be repaired

For now, it is the patch for

The hole in my heart

Where you use to be

I'm painting out the memories

That used to make my life complete

With a perplexed sigh

And brush in hand

Using color and line to erase

The friend I thought I'd always have

And the hole in my heart

You left in your place

Crocheting with Wire

Does it sound painful?

The key is using the right gauge of wire. For crocheting, I like to work with 22 to 28 gauge wire. "Gauge" is the measurement term that describes the size of the wire's diameter. The important thing to remember is that the higher the number, the thinner the wire. If you were wire-wrapping pendants or rings you can use 16 or 18 gauge wire, but you could never crochet with it because it is too thick (and you might break your hook/hand trying). 22 is a little stiff, 28 is a little fragile, but I find that 26 is just right.

For practice, you may want to start with Artistic Wire, which is a copper wire base with a non-tarnishing color coating. It is available in a rainbow of colors and there are many gauges to choose from as well. It is available in most hobby and craft stores, and the price is decent.

If you want to include pearls or beads in your work, make sure you string them all on the wire before you begin. If you are creating a pattern, make sure you string your beads in the correct order before you start. To create the "spines" showed in the above picture, pull a pearl up to about an inch or so from your last stitch, bend the wire back down to the necklace and twist the wires together until it reaches the starting point, then continue with your next stitch.

Obviously, wire is a LOT stiffer than yarn, so it does require a certain degree of hand/wrist/arm strength. And is use B or C hooks, which are small and tend to bend under too much pressure. Be gentle with your creations, wire is strong, but if you pull to hard you will distort your stitches. Having a pair of pliers handy is a good idea: they can assist in de-tangling, help make your beginning stitch taught and are useful for weaving in the ends. Be gentle with your pliers too-they will leave marks on the wire and mar the finish on artistic wire.

It's Official: I'm going to Faeriecon!

I am going to be a vendor for the second year of Faeriecon International!
I pondered this decision for a long time. Last year was it's first in Philadelphia, and I must say that based on what we spent on the space, the profit was pathetic. So what would prompt me to plunk down $850 of my very hard-earned cash?
According to the rep I spoke to, they have listened to the comments and feedback from last year and they are adding seating areas for visitors, places to obtain food (didn't know there wasn't going to be any last year!) and doing a ton of promoting in the area. Most of the traffic from last year was people who were just walking by and decided to check it out.
Beyond that I really, really, really want to have full outfits ready for the fashion show. And since I still have quite a bit of stock left over from the Maryland Fairy Festival, I can use this time to work on costumes and plan out my booth set-up.
Maybe I am crazy, but this is the biggest fantasy/fairy event on the east coast-and it is less than a half-hour away-how could I possibly pass up the opportunity to meet my target customers??