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It’s taken a few weeks, but I finally got all the fabric that was in the cubes rolled up, put into a basket (if it was too small for rolling), or hung up (if it was too big or had a large motif that was hidden when rolled).
As you can see, I have some more storage space, but that’s good, because this actually isn’t all of the fabric. I have several large boxes of fabric that are set aside for specific projects and when those projects are finished, I’ll be adding what’s left of those fabrics back to the stash. So a little empty space is good.
My worktable has remained manageable, which is fortunate, because I have been busy making cards for friends.
(OK, it’s hard to tell, but really, there’s enough room there for me to sit down with a sheet of paper and draw, paint, glue, whatever.)
And I’m still making mattresses for The Gift of Sensitivity, although mostly I’ve been collecting materials for the next batch.
Now that the weather is getting more summer like (more sun, less rain), I don’t have quite as much time for sewing as I did.
Next to do in the studio:??? I’ve been collecting little display shelves for one of the walls and it may be time to put those up in order to get some of my inspirational things, as well as finished projects, on display and off my work surfaces. Either that, or I need to start going through the boxes in the closet and on the shelves and really organizing things. For example, the majority of my doll-making supplies are in a single box, which means lots of different things thrown together. As I learned a few years ago when I took the time to sort all my beads into separate containers, organized supplies get used. Unorganized ones do not.
I came across this movie almost accidently when I was looking over the DVD rack at a big box store. Having a penchant for fantasy, including magic and fairy tales, I was drawn by the advertising, but I bought the movie (even though I had never heard of it) for the cast, which includes Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O’Hara, and Reece Witherspoon. Witherspoon is also the producer of this gem which sadly did not do as well as the box office as it deserved to.
Penelope Wilhern (Ricci) is a rich girl born under a curse that has given her the face of a pig. Desperate to protect her daughter (and their family), her mother (O’Hara) hides Penelope from the world, and then works hard to find her a blue-blood husband in order to break the curse. When Edward (Simon Woods), one of the potential grooms, gets away without first signing the required gag order, he is determined to warn the world of the existence of the monster. The world thinks he’s nuts. So he teams up with a reporter with a grudge against the Wilherns (Peter Dinklage) and a young man from a blue-blood family that has lost its wealth (James McAvoy) to get a photo of Penelope to show to the world.
The story is a charming twist on the usual Beauty and the Beast story, with the man having to see through the ugliness to the person inside. But unlike most Beasts, Penelope isn’t burdened by her looks. While the reactions of others to how she looks causes her pain, she has many interests in life. When her mother’s attempts to get her engaged fail, she decides to go out into the world on her own, with a scarf over her face, and learn about the real world. Even after the truth of her appearance is public, she is living a fuller and happier life than she did when she was trapped in her parents’ house and trying to fall in love with young men through a one-way mirror.
While there is magic and a definite fairy-tale feel to the movie, it is also full of modern situations and even satire. The Paparazzi are everywhere, trying to get pictures of Penelope before and after she comes out into the open. At Halloween, both children and adults are dressed in her unusual coat and sporting pig-nosed masks. And the suitor who is supposed to get her picture has a gambling addiction. The movie successfully melds the magical and the modern, giving the story a timeless reality of its own.
Ricci and McAvoy both play sensitive, complex characters who are aware of the machinations of those around them and manage to go their own ways despite them. Ricci in particular handles the combination of Penelope’s innocence with her inner strength masterfully, giving us a young woman who understands her mother’s demons while meeting the outside world with a mix of wonder and fear.
The upshot is: I loved it. I don’t know how much the cast or the fairy tale components of the story may have biased my opinion on this one, but it seems to me a cleanly drawn story with quirks, twists, charm, and surprises, including how the curse is finally broken. Penelope is a truly modern fairy tale that does away with many of the awkward fairy tale traditions without losing any of the satisfaction or appeal of the classics. How this movie failed to make it in the market is beyond me. I wish it the best of success on DVD.
The makeover is taking a while because I keep spending the majority of my time working on projects I’ve uncovered. I finished a needle work project over the weekend and have launched into work on a piece that I’ve been dying to make for almost five years.
I continue to roll fabrics when I can (soothing, mindless, color therapy), and I’ve collected a number of baskets, boxes, and tins, all ready to store things when I decide I need to organize something that isn’t currently organized.
Shelves with more rolled fabric
But mostly, I’ve been messing things back up. My current passion is “The Gift of Sensitivity” which is going to be soft sculpture/mixed media illustration for The Princess and The Pea. Currently, I’m making mattresses. I still have to decide how many total I’ll be doing. I originally intended on making the traditional 40, but I’m not sure I’m going to do that now. I have twelve mattresses so far, some finished, some still being embellished to make them look more mattressy, but that doesn’t seem like enough. I suppose if I’m going to really make a lot more, I’ll need to buy more foam (which is my currently filler of choice). The big breakthrough was finding a simpler way to put the mattresses together. They’re small enough that simple construction is key.
Mattresses for The Gift of Sensitivity
Cute Overload is always a great place to get some warm fuzzies, plus they are open-minded about cuteness and do not limit themselves to kittens and puppies. And here’s the proof: A baby armadillo picture.
He’s four days old.
On Sunday, we planted a butterfly bush that was already in bloom. On Tuesday, I saw its first visitor, and what a stunner! He was as big as my hand, and did he love our bush.
I’ve looked in our ancient butterfly field guide, and nothing even close to this beauty shows up*. So, I searched online.
I found a great interactive field guide at eNature. The advanced search lets you tell the guide all about the critter you’ve seen and where you saw it, and then gives you your best bets.
Result: our visitor was a Western Tiger Swallowtail.
*The Western Tiger Swallowtail is in our field guide, but it’s wings look very different from the butterfly shown here, which is why I didn’t recognize it.
