DISTRUST ANY ENTERPRISE THAT REQUIRES NEW CLOTHES...THOREAU

I told you I would write tonite about my adventure to the Goodwill store, or as we lovingly call it...GW.
I was about to tell you it was a bust, I only bought a pair of shoes to alter, but then I thought somemore about those shoes.  They were Cinderella shoes, or at least the ugly stepsister shoes.

 What attracted me to this pair of shoes was the black and white herringbone pattern.  Black and white are my signature colors.  I could do something with these shoes...
       
      BUT WHAT???

These shoes are not only ugly stepsister shoes, they are CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS TREE SHOES.

All these shoes need are a little love and a lot of brainstorming.  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Plain black sole.....Herringbone..........Does the name LOUBOUTIN come to mind?

INSPIRATION

Now I am getting excited.  With my game plan in hand I am going to decorate that TREE.  If I can dream it I can do it......................

"TO BE CARRIED BY SHOES, WINGED BY THEM. T0 WEAR DREAMS ON ONE'S FEET IS TO BEGIN TO GIVE REALITY TO ONE'S DREAM."     

Ok, I am getting a little carried away here.  Now I have to make sure these get turned into really great shoes...................

"AFTER ALL CHARLIE BROWN IS DEPENDING ON ME."    

                                              ...REDFOX

  

 

MY SISTER'S CHILD

TODAY I RECEIVED A WONDERFUL LETTER FROM MY NIECE DIANE.  DIANE TOLD ME BY WORDS WRITTEN AND WORDS UNWRITTEN, HOW MUCH SHE LOVED ME.

DIANE IS THE CHILD OF MY OLDEST SISTER ALICE.  BUT DIANE IS MUCH MORE THAN A NIECE TO ME.  LET ME TELL YOU THE STORY OF MY SISTER-NIECE AND ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS.

                                                                                     

Diane is only a few years younger than me, but it was enough that I thought of her as just another child.  My mother died when I was seven years old, and I lived alone with my father as all my siblings were older and gone from the home.

I used to spend my summers spending a week or two at each of their homes and played with their children.  I didn't know until the adult Diane told me that she used to really look up to me. 

SHE THOUGHT I WAS THE CAT'S MEOW...

Then all too soon I was a teenager and thought I was to old to play with the kids.  I really don't remember too much of Diane's teen years and certainly not her collage years.

I married very very young and had a child by the time I was eighteen.  Diane and I kinda lost track of each other along the way.

I divorced, remarried and moved to California.  Diane moved to Oregon and met Howard.  They married and had two children.  We met up again when their youngest was two.

They came to visit us and visit Disneyland.  They had Miles and Erin.  Erin was blind since birth and I was amazed at what wonderful parents they were.

                      STRONG

We didn't meet up again for quite a few years.  Then that one special year came and my Husband Jerry and I were going through their state on our way home from a Canada vacation.  I took a chance and called them.  They said come on over just like we had been there yesterday.  We stayed for five days and by the time we left all the years had just melted away and we were kids again.

We were more than niece and aunt, we were

                      SISTERS.

Fortunately Howard and Jerry love each other too and now we make it a point to see each other every year.  We both came home...................

HAVING A PLACE TO GO...IS A HOME.  HAVING SOMEONE TO LOVE...IS A FAMILY.  HAVING BOTH IS A BLESSING.
                 ...REDFOX           
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY

THEY SAY YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT, IF YOU WANT IT BAD ENOUGH.  THAT IS WHY I DO MY ALTERED BOOKS.   IN MY BOOKS I CAN BE ANYONE AND DO ANYTHING THAT I WANT.

        IN MY BOOKS I CAN FLY..............

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY PAGE FROM HALF MOON AND EMPTY STARS

  An altered book is a book that I take and alter (change) into a book of my own making.  I cut out pages, sometimes add new pages in, fold, staple, glue and rivet until I have a completely new product.

 It really started because I liked to decorate the covers of the books.  And who would buy a book with just the cover altered?

So it follows that I had to change the whole book.






Once I began altering the books it became a game to see just how much "hardware" I could use in the books.

RESEARCH PAGE, LILY WHITE

This page is held on with a metal fastener and I used a bottle cap as an accent.  This is a page from the book Lily White, but I think the young lady, and I use the word LADY lightly, is Rose Red.   The page lifts up and I'm not tell you what is under it...after all 
                        I AM A LADY...........

CENTER SPREAD, HALF MOON...

  I always do this center spread in each book.  The books are totally interactive with lots of cards to pull out and hidden messages behind things.

hidden meanings

suggestive
phrases

 

ENDING, HALF MOON......................

Sometimes the images are a little risque.  I DO LIKE THAT WORD.  RISQUE, RISQUE, MUCH BETTER THAN NAUGHTY.

I like to hang all kinds of charms from the pages.  Half the fun is shopping for the 

 STUFF,
LOTS OF STUFF

                   

 

IT IS VERY LATE AND I HAVE BEEN USING THAT ALLIGATOR CLIP TOO MUCH.   IN THE BOOK, I HAVE BEEN USING IT IN THE BOOK.

As I said, I CAN BE ANYTHING I WANT AND RIGHT NOW I WANT TO BE ASLEEP...

        IF YOU GET MY DRIFT...REDFOX

 

GIVE A GIRL THE RIGHT SHOES AND SHE CAN CONQUER THE WORLD...BETTE MIDLER

"WOMEN'S STYLES MAY CHANGE, BUT THEIR DESIGNS REMAIN THE SAME."

Today I happily spent the whole afternoon designing shoes.  Well not really designing the shoes, but more like altering them.  I turned the shoes into letters..literally!

This pair of shoes was a bargain find of mine from the local department store....NOT A BARGAIN!!!   They hurt my feet so bad that I never wore them, but I just couldn't throw them away.  So I turned them into letters.  One of them will be sent through the mail and the other will be given to the same friend for her to mail to a friend of hers...A FRIEND OF A FRIEND!

YES, YOU CAN SEND A SHOE THROUGH THE MAIL.  JUST LIKE IT IS, YOU DO NOT HAVE T0 WRAP IT.

   JUST HAVE IT WEIGHED FOR POSTAGE.

In order to mail it, you can not have any parts that might come off and hurt their machinery.   This pair had a flimsy ankle strap that I had to cut off.  I traced the insole on blue paper and typed a letter on it.  I also added a fox charm, making sure it was secure.  I turned it over and after tracing the sole, I wrote to and from.....then all is left is to take it to the post office.

I signed my letter with the initials R F for Redfox and used crystals, but you can just sign it in your own handwriting.

TIP:  I LIKE TO BUY PRETTY STAMPS FOR THE POSTAGE AND SO I DON'T LET THEM METER IT.

FRIENDS... YOU'RE NOT LOOKING ARE YOU???

This is another pair that I bought and never wore.  I love shoes, but my feet don't.  It was really fun to figure out how to make sure the birds and nests would stay put.

Getting them to stay in involved a lot of glue  and a wire going through the sole.  I covered the wire with the address label.

I glued a poem on the insole.

THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!

The baby bird plays peak-a-boo out the side.  I added the blue dots with craft paint and the wrong end of a paintbrush.  I can't draw, but I'm a great dot maker.

THINK HOW GREAT THESE SHOES WOULD BE IF I COULD PAINT...

THIS TIME I GOT SMART... I FOUND THE SHOES AT

                                    GOODWILL.....................

Our favorite Goodwill has tons of shoes that are straight from the stores...never worn.  Those are the shoes I will use from now on.  I sent a shoe like this to my Granddaughter Elle .  I slipped a birthday check in the zipped part.  I just traced the sole out of fabric and sewed in a zipper.  The lettering on the shoe are brads.

 

     So get your stuff together and start designing.  I sent my friend Connie a get-well shoe in the mail and her mailman stopped and wrote a note to add to her mailbox.  He said that shoe was the most fun he had ever delivered to a mail box.

LETS KEEP THOSE MAILMEN HAPPY.

                                  ...REDFOX         

              

  

 

VIRUS...DID I SAY THAT OUTLOUD?

Tonite I'm going to talk about the word no blogger wants to hear.  VIRUS.   But this virus is different.  This virus is an art quilt.

VIRUS

This quilt  is one of the first art quilts that I made.  It is the first one that I free motioned on.  I don't show it too often because it is really not very good, but it looks kinda cute  in the picture.

The bugs pictured on the quilt were made using metallic paint sticks and rubbing plates.  I have a little story I need to tell.

I made this quilt at a time that I was just beginning to use the computer.  I wasn't any good at it and I'm still not very computer literate.  Anyway I finished the quilt and took it to show my Hubby.  He asked me why the "insects " were on it.  I proudly used my new computer lingo and said, " You know, computer bugs."  He, without even a grin said, "You mean Virus." 

Well, I did mean Virus and that is how the quilt got it's name.

 What I like best about this quilt is the rubber mouse I used.    I went to the dollar store and bought a package of Halloween mice and a computer cable .  

GENIUS IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.

Just recently I entered this quilt in the Phoenix Airport call.  It was  a call for insects and birds.  It was the only insects I had and I thought just maybe they would see the humor in it.

THEY DIDN'T...

So much for tongue and cheek.  Betty and her (our) Mom entered also.

MOM WAS THE ONLY ONE TO GET IN.  I GUESS THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS...  

 

                   MOTHER KNOWS BEST!!!

                                     ...REDFOX

 

COMING HOME

How come the best part of a road trip is always getting home?  It's not that we didn't have a wonderful time in New Mexico, we did.  It is just that I always like the getting home part the best.

We did have a great time meeting up with friends new and old at the quilt show.  I have this wonderful photo that Betty Busby took to prove just what a fine time we had...FINE!

TWERKING?

This is Betty and me strutting our stuff...yes, we still have stuff.  I MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN READY FOR THE RED CARPET, BUT I COULD SURE KNOCK THEM DEAD AT THE SENIOR CITIZENS CENTER.

All kidding aside, it was a very good show.  The theme was A COLOR RUNS THROUGH IT, and every quilt was done in black and white with one other color.  The show was well hung and the company was terrific.  It was wonderful to see other artists we knew and to make new friends with those we didn't.  This was a New Mexico Saqa show and those SAQA girls are friendly.

There is a special saying...

"THE ROAD TO A FRIEND'S HOUSE IS NEVER LONG."

Well that road to New Mexico was very long, but every mile we traveled was worth it.

 

 New Mexico SAQA...hats off to you and we will return to twerk again.

                                          ...REDFOX 

REAL FUN IS NOT HAVING NOTHING TO DO...

Real fun is not having nothing to do.  Real fun is having lots to do and not doing it!

If that is true then I must be really having fun.

Tomorrow morning Betty and I leave for New Mexico.  it is now 2 minutes before ELEVEN o'clock and I am sitting here blogging.  No hair washed, no clothes packed, and lots of dirty dishes in the sink.  But I have been doing important things today.  I did go get a book for the trip and I did get my art quilt for the SAQA Silver show started.  I had been putting it off and then putting it off again.  I want so bad for it to be good that I'm afraid to start.

Here is a quote that really fits the situation.

" PERFECTION IS SPELLED PARALYSIS."

I can't show you the quilt as the rules say it can't be shown before the show, not even on the net, but I can give you an example which will show you that I am the 

                            PROCRASTINATION  QUEEN.

   This painting leaning up against the wall, was done for me, by request, by a very dear friend of mine, JOAN RAMSEY.

I had seen a smaller version of it on a wall in a room in a magazine and fell in love with it.  This was many years ago.  The lake home that I had a place for it was sold and I didn't have a spot in the new house, so it hung an a wall no where near a door.

Two moves later I have a spot, but not a door, certainly not a perfect door.  Not even close.

So again it leans against a wall.

But I love that painting and some 

day, when I figure out what I want to do, I will have the perfect door.  In the meantime I will enjoy the painting and the anticipation of the fun I am having...         

   NOT DOING IT.  

           ... Redfox