Saturday, June 29, 2013

Saturday Morning!

Good Morning Everybody!

Hope your weekend is off to a good start.  It's a hot start here in Granger, Texas!  Good Grief Gladys!

I went out this morning to run errands and here's what we have at 11:16 a,m,....
 

97 Degrees ALREADY!
 
Here are a few pictures of things around the hood on my trek out in the heat....
 
 
Froggage on the rocker on the front porch!  I think the little guy was trying to get to the bugs near the light!  Smart me thinks!
 
 
Hay Baling Time In The Country!
 
 
It's so pretty to see a ton of these rolled up in the fields.  How the sun catches these golden bales is amazing!
 
 
You may have heard me talk about the Weir Country Store before...It's our lifeblood out here.   The only store for several miles.  Known for two things...The highest price ever for gasoline and their amazing hamburgers! They have the most INCREDIBLE old fashioned hamburgers....Oh My Gosh!!  Where else can you get worms, propane, snack cakes, hamburgers, gas and bacon all in one place!
 
 
Always something going on across from the Country Store...A lady selling her goods....
 
 
A few posts back, I mentioned how they have been redoing the roads in this heat...Well,  they look pretty good!  Good Job Guys!
 
 
My first house!  (On the right with the big brick fence behind it) It was my pride and joy!  Especially the yard and the landscaping...There was a large open field behind it that looked out onto San Gabriel Park.  Gorgeous Views!  I was always worried that a gas station would be built behind the house.  It was truly one of the main reasons I moved to the country.  We would hear rumors and I was always unsettled about it and decided to put it on the market to find peace with country living.....well.....
 
 
You Got It!  Gas station and liquor store!  I must say it would have been nice to go through the back fence to grab some bacon if you ran out!
 
 
Georgetown's claim to fame...Inner Space Caverns!
 
 
My Happy Place...IKEA!
 
 
And the limestone quarry!  Austin White Lime Company in Round Rock, Texas...
 
 
Well, back from my errands before it reached 105 today Yahooo!  Gotta get back to the studio! 
 
Have an AWESOME weekend!
 
Jim
The Gentleman Crafter

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Happy Thursday!

Good Morning Everyone!

I decided to blog from my cell phone while I wait in a line to go down 971 which leads from my house to Austin where I work.

They, who ever they may be, always pick the grandest times to do these road renovations. I'm sure there is a reason.  Rains have stopped, maybe the heat helps the asphalt to be laid better, just finally getting to it, etc. But I just feel for the men who are standing  on the newly laid blacktop in what will be 103 degrees today. Wow!  Makes me thankful to these gents for tbe service they give to the county.  Thank you.

Well, I

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Hello From The Studio!

Good Afternoon Everybody!

It's like Santa's workshop over here.  LOL! I've been working literally night and day to get samples done for CHA!  Some quicker than others, some that just went into the trash!  Some that need more thought and some that are finished and ready to be submitted....Never quick enough however!

This morning I have approached the design process with sitting staring at a bunch of paper....Guess what?  I'm still sitting here staring at it...Actually, I'm waiting for some pieces to arrive that will get me going again then I'm off! 

I did have a chance to go out and mow last night as the sun went down and cooled things down a bit!  Boy, I hate the heat.  It seems to get worse the older I get. However,  I love to mow!  It's that same old thing of making something that looks bad look good again!  I've always loved that, be it polishing brass or painting a wall.  Makes me happy!

I wish I had something to share with you as far as projects go, but I can't just yet.  I don't think I will until the 19th of July when the show opens. Trust me, I'm dying to show you! Really just wanted to stop in and say.... Hello.... Alive and Kicking!

Hey, for Tuesday's, Take Out Tuesday Ustream, do you all have ideas of what you want to do?  Needs to be simple right now because of the time...But, looking for ideas....Let me know....

OK All!  Better go hit it!  Have an awesome Sunday!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter


Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Thank You!

Good Evening Everybody!

Just wanted to jump on here for a second and say, thank you for all your well wishes and prayers for my speedy recovery!  So appreciated!  I am truly on the mend!  Thanks tons again!

Thank you again for coming over to the Ustream show tonight!  I'm sorry I wasn't in my best show appearance...Still trying to feel 100%!  So, I appreciate you taking the time to come and hang out with me for awhile!

Since I was feeling poorly yesterday, I didn't have time to plan a project for tonight, but we had fun doing an old project....The Treasure Box.  It was one of my earlier projects....It was fun to make again...

Thanks to Barrie and Carol at Scrapadabadoo.com (http://www.Scrapadabadoo.com) for helping me share this project and for their continued support as moderators for the show and just plain old support!  Y'all Rock!

Here are some pictures of the Treasure Box finished from tonight...






You can find the down-loadable tutorial for the project under "OLD BLOG POST-Tutorials" tab up above on my blog page.  You can find the Ustream we did tonight HERE.

Thanks for coming by and have a wonderful tomorrow!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter

Monday, June 17, 2013

My Weekend Recap- Dina Wakley's Classes!

Good Morning Everybody!

I'm back home from a wonderful weekend taking classes with the amazing Dina Wakley!  It was a totally fantastic full three days of learning something new each and every day!  Wow too cool! 



One of my favorite classes that Dina's taught was "Faces."  Learning how to place the features of a face in the appropriate areas so they don't look like cone headed aliens... that I always seem to draw.  Here are a few pictures...

From a beginning sketch that looks like a female Frankenstein to some that I don't mind sharing!  Well, at least they look like humans anyway!

First Sketch

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Here are some art journaling pages....
 

 
 
 
Now for some class pictures...
 





 
 
We really had too much fun!  It was a BLAST!  Thank you Dina and Carolyn for such an amazing time!
 
 
Jim
The Gentleman Crafter

Friday, June 14, 2013

The Gentleman's Writing Desk Tutorial - Done!

Good Morning Everybody!  Happy Friday!!!!  Yahooooo!

Ahhhhh!  I feel so good!  I finally finished the Gentleman's Writing Desk Tutorial.  I created the desk for Tim Holtz/Sizzix Booth at CHA in January.  I have been wanting to get this done for months and it's finally...DONE!!!!  YAHOOO!  Hope you like it!

If you are interested in purchasing the tutorial, please head over to my Etsy Store HERE.  I'd be as pleased as Petunia's Pear Punch if you give it a go....

Here's are the pictures of the desk again....





 
 

So, I'm off mid-afternoon today to head to The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, Texas with my Texas Paper Pals to take a weekend full of classes from Dina Wakley!  I can't wait!  I think my friends and I are all really excited to learn new things and be together.   Then it's back to the studio to catch up on CHA samples for July!  It's hard to give up that much time for classes this weekend when I have so much to do, but Dina is so worth doing double time when I get back!

I will take as many pictures as I can and blog them each night...So...Stay Tuned!

Thanks As Always Everybody!  You Rock!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Alive and Kickin' In Texas! Ustream Tonight!

Good Morning Everybody!

WOW!  Sorry!  I've been out of the blog loop for awhile!  As you may know I went camping last Friday and had a blast!  Sunday morning I woke to thunder and rain!  I didn't know I could pull a tent down so fast!  I moved like I was 17 again!  LOL!  The rain started out slowish and then went into a full gully washer.  What took us hours to put up, took us exactly 30 minutes to take down and toss into the car.  So, the tent is drying out in the barn and there are still sacks of stuff in various places around the house that need to be cleared away, but it was so worth it!  Too much fun to get away and be in nature with my craft supplies!

I've been finishing up the samples for my class in July at the Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, Texas.  With that done I can start the CHA samples.  Got to start cracking!  Back to the Crafty Scrapper...  We will do a new album which I call the Roosevelt Album and the Gent's Writing Desk I did for Tim's Alterations area in the Sizzix booth at CHA in January.   I never wrote the pattern on the desk, so, I had to recreate it and write it down this time!  DONE!  It's so easy to make...Really!  Honestly!  Here are the finished pictures even though they are not the best photos I've ever taken!  LOL!




Now on to Ustream....

Tonight we will finish up the Gentleman's Satchel on Ustream!   Come by at 7:00 p.m. Central Time as we do the interior book portion of the satchel.  It's going to be fun!  I will record for my friends who can't make it...

Here is the info if you care to join in....

Click HERE to go to The Gentleman Crafter's Ustream Channel

or... copy and paste the address to your computers browser below:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-gentleman-crafter

Thanks Tons Y'all!  See you tonight!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter

Friday, June 7, 2013

Camping For Real!

Hello Everybody!

Get this....While driving home from the Great American Scrapbook Convention this afternoon  (Had so much fun!!!)...an idea hit!  Go Camping!  Tons of time to think and work on ideas!  So I pulled up in the drive, ran outside and pulled the tent down, tossed it in the back of my car....Loaded up all my paper supplies, trimmers, Scor-Tape, Idea-ology goodies, OH and THE NEW BOX of SECRET STUFF FROM TIM CAME TODAY!! and I'm off to make CHA samples in the wilderness!  Too cool right! For some???  LOL!

You have to squint to see the tent!  LOL!


Maybe a disaster but we will see!  I do have visions of chasing papers through the park, skunks smells on the projects, deer thinking Idea-ology is food, glue not sticking!....OK, I'm going to be positive! At least I'm getting out and communing with the great outdoors with my thoughts!  OK, having no WiFi I admit is going to be rough!  But I have my phone and my ipad...and my laptop!  Hahaha!

Just really wanted to pop in and say hello!  No, I'm still around, you can't get rid of me that fast! Had an amazing time at Great American with the gals from The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie!  Carolyn, Gena and Anita were just amazing to me as always!  So kind of them!  Was able to say hello to Wendy Vecchi and Mario...Tim as always had a crowd around him about three to four people deep so I waved!  LOL!  Cool things out there!  I particularly loved the Stampers Anonymous booth and the Jenni Bowlin booth, which had so many cool vintage treasures for purchase!  Too neat!

Well, I came back home to get a load of stuff...Time to go camping!  See you all later!  Have an awesome weekend!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter

Monday, June 3, 2013

Hola!

Hello Everybody!

Just a quick post!  Sorry I've been out of pocket for a bit!  I'm trying to get samples done for my classes in July at The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie!  I think the new album I've created for the class is really cool!  At least I'm proud of it. I call it the Roosevelt album...Safari, animal prints and Teddy Roosevelt seems to go hand in hand! Sorry no pictures to share.... One day!  LOL!

Next, wanted to say that tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, we will be making the satchel part of The Gent's Satchel Project on my Ustream Channel...Hope you can make it over.  As always, I will record the show for anyone that can't make it...

Hope you all have an amazing day tomorrow and an awesome week!

Thanks Tons!

Jim
The Gentleman Crafter