14 June 2009

Laid Low by a Cough


The day after my last post, I came down with a 102-degree fever that lasted only about 12 hours, but I was left with a debilitating cough. I finally went to the doctor a couple of days ago and got loaded down with medicines (he proposed I might have a mild case of whooping cough!), and things are finally improving. It's been tough, though, as I haven't had the mental energy to do anything over these last couple of weeks. Also it was the beginning of summer, and it's very challenging to do anything when both kids are home. One, yes, but not two.

Anyway, tonight I finally started the final gluing stages for my truth project. It's definitely labor-intensive, and next time I'd use slide mounts for something like this, but there is something to be said for having done everything by hand. I didn't realize what I was going to do until I was in too deep to pull back and go an easier route. I do think it will look neat when done. My quotations are already selected, and I'm going to write them on onionskin to be seen on one side, and back them with vellums for the other side. Then I will add color accents to the black-and-white paper that I'm covering all 26 frames with, and finally I will figure out how I'm going to attach them. I would still like to figure out how to do it so that it will fold up into a book, since that was my original intention, but I can't see how to do that until I have them finished in front of me ready to go. Since I got so slowed down by this illness, I won't be able to complete it before leaving for my parents' house in Kansas, which is disappointing and frustrating, but ah well.

I have also nearly finished the first project in Kelly Rae Roberts' Taking Flight book, and I'm very pleased with it. All I need are fibers for the binding, and I can't find mine in the garage (all my stuff is in boxes as our house is on the market). I may have to give in and buy more, because I want it to be done! It was hugely fun playing with oil paints (although they took nearly a week to dry in our humid climate, and I may have layered them on too thick also), and it was very rewarding to draw something for the first time. I didn't think it turned out half bad.