Just Hanging Around Being Normal

Have you ever thought about how nice it is just to sit around doing nothing but acting normal? Me neither. But I thought I’d take a shot at it this past weekend.

Each year my husband and daughter and I attend Portland’s Holiday Ale Festival. It’s a fabulous, fun-filled, event featuring dozens of winter brews, created specifically for the fest. It’s held under enormous clear-topped tents in the heart of Portland’s downtown and it’s packed with people singing carols and having a joyous time.

The ale festival has absolutely nothing to do with anything else in this post. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. I just like it a lot because it makes me really, really, really happy. Really.

Okay, the rest of the post has to do with the actual post.

Our winters here in Portland are mild enough that we rarely have to worry about snow, ice or bitter cold temperatures. The weather is mostly rainy throughout the winter. Coming from decades of living in Chicago, I’m mighty happy to trade Midwest winters for those of the Pacific Northwest.

The mild temperatures mean there are occasional garage sales throughout the season. I stopped at one recently and found some very cool vintage patches. I have no idea what they are, but they have something to do with camp or scouts or something like that.

If you recognize the patches here, let me know what they are. They were in a box with a bunch of dusty old junk (my favorite stuff to dig through!).

In my quest to be normal, I enjoy doing arts and crafts when I have the time. I like designing ACEOs (Art Card Editions and Originals), sometimes known as ATCs (Artist Trading Cards).

Sometimes I’ll include one of my originals as a surprise when corresponding with my fans and readers by mail (I’m also author Daisy Dexter Dobbs). The small 2 1/2-inch by 3 1/2-inch cards are better than standard bookmarks because each little card is a one of a kind artist’s original creation.

I also have a large collection of dilapidated vintage books and magazines that are mostly falling apart and beyond the point of saving...except for art projects, such as altered pages, or for use on my art cards, etc. You’ll find several posts here on my blog using clipped captions, such as THIS popular post.

Also, I like to sew. Unfortunately, I can’t sew. But I don’t let that stop me because I still like doing it. So I did some sewing on the art cards here, using embroidery thread (also from the garage sale).

I’ve also included dots of paint, mostly because I find creating lots of tiny detail to be therapeutic.

As you look through the eight images, you may ask yourself WTF I was thinking when I chose the captions, or when I drew the accompanying image for each card.

I have no idea. There’s no rhyme or reason to my art. No logic or personal agenda. I just get an idea and go with it, without censoring myself or asking why. It’s more fun that way. The examples here, birthed by my tiny brain, should help you understand why I don’t bother wasting a lot of time just hanging around being normal.

It’s simply not possible. :)

* * * * * DID YOU KNOW: I’ve been BUSY! After getting the rights back to nearly 20 of my published books from my publishers, I’m in the midst of a major book rewriting project. Follow along as I take readers, as well as other writers, on my adventurous journey of a book rewrite on my Daisy Dexter Dobbs author blog! The series is called Anatomy of a Rewrite.Wow--great info for writers PLUS lots of my nice, normal (*muwahahaha*) illustrations. Such a deal!

--Super Earthling (a/k/a Daisy Dexter Dobbs)…roger wilco, over and out