365/2013 - Day 316

several clusters of busy-ness

This morning was Wednesday Morning at Joan's with Joan and Leann.  Joan worked on her commission pieces, Leann was working on sketching and carving.  I worked on the lion-creature-guy -- I stitched his legs onto his body...this task (the stitching -- in the style of satin stitch) is pretty time consuming.  I didn't finish the purple flossed join yet...I will later on tonight.  And I decided for sure -- the lion-creature-guy does not need a tail...between all of the colors, his mane, etc...he is good like he is with no tail.

One of the topics we talked about this morning was the 6-ft lighted xmas tree at the Northville Community Center that the Northville Art House is decorating.  I haven't seen it -- I've never been in the Community Center ever (maybe this is a good time to check it out) but Joan was telling us about how she was trying to come up with ways to decorate the tree and represent the NAH.  She thought of small frames painted in different colors, a construction paper paper chain, small paint brushes, etc.  Leann suggested doing a few prototypes to show people the sort of thing you could do, but putting out pipe cleaners for people to make ornaments.  It is a great way for people to interact with the NAH's tree and (hopefully) whet their curiosity for the NAH classes, etc. 

While we were throwing out ideas, I thought how a tube of paint might be made.  In the afternoon I was at my computer and thinking about it more and I whipped up a sort of prototype using a short cardboard tube and a printed out NAH logo.  I put it together really quickly and showed it to Joan and Patti tonight at the Northville Arts Commission meeting.  I was thinking that maybe Patti would be able to use some with her holiday themed decorations in the NAH Store.  They liked the idea and Patti would like me to make a few colorful ones.  I think I will make them from plaster cloth and donate them to the Store...Patti can either just use them or if someone wants to buy a couple, any proceeds can be donated to the NAH.

The prototype...cardboard tube and cap from an airline sized bottle of flavored Absolut vodka...I know I have more of both the tubes and the caps.  The wide black line will be replaced by wide lines of color...to represent the pretend color of the pretend paint in the pretend/decoration tube.

I stopped by Hiller's on the way home from the meeting to find out more about the new Hiller's card points being used for a charitable donation (instead of coupons/redeeming the points for food items).  The NAH is on the drop down menu at the charities section at Hiller's website...I need to go back tomorrow because the manager on duty wasn't sure how that worked.  I want to find out how the points convert to cash for the charity -- how many points equal how much money, etc.  Some of the points you accumulate by shopping at Hiller's expire after a certain time and I was thinking I'd just donate them instead of letting them expire...and some weeks there just isn't anything I am interested in redeeming points for -- that'd be another way to use my points.

I'm also doing laundry tonight and a quick pre-clean up before tomorrow's bigger overall clean up before the big Second Thursday gathering.   Jan will be running a wet felting project with us.  I can hardly wait!