The oops eventually thingy and the next big project reveal.
Sorry, I know I’ve missed two weeks now – between High Holy Days, an art show opening, various theatre tickets with mom, and work it’s been very very overwhelming lately, and now I’m staring my 48th birthday in the face in a week and ugggggghhhhh do not like. But hey, want to know what the hell this is for?
So here’s the very stupid plan and how it came to be: about the time I was finishing up the Barbie rug, someone mentioned that it looked like a playing card back. I immediately said ‘nope no one’s talking me into doing a fully embroidered tarot deck, that would be crazypants, not a chance’, and then immediately started thinking about doing a fully embroidered tarot deck.
So the current plan is: that design up above is the card back – for once I’m starting with it instead of trying to figure it out at the end. I made myself stick with entirely cross stitch for it so that it would be vertically symmetrical (not usually my chief skill), and also so that it would be reproducible. My thought is that if I do actually finish the deck and photograph it to make into saleable cards like my others I could include the pattern with it so that people could make their own matching bag to hold it if they want. (That also means knowing what thread colors I used, and since I have in the past been terrible about marking my bobbins I have made many a trip to the store to colormatch.)
But anyhow – my current thought is fully embroidered major arcana in my usual thread painting style, then with the minor arcana I’ll hand shibori dye Aida cloth and work out pip designs for the suits, and fully embroider the pages, knights, etc. I will not promise that I won’t get carried away and do the whole deck, but also, no promises if or when this will be finished. That is 38 small embroideries to do not including pip cards, and that is an insane idea. As with most things I do, we’re just going to leap in and see what happens!
Places to buy stuff!
- The Gamecrafter: your home for the new and slightly improved Neurotic Owl Tarot. AND Neurotic Owl’s Faerytale Tarot! https://tgc.link/Faerytaletarot
- TEEPUBLIC: mostly t-shirts, a few other products. Watch for sales, when shirts drop from $20 to $14!
- REDBUBBLE: Just, I don’t know, a ton of different stuff. T-shirts are more expensive than Teepublic, but there are a lot more options.
- AMAZON: Home of the Geeky Gals Coloring Book! Daydreams and Whimsies! AND NOW, The Neurotic Owl Compendium!
- https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/naralesser
- ETSY: paper dolls, a knitting bag pattern, and a bunch of vintage dolls of various sorts from my collection. Just up – those two lockets!
Did I miss something? I think that’s everything.
What’s making me happy this week:
You can still go see my artwork plus a ton more in An Artist’s Work opens at Sawyer Yards through November 7th, go check it out! This is your chance to see The Red Shoes in person, along with the original painting for the Neurotic Owl’s Faerytale Tarot Hanged Man, based on the same fairytale because Hans Christian Andersen is my messy bisexual boi.
Also: I’ve finally fought past the fear and started seeing a dietitian, and they’re great. Our goal is not about me losing weight, although that wouldn’t suck; it’s about working towards making my relationship with food less exhausting and upsetting and horrible. If eventually I’m still fat but I can eat regular wholesome meals as needed without constantly fighting the urge to never eat again or being disgusted by the idea of food that will be a huge win. I know it’s hard for a lot of people to wrap their heads around a fat person who has trouble making themselves eat, but tada! I exist! I’m not the only one! And I was starving myself long long before I was fat. Anyway – I’m seeing Dr. Iguchi through a service called Nourish that takes insurance, and my visits are fully covered, so if you have similar issues maybe check it out. They have dietitians who specialize in disordered eating including ARFID and at least as far as Kai is concerned I have found them to be incredibly kind, affirming, and helpful even in the very early stages of tackling this very long-standing problem.
