Just Dotty
J. Crew Polka dot long sleeved t-shirt
Let me start this post with an apology for the hiatus I have taken for the past week. Apology, registered. I will now move on. This is a busy time of year for us all. It is an especially busy time for type "A" control freaks. Let me explain the above vignette. In no uncertain terms, I hijacked my nine year old daughters holiday boutique/fundraiser item (raising money for the 4th grade class trip). It started innocently enough. She came home one day and began to explain an elaborate plan her class workgroup had to sell items, via a spinning wheel of chance. I then began to explain that perhaps that was not going to be an efficient business model (how to control inventory?! etc.) So I suggested making ornaments, commemorative ornaments to celebrate her schools 125th anniversary? Who doesn't love a commemorative item?! Well let's just say, the project coup d'etat snowballed from there. I ordered the ornaments, designed and ordered the stickers to put on them, and then in a moment of sheer insanity, decided that I needed to spray paint them, on both sides, all 100 of them! Why? Because I am a big ol' dummy dumb. (Just a side note about spray paint and unfinished wood, unless you have the right kind of spray paint, it will immediately be absorbed into said wood, necessitating several coats, oh and a side trip to the hardware store for cans of the appropriate paint.) Did I mention that SoCal was having a major squall on that day, and what that does for paint drying time...? You get the idea.
For the spray paint adventure, I threw on some of my go to, comfy, not afraid to get paint on, clothes. That includes the top that you see on the floor. I am not wearing it in the pic, because my husband was not there photograph, and the image of the polka dots and the round ornaments was just too good to pass up.
My mom bought me this shirt at a J. Crew outlet in South West Florida. It was given to me on our last Christmas together. It's not fancy, nor was it hers, but what makes it special to me, is that I know that Christmas, she had to do her shopping in a wheelchair, pushed my by stepfather. That must have been so hard for her, in fact I know it was. She loved her independence, and the freedom to go wherever she pleased. Like me, she loved to shop alone (or with me!) She found it fun, and relaxing.
But come hell or high-water, she was going to go shopping, and not just be content to do it online. Until the end, she went to get her hair done, she wanted to drive into town, which we were terrified of, but she did it. The car had the dents to prove it.
When I was in High School, my mom and I spray painted 30 butter cookie tins and decorated them to give as holiday gifts. This project made me think of her so much. And I promise it was not just the paint fumes.
(PS In my opinion, the ornaments turned out great!)
Just enough knowledge of photoshop & Illustrator to get myself into trouble....