BBQ Bob and BBQ Sue: reprised
So here they are, a man and his mail order bride. The man is barbequing their holiday turkey on the Webber charcoal grill in the snow outside their cozy home. His bride comes out to beseach him to return to sanity and cook their turkey inside like most other sane people do.
This is the note we have put at Bob's feet to explain his activities.
This is the sign we have propped up at Sue's feet to explain her activities.
Here is the little window which now has my paper quilt hanging in it. I spent several hours on this project. I machine stitched the white paper with the writing on it onto cream colored card stock using silver metallic thread. Then I hand stitched all the individual sheets of card stock together using a platinum metallic embroidery thread. The result? I don't know. A bit of a let down in my opinion. Philip likes it. It's just that somehow, in my idea stage, it looked so much more impressive than it does in reality. Plus I may be committing carreer suicide by hanging signs that say things like: "make quilts not weapons" and "be glad Santa Claus isn't your father".
Most of the directives are pretty unexceptionable. I mean, who can argue with: "make wishes for others" it practically screams "Precious Moments". Or how about: "we wish good health for all of you" and "Exquisite happiness is right here, right now." C'mon, doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Doesn't it practically erase the questionable ones in your brain, like: "if your family drives you to drink, at least let it be the good stuff" and "May your children eat more veggies than mine"?
Here's an upclose shot. See the pretty stitching? I think it might be more impressive if I'd taken a week on this instead of a day and really spruced it up with glitter and fancy stitches so it looks more like a work of art and less like a photocopying nightmare.I know these are my first two windows ever. I know I'm new at this, but how long will it take to know if I've got any skill at this? I want interesting cool windows, but I'm not sure the townsfolk are appreciating my Bob and Sue tableau. It leaves more questions than it answers, such as: "what the hell is up with that turkey?" In my head it was so funny to picture Bob out there in the snow determined to keep the BBQ season open even if he has to lose a few fingers to frost-bite doing it. But now I'm not so sure.
Now I wonder if I shouldn't just put a giant Christmas tree in the window beautifully decorated. But I don't do things beautifully. My friend Lucille can make magic out of quirky collections. She makes everything beautiful. So does Ulla. But me, seriously, everything I touch turns into a weird kind of alternative world where no one's quite sure what's going on. Where there is always a strange mixture of pathos and the kind of humor one develops when they've spent a lot of time alone. Or a lot of time alone except for the community of cockroaches that they have developed a relationship with. I'll bet the roaches are laughing.
I'm not trying to be down on myself. I'm not. I'm not feeling the least bit inferior to anyone else. I just can't quite figure out if my own style is universal enough, interesting enough, and pretty enough to lure strangers into my world. I'm concerned that my own twisty kind of view of the world and what's attractive might be too off-putting to translate into magic windows.
In some ways I think I need to decide what kind of window style I'm going to have and then stick to it. My thought is to try for a really elegant look. But following that thought is that while it may draw in a few spendy customers, it sounds like it might get really dull after a while. Believe it or not, my tastes do actually run to the simply elegant. Classic. I'm more comfortable in a store that displays everything as though it were a relic than in jumble stores where everything is stacked and crammed to the cieling. Do I have to decide on one look? Can I get away with being eclectic?
I guess I'm having a style crisis. What the hell would I call my style anyway? Is there even a word or two to describe it? Uh oh, this is beginning to sound like a shallow existential nightmare. Someone get me out of this grave I'm digging...take my shovels!
What if the problem is that I'm a Wendy Addison type of gal in a Precious Moments type of town? (Actually, I must confess that I'm not exactly a Wendy Addison type of gal, I just wish I was. It's what I'd be if I wasn't already who I am. I love her work, but it's much more fanciful and pretty than my tastes run when not being influenced by her gorgeous decorations. Plus, strictly speaking, I'm not a decorations kind of person. Between Lucille and Max I am developing an appreciation for decorations, but before those two went to work on me...I was more of a functional beauty type gal.) That was the longest parenthetical in history. (It's possible that Gertrude Stein still holds that title, I'm not sure.)
Alright, so why don't some of you describe your style to me. How do you capture your personal as well as decorating style in words? If you had a store, what would your windows look like? What kind of window displays draw you into a store?
Note to lurkers: Hello out there. I know some of my friends read this blog (because they've told me) who don't leave comments. (Lisa, you're off the hook since you can tell me what you think quite easily in person) But please, the rest of you, come out of the wood work and tell me what you think. just this once. I promise I'll leave you in peace after this. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die...stick a needle in my eye...who the hell made up that sadistic shit anyway?
Now I wonder if I shouldn't just put a giant Christmas tree in the window beautifully decorated. But I don't do things beautifully. My friend Lucille can make magic out of quirky collections. She makes everything beautiful. So does Ulla. But me, seriously, everything I touch turns into a weird kind of alternative world where no one's quite sure what's going on. Where there is always a strange mixture of pathos and the kind of humor one develops when they've spent a lot of time alone. Or a lot of time alone except for the community of cockroaches that they have developed a relationship with. I'll bet the roaches are laughing.
I'm not trying to be down on myself. I'm not. I'm not feeling the least bit inferior to anyone else. I just can't quite figure out if my own style is universal enough, interesting enough, and pretty enough to lure strangers into my world. I'm concerned that my own twisty kind of view of the world and what's attractive might be too off-putting to translate into magic windows.
In some ways I think I need to decide what kind of window style I'm going to have and then stick to it. My thought is to try for a really elegant look. But following that thought is that while it may draw in a few spendy customers, it sounds like it might get really dull after a while. Believe it or not, my tastes do actually run to the simply elegant. Classic. I'm more comfortable in a store that displays everything as though it were a relic than in jumble stores where everything is stacked and crammed to the cieling. Do I have to decide on one look? Can I get away with being eclectic?
I guess I'm having a style crisis. What the hell would I call my style anyway? Is there even a word or two to describe it? Uh oh, this is beginning to sound like a shallow existential nightmare. Someone get me out of this grave I'm digging...take my shovels!
What if the problem is that I'm a Wendy Addison type of gal in a Precious Moments type of town? (Actually, I must confess that I'm not exactly a Wendy Addison type of gal, I just wish I was. It's what I'd be if I wasn't already who I am. I love her work, but it's much more fanciful and pretty than my tastes run when not being influenced by her gorgeous decorations. Plus, strictly speaking, I'm not a decorations kind of person. Between Lucille and Max I am developing an appreciation for decorations, but before those two went to work on me...I was more of a functional beauty type gal.) That was the longest parenthetical in history. (It's possible that Gertrude Stein still holds that title, I'm not sure.)
Alright, so why don't some of you describe your style to me. How do you capture your personal as well as decorating style in words? If you had a store, what would your windows look like? What kind of window displays draw you into a store?
Note to lurkers: Hello out there. I know some of my friends read this blog (because they've told me) who don't leave comments. (Lisa, you're off the hook since you can tell me what you think quite easily in person) But please, the rest of you, come out of the wood work and tell me what you think. just this once. I promise I'll leave you in peace after this. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die...stick a needle in my eye...who the hell made up that sadistic shit anyway?