Summer vacations and sketches...

This summer has been rough for me.  Wedding plans have been extremely painful for me.  I hate doing it.  I know it's going to come together in the end, but I hate that most of the responsibility is on me.  I don't like doing this myself.  Kevin is in not much of a rush to get things done, but I won't do it myself.  I might sound like a super bitch, but if that's how it's going to be we just won't have a wedding.  Nothing will get done because I won't do it myself.  I refuse.  We're giving this wedding to our families.  I think if it were completely up to us, we would've eloped and had a party or something...  I don't know, but I hate this.  So with the wedding planning bringing me down, and work bringing me down even farther a vacation was definitely in order...

Photo taken by Chris Jelden or Amanda Jelden.  This is the view from Hen's Nest: the name of the cottage we stay at in Hinesburg, VT.

Last weekend Kevin and I went on a short vacation with a few of our friends.  We went to our friend's family cabin in Hinesburg, VT.  It is on Lake Iroquois.  It was a beautiful weekend.  It rained the last day we were there, but it worked out because the last day is cleaning day.  We were all upset we weren't going to be able to go to the state fair that weekend, but it just so happened it was this weekend as well as next which we knew that it would be.  There is a Maple Sugar building at the expo that we go to at least twice during our day at the fair, and it didn't disappoint!  We almost immediately got our maple milk shakes, oh my god are they good!  And before we left our friends got a maple sugar cookie and Kevin and I got a maple soft serve cone (it was pretty hot that day).  I even got to see my cousin that lives in NH!  She was there with her family and couple they're friends with.  That was an unexpected bonus!

We also did a day in Burlington that traditionally starts off with breakfast at the skinny pancake!  I was brave and tried the Atlantic Monster crepe.  It was very different, I'll say that much.  I didn't hate it but I don't think I could have smoked salmon every day for breakfast.  We usually walk down to the marina and take a picture of the group.  We did that but this time I had my 35mm camera with us and I had my tripod so I could do the self timer.  I hope we got a good shot.  Our friend Jelden is also a photo enthusiast.  I enjoy that he feels the same way I do about photos.  It helps you remember those great memories.  They are frozen moments of your past that you can look back at later and have a warm and fuzzy moment again.  It saddens me that people don't keep photo albums anymore, but that is for another blog post.  We then went to the farmers market near city hall in Burlington.  Always a good time, except for the part when I was ignored by a pottery vendor.  I am a, what you might call, passive looking person.  I guess anyway...  People tend to not take me seriously or ignore me entirely.  This makes me rage a little, I'm not going to lie.  So we were in an artist corner of the farmers market and there was a potter turning a pot.  So it intrigued Kevin and I .  Plus his table of pottery was very pleasing to the eye and had a very nice color pallet.  A tea pot caught my eye, plus it was the perfect shade of tiffany blue or robins egg blue that we want to use in the wedding.  Not that we would've bought the tea pot as decoration for the wedding, but we were considering the cake plate he had on display for that very reason.  The only thing was, it was in a emerald green color.  Which I guess would work in a pinch, but he doesn't have the only cake plate in the world.  I was going to ask him if he happened to have the cake plate in the blue color of the tea pot when another gentlemen cut me off.  So I listened and waited patiently for the gentlemen to finish talking, it took forever.  In the conversation though the artist happened to mention that he had similar items in his studio that are of different colors, and he could make things of any color you liked.  At that point I was going to ask my question and ask for a card when the artist IGNORED me completely and talked to a child that walked up during the other gentlemen's conversation and was waiting as well...  My blood was boiling at this point.  Kevin was next to me and waiting to cut in, but he just kept his attention on the boy and his mother.  So Kevin ended up taking a picture of the artists wooden name plaque on his table and we walked away...  So mad still, but it was a really cool cake plate and really well made pottery.  However, I don't really want to give this guy my business because he ignored me.  This is a common occurrence in my life and it angers me every time.  You might say, oh just cut those other people off.  I'm not going to be rude just because other people are rude to me.  That's not who I am.  If you don't have the awareness of your potential customers then you don't deserve my attention or business.  And that's all I have to say about that.

We then went shopping on Church Street and then headed back to the cottage to spend some time floating in the lake.  We all floated for a while and then Kevin and I took the canoe out for a spin around the lake.  I was so glad we got to do that this year.  I love canoes.  They remind me of my childhood canoeing with my father.  Boy is it a work out too!

The weekend was awesome, so relaxing and just a good time with friends.  I even got to sew a few bows, although I'm out of barrettes to sew them onto.  (By the way I think I'm going to get my barrettes from this Etsy supply store The Soda Pop Shop.  The store has exactly what I'm looking for, they're a USA store, and it's a great price!  Pretty excited to find her shop.  Anyway, I also had time to sketch some while we were away.  I have been avoiding my artwork completely lately.  I am so apprehensive to make a mark on a page or a canvas as of late.  So I sketched our view from Hen's Nest in my sketch book that is the one that has pages to fill.  It's pretty old.  It has things in it from when I was dating my ex boyfriend in it.  But here's my sketch, not the greatest thing I've ever done, but I did SOMETHING.  And I'm proud of myself for it.

Hen's Nest View 2013.  Please excuse my horrible spelling in the sketch.  Kind of embarrassed about that...

That's the latest news in the world of Heather K. McPhaul.  Hope you all have a great rest of your week.

Art Fairs, Accessories, and a Tasting...

Hello all!  I haven't written in over a month, and I apologize!  Let me give you an update on the latest.  So finished a purse that has been "in the works" for over 2 years now.  I was a vendor at a local art fair.  And Kevin and I did a tasting for a caterer for our wedding in June of next year.  It's been a busy month!  So here is a few photos of the purse I made.  I will be putting that up on my Etsy store today.

Front view of the purse.

It is a pretty tall purse, you can fit a binder in there with an inch or so to spare height wise.

The purse in standing mode.

I added a pocket inside to hide all those unmentionables you don't want people to see.

So that's the purse.  It was a learning experience.  Most of my projects are.  I don't have patterns.  I kind of just put things together how I would want them.  I like when purses have a liner in them so just incase a pen bursts in your bag, the outside doesn't get ruined.  That's happened to me before...  I enjoy having a pocket inside so I can keep things organized. Also I like to have pocket on the outside for easy access to my cell phone and keys, If I don't have my carabiniere attached to the strap of my purse.  I also like the option to close my purse if I need to.  I don't usually zip my bags closed because it's too much of a hassle when you need something quick.  But for instances where your bag falls over and everything falls out, it's nice to at least have a button, velcro, or a magnet to partially keep it closed.  I'm pretty pleased with it.  I think the next one I make will be better, as is the case with most things I make.  You can always improve your design/art I say.

So the Arts and Wellness fair wasn't a complete bust like one of the others I did last year, which is encouraging.  I made back the money I paid for the booth plus ten dollars.  So not a complete loss, thank goodness.  Kevin was nice and kept me company for most of the day.  It's always nice to have someone there with you especially for bathroom breaks.  Although, the staff that was there from Meiklem Kiln Works was always willing to help out and give bathroom breaks.  The staff and volunteers were so nice and super helpful.

Looking out from the back of my booth.

So something kind of awesome happened at the fair.  So I had two prints of a Godzilla etching I had done in art school.  I unfortunately left my etching plate at school and it got stolen.  My own fault, but still I was really proud of it and it bummed me out.  BUT!!!  Three people were interested in the prints.  One woman said she had to have it and borrowed money from her friend so she could get it.  This made me really consider doing the PayPal Here card swiper.  Kevin's Aunt bought the other print I had left.  I felt bad because the third person was a vendor and when he stopped by to check it out, both the prints were gone!  I guess I might have to do another drawing for next year to make it up to him.  That made me think that fan art might sell.  I don't know if I want to do a lot of that though.  

So lastly I will tell you the tale of Kevin and my experience with a tasting.  The nice thing about this caterer is that they're located in the same town that we're having out wedding, Narragansett, RI.  So we started our tasting with some options for passed hour d'oeuvres.  Some of the ones on the plate were ones we chose as an option like the bacon wrapped scallop.  It was really awesome so we're keeping that one for sure.  But some of the other options just wouldn't work for us like the fig pouch.  It was way too sweet.  Then KC, our contact at the caterer, brought out the salad.  Beautiful as well, and the dressing was really nice.  It was a honey thyme vinaigrette.  Nice and light, so we're not going to do two dressing option for our guests.  Sorry guys.  THEN came the main course options that we picked!
Mind you we didn't get to try our vegetarian option, but I think it will be fine.  We tried a cut of beef and a stuffed chicken.  The beef was awesome, but we both wished the stuffed chicken had more stuffing.  We're going to either re-think the chicken or ask if there can be a little more stuffing.  So here are some pictures of the food we tasted and of our venue, The Kinney Bungalow.

Garden salad with honey thyme vinaigrette dressing. 

Chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto, mozzarella cheese, and spinach.  With a side of asparagus and herbed risotto.

A cut of beef with a horseradish aioli sauce.  With a side of asparagus and herbed risotto.

The Kinney Bungalow in Narragansett, RI.

Today I visit with my Grandmother, who I haven't seen since Easter!  I'm the worst!  It will be nice to see her =0)  We'll be getting ice cream as it is one of her most favorite summer pastimes.  Have a great weekend everyone!