Uncategorized Archives - Page 20 of 113 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

The Physical Book

April 16, 2014 by Ashley Hackshaw

I started packing a few books today…I’ve been holding off until now. There are stacks hidden all over the house. I get anxiety about having to pack them. What if I need one? I packed and wrote every title down in the first box. Because that’s what I do….I write things down. Of course it took me 5 times longer to pack a single box than it would if I didn’t write things down….

I just can’t go digital. I love the smell of books. I love folding down pages and knowing exactly where to flip a certain book open to a certain passage. I love sharing and passing books on. And I love book covers. I love old books….especially ones that have been handed down through generations. I want my books to be handed down through generations too.

Also, I’ve seen Book of Eli. Books are like currency in the future. Especially when all the iPads and Kindles and Nooks run out of battery life. I’ll just have to refer to my handwritten dewey decimal index in my journal to find the one I’m looking for. And then I’ll trade it for food.

I just like being old fashioned.

In some of the lowest-income neighborhoods in the country there is only one book available for every 300 children.

-from Overcoming Illiteracy

How to Antique and Age Wood Instantly for a Weathered Look

April 1, 2014 by Ashley Hackshaw

This is one of my favorite tricks that I use with home decor….a simple solution of white vinegar and steel wool. You can use it to age brand new wood to varying degrees depending on how the solution ages.

Supplies:
Wood
White Distilled Vinegar
0000 Steel Wool*

For the sign:
8″ Oil Board Stencils
Black spray paint

*I prefer the fine graded because it disintegrates faster.

To make the mixture you pour vinegar into a bowl or jar and add steel wool (without the soap kind!):

The trick is figuring out how long to age it. A solution left to age just 15 minutes will produce different effect than a solution left aging for hours, months or years.

Here is a solution left aging for 15 minutes where the vinegar has just started to disintegrate the steel wool. One or two coats of the mixture leaves just a light gray barn-wood like finish:

Leaving the solution to age a few more hours will produce a darker gray finish:

I keep varying solutions in jars because if you leave it long enough the steel wool disintegrates completely and the mixture is allowed to produce rust, adding a reddish brown tone.

Here’s a ten minute sign I made using a pre-cut piece of wood from the hardware store and 8″ Oil Board Stencils:

I spaced the letters out and taped them into place together: [Read more…]

Things I Wanted To Tell You About – Remains, Type Rider and Layers of Color

March 31, 2014 by Ashley Hackshaw

Remains of the Day

Friday was Lisa’s last day. She’s been with me for 4 years. Big changes ahead for her family and mine. Gicela is still working for a few more days but then she’ll be moving on as well. It all seems a little surreal right now. I spent the weekend trying to figure things out for myself again. The house seems so quiet today. A little look back at behind-the-scenes with Lisa.

Over the past 2 weeks Lisa shipped out over 2,000 pounds of fabric, supplies etc. Yes 2,000 pounds. There’s hardly a thing left in the studio. We can’t sell off the furniture or large art pieces until the house sells, but I am still listing smaller items as I go through cabinets and boxes. Gicela is helping me cut a bunch of fabric for a class I’m teaching at the SNAP Creativity conference. If we have extras we’ll make them into little kits….because it’s the cutest infinity scarf.

Lost and Found (by himself)

Last weekend I found this sweet little dog scampering onto the highway. I slammed on the brakes and ran after him, he stopped right at the curb just as he was on the highway. He sat down and let me pick him up. Poor guy was overheated….and missing an eye! After picking Boo up from school I got him some water and put him on a leash, taking him out for a walk to see if anyone might be looking for him. After a while I was giving up home and started devising a strategy for making some “found dog” signs. Then, just as I was ready to turn back, he started to pick up his pace like he knew where he was headed. I let him lead and eventually he led me right to his owner’s door! She was so happy to see him, she wasn’t even aware that he’d escaped. We thought for sure his name was “Pirate” but he was actually a “Harley.”

Speedreading

I read really fast, usually finishing a book in just a matter of hours. But apparently my reading comprehension isn’t very good. I already knew that because I used to just pick “C” on tests in school. Take the “How fast do you read” test here on Staples.com

Then, just for fun I took a screenshot of the reading and THEN answered the questions….still didn’t qualify as speed reader:

Marcel the Shell

I’ve probably shared this before but it never gets old.

I also have shoes and a face, so, I like that about myself and I like myself and I have a lot of other great qualities as well.

Typewriters

I love this poster of typewriters over the last 100 years. It’s available through Pop Chart Lab here.

Image from Pop Chart Lab

Free Libraries and Typewriters on Bikes

I love everything about this!

A pair of poets riding a tandem bicycle and towing two typewriters 1,400 miles from Boulder, Colorado to Beloit, Wisconsin, building tiny libraries and promoting poetry, community, a love of reading, and the spirit of collaboration along the way.

You can read about Maya and Amy and their Type Rider II project here.

Layers of Color

I thought I needed something to jump start my creativity again. I’m signed up for Stephanie Corfee’s upcoming online workshop on layering color. It begins April 6th if you are interested. Something else new I’m doing….a workshop on laying color. It begins April 6th. You can sign up here.