Feb 16, 2011

MRS. FUTZING. PAGING MRS. BEATRICE FUTZING.

I can't seem to leave well enough alone today. Is it the weather? Could it be a harbinger of Spring? Do I have ants in my pants?

Whatever it is...I'm driving myself (and my little dog too) completely nuts.

It all started with this color palette that I've had in my head for the last six months. I have visions of hot pink, deep orange, lemony yellow, Kermit the Frog green, and chocolate brown dancing about in my tiny little brain. Everywhere I look...BAM! I see that combination of colors taunting me.

Aunt Chrissy gifted me with Ms. Laura J. Perin's Red Hot Peppers chart for Christmas, so as I was rummaging around in the studio last night I thought to myself "Why not pull that wack-a-do color palette out and see what happens?" So I came up with this:
Not too many changes, really. The browns and yellows were already there, so all I needed to do was switch out the Watercolours and stick in a little orange and pink and voila! I think I'm on the right track.

So then I pulled out my big box 'o threads that Ms. Ruth Schmuff pulled for me for Tony Minieri's Stars for the New Millennium and tweaked a few and came up with this: Like a boob, I had asked Miss Ruth to pull colors based on a Waterlilies color called Marigold. Lovely, really, but after I looked at the skein that I have here, I realized that there's not one single speck of pink and/or chocolate brown to be had anywhere. So I yanked out a Wildflowers Potpourri instead, and KABLOOEY! I think I got exactly what I'm looking for...but minus the chocolate.

(What IS it with me and chocolate brown? You know the one I'm talking about...DMC 3371. Rich, deep, dark yummy brown. Am I chocolate deficient in some way? Is it my body's way of telling me that it needs more cake? Should I run out and buy myself some fancy pants new shoes in that color? What the heck IS it??!!!!)

Stewey is convinced that all of this futzing is the result of my recent amplification in the amount of dietCoke that I've been pouring down my gullet, but I'm not so sure. I always seem to do this as the days get a little longer...I find myself reaching for a cold one more frequently than I do in the cold dark depths of winter time. He thinks that if I made a concerted effort to drink less dietCoke and play more outside sports with him I would look and feel much better. Damn dog.

(Note to self. No more Dr. Oz watching for Little Lord Fauntleroy anymore.)

So those are my issues for today...banging around the place like a 300-pound hummingbird without a clue as to what will come next. I guess you could call it crazy, but I'd rather think of it as just another fun day riding the roller coasters at Coni Island! Woo Hoo! (*) (**)

(*) If you lived in South Bend, Indiana in 1989 and went to a sports bar called Coaches and you walked in and asked the handsome bartender for a Coni Island, you got a drink comprised of one part Kahlua, one part Amaretto, and one part Baileys.

(**) What can I say? I was a total idiot back then.

19 comments:

  1. Coni, You are having more fun then me.. I am Spring Cleaning and it is not even spring !!! Love the colors you came up with !!! Bright Happy Colors !!! Happy Stitching !!

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  2. LOL. Coni Island.

    Love those colors by the way. Pretty much my entire wardrobe can be summed up thus.

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  3. Oh, what a fantastico start!!!! LOVE those colors!!! I am taking a beginner's needlepoint class in April! I can't wait!! I wanted to know what are your favorite needlepoint blogs, websites, designers? Do you have any tips you could send me? Yes, I am asking for a list. LOL. At your earliest convenience, of course. I have to say you were my inspiration for taking this class. I have loved all of your needlepoint projects.

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  4. Like the colors....adore the stitching...LOVE the drinkipoo!

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  5. Love the colours!
    Buy some shoes (that's always the answer)
    Coni island sounds just delish!
    Methinks Spring is on the way....who needs a groundhog? We have a Spinster.

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  6. I think I will have to try that drink...love everything in it, so the combo should be fantabulous!

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  7. Futzing is a perfectly legitimate activity...my colour cravings tend toward pinks and greens (which my mother thinks is a vile combination, but i`m just a big kid anyway). The only place I like brown is real chocolate...the edible kind. Otherwise it just looks like dirt to me (sorry).

    Just go with your gut for the colour and it will all be good in the end!

    Kisses to Stewey...

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  8. Ahhh, Coney Island. I remember those days. One in particular rainy one of dancing in puddles holding the hand of a young man - long ago & far away. :D Thanks for the memory. Cathryn

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  9. Love the colors, pink and green are my favorites any way. Brown shoes would be good, any new shoes are good.
    However if you think you are brown deficient, there is chocolate in all it's wonderous forms, coffee, BBQ sauce,toffee, chocolate, tea and caramel which is a lighter shade of brown. Sorry, I repeated chocolate mmm.
    Don,t forget a brown bag to go with the shoes!! lol

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  10. MMMMM.....Kahlua, Amaretto & Baileys. I'm not much of a drinker but I do like all of those, and together??? I'll have to try one!

    Thanks for all the smiles. I know I can come to your blog and always get a smile on my face.

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  11. Love your start on Stars. Great color combo!

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  12. Great color choice and they're working beautifully together. This will be another stunning piece!

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  13. Coni,

    I have to agree with Stewey on this one.....diet sodas (of any brand..with the artificial sweeteners...NutraSweet - aspartame - is the absolute worst of the worst) are just as bad as regular sodas (with the high fructuose corn syrup).

    Now, I only have your best interests at heart...

    Oh..who am I kidding...I have my own interests at heart here.

    How can you continue to amuse and amaze your fan base if you're... well.... incapacitated or ill... or worse?

    We are about the same age and I would like to be able to read your column for years and years to come.

    So, maybe try a little water instead. Mountain Valley Water is the ne plus ultra of bottled waters. (Even people that don't lt like water, like this water.) Just make sure you get the glass bottles. Makes all the difference you know.

    Happy stitching!

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  14. Deborah says:

    Oops!

    I forgot my customary intro for the previous post.

    :)

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  15. Coni,

    I so enjoy your blog and seeing all the beautiful work you do! I used to do needlepoint and would like to get back into it - would you recommend Laura Perin - are her instructions good. I would prefer not using a painted canvas. Keep up the lovely work and be nice to Stewey :-)

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  16. I thnk you hit it on the mark with the colors.

    HAPPY STITCHING!

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  17. Your new colourways are beautiful. Very autumnal actually. I'm also in love with DMC 3371 - for ages it was my go-to backstitch colour for *everything*. Not as dark as black, but richer than dark brown, it just seems to make other colours glow. Which could explain your love of chocolate colours - they're the non-neutral neutrals :) Happy Stitching!

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