A Blog About My Own Arts and Crafts and Photography
This is my blog about my arts, crafts, and photography along with the occasional rant. If you prefer to view a portfolio of my work, check out this blog’s sister site on NeoCities. (Link will open in a new window.) And while you’re there, try your hand at playing a video game that I originally designed. 😉
You can also purchase my first book, The Cash-Strapped Person’s Guide to Thriving in the Digital Age in the following formats and places:
Paperback:
eBook:
Get what you can, and what you get hold; ’tis the Stone that will turn all your Lead into Gold.
A few years ago I made my first-ever visit to Historic London Town and Gardens mainly because I went during Maryland Day Weekend and they were offering $1 admission. I enjoyed myself a lot while I was there.
This year I decided to go once again during Maryland Day Weekend because London Town was offering free admission this time. I also thought that it would make an interesting episode in my ongoing web series The Baltimore-Washington, DC That Tourists Rarely See. It was just as nice as my last trip with only one bad thing: The weather was cold and cloudy that day. I managed to get this nice picture of a cherry blossom tree in full bloom.
Another downside is that I ended up spending only an hour and a half at the place. I arrived late mainly because there was construction on the closest road to the place so I had to drive further and take a further route to get there, which was a total pain. I managed to film what I wanted to film, which was okay. I uploaded my latest episode on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
You can also watch a playlist of previous episodes in my ongoing series below.
I’ve been taking drop-in art workshops that are being offered on Saturday afternoons at The Space in Greenbelt, Maryland. I decided to do something experimental where I did art using a mix of markers and construction paper. So here is my piece, which I call The Purple Cow.
I made the cow using purple and brown construction paper that I drew then cut out using scissors. I used a brown marker for the hooves, nostrils, eyes, and the hairy details on the cow’s tail. I used green construction paper for the ground. I was going to use construction paper using the sky but I couldn’t find any blue paper so I ended up coloring the sky with a blue marker. For the flowers and butterflies, I used pink and yellow construction paper with paper punchers then glued them on the ground. I liked the results and others who were in that workshop like it as well.
Doing this mostly paper collage is such a throwback to the kind of art that I used to do as a child, such as Indian Chief and Owl Collage. It felt like I was reliving my childhood art class in school, which was pretty cool. Taking art classes is one of the few positive memories I have of my school years so I don’t mind at all.
Click here to learn about the origins of this.
To be proud of Knowledge, is to be blind with Light.
Ten years ago I was seeing a therapist to help me deal with the fallout from my ex-husband suddenly leaving me for a friend of ours who have struggled with severe mental health issues for years. Near her offices was this house that was literally shaped like a castle called Rossdhu Gate. It was originally built as a gatehouse to a castle by a wealthy couple who would later lose everything in the Great Depression. The castle was initially converted to a nightclub that failed then it was converted again to an apartment building. The castle was ultimately torn down and the gatehouse is the only thing that remains from it.
I took some photos of the exterior when I learned that the place was for sale for the price of $1,375,000.
You can see some more photos I shot that day right here.
I took some more photos soon afterwards when a recent snowstorm came through the area. The snow made the castle look even more enchanting.
You can see some more photos I shot that day right here.
During that second visit I noticed that the gatehouse had been sold. Now it’s on the market once again for the current price of $1,795,000. I haven’t driven by that area in a number of years since I’m no longer in therapy but that castle gatehouse is an amazing place to see in person. If I had the money, I would seriously consider buying it. If you think that the pictures I took were gorgeous, you should see the outside in person. It’s just like you’ve literally stepped into a fairy tale.
If you have the money and are interested in the opportunity to live in your own castle, click here. That link also includes detailed photos of the interior of the house as well as closer photos of the outside than what I shot (because that is what I was able to get without breaking any trespassing laws).
This year is an election year once again. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is someone who has been through more than his share of troubles despite the fact that he was once very effective as an environmental lawyer. He has struggled with drug problems and was a compulsive womanizer who once kept a diary about his conquests.
He became controversial when he began to pivot from being concerned about the environment to becoming an anti-vaxxer who claims that vaccines are dangerous. Now he has become even more controversial. Initially he decided to run as a Democrat against Joe Biden in the primaries in an effort to defeat Biden. But then he decided to withdraw from the Democratic primary and launch a campaign for president as an independent. Kennedy has said that Joe Biden is a much worse threat to democracy than Donald Trump. Critics say that Kennedy’s run could split the anti-Trump coalition enough to ensure a Donald Trump victory in November. Yet a recent NBC News poll shows Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy hurting Donald Trump more than Joe Biden.
In spite of all that, most of the members of RFK Jr.’s own extended family have all announced that they will be backing Joe Biden for president this year.
Despite the turmoil surrounding Kennedy’s campaign, he has attracted some adherents who are willing to support him. I found this vehicle pulling a trailer that has “Vote Kennedy For President 2024” parked in a local parking lot
Five years ago I took a crocheting workshop at The Space where we all used this pattern called Cute Chick Amigurumi. Here is what I made.
Later that year I entered it in the Retro Town Fair that was held as part of the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival. My little chick had won a first place ribbon in the Needlework category.
Since then that cute chick had been sitting in my home. I was decluttering my home when I finally decided that it was time to give someone else a chance to enjoy my chick amigurumi. Since I made my decision shortly before Easter, I decided to put my chick in a Little Free Art Library Library box that’s located just down the street from where I live.
Here’s the Chick Amigurumi in its new home.
I also took photos of the other tiny artworks that were available for anyone to take.
And here is one final snapshot of my Chick Amigurumi.
Like I wrote in a previous post, I created a Peeps diorama for contest for the first time in 15 years. In fact I used the same diorama for two contests. One was The Washington Post‘s Peeps contest. For that one I only needed to take photographs or video footage and I had the option of submitting it via TikTok. I didn’t win that one nor did I receive honorable mention.
For the other contest I had to submit it at the venue in person because all of the contest entries were being publicly displayed. This post is about that contest.
I found out via Facebook that Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie was having a Peeps diorama contest. I had an idea for a diorama and I grew up in Glen Burnie so I thought it would be cool to have something of mine on display in the hopes that all of my former classmates who used to call me “mentally retarded” would actually see it and start to realize what assholes they were. The reality is that I don’t know if any of them had actually gone to Marley Station Mall that weekend and saw my diorama or not.
The reason why I wrote that last sentence of not knowing whether any of my former enemies actually went to Marley Station is because it’s one of many shopping malls across the United States that have gone into bit of a decline. Marley Station once had a variety of upscale stores but nowadays there are more empty storefronts than actual stores. One day I should just make a special visit to that mall just to see how empty it really is. The big irony is that Marley Station wasn’t even part of my childhood. My mother and grandmother used to frequently go to the Harundale Mall while sometimes also making visits to Glen Burnie Mall and Jumper’s Mall (the latter was located in the nearby town of Pasadena). Marley Station opened two years after I got married and permanently moved away from Glen Burnie. I visited that mall when it was in its prime but I didn’t go there too often because it was a half-an-hour’s drive from the DC area where I live now.
Marley Station’s opening with its flashy decor and variety of upscale stores drew shoppers away from Harundale Mall, Glen Burnie Mall, and Jumper’s Mall while the stores that were in those other malls would opt not to renew their leases when they expired so they could move to Marley Station. All three of them eventually closed for good.
A few years later an even bigger mall called Arundel Mills opened and it drew both shoppers and stores away from Marley Station so now Marley Station is on the decline.
I went to Marley Station during the week to drop off my entry on March 19. On my way back to my car I saw the Easter Bunny area. There were no one there eager to visit the Easter Bunny. The whole scene looked pretty sad yet appropriate for a mall that’s on the decline.
The contest ran the weekend of March 22-24. I waited until March 24 to return mainly because Marley Station Mall is located a half-an-hour’s drive away from my home. On the last day of the contest I could see the entire Peeps exhibition, find out who won the contest, and pick up my entry after the contest ended. When I returned to the mall on March 24 I walked past the Easter Bunny area again (mainly because it was on the way to the contest area). There was a mother who took her two daughters to see the Easter Bunny but that was it for people visiting the Easter Bunny. It was slightly less depressing than what I saw on March 19 but it’s still sad since there weren’t a lot of children who visited.
The entire Peeps event was held in one of the empty storefronts that dominate Marley Station these days. The decorations were pretty cheerful and were definitely enticing to people of all ages.
Inside was just as cheerful. In the middle of the room there was a giant tye-dyed stuffed animal version of the Peeps Bunny that was being raffled off. The price was only $1 per raffle. I thought the bunny plushie was cute but I didn’t enter that raffle because of space issues in my townhouse.
Here are a few more festive Peeps decorations.
The entire event was a fundraiser that was held to help pay the medical bills of two local Glen Burnie women who have been struggling with severe health problems.
There was a Kids’ Corner sponsored by a local Girl Scout troop where children could color Peep-themed coloring pages then hang them on a wall.
The winners of each category in the diorama contest (which included Kids, Adults, Organizations, and a few other categories that I’ve since forgotten) received a prize of $50 and this really cute Peeps Bunny trophy.
All of the diorama entries were placed on this long table.
Here’s my own entry, Peeper Carlson Interviews Vladimir Peepin. (Click here if you want to learn more about the story behind this diorama.)
Here’s the box that had a description about my entry and a slot where people who purchased special contest tickets could drop their ticket into the slot if they really liked the diorama. The diorama with the most ticket won the category and the Peeps Bunny trophy. I never knew how many people voted for my own diorama because the organizers took all of the boxes, went to a side of the room where the general public weren’t allowed to venture to, and opened each one to count the tickets.
Here are the other dioramas that I competed with. The creativity of those dioramas were amazing.
There was an area where one could purchase official Peeps merchandise including t-shirts, jewelry, tiny plushes, and, of course, Peeps marshmallows.
There was even a small craft show in the back of the room where local artisans sold their handmade wares.
I purchased only one thing at that event. It’s a necklace shaped like the Peeps Bunny. The letters “PDC” on the bunny’s belly stood for “Peeps Diorama Contest.”
Basically I didn’t win this contest either. Once the contest ended I picked up my diorama and headed back home.
He that never eats too much will never be lazy.
After I submitted my Peeps diorama to a contest that was held at Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, Maryland, I ate lunch at Crabtowne USA (which also happened to be Taco Tuesday so tacos were on sale) then played a few vintage video games. Then I decided to a little driving around Glen Burnie since that was the town where I grew up in (and I felt mostly miserable). I saw that there’s now one of those big box retailers called Tractor Supply Co. Since there’s not such a store near where I currently live, I decided to check it out. It was basically a retail store that’s mostly meant for people who have farms. (There are still a few farms still left once you leave the southernmost part of Glen Burnie and go into neighboring Severn.)
But then I saw a pen where they sold chicks and ducklings. They were so cute to watch. The store had a requirement for anyone who wanted to buy these birds—a customer is required to buy a minimum of four chicks or two ducklings. You couldn’t just buy one chick or duckling, you had to buy more than one of each type. I guess it’s because they needed companions in order to thrive. That requirement was enough to deter me to make any impulse buys. In addition, my homeowner’s association would probably frown at keeping farm animals as pets. (They are generally okay with domesticated pets like dogs and cats. I even took a risk when I had a pet hedgehog since they aren’t a common pet. In addition hedgehogs are nocturnal animals and I remember when Spike used to spend a long time exercising on his exercise wheel, which made clicking sounds. I minimized annoying my neighbor in my townhouse by putting the cage against a wall that wasn’t shared with the next door neighbor. I was successful and I never had any complaints about Spike.)
And that’s not to mention that the problem with ducklings and chicks is that they don’t stay small. They eventually grow larger then it becomes a challenge to finding space where they can rest or just chill.
But they were so incredibly cute that I ended up photographing them. Here are the chicks.
And here are the ducklings.
Sagittarius Dolly 
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