Jupiter Sphere and Plans for 2018

I finished painting the Jupiter sphere with air dry enamel paints.  The paints will be completely cured and ready for the ball to go outside by the end of January.  I would have taken the ball out just to take a photo of it outside but we are in a real deep freeze.  We had a snow storm last week and had really cold temperatures since then.  The weather forecast for this morning was -2 degrees Fahrenheit (-18.89 C).   We have not had a day above freezing for about a week.  The snow has not melted.  I just have not felt like taking the ball outside to snap a picture.  So all I have to show at the moment was an inside photo.  I guess I will take an outdoor picture once the snow melts.

A few days before the snowstorm it was unusually warm.  A lot of humid air was coming up from the south.  We had a very foggy morning.  The moisture in the air mixing with the storm coming up the coast set us up for a big snow storm.  I snapped a few photos of the sun streaming through the fog.

At the craft store I visited, I did not have a good selection of paint colors in air day paints.   Overall, the sphere is a little darker than I would have wanted.  However, it may turn out better looking when I have it out in full sunshine. 

I guess blogging about the Jupiter sphere is a good sign in a way.  At least I have bestirred myself enough to complete a project.  Ironically, the first time I wrote about creating a sphere painted to look like Jupiter it was also completed at the beginning of the next year.  That was not planned.  I was trying to finish up the project in time to say I had completed one of my goals for the year.

Speaking of goals, it is time to think about what I want to do this year.  I guess the first thing on my list is to complete the Star and Leaf quilt I have been hand quilting for some time.  I also want to get back to making the doll that I planned to make last year; a Flamenco dancer.  I would like to try to enter it into the state fair.  Getting that started is going to be my first crafting priority.  The state fair rules say that the project you enter must be made in the same year as it is entered into the fair. The doll will be about thirty-six inches (91.44 cm) tall.  At the moment, that is an estimated figure, I will be making the head first.  The height of the doll will depend on the finished size of the head.  At any rate, I will be beginning on the head tomorrow.

I would like to make another wood burned and painted walking stick, but that may or may not come about.  It depends on how long the doll takes.  Of course, I want to do some Halloween projects.  In fact, I may try to make one side project each month of some type of Halloween figure.  We will see how long that resolution lasts.  Other than that, I am keeping the agenda open.  I generally find some project that captures my imagination and I end up working on that instead of what I thought I would be working on.  It seems that my plans get bigger and my crafting time is shrinking, so I decided to keep things light this year.  Last year I ended up feeling a little stressed over taking on too much.