24 Hours After North Ponto Beach

Hmmmm....

It's been 24 hours since the last Found Art Pebbling, and no guestbook entries yet. Bummer.

Sign in if you find one, m'kay? I'm not ready to give up on this venture yet.

Besides, I just taught myself Needle Tatting, and seriously need the excuse of this project for the mess of crochet thread I have going in the living room. I'd really rather keep plugging away than clean up.

So.

I know it's not exactly beach weather, but there were at least 15 people out there last night when I left them...

If YOU found a Curious Pebble, a rock wearing a sweater, a crocheted stone, or whatever else you'd like to call it.... please sign the guestbook.

It would make me so happy.

North Ponto Beach



North Ponto Beach, Carlsbad. 



I am no longer out of Pebbles! 

Went to the coast for a re-fill today, and left 8 more Curious Pebbles at North Ponto Beach in Carlsbad.  It was completely cold - I convinced the the little girl to wear leggings and pants (a little creative presentation of the idea surprisingly worked... she's a little (a LOT) headstrong) and somehow convinced her brother to wear an actual coat (he hates outerwear of any kind.  He is 8.  Going on 15).

It was cold, so I didn't wander too far from the Parking Lot today, and I also tried to leave most of them in plain sight... I was disappointed with not getting any feedback from the Wild Animal Park expedition the other day, and I wanted these to be found!

The day in pictures:

The Gathering.

Squadron of Supervisors.

Out.Of.Pebbles....

I cant believe it, but it's true! That giant bag of pebbles I picked off the beach in Carlsbad is e.m.p.t.y. Sigh. So, I have to go back. Like that's a heartache. :)

But, it's supposed to be cold this weekend. Well.... "Cold" for a Southern Californian, that is (I've nearly completely forgotten my mid-west roots as far as the weather is concerned). Not very good beach weather. But, I suppose I could bundle up. I still have a coat from, like, 1998 or something.

Riding another train of thought, I have been wondering how to finance this crazy project-- and am thinking of re-opening my etsy store. I used to sell my pottery there, but geez-louise, shipping was a bother. Might revamp it and make it all things Pebbly. Any thoughts?

Would you buy one?

I'd probably make more intricate stones for the store, thinner thread, more complicated patterns, etc.

Of course, there's always the "Donate" button.

Oh, you laugh, but honestly, while the thread doesn't cost that much, gas is getting expensive, and a getting to the beach isn't as cheap as it used to be. Not to mention the insane hours I've spent just launching this thing. And the three incarnations the blog has already been through in only two months. That's right. Three.

Someone stop me before I Design again!

Wild Animal Park (Part Two)





I couldn't resist!  I didn't leave it there, but I thought Mr. Ellie

could use a little color... if only for a snapshot...



Well, it was a little chilly, and my husband kept insisting that I was going to get arrested, and/or the Animal Park Staff were going to ban me from the Park for life, etc, etc, etc... but in fact, I ended up leaving not just the three pictured in my last post, but FIVE total.  Here's how it broke down:

SILVER



Left in the African Aviary, right at the entrance of the Park.  Our second favorite spot in the park (The Aviary in the Hidden Jungle is awesome), and we *never* miss it.  We even take a picture of our kids in the exact same spot each and every time we go there, so we have a whole continuum of shots from a particular angle of a particular kid.  Very funny.  In fact!  I left the Silver one on said rock after I took today's obligatory picture of said kid...





...and then walked about ten feet away to check out the Spoonbills, only to look up and see someone picking it up within a minute and a half of my leaving it there.  Very exciting. 







Success!  The whole family was gathering around it discussing it.  Hope they sign the guestbook...





RED

 



Ms. Red had an interesting day... Ooh!  I love the red thread against the black rock...







I first put her in the crook of a fallen tree in a less traveled section in the park







Then, my husband said, nah, not there.. and thinking he meant it was too visible, I kinda hid her a little more in the tree.  Can you see her?





Apparently, that wasn't what he meant.  He actually meant was that it might not be prominent ENOUGH, and so I picked her up and took her with me toward the gorillas.  I last saw her on the stone wall walking toward the Gorilla Enclosure...  Didn't stick around to see if she was picked up, so as with the last time I did this, red is once again the wild card...



BLUE



Ah, Mr. Blue... We headed over to the Hidden Jungle - where we could literally hang out for HOURS in the tropical humidity with the sweet 'lil birdies singing to us from the trees.  A place where you MUST sit and wait and watch closely, and you will see the most amazing things.  Like, today... with one particular group of birds in the midst of mating wars, with six or seven males wrestling on the ground, pinning each other to the dirt with their beaks in effort to show off their manly-birdieness for the girls... Quite an act.  I was convinced that they were actually trying to kill each other, but, they eventually stopped and went about their business.  But not before I got some interesting photos an video. 



In any case, Mr. Blue was left on a bench inside the Aviary, in plain sight.





See 'im?



THEN!  As we were leaving the park for the evening, we took a quick detour back through the Aviary to see if he was still there.  He was GONE!  Imagine my surprise to see him sitting on a rock just outside the Aviary.  Curiouser and Curiouser



PURPLE



Of course, with little kids, one must always make a pit-stop at the very cool Wild Animal Park Playground.  Got some great shots of my little girl (Miss Thing) going in and out of the tunnel, me playing with the light and the camera...





Anyway... Purple... Left him on the curb leading up and our of the playground...

I'm pretty positive that some little guy or girl must've seen him, picked him up and showed his mommy.  Hope she comments. 



Thus ends the Curious Pebble for the day... Wonder where I'll leave them next?

The Wild Animal Park (Part One)

We've decided not to completely waste the afternoon and are heading for the Wild Animal Park.  So, just as an experiment, I think I"ll take these with me and plant them surreptitiously somewhere in the park.  Will post pics when we get home!  Happy Sunday, everyone!

Off to become Found Art at the San Diego Wild Animal Park!

And so it begins...



Alas!  The lil' red one is probably gone for good,
following the overeager participation of an 8 year old.



FINALLY!  I left seven Curious Pebbles on the beach in Carlsbad today.

A lovely afternoon, just perfect for the beach.... packed up the kids and the husband, grabbed my bag of pre-made Curious Pebbles and crochet thread and hook and off we went.  The Curious Pebble Project has officially begun!  Ooh!  So exciting...

As soon as we hit the beach, I realized that it was going to be difficult to leave the crocheted pebbles on the beach and document it at the same time without anyone seeing me.  But, I figured it out pretty quickly (pretend to pick up a rock/shell/beach treasure, but actually place a crocheted rock there instead), and we are in business.  



The red one where it was originally placed before being
"hidden" in a pile of rocks on the bluff by my son.



Some observations and lessons learned about the Project from this afternoon:

1. People WILL stop to look at a crocheted pebble on the beach IF they can see it (see #3).  However...
2. Just because someone stops and picks up a crocheted rock from the beach, they might not KEEP it or even take it home with them.  Five out of seven rocks that I left on the beach this afternoon were looked at or picked up at at least twice... and then put back, right where they had been found.  Only TWO people pocketed them and took them home.  Weird.  My husband and I were watching all of this from afar, both bewildered and cracking up about it (see pictures below).  Are people thinking that someone left if there on accident and might come back to find it?  Are they hideous?  I know I'm not the only person out there making these things... there is a entire Flickr Group devoted to Covered Stones, so I'm not the only one out there... But, I digress.  We then discussed writing "KEEP ME!" or "TAKE ME HOME" on the pebbles, but I've already covered the back of them with http://www.curiouspebble.com/, and I seriously don't think I can write any smaller and still have it be legible.  I'm pushing it as it is... I could maybe add a number to each rock (i.e., "#7")... and perhaps, that would signify that they are a collector's edition or something and that would make people WANT them?  Any ideas?
3. Crocheted Rocks blend in on the beach even when they are made with colored crochet thread.  Silly me, I'd mostly tried to use "beachy" colors so as not to have them completely obvious... yeah, moot point, genius. Even the bright red one was nearly impossible to spot if you didn't know it was there.  Next time, I'm going Day-Glo Orange.  No? Meh, ok.  No.



This one was picked up by at least two different people.
I think it's still on the beach.   

4. Small children, namely my own, will often sabotoge the best laid plans even if (especially if?) you've explained it to them beforehand. 
• Little girls, age 3 1/2, will bring BACK a carefully placed and documented crocheted rock, explaiming proudly for all to hear, "Look Mommy!  I found one of your rocks!" 
• Little boys, age 8 1/2, will interpret you asking them to place the rock somewhere random as a direction to HIDE THEM so well that they may never be found.  Me:  "Why did you HIDE it?"  Son:  "uh.... I guess I thought it was too obvious where it was..."   Hmmm... kinda defeats the purpose of "Found Art", eh?  Poor 'lil red rock is gone for good, I'm afraid...          

Here are the rest of the pics from the official launch of The Curious Pebble Project.
Did YOU Find One?



Anonymous girls checking out the green one, laughing and looking around.
Then, they just left him there.  Alone.  Sad.  Hungry.  Sniffle.





Still there?  Or did YOU find it?



 

This one found a home! 


  

Left the Turquoise one on a large rock... One person picked it up and put it back...
and then someone else picked it up, shot some photos of it, and took it home!
I have pics of that, too, but I was afraid to post them, even though you can't
see any face detail... I dunno... should I post them?






Purple... Purple moved around once or twice becasue he was hard to see
and people kept walking by him.  Then he got soaked by a rogue wave.  He'll survive.



Purple's original spot... I eventually moved him into an open space (below), where
he'd be SURE to be seen... then watched at least 10 people nearly step on him
(not to mention get run over by the Lifguard Jeep)without so much as a glance.  Sigh.

  

This is where I left Mr. Purple.  He's still there.  Come and find him!
See how tricky it is to spot them?






This one is kinda wonky, but I made it while I was at the beach and trying to

keep my kids off the bluffs... so... so be it.  BUT!  Watched a nice lady (who

smiled at the kids as she walked by), pick it up and ponder it for a moment

before she put it in her pocket!  YAY!







The Yellow Angry Bird....

Can't help myself.  He's so cute I had to post more pics....

"Ssssswteeeidddllleeee.... "
(sad, approximate phonetic pronounciation of that funny little sound the Yellow Bird makes when he speeds up...)

Yellow Angry Bird Amigurumi...

Yellow Angry Bird Amigurumi

Yellow Angry Bird Amigurumi

Yellow Angry Bird Amigurumi