Shopping

I've been rotten today. I went shopping and picked up more than I intended. I'm trying really hard not to buy any more supplies than I need but when I go to the stores I see all these wonderful things! It's really difficult to say no to myself when the inspiration is practically throwing itself at me. It doesn't help that Micheal's is giving away a 50% cupon with every purchase. Those rat finks! They're out to get me.
My only consolation is that when I do purchase stuff I do my best to make sure it's something I'll use over and over instead of a finite number of times. I'm stocking up on stamps and punches. I also picked up this stuff called "Perfect Ink Refresher". According to the packaging it "Rehydrates and Conditions Ink Pads and Water Base Markers". I really hope so. I've got a few older ink pads that I really love but they're fading. I can't find the re-inker stuff for them anywhere.
I have been super productive recently. Check it out.



There's also a stack of 9 Valentine's day cards. You can check them out on my flickr photostream by clicking here

Caturday update.

So yesterday we went on the hunt for our soon to be kitty. M decided he was not overly fond of Lil B, which made me sad, but it's better to make sure all family members can agree to the cat, even if ultimately the cat is mine. Of course I would prefer that the cat love only me, but that's just selfish. None of the cats at the local SPCA seemed to be the right fit for us, so we went out of our way a bit and went to a Petsmart about 45 minutes away from our home. Why not the local one you ask? Because we had already tried to adopt from the local one and the woman who runs the adoption agency adopted the cat we wanted right out from under us and tried to offer us a cat we'd not met instead. She was REALLY pushing this cat, which made me wonder what was wrong with it. So...yeah. It was heart breaking and difficult and frustrating to deal with her so we decided to go with another agency.
As we walked into the Petsmart, the kitties were in cages with hammocks (yes folks, kitteh hammocks) and were totally chill. E and I walked around, inspecting the kitties while the people in charge were talking to an adoptee family. There were all kinds of sweet furbabies, but one in particular caught my eye. He was dangling in his hammock like he was in some kind of kitty spa retreat without a worry in the world...and he was missing an eye. I am a sucker for the down, dejected underdogs (or undercats as the case may be) of the world. I asked about him and it turns out that he'd lost his eye to a virus much like hepititus that causes glaucoma in cat eyes. His poor eye got infected and they couldn't save it. *Sniiiiiiiifle*
That was it for me, I so totally wanted to meet this cat and get to know him better, so they brought us to a visiting room and we bonded for a while. He was all kinds of chatty and playful but not at all spastic. He kept showing us his belly to be rubbed and that about killed me. I wish I had brought my camera that day but I wasn't really in my right mind or something because I had decided to leave it home.
I have officially filled out paper work for him and am waiting to hear back from the agency ( Cat's Cradle for those of you interested). I could hardly sleep last night. I'm so excited! I'm wondering if it's excessive to send out adoption announcements to all my friends and family. Something that says "It's a boy!" or perhaps "Welcome our newest addition to the family!". What about balloons? I'm in full nesting mode. I feel the need to clean the house from top to bottom and remove all possibly, potentially dangerous things. I want to move delicate collections from high places where they can get knocked off, not for their protection but for his. Heaven forbid he cut his sweet little paws. His name is Daniel by the way. He has an adorable, loveable face.
At some point I want to jot down a few notes on the other cats we interviewed for the position because they were all funny and special in their own ways, but right now I need to go distract myself with paper goodies or I'll positively burst.

My bit of inspiration for the day

My bit of inspiration for the day
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll

I'm trying to find easy templates and inspiration for my Valentines this year. I don't want to go crazy like I do every year because then I wind up not getting anything finished. So maybe I'll make a few templates, choose the best of the samples and make a bunch of those. We'll see.

-S

Paper!

Assembly Line
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll

It's good! I've been making this paper garland thing for the InaugYouRock party and I have to say, I'm loving paper. Sometimes, when I get side tracked by different mediums (for almost two years it was mostly makeup on face) I really forget or at least repress my love for paper. It's so easy! I imagine something...and then it happens. Well, it happens after some time and fiddling with tools and paper...but it happens. Sometimes better than I imagined. This would be one of those times. These flowers...I love them. I want to plant them and see if they'll grow and bloom many more like them. Is that too much? Am I over exaggerating? I don't think so. I'm going to experiment with curling the edges of the petals to see what happens. Flat is pretty but dimension would be lovely.

Despite my lack of desire to sit in front of a computer any longer than absolutely necessary, I feel an odd responsibility to update my blog. Must be some kind of illness.

I think I've seen at least 2 shows since the last time I made an entry, this being a picture of one of them. Despite dissapointing vocals, the instrumentation is freaking AMAZING. I haven't heard live music this good in a while. I kept wishing that the singer would shut up and play so I could listen to the guys rock out. Something about vocalists in C'ville, they're not that great. Maybe it's something in the water.

Headed out to another show tonight, will take camera. Expect updates soon.

Yes, I am still alive

Not only am I still among the walking upright set, I have also almost finished painting my foyer. It's a rather daring red with chocolatie trim and a brown/black ceiling. My multitalented husband installed a new cieling fixture AND a dimmer switch to control it. The man's a genius. I have also reinstalled the laundry closet doors, finished the clothing laundry, tidied up my office enough to be able to find my desk and computer, and put little doors on one of my cubby bin thingies. I'm feeling a bit accomplished. On the downside...my scanner did not survive the move. I'm really put out by this. I had no idea just how much I used my scanner until it went on the fritz. The scanning bar gets stuck and jitters around, causing unwanted but interesting results. BUMMER! There go a bunch of images for the craft book group on flickr I wanted to post. Not to mention some little stuff I'd made and some vintage post cards. Maybe I can fix it. Or even better yet, maybe I can find the instructions for making an "alternate dimension" camera out of it. I saw it done on a geeky tech show on TV and have since wanted to try it.
Using the scanner as a camera you "scan" whatever you point the thing at and apparently some really bizzar images are caught. I think that'd be pretty cool. Maybe I can swindle a scanner off my dad in a couple weeks when I head up to see him.

Ok..., lunch is calling and I'm really hungry...I'm off.

A place to rest my bones

A place to rest my bones
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

As of this weekend, this will be my home. The home my little family will fill. The home that is not a rental. The home I will paint the walls of, hammer holes in, add furniture to. This is going to be my new address. I am the youngest member of my immediate family to own a home. Truly, it's a celebration.
And of course, in true Sasha fashion...I have strep throat. I can never have any wonderfully good news in my life without being sick at the same time. It's really amazingly predictable. The Dr.s say I should be up and running by tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking forward to finish packing up some more boxes and cleaning up this rental. I'll be happy to shed it like old skin. We've outgrown it, and it's no fun to live in.

Hurray for us! As soon as I get settled again I'll be posting again. Can you believe it? A house!

TILT seashells

seashells
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

I love to collect seashells. I love being close to the ocean, being in the ocean, sleaping near the ocean and in general, water. There have been many a time when I've escaped from family vacations in the wee hours of the morning to sleep on the beach with nothing but a blanket and the sand for my pillow. This is how I found out about the beachcombers.

There are these funny machines that somone drives over the beach, it's like a riding lawnmower, but instead of blades it has this kind of comb in front and behind. Up and down the beach it goes, leveling out the sand and scooping up trash and other human debris while leaving shells and other fauna behind. You only see them very early in the morning, as the sun is coming up. I've gotten a few odd looks from the drivers of the beachcombers when they find me all wrapped up and snoring, morning dew collecting on me.

I find that the best time to collect shells is at the wee hours, right before the beach combers sweep through. Its at this time that I once found a toy metal ring in the shape of a skull, still in it's plastic pre retail packaging, growing barnacles. I like to "race" the combers to collect the ocean's gifts. It's not much of a race, the things barely go 5 miles an hour, but it still makes me giddy.

caliligraphy practice

caliligraphy practice
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

in preparation for a project I'm going to work on, I figured it was about time to practice my handwriting skills. In general, I have horrid handwriting, so I took up calligraphy in HS in the hopes of improvement. Despite developing a great love for fonts, my handwriting remains hideous, unless I'm specifically writing in a font. This is a sample of my practice.

It's true!

Find your own pose!

Marshall is my tree, I am the koala. At least until I start kicking, punching, scratching, sweating, and talking in my sleep. Have pity on him.

Birthday meme: July 5

Wikipedia Blog Meme Game
April 30th, 2006 by striatic

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the Search box, type your birth month and day (but not year).
3. List three events that happened on your birthday.
4. List two important birthdays and one interesting death.
5. Post it.

July 5th goings on.

Events:
1865 - William Booth founds The Christian Mission (later renamed The Salvation Army).
1946 - The bikini is introduced.
1950 - Zionism: The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel. (which allowed part of my family to flee from Romania to Israel seeking sanction from Nicolae Ceausescu's brutal communist dictatorship)

Births:
1675 - Mary Walcott, American accuser at the Salem witch trials
1901 - Sergey Obraztsov, Soviet puppet master (d. 1992)

Death:
1932 - Sasha Cherny, Russian poet (b. 1880)

Bittersweet

Bittersweet
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

My mother in law and her siblings have been going through their childhood home recently. As fate would have it, Grandma S has begun a steady decline into senile dementia. It started off fairly simply (as it always does), but now she has to be watched all the time.
It's been decided that Grandma S's house will be put on the market. Because of this I've been the recipient of a great many items of hers. Mostly sewing, quilting, and crafting. While I always love receiving supplies, I can't say I enjoy receiving them this way.
I'm a bit conflicted. On one hand, I'm glad to get them while she's still alive, so that I can look at them without feeling complete loss. On the other hand, I would have wished her to have given them to me of her own volition. Instead we, the family, pick over her house like vultures, dividing up her posessions amongst ourselves like morsels. I know we can't ever have the S that we had before, but I wish she were there to guide us.

TILT 9: local shows

4.24.06
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

I love going to local music shows. Especially small shows at smokeless venues. I enjoy seeing my friends up on the stage, making great music and having a good time. I really like being introduced to new music and new bands through going to see bands I know and like. Lately I've been super lucky in the fact that all of the opening bands I've seen having been really good. I've had the chance to listen to and love the following:
The Sad Lives of the Hollywood Lovers
Soulsledge
And of course, one of my favorites as of late
Blur the Lines who gave me the opportunity to take that spiffy black and white photo you see.

I do work with paper...see?

ATCset1
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

This is the first batch of ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) I've made. I rather like them. I'm thinking about putting a few ATC kits together that can double as collage additives. yeah...and stuff. *grin*

TILT 8b: Salamanca

Salamanca
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

This was the first of the salamanders. I likee lots.

TILT 8: Salamandre

Originally uploaded by striatic.

This was made for me by a very talented friend, check out more of his work here.

I love it because it was made thoughtfully, specifically for me. That doesn't really happen to me often, other than the fantastic offerings from my little girl. In fact this is probably the first time since High School. In return I'm working on a photo series in collaboration with my friend Eliza. As soon as I get it just right I'll be posting for all to see.

Big steps

newclutterlogob
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

I've not been posting because I've been really really busy lately. Y'see, I've finally decided to go ahead and start selling my stuff online. Thanks to www.etsy.com I think I can pull it off too. Tomorrow will be the first day I post my stuff up for sale. I'm nervous, but I also know that it will be a while before anyone notices it's there.

Thanks to two of the best chums a girl could ever have I have fantastic product photos modled by one of the most beautiful people I know. So...yeah. Give me another 24 hours and I'll be an online retailer. I'm not sure I like these butterflies so much, they keep unsettling my dinner.

TILT 6: Freaky Medical Stuff

TILT 6: Freaky Medical Stuff
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

Ever since I can remember, I've been fascinated by the human body's oxymoronic ability to withstand the seemingly impossible and yet be so fragile. I love the Medical Channel, the TLC channel, and any other channel that shows medical oddities. I've been known to sit and watch thorasic surgery while wolfing down a bowl of ramen without blinking. One of my favorite things to do is guess a diagnosis before they state it on that Mystery Diagnosis show. I also have a crush on the Gregory House character on the series House. Not so much the actor, just the character. He's broody, complicated, and brilliant. Plus he gets to fish around in people's body cavities. Does it get any cooler? Nope.
By the way, that's not my X-ray. It was on display at a museum I visited with my daughter. There was also one of a child's hand with an extra thumb, someone who'd shot themself with a nail gun (the nail had completely penetrated the bone) and a couple of other interesting bits. Emily had to pull me away rather forcefully to get me to move on.

Getting ready for April

Gonna give my local craft stores a rest in April. I can't remember where I stumbled across the "use what you have" idea. It might have been whipup or Flickr, but it seems like a great idea. As someone attracted to textiles, patterns and supplies in general, I'm being pushed out of my office. I had to move the majority of my fabric stash upstairs once I got interested in paper crafting just so that I'd have room to experiment and put my papers.
In order to prepare myself for the long dry spell, I took a brief inventory of my supplies to see what I might actually need (vs. want, drool over, fall in love with) and discovered that I was almost out of pH Neutral glue, Fray Check
and a couple of packages of wooden game pieces for Kokeshi I'm making. Otherwise, I'm probably good for life. I've got enough paper here to make me wonder if I've killed off 10 acres of forrested land, I've got yard and yards of fabric )not including the stuff up in my attic), I've got stuffing, interfacing, pillow forms, thread, embroidery thread, fibers, paints, pigments, inks, beads, needles, colored pencils, stamps, inks, and photos coming out of my ears. If I keep listing, I'll just embarass myself and be forced to realize that I tend to overshop and I'm still in the denial phase of my addiction thank you very much.
So I picked up the Fray Check and the glue and the wooden dollies and some paper and...you get the idea. Then I went online and found all the tutorials that I'd been eyeing but didn't have the time to try. I printed them out (they're listed below) and am ready to start creating. If you don't hear from me for a week or two...I'm under the 5 layers of paint and pile of fabric scraps. Good luck to me!


Wise flower tutorial
Martha's Tomato pincushions
Customized Tape Measure
Flower Pincushion
Wee Bunny
Shrinky Dink Pins

Getting ready for April

Ambition, goals, and other personal matters

Ok so I just signed up for a really cool group goal. The goal of the group is to buy no crafting/art supplies throughout the month of April. To read more, go here
It turns out I'm not the only craft shopping addict. Thank God.
I have also decided to cut up all my scraps (paper and fabric) into usable shapes. Right now I'm looking at circles, squares and triangles for the fabric and I'm going to coluzzle the bejeebers out of my scrap paper. I have all these great shapes and tons of scraps that can be reduced to much more useful Items. It'll also make production a bit easier. I tend to use the same templates over and over again (otherwise why would I have bought them?) and it'd be good to have some of those shapes prefab so I can just grab and paste. I'm also looking at covering a bunch of boxes, folders and other objects with paper to revamp my office supplies.

I have also kicked Prozak to the curb. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of adding it to my ever growing med regime, and I'm happy to see it go. I'll let you in on something that a ton of people know. I have OCD (obsessive Compulsive Disorder), Clinical Depression, and a host of other medical issues that have very little to do with my mental health. I spend quite a bit of my waking hours trying to keep myself from doing drastic or irrational things. Rarely do I have a day when I'm not forced to analyze every action and word. I am very comfortable with myself, but I have the tendency to make those around me very uncomfortable. Especially when I'm having a bad day. For me, a bad day isn't defined by things like flat tires, bank errors, mean people or external forces that I have very little control over. Yeah they stink, but if I'm stable, I usually just shrug it off. A bad day for me is when I'm losing my grip on reality, when my perception of events around me is so skewed that I can no longer understand the most mundane of social interactions. The last three years have been very hard for me. Apparently the birth of my daughter triggered a chemical imbalance that has yet to be corrected. Every time I think I have the situation under control and a routine in place to keep me going, something shifts and I'm left off balance again. The only constants I have are the love and support of my immediate family (my husband, daughter and Mother-in-law) and my faith. Maybe I should say the faith God has in me. Even at my worst I know He's there, guiding me, listening to my sobs and hysteria, laughing when I laugh, and just being there. I don't want pity or sympathy. What I really want, is a few good doctors who can figure out how to put me back together again. A pill that can keep me constant, and the ability to know when what I'm saying .

TILT....DONUTS!

TILT5
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

I Love Donuts. I love the smell of a Duncan Donuts when you first walk in, the brewed coffee, the fresh baked donuts, the glaze...mmmmmmmm. If I could bottle that smell, I'd wear it all day. I finally broke down yesterday and bought a dozen because I'd been craving them for a week and a half. I tried to resist, really I did. I even went so far as to try to substitute. First I ate a bowl of cherios thinking that it was carbs and sugar I was after...that and they're shaped like donuts...two bowls later the craving was still unslaked.
So then I baked a devil's food cake but I had no frosting...it just wasn't the same. I finally snapped and headed to the nearest DD (about 10 min. away from my house) and went for the whole dozen. Usually I only get one or two but I picked some up for the hubby and Em and the rest are all for me. I'll show that craving.

What I did(n't) yesterday.

swap
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

So I had planned to scan a whole mess of fabrics and stick them on my swap site and make a bunch of stuff...but then the power went out. It was soooooo windy that the whole block's grid got knocked out by...I dunno a flying cow or something. At first I wigged out a bit thinking that I'd flaked on the bill again, but then I saw my neighbors congregating on their back porches and yelling at each other about how they didn't have any power and realized that it wasn't just me. Marshall and I have a tendency to assume that the other has paid the bills. You'd think after 7 years we'd figure a system out, but so far, no go. We're working on it though. We've got that whole "Pay all yer bills online" thing. It's just a matter of remembering to authorise the payments now.
Ok so instead of doing anything productive...I took a nap. But I did manage to scan a few this morning and I'm in the process of posting them on my swapblog. Speaking of swaps...I'm behind. I'm brokish due do an invoicing mixup (remind me to fire my accounts department...oh wait that's me!) but I should have a check by today so I can scoot to the post office and mail EVERYTHING off. And then I'll probably be brokish again. Wow...sometimes working for myself stinks. Did you really want to know all of that? Prolly not, but you do now. Heh.

More craftiness

bags
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

I made the patchwork bag and the argyle with flowers tote on Sunday, and the green satchel last night. I thoroughly enjoyed creating them. I'm beginning to think I need to start an Etsy account in order to sell off some of the stuff I make. It's going to start running me out of my office again.

Color-iffic Swap Received!!!

Laying out and drooling
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

A fantastic green package was waiting for me on the porch when I got home yesterday...the kicker was that I was only home to pick up some paperwork for a meeting and then I had to run off. My restraint was admirable. I didn't tear into the package until after I had located my paperwork.

Included in the package were these fantastic smelling tea bags that scented the whole package. I spent a minute with my nose buried in the scarf just inhaling and imagining that it was the scent of Brazil. Then I made myself a mug and chugged it down because my throat is feeling pretty rough. It totally hit the spot. Highlights from the package include green polkadotted post its, fantastic seed beads, excellent buttons (I already have plans for two of them to become Pointy Kitty eyes), a great little CD case that I totally needed at the moment and best of all were the hand made items. I've already brought the little pouch in to work today and that pin cushion is wonderful!

What really stole my heart was that Adriana added a marble for Emily's collection, and it used to be hers! Adriana, that was the sweetest thing EVER! Thank you sooooo much.
Due to extremely tense and busy circumstances at work I haven't been able to break free to get to the post office, but it WILL get done today because I just don't have a choice...it's the 10th, the mailing due date!

Things I Love Thursday: #4, Creative Sprawl

Creative Sprawl
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

This is usually what the morning after creativity hits looks like. It's a comfortable place to be, surrounded by supplies and a sense of accomplishment.

Ma petit chien FifiBelle

See Fifi Belle Climb a Tree
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

This is FifiBelle. I finished her today while watching a slew of Carey Grant movies. The man was an acting genius.
I found the pattern here. You can see a whole Flickr gallery of them here . She probably took me a total of 5 hours to make but I'm suuuuuper pokey.

A weekend of overspending

I am VERY bad with money. When I say bad I mean...TERRIBLE. As soon as I get it I spend it. I went to my in-laws this weekend and Marshall and I almost always go shopping when we visit. I really wanted to go to SchoolHouse Fabrics to match some fabrics I bought recently for Color-iffic but of course, chartreuse really IS impossible to match. Did that stop me from dropping over $100 there? That would be a no. Then it was off to the mall and Target to find shoes and sweaters for the kid. Six pairs of shoes, 11 shirts, 2 sweaters, 1 skirt, 6 pairs of shoelaces, 3 lipbalms, and 2 sets of false eyelashes (look, I've always wanted to try them) later I realized that I barely had any cash left. YIKES! I just got paid on Fri. Sooooo yeah, I've got a pile of stuff to return due to buyers remorse. None of it would be the stuff I got at the fabric store or the stuff I got for the kid. Priorities folks, it's all about the priorities.

I shouldn't really let myself out of the house. On the + side, pictures of my crafty haul and an almost completed Pointy kitty are soon to follow. Good grief. I'm a mess.

Things I Love Thursdays #3

Fastturn
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

This is my fastturn, there are many like it, but this one is mine.

This sewing tool set me back about $25 4 years ago and today I wonder how I went so long without it. What you do is insert the appropriate sized metal tube into the fabric opening and gather the fabric over the tube until either it comes out the other end or your closing stitches stop it. If you're threading elastic you take the flexible metal rod with the twist at the end and slide it into the tube, attatch the ellastic by screwing the twist into it, then pull. Easy Peasy Lemon Sqeezy.
If you're turning a fabric tube inside out (for bag handles, straps or for the heck of it) you repeat step two of the whole process, but just twist the metal rod until the end pokes out of the closed off tube and pull the whole thing back through the tube. Voila! Fabric tube right side out! I just used it Tues. night to make the handles on that green bag. It never ceases to amaze me. I seriously don't ever want to go through a tote bag project or lose the draw string to another hoodie without it.

Other things I love:
Emily seranading me with "Skinnamarinkydinkydink"
Sleeping late
Sparkly things

Green Bag

Green Bag,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

Oh yeah, I made this...and I'm awefully proud of myself. I altered this pattern to make a larger bag and because I'm all kinds of impatient and can't follow instructions. Once I had the outside of the bag done, I realized that lining it with a co-ordinating fabric just wasn't going to cut it. I wanted-no craved- a contrasting fabric on the inside. I also wanted a pocket for the little things that get themselves lost easily, like keys, wallets, and small children. So there is a nice red felted wool pocket for pens and and other bits and bobbles. I almost wish I were keeping it for myself, but it's off to find a nice home somewhere far away. I'll miss you little bag, perhaps I'll make you a twin for myself.

Almost done!

Sewing Bins,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

Maybe. I've managed to get all the shelves filled, the bins of my sewing fixture are almost arranged. I think I need to re-organise this a bit. Just not sure how. The beads are finally organised, the paper is next. After that I'll look through the remaining boxes to find anything else I'd like to display. Good luck to me.

DJ Spite

DJ Spite,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

My husband's nickname is DJ Spite. Ever since High School he's had this really evil habit of messing with whatever you're listening to. It started in his friend's cars. Along they'd be driving and someone would remark "hey, I love this song!". No sooner is the word "song" out of their mouths and the song is changed.

The first time it happened to me I thought it was a mistake, maybe he didn't hear what I said. Then I noticed it as a disturbing trend. Worse, when I'd say "oh man, this song really burns my nerves" the volume would go up. Finally, about a year or so ago I confronted him about this. He claims to not be able to controll himself. Even if he hates the same song you do, if you make any remark, the compulsion to annoy overrides the distaste.
On a long ago road trip I finally snapped and hollered "ALRIGHT DJ SPITE! Cut it out!" and smacked at the radio buttons. He decided that he really liked the nickname, and I have to say, it suits. After the nickname stuck I got the idea to make a logo for him so that he could lable his CDs and other work items that he carries around with him. Last night I managed to sit down and get it down on paper in this ink sketch. I really like how it came out. Now I just have to color it.

Things I Love Thursdays #2

Things I Love Thursdays #2,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

Thursdays are not only TILT (Things I Love Thursdays) days, they're also the designated cleaning days for my household. For those of us unfortunate enough to have ancient hard wood flooring in disrepair, this thing is a must. For those of us fortunate enough to have any kind of flooring that doesn't absorb water...this thing is a must. It's the Hoover FloorMate and I love it.
I deplore mopping, and sweeping is running a close second on the Things-I-Detest-Wasting-Time-On list. My fantastic hubby bought this for me shortly after Em was born in order to make my least favorite chore faster and easier. Not only did it deliver in the chore department, it had the added bonus of making tired cranky infants fall asleep. All I had to do was snuggle Em on my shoulder and the crook of my elbow in one arm and hoover away with the free hand and voila! Clean floors and sleeping baby! Yes...this thing rocks my socks.
Last week I broke it out for the first time in a month or so and attacked the downstairs floors. I forgot that it gets them so clean it's almost lethal. The floors were slick and smooth enough to have Em careening around in her socks, piping up in that sweet little girl voice "Mommy look! I'm skating!" I too spent some time skidding around in my socks, not always on purpose.

April's Colorific Inspiration

April's Colorific Inspiration,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

Flickr has taken over my free time. I have joined two groups that require action by a certain due date. We'll see if I can keep it up. The first one you've already seen,
Things I love Thursdays. The second is Colorific Swap O Rama. Every month the moderator of the group chooses a color or color scheme theme and we put packages together comprised of that scheme. The moderator chooses partners and sends you your swap buddy. You could be sending your package to Australia and getting one from NJ. It's pretty exciting. March's theme is green, April's theme is green and violet or any permutation thereof. I found the above fabric at a local craft store and immediately knew that it was my inspiration for April. March is getting ready to be packed up and sent off at the end of the week. I really hope my partner likes it.

I must be unstable.

The Reworking 2,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

I think I must have been dropped on my head as a small child. What on Earth whas I thinking when I started cleaning my office out? I think there was some grand delusion about being more organised and therefor more productive...or inspired...or something. Ok so right now I can definitely see the benefit of having more floorspace to be able to set up my Oma's card table as a sewing table, and have the ironing board set up, and be able to leave my paper projects on my desk undisturbed while I go about my sewing projects. Too bad I can't get to any of those projects because I can't find any of them. *sigh* I'm going to bed.

Things I Love Thursdays pt.1

Tiny Glass Phials,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

Here's my first post for Things I Love Thursdays.. I'm kind of excited because I've never been a part of one of these weekly photo groups. I've been trolling other people's Self Portrait Tuesdays and Illustration Fridays. Now I can participate.

This is a part of my watch maker's cabinets. I have two, each containing two drawers. Inside those drawers I hide all kinds of tiny things. There are charms, scrapbooking findings, antique doodads, and most of all, the smell. It's an old, musty, dusty, dry rotted wood smell. All at once powdery, musky and slightly sweet. Every time I open the drawer it wafts out at me and comforts me. At first I was afraid of the smell. Usually that smell means mold, something I'm really allergic to. After cleaning out the remnants of the watchmaker who owned it before me though, I came to associate that smell with aged wisdom and inspiration. Every time I catch a whiff I smile to myself. These cabinets remind me of the little old toy fixer from Toy Story 2. I like to think that he smelled like my drawers, that maybe the previous owner looked like him.

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

I hardly have enough time to breath but I thought I'd write down that I'm in the middle of a HUGE artspace/office/craft room overhaul. I was so inspired by Hillary Lang's fantastic work room overhaul that I decided to revamp my space. WOW! It's alot of work. I pulled everything off shelves and out of cubbies and moved furniture around and purchased storage bits and bobs and I'm still trying to pull myself out from under the mess. I have boxes and bins and stuff strewn all over the place in the dining room and study. I wanted to paint something last night but couldn't because I couldn't find my paints! I also wanted to make two scrapbook layouts but couldn't because I had no space and couldn't find all of my stuff. I wanted to start on the Pointy Kitty pattern Hillary Lang had posted on her blog but couldn't because...you guessed it...I couldn't find the printer to print it out! WAUGH! So tonight, when Hubby and Co. are slaying aliens in the living room, I'm going to be in my space trying to get everything sorted just right so that I can play.

Happy (belated) Valentine's day

Blue Button Heart,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

Hope you had a great one, be you single, married or still think boys have cooties.
The hubby scored HUGE brownie points for bringing home Champagne, Cheesecake, and flowers. We cuddled on the couch and watched Battlestar Galactica ('twas good, believe me) drank champagne, ate cheesecake and pretended to be adults. Does anyone else ever feel like that?
I gave the above button heart to my mother in law. She loved it. It hangs on the stairwell on the first floor to the second floor.

coxi creations�

Check out these adorable creations from Brazil/Portugal at coxi creations�. I stumbled across them on Flickr after being tagged as one of his contacts. They're super cute, colorful craftybits.

I. Am. A Sellout.

So it all started out pretty innocently enough. I found iTunes on my machine at work and opened it up to listen to everyone's shared files, looking for some new stuff to wrap my ears around. Next thing I know it's 3 months later and I've downloaded over $100 and 788.9 kb in music, spoken word, and comedy. So I say to myself...this is an app that's online, I have itunes on my machine at home the files should be on my account, transferable and stuff. So I get home and fire up itunes at home and find out that...the files are only local to the machine I download them on. I mean...seriously. I have yahoo mail, it's free, and I can access my files from any machine...what the heck!? I pay for iTunes downloads and I can't access the files anywhere but on the machine I downloaded them...man that's irritating. So I figure I'll just rip 'em to cds and take them home right? My machine at work doesn't have a cd burner. It has iTunes but no cd burner...amazing.
So I figure I'll VNC (Virtual Network Computing, learn more here) into my work machine from home and transfer the files right? Nope, no can do. Can't e-mail them because the files are too big. So what do I do next? I complain to my husband of course. He's a total computer genius. Junkie is more like it really. You know what he says? He says "You could just put them on an iPod". Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Flash back a three months ago when he goes through two different kinds of mp3 players in one month and announces that he's going to break down and buy an iPod. To this I laugh, point and call him a sellout. Our house is not Mac friendly. Fast forward to last month when he tells me he's going to buy me an iPod. To which I exclaim indignantly "Why?! I have an mp3 player that I really like. No thanks, really." Fast forward again to yesterday.
Yesterday we went out on a date, my hubby and I. He pulls into a certain big name electronic store and I decide to stay in the truck. Can you blame me? I live with the stuff all over the house, I don't really want to go out of my way to look at it. So when he pops up out of the store and asks me what kind of iPod I want and gives me two choices, what do I say? I say, "whichever's least expensive" he says there's not much difference between the two so I tell him to get the one with the most memory. Something momentous is happening. I'm caving. Again. Like the time I swore to boycott a huge retail corporation and wound up failing because a friend of mine pointed out the utility and savings...some friend. He says "black or white" I say "black". Ten minutes later I'm the conflicted owner of a black iPod.

I. Am. A Sellout.

A poem to break your heart.

The Maid-Servant at the Inn

"It's queer," she said; "I see the light
As plain as I beheld it then,
All silver-like and calm and bright ---
We've not had stars like that again!

"And she was such a gentle thing
To birth a baby in the cold.
The barn was dark and frightening ---
This new one's better than the old.

"I mind my eyes were full of tears,
For I was young, and quick distressed
But she was less than me in years
That held a son against her breast.

"I never saw a sweeter child ---
The little one, the darling one! ---
I mind I told her, when he smiled
You'd know he was his mother's son.

"It's queer that I should see them so ---
The time they came to Bethlehem
Was more than thirty years ago;
I've prayed that all is well with them."
--Dorothy Parker

Trends I hope to not see in the new year

Nails so long they curl and make you wonder how going to the bathroom is possible.

Track pants with text emblazoned across the tush.

Toe rings.

Dudes in pants so baggy their tushes hang out.

Ugg boots and other furry, eskimo-like boots.

Rutching.

Yarn woven in hair.

Sneakers as high heels or high heels as sneakers.

House slippers tarted up and worn as if they're acceptable footgear out of the house.

I'm sure there's more to come, and if you've fallen victim to any one of more of these trends...it's ok. We all have. This is nothing personal. They're just irritating.

Inspiring Images from Craft Books

Shelf O Craftbooks,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

I've been part of a Flickr group called Inspiring images from Craft Books and I have to say that it's hightened my awareness of craft books. I have quite a few as you can see, but I'm always trolling around for some really good resources to keep me inspired. I recently spent an afternoon at Barnes and Nobles sifting through craft books in order to find a few that I would like. Here's a list of all of the ones that really interested me.

Papercrafts & Stamp It: Treasury of Tips and Tricks. ISBN 1-57486-572-2

Vintage-Style Quilts
ISBN 1-58011-172-6

Simply Beautiful Beading
ISBN 1-58180-563-2

Summer Crafts
ISBN 1-59258-131-5

Sashiko, Japanese Traditional Hand Stitch
ISBN 1-889682-37-3

Felt Crafts
ISBN 1-84476-189-4

Collage Sourcebook
ISBN 1-59253-101-6

Designer Style Jewelry
ISBN 0-8230-2601-9

Fabulous Fabric Flowers
ISBN 4-88996-192-5

Colorful Stitchery
ISBN 1-58017-611-9

In total, it will cost me about $340 to buy them all at bookstores. Maybe I should look into buying some of them used online.

Me Want!!

I found this super adorable "unazukin" on Jlist today and I have to say, I totally want it. Here's a description of what it does, taken from the site iteself:

"Unazukin is the latest interactive toy from Bandai -- a small "fairy" that is actually a good listener. The voice activated doll actually reacts to your voice, nodding and shaking her head whenever appropriate. Battery powered (the battery is included -- make sure to remove the protective slip first) with an on off switch, the cute two inch high doll has four different movements, shaking head back and forth once or twice; and nodding once or twice, An adorable toy that makes a great gift or a display item. This doll is part of the Nature series -- named "Star", she is red emblazoned with white stars. "

Hah, finally, someone to listen to me! They had a bunch of little cute ones in the Nature series, a yellow one with flowers, a blue one with big round circles, a white one with rainbow stripes...but it's the red one that I want. For $12, that's not bad.

Wow so here's what I'm working on at the moment. I got this great book called "the new crewel" by Katherine Shaughnessy(ISBN 1-57990-680-x). It's really fantastic, the pictures are great, the instructions are excellent and the projects are really pretty and easy to adapt to your skill level. I created my own sampler by combining 4 of the patterns. You can check out more of the projects and places to buy them and the book here at Wool and Hoop.com. There are mostly mod designs with a few more traditional patterns thrown in for good measure.

I've been busy as usual lately, but I have a list of things I want to blog about, I figure I'll list them here so I can catch myself up as I go.

Fri. 13, Jan. 2006
Blur the Lines/Soulsledge/Bella Morte show
Craft books I want
Flickr Addiction
Why I don't write about other people often.
Emily's Crow

BLARGH!

I have all these images from my cell phone that I finally uploaded to my server at home and what happens? I find out that I've maxed out my upload space allotted for the month on Flickr. So I ask the hub if it's ok to upgrade the account to pro status and you know what he says? He says NO! Why? Because he wants to use me as an guinee pig for a photo share gallery he's creating at work. Why I ask. There's Flickr. Oh those scheming people at work. I'd tell you why they're creating it and when it will be up, but then I'd have to kill you. I guess it's a good thing no one reads this thing. That'd be a really tall order to fill.

So the pic is from ISBN 1-893352-11-0, Sew Simple by Making Memories. I love these little scrapplets and the pockets. I want to make a layout or two with them and maybe a collage...but I have no projects that need them at the moment. *sigh* I guess I'll just have to wait. Ok, back to work.

*twitch*

Woweeee, I feel like I'm buzzing through the last of December. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/First day of Chaunukah. Now for the New Year! I'm currently working on New Years cards that you may get the chance to see, one day. I totally got a huge haul this Christmas. The best part was having my dad visit from NH. Last night I redeamed one of my gifts, a gift certificate to Barnes & Nobles. What's really funny is that everyone in the family got one, just not from the same person. It just goes to show that we really love books in this family. I picked up two craft books,Bead Fantasies II and sew easy.
Tonight I'm going to experiment with Bead Fantasies. I want to make the Clover necklace for a friend and the crown for myself.

Today has been SUPER INSANE! I got to work to find that my computer had contracted 8 viruses while I was away. Apparently one wasn't enough. So then I tried to contact the admin people....who had ALL decided to go on vacation. After snagging the hubby to fix the problem remotely I found one admin tech working from home and reported the viruses, then proceeded to fix my machine with a little help from him and the hub. I feel...EMPOWERED! Yes, I rid my machine of an evil virus. I am...a geek. Embrace the dorkdome, work it, use it to your advantage. My blood hums with the knowledge that short of someone taking a sledgehammer to my machine....I can fix it. I am computer literate! And I'm Proud Of It! So yeah...next week, when I can't figure out why I can't get on the network and print (something I've never been able to do) and why I can't actually get Outlook to work on my machine (again, something I've never been able to do) I'll probably forget all about my innate talent with computers and let the admin guys handle it. Why? Well...because I'm lazy.

quick creative break

50s Christmas pattern,
originally uploaded by The Paper Doll.

I've been absolutely NOT productive, not crafty, and not sane for the past week and a half. But I did manage to create a couple background tiles in Paint to liven up my computer desktop. I wish I could string together a coherent paragraph or two but instead, I'll just convey my holiday sentiments.

Merry Christmas!
Happy Chanukah!
Happy New Year!

The dangers of IM at work

I've been super busy with work and family and holiday related things. Em has now made the transition from babysitter to pre-school and daycare combination. Today was her tour, tomorrow is her first full day. To celebrate I went shopping at Target (pronounced Tarjay for the frou frou in us) and got her a pre-school wardrobe, bookbag, lunch bag, snow boots and gloves. She was as psyched to recieve them as I was to buy them. She gasped in elated surprise when I dumped the contents of the shopping bags out onto her bed. It was the best response EVER! If only everyone were so psyched to recieve mundane, every day necesities.
So yeah, while I'm at work I'm connected to my peers and co-workers by IM. Far better to shoot off a quick message than get up from my desk and walk 10 feet to ask in person (yes...I really do do that, what's worse is that I message my supervisor, who sits directly across from me, because I don't want to have to catch his attention through his headphones). Unfortunately, it also allows me to socialize without the glowering, annoyed looks from irritated co-workers who've been interrupted by my incessant chattering. I try not to get distracted, really I do, but sometimes the conversations are seriously good, take this quote for one:

"mtsheetsie: years of therapy have not helped me yet
fLtYmKnZm: It tends to take a combination of therapy, meds and faith...take it from a pro, I know
mtsheetsie: ha
mtsheetsie: What if I have faith that my meds are my therapy?
mtsheetsie: but really i'm on the wrong scrip
fLtYmKnZm: LOL
fLtYmKnZm: Well done
fLtYmKnZm: thanks
mtsheetsie: knowledge is freedom, but it still doesn't help me understand why they have books in prison
fLtYmKnZm: LOL
mtsheetsie: bye for real!
fLtYmKnZm: l8r "

frantic and frazzled and yet....not

So...I'm running around like a lunatic half the day, and the other half I'm procrastinating like a pro. I'm not really sure how I manage this odd dichotomy of time consumption, but I do. It's like I go through the day at hyperspeed with jutter, shuddering stops, starts and pauses. During the pauses I might as well be insensate for the amount of nothingness I accomplish. My throttle is either jammed wide open or off, engine dead and cold, the gears between having been stripped smooth. I'd like to be able to just chill and do things slowly and get them done on time...or even ahead of schedule. But...yeah I doubt that's going to happen any time soon. Especially not with the Holiday season upon us. The cool thing is that I managed to finish another project that was floating around. I made a swag for one of the living room windows as a test. It looks pretty good so I'm going to go ahead and make the other one tonight. Maybe. If the couch doesn't lure me with it's siren song. Maybe I should move the sewing machine to the living room coffee table, that way I can sit on the couch, watch tv AND get some stuff done. Wow, wouldn't that be something?

See, I HAVE been productive

Ok so I promised that I'd post some of the pictures of some of the stuff I've been working on...so here it is. This is the Halloween wall hanging I made right before Haloween. Ok so made is an overstatement, I think I should perhaps say finish. I started on this about 2 years ago. I would always start working on it about 2 days before Halloween and of course not be able to finish it in time. This time I started it well into September and had it up in October. YAY. You can't see the little bats in the upper right hand block, but there are about three of them and they're adorable.

I also have some pictures of two of the little quilts I made, one is a lap/car quilt for Em and the other is a matching mini quilt for her dolls.
Holiday crafting is in full swing in my house and I have to say, I'm totally having a great time. I'm half way finished with the advent calendar I wanted to make Em (did I mention that I start projects a bit behind?) and a wall hanging for her room. I also have a wall hanging that I'm working on for the hallway. That one's nearly done as well. I keep those projects close to the couch so I can fiddle around while watching tv. I've been hooked on medical shows on TLC and DHC lately. I watch them voraciously, mostly because I'm so amazed by the human body's capacity to function despite major defects, be they genetic or caused by external influences. I can't wait to start nursing school next fall. It's gonna be great! I hope to focus on one of the three following fields: abnormal psychology, burn victims, or oncology.
I don't pick easy fields to focus on, because if it's not a challenge, I can't stay interested. When every day is a struggle to keep people breathing and hopeful, determined to live, that's when I'm happiest. Yeah the burnout rate is high in all of those fields, but I'm sure that if it's God's will, I'll excell.

Insert Title Here

I couldn't think of a clever or even appropriate title today, so you're getting an all purpose one. Checking in quickly with all my favorite blogs (see links to right) I saw that everyone had been so super productive this past weekend/holiday. I too was productive...I just didn't take any pictures 'cuz I'm a frantic bastard. Oh brother, now I have to reboot my machine. It's one of THOSE days.

Things long past

frosty mornings at 7am
all groggy and crusty eyed with sleep
wearing too large clothing of the boyish persuasion
the cloying taste/smell of expended gunpowder, cigar smoke and endless ancient pots of coffee.
Damp cement walls of the pit
grease on ball bearings and chains
the smooth heavy roll of targets and the rhythm of pulling
shot
pull
mark
push
shot
pull
mark
push
it all blurs into one smooth motion until all rounds are expended and the competition is over.
The sound of Megadeth pounding through our earplugs and the wry grins shared with the pit master.
The rain on our faces as we looked up to watch new holes being pierced into and through paper and wood.
It's always the simplest routines that we miss later, the ones that we took for granted or even complained about. I'd pay good money now to pull targets the way I did then.

Happy Birthday USMC!

"The Marine Corps was originally created as the 'Continental Marines' during the American Revolutionary War, were formed by a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775, and first recruited at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Samuel Nicholas."--Wikipedia

Happy Birthday Marines stationed all over the world! Today makes the 230th year of proud and distinguished service to the United States. I want to send a special happy b-day to my husband Marshall and to 1st Lt. Brad Higgins stationed in Iraq. Stay safe, stay away from those 4g turns and keep your rotors on. OOOOORAH!

And just to top things off, check outthis fantastic salute found on GoDaddy.com. It made me all sniffly.

Ho Hum

So here's a little vignette into my world. It's about 9:45am EST and I'm still in my jammies, as is Emily and Mya, Mya's down for a nap and Em's doing something in the kitchen that involved paper and I don't know what and really, for the moment I'm sure I'd be better off not knowing. I'm sitting here catching up on work, my favorite blogs and my own blog to the sound of decorative scissors snipping loudly (Em), The Nightmare Before Christmas singing away in the background (we were watching it) and the laptop's thought process chugging away. I've not had breakfast and I've been up for at least an hour, I'm definitely not showered and I don't think I got a chance for one yesterday because everyone else beat me to it. Tam's off to the vet with Blue (they don't allow children under 12 at the vets office) so I'm sitting the kids while Marshall's off getting an oil change and running errands.
If this is every day life, bring it on. I haven't felt this content in months. With Tammy Mya and Blue, we make a complete family. I'm usually so off kilter and confused that I make my family dynamics wobbly and unbalanced. Sure it works, but it's not stable, like a three legged stool with one leg shorter than the others.
Last night we had a friend and her daughter over for dinner. It was Emma's 1st birthday and her daddy is in Irac so he can't be home to see it and her mum, B, who is about 7 months pregnant, was really feeling the empty space. So we all had dinner together and turned the peach cobbler into a birthday cake. I made her a little card and we all signed it. No birthday should go uncelebrated, especially not the 1st one. Emma's official birthday party is this Saturday, but we're going home that day so we'll miss it.
Through all of this is a feeling of fulfillment and domestic bliss. So now I know that once I've been stablized on my meds and we're in a house of our own that I can personalize and maintain in a manner I deam suitable (not in the slapdash, ducttape and spit way our rental is) I too can have a house filled with peace, love, and some semblance of order. I'm really going to have a tough time adjusting when I go home, but hopefully I can carry some of this over into my own home. Sure it's a crooked, lopsided mess, but it's mine for now and I can do my best to make it comfortable. I think I'll start with hanging curtains up in Em's playroom and bathroom.

Live from North Carolina

I missed the submission deadline for the Basic Grey contest. I'm not really sure wether or not I'm put out yet. I'll let you know when I see the results of the winning entry. I think maybe I'm just dissapointed in myself for allowing myself to mope around and not do anything about it. Wah wah wah, whine moan complain.
I did pack quite a bit of my scrapbooking paper collection to bring with me to NC while visiting a fellow scrapper and close friend of the family. Maybe I'll actually get some stuff done. We got quite a few pictures of the kiddos trick or treating last night. Tammy (my scrapping NC buddy) and I made her daughter Mya's first costume. Mya was an acorn. Oh heavens she was cute. Emily (my kiddo) did the default princess fairy thing because mommy was uninspired this year. Well not so much uninspired as confused. Emily wanted to be Jessie from Toy Story 2, a shiny purple dinasour, a fairy princess, and an alien all in the space of a month. Every time I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween she'd change her mind so I decided not to make a costume on principle. I don't think I could have born the heartbreak if she had decided she didn't like it. Emily looked fantastic. We did a brief looting of a neighborhood close to Tammy's with a friend of hers and her son who were decked out in midieval garb. Calvin was a knight and he looked ADORABLE. I don't think I've ever seen such a cute group of kids in my life.
I dressed as a pirate because it was the only thing that allowed for my limp and cane. I tried to make a faux peg leg but I couldn't find a large enough piece of brown cardboard. I did make an eyepatch that was pretty funny. Tammy wore a hat that I made to look like a flower with floppy petals. It was pretty darn cute. Tammy got tons of pictures and I can't wait to see them all and make a few layouts with them. So yeah, everything else has been so boring and mundane without my job at the art store that I barely ever have anything to write about. Man do I miss that job, but I can't go back until I can stand around and walk for 8 hours. I can't wait.

what? Only 30%?!?!

You Are 30% Weird

Not enough to scare other people... But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

Surely that can't be right. I'm the wierdest person I know, well, next to Andy and that's saying quite alot. I'm really not trying to be an elitist or concieted...but I'm an odd bird, no bones about it. I don't even have to try for those odd looks and akward silences that can only come from a true miscommunication. I say something I think is smart, appropriate, or even witty...and then it gets all quiet and I realize I've done it again.
Of course that could be because of some recent news I found out. I've almost always suffered from clinical depression but on Wed. I found out that not only do I suffer from depression, I'm actually severely depressed. News to me and some of my closest friends! Everyone but my husband was surprised. On top of being severely depressed I have . OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), >ADHD(adult attention deficit disorder), and a few other pretty little mental issues with long names. I mean seriously. I think people should offer you dinner before they heap crap like that on you. I don't even believe in ADD (please...no hate mail, I'm just dubious not ignorant) how can I have it? Then again, tons of people don't believe in God but that doesn't change the fact that He's large and in charge. So yeah...whatever. I did a bit of research with the help of a friend who works in the neuroscience department at Cambridge in NY. He let me know that as of now they believe that OCD is triggered by an overactivity in the ACC (Anterior Cingulate Cortex in the brain), which is partially responsible for evaluating and monitoring the exterior world. So from there I did a bit of dabbled research and found out the ACC is also believed to be responsible for something akin to precognition...it's the place that has you putting on the breaks long before you ever see that Semi running that red light. It's been called the "Accidental Black Spot" of the brain. If it goes wonky it can cause depression, bi-polar/manic depression, schizophrenia, autism, OCD, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and possibly a host of other boogiemen. Guess how many of those I have? Ok now can you guess which ones? Maybe one day I'll let you know. So you know what? I'm going to do what I always do in situations like this, I'm going to wear it on the cuff of my sleave and reach out to anyone in my situation who needs help because I know I can't do this one on my own. Of course I know I'm not alone, more than family and friends, I have faith. So there it is folks, I spilled my mess all over you. If it sounds familiar, check out the links and get yourself or a loved one some help. Be glad we live in the 21st century and not the 13th...back then you could wind up with a nice exorcism or burning at the stake for thinking a little crooked. YAY for modern science, as shifty as it is.

Mile Marker 5

This is NOT me
Today I finally returned the CPM (continuous passive motion) machine that was sent home with me after surgery. I'm going to miss it, but with that action I can officially kiss my bedridden days goodbye. That's the 5th indicator I've had that I'm really going to come out of this ok and be able to walk again. Physical therapy sessions are broken down into two days a week now but they've started lasting longer. I'm really enjoying the time I spend at PT because my knee always feels better after AND most of those guys are a hoot. I spend most of my time there smiling and laughing in between winces. Today they showed me this horrible yet hilarious email called Who Brought the Nearsighted Kid to the Pool?. It's funny because it's so bad. Sadly the reason they showed it to me is because they were comparing me to him. Did I mention that I'm a total spaz and a klutz? Because I am.

The Adventure Book of Needlework page 29

The Adventure Book of Needlework page 29 

This is one of my favorite illustrations from a book called The Adventure Book of Needlework by Betsey Bates, the book was written by Dorothy Dunbar Graef and was published in 1958. Apparently ISBNs were implemented after that date because this book has a Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 58-8460. There are some really cute projects in here, but mostly, I just LOVE the illustrations. I love them so much in fact that I scanned them and added them to the Flickr group
Inspiring Images from Craft Books so that it could be shared and loved by many more. Apparently this little gem is selling for $40 online but I was lucky enough to find it for $2 in a used bookstore. It was one of those unexpected finds and I truly am loving it. I hunted around trying to find more illustrated works by Betsey Bates but all I found were some really pretty collector plates. Maybe one day I'll start a collection, but until then, I'll just enjoy the heck out of this book.

Most Prodoctive 24 hours this week.

Yay! Last night and this morning have been the most productive 12-24 hours since Oct. 20th. I finally finished the applique and quilting on a halloween wallhanging I had started last year....or maybe it was the year before...I can't even remember. Now all I have to do is add the binding and it will be done. Hoooray! This is my first machine quilted quilt effort ever. Usually I'm just plain old lazy and make do with ties. Now when I say usually, maybe I should state that for me, usually means the whole two quilts I've made.
Emily and I have also started on our Halloween decorations for the windows of the front door. Since I can't do the whole climbing on ladders and railings this year we don't get to have the traditional creapy front porch littered with gigantic spider webs and bats. I guess I'll just have to make do with the home grown spider webs. Maybe I can coax the black widows out from under the porch for a day. Yes that's right, I have an infestation of black widows at my house. They've resisted Orkin and cleaning so I figure I'll just default to my usual attitude toward spiders. You don't come in my house and I won't actively look for you and squish you. It's worked rather well. The brave spiders that do violate this intrisic rule die a sad and squishy death. But they sure come in handy around October. Maybe I'll just stop cleaning up after the one's living on the front porch and let them do all the decorating.

Walking Wounded

Ok I think I've got this thing down. Had some minor misshaps with the meds, went from Darvocet to Ultracet to emergency room to Atavan to Alieve and a nap. All the the space of 48 hours. But, now I know that all narcotic pain relievers are RIGHT OUT for me. So hey, that's one less habit to kick right? They only removed 4 staples the last visit, but I will be getting the remaining 9 out tomorrow, finally.
Physical therapy is going extremely well and much less painful than I thought. I'll be walking without krutch assistance next week if all goes well. YAY!
During all of this convalescing I managed to finish three detail oriented, time consuming projects AND get a few sketches for future projects done. I hope to get those scanned and uploaded this weekend. I'm still pretty limited in my every day activities. Just the act of finding the camera, taking pictures, uploading them and scanning paper stuff takes a whole day now instead of the half hour to hour it used to take before the surgery. I try not to think about it to avoid depression. This limited capacity thing is only temporary. I DID remember to take pictures of my knee post op and time lapsed this week to show improvement and recovery, so I can actually make a small scrap book about it to remind myself of how far I've come.
Really other than that there's not much going on. I don't like to write about the boring, depressing negative stuff because it doesn't really help me or anyone else. Bad enough that my last two posts were so...dirge like. I'm doing so much better than the last surgery, it's almost unbelievable.
My dad's coming back from Europe next week and I can't wait! He's supposed to be bringing me all kinds of textiles from Montenegra and Italy. Mostly I just can't wait to see him. It's been a few months and being the daddy's girl that I am I miss him something fierce. Here's to praying that his return trip is safe and uneventful.

Slightly more alive

Well,today I woke up and decided it's time to toss the meds and do my best to get the heck out of bed. Tomorrow I see the Dr. to get the 13 staples that are holding my knee together removed. They're driving me nuts. My knee looks like some kind of combination roasting chicken/Frankenstien. The bruises go from my ankle to the inside of my upper thigh. You'd think I got hit by a truck.
I'm totally frustrated and fed up and having some kind of reaction to the Darvoset they prescribed for the pain. I'm having auditory hallucinations and twitches, and crap mood swings because it's interacting with my sanity meds. Not Good. So tomorrow I ask to talk to pain management and do something about not taking any pain meds. Let it never be said that I'm addicted to pain meds. Paper, yes. Relationships, yes. Shopping, yes. But pain meds, absolutely not. I hate the stuff, hate the way it makes me feel, hate the way I zone out, hate what it does to my stomach, hate what it does to my poor liver...hate it all. So here's to tomorrow, may it be a staple and pain med free day.

Post Surgery day 5

Not much energy to type. This is the first time I've logged on to a computer since Monday the 19th. Just checking my mail has wiped me out. Been pretty much binging on DIY and HGTV, sleeping, eating an sleeping for the past 5 days. Will write more when I'm not drugged into a stupor. All I can say is that I'm in so much pain it's not worth being awake. bones on fire...agony, itching, drowsiness,and more bone deep agony. At what point is this supposed to help? discomfort no matter how i sit or lay. Nothing brings lasting relief...not even sleep. I refuse to speak to my knee ever again.

Another post without pictures

Well, I've gotten started on the Basic Grey challenge. I'm not sure if I'll get it done on time but I think it really needs to get done either way. This is going to be one of those cathartic projects, I can already tell.
I spent an hour slicing and dicing with my nested file folder Coluzzle template. Man, that thing is so cool. Since I'm not allowed to have a die cut machine until after Christmas (this particular restraint having been mandated by the hubby) I rely on my various Coluzzle templates to mass produce pretty paper items like tags, library pockets and cards, and nesting file folders. I also have some hearts, stars, and puzzle pieces that I love. So I've knocked out about 7 file folders of various sizes. I think I'm going to go with a 8"x8" album format. I want this album to be simple, stark and striking. Ooooo Alliteration. I want the focus to be on the subject, not the art. Usually I'm pretty artsy fartsy and fuss with composition, framing, color schemes and all kinds of other persnickity details. Since I'm limited in my paper and embelishment choices I'm going to rely on the journaling and photos to carry this project.
So I'm playing with paper actively again. YAY. Did I get any of the stuff I was supposed to get done at work done? Um...no. I did spend a few hours at the sizzix machine pounding out felt shapes...and then I promptly FORGOT THEM at work! I won't be going back for them until either this weekend or Monday. That burns my nerves because I really wanted to get some packages ready before my surgery so that I'd have to do a minimal of moving during my recovery. I'm sure I'll get impatient and head into town tomorrow or Thurs to get the stuff because it'll drive me nuts!

So that's all the news for today...I'm off to go pass out for the night.

Being Remiss

Not only did I not post this weekend, I also have not been posting any paper work on here. What a sad state of affairs. I have a good reason though (notice the lack of the word Excuse here). So here's the deal. I was sick all weekend (some kind of medicine mixup) so I pretty much slept Saturday and Sunday...so no posting there.

I have also been completely uninspired where the papercrafting goes. So I'm taking a hiatus for a bit. Now when I say hiatus I mean that I'm not going to be embarking on any really big paper projects, but that I'm still sketching, still handling paper, and still in love with it. I just don't get any itchy fingers when I look at it at the moment. Right now I'm engrossed in making dolls for Emily and other crafty items involving fabric, scissors and needles.

At the moment I'm preffering Bienfang's Notes Sketch Book because of the divided sketch/writing space and the fact that it's made of recycled papers. The paper has very little tooth so I get alot of gliding action with a pencil. Erasing's easy on it too. I've been in love with these for quite a few years and found it super helpful when planning my wedding. I'd cut magazine clippings and stick them in the sketch section and make notes in the notes section. The recycled aspect is an added bonus. It's hard to find a really good recycled sketch book other than the ones made of kraft paper . Both are wonderful and serve different purposes.

And speaking of Kraft paper, my desk here at work is covered in the stuff in order to allow me to sketch with abandon whenever the whimsy strikes. At first I got funny looks from my co-workers (I'm currently working at a tech. company) but I've also recieved compliments on my creativity. When it gets jammed with sketches and notes I'll take a pic and post.

What are YOU doing to help?

I've been holding back on this post because of how emotionally charged the whole subject is...but I just can't do it anymore. Forget all the political and personal opinions, we're all human here. It shouldn't be a matter of wether or not you're going to help, but what you're going to do to help. That's all I have to say. Here are some links. Do something.




A blog with live feed of downtown NOLA and pretty good daily updates.

Swap Blog is up!

click here to check it out. Over the next week or so there are going to be a whole lot of items on there, but I can only do 1 swap a week due to my absolute lack of time. I'll process the swaps in the order I recieve them.

In all the rush to get stuff done I forgot to mention that I figured out how to cut felt on a Sizzix die cut machine. How nifty is that? I think it's my new applique trick. Never heard of a Sizzix? Click here to check it out. Scrapbookers LOVE the thing. I don't have one personally, but I do have access to the one at the art store and let me tell you, that thing is AWESOME! I wind up using it for all kinds of projects, not just scrapbooking. And speaking of which...when was the last time I posted anything about paper on here? Isn't this supposed to be a papercentric blog? How embarassing.

To Hoard or not to Hoard

Ok so here's a jumble of stuff that I need to add to the list O things to do

Basic Grey submission
Take Ten submission
Clean out ribbon/scrap/fabric stash
Write documentation for work (Found documentation stored on server 9.09.05)
Take pictures of felty shapes (done! 9.08.05)
Take pictures of bear kits (done! 9.08.05)

Ok so I'm trying to clean out my stash so I can make some space for...well for all the stuff that's piling up. I'm running out of room for my paper projects, or my sewing project...it's one or the other at this point and that's no good. I want to be able to access all of it. My greatest fear is that I'll rid myself of a scrap or piece of fabric and then...months down the road go looking for it because it's the perfect print or texture for a project. I'll be in my drawers or bins digging around and then suddenly, like an epiphany gone wrong, I'll remember that I gave it away. I know your stomach is dropping in sympathetic horror at the thought. Some of you may even be groaning. Be brave. These are things we all have to face at some point or another. To keep or not to keep, therein lies the crux of the problem. Do I hoard on the off chance that one day I'll need that 3" length of puce ribbon, or do I make it go away and revel in the space I've freed up?
Here's what I'll do, I'll go through all of my stuff and start a swap pile. I'll take pictures of all my swap items and I'll start a swap blog here. Maybe then I'll be able to swap for all the cute little creatures I see online. No more bags though, I have a trunk of those that's taking up space in a rarely opened closet.

Fall's almost here

So I decided to make a little color scheme change. How do you like it? I think it's rather appropriate.

To Do

I have a thousand unfinished projects and I keep forgetting about them as I get inspired and start another...so I'm putting a To Do list up here to keep me on track and for accountability's sake. They're not in any priority order.

Church Dolls
Bunny Doll
Doc Litchfield's book
The Paris book
Mail off Paula's tags (still!)
Cut up lace and fabric for swaps
Felt Card holders
Trim/Accent tags
World's Wierdest News Day book
Studio Art Sign
Paper List
Paper samples
Paper storage

I should probably put the sewing projects off until after my surgery so that I have stuff to do while I'm laid up. So...yeah. UGH! I may wind up adding to this list and removing things from the list as I update and go along. Stay tuned for further procrastination from yours truly.

The Forced Vacation

So this labor day my husband told me that I had no choice, I was GOING to his parent's place. And you know what? I'm glad he did. Visiting the inlaws is never a burden for me. They have a guest house that we crash in and they keep Emily in the main house with them, so it's like a mini vacation every time we go. Labor day is always an anticipated event as well, because of the Labor Day Flea Market and Gun Show in Hillsville VA. You can literally find ANYTHING there. I managed to net the haul above with only $11.50 USD. There are more pictures of the flea market and detailed pics of my find on Flickr. Click here to check 'em out. Em and I had a great time. I'm also offering up 3 yards of the lace and a fat quarter from each yardage of fabric/ lace shown for swap. First come first serve. Just leave a comment and let me know if you're interested. Ok, now I need to go eat.