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.