Thursday, May 22, 2014

Countdown to August

It's still May, but August is only a little over two months away.  Around here, August means Stampaway in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I mention it every year, and I have missed going only a couple of years.  One year, I even went with a broken wrist and took the classes I had signed up for.


After an absence from teaching for many years, I am once again teaching a class this year.  The Agenda Book is one of my favorites, and I have so many ideas for themes for it.  So, if you are looking for a fun book class, it will be on Thursday, August 7th.

The only down side is that Gaye and I have always helped out in each other's classes. This year, however, her Metal ATC class is the same time as my book class. Bummer... but we will get by.  Both are great classes if I do say so my own self!

More Stampaway info is here:  StampawayUSA

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Off With Its Head

Not really... I did not chop anyone's head off.  But I did print a picture of that cat thingy from the last post and used the head for a mailing label.  That head is just too cute not to use. 
That's another area where I have gotten ideas from Gaye - she sees body parts in everything, and I ended up making a cat body to send her something in the mail.  Even the necklace is actually two crowns punched out then turned upside down.

When I was at Gaye's last week, I got to see the faces she has been drawing.  She wanted to learn to draw faces and just sat down and taught herself.  She has worked hours and hours on these, then made her own collage sheets of the faces.  Below are some tags she made with them.  Pretty impressive!
I just found out it is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day - not sure how that got by me, but I may have to go to the store, cause it's kind of late in the day to be making cookies!  Celebrate among yourselves!!

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Cat's Meow

Lately, I've been so busy with new job, new training, and being out-of-sync with my routine, it seems like I'm not doing anything fun at all.  So it's always a treat when I can schedule a visit to friend Gaye's house even if we don't do anything special or make anything.

No only that, but it's yard sale season again, and she is the queen of finding good stuff at yard sales.  Sometimes she brings home something because it is too good to pass up, then can't find a good place for it.  Like this jewelry holder....
I can see how she ended up bringing it home. Even though she is not a cat person, who could resist that sweet cat face!  The top rack even spins around. Naturally, since I *am* a cat person, it ended up coming home with me instead.

But I'm afraid once Gaye realizes it is not a jewelry holder at all, but a washi tape holder, she will want it back!!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Story Within a Story

Even though I have a Kindle and read a lot of books electronically, I am still a huge fan of Real Books. The kind you can hold in your hand.  I also found I don't like art books on my Kindle.

I do often use Amazon for buying books, and you know how they are good about convincing you since you bought This, you would surely be interested in That, because other people who bought This were interested in it. One day, a book popped up on the recommendation list that I had never heard of.  The title is simple "S".  One of the authors caught my eye: J J Abrams.  He was involved in some of my favorite TV shows, like Lost and Fringe.

The book is described this way:
A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.
It was also described as being similar to Nick Bantock's Griffin & Sabine series, with loose postcards and notes throughout the book.

Unfortunately, it was not in stock.  I clicked on "yes" to notify me when it was back in stock.  I was very patient.  Months went by until a copy was available.

It looks like an old library book, with an embossed design on the fabric-like cover and yellowed pages inside.  It came in a slip cover, and I hated to even break the seal on the cover because it was so cool. 
I don't know how to read this book.  Do I read the book itself, then go back and read the notes? Do I read them all together?  I haven't figured that out yet.  
In the back is a cypher wheel.  I don't know yet what I'll need that for.  It may take me  a long time to get that far!

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Signs of Spring

I have been confused by spring this year.  It was such a cold winter. Then it got warm, then cold again, repeat, repeat...  My lilacs usually look like this, but kind of wimped out this year and didn't look like this at all.
One of my rites of spring is the E-cycle event held once a year.  It is a good place to get rid of unused electronic equipment. This year I was able to ditch my old printer, a couple of old keyboards, and other smaller items.  I think there was a dial-up modem in there too.  I takes only about 5 minutes to drive up to the line, pull up to the drop-off point, then several guys converge on my car, open the trunk, and wisk everything away to be recycled. Done and gone... It's a win-win for me.
I "donated" a box of old media, including some 3.5" disks.  These are the old kind with the metal thing on one end.  At the last minute, I decided I might need those metal things, maybe for altered books or something.  So I popped them off and kept a few.

Of course, this is my favorite spring item. 
Happy Derby everybody!!