Dymo Letra to the Rescue

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I will be posting photos of my new-to-me office but here's a quickie I have to show you. There's a wall of filing cabinets in my office that pertain to my department, labeled by someone else. We all know I'm a little tightly wound when it comes to labeling. But pullease - how could anyone live with this??

Before.

After.

Yes, I had to make a new label for this cabinet. I even made this one on my home labeler, my beloved Dymo LetraTag. Posting this photo today reminded me to look online for why the print is lighter than usual. (I can live with light ink better than off-centered & weirdly cut.) First thing recommended is change the batteries so they are recharging as we speak. It takes 6, I didn't have enough spares already charged. But that's okay, I'm not expecting any labeling emergencies in the next 24 hours.

I was laughing out loud at myself when I took these photos at work the other day. Glad no one caught me. I wasn't sure that even the people that know I have a blog would understand why I felt the need to blog about inferior labels.

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Reggi is doing quite well today. She appreciates your well-wishes. She's on a painkiller and an antibiotic so she gets each one wrapped in a small piece of ham, twice a day. I think she's like a kid who got her tonsils out - just might be worth it for all the extra ice cream (ham) and attention she's getting.

October 2002

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Square Notes & Reggi

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I took Friday off to make myself a 4-day weekend. These are square designs awaiting assembly. I also cleaned up my studio a bit, ran some errands, did some laundry and threw in a bare minimum of house cleaning. In other words, I had myself an old fashioned Stefani Day.

~ ~ ~

The other reason I took today off was to take Reggi to the vet for a little surgery. She had fatty cyst on her shoulder that the vet drained a couple of weeks ago and a wart between her toes. The vet found another growth that she also tried to biopsy but it was kind of deep and she was afraid it was near a lymph node. So it made sense to have all 3 removed at once and have her teeth cleaned.

I wouldn't let Steve go with me when I took Reggi to the vet to have this stuff checked out a couple of weeks ago because he says there's a $ figure that's not okay to spend on a dog. I know that. But I don't know what the number is yet and I'm a financially responsible member of this partnership. Anyway, I didn't even ask the vet how much it was going to cost. So there.

Then . . . between the last appointment where Dr. Drouin checked her out and her surgery appointment today - another growth popped up rather quickly on the top of her head. It was hard as a marble. Dr. Campbell biopsied it yesterday morning when I took Reggi in and she said it was a cell mass, aka cancer. Dr. Drouin, who was going to do the surgery confirmed it (but they'll send it to the lab, to be sure) but said 95% of the time, surgical removal cures it. She said Reggi might have more pop up - one of her dogs has had 4 or 5. She said it's really nothing to worry about.

I made calls to both Steve and Simon as I drove home from the vet. I swear I was fine until I heard their voices. I had the tiniest of cries, was nicely reassured by both of them and went on with my day. I know Reggi will be just fine and live a long healthy life with us.

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"Green" Holiday Cards

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I love these cards that I saw in a catalog that came to work yesterday.

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Ghost Eggs

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I swear, I don't know how I find this stuff! The video shows you how to write on an eggshell so the writing shows up only after the egg has been hardboiled and peeled. The writing appears on the egg itself. (That site full of videos will suck up your time before you know it. You've been warned.)

Then I went to Google Images to find the top photo of eggs - and I could spend days there, scrolling and scanning. How else would I have found something like the above star-shaped hard boiled egg? (Hard boil an egg as usual, peel it while it's still as hot as you can handle, put it into the mold and refrigerate for a while.)

Must turn off computer. Must get busy. Must turn off computer. Must get busy. Must turn off computer. Must get busy. Must turn off computer. Must get busy.

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Yellow Squash & Corn Casserole

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Yellow Squash & Corn Casserole from Julia Johnson, AllRecipes.com.

I'm out of practice and need to brush up on my food photo skillz. The macro shot was unusable.

I used regular corn, not cream-style corn and I used a bit of Splenda instead of sugar. Oh, and Colby Jack cheese because I didn't have any Parmesan. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. ;-) This was so delicious, I'll be taking it to work for lunch this week. Even Steve, a vegetable non-eater declared it, "not bad". Higher praise for vegetables, you'll not come by from him.


I watched part of the Democratic convention last night because I wanted to see the tribute to Ted Kennedy. It was fairly moving but what really got to me was watching an emotional Maria Shriver watch her uncle & extended family. I feel like I "know" her from her friendship and interviews with Oprah. I still don't quite get what she sees in Arnold but it must be something. Still, she seems like someone you could just hang out with. (If you're Oprah, I mean.)

I said to Steve that these political conventions should be produced by some former Olympic organizers and/or Olympic television producers. Not that they need the same entertainment value, but man oh man, the production could definitely use some tightening up. Way too much wasted time between events. I haven't watched any conventions in years but the delegates are still way too silly. I never understood that. Imagine being a foreigner seeing that for the first time. What the serious business of politics has to do with silly hats, I'll never know. It's embarrassing, quite honestly.

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Awaiting Glue & Embossed Foil Tape

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A box of Sticky Note & Greeting Card parts that I'll give to Jen today to assemble & glue for me. I'm starting another box for Pam for when she's home again next week. They glue the stitched circle to a scalloped circle to the Sticky Note cover or greeting card. Then I assemble the rest of the design elements and embellishments. Mom helps stitch the designs. I don't know what I'd do without them!

Aren't these beautiful? They are Altoid tins, covered with foil tape found at the hardware store (for furnace ducts I believe) and embossed with a dry ball point pen or stylus. The directions are here on CraftStylish, by Diane Gilleland, aka Sister Diane.

I first heard of Diane through an interview on a CraftSanity podcast. But I'd never really followed up to see her work or listen to her podcasts. I was about to say I'm off to iTunes to subscribe to her podcasts but I see I already have subscribed but haven't listened to them yet.

So many crafts, so little time.

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Paper and Stitch

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Paper and Stitch is another great site I found through the Google Alert I have set up to email me a daily list of blogs in which the word paper appears. Brittni Wood is an artist and high school art teacher who has a passion for promoting handmade art. She accepts submissions of sites to review and share with her readers so I submitted my website, shop and blog a few weeks ago.

Brittni emailed me yesterday to let me know my post is up! Please go see what she wrote about my work and feel free to leave a comment on her site.

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I posted the other day about Barack Obama meeting with specific supporters backstage before accepting the nomination for president. The man I mentioned, Eric Melder, must have a Google Alert set up for himself :-) because yesterday he left a comment on that entry.

This is Eric Melder from Carlisle, PA. Thank you for the kind words. Anthony and I are really excited to be attending the convention ... and by our opportunity to meet with Barack backstage just before he gives his historic acceptance speech before 75,000 people. Thanks again.

I love the Internet.


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Da Bears

I'm sharing this piece by Tom Sears in honor of Simon, his cousin Paul and honorary cousins Gershum & DJ, who went for a short camping trip in the Adirondacks this past weekend. Gretchen was worried they wouldn't take precautions against bears, because, and I quote, "They have half a brain between the 4 of them!"

To which Steve noted, "I think she's being fairly generous"

Me? I was so sick of Simon's mouthy attitude before they left, that I was thinking of the peace & quiet I'd get to enjoy if they were eaten by bears.

We kid because we love.


Black bears typically have two cubs, rarely one or three. In 2007, in northern New Hampshire, a black bear sow gave birth to five healthy young. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as four cubs but five was, and is, extraordinary.

I learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set myself a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom, no matter how much time and effort was involved. I knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark. After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for six weeks I had that once in a lifetime opportunity and photographed them in the shadows and dull lighting of the evening. Due to these conditions the photograph is a bit noisy as I had to use the equivalent of a very fast film speed on my digital camera. The print is properly focused and well exposed with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait.

I stayed in touch with other people who saw the bears during the summer and into the fall hunting season. All six bears continued to thrive. As time for hibernation approached, I found still more folks who had seen them and everything remained OK. I stayed away from the bears as I was concerned that they might become habituated to me, or to people in general, as approachable friends. This could be dangerous for both man and animal. After Halloween I received no further reports and could only hope the bears survived until they hibernated.

This spring, before the snow disappeared, all six bears came out of their den and wandered the same familiar territory they trekked in the spring of 2007. I saw them before mid April and dreamed nightly of taking another family portrait, an improbable second once in a lifetime photograph. On April 25, 2008 I achieved my dream.


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Rest in Peace, Denver Doug

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April 11, 1921 - August 19, 2008

Doug was a cyber friend to many with his positive attitude, his charming wit and his way with words. He kept an online journal for 8 years. That means he started it when he was 79! What a cool dude.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I'm proud to note both of my parents are in their 70s and fully computer literate.)

As with lots of things cyber-related, I can't remember how I got to know Denver Doug. We hung in the same circle - I can name at least 7 online journalists/bloggers off the top of my head, that we knew in common. He always left comments as he checked in with his friends, so I suspect that led me to his journal. He was always interested in meeting new friends so he followed my comment back to me.

He was even a Pine Tree Designs customer. I believe his last purchase from me was an anniversary card he had me design for his lovely wife, "Heather". My thoughts are with her and her family.

As I read the tributes to Denver Doug, my eyes may mist up a bit, but there's also a smile on my face.

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President Obama

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Happy Birthday, Mom!

Last week I did something I've never done before. Might even be hard to believe, but I've never donated money to a presidential candidate. Last week I gave Barack Obama some of my hard earned cash.

I also signed up to receive a text message on my phone when he announces his Vice Presidential candidate. Why? Because I can. I love technology and I love that his campaign is embracing it. (Text VP to 62262 or join at BarackObama.com.)

I've been following him on my new addiction, Twitter.

Senator Obama is meeting with 10 supporters backstage before he accepts the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. One of the chosen 10 is Eric Melder of Carlisle, PA. His bio is below and I've made bold the part I thought was very cool.

Eric Melder of Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Eric is a 59-year-old married father of three sons and a grandparent to seven grandchildren. A retired YMCA director, he has worked at Diakon Wilderness Center for the past 13 years counseling young men with drug, alcohol, and family problems. "The boys call me 'E-rock' and I do all I can to make a difference in their lives," writes Eric. A self-proclaimed "values voter" and evangelical Christian, Eric switched his allegiance from Mike Huckabee to Barack, convinced by Barack's ability to lead and build coalitions. Eric is bringing Anthony, a former student at the Wilderness Center, who overcame immense hardships, including an absent father and a drug-addicted mother, to ultimately become Program Director of the Center. "Barack needs to meet him," Eric says.

I can't remember if I blogged this thought a few months ago or not. But if I thought about it deeply, I could get a little teary at the thought that we had a woman and an African American running for president. I'm old enough to remember the ERA. I'm old enough to remember seeing a "Whites Only" sign on the laundromat door when we lived in Atlanta, Georgia. I had to ask Mom what it meant, because all I could figure out in my 7 year old mind was you could only wash your white clothes there, you had to take the rest of your clothes elsewhere, which made no sense to me. Turns out the real meaning made no sense to me either. Yeah, that's a cute kid story in a way but mostly it's meaningful because I remember it 45 years later.

My point is that I wasn't sure I would ever see this day. I can only imagine what Eric's friend Anthony is thinking. Not only is this possibly an event he likely thought never to happen in his lifetime, he gets to be a part of it and meet the man himself. Win or lose, Barack Obama running for president is life-changing, for a lot of people.
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Lesson Learned. Again.

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(Card by Brenda Dean. See below.)

Here's a lesson I haven't had to relearn in a long time: Trust Your Instincts. That's what they are there for.

I had a number of reasons not to participate in the craft show this weekend and only one reason why I should participate - to be a team player and support the store where I sell my Sticky Notes.

I should have acted in accordance with my instincts. That's how I try to live all parts of my life. No second guessing allowed. The show turned out to be every thing I thought it would be - with one additional little mishap thrown in, one I had never envisioned in the various scenarios I had for this show.

Traffic was very slow. Here it is late the next day and I haven't even counted my money yet. I know my sales covered my fee with some to spare but I haven't had the heart to count my money yet.

It was sunny, mid-70s, gorgeous, with a very slight breeze. A breeze that changed directions a few hours into the show and knocked over my black screen that holds my framed art. I had two pieces on the back side of it, just to add some color and entice people to enter the craft sale. Naturally those were the only pieces with glass in the frames so they shattered into smithereens. (Every other piece has Plexiglas.) I cut my finger starting to clean up the glass, but I deserved that for even trying to use my hands. (I can replace the glass, no big deal.)

A customer helped me pick up the framed art. Another customer offered to go into the store to get a broom & dustpan. I swear I was so shell-shocked that I never thought of getting a broom - thus the teeny cut on my finger. One of the women working in the store came out and swept up all the glass for me. Other vendors were very nice to me and came over to help too.

But all I could feel was humiliation, like I was a rank amateur. That's dumb but that's how I felt. A handful of other vendors who didn't have tents either so that shouldn't have bothered me. I was just not ready to invest in a tent I wasn't going to use for a year or more - if I ever start doing outdoor shows.

I then had to display my framed art flat on the table, thereby creating what I call "card table syndrome", definitely an amateur move. The funny thing is - the art got more noticed that way than when hung on the black screen! Guess I need to rethink my framed art presentation.

That standing screen was my only shade, and it offered very little shade at all. My face is very sunburned. I did remember to bring sunscreen but it was too little, too late, I'm afraid. (Other than that whole skin cancer possibility, I guess I can put "worked on my tan" in the positive column for the day.) :-)

The show ran 11:00-4:00 and about 3:00 the black clouds started rolling in. I kept a very careful eye on them and finally decided they weren't going to blow over. Or if they did blow over, there were plenty more behind them. So I called Steve to come pick me up and I started packing up. The thought of any of my inventory getting ruined by rain was too much to bear. (Another vendor left quite a bit earlier - not sure why she left.)

Naturally, it never rained and by the time Steve got there and we got the vehicle packed up, it was 4:00 and the show was over anyway. But that's another amateur move I would never do in a million years under any other circumstances - leave a show early.

To be fair, some positive things happened too. My booth was next to a mother-daughter team who called me last fall to ask about my experience at The Enchanted Rose Garden. It was right when I was going from being a renter to a consignor but I had nothing but positive things to tell them. I was glad to hear the store was working out for them.

I received a lot of positive reaction from new customers. The people who bought Sticky Notes (the only item that sold) bought them in multiples. One woman bought 4 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon.

Brenda stopped by to say hi and drop off a Stampin' Up catalog and samples - including a card she made for me - which has two techniques I'm totally going to steal. (Hi Brenda!) She contacted me through my blog a few weeks ago so we've been emailing but had never met before. Meeting her and talking paper crafts was the highlight of my day, which kind of astonished her, I think.

When I got home, I was happy to find an invitation to participate in Mercy High School's November show. That will make 8 straight weekends of shows Oct-Dec. I will be a head case for sure. God help Steve and Simon.

Some of this stuff would have happened even if I didn't do this weekend's show - but still, I'm glad there were some positives to the day.

~ ~ ~

We celebrated the August birthdays (Mom, Nick & Paul) with a family breakfast this morning at The Log Cabin. Speaking of being a head case, Steve and I arrived last, and as soon as I sat down, Mom and Gretchen asked how the show went and I burst into tears. Totally shocked me, as well as them, I'm sure. I was tired and depressed and even at 52, you still sometimes just need your mom, ya know? It was a very short-lived sniffle fest, thank God.

However, I finally got it all out a little while ago when Steve and I were watching my journalist -boyfriend-crush Bob Costas interview Michael Phelps and his mom. He loves his mom and she supports him. It was nice.

So I guess instead of being mad at myself for not following my instincts, I could say that it's nice to know my instincts were correct. They are trustworthy. I need to remember that.

~ ~ ~

(I did paint my office today and I'll post about that later, complete with before and after photos.)

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Dice Billboard & Office Work

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You know I'm a big fan of things made of odd materials. I found this on the Make blog. The caption said this bus stop billboard ad in Australia was made with 7,563 individual dice.

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Oy, it's going to be quite a day. I've been going in to work an hour early every day. I think I've mentioned that I've taken on some new responsibilities recently - our returns process. I'm enjoying it but I already had a full-time job, ya know?

Then is the week our department is moving into different offices. It's kind of a chain reaction that has to be done in a specific order. We're all staying within the same area, just switching around and compacting ourselves. I went in extra early yesterday and took breakfast bagel sandwiches to the 2 guys who are doing the heavy lifting for us. For one, it's his job; for the other, it's something he volunteered for. The sandwiches were well received.

Today is my turn to move into the office that my friend Jennifer vacated. I vacuumed last night before I left and I'll meet the guys there around 6:00 this morning. As tall bookcases and other things were moved out, I realized one of the walls is really scuffed up. So I went next door where two of the VPs were chatting and said, "Guess what?"

"I've become one of those employees. I want to paint my office."

They kind of laughed because some employees get really emphatic about the condition of the building. I'm not one of them. It's an older building, the owner is frugal, no point in getting all worked up about it.

I said that to them, half-joking, thinking there was no way they'd say yes without forming a committee, discussing it for weeks, having the CEO approve it, the works. They said the company would pay for the paint if I would do the painting. Hell yeah!

"But Stefani, black is out."

"I'm an eccentric artist! I must have color."

That's when they got scared, I think.

"Any non-beige color is fine with me," I said.

Then I realized I really only need to paint one wall, which is perfect because I really don't have time to paint the entire office. So I stopped at Home Depot on my way home last night to pick out some paint chips I think are close to the existing color. I'll figure out the right one today, then pick another color on the same strip, a bit darker. Then I'll go in Sunday morning and paint that wall. I need to do this quickly, before anybody changes their mind.

I did warn them that this would probably cause a chain reaction - other employees wanting to paint. But then I remembered that most employees won't be willing to paint. In a perfect world, that is the job of the landlord or the building maintenance guy. But our world ain't perfect and I want it badly enough to do it myself. And I like to paint.

Heck, a few years back, our building guy painted our ladies room for us, a lovely Periwinkle blue. So the day after Thanksgiving, when we are open but not busy, I painted the stall itself. I found the perfect co-ordinating fabric and Jen made a skirt for the sink.

Sometimes you just have to do it yourself.

So I started out by saying this is going to be quite a day. That's because I had the alarm set for 4:00 but woke up at 3:23 to go to the bathroom. Naturally my mind started racing about how I'm going to arrange my new office. Screw it, I finally just got up. Hope the adrenaline keeps me going all day.

So I guess I won't have much Olympics watching in my evening tonight. I better get to bed early because I've got this craft show to participate in tomorrow. The weather looks perfect, by the way - sunny and 70s.

3rd Annual Penfield Community Festival
Saturday, August 16
11:00-4:00
Heritage Park, Penfield

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Jan Huling

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Incredible beadwork by Jan Huling. Her work is very expensive and worth every penny I'm quite sure. Go look at her other work. This is "so me" it takes my breath away.

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3rd Annual Penfield Community Festival
Saturday, August 16
11:00-4:00
Heritage Park, Penfield

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I Love Etsy

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Today is the first day of the 5 day sale held by the EtsyBloggers team. I have to admit, the list of varied products and services is pretty impressive. You really should scoot over there and check the list of participating shops. I've already received 2 orders and I think I might part with a little of my hard-earned cash myself.

As I mentioned the other day - I'm offering free shipping on all orders August 13-17.

I had dinner with my friend Pam last night and she "berated" me for turning her on to the joys of Etsy. Her 2nd grandchild is on the way so she's all about baby things these days.

I'm so glad I finally drank the Etsy Kool-Aid!

Enjoy!

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3rd Annual Penfield Community Festival
Saturday, August 16
11:00-4:00
Heritage Park, Penfield

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Moose in the Sprinkler

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If I saw this scene in person, I know I'd be crying because the playfulness of these baby moose are almost too much to bear. Mama, on the other hand, is a little scary. My only moose familiarity comes from the opening of Northern Exposure but I know they are big creatures!

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3rd Annual Penfield Community Festival
Saturday, August 16
11:00-4:00
Heritage Park, Penfield

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Sales Galore

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As a member of the EtsyBloggers team participating in the 1st anniversary sale, I'm offering free shipping August 13-17.

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3rd Annual Penfield Community Festival
Saturday, August 16
11:00-4:00
Heritage Park, Penfield

My Sticky Notes are for sale at The Enchanted Rose Garden in Penfield - and Eileen Wrona,the owner, is holding a craft sale in her parking lot, which is right next to Heritage Park. I have never done an outdoor show and am not ready to step into that arena yet. There are enough indoor shows at this point to keep me more than busy, in addition to the day job.

Eileen has been talking to me about participating in her craft sale but I didn't feel it was fair to her for me to commit to it, then bail out if the weather was inclement. She suggested buying an inexpensive canopy but that wouldn't offer full protection. So I declined. But she's asked me a few times, saying she'd hold a spot for me and I could show up that day or not.

So I've been working on my inventory with that August 16th goal in mind and I'll keep my eye on the weather this week.

I've never been to the Penfield Community Festival but it looks to be a lot of fun: food, music, games, demos, craft sale, entertainment and more. Please stop by to say hello!

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Creative Food

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Mothering Instincts

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You might have caught this piece on the CBS news on Mother's Day. I'm a sucker for these baby animal stories. Some of the slides on my work screensaver are of unexpected animal pairings, like these.

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Glue, Airstream and TGIF

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Normally I stitch on my lunch hour at work. Yesterday I glued the stitched rounds to the scalloped pieces. Next I'll divide these up to make some into cards and some into Sticky Notes.

Btw, I highly recommend these "disposable" food containers for holding craft supplies and projects. They come in different sizes, they're cheap and you can easily see what's inside. I love them. (I don't know anyone who actually disposes of them - they last quite a long time.)

Remember when I posted about how cool an old Airstream would be for an office or studio? My friend Sue sent me a link about this new Airstream concept car. Pretty cool.

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Back in July I wrote about losing a rock star employee to my friend Jen's Human Resources department. Of her work that we divided up, I took on the Returns process. She's always said it consumes up to 80% of her day. I didn't have 80% to give, but neither did anyone else. And it's not a responsibility that can easily be divided between employees.

The process involves co-ordinating product returns between our customers, our sales people and our vendors - making sure the return happens within the allowable window, making sure the customer gets credited and that our vendor credits us. It turns out it's the kind of work I like - all that "managing by email" stuff - being very organized. But man, this learning curve is kicking my butt! I know I'll be good at this and it will all be routine, but all this thinking is wearing me out. By the time Friday rolls around, I'm really thankful there are only five work days in a seven day week.

And remember the mean bully of whom I've spoken? I suspect it will be the work I do for him that suffers, given my new responsibilities. I went on record with my boss about that yesterday. He didn't have a solution but I didn't expect him to. It is what it is for now.

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Carpooling

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A couple of weeks ago, I saw a piece on the local news about CarpoolWorld.com. It's just what you think - a free service that matches people who want to carpool. You can state if you want to be a driver, a rider or doesn't matter. I joined up, just to see. No matches for my times and locations. Good concept though. It's a subject I'd been thinking about for a while, wondering how could I find someone to carpool with.

The irony is that Steve works just around the corner from me but he works waaaay more hours than I want to so we rarely carpool. I wouldn't even mind going in an hour or so early like he does, but he also works about 1-1/2 hours later than I do and I just can't/won't do that.

Then a couple of days later I received an email from a woman who seemed to be a perfect match in all criteria. She gave me her phone number and asked me to call her. I replied with a plan I thought might work for us: I drive Monday & Tuesday, she drives Wednesday and Thursday and we don't carpool Friday. That way we share the expense and don't have to exchange funds. I need a day of not carpooling so I can do errands on the way home. I also do the company banking on Fridays so I need a car.

I emailed her my idea and promised to call her that night, which I did - left her voice mail. That was a week ago and she hasn't returned my call. Just as well. I wonder if she got cold feet too? There's something a little unsettling to me about giving up my independence, even for 2 good causes - the Earth and my bank account. But I would have done it with an open mind. It either would have worked for us or it wouldn't and we'd have stopped. While I was willing to give it a chance, I'm not trying to find another carpooler. Guess I'll leave it up to the universe - and carpoolworld.com - to see if someone else comes my way.

On a related note, as I was balancing my accounts last weekend I decided to see how much I've been spending on gas. January through July 2008 - I spent an average of $27/week for gas. That's not bad at all, all things considered. If I had not thought about it, I would have guessed off the top of my head closer to $40. But if I did think about it, I would realize I gas up about every 10 days or so and I think my personal best for a tank of gas in my little Saturn is $42. (Okay, I'm in accounting dammit, a stickler for accuracy - had to look it up. My all time high is $44.13.) Of course that $27 is an average over 7 months.

(Click cartoon to enlarge.)

Thanks to Brenda for pointing me to the run of Prius-related Cathy cartoons.

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Tissue Paper Carnations

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Aren't these tissue paper carnations beautiful? When I saw the subject of the Flower Week: Tissue Paper Carnations tutorial on my new favorite blog, Folding Trees, I thought they were going to be the carnations made with Kleenex folded accordion style, then fluffed out. I love these made of tissue paper - especially the delicate coloring on the edges. June finishes them off with wrapping the pipe cleaner stems with floral tape, which I think makes a big difference.

I have only begun to explore every inch of that website. Wow.

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Tulip's Treasure Box

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The other monthly requirement for Etsy Bloggers members is to spotlight the featured Etsy Blogger of the Month. For August, I'm pleased to introduce you to Lily.

Lily is a jewelry maker and her shop is called Tulip's Treasure Box.

"Beadweaving is my favorite form of artistic design and creativity, and is especially enjoyable when I am able to upcycle unused jewelry parts, as well as pieces created by other artisans . . ."

Last week Lily blogged about making this set.

The glass focal in the set is a tiny perfume bottle which comes with instructions and a tool for filling it with your favorite perfume.


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My Beloved Glue Bottle

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A few weeks ago I joined the Etsy Bloggers team. One of the requirements is that each member participate in one "carnival" per month. (There is a new carnival available every 2 weeks.) That just means you publish on your blog, an entry on one of the two topics offered - and post the link on the Etsy Bloggers boards for the other members to follow.

This month I'm writing about my favorite tool, my beloved tiny glue bottle. As you can see the top is plugged by a stainless steel straight pin so that tells you how tiny the opening is. This is what allows me to glue the teeny tiny pieces that I work with, beads too.

If you think (hope) it's not 100% necessary for the pin to be stainless steel, you'd be wrong. I lost the pin once, so I used a regular straight pin as an emergency replacement. And had to deal with rusty watery glue. Not good. So I bought an entire box of stainless steel pins, so I'm good to go should I lose one again. (It seems kind of amazing to me that I've only lost the pin once considering I've been using the bottle almost every day for a few years!)

(I use PVA, which is a thin, strong white glue. That's a question I get asked a lot.)

I was in a quilling Yahoo Group a couple of years back and learned of a company called Quilled Creations so I bought some supplies; paper, tweezers and the glue bottle, so I could give quilling a try. Surprisingly the package arrived the next day so I checked the return address and it was Fairport, NY! I'd been making the mandalas with the PVA glue poured on a piece of paper and applied with a toothpick. So I tried the PVA in the glue bottle and it was fantastic. Life changing, I dare say.

I've since bought a few more bottles - to use with paint - and to give to my friends who have been helping me with the gluing steps for my business. Alli Bartkowski, the owner, allows me to pick up my orders at her house, just a couple of miles from mine. (Her work and her products are all wonderful - check out her site. I just noticed today that I'm on her testimonial page!)

One of the tips Alli offers is when using the glue bottle, store it upside down in a glass on a piece of wet sponge to keep it from drying out. I found this shot glass I scarfed from Simon to be just the perfect size. (I eventually stopped using the wet sponge, doesn't seem to make a difference and it was more trouble than it was worth.)

On a side note, I remember when Simon bought this shot glass. It says VT on the side, for Vermont. One year Gretchen and I took the boys on one of our little trips to the Adirondacks. That year we took the ferry across Lake Champlain into Vermont to spend the day in Burlington.

On the ferry, Simon desperately wanted to buy a shot glass as a souvenir. He was way under age for drinking (he was maybe 14 or 15) and I was convinced that buying that shot glass would be a slippery slope into drinking. Even I could sort of tell I was overboard on the subject so I got over it and let him buy it. I even bought him 1 or 2 more when I traveled out of town in subsequent years.

He never developed the shot glass collection he thought he would. And while he is still under the drinking age for a few more months, he appears to be a responsible drinker. For a teenage boy especially. This could be a subject for a whole 'nother entry but my observation is that kids today are far more responsible than my generation was 100 years ago.

So yeah, that glue bottle is indispensable to me! I'm glad I have some spares in stock. I can't imagine life without it.

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