CranioSacral Therapy

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After Mary mentioned CranioSacral Therapy in yesterday's comments I had to look it up. I read that it's good for stress & emotional release, among a host of other ailments.

The CranioSacral Therapy practitioner works with the patient to assist the body’s self-correcting mechanisms. Generally using about five grams of pressure, or about the weight of a nickel, the practitioner evaluates the body’s craniosacral system. Due to its gentleness and effectiveness, many people include CST as a component in their personal wellness programs. They report having more energy, sleeping better and being sick less often.

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I'm not very good at these memes but Krissie tagged me so I guess I'll give it a shot.

WHAT WERE THREE THINGS YOU WANTED TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?

1. A teacher. (I guess - I used to play teacher with my best friend a lot. Maybe we just didn't know what else to play. School was what we knew.)

2. Mary Richards (as played by Mary Tyler Moore)

YOU CAN RELIVE ONE DAY FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD, WHICH ONE WOULD IT BE?

A summer day at Granny & Grandad's house in southern Illinois, playing with Gretchen and our cousins, Scott & Joni. We'd read comic books, swing on the tree swing, play croquet, eat sno-cones and "headache pills" (M & Ms) and end the day with catching lightning bugs in empty Miracle Whip jars.

YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES (& MOVER WITH YOU IF YOU NEED HEAVING LIFTING HELP) TO GRAB 5 THINGS FROM YOUR HOME BEFORE IT MORPHS INTO A POLKA DOTTED HOBGOBLIN & HOPS AWAY. WHAT WILL YOU TAKE(FOOD/DRINK/FAMILY/FRIENDS EXCLUDED)?

1. Reggi

2. Venus

3. Verona

4. My laptop

5. My digital camera

HAVE TO PAINT ONE QUOTE ON YOUR KITCHEN WALL, WHAT IS IT GOING TO BE?

This too shall pass.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU WANT TO HAVE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE END OF THE YEAR?

I want to have multiple "income streams" for Pine Tree Designs.

YOU ARE MOVING TO THE MOON FOR ONE YEAR & CAN ONLY BRING ONE FLOWER WITH YOU, WHAT KIND WOULD IT BE?

A Black-Eyed Susan.

YOU HAVE RECEIVED WORD THAT AS WELL AS THE FLOWER, YOU CAN ALSO BRING FIVE BOOKS, WHICH ONES WILL YOU BRING?

1. Gretchen's Prairie Points.

2. A dictionary.

3. Any book by Dr. Phil.

4. Any paper art book.

Like I said, I kinda suck at these things, don't I?

The Weekend

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I did it! I like it. I had a brainstorm after the other quilled balloon cards that I wasn't 100% happy with - make the card taller! The balance is better and I can use the long twisty "strings" that I think look cool. It took me about 9-10 balloons until I got these three to work. I still need to practice, practice, practice, but I'm on my way.

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Ann asked if the Friday night massage maybe triggered some of the emotion last week. All my emotion happened days before the massage. I've heard that massage can do that though (Stephanie, I think you've mentioned it) - where a massage releases all the whatevers that reduces one to tears.

The thing is I had myself a good little cry at my desk Friday about 4:30. No one saw me, thank God, which is important to me. Love a good cry, really rather not do it at work. I called Steve for a phone hug and he made it all better.

I walked into the massage therapy place and told Mary I wanted her to massage me until I cried. I was stressed out and really wanted to lose it. Got it?? She said okay, she'd do her best. We were kind of laughing about it. After the massage she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't make you cry. Are you okay with that?" I told her I had a little cry at my desk before I arrived there so I must have peaked too early.

Maybe next time.

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Yesterday morning, Steve and I took a little road trip in the morning out to Pultneyville and Sodus Point - about 45 minutes from here. I'd had an email from a fellow crafter who told of a store in Pultneyville that was now carrying her work. So I wanted to check the place out to see if my work would be a good fit there. It's called The Artist's Loft so I thought it might carry unique work that you don't see in regular gift shops. My handcrafted cards don't always compete well with mass produced, inexpensive cards. Plus I'd love to sell some framed pieces too.

My friend Jen lives out that way so she told me of 3 other stores in that area. She also gave us a couple of recommendations for breakfast so we stopped at Gus's Restaurant* on Route 104 for breakfast. It's a drive from our house but it's definitely going into our usual breakfast rotation. Our breakfast arrived so fast we thought they must have brought us someone else's food. And they have thick country toast which is always a key factor for us. And it was toasted to perfection. I like my toast in the same room with the toaster, but not actually placed in the toaster, you see.

These towns I mentioned are on Lake Ontario - and the stores are closed for the winter. I didn't even think of that! The one I really wanted to see however, is open but their weekend winter hours are 3:00-7:00 on Saturday and Sunday. So I'll take a drive out there some other time.

Even though it was a pretty gray day and we didn't accomplish what we set out to, we had a good time on our little drive. We picked a good day to do it, as it turns out, looks like we got 5" or 6" of snow last night and it's really windy again.

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* Gus's Restaurant is spelled that way, rather than Gus' Restaurant. Is that one of those things that's right either way or the rules have changed over the years or anything? I'm sort of a stickler about spelling and punctuation (and thus have "hired" Mom to proof my journal entries - she's the Queen of Proofing). Did I ever tell you about the new store that opened in Fairport last year? It was called Season's of Fairport. Their large professional sign over the store said Season's of Fairport. I flipped out! I had to tell Mom and Gretchen about it since that kind of thing bugs all of us. Gretchen tried to reason that maybe it was run by a family named Season. The next time I drove by the store, the sign had been fixed. I wonder how many comments they got on that thing. I know there are lots of us sticklers around.

Furthermore, on our Saturday road trip, I stopped to get gas. While I was pumping, I noticed the sign on the pump offering a savings of 8/100ths of a penny per gallon if you also use their car wash. Hardly seems worth it does it? The sign was like this: dollar sign .08 cent sign. Huh?

Grrrrrgggh!

Glitter

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I've never been a big fan of glitter until I saw the high end glitter offered by the Art Institute Glitter - probably on The Carol Duvall Show is where I first saw it. They offer something like 375 colors and an ultra-fine metal tip applicator, which allows for some very fine detail. The butterfly on the left is beautiful but add the glitter, on the right and you've got wow. (Photo from their website.)

I was poking around their website today and found this product called Fantasy Film. Nine glorious colors that will bring spark and pop to all your projects. Crush it, sew it, press it, cut it, wash it. Transparent, luminous, radiant and unique. I'm not sure I have a use for it just now but it sure is a cool thing to know exists.

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So last week was the week from hell. Work stuff and Steve has family stuff going on. The week even started out bad, in that I found myself with some PMS tendancies - insulted a friend on Saturday, screamed at Steve (yes, screamed) on Sunday and Monday I got so mad at something at work I was ready to quit that committee I told you I've loved serving on. I haven't had PMS in years so it took those three events to happen before I even recognized it. Kinda freaked me out, it did. I thought those days were over.

I thought maybe it was menopause related, whacked out hormones or something, so I called my gynecologist. I'm seeing her at the end of April but I decided I couldn't wait that long - so I ended up seeing the nurse practicioner on Wednesday. We discussed current medication, mood swings, etc. She sent me for bloodwork on Friday to see if we can determine exactly where I am in the menopause cycle since one of the medications I'm on masks the symptoms. And get this, she suggested I talk to my counselor to see what else is going on. She means, Debbie, the counselor I've seen on and off for 14 years. I saw her for a little less than a year when I was divorcing my husband and then mostly just once a year for what I jokingly refer to as my "spring tune-up". The nurse practioner thought maybe I even have some Seasonal Affective Disorder going on. It doesn't feel like that to me, but maybe it's time to admit there might be something to that. I was looking in my checkbook and I see that I typically see Debbie in March or April of each year.

I love Debbie, I love talking to her - I learn something from her every time I see her. I'm usually the first one to go running to her when I feel "stuck" on something. I couldn't figure out why it surprised me that it was suggested I speak with her. Then I started listing all the stress that finds itself in my life right now. It's not stuff I can write about on the Internet (nothing serious, Mom, Dad & Gretchen - I'm fine, Simon's fine - just life stuff).

I left Debbie voice mail on Wednesday - she hasn't returned my call - probably on vacation since it's Winter Break week here. Once I settled in on the notion of talking to her, I'm very much looking forward to it. I realized I've been in plate spinning mode. I'm doing fine if I keep moving, but if I slow down, the plates will all crash.

You know that burnout prevention thing I've been doing because I've been working so many hours? Guess I need a little more of that. Here's the part about work that I can talk about. Remember I said my accounts receivable counterpart is out on indefinite medical leave? Finally got a date when she might be back. May. Yep, May, as in 3 more months. She needs another surgery for her eyes. She stopped in Friday - she's not happy about it either - she's going crazy at home - but she has bad double vision so she can't work, even if her doctor allowed her to return to work. After she left, my boss stopped in to see me. I told him we have to do something and he said I can hire a temp but he wants to run it by the CEO first. I'm sure it will be okay but you better believe I'm going to be in his office first thing Monday morning, making sure we move on it. There will, unfortunately, be a long learning curve with our accounting software but better to bite that bullet sooner rather than later. My insidious plan is to hire someone so crackerjack that we need to keep her on even when my co-worker returns to work. We'll see.

So next week? Not so many hours, no matter how nice the money is. More paper art, less desk work.

Friday night? I had an hour massage right after work. It was the best I've had in years - literally! This is only the second time I've gone to this woman - but I bought a 6-hour package at a reduced rate - so I guess I'm stuck going to her 5 more times, darn it. She's the one that uses hot stones. This time, she did this thing called Vibration that I've never heard of before. She said my back was full of knots so rather than working forever on some of them, she places a hot stone over the knot and bangs it, pretty hard, with another stone. It sounds really loud, like you're being stabbed to death, but damn, it works great. I like it because it's so serious - "Knot - get the hell out of here!" She also does Reiki, which I'm going to try sometime. Like on a vacation day (which I'm determined to take sometime before May, believe you me!) - I'll get a morning appointment and get the Reiki treatment.

On my way home I stopped at Cole & Parks and picked up my dinner to take home. I had a BLT Pannini, the same sandwich I had when Mom & Gretchen and I had lunch there a couple of weeks ago. And . . . a slice of Chocolate Obession. Magnificent! It's a small, dense piece of dark chocolate torte.

Now that is a Stefani Night!

Happy Birthday!

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I was going for whimsical. It ended up busy and not at all graceful like quilling should be. Practice, practice, practice. (I joined that quilling Yahoo group and have seen lots and lots of quilling over the last few days. So far I've resisted the temptation to post any more of those examples here.)

So I tried just one balloon, using the green ivy paper I'd been saving for this special friend. Much better. (I'm sorry the card will be late, my friend. I know you understand but I still regret not getting this to you tomorrow. I hope your birthday weekend is wonderful!)

Happy Birthday, Nantz!!!

More Quilling

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Photos courtesy Card Inspirations. This is a great site btw, for all sorts of high quality craft work. (Is this the site you turned me on to, Krissie? If so, thanks again!!)

In answer to the inquiries about quilling, it is indeed the art of paper filigree. Thin strips of paper are rolled into different shapes, which are used to make designs.

You can use a slotted quilling tool or a needle with a big eye or a toothpick to roll the paper strips. Obviously the slotted quilling tool is the easiest. Right tool for the job and all that. You need glue, a needle tool (a thin needle stuck in a handle) and tweezers are helpful.

I have not used a design board but I can see that it would be helpful in making sure your coils are all identical for certain projects.

This tool is for fringing strips of paper, useful in making some flowers, for instance.

(Tool photos courtesy Lake City Craft Company.)

This is a sunflower I made last year. Trying it makes one appreciate how effortless the pros make it seem! It's not rocket science but like anything, requires practice.

In researching this entry I see there's a Yahoo group for quillers. I think I'll go join. I'm already a member of three other Yahoo paper-related groups - paper folding, Kirigami and die cuts plus the Professional Greeting Card group. I'm going to have to lose the day job just to keep up with the email from these groups. Maybe I should look into a 12-step program for paper addicts.

Nah.

Quilling

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Jacqueline Lee is a quilling artist I saw on a Carol Duvall Show I watched yesterday. She made a bunch of birthday stuff that was cute, but not cutesy.

I made some balloons while watching her (these are hers, not mine) so I'd remember how. I need a little more practice but they are lots of fun.

These strips of paper are 1/8" wide so this cake isn't much more than 1" tall, I bet. Look at those tiny candles! You know how I loves teeny tiny.

These candles are maybe 1" tall or so, including the flame. I added her book to my Amazon wish list, then looked more closely at it and took it off. I guess her other work is nice, but those googly eyes on everything doesn't suit me.

Check out this Victorian fan I found while poking around online. This is from a book by Jane Jenkins. Mighty impressive.

Neat & Tidy

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Both of these craft photos actually make my heart beat a little too fast. Little matching containers and drawers are very cool. Fill them with craft supplies and I think I'm gonna die.

Photos courtesy of this link provided to me by my friend Ann. The room belongs to Benita and you can see more of her studio here along with her wonderful scrapbook work.

This reminds me of a funny conversation Steve and I had last weekend. We were walking Reggi along this greenway path out by Lollypop Farm. One of the houses that backs up to the path had a little outbuilding in it's backyard, about the size of a garage, I'd say.

Stefani: That would make a nice studio for me, if it was attached to the house, I mean.

Steve: Why? If you had a bathroom and refrigerator, you'd be all set. What else do you need?

Stefani: Um, my family!

I may enjoy my solitude but I don't want to be that isolated!

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Lunch with my 3 friends yesterday was a lot of fun - 3 hours worth! Three of us have teenagers, two of us have toddlers. (Yes, one has both.) So as usual there was lots of kid talk. Guess what I had to eat? Mozzarella Sticks! The epitome of a gall bladder free life! I haven't had them in at least 6 years and they have been my goal since I had my gall bladder removed. Pair that with sweet potato fries and well, let's just say they didn't cause me any pain, but I was glad to get home fairly quickly after digesting them, if you catch my drift. They have never been and won't be a regular part of my diet but I feel like I reached a milestone yesterday! Funny the things we get in our head.

Angels

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Fairport 64.

That's what I saw on the weather map on TV yesterday morning. "Oh yeah, I remember it was going to be unseasonably warm then drop 30 degrees today." Then I learned that was the miles per hour of the wind in Fairport, not the temperature.

We lost power from 7:20 am until about 6:00 pm. I ate my dinner by the glow of my email on my laptop which worked out fine. It's a good way though, I found, to drop pulled pork pizza on your shirt, eating in the dark like that. You can't see any dangling food parts until they drop! Simon and Steve were both working.

It's still fairly windy this morning and now that the snow as kicked in, I can't see across the street. The wind is so loud, it sounds like a freight train running by. I can't imagine what it would sound like if these windows weren't so nice and tight. In my young adulthood I lived in houses where you could see the curtains move with the rattling windows closed.

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Work continues to be a bear, more than I care to admit. I want people to think I'm carrying this heavy load with grace & dignity. My body knows differently apparently because I threw my back out in the shower Thursday morning. Just a little. I thought it was a muscle spasm or something and would go away. Thursday night I soaked in the hot tub and had a good night's sleep on our wonderful new bed and it felt marginally better. Friday morning I was leaning on the kitchen counter and felt a pop in my back. Voila! I was cured! I've never been to a chiropractor but I know people who go are big believers. I still feel a tiny bit of pain residue, from my muscles being tight, compensating for whatever it was that happened, I guess. But it's no big deal.

One thing I have definitely become more conscious of in the last couple of years is how important burnout prevention is. Earlier in the week I was at my desk working as early as 5:45 am. Yeah, I know that's crazy. But Thursday and Friday I didn't go in until my normal time of 8:00. So I got to spend a couple of hours crafting and watched Tivoed craft shows. A little Stefani Time goes a long way. It would probably make sense to keep my hours more even, like go in at 7:00 every day instead of such varied hours but I really just do whatever feels right at the time. Sometimes I can't wait to get there and dig in. Other times, not so much.

Someone else in our office spoke with my Accounts Receivable counterpart the other day and it looks like her medical leave will continue indefinitely. Her vision is not better, maybe worse and she may have another surgery coming up. I'll speak with her this week after she sees her doctor on Tuesday to get a better idea of what's going on. Like I said, she covered for me for 3 weeks in December and I've covered for her for two previous eye surgeries so this is just how it goes sometimes.

I've been working on more paper embroidery stuff. The little angels in front are for cards for an order (Stephanie, I swear I'll ship your order this weekend - I mean it!). The large pieces in the background will become cards or framed pieces. (Mom, I can't remember if I answered your email about a pink framed piece - but of course the answer is: sure!) I've been trying to have embroidery pieces ready to pick up at any time so I can work on them while Steve & I watch TV, for example. I'm so loving this variegated thread. I've never seen the colors sold individually, only packaged together but I haven't looked very hard either. I haven't looked online yet and you know there ain't nothin' you can't find online.

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I'm going out to lunch today with 3 friends which is always such a good time. It's literally: we laugh, we cry. We've always gotten together at each other's homes but decided to go out to a restaurant today. I'm going to order the cheesiest thing offered on the menu! I may not be the healthiest eater for the moment, but I'm loving the gall-bladder-free life, just as everyone told me I would.

Happy Valentine's Day

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I gave Steve movie gift certificates for Valentine's Day. That's real popcorn glued in place.

Steve gave me a Cuddle Blanket. It's a lap-size soft burgundy fleece with a big pocket for your feet at the bottom and a pocket on the front for the remote or a book or something. In spite of being an overweight menopausal woman whose thermostat is stuck on medium high at all times, I do like to sit under an afghan or quilt while reading or watching TV. This is perfect!

This is one of the very few cards I've made for Steve. He's never given me cards (maybe in the very beginning he did, I can't remember 13 years ago to be honest), so I don't think he's a card person. Once I started making cards, he probably became less inclined to give me a card. But I've decided to start making cards for him.

Simon, on the other hand, is an excellent card picker outer. He goes for mushy every time. Nearly always brings a tear to my eye because each card is so appropriate. I keep them all.

In other news, Steve bought us a king-size bed the other day and I bought Simon a full-size bed. Our bed has been giving us both backaches and gets a little crowded when the pets sleep with us (which we love, by the way). Simon has been asking for a bed for well over a year. He's had a futon since we moved here 6 years ago and with the amount of use it's gotten by him and his posse over the years, it's pretty shot too.

Both are being delivered tonight. We put Simon's futon downstairs by the pool table and they will haul our old bed away. I'm sure it's true for everyone, but new mattresses are purchased so infrequently, it's kind of an education, learning about the new "technology". And it's just plain weird to try out the beds in the store. The salesperson told us one really needs to relax on a bed for 15 minutes to let your body get accustomed to it. Uh, no. I feel self-conscious enough, like a turtle on my back, trying to gracefully get out of the comfy softness.

For our bed, we went with the low-profile box springs, hoping that Reggi will still be able to jump up on the bed. The older she gets, the harder time she'll have. Not to mention she's overweight too. (Steve has been eyeing little steps he's seen in catalogs, that we could put by the bed for her.) We took her for walks on Saturday and Sunday this past weekend and after the first one, her little legs must have been tired because she had trouble jumping on the bed or couch, poor thing. She was much better after Sunday's walk. And boy is she a happy dog when she knows she's going for a walk, or even just a ride in the car. I love making her happy.

I love walking Reggi in the morning and recently bought a new reflective vest to wear - but just can't bring myself to walk outside yet. It's pretty cold and dark at 4:30! I can do cold, not wind & snow, but cold - but I need a little light. We've decided to limit our walks to weekends for now. By April we should be walking every morning again.

It's difficult right now too because I've been going in to work early most days. My accounts receivable counterpart is out on medical leave so I'm really overwhelmed with work. We've both been overwhelmed since our third person left last year, but this one person doing the work of three kinda sucks. I'm not complaining, just stating a fact. She covered for me the 3 weeks I was out with the gall bladder stuff and I covered for her for her two previous eye surgeries. We just do what needs to be done. Luckily I'm still hourly so the overtime is terrific.

I noticed my stats were abnormally high for yesterday. Turns out lots of hits were from Google images - people looking for origami hearts. I promise to provide a tutorial on how to make them - soon. First I'll look around online for one so I'm not reinventing the wheel - otherwise, I'll photograph myself making one, step-by-step. I've had several requests - just need to make time to do it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Scanned

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You've seen variations on these new cards in the past, but I'm posting them because I wanted to use my new scanner. :-)

Local Crafters

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Isn't this the cutest? The igloo is made of cream cheese and other ingredients. The little penguins floating around on Ritz crackers are made of black olives! Read about in Sarah's Journal. She's local - and cross-stitches and quilts and everything. I have a lot more reading to do over there.

I found Sarah's Journal from a link at ljc. It's kind of fun reading local blogs, getting all the local references. I met ljc and her husband in Wegmans once. That's what people get for posting their picture on their website!

Paper Sculpture

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Bonnie very kindly sent me a link to Calvin Nicholls amazing paper sculpture. Check it out.

My talented friend, Dara, sent me this Valentine. Isn't it the cutest? She always sends her cards in clear cellophane envelopes, which makes receiving the card even more fun. Thanks, Dara - you're the best!

I realized that I didn't keep or scan one of the New Year's cards I sent out this year - but luckily, I guess, this one was returned by the post office due to an insufficient address. I'll send it back out tomorrow. Can you believe what a scannin' fool I am now that it's so easy!?

I went to see Brokeback Mountain with my friend Pam last Friday. I left work early and we went to the 4:15 show, which was cool. Love those matinee prices! This movie was so excellent! I could see it again tomorrow - and it definitely goes in my top ten. I spent Friday night on imdb.com looking up stuff about the actors. I'm not familiar with Heath Ledger or Jake Gyellenhaal, which made it very easy for me to believe this story. It was so real and so in my head that I could tell I needed to see them as actors, not just these characters. Thus the hours spent on imdb.com.

I have some more stitching to do tonight - not on paper, for a change, but on that cool Quilter's Batik fabric I bought a while ago to use for wall hangings in my office at work. Steve said he'd come back upstairs to watch the Super Bowl but he must still be in his office downstairs. We watched the pre-game stuff while we ate dinner because I wanted to see Stevie Wonder. What a disappointment. Not in Stevie but in all that extraneous busyness on stage. I've been hearing about Joss Stone so I'm glad I got to see her. I love India.Arie - and all the music was great. But there wasn't nearly enough Stevie, too many technical problems and too much commotion.

Do I sound old?

I'm not a big fan of The Rolling Stones but I am interested in watching them at half-time. Steve read me a quote from someone in the sports section this morning who mentioned they would be singing some of their hits, but revamped. "Get Off of My Cloud" is now, "Hey You Kids, Get Off of My Lawn!" Why yes, I am easily amused actually.

New Toy!

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I'm solidly hooked on paper embroidery! Each of these cards is about 5-1/2" square. I'm selling each for $7.50.

I bought a new printer/scanner yesterday! I had been using a Brother Multi-Function unit that Steve gave me as a gift out of his company's anniversary gift catalog. It's been a workhorse for which I've been grateful.
But ever since I got this laptop last summer I have not been able to fully use the Brother with it. I know I've whined about this before. I could get it to print, but not scan. I downloaded drivers and software and such, bought software, reloaded software from my old desktop to my laptop. Steve said he'd take a look at it for me but never seemed to have the time. He was going to have a friend from work come over and troubleshoot it for me. I hated to impose on someone else.

Actually, I couldn't even get it to print consistently and got real sick of having to crawl under my desk to switch the printer cable from one to the other. I fiddled with it one last time yesterday and decided enough is enough.

I'm sure I was put over the edge by two other factors of things that don't work around here that feel out of my control. Simon installed my lovely new speakers in my car, last summer. A few months ago they shorted out (or something) so the only sound I hear is from my front left speaker. It's irritating as hell and I've asked Simon numerous times to fix it. The other thing is the TV in his room seems to crap out intermittently. Again, for at least a couple of months I've suggested he take it to this repair place I like nearby - even offered to pay for it. He hasn't done it which I've mostly not let it bother because I don't watch that TV.

It's all so annoying!

Where was I?

I bought an Epson RX700 - printer/scanner/copier. It's a thing of beauty and came with a nice rebate. Actually, the Epson I was set to buy turned out to not be in stock after all so I was going to have them order one for me. The Epson rep happened to mention the next model up has a greeting card feature. Whoa! Back the truck up! I hadn't told him specifically what I needed it for - my card business. I was skeptical because I don't make my cards on the computer. But I wanted to see how this feature worked. You scan in a photograph and it prints out a sheet where you check boxes as to where you want the picture positioned. You add text. He just scribbled Happy Demo Day on the sheet. The machine scans this sheet to read what you've told it to do - and prints out the finished product. This was just a quickie demo he did, but oh, the possibilities!

You can print directly on CDs (printable CDs). I didn't even know that existed. It accepts cardstock up to 110 lb weight. He told me a quilter was in the other day and showed me where they had printed on fabric for her.

Yep, hook, line and sinker.

All I wanted was a reasonable replacement for the Brother machine. The last printer I bought was a little $40 printer. I sort of forgot that technology has exploded lately with these photo printers. It's very cool. I'm incredibly happy I bought this Epson.

Now I'm totally motivated to move the last of the files off my desktop and onto CDs or my laptop so I can get rid of it for good. Right now my studio is a bigger mess than when I started because one this leads to another and I'm sort of deep cleaning at the same time.

I even added a little ambience.

Pink Swirl

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One of my new designs for Valentine's Day. $5.50.

Who can I speak with about making days 36 hours long? So many ideas, so much to do, too little time! I'm almost done with another new Valentine's Day card - lots of thread is involved.