My Search Has Ended

I have been wanting one of those sewing forms for, well, ever. I was at The Discovery Shop the other day and, guess what?! I found her, the woman of my dreams! I thought at first she was a store display, but there was the tag, dangling from the top: $25...YESSSS! This was definitely a screamer (extra special find where I get so excited nothing but a scream wants to come out).

I can usually keep a pretty good poker face, but I was beaming with delight. As I was paying for her, one of the volunteers said, "She was just too chunky for our store."

So, rather than being pissy with the lady for kind of insulting we women of substance (she was chunky herself, though, so I'm not sure she meant anything by it), I said, "That's okay, I'm chunky, too, so we'll get along perfectly!"

I must name her. Any ideas?

The Eight Irrisistable Principles of Fun

Real Quick-like...

I apologize if I'm not following the correct protocol here (I tried to include all of the correct links), but I'm so excited I simply must share something with you right this very minute!

My most favorite tweet I've read today is from dudecraft, which will lead you to a video on Make+Meaning called The Eight Irrisistable Principles of Fun.

I encourage you to watch it and be inspired.

Nifty Thrift Shop Find

Isn't there something about the 7th day being a day of rest? Well, this 7th day of the month was far from it, and from the looks of it things won't be slowing down any time soon. The day began on a high note and then struck a sour one as it went along, but by the end of it things seemed to be back on an even keel. Yay.

I managed a quick trip to Class 'N' Trash (my mini-vacation from reality) and found something pretty nifty.

I found 3 boxes of a product by Stockmar, thin wax sheets in various colors. My mind is a whirl thinking about all the ways their Web site said this product can be used, on "boxes, matchboxes, cosmetic containers, bottles, paperweights, key racks, flower pots, cookie jars, wooden crates, mirror frames, etc."

It's already been used, but there's tons so I won't miss it. I think I'll stick with trying it out on a candle the first time out, and can't wait to try it out using some of my miniature cookie cutters!

2009, bye now...

My duplicate daughters have been bugging me to post, so here 'tis, the final one of the year. Talk about cutting it close! It's 10:45 p.m., still an hour and fifteen-minutes away from shoutin' in the new year. No party, just sitting in the living room with Dawn (Valerie's at work, Deni's watching TV in the bedroom), listening to her excited comments about the nifty journals she picked up along the way. She's struggling to stay awake and I'm thinking she may not make it to Midnight. Party on, Dawn.

I can't say 2009 was a great year, but it surely wasn't the worst. My family is in-tact, I still have all of my brothers and sisters, and most all of my friends. I lost a newly-discovered aunt whom I never had the opportunity to meet face-to-face, but we came to know and love one another through phone calls. I lost a long-time friend of over 20 years, but she left behind a bundle of fur who's kept us on our toes and made losing Thistle (our baby-dawg of 15 years) a bit easier on the heart. My husband was off of work for several months because of a second back surgery, but he recently returned, something I am rejoicing in because I wasn't sure he would heal well enough to make that happen.

The last major happening of the year was Valerie's surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. Although it wasn't the most pleasant of things (all went well) to endure, it turned out to be a source of answers as to why she's had such fierce monthly pain and nausea: the discovery of endometriosis. Another important positive from this negative has been the light shed on what may be the source of Dawn's health issues as well, just one of the many benefits of having an identical twin, eh?

Although a lot of other "stuff" went on throughout the year, God provided lots of ups and protected us through those downs, and I see no reason to believe life will not continue being a mixture of the two. As ol' blue eyes and Michael Buble croon, "That's life!"

I like where I am this very moment, glad not to be fretting about finding a designated driver after a night of Crown Royal and Coke (although I'll admit a little Electric Slide would have been fun!). I'm watching the new year arrive as quietly as it left, but I can't resist one more shout-out to friends and family alike...

HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To Dye For

As I've mentioned before, I absolutely love SisterDiane of CraftyPod, and every day I am reminded why. She tweeted about a nifty tissue paper craft she spotted over on Things to Make and Do. She said she was "Ready to blow off my entire to-do list and spend the day making tie-dye tissue paper," so I knew it had to be extra-good. I tweeted back, "I will if you will," and she took me up on the deal. The race was on and I went straight for the finish line! Here is the result of all that tweetin':

Even though my folding prowess stinks; I was too lazy to put the dye into bowls and took a short cut by dripping the dye directly on to the tissue paper; got it a little too wet on one corner so it ripped;

and I have multi-colored fingers;

I would say the results were not too shabby.

Cool, eh?

Oh, yeah! The tissue paper was recycled from the packaging of a prize I won by entering a contest on Diane's mother's (Pam) Web site, Gingerbread Snowflakes. So in a way her unintended gift will keep on giving because I'll be wrapping someone's Christmas present with it.

Thanks, Diane, for getting me off my duff and inspiring me to go make some art!

What to do with those sample books?

I come across these fabric sample books ALL THE TIME, and every time I do I think, "Banners, bags and pillows, oh, my!"

I have accumulate quite a few of these and only made one thing, a little bag with a handle (I'm embarrassed to post a picture). Wait, I lied. I did try a small rug once, but that was a disaster. I think the best idea for these large fabric swatches came from a woman who was shopping at my favorite thrift store. I spotted her with a couple of them and simply had to know what she had in store for them, so I asked.

She told me she was an activity director at a nursing home and likes to use the pieces to make those nifty banners everyone seems to be hanging these days. It touched my heart when she went on to explain how she puts them to use. Besides using them to spruce up the residents' rooms or to decorate for parties, there are times when the residents need to stay in their rooms temporarily, while the hallways are being mopped or vacuumed, for instance. Some of them don't have all of their mental faculties, and it doesn't take much to get them turned around to where they should be, so the banners are placed across the doorways (with tape so they easily fall away and not hurt anyone). When the resident sees the "barrier," they stop in their tracks and go back the other way. Clever.

This particular sample book measures 10" x 11", which seems perfect for banners. There is usually cardboard adhered to one side, but it can be sewn through and act as a stabilizer of sorts. Then there's the sometimes difficult task of taking the book apart. But with names such as Red Pepper, Coral Sea, Sunglow and Buttercup, it's well worth the effort!

Passing on the Crafty-Goodness

I have been itching to find the time to post something so it wouldn't look like I've abandoned the blogosphere! On the contrary, I'm trying to educate myself on how to do it better. My first step was to purchase two e-books by Sister Diane of CraftyPod, the podcast & blog all about making stuff.

The first one is Making a Great Blog, A Guide for Creative People, the second is Creating a Blog Audience, An Unconventional Marketing Guide.

Since I haven't been able to read them fully yet, I can't review them for you in-depth right now. I can tell you, however, just from the sections I was able to skim over, along with the many reviews I've read, I am confident I will be able to apply some of Sister Diane's wisdom to my own thing I've got going here. She writes in such a way that it can be easily translated into just about any type of blog.

I discovered Sister Diane through iTunes by subscribing to her audio CraftyPod podcast. My job is such that it allows me to listen to my iPod while scanning the hours away, and Diane's is my all-time favorite, hands-down. I encourage you to give her a listen, I guarantee you will learn something new each time.

Really quickly, a lot of "stuff" has been going on that's kept me way too busy to blog, but I hope to be able to ramble a bit by touching on things such as the loss of a dear friend, my beloved 15-year-old dawg and, on the lighter side, the start of the new hockey season featuring our San Jose Sharks (Gooooooo, Sharks!).

That's it for now. As Sister Diane, one of THE most crafty guru-mentors-most-awesome-human-beings I have had the pleasure of knowing signs-off, "...and in the meantime, craft on!"