Monday Evening Ramblings

I have a lot of STUFF rattling around in my brain this evening, and if I do not get it out, I'll never get to sleep tonight. Some of these topics are life lessons, some are stamping, some are ... well, just read on if you'd like to find out. 'Tis quite a variety. To save you some time, I'll number them so you know where to skip to for the next one. ;-)

1. The laptop's death and re-birth was a mixed blessing for me. First, it provided endless frustration, which I do not need in my already scatter-brained lifestyle. BUT, I found that when I felt myself longing to just sit on the couch with the laptop and surf, I couldn't, so I did something else, probably more contructive. And I lived to tell about it! I also learned that Disk 1 of 5 that I burned to back up all my files failed me. It is unreadable on any computer, so in computer-speak, it is "toast". What was on that disk (disc)? Only all my software downloads and desktop files. Sigh ... So poor moi had to re-download all the crap I used to have on the laptop, and ya know what? I do not need it all! This baby boots up way faster now than it used to. Funny how that works, isn't it? And by having to re-download stuff, I got the newer versions, and they rock! I really do need to get out more.

2. My corn bread effort from Sunday was the best of the bunch, so that's what I made this evening to bring in to work tomorrow. BUT, because I was deeply mired in sorting and bagging my just-arrived SU stamp camp orders, I lost track of time and let it sit too long in the oven (read: over-cooked it), so I fear it will be dry. Oh, well, I had no plans to win any medals, anyway. By the way, I was commissioned (well, not really commissioned, as there was no gain of any kind on my part, so let's say I was asked) to make the signage for our cook-off awards. I did, and I will try to remember to take my camera to work tomorrow so you can see one of them proudly displayed in Cubeville. Oh, and if I never, ever, ever see corn bread again, it will be too soon.

For Kristie: This is what corn bread looks like (at least what mine looks like):

Please ignore those dark marks on the pan. I was a bad girl and I put pats of butter in the warmed stoneware pan before I added the batter. This probably permanently damaged the dish, but you know what? That corn bread was y-u-m-m-y. You cannot go wrong with butter.

Also, please ignore the fact that 1/4 of the bread has gone missing. I have no idea what happened.

3. I need a wife. (No offense to those of you who ARE wives, as I used to be one myself, and I know how much I used to do for others.) After I left the office, I stopped to pick up my last pair of reading glasses that they had to adjust for me; then I went to the grocery for a few things I needed, including the Rx that I called in last night and my Dr failed to respond to so the Pharmacy has to re-contact him tomorrow and I get to go back tomorrow and try again; I got home, re-arranged the seats in the car, and took 3 of my Dining Room chairs and stowed them in the car - I need to take them to my handyman (who is home with newborn twins) so they can be repaired so The Ladies do not fall and make a claim against my insurance for injuries sustained; I put a load of laundry in the washer; I made a batch of corn bread; I sorted and bagged my SU orders; and it was 7:45 before I sat down to breathe. I did not vaccuum yet - that will have to wait until tomorrow. And I keep forgetting to call Joann's to see if I can bring in some scissors to be sharpened. Sigh ... see? I need a wife. Or maybe a Personal Assistant! Oooh, I have actually spoken with someone who suggested I might be able to afford to retire if I sold myself as a Personal Assistant. More on that some other time, though.

4. I think if you have a stamping style, you need to try new things to stretch your self-imposed boundaries and to grow as an artist (and we are artists, peeps!) But I also think you should not lose who you are and the style that is 'you'. For example: my stuff is pretty basic. Not too froo-froo, I mostly stamp (as opposed to paper crafting - I like the 3-D stuff, but honestly, it does not sell for me, and I have no where to store it, so it is just easier to not go there), I need to put ribbon on things ... you know: ME. I will be influenced by others, definitely, but I will usually apply their style to what I do and it will be a blend, which is a good thing! Case in point:

This is a 'Leslie' card. It's your basic layered image on a piece of patterned paper (from the Pet Slab I needed to own, thankyouverymuch), and a simple sentiment. Didja notice I snuck in some ribbon, too? That is a piece off one of the spools of 4,000 yards of ribbon I have in The Other Room. Only 3,999.5 to go on that one, now.

Then there is this series. I found two packages of virgin rub-ons I'd bought a while ago because they reminded me of June, and what she'd use on a card. I made a template for the cup cake out of cardboard (hand drawn, yes ...) and traced the pieces on two different patterned papers I thought went well together. I crimped the bottom piece. Did you notice the strip of c/s under the ribbon? That is a piece of the backing from the rub-on packaging!

I carried the theme throughout the cards, just using different sentiments from the rub-ons. This is actually the first one I made, and I totally hacked the corner, so in desperation I cut it off and replaced it with a faux folded corner made out of white, and put in a brad to make it look like I meant to do that.

Then on the next two cards I did it on purpose. :-)

I still do not have the hang of some rub-ons, as they leave a residue behind that I do not like much. I have successfully removed it with an adhesive eraser in the past, but with these it started to rub off the letters, so I stopped. Hopefully, no one will notice. Hopefully. This is why I prefer stamps. Those just come out crooked.

5. Most of you have heard of Michelle Zindorf, right? Well, one of my customers (who is bolder even than I am) emailed Michelle and asked her if she'd do a class in our area, and she said YES (with conditions, of course). The big one is she has a minimum number of people that have to agree to attend, which totally makes sense, as it would need to be worth her time to travel. It would be a 3-hour class. If anyone in the MD/VA/DC area is interested, please email me (lqhanna@gmail.com) and I'll pass your email along to my customer so she has an idea of a level of interest. My doing this in no way guarantees you a place in the class! I just want one person to be coordinating the thing, and that person will NOT be ME. More deets on this later, but feel free to express an interest now and I'll pass it along.

6. I'd best be starting to formulate some projects for my March workshops/stamp-camps. I think they are really Stamp Camps. No one is quite sure, though. I have a few ideas fighting their way to my frontal lobe, so hopefully they will hit paper some time this week. Wish me luck!

Hey, thanks for reading this far, and thanks for stopping by! I hope to have something of more substance for you soon. ;-)