My Second First: Trash or Treasure
These are cookie decorating thing a ma jigs, I don't know what they are really called. They could be used for that or to press into clay, or for painting backgrounds.
I had a great time, met some fabulous women, got rid of some stuff I didn't want, and got a few new things that did not cost me a cent.
Who doesn't love a party with a purpose?
Use your Vitamin C!
I had a great time, met some fabulous women, got rid of some stuff I didn't want, and got a few new things that did not cost me a cent.
Who doesn't love a party with a purpose?
Use your Vitamin C!
The First First
Earlier this week, the Human Pinball sent me a link to a blog written by a woman who made a pact to do something she has never done every single day for a year. She blogged about it and turned it into a book. While there is no way I am going to follow her idea and do something new every day, I think I might be able to do something new now and then.
So, this week, I had my first first. I got selected to be on the jury for a federal criminal case. Of course, I can't really talk about it yet, but I will say that I am fascinated in many ways. The jury selection process was so interesting. There were about 50 people called that day, and they went through about 40 of us to pick 14. After awhile, I could predict who they would excuse.
So far, we have heard opening statements and seen 3 cute police officer witnesses. The judge, who is darling, says we should have just a couple more days. My fellow jurors are very interesting, including a woman who performed on Broadway for 10 years.
The only thing that I find annoying, is that while the judicial process is steeped in tradition, it is also ridiculously redundant in many ways that make a trial last too long and cost a lot.
My favorite story that I can share: during the jury selection, we were all asked if there was anything in our beliefs that would stop us from making a fair judgement. One young man, 26 years old, gave a big speech about hating big government and not trusting lawyers so he felt he could not make an unbiased decision. It was obvious he was just trying to get excused from the jury. The judge did excuse him, but told him he would be attending every day until the case was finished so he could see how the judicial system works. And the first day of court, there he was sitting in the courtroom, even wearing a suit and tie. I applauded the judge and then wanted to be one if I could boss people around like that!
I will admit that this is way out of my normal scope of life and I am enjoying it as well as seeing the importance of taking it seriously.
However..... I don't think the use of Vitamin C is probably a good idea in the court room.
Take Your Vitamin C.... or not!
Paper Mayhem
Tonight while I was wasting time on Facebook, I came across this 4 year old dress designer and her Mom. I love everything about this story and am inspired to try construction paper as a building material. Check her out: Paper Dresses by Mayhem
I cannot remember being this cognizant of anything at that age. Well, maybe reading. I loved reading. Would all kids show this kind of creativity if encouraged? And where would we be if that was the case?
Give your 4 year olds some Vitamin C!
Creative Combination
Being an ex-dancer and a would-be artist, I found this fascinating. Even if it does not resonate with you in the same way, maybe it will spur you to think about combining two things you love into something new. Something that was made for you and by you. Very creative!
Here's more….
Use your Vitamin C!
Pink and Black Necklace Re-Do
But when I wear it, it bugs me. It never looks right to me on any neckline. The beads don't flow up the necklace far enough to suite me.
This is a good technique to spruce up an old necklace or one you purchased that you are tired of. Just add a few more beads.
Use your Vitamin C!
Some Color for a White World
The Amazing Helen at Blumenthal Lansing sent me some new embellishment packs. I made this fabric cuff bracelet for Jo-Ann fabrics. The package had buttons in three sizes and four colors, beads, and embroidery floss. All I needed to make this bracelet was a yard of grosgrain ribbon and a needle.
Stay tuned for more info on product and package when they hit the store.
Use your Vitamin C!
A Short Memory Pays Off
"Oh yeah! I forgot I made that!!!!"
Today, I got two presents in the mail.
Merry Christmas and Happy Vitamin C!
Color of the Year 2014
Today is the day we have all been waiting for. Hahahhahaha! Well some of us. The Pantone Color of the Year was just announced! Introducing Radiant Orchid!
Sometimes I see it coming a mile away and sometimes it takes me by surprise. This is a surprise year.
If you are interested, go watch this video. The Executive Director of Pantone tells us all about the color. Mid way through the video, she says that purple is a color that makes us feel creative. Why do I not wear purple more often????
Get some purple and wear it to enhance Vitamin C!
Wire and Button Bangle
New color pack of buttons from Blumenthal Lansing. Sort of Southwest colors. I combined them with three colors of wire: gold, copper, brown. And added some brass heart charms. Fun to make. Lots of movement.
A little Vitamin C…..
Perfect Place for a House
I love how other people's brains work. I would probably never look at a three foot wide alley and say, "This is the perfect place for a house!"
Definitely some Vitamin C happening there!
The view and the weather were fabulous (Belle Isle was out my window, freighters cruised by, the sunrise was awesome), the hotel was a little strange. It was in a very old building that used to be drug labs for Parke Davis. The big problem was the room was a cave. A really dark cave, that made it hard to paint.
I signed up for a self paced painting class online. I chose this artist/teacher because I really like her work, and I didn't really care that it wasn't deep, I just wanted to paint. The teacher was darling, but she taught almost completely without words. She taped herself doing a painting from beginning to end, added background music, and sped it up for us to watch.
In a way, it was good, but I wanted her to tell me why she chose some materials and a little bit about what she was doing.
So, above you see step 1, scrubbing some black on my canvas.
When I started this, I thought I would do a riverscape with my hotel in it. Then I was not sure I wanted to keep a memory of that weird hotel for posterity. I decided on a painting of my 10 year plan for retirement. You can see my small cottage by a lake and a tree, my cool wind turbine, and my garden.
Maybe some day, you will come visit me in my small cottage by a lake and a tree and we will paint, sing some oldies, and tell stories about the good old days!
Meanwhile, let's use our Vitamin C!
Left or Right?
Right before I watched this, I took a quickie test to determine if I am right brained or left brained. Not sure if a facebook test concludes anything really, but it affirmed what I know about myself.
Immediately following that was this video. It is pretty awesome. I watched a couple times to figure out how it was constructed and noted how many details had to come together to make it work. Then I read the comments and laughed right out loud. There is every conceivable reaction to this video, and then some. Some of those people need a nap.
So, your thoughts? Was a right brain or a left brain responsible for this?
Someone took his Vitamin C!!!
Slinky Pencil Holder
The end.
Slinkys come in colors, junior size, giant size, plastic, and light up. Oh yeah, maybe I need a light up pencil holder.
What else can you make with a Slinky?
Use your Vitamin C!
Singing Flowers
I had some fun this afternoon making some musical paper flowers for Wonder Woman's birthday. She likes a quiet, understated birthday, and I thought these might fit the bill. She loves music!
- off white card stock
- an old hymnal
- a round, scalloped paper punch
- hot glue gun and glue
- small shank buttons
- craft wire (mine is green, but use what you have)
Leave the cardstock punch outs flat. Fold the paper circles in half and then as you see above.
Take your Vitamin C!
A legacy?
Two things happened this week that made me think about it. My neighbor died. She was very old, with a bad heart. She still lived alone. She had no family, her only daughter died some years ago. It was a weird feeling watching another neighbor haul all of her belongings out onto the driveway and sell them in a yard sale.
It made me think about all of the stuff I like to surround me, to save in case I need it, to make my life easier. Is there really a point to having so much stuff?
And today, I was surfing and read this obituary. It is impressive to me, and I realized that what people think of me now, is how I will be remembered. Am I good with that?
It sure gives me food for thought, not seasoned with Vitamin C.......
Pink Necklace Re-Design
I remember making it, it has been quite a few years. I was sitting in my friend Joann's kitchen. The necklace got worn once and it has been hanging on a hook since then. Look how tarnished the silver is.
So, it got a re-do today. I cut it all apart and put away the beads I didn't like anymore.
All of the discs give it a slight Jetson-ish feel. I think I will wear the re-designed version. And if not, I will take it apart and try it again.
Just takes a little Vitamin C.
Seeing this ad for the first time yesterday, made me laugh out loud. The designers who work for me often hear that kind of description from me.
"It should be not a light enough teal-ish color so it looks aqua or girlie, and not deep enough to feel like you are in the woods, something kind of in between, a little bolder than that color that is trendy right now.
Weirdly, that makes sense to them.
Guessing the writer of these TV Commercials (there are a bunch of these on You Tube), spent a day in the design department, and came up with these "design-speak" commercials. That's where the magic happens, hahahaaha!
Use your verbal Vitamin C!
Heavens to Betsey
Maybe I am drawn to Betsey's work because she and I have something in common. We both performed in many dance recitals while growing up. We both have a soft spot for costume. In fact, I have always wondered if I should have been a costume designer for Country Western singers.
So, while I am not going to wear a googly eyed pink lobster, I do like keeping up with Betsey now and then.
One more thing about Betsey...she does a cartwheel on the runway at the end of every one of her fashion shows. She is 71 years old!
Tap into some Betsey kind of creativity this week!
My Ebenezer is not about Scrooge
I am currently working through a bible study about Gideon. There are all kinds of gems in it that I want to remember. The way I remember is to write or draw or paint something about it. I am a kinesthetic learner. That means I learn and retain best if a physical activity is connected to the learning process.
When you create something, a memorial if you will, to help you remember what God has done for you, it is called an Eben-Ezer. Eben-Ezer in the original Hebrew, means "rock of help."
Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
I Samuel 7:12 NASB
That rock and others used for the same purpose by Old Testament characters, was a reminder.
When Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan into the promised land, God stopped the water flow so they could walk across the river bed. From that river bed, they collected 12 stones. They carried them out and placed them where they stopped for the day.
Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”I Samuel 7:12 NASB
That rock and others used for the same purpose by Old Testament characters, was a reminder.
When Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan into the promised land, God stopped the water flow so they could walk across the river bed. From that river bed, they collected 12 stones. They carried them out and placed them where they stopped for the day.
Joshua 4: 20-24
When God's people walked by it, they remembered. When their children asked what the big deal was about a rock, they could use it as a teaching opportunity.
I think Samuel must have been a visual person, like me, and having something he could see jolted his memory. It works like that for me too and so I make some sort of Ebenezer when I want to remember or keep it fresh.
Plus, it is fun to doodle and color.
Use Your Vitamin C!
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