My guys gave me a wonderful day full of fun, relaxation and good eats. First they took me to the Sonoran Desert Museum. Despite going early, the sun came down on us hard, with a high of 97 degrees! So, it wasn’t long before our guys started pooping out on us with sweaty brows and rosy cheeks. Ice cream cones seemed like the only remedy for the poor guys and wouldn’t you know, it worked like a charm. It gave them enough energy to want to go through the mineral cave several times. After the museum, we spent a good portion of the day hanging out in our cool house just relaxing. A wonderfully delicious dinner, brownies and soy cream ended my perfect day.
Now I leave you with this: Ice Cream Eating 101
1. Lick repeatedly until ice cream is gone.
2. Quick, short licks make is last longer.
3. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
I thought I’d share this picture. It is of me and my guys in May of 2005. My first mother’s day with my two little guys. It’s amazing how quickly time passes. I look at my guys now and am in awe of how big, strong, amazing and dynamic they are. It is them that have made me what I am today. Inspired, concerned, loved, crazed. A mother. Exactly what I’ve always been meant to be.
I send lots of love to my mother, my grandmother and my two sisters. Four of the most amazing, strong and beautiful women that I know. Happy mothers day to YOU too. All of you, out there too, that share the same funny life stories of parenthood. Thank you!
I never really liked that song, but it’s was in my head all day as I did the final touches for Super-E’s Egyptian costume. His Egyptian Opera was this evening.
moody Egyptian eyes
The kids did a fabulous job of performing an opera that they created (songs, music and script). Unfortunately, I had to sit through 5 other plays first, in a crammed cafeteria with my little I-guy on my lap, WHILE trying to video tape the performance. The other plays were cute and all, but those folding chairs do not make a pleasant experience for thee ol’ buttocks.
We made the collar together. I used an old piece of black-out lining (for curtains). It has a great surface to paint on and it won’t tear or fray. I drew the design he wanted and he had at it with the paint. Then we put his name on a shirt with hieroglyphics using this table. He LOVED that! I also sewed up an Egyptian kilt to complete the costume. It was a fun time, but now I’m beat.
You guys are so great!! Thanks for all your kind words of encouragement and support for my last post. It means so much. It’s no wonder I love this crafty community so much!
Copyright infringement is SO crazy complicated. Many, many, many folks have written countless posts on this very subject. I’ve found the following links to be very helpful.
For those of you who asked, it’s absolutely okay to link to someone’s blog or post. It’s nice. Most people really appreciate it. I don’t even mind if someone uses my photo as long asit has my link attached or close by, explaining that the work belongs to me. Heck, Craftzine and Whip-up do it all the time and I’m pretty sure no one is gonna get mad about that! It’s super cool as long as you are not “hot linking” which is the same as stealing bandwidth.
Sorry, had to get that out there. Now on to other news.
I sent this beautiful stack of vintage linen to Lisa of Polka Dot Creations for her Summer Sheet Skirt Swap. Such a great idea for those of us who are collecting way too many vintage sheets. I have so many and never use all the fabric from one sheet. This allowed me to rid myself of some excess and gain some new prints. The idea is to make some summer skirts from whatever you get back. Check out the flickr pool to see all the great stacks of vintage sheets.
It’s been a bit of a disturbing day. The very kind, Farruska, brought it to my attention today that someone has stolen some of my tutorial pictures and uploaded them on a flickr account as their own. There are other photos on this account that belong to another blogger as well (I have notified her). Who knows what else has been stolen. This just infuriates me that someone would steal my tutorial pictures that I worked so hard on.
At first, I thought that this person just doesn’t understand copyright infringement, but the photos that were stolen from the other blogger had been very obviously cropped to remove copyright marks. I wrote an email to this violator and to Yahoo Copyright. What also irks me is that this violator person put my photos in a whole bunch of pools/groups.
So, I have no other choice than to protect all of my work with a watermark, which I had been avoiding, only because it would add extra time & work. I have used these photos as testers. Now I know,that these watermarks could be easily cropped off, but I am just unsure of how big and how much I should be distracting from the craft itself. I am most definitely going to plaster my watermark on my tutorial pics, smack dab in the middle. What do you think is best as far as watermarks?
***deeeeep breath*** Anyway, what I really wanted to share today, was the lunchbox tote that I made for Oh Fransson’sLunchbox Swap. It’s a simple little bag with a drawstring top, a bit of patchwork and a little bird appliqué pocket. I really tried to make it based on the recipient’s color likes and blogged preferences, which was still hard, especially since I don’t know this person. I hope she likes it.
I added a few thing inside, like a food container, water bottle and handmade notecards.
I received my lunchbox a couple of weeks ago and have been planning to post about it, but I can’t seem to remember to take a photo of it until after dark. So, you can see it in the following links instead. It is the most beautiful lunchbox with gorgeous hand embroidery and lots of inside pockets & goodies. Susan, was so incredibly thoughtful and generous. She even sent some recipes, including 30-minute Red Lentil Soup, which I made the other day for dinner. It was fantastic!! Coconut milk made it incredibly rich and creamy. We devoured every little bit. Thank you Susan. I love it all!!
I guess I’ve been in a stamping mood lately. I made these sometime last week as “thanks yous” for my swap paticipants.
I really like being able to use several different stamps for layering.
The front of the bookmark has a house, bird, paisley and swirls and the back has the upside down queen with pigtails (that I drew in).
I think Super-E and I will be collaborating on bookmarks for his class mates at the end of the school year. He can draw up the images he likes, I’ll carve them out and then let him stamp away.
This weekend though, we I get to work on an Egyptian costume for a play that he’ll be in for school. Fun!
A few people have asked how I care for and store my hand-carved rubber stamps, so I thought I’d share what I do.
Cleaning:
1. After using your stamp, stamp any excess ink off onto a scrap piece of paper.
2. Rinse stamp off under running water (room temp), with or without mild soap. Be careful not to rub while rinsing. Small pieces of detailed carving can be lost this way.
3. Gently blot water off with soft cloth. Many inks will leave your stamp stained, especially dark inks. This is okay and won’t affect future stamping. Test stamp on a blank piece of scrap paper to make sure it is completely clean of ink.
Storage:
1. I store my stamps in a plastic covered, storage bin. This keeps them safe and in one place.
2. Carefully stack larger pieces making sure they remain flat. Any bending or overhang will eventually lead to cracks and breakage. I lost one of my favorite stamps by carelessly tossing it in the bin without giving it a flat surface to rest on. Smaller stamps don’t bend very easily and are less worrisome.
3. Keep stamps away from extreme heat and cold. I keep my stamps in a covered shelving unit, in controlled temps, protected from sun and dust.
Pretty basic stuff, but it makes a difference. These stamps won’t last forever and can eventually harden, crumble or crack. I spend a lot of time carving my stamps and want them to last as long as they can. Many of my stamps are over 2 years old and still work great. Some inks can affect their longevity, but as long as you stick to craft/scrap book quality inks, you should be okay. My favorite inks are VersaCraft and VersaMagic Dew Drops.
I’ve been feeling under the weather for the past couple of days, so I’ve been taking it easy. Reading, sleeping, more reading, more sleeping and a bit of sorting.
I am taking the international board exam to become a lactation consultant (IBCLC) this summer. I already am a breastfeeding counselor, but this is the big one and the testing is done only once a year. That big fat breastfeeding text is what I’ve been reading most. It consists of maternal and child anatomy, physiology, nutrition, pharmacology, development, psychology, social and cultural aspects involved with breastfeeding. It’s intense. So when my eyes start crossing, I reach for one of the other books/magazine for a break and some lighter reading.
I especially have been enjoying Soulemama’s new book, Creative Family. It encompasses so many thoughtful, creative ideas about practicing mindful parenting. It’s written in Amanda’s usual kind, gentle and calm voice. It is truly inspiring, getting me to think a bit differently about things. So much of it, I totally get. It makes perfect sense to me. I keep saying to myself, “Yes!Yes! How did she know? This is what I want for my children!” I highly recommend it.
In regards to the Notecard Swap I am hosting, I have to apologize for the delay in getting notecards back to everyone. There were a few stragglers and a few people had post problems. I have received all but 2 sets, but am sorting and sending out this weekend, regardless.
The notecards that have come in are quite beautiful. Click HERE to see a slide show of all the notecards that were made for this swap. I want to thank all of you who have participated. It has truly been a joy opening packages and seeing these amazing cards first hand. You guys are awesome!!!
Second: Happy Earth Day!!! One of my favorite days of the year and I had to work. Ah well, as my Super-E says, “it’s earth day every day!” My little earth guys are so smart!
Right now, the weather here in Southern AZ has been incredible. We’ve been trying to spend as much time outside as possible, before it gets too hot. Hiking, bird watching & desert exploring has been on the top of the list.
Ocotillo plants are hands down my most favorite desert plant. They are in full bloom this time of year and the Sonoran desert is spotted throughout with bright bursts of orange.
You can see where much of my color inspiration for my home decor comes from.
Here it is, the famous before shot. I love before shots. An excellent reminder and proof of all our hard work.
It’s not horrible and we definitely could have lived with it if we had to, but we plan on staying in this house for a while. Simply put, we want it how we want it.
The original wood cabinets were covered with laminate, which made them unpaintable, and they had that yucky moldy scent inside. And that tile!!! Need I say more. The floors in this picture are laminate wood. We moved them to another part of the house, so they could be reused, instead of thrown away. We saved and recycled evrything that we could. All the hardware was taken off and given away. The appliances (which were “vintage” and sink were all given away or sold on Craig’s list.
You can see more of the start to finish process HERE.
This is what we have finished so far. We need shelves on the very far right (you can’t see), curtains, trim above the cabinets and kick molding below. We also need to repair the sky light above, which brings in beautiful light during the day. The yellow paint isn’t as bright as it looks in this picture, it’s a bit warmer, and the ceiling is a beautiful shade of sky blue. I love it, I love it, I love it. Bright, cheery and colorful. Exactly how I like things.
