delayed goodness

Finishing things give me such a great glowing feeling of accomplishment and success. I finished the baby blanket for my coworker Jonelle and her “in progress” baby boy.

I gave it to her November 2nd. Wow that is awhile ago already. Here is a closer look of the stitches. I’m so pleased with how it turned out!

This month has been going so fast. Actually this entire year has flown by. In honor of November, many people take part in NaNoWriMo which stands for National Novel Writing Month. I knew this was not the year to try if I was going to successfully finish any of my current in progress projects. Since I have been trying to journal daily I thought a drawing or journaling NaNo was in order. NaNoJouMo, which stands for National Nonstop Journaling Month, was already in existence thanks to Dawn over at D’Blogala. She is providing prompts in case you get stuck on a day which I haven’t used yet but I am going to copy them all down and keep them in my arsenal.

Here are the results of my NaNoJouMo – Hope you like a few or some or all

Since I don’t have an November 1st, here are a couple of glimpses at the end of October.

November 2nd was a good day for crayons.

November 3rd wasn’t very eventful (top).
November 4th was much more enjoyable (bottom).

November 5th was a good day to doodle a sleepy clock.

November 6th included “Hancock” which was a good movie – I was pleasantly surprised.

November 7th included a trip to Taco Bell where they said I was “Special” – or was it my taco?

November 8th culminated in my embarrassed realization that I often draw Iggy Pup’s coloring incorrectly (top).
November 9th was our first crock pot dinner of the season nom nom (bottom).

Since the crochet baby blanket was finished, I needed to dive into my next yarn project. First I dove into my yarn stash and grabbed my favorite rusty orange and some other goodies.

I’m just doing vertical stripes of hdc (half double crochet). This scarf is coming together so quickly and will soon be sent to the awesomely talented Mia in New York!

Have you heard of Movember? Check out what Wikipedia has to say here. I made a few paper mustaches on Friday while at work. Don’t I look cheeky?

There is also a “Hulk Hogan/Fu Manchu” and a “Charlie Chaplain” stored on the side of my work-mac just in case.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care and be well.

 

and then

This will be a two part blog post. Due to my elongated absence from posting, my plethora of abnormal tidbits to share is quite substantial. Lucky you!

I began thinking about odd expressions in the American-English language. One I got hung up on was “in a pickle”. Such an odd saying since I can’t find any evidence of a person being within a pickle. I can safely tell you that no pickles were harmed in the making of this drawing (I couldn’t find one large enough).

Matt and I have a knack for visiting art supplies stores when we are bored or have some spare pocket change. I brought home this set of watercolors from Michael’s. They were $4.99 and I had a 45% off coupon in my pocket. Love them! That robot’s arm is missing which explains his less than pleasant demeanor. Remember C3PO when he was disassembled? No robot enjoys missing limbs.

Autumn is an odd season for me. I love it on one hand but my allergies make me hate it and then there is raking leaves, and shorter days and lots of cloudy and rainy weather… Well, I tell people it is my favorite season so lets just go with that. Our raking adventure isn’t over yet – Saturday will be our final yard purge. I need to get the gardens ready for the winter and plant two more perennials that I’ve neglected thus far. Poor rakes, always being used and then put away in favor of snow shovels. I did discover that snow shovels make scooping up wet leaves much less messy on the hands than doing it the old fashioned way. Go me!

Sunday I felt pretty much like the sock monster on the bottom of this page. But the sun was out so I gave her a pretty bow for her rays. Yes I am a dork. Are you just now noticing? By the way, the dates are wrong on this page and the last but have since been fixed.

Just a warning for chocolate lovers – the next photo is graphic.

Yes. I encountered abused and neglected chocolate. That poor Hershey bar just wanted a chance to be loved and cherished and savored… poor poor chocolate.

Before I end this post, I owe you all a belated Happy Halloween. Iggy Pup was a pumpkin this year since I didn’t have time to alter his cowboy costume. Our lil Boston seems to have a very muscular physique and his chest was just too broad.

Take care and be well.

 

of headaches

Have you ever woken up with a horrible headache? Yesterday morning I tried so hard to undo what was done but couldn’t re-wake up no matter how hard I tried. I tried breathing through the blankets, I tried breathing through one nostril and then the other but failed and nearly suffocated. Stuffy noses and autumn seem to go well together, don’t they? Heck, clogged sinuses and every season go well together for me. I tried massaging my temples, hiding under Iggy Pup and even smothering myself with my pillow. All to no avail.

What better way to document such a horrible beginning to a stressful day than with – a doodle page in your journal?!

So you see, a horrible little demon spore was incubating in my head causing the throbbing sensation behind my eyes. As the day went on, he grew wings and a love of slam dancing. I told my coworkers that in the event of my head bursting open, they should collect the pieces and capture the beast. What would be cooler than having a pet demon that came from inside your head? I could train him to do marvelous things like take paperwork upstairs and check the fax machine. By lunch I was certain that a ruptured skull was inevitable then as my plans to catch and tame this mythical entity grew and developed, I found myself without the headache. Had the lil booger reabsorbed into my brain tissue? Oh well. Maybe next time.

If you have ever had a wet sock, you will completely understand why I am on a quest for new everyday shoes. My right shoe developed a nasty crack which grew into a full blown chasm. Friday night it was raining and as Matt and I rushed around to get candy for our theatre excursion, it decided to rain. Puddles and cracked shoe soles do not get along very well. I found myself dragging a sloppy wet and cold right foot along for the viewing of “Where the Wild Things Are”. Luckily I enjoyed the movie and paid little attention to my squishy sock. I can happily report that as soon as we got home from picking up Iggy Pup, I put on dry cozy warm socks and my foot lived happily ever after.

Have you ever had more than one pet at a time? If one pet is eating one type of food it is inevitable that another will try to steal that food since it is clearly better than their own. Toby kitty is the worst at this. Toby will push his kitty kin out of the way and greedily scarf down their food. He also steals Cheerios from Ripley mouse and even has munched on fish food before. Iggy Pup’s kibble is not safe either… oh what a silly kitty I have. Oliver kitty has been diagnosed with kidney trouble. I refuse to say disease since it is in the early stages and he is well and happy. The food he is on is quite expensive and I’m thankful he is just a slender little frame with lots of fur who eats small amounts. Enter Jaba-the-Toby. If I don’t sit and make sure that Prince Oliver is happy and eating his food daintily, Toby will rush over and push in front of Oliver. Mister fussy pants, being a regal flame point himalayan, will turn up his nose and walk away – afterall, food that is good enough for the common kitty should not be eaten by royalty. The joys of pets – **sigh**.

The bottom doodle is of Matt. Yes he was changing his clothes and insisted he was drowning in his shirt. It was quite entertaining but I fear he was upset that I didn’t rush over to save him. There wasn’t enough room for me to dive in and lifeguard him to safety. Oh and for the sake of honesty, his pajama pants were dark blue with little flags on them – not the red I used. Sorry Matt – next time I promise to realistically portray your flailing attire.

So that is the summary of my doodle page. I hope you enjoyed the stories behind the doodles or at least the doodles.

Matt’s parents asked me to decorate their pumpkin on Sunday. I happily grabbed the Sharpie marker and got to work. Having just seen “Where the Wild Things Are” on Friday, the characters are happily inspiring me still. This pumpkin’s shape seemed to scream “Wild Thing!” to me. Now I just need to grab my yellow paint and go back to fill in the eyes and maybe some white for the teeth. What do you think?

Some days it feels like I’m being watched over. Some days I am. That is Lavinia kitty in the window watching Matt and I embark on our day.

Take care and be well.

 

art it up

Some days I feel like I’ve forgotten how to create. I buy all kinds of pens and art supplies but for what reason? If I can’t pick up a stick and scratch something into a dirt pile, what is the point?

Other days, I get a tingle and something falls out of my pen. I call this one “Jump Rope Girl”… obvious eh?

I make an effort everyday to notice something that I might normally miss out on. How many times do you fail to SEE what is near you? Beauty is everywhere, you just need to be ready to take it in.

Once in awhile I get a good idea. Here is the long awaited story behind the bookmark. I must offer the disclaimer that this is neither very interesting nor worth the wait so I offer preemptive apologies too.

Once upon a time, I sent a package out to @michaelramm but as I was about to seal up the envelope – it hit me how lacking it was. I couldn’t send it before putting something else into that echoing chasm of envelope. A piece of drawn artwork was out of the question since nothing decent had fallen out of my pens in quite awhile. I ran through a mental list of possibilities.

I have a stash of dried Queen Anne’s Lace. I made a point of cutting some when were were out at the dog park. The flowers are gorgeous but dried, they take on a new life. They remind me of frozen fireworks, suspended in time and space. The color is muted and delicate much like the many vintage books that exist in my “cut up” piles. I also had a roll of packing tape handy since I wasn’t about to wait for glue to dry.

The end result was this bookmark which came to life very quickly and looked just how I had pictured it. Into the envelope it went and off to the post office I went. And we all lived busily ever after. (snickersnort)

I slept much of this weekend away. I find myself exhausted and run-down but the naps have helped. Maybe I’m fighting off a germ or virus or maybe I’m adjusting to the shorter days and colder temperatures. Is it possible for a human to hibernate? Iggy Pup asked if we could this morning. I found it very difficult to say no.

Take care and be well.

 

Paper Play

I spotted Moleskines on sale at Barnes & Noble and spent a good long while picking up and examining many of the available options. The small versions are around three by five inches which would be a nice size to tuck in a back pocket or kangaroo pouch in my hoodie. In the end I walked away empty handed like so many times before. So much money for a tiny notebook. So much money for something that… I could DIY!

The chilly weather led to the opening of a new thermal shirt this past week. The packaging included a piece of cardboard. I saved it like I save so many odds and ends that might come in handy. I chopped that piece of cardboard down and then opened my new ream of 22lb paper. I chopped that down.

Then came the great debate. Should I hand sew the binding like I have done for all my previously made books or should I give the sewing machine a try. Out came the sewing machine. I tried to adjust the stitch length to the longest but had some trouble keeping the stitches exactly in the center. I was thrilled that this ended up not mattering in the final cahier.

Having the signature and cover piece in hand, I opted for the DIY easiest method. I have to admit by this time I was feeling a bit lazy and grabbed the closest bottle of Elmer’s school glue. (Yes, I have bottles of glue lying about the house.) I made sure to apply glue along the stitches to ensure nothing came unraveled and then pressed the signature into the cover. I folded that baby up and put it under my ginormous stack of library books to dry.

After some corner rounding and gentle spine manipulation, I admired my Mock-skine Cahier. Best part – it was made for just pennies and reused some packaging materials! The above pictures shows a large sized Moleskine Cahier (5.25 x 8.25 inches), a pocket sized cahier (3.5 x 5 inches) and then my slightly smaller Mock-skine. Not too shabby, eh?

My apologies go out to @michaelramm for not getting the bookmark included in this post. I promise it will be the next to appear here.

Take care and be well.

 

tumblr

I have started a Tumblr account. LINKAGE

I’m probably not doing it right. I’m using it as a place to keep track of things that capture my attention or inspire me or amuse me.

Maybe if you are a Tumblr user you could offer some pointers or if you like what I post, add me to your friends.

If you are new to the idea of Tumblr perhaps join me in a quest to do it all wrong and enjoy every minute of it! It is free so there is nothing to lose.

Take care and be well.

 

little of this

Once again I find myself looking back at all the time that has slipped past me… Should I be getting used to this?

Sunday morning I awoke at 4am to join my Mum, sister and her husband for the Elkhorn Flea Market. We were through the gates just after they opened at 7am.

I saw this dress and thought about having a vintage and antique wedding. Matt and I have a lot of talking to do about preplanning and such even before we start the actual planning of the big event. I snapped a picture since I loved this dress and documenting ideas and inspirations has to be a good thing. always.

The same booth had a gorgeous quilt for sale. I bought it for $8 and we continued on our adventure. We misplaced each other but that is common during our Elkhorn Flea Market adventures. Mom and I would some how wander ahead of Andy and Jenn but then in the next moment only I am straggling behind looking at something that caught my eye. In the end we all climbed back into the truck with our scores in the back.

You may be wondering why I bought the Ziploc bag of vintage sewing notions. Take a closer look at that bag. Do you see the blue pen? The blue Esterbrook fountain pen? I was lucky and caught site of that gorgeous needle in the haystack while walking through a random booth. I made a squee noise, opened the bag and checked out the pen. Nib was intact and looked good, the lever moved and the sac didn’t make any crunchy sound. The pen body and cap were in good condition and both “jewels” are there and beautiful. I asked if I could purchase just the pen but they said it was a package deal. So for $2 the pen and bag of goodies joined the ranks of my purchases with the quilt. The last item is my first Tunisian crochet hook. Mum bought it for a dollar just for me under the conditions I show her how it is used when I start my first Tunisian crochet project. Deal!

Matt and I were more than happy to take Iggy Pup to Lake Geneva on Saturday followed by a stop at Burlington’s dog park. He was exhausted but fought sleep like a trooper.

Now it is my turn to fight sleep and watch some tele before relinquishing control of my mind to the dreamer in me.

Take care and be well.

 

meanderings

I’ve been a bad blogger again. Too long has passed in between posts and I regret to inform you that this post will be less than it should be. I wanted to sit down and type up the best post for you all but find myself feeling rather “blah” today.

I splurged on a Lamy Alstar via EBay. It has joined the ranks of my arsenal along with a bunch of the blue cartridges. I love this pen. I think. I mean I need to spend some serious time with it. My sporadic tendinitis makes it hard for me to judge new writing instruments some days. I’ll take another closer and more thoughtful look at it and write up a proper review in the future. Until the review, please enjoy the pen pr0n.

It has a medium nib and is loaded with the Lamy blue ink. It did not come with a converter which I might rectify. At first I did not care for the Lamy blue ink but the more I look at it, the more I like it.

Behold my very first Esterbrook. Isn’t it marvelous? I am so in love with the copper color. The sun really sets off the depth and rich tones. I cannot thank Mary enough for her generosity and kindness!

I haven’t done much art lately and it depresses me. This doodle may hold a clue as to why my creativity pools have run dry.

Matt was on jury duty this past week only to discover Thursday that he wasn’t really on jury duty since he moved to a different county. We were only apart for a total of 3 hours but I didn’t know that when I doodled on this sticky note.

I am totally in love with Gemma Correll. She does amazing illustration art. I think her daily diary and “what i wore today” are tied for my favorite. I gave my hand at drawing my Saturday. Do you like it? I used my Staedtler Fineliners.

You may have noticed that I adore my pets. Sundays are tank cleaning days for Ripley. I promise he is a mouse – most people don’t believe it because of his texel (curly) coat and large size. I have so much fun filling his tank with goodies. The first tank shot is last Sunday’s arrangement followed by his setup for today.

Ripley has a thing for Cheerios but then if you look at the tank picture from today, so does Toby. That’s his big kitty head stealing all of Ripley’s Cheerios. I guess if it is a treat for Ripley, it has to be a Toby treat too.

I’m hoping that ending with a picture of Iggy Pup will make up for my absence. His pouty face destroys my defenses every time. Can you stand up to this face?

Take care and be well. ♥

 

busy day

Busy days have become commonplace.

I picked out yarn for a baby blanket I am making for my coworker. (It’s actually for the lil bun in her oven). It is Caron Simply Soft in “Soft Blue”. The yarn is so silky and I hope the perfect match for a lil baby boy.

I picked a stitch out of the awesome stitch book Matt got me for my birthday: The Harmony Guides: Basic Crochet Stitches. The “Single Crochet Cluster Stitch I” looked like it would be a good baby blanket stitch since it lacked holes for baby fingers to get snagged on.

It didn’t look bad but I was having a rough time getting used to the pattern. I just wasn’t “feeling” this project so after a couple weeks, I gave up on it and frogged it after a discussion with my mum. Frogging is a depressing yet invigorating act for me… Unraveling progress into raw material was the right choice!

I began again using the “Single Crochet Cluster Stitch II”. This pattern was much easier for me to follow and I got into the rhythm right away. I’m now looking forward to working on this blanket and don’t need to have the open book in front of me at all times to verify my stitches. Progress is a beautiful thing!

I like the way this stitch looks, the texture and pattern is coming out so nicely! Do you like it for a baby boy blanket?

I feel like other than crochet, my art has slipped to the side again. I haven’t been journaling or blogging regularly.

On a positive note – I have acquired three new bottles of fountain pen ink. Sunday I had to get out my dip pen and nibs to give the colors a look-see. I ended up uncapping my black india ink and playing with my Speedball B-5 nib. The nibs n pens are from my father’s collection and they hold a special place in my heart because of that. I love thinking that my dad used to draw and create with these same tools.

Speedball “B” nibs are round and are not really made for calligraphy but I felt like writing with it. Does it look horrible? – I kinda like it. I want to pick up some calligraphy nibs for the dip pens and watch for a fountain pens with an italic or calligraphy nib. I think I’ll see what books I can find at the library that contain actual alphabets to practice. (I just hope I can find the time!)

I have a grand total of six bottles of fountain pen ink now. I suppose every collection has to start small. I am loving all the colors which is my favorite part. I spent all of August abiding my by “no unnecessary spending” vow. I did very well and rewarded myself with the purchase of a Lamy fountain pen off of eBay. :squeee:! I can’t have more bottles of ink than I have fountain pens, can I?

Speaking of my addictions, I saw a fancy new notebook at Walgreens. It is Oxford brand Stone Paper Note Book. It appears the crew over at DIYPlanner already knew about it and there is a post here. I didn’t buy it because of my spending cap but I did take some time touching the unusual smooth plastic-like-feel paper. Maybe if I finish off a few notebooks, I’ll splurge on it. I believe it was around $3.50 at my local store if you were curious.

This morning Matt left very early so I got up much earlier than I had planned. I think it was 6:30am. Iggy Pup sleeps in bed with us and was snoring heavily when I got up. I couldn’t justify disturbing his sleep. I use his sleeping-in time to cuddle with my kitties and get things done around the house. (Yes he tends to sleep in a lot!) I figured that around 8am he would want to get up and start his day with a nice walk or at least a potty break. I walked into the bedroom to find the lil puppy prince on my pillow! How can I not adore this puppy with all my heart – look at that face!

Take care and be well.

 

Pelikano Junior

This review is long overdue.

Tom at Goldspot Pens generously sent me a marvelous right-handed Pelikan Pelikano Junior in blue. I adore blue and this pen sure is a eye-catching vibrant true blue.

There have been a number of reviews of this pen done already. (Take peak at some of the others: Office Supply Geek, The Shade’s Mind, Good Pens, Another Word For Nerd, Unposted) Due the abundance of reviews, I will keep this short and sweet.

The pen is marketed as a starter fountain pen for the young pen lovers in our lives. But honestly, we are all big kids at heart, right? The pen has grips that make using the pen a cinch. I find my hand slides into the correct position so writing is not only comfortable, but natural and effortless. The length and balance is appropriate for any aged writer. I have small hands and find it to be a joy to use.

The medium nib is smooth and writing is a joy. I have yet to experience any hesitation in ink flow or skipping while writing. It is a lovely consistent fountain pen. The pen is loaded with the ink cartridge that came with the pen. The blue ink is nice and bright. Unfortunately, I find that the medium nib lays down enough ink to be troublesome on some paper. 20 lb printer paper, which seems to be the standard around these parts, suffers from occasional feathering and notable bleed-through.

My journal is Markings brand. The cream colored paper doesn’t feather much but bleed-through might be a problem for some. I suppose the ink might be the cause of these issues rather than the nib or pen itself. Once I get this cartridge emptied, I will try some Private Reserve ink. If the bleed-through/feathering issue resolves itself, I will be sure to post.

I didn’t receive a box or any labels to adorn my pen like the other reviewers but I love it all the same. I adore bringing this pen out and having people take a second look at it. “Yeah, you know you want one…” This is definitely a keeper!

Many thanks to Goldspot Pens for making this review possible.

Take care and be well.