Photobooth Friday: a very good day

Summer is coming to an end though you couldn't tell by the blasted heat we're getting here. Sheesh! The mister and I have taken to popsicle eating and neighborhood walks. It's been too hot to sleep let alone work on school papers and projects with deadlines. This past Wednesday was spent hamming it up in the Pull My Daisy photobooth, adventuring with Ander & Zaza. We took at least a dozen strips to get that perfect one for the school boy's cubby. And of course we whooped it up quite a bit. After the boothing extravaganza (and shoe lust, Pull My Daisy is having a HUGE shoe sale and the cutest of cute shoes that sadly don't work on my Flintstone feet.) we feasted on smooth, cold gelato and then traveled home to take care of real world responsibilites.

Boothing is always a blast and it is even better when there's a crowd! Happy Friday folks. Don't forget to check out the Photobooth Friday flickr pool and of course Hula's fabulous posts.

Making Lemonade

With all the not so good that has happened this week I am in full Lemonade making mode. I think becasue it is so hot I should make it frosty. This is of course figuratively speaking as I ain't gots enough lemons for the real deal. What I do have is good friends who happily fill my days with fun. frolicking and commissions. I've got work to do.

Here's a picture of the last of the Office Paddies. I think the mister needs to make more as they make for perfect crayon caddies. Mama Midwifery bought one from us for a three year old's birthday and we decided that crayons must go in the back pocket. Check them out here. Aren't they perfecto? Today has already been crazy busy! I hit a couple of thrift shops and picked up some fun vintage linens, children's books, turquoise pyrex and a vintage toy cash register. I went to the market and made a cucumber dip with green onion and cilantro and then I took in some photoboothing with the adventurous Ander & Zaza. After the boothing we partook of some excellent gelato. Since I have been home I have washed and hung one load of linens on the clothesline and set up a project for scrumdilly-do and now I think it is time for a shower, some embroidery and a viewing of an After School Special...or two. How's that for some lemonade?

Tomorrow I get to visit a Waldorf School with the Bushee Boy and of course, craft, craft, craft away. Happy Wednesday folks! Make it a good one!

Sad

Many years ago, a good, dear friend told me it was difficult being my friend. She said that I had such high expectations from those around me and that I, myself, was so "good" that it was hard to compete. While what she said startled me, I think I understood what she meant. I do have high expectations and I do spend a lot of time thinking through how my actions will affect others. I have also learned though that we can only all do as best we can and that sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we can never fully understand another's depth of feeling, focus and motives. Each one of us has a life experience that cannot be completely shared with anyone. We can swap stories, make comparisons but I can never truly walk in your shoes nor you in mine. With all this I have just written, I have failed someone else. They had expectations and I didn't follow through. My own tail spin swept through and did some major damage and all I can say are words. Sorry doesn't really help when people are depending on you and you can't be there. It wasn't pretty and my character was attacked and the words that were spewed at me hurt, really hurt. I haven't slept, I haven't eaten enough and I selfishly feel poorly. What I want to put out there is that my intentions were always good, my concern was there and I am far removed from a casual person in my feelings. I never imagined failing you and for that, I am simply sorry, truly sorry. I am.

The Week in Review: August 20-26

the week in review
Most of the week was great! The vacation part, save for the bad eateries (it was really bad!) was awesome. The entire A-go-go clan took a drive down to Laguna Beach for The Pageant of the Masters and a couple of beach days. We had a swell time lazing about, digging in the sand. Lucky me got to meet up with not one but TWO fabulous flickr ladies! We chatted up a storm and took many a goofy, smiley photo. I look forward to seeing these two again! The mini vacation ended too early and of course I caught a cold which is simply lingering about my throat, not quite at full on party mode but enough there that I am dancing with a low fever and a whiney voiceless girl to boot. Of course now Mr. A-go-go has a sore throat also. Sheesh! The rest of the week was nifty. I worked on projects, baked a crumble, visited with granny and scored an interview for the college program I want to enroll in. The only not so great parts to the week consist of eating in Laguna and of course this annoying cold.

My sister has finally started a blog. I've been harrasssing her to do this as a therapeutic thing because really, when your ex is assier than an ass you gotta git it out there somewhere. Be gentle, she's just warming up. Good luck sis, I'm rootin' for ya!

And now it is time to down major doses of airborne and Yogi Healing Support tea, make a list of things I need from the fabric store, and clean off a surface or two. Happy Monday!

Rockin' Girl Bloggers

and according to Lyn, I am one of them! Thank you! So, now it is my turn to give a shout out to five rockin' girl bloggers who in turn can give a shout out to five of their faves and so on and so on! Phew, this is difficult to do because there are soooo many of you out there but here is my own wee list:

The Adventures of Ander and Zaza Stacey writes some of the best words ever and fronts up all the news regarding the ever fabulous Ander and Zaza. She and I will someday rule the world, that is if we can ever manage to stop gabbering and start our writing.

Blog Portion Stephanie who writes of crafting, kitties and motorbikes always manages to crack me up. It may be the whole lobster lurve connection also...that and I owe, owe, owe her many packages!

The Felt Mouse Jennifer has oodles and oodles of talent oozing out of her. She can sew, cook and plan a kitschy party like no other, not to mention her love of Target surpasses mine.

The Metaphorical Magpie Rachel is simply niftier than nifty. She's a pro when it comes to the self portrait challenge, i fact she's now a SPC blogger. I can't wait to meet her in person someday!

Hula Seventy We're talking girl crush all the way. How could I not adore the creator of Photobooth Friday? Her words, her pictures her outlook make me wish she were my neighbor.

Well, that's just a smidgen of what I read on a regular basis and there are so many more out there. The five listed up there are inspiring to me. Thank you for sharing your wee worlds, now go tag some others!

Happenings

aka The post in which jek gets all full of herself and stuff.
aka jek toots her own horn

Heehee! Well. There is nothing more nifty than knowing people like ya for something, especially when you've been down in dumpsville on and off again. I thought I would try to lighten my mood by reminding myself that I've got a good thing going. For starters, I've been selected to show in the Plush You Show for 200. There are some AMAZING crafters and artists involved and I am quite proud and a wee bit baffled that I made it in. I'm also a featured vendor at Chicago's Flist this October. I wish I could make it out there and am totally bummed that I can't. Bah! Lets' see, what else. Oh yeah. Goody Blog featured scrumdilly-do a few days ago and I got over three hundred hits on the Black Magic post. Yay! Wendy from mon motif has just posted about my Fruity Fun pillows, 455 people have favorited my etsy shop and did you see me in the premier issue of Mix Tape? With all that is floating around me I feel a little bit famous or maybe infamous, I dunno, either way these are things that make me kick up my heels and sing out loud all day long. Never mind I generally do in fact kick up my heels and sing all day long but this time my kicking is all extravagant-like. Can you see? I'm wearing a circle skirt and when I kick it gets all twirly...kinda like this:

Here's hoping you all have a kick up your heels kind of day. Thank you for all the happy thoughts and stuff...I'm sending out some of my own and it is just for YOU!

The Week in Review: August 13-19

Last week was pretty productive, at least in the crafty sense. I worked on oodles and oodles of projects. I have a collection of deadlines looming and must get my act in gear! Plush You, Flist, five things, coloriffic and work stuff all jumbling around my head. I had to make a list and focus on one thing at a time. Of course I ended up doing three things at a time, it breaks up the monotony.

So, last week I hung out with the Mama to be. We prepped her classroom for her sub and chow downed at a divey burger place. Tuesday was a crafty day. I worked on projects for the shop. Wednesday I surprised the mister at work for lunch and we pseudo-picnic-ed near a tar seep. Thursday was a grand chatty day with the Caffeine Fiend. We planned to go to Ikea which we did eventually do but somehow we ended up chatty cathys for a long long time as we savored some maple frosted banana bread at the Corner Bakery in Burbank. Friday was spent worrying about all my deadlines and Saturday was a painty work day, a granny visit with cookies supplied from The Great American Bake Sale topped off by dinner with friends. Yesterday the mister had the car so I hung out at home and worked on big versions of star monsters and foo foo bunnies for Plush You. The inspiration finally hit when I opened a package of ribbon from a swap I had arranged with the dear fiodecores. Sooooo many lovely ribbons fluttered out of the package, I swooned!

Today I have more crafting and errands to run. This week is a pseudo-vacation week. We are headed out to Laguna for the Pageant of the Masters. Then we will hang out by the beach and/or the pool and of course meet up with a couple of flickr folks! I can't wait! Hope you all have a splendid week!

Photobooth Friday: Anniversary

Last Sunday, the mister and I traveled downtown on the subway to celebrate our first meeting five years ago. We went to Grand Central Market for not so veggie friendly Tortas at Tacos Tumbras a Tomas and then we got back on the subway to go to Union Station where we caught the Gold Line and traveled to South Pasadena for a root beer float visit at the Fair Oaks Pharmacy. I had never been to the pharmacy so I of course had EXPECTATIONS and while it is far from lacking, I expected more. It's a classic soda fountain people! Do you really need to sell all that Elvis and Betty Boop stuff? I'll admit they did have some nifty oddball-perfect-for me toys and they had a few glass canisters of retro candy but all I could think of was let me have a go at it, I could make it so, so, so much more nifty! For reals! Enough though, the root beer floats were pretty amazing! HUGE scoops of classic vanilla fitted to the top of a frosty mug with a gap between the ice cream and the root beer so that as the ice cream drips and melts into the soda, the fizz forms and gets all frothy. SWEET! The small stretch of South Pasadena where the train station is is super cute also. Tiny little shops and a couple of antique stores line the street. There's a small museum of sorts that screens outdoor movies on a sheet tacked to it's wall and it has such a nice home town feeling. Ya gotta love the fact that if it weren't for the threat of the freeway expansion (which has been going on for decades) there wouldn't be tiny shops and too expensive homes still in the area. Funny how things work out sometimes.

After out floats we hopped back onto the train and returned to Union Station where we scouted out the photobooth and hoped that it worked and that it liked our beyond wrinkled dollars. We were in luck! This booth had a $2 credit so all we needed to do was pop in a buck and go for it. Mr. A-go-go decided that we would alternate having any expression but his finger in my ear cracked me up and I couldn't remain straight faced.

The color on this strip is nice and crisp. Inside the booth however was a sign full of "Nos". Who would have thunk it....a photobooth with restrictions...

Anywhoo....we're still having big time DSL problems. Now we are being told it isn't Earthlink but Covad, the company that hosts the service-y stuff. Either way I am frustrated. I want to catch up on blogginess and do some research for secret stuff. A girl can only watch so many movies, embroider so many pillows and go to so many doctor's appointments before she goes stir crazy!

Happy Photobooth Friday folks! Don't forget to check out the Flickr Pool and Ms. Hula's loverly links and such.

Chalkboard Memories

The other day I traveled down to schoolsville with the Soon-To-Be-Mama Bean to prep her classroom for her sub. Her first grade class sits amidst a Mondrian inspired box of a school. The doors were a vibrant yellow and a portion of one wall matched my living room…sonic green. There was a rainbow grid rug front and center and everything was so new and shiny, including the white boards. White boards? Ya gotta love advancement. Mama Bean threw a 10 pack of dry erase markers onto a desk and their happy colored caps made me swoon. How fun it must be to write a lesson so full of color and pizazz yet it made me think about my college classes and their lack of the classic blackboard…or green board. I felt all nostalgic and immediately thought of Ellen Tebbits as she ferociously clapped erasers in a silent competition with Austine her once best friend. It reminded me of how thrilling it was when Mrs. Sasada, my fourth grade teacher would pull out the colored chalk and let us select a color to write a word on the board. My left-handed penmanship always sloped every-which-way leaving a shadow of pink chalk across my palm. Oh how I loved the texture and cake like quality of the markings across the pine green of the board.

When I was 5 years old, my granny taught me how to draw stars on my own private chalkboard that hung in my pink girlie bedroom, the one I once shared with my sister and her hippo collection before my Dad took her away. Granny got the board for me and it was hung on a wee stretch of wall between my bedroom door and the closet that I was sure Frankenstein’s monster would come out of some night. I remember the sound of the chalk, classic white, as we drew up, down, left, right, and down again, over and over and over. There were stars all over the place. Later, I have no idea how much later, I would steal away the candy colored chalk to color a ballerina in a coloring book when my Mamos took my crayons away. I remember huddling on the floor on the far side of my bed, belly pressed against the stale scratchy buffalo-like shag carpeting, scribbling in defiance as angry tears rolled down my face. I remember thinking; “Take that! You told me I couldn’t color but I am!” I felt so wicked. I think it was the first time I was “in trouble” and it was the first time I was defiant. I don’t really remember any other moments like this as a child with my mother. I do remember moments like this as a young adult with a not so good-for-me boyfriend but that’s a story for another time.

Standing on my tip-toes as I stapled sky blue paper to the wall for the Mama-To-Be’s bulletin board I could recall many grade school memories. Mostly they consisted of the the wonky lighting, playing Heads Up, Seven Up, blowing bubbles in my chocolate milk, and printing on that fabulous grayish paper with the light blue dotted lines. But most prominent in my memories are the many blackboards I gazed upon with faint memories of math problems and the staccato of the chalk as it struck the board. White boards may have taken over but I am so very grateful for my memories, for Ellen and for whoever it was who invented chalkboard paint!

The Week in Review

A couple of days later...it's already old news.

Our internet is out. Has been since Sunday. the DSL simply won't work and the nifty folk at Earthlink have no clue. I'm kinda cranky about it all. I'm using my old friend, Dial-up right now so I am multitasking up a storm cuz it takes mawd-awful forever! Netflix has also screwed up and my nice system of a movie every other day has gone all wonky and I now have NO movies AND it seems my Moo sticker order has gone missing. Whine! Whine! Whine!

Last week was busy. There was work and visiting and faux-jitos to be sipped. The mister and I traveled on the train to downtown for tortas and then hopped on the gold line for some good old timey float fun at the Fair Oaks Pharmacy. We hung out in the garden and visited with granny and the Mama-a-go-go. I had cupcakes with Ander, Zaza and their Sherpa (aka The Caffeine Fiend) and I also hung out with the soon-to-be Mama Bean. I took MamaMidwifery down to get her haircut by the fabulous SoManyIdeas and then we spent too much monry on cloths for fall. It was a fun and nifty sort of week.

This week would be more fun if I could wile away many hours online. Instead I am reading and stitch, stitch, stiching up a storm. Today I get to go to the girlie doc and the heat has gone up into the 100's. This week should be interesting.

No week in review....

....yet.

The A-go-go household sadly has no internet service at this time. Darn you Earthlink! I'm borrowing MamaMidwifery's computer for the moment so I have no purdy pictures for you to gaze upon. It is hot out and I have been a crafty lady. New Pictures coming soon...I hope!

Quick, here's some eye candy:

Blackberries from our garden! Super SWEEEEEET!

Photobooth Friday: Seven

This is from a strip taken in the fall of 2000. My life was so different then. Aspirations of craftiness shadowed my thoughts but mostly I huddled and read chick lit on the sofa. I fell in love with Gilmore Girls. I wandered around swap meets alone. I bought my produce at The Farmer's Market. I cried. A lot. I felt alone.

This Sunday, the mister and I are heading out for Rootbeer Floats in honor of our first "date". We met online. Yuppers. We met online and were so, so, so tired of stupid people that we decided to lay it all out on the table and I proposed we meet for a float. I asked if we could talk and see. I asked if when our floats were finished if we could be honest and say 1 of three things.

1. Hey, I like you let's do this again.
2. Hey, you're cool but...
3. Oh my mawd quick take your clothes off!

So we sat and we talked and we talked and we walked and at the end I said with a smile "Hey, have a nice life..." His eyes flashed panic and I squeezed him "only joking" and we decide that we could be friends. Six months later he came to my birthday party. One week later we went on a real, real date of beach walking, family stories, Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill! and a proclamation of "I like you" followed by a sweet and simple kiss. Two years later we jumped off the fountain and here we are now, five years later.

Seven years ago I had no idea I needed all that alone time to really figure out me. I had no idea that two years later I would meet the mister. I had no idea I would be living the crafty life and I had no idea I could be so happy.

It's all in the packaging

I'm pretty sure I like swaps mostly because I like making things pretty and then taking pictures. My newest addiction is the Lucky Parcels Swap over at Fabric Addicts Anonymous. I think it is because all that creativity makes it more challenging. I want my packages to be up to par and of course I already have soooo many baubles and bits, why not share them? Up above are the packages I put together for the black and white swap. My blue packages were not so pretty but then I saw Barbara's and Denise's and well...I swooned. I keep thinking if only I can prettify my shop packages more people would buy but maybe that is just wishful thinking. I really like what I make but it seems perhaps I'm just ahead of what people are liking? It always seems that way. After I feel totally defeated, I stop making whatever it is/was like my monkee faces and my jekbots and then WHAM! There are monkeys and robots everywhere. My newest items will be posted soon. I hope...I guess I should make at least one of each so that I have pretty pictures to woo those Felt Clubby peoples so that they will certainly need my style of goodies for the big to do in November...hint hint.

Time for me to make more playdough..we're making sculptures today.

My crafty mojo is back!

Back in February I started a new swap-group. Don't misunderstand my motives, I adore Coloriffic but it just got so HUGE! There are over a thousand members, not everyone swaps I know but I just craved something small, something creative, something entirely handmade so five things was born. With five things, the responsibility of a swap doesn't solely rest on my shoulders. Other people can create their own themes and you can play as often or not as you like. What I like most is the small circle of crafters and the beautiful packages full of handmade love. The other part I am really digging is how I sign up for a swap and then blank on what I am going to make. How many needlebooks does one person need? Or eyeglass cozies...tissue holders? I've had to really put my thinking cap on and with the most recent group, I came up with something that I find so delightful I am making more for the shop.

Mothy lavender sachets. Or maybe an odonate or two. I have so many tiny pieces of vintage scraps that I need to use and they look so pretty with the flaxen weave of linen or almost linen that I can't help myself. Perhaps I will bundle them up and sell them in packs of two or three. The wee pillows are about four inches square and backed by the accent fabric in the front. The green print you see is vintage, the black is not but it feels that way to me. I am so happy I have my crafting mojo back. I was a-wanderin' for awhile. It was too hot to bake, too hot to craft and too hot to play hopscotch. I even ran out of Sweet Valley High books to reread...thank you for that crafty mojo. Phew! I was worried.

Have you seen the quirky, cute, fantastic dolls that Hillary of Wee Wonderfuls is making? They make me smile so much it hurts. I get a deep happy sadness when I see them because they remind me of all the dollies my Mamos used to make and sell. I wish I had at least one of them still. Mine was named Angela and she had black pigtails made of yarn, an impish Little Audry-like embroidered smile and the cutest little calico dress with puffy sleeves and sash. I feel so lucky to be able to participate in this crazy, colorful, crafty world of blogs. So very lucky. All the sharing...it's a good, good, thing!

The Week in Review: July 30-August 5

July 30-August 5
A week is a week is a week. Let's see...there was art and there was craft. I read stories and found myself covered in paint. I ironed, ironed, ironed my way to some form of carpal tunnel. I got my hair cut. I got my hair CUT! I made a new friend and I hung out with old friends. Cupcakes were eaten, cake was eaten and super yummy veggie sandwiches were also consumed. There was time spent napping and time spent cleaning. There was time spent doing busy work and creating top secret stuff for the shop. There was work, work and then garden work. We feasted on fresh blackberries and pulled up the last of the lettuce. I hung out with the japanese beetles and managed to step on one in my bare feet! We visited with granny and hit the free mulch pile in Silverlake. We watched kitschy movies and sad documentaries and danced ourselves breathless at the beach. All in all is was a pretty perfect week. I hope yours was the same.

Photobooth Friday: beach night

Last night was spent hanging out at the Santa Monica Pier taking picture after picture after picture of the roller coaster and all the bells and whistles that holler every which way. While I can't seem to take a decent self portrait (ya know, one that hides my not so flattering features) with the new camera, I can take rockin' pictures of super bright and colorful things outside in fading sunlight. Go figure. The mister and I hung out and danced to the Hacienda Brothers and Queen Ida and of course hit the booth while there. We also watched entranced as so many people took a turn at Dance Revolution. I think I can watch it for hours. The booth apparently already had a $1 credit but I didn't know until it was too late. I lost my boothing mojo and we resorted to goofy faces. I'm telling ya, a $4 booth that accepts quarters only can put you into a trance even without a credit...sooooo many coins and of course kept thinking I could do four loads of laundry with all these quarters. But it was for a good cause. Boothing it for the world.

Peace Out...

Aack! Exploding brain!

I have too, too, too many ideas in my head and methinks my brain might actually explode so for now I choose to drink copious amounts of thai iced tea whilst reading newly re-scored Sweet Valley High Super Editions. I have oodles of projects in bits and pieces for the shop and of course all those swappy swaps I like to do not to mention gifts to make for friends and such...sigh...put me in some harem pants that cover my (outtie) belly button, give me some liquid eyeliner, put my hair in a high, high ponytail and let me do my magic.

D-o-o-o-o-o-i-i-i-i-n-n-n-g-g-g!!!!

Zippity DO dah!

I've got a new do! Yay! My hair and with its lemon chiffon ends was driving me absolutely batty. Thanks to the wonderful world of flickr I now have a new and improved 'DO! I think flickr is the bees knees. You may wonder how it is that I got my hair cut through flickr and the dealie is that I have met some astounding people through flickr. ASTOUNDING. My newest flickr friend is GeeeeNaaah. She is an amazing woman who can craft it up with the best of us and she even took me thrift shopping after the cut. I can't wait until August when I get to have yummy brunch foods with a few other flickr friends! Gina my new friend, you rock! THANK YOU for my new do. I am having a fabulous partay with it.