five things robot style

five things robots: yay!, originally uploaded by jek in the box.

Ever the addict to swaps and such, I created a newish group called five things based on a popular lmao (Land Mail Art Object) from nervousness.org. Picking a theme is challenging and creating something unique and of a higher quality (hopefully) than for a usual swap makes it rewarding. Melissa hosted a five things robot swap and only four of us signed up and then one hadto drop out o we only got three things but lookie the pretty roboty goodness! The other nifty thing about a five things swap is that you get one of your own back. I don't know about you but when I make something extra special for a swap, most of the time I send it away and never get around to making one for myself. This way you get a little bonus. I am participating in three more five things swaps. The themes are chickens, birds and bugs. I need to get cracking!

I love L.A. in the springtime....

Look at this salad! Just look! Isn't it just dreamy? I'd say 80 percent of it came from our garden. Okay, well...Mr.A-go-go's garden. Let's see, there is lettuce and green beans and purple beans and snap peas. There are green onions, cucucmber, carrots and strawberries and...it is garnished with some nasturtium flowers...soooo yummy! It looked so delightful I wanted to hold a mock wedding and vow my neverending lurve for all its spring timey goodness. Today I am feasting on pasta salad also chock full of goodies from the garden.

Today was busy busy. I prepped and photographed four prjects for scrumdilly-do! Phew! I is beat! I need to get some craftiness going for my coloriffic person and I guess I should actually eat that pasta sald that is calling my name.

Can I brag about the awesome paper I wrote for my film class? I got a super nifty score, a 98 and he said that only one person got a 98 and that it was exceptional(ignore definition #3)heehee. Nevermind the fact that two of us actually received a 98 but I'm going to blissfully believe that we are both exceptional.

It is Tuesday and there is no more Gilmore Girls...sad sigh. Happy Tuesday!

The Week in Review: May 14-20

Phew! Another busy week full of school work, cooking and visiting with friends. I'm down to three weeks left of school, which leaves me with two exams and two big projects...sooo close! Last Friday, Stephanie and I instituted our first summertime Margarita Friday so if you're in the neighborhood you should drop by. We have a whole lotta mix and we lightweights will be taking our sweet time with the boozie stuff. Seriously though, Fridays this summer are for cocktails and then hiking. An odd combo maybe but I think the light buzz will help me ignore the pain in my lungs as the Mister and I work our way to the Observatory. Susan, I know you did it often but lady, what a walk! Yikes! We got about half way there when I strained a muscle in my groin and couldn't walk anymore without an "ooh" and an "eeh" sneaking out of my mouth. so, once again, if yer around the hood between 5 and 6pm drop on by for a cocktail and some sidewalk chalking. After drinks it will be dinner and then when the sun starts to set we'll be hiking up up and away.

Other than that I've been visiting with dear old granny and dutifully reading my texts for school. Packages arrived this week, some from swaps and one from an etsy purchase and then of course I saw this and had to get this fabric which arrived 2 days later! Wowza! Score one for Sew Mama Sew!

Gilmore Girls ended on a surprisingly sweet note and while I am sad to no longer bond with the ladies I am free of this slight addiction and promise to go on more walks! We ate a lot of salads this week with goodies from the garden and I only baked up two batches of cookies one of which was for this young lady's birthday.

This week I will be finishing up my Coloriffic Pakcage and hopefully be making some goodies for the shop. We will be visiting with family during the weekend and I have no school on Monday! I do however have a ten page page memior due...sigh. Where do I start?

Gotta go pack my lunch and then hit the store for some powdered strawberry drink mix, it's a scrumdilly-do thing and then I'm off to school, school, school! Happy monday folks! I'll catch ya later!

citrus pick-a-nik purse

citrus pick-a-nik purse, originally uploaded by jek in the box.

Years ago my sister sent me this fabulous picnic purse with plastic mushrooms all over the top. I got so many great compliments that I decided to make some myself. So I did and here ya go. I seem to like these a lot more than other folks (except for Susan!) but if you find yourself smitten you can own this very one! Head on over to jek in the box and have a looksie...I have a few more lurking around and will post those soon.

And now I must get back to my schoolwork. Bah!

Photobooth Friday: sans mustache

The whole strip was planned with a different mustache in the bottom three frames. This is the first frame with me all semi-pretty like in a fancy handmade necklace by Neesypea of Hey Day Fashion. I'm really trying to push my focus to handmade. When I can find clothes that feet me I will do a big old happy dance so for now I will do the indie t-shirts, jewelry and handbags. This strip was taken on Wednesday this week after my creative nonfiction class which is great but kicking my butt and my ego big time! I had the Danny Boy with me and he took a stip also. I sat myself down and peeled the backing off of the three mustaches and placed them on my knee sticky side up. I did a mock run through, took a deep breath and shove my dollars in the slot. I jammed my face up close for the first one and tilted it all cute like on my best side, the flah pops and I grab the first mustache which stays for about 2 seconds and falls, I grab it and shove it upwards and the flash POPS! The second frame is a shot with my hand over my mouth, the fun continued onward from there and maybe I will show you the lovely shots of my nostrils...maybe not.

I'm still slugging away at all these projects for school. Slug! Slug! Slug! That's me. The procrastinator sluggonator or something like that. I feel a need to bake something peanut buttery today but we'll see. I had a blast making mini pizza faces yesterday and still feel full but they were soooo yummy! Mr. A-go-go picked oodles of salad ingredients yesterday so i will be feasting on greens for lunch, can't wait! Did ya see the picture of one of our wee salad harvest?

Tomorrow is a star gazing party and of course we have granny and hopefully a pretty pink birthday to attend! Happy Friday folks! Don't forget to check out the Photobooth Friday pool and/or check out the links to your right for more booth madness.

A little Thursday love...

Mmmmmm. Shortbread. One of life's sweetest treasures and oh sooooo easy to make! Whenver I have company coming or am about to go a'visiting, I whip up a batch o' shortbread and everyone is happy. All ya need on hand is butter, sugar & flour. Having a little extra is always good too but the simple shortbread cookie should never be overlooked. If your butter isn't soft, nuke it in the microwave or melt it in a pan. You can make shortbread with melted butter, yeppers! I prefer mine softenned but you can melt it if ya like. Expirement with flavors..add some zest or dried fruit or cut up a favorite chocolate bar! Add some spices and nuts or maybe swirl in a little peppermint or vanilla extract. The possibilities are endless and there are soooo many ways you can cook your sweets too. You can roll them into logs then slice & bake as you like. Sometimes I keep a log in the freezer and when I crave a snack I slice of four slices, bake them and enjoy them with a cuppa. The slice and bake version of shortbread is best done when your add ins are fine like spices, liquids and super duper finely chopped chocolate and/or nuts. If your shortbread has some chunky bits in it the nit is best baked in a mound. To do this, I simply heap up the dough onto a cookiesheet pressing it down to similate a square shape. I bake it between 10 and 15 minutes depending on how thick I left it and as soon as I take it out of the oven I trim the edges and cut into wee squares! You can also use cookie cutters to cut out shapes directly after removal from the oven. Hot dough is workable, once it cools though, it crisps up and you will get a mess.

So, go for it, whip up some dough and store it in your fridge or freezer until ready to bake. I like to bake super early in the morning as it makes the casa smell oh so yummy! What is your favorite concotion going to be? Mine is still lavender and chopped chocolate from NewTree