iz meee

It’s me! Kinda. I don’t currently have red hair. But it was fun making this on Face Your Manga. I discovered it on Made By Petchy – this great crafty blog by a graphic designer and mom in Norway with lots of fun stuff. (Her own fabric you can buy, free greeting cards to download, and iPod pouch tutorial.)

Anyway, back to making faces…

This is Mr. Man. It even has his $2 professor corduroy jacket.

Now the two of us manga faces are off to the coast for the weekend.  Have fun!

not so bad

Things I hate right now:

1. My cat has suddenly started drinking out of the toilet if given the opportunity. The. Toilet. She is a cat. Not a dog. Where did this come from???
2. That my back hurts like the dickens. It feels like when I got whiplash on our Adventuremoon, but this time I didn’t do anything besides sleep in my bed. I am only sitting here gingerly because I am absolutely sick of sitting on the couch.

Things that make me realize I am a BIG WHINY BABY for even thinking about complaining:

1. Nie Nie’s tragedy. I have never read her crafty blog before, but she and her husband were recently in a plane crash that left them both in the burn ward of the hospital for months of recovery. They have four young children who are being taken in my family members several states away, and many people in the craft-blog world have reached out for a charity auction day today. Here are just a few links:

Design Mom (lists the 165+ auctions)

Sugar City Journal

Simple Song

Creative Thursday

The Nielson’s crash was also fatal for their flight instructor, Doug Kinneard and my heart breaks for these strangers, partly because I can’t imagine the pain they (and their families) are going through, and partly because I can imagine that there are so many other people out there also suffering through tragedies like this. Luckily the Nielson children have a good support system and it sounds like they are all strong in their faith. And as horrible as this is for them, I am grateful that I am able to listen to their story via the internet because their situation has made me pause to give genuine thanks for the beauty of my life.

new to me

How cheesy and lovely is this pattern?!  This great platter was given to me by my mom along with a matching covered dish…a tureen?  Do I now own my very own tureen?  I feel so grown up suddenly.

(Excuse the picture crookedness.  Don’t look at it too long or you’ll start to tilt to the right.)  Somehow my laminate-wood desktop seems like the perfect backdrop.  Same decade maybe?

rarrrr

Meet the newest addition to our small dinosaur family.  I can’t quite decide on a name.  Maybe Mathilda.

She is a chubby muscular Brontosaurus of sorts, with jaw-snapping action and a penchant for buttons.

And she can tame the wildest of beasts (who sit in the middle of your stuff, grrr).  Yep, I think Mathilda is a good name.

(Did I mention that we have no kids?  Good thing, because then we’d have to share our toys.)

for me

Isn’t that little dress/tunic/jumper on the left sweet?  And it has pockets!  Every dress should have pockets.

I’ve slowly been collecting vintage sewing patterns (mostly from the 70s) because someday I’ll learn how to read a pattern.  And at less than $1 each how can I go wrong?

My eye is on the summery middle version.  I think the fabric in the illustration is supposed to be an apple print.  Cute, but I would probably go for something a little less busy.

And these “one-yard shorts” look fun–especially the red cuffed and drawstring versions.  Of course, it could just be that those totally cool and extremely leggy ladies are convincing models.  “If I make these shorts my legs will grow 18 inches longer!”  These are the sorts of subconscious thoughts that run through the mind of one stubby hopelessly squat petite girl.

Wish me luck.

home sweet robots

Despite being a very visually-focused person, our house is not decorated. It is livable, but not inspiring. I think I am in limbo and a little unsure where to start. However, one thing I do love is our reproduction print of Forbidden Planet — a 1950s sci-fi film classic — with these BRIGHT green and orange-red gladiolas I picked up at the store. I set them in front of the giant mirror that hangs over our mantle and I keep catching glimpses of Robby the Robot in the reflection. I love contrast and what could be more at odds than frilly petals and a hulking metal robot? I think I see a design scheme forming…

Two fun facts: This 1956 film stars a young Leslie Nielsen in his second-ever film, before he was annoyingly goofy. (Sorry to Airplane fans.) Also, Robby the Robot has his own IMDB page! As iconic as he is, he has apparently “played” other robot characters most of his illustrious career.

Hope you enjoy this geek-meets-design moment!

hello there!

A small portion of a recent thrift haul.  The vintage card (unused) was .35 cents, the cheery hankie was $1, and the small oval frame underneath was $1.50.  (What is the use of sharing thrift finds if I don’t regale you with the amazingness of the deals I scored?!)  These were found at a thrift store that can be overpriced, so even better.  Of course, by “overpriced” I really just mean that I expect to find dirt cheap prices and then discover that it also has a “1/2 off” color tag of the week.

new header

So I have finally done something that could be considered a little creative (and that I can share right now).  I’ve changed my blog header to a succulent from my Aunt’s porch which are my new favorite types of plants.  My lovely friends at work brought in many cheerful little succulents for our new office space and they keep me smiling throughout the jammed-copier-filled days.  As much as I might complain about the old job-er-roo, I must say that I am blessed to work with people in my immediate department that I like.  These are people who bring in homemade fudgey brownies and Cheez-It snack mixes and sweet little plants for one another.

Back to my header…I have noticed a trend.  While browsing through my pics to turn into a header I always end up with something filled with greenery.  First it was this:

Then this:

And most recently this:

I do like plants, but maybe I need to work on something that will reflect the arty/crafty/designy side of this here blog.  (Because that is what I intend to share, even if it doesn’t always end up that way.)  Any ideas?

MIA

My home internet access has been missing for several days now (pout with me) and my Google Reader is bursting with 545 unread items.  Juicy items which now include a subscription to Tiny Showcase because *GASP* I just discovered that two artists (Andrea Offerman and Scott Campbell) I like muchly recently sold prints at Tiny Showcase that I would have loved to have bought.  But they are sold out.  That’ll teach me to not sign up for their newsletter.

See you tomorrow with pics of stuff.  Or something.

happy birthday

Today is my mom’s birthday! While I’m not able to see her today I’ll be dropping off this card and a gift later this week.

[Does this remind anyone else of the moon?)