preparing for the festival

i just finished the registration book for the booth. well, it's actually not quite finished yet. the cover will be stamped with the logo once we have the logo stamp. and i sent the logo to the logo-stamp company today ... so it's in the work.s

i'm going to make a sign to go next to the book saying something like "thanks for visiting with us! please sign up to receive e-mails about future shows". i'm asking for their city/state just because i'm curious where all of our hardcore fans will be from. :)

house survey

What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now? a bar of dove, a tube of raspberry goodness & some moisturizing stuff.

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? yes.

Is there anything moldy in your refrigerator? not that i know of.

Are there any dirty dishes in your sink? i left my lunch containers next to the sink, do those count?

What would you change about your living room? something more interesting on tv. :)

Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? dirty.

Do you have a can of mushrooms in your pantry? yes.

White or wheat bread? i usually prefer wheat.

What is on top of your refrigerator? a fan, a crock and a wooden bowl.

Color of your sofa? light tan with some stripes.

What color or design is on your shower curtain? no shower curtains.

Do you have a grill at your house? yes.

How many candles are in your home? a lot.

Is your bed made right now? no.

If you have a coffee pot, what color is it? black.

Electric or standard can opener? the non-electric kind that breaks the seal instead of cutting through the lid.

Comet or Soft Scrub? soft scrub.

Is your closet organized? the clothes are hung in a very organized fashion (from left: short-sleeved tshirts, long-sleeved tshirts, work jackets/blazers, long-sleeved button shirts, short-sleeved button shirts, long-sleeved work shirts, short-sleeved work shirts, sleeveless work shirts, pants, dress, skirts).

What color is the flashlight that you use the most? black.

What kinds of things are in your junk drawer? batteries, lens clothes, pedometer ... i don't have a real junk drawer.

Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? plastic. it's the biggest cup in the house. i drink a lot of water.

Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? nope.

If you have a garage, is it cluttered? yes. it's basically a woodshop.

Curtains or blinds? both, but mostly curtains. i prefer blinds, i think.

How many pillows do you sleep with? 2

Do you sleep with any lights on at night? the one at the bottom of the basement stairs.

How many ceiling fans are in your home? three.

How often do you vacuum? very, very rarely.

Standard toothbrush or electric? electric most of the time, but i think i prefer my standard one.

What color is your toothbrush? electric: white with blue. standard: green & white.

Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? nope.

What is in your oven right now? french fries, maybe?

Is your microwave clean or dirty? clean.

Chore you hate doing the most? dishes.

Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? not yet. i'd like one, though.

If you have a yard, who mows it? my father.

Is there anything on your kitchen floor right now? table & chairs ... refrigerator ... range ... just the basics.

How many mirrors are in your home? 9, maybe.

Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? not unless you could my box of quarters.

What color are your walls? bedroom: green. living room: off-white & red. guest bedroom: gold. master: green. kitchen: soon to be blue & yellow.

Which rooms in your house have wallpaper? the downstairs bathroom.

Do you have a peephole in your front door? yup.

Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? i've got a staple gun. :)

What does your home smell like right now? rain - i just had the back door open to check out the stormy situation.

Fave candle scent? lime. lemon. i like the fresh & airy scents.

What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? dill spears, bread & butter slices, mini sweet wholes.

Who are in the pictures you have displayed? me, holly & julie at one of holly's bridal showers. me, kendra & greg in sculpture class. me, becca, april & kathy at halloween. me, kathy, april, jeff, carlo & kirk in the studio at work.

Do you have plenty of cabinet space in your kitchen? we will once the cabinets are done.

Ever been on your roof? no. the thought terrifies me.

Do you own a stereo? currently, no.

How many tvs do you have? there are two in the house. one in the upstairs living room, one in the downstairs family room.

How many house phones? five.

Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? i found a LOVELY chocolate brown microsuede sofa in the paper today. so currently i lean towards solids.

Is there a smoke detector in your home? yes, two.

In case of fire, what are the items you would grab if you only could make one quick trip? that's really hard. i'd want my photos - but i don't think i could do that in one quick trip.

Do you know how to work your electrical box? i know how it's supposed to work, but i've never had to mess with it.

What temperature in your home is most comfortable to you? 72-74.

preparing for the festival

tonight i stretched the screen for our earring display. we'll have to keep tabs on how many sets of earrings we make - we may need another frame. my goal, however, is to finish everything i currently have started before i start anything new. i don't have a lot that's in progress ... four calendars need covers & binding and then all the preparation stuff (making tablecloths, business cards, researching sales tax, painting a mirror, pricing items ...). once all of that is finished/collected/ready to walk out the door - THEN i'll make more earrings and bracelets. otherwise i know i'll keep making jewelry & then the night before we do our dry run, i'll be going crazy trying to get it all together. and there's just no need for that. :)



these are the five photos i'll have at the booth. i have two boxes of these 8.5" square frames - free of charge. so i figured i'd use those for the booth ... but cropping photos down to squares isn't as easy as i thought it would be. so i found these five flower photos & stopped there.

and yes, julie, i'd be happy to take some inspiration from your favorite earrings. :)

monday night designs

in the end we agreed that the logo with the most votes would be the one we used. and the final logo choice is ...



thank you to everyone who voted. we all really appreciate your insight & help. the voting was very close. for those of you who still have copies sitting around: 15 (above, my design) have 24 votes, 5 (kathy's design) had 20 votes, 19 (april's design) had 17 votes, and 10 (becca's design) had 12 votes. so in the top four each of us designers was represented. it was pretty neat to see what four designers would come up with. very different styles. very different perspectives.

so, next to design business cards. and get the etsy shop up & running. and get a logo stamp ordered. and ... and ... and ... and this thing is only 18 days away!

more photos will be posted soon. but i got a comment that people were just dying to know who won. and who am i to not answer when my fans ask for something? :)

sunday night

well, i accomplished my three little goals for last week. i did, indeed, exercise. once. :) and i did start reading 'catch 22', again. i may actually return that book to greg one of these days. and i did set up my flickr account. i found that because my dsl is through sbc yahoo - and since yahoo owns flickr - i automatically get a pro account at no charge. yay me. :) i started by uploading my photos from thunder over louisville this year. you can see all 353 of them here, at my new flickr account!

my goals for this week include calling someone about being pre-qualified for a home loan, reading at least three chapters in 'catch 22' and not eating like a fiend. seriously, i ate like a maniac thursday/friday/saturday/sunday. ugh. i do not feel good about that.

tomorrow i hope to sort out my last few vacation days of the year. i just want to get the dates set so i can really make some plans to go somewhere. i tried figuring it out tonight ... but it drives me nuts comparing one set of dates to another set of dates across three or four websites considering several destinations. once i have concrete dates i'll get the rest of it in line. i'm actually hoping for october, but we'll see.

tomorrow i also hope we decide on a logo for our popcorn festival booth. it's less than three weeks away!

have i mentioned to you that i really want the booth to be successful? successful enough that we do a craft fair during the Christmas season. successful enough that i can imagine someday running a little store front with all our handmade goodies. alright, so i already imagine doing that ... but wouldn't it be great if it happened? i think that would be so much fun. and so fulfilling. i mean, if i could be a professional crafter & artist? that'd be pretty sweet. working full time to put fun/interesting/artsy/unique items into peoples' lives? yeah, that'd pretty much rock.

okay, so i like to dream big, there's nothing wrong with that, right? :)

saturday i ventured into a new area of jewelry making - the earring. i gotta say, not a bad jewelry area to work in. they went together fairly easy & very quickly. and, as 'manda points out, lots of people do wear earrings. even if i'm not one of them.

mashed potatoes

okay, not so much potatoes as a general mashing of topics.

this weekend was good. very good. friday was jennie rae's (skipped the pie, and felt very good about it). saturday was ladies' night (i love my ladies). sunday was some time to relax. malissa was here for all of it - and i loved every minute. she's good people.

speaking of good people - i realized that i may have introduced joanie & julie as "bunco friends" at ladies' night. while it's true we do play bunco together, it's a totally misleading label. i've known these ladies (and their sisters) for fifteen years. fifteen. years. it's a little hard to believe ... but there's something very satisfying about having people i care about that much still be a part of my life. i have been blessed with some very good friends.

i want to take a glass blowing class. this is not new news, but it's been at the top of my mind recently. i need to spend more time being creative. more time forgetting my job & focusing on being relaxed.

in general i think we (yes, the collective we) let work stress us out too much. i need to take more personal responsibility for taking care of myself. physically. mentally. creatively.

do you ever think your goals might be too big? i'm not saying having big goals is a bad thing ... but i find myself getting caught up in the idea of these big lofty goals and never taking the first step to attaining them. after all, they're so big how do i start?

well, here's to taking first steps. to getting started already. and letting the next step follow when the time is right.

this week, i want to find the time to:
- exercise. plain & simple - exercise.
- start "catch 22". again.
- set up a flickr account.

three simple goals. none of which will be accomplished tonight. i am seriously tuckered out from this weekend. :)

18. catch up my thumbnails

this may not be big news to anyone else ... but i'm so stinkin' excited ...

MY THUMBNAILS ARE CAUGHT UP!

no, no ... not the thumbnails on my actual thumbs. although those thumbnails are doing just fine. my photo thumbnails. as of 20 seconds ago, there is now a miniature copy of every photo i've ever taken on my digital camera.

every. photo.

don't care? well, check this out - i found a fantastic recipe for thai chicken pasta tonight. chicken & veggies in this amazing peanutbutter/chili sauce. oh yeah. good stuff. of course, i also shut down my laptop before printing out the recipe. so yeah, there's a good chance i'll never be able to make it again. :)

craft-a-thon, day 5

and so the craft-a-thon must come to end. tomorrow it's back to work for 'becca. sad, huh?

i made another trip to jo-ann today. got 12 yards of fusible interfacing (plus a couple of packaged pieces), black & white fabrics and some fabric to finish up another project. i got all my t-shirts cut tonight. so i now have two stacks of perfect squares - one set is 15" the other is 6.5" - and i find them both very satisfying to look at. you'd find them satisfying, too, i'm sure. but i didn't take a photo, so you'll just have to trust. me.

i also picked up a new blade for my rotary cutter today. why do i always keep using a dull blade for so long? i always forget how cleanly a new blade cuts until i finally get frustrated with forcing the old blade to gnaw its way through the fabric. put in a new blade - and it's like a hot knife through butter.

i got an e-mail from my mom today saying they were having grilled salad for dinner. what do you suppose that is? grilled salad?

craft-a-thon, day 4

no photos to chronicle today's craftiness. i spent time this morning making out my grocery list for ladies' night. then i went up to the office for my weight watchers meeting (i lost 2.2 pounds this week - yay!). on my way back from the meeting i stopped & did a good chunk of the grocery shopping - everything except the fruits/veggies, which i'll pick up thursday on my way home from work.

i did get some work done on the t-shirt quilt. i need to go back to jo-ann & get more fusible interfacing (15 more yards - yikes) and more black & white fabric for the sashing & binding. for as much as i love mathematics ... it is not my strong point when it comes to quilting. i'm very good at running out of fabric. i did lay out all the t-shirts though & decide their order. and most of my sashing strips are cut.

other than that, i made a tasty chicken & veggie pasta dish for a late lunch. and i tried to make this strawberry thing my ww leader talked about in the meeting today. it's pudding & jello & strawberries ... but i'm not sure i got the recipe correct. it's just a little weird. i'll let you know how it tastes. :)

i spent the past couple of hours working on my thumbnails. i need to go out & get more ink again ... but i have the documents made for ALL my thumbnails. that's right - if i had the ink, i could be completely caught up. yay me! that's one of my goals for the year, you know. and that's huge considering i started being behind by more than a year. so thursday i'll run & get more ink & print out the last 22 pages. then i can officially start telling people "here's what i've shot - just let me know what you want". i figure i've got loads of photos mel hasn't seen that she might be interested in, and since she's coming to see me this weekend ...

i'm so excited mel's coming to see me this weekend!

craft-a-thon, day 3

i spent a good chunk of today working on my t-shirt quilt. i'm pretty sure i'll be making another trip to jo-ann to get more fusible interfacing & sashing fabric ... but i gotta say that cutting up t-shirts is pretty fun. i've got three done so far, twelve more to go.


kathy & april came over tonight to craft. i worked up a set of marble magnets. i wasn't planning to make any of these for the festival, but then i found all the supplies i'd need to make 'em ... so i figured i might as well. i've decided that super glue works better than everything else i've tried on these.


when i found the supplies for the marble magnets, i also found some larger magnets. so i made some pop cap magnets, too. i originally bought the pop caps for necklaces & bracelets ... but i haven't found the motivation to do that, yet. so i may use them for magnets instead.


and then i made a quick bracelet while i was watching will & grace. i do love that show. :)

craft-a-thon, day 2

today did not consist of much crafting. instead, i spent the afternoon at the fair with holly & alicia. a very good use of the time! :) we had a lot of fun. and i think i'm now thoroughly convinced that fried fair food is not good for me. no matter how good it sounds/smells/tastes ... after 2 minutes it's just a lump in my stomach. that's a good thing to learn, right?

i did squeak out a couple pieces of jewelery after we got back tonight. but mostly i spent time trying to decide how to make my t-shirt quilt. keep in mind, this quilt has NOTHING to do with the popcorn fest ... but i'm suddenly very intent on making it. it shouldn't take more than two or three evenings to complete, but i probably shouldn't be doing that with the popcorn fest so close. regardless, i've made a shopping list & plan to go out tomorrow to pick up some supplies. first i need to decide if i want to sash the squares (i think i do), if i want all big squares or some small squares as a border (if i border it i can use the sleeves, some of which are pretty cool), what size the squares should be ... you know, all the important stuff. i'll keep you posted if i start hacking things up & sewing 'em together. :)

and check this out: i decided to unplug the router & plug it back in ... i've gotten a great wireless internet signal ever since. crazy, huh?

craft-a-thon, day 1

i'm taking vacation days monday-wednesday of this week and having a craft-a-thon. yesterday becca came over to craft with me. she worked on a set of invitations (she makes beautiful cards) and i made some li'l plush monsters.

the guy on the right was pretty frustrating. his construction is simple, but i kept making stupid mistakes. he does, however, has posable arms - and that's pretty cool. the guy on the left is my favorite. i call him "running bunny".

here's a side shot of them so you can see the backs of their ears & bodies. the bunnies have felt arms/legs - it was the best way to make them small & not have to turn anything that small inside out.

there are some bracelets i did last monday at craft night. i like the one on the left, i think it looks like candy. :)

and these are the pieces i did while i watching "the breakfast club" at 1 o'clock this morning. i was totally set on going to bed when i got home from the fair - but i've never seen "the breakfast club" in its entirety ... so i stayed up & made jewelery. the bracelet on the left looks really nice when it's being worn. it looks a little weird just piled on a table - and trust me, i tried to get a photo of me wearing it - but this is all i could do. you'll just have to stop by the booth & try it on. :)

in other news: my internet connection is still slow & flaky. i'll be at the fair again this afternoon - hopefully it stops raining. i need to take a shower.

i got ribbons!

the lake county fair has officially started - and thursday night i got to find out if/how i placed on my entries.


my thunder of louisville photo got a first place! i was pretty unsure about entering this at all ... and apparently the judges really liked it. gold star to april for telling me to enter it.

my interior pool at hearst castle got a second place! i really like this photo ... so i'm pretty happy this one placed.

my necklace/bracelet combo in the last post got a second place, too. no ribbons for my other photos & things. and nothing for my cookies, which disappoints me a little. but i'm happy my photos did as well as they did.

amanda, pay attention to this next part. more people need to enter cakes. this is the second year i've noticed this. this year there were only 6 cakes in the display, although my mom says there were more in the little cooler that i didn't notice. but still - there's a lot of room for someone (*ehem*amanda*ehem*) to come in & blow them away with some great cake decorating.