RIP booth

We tried out a Barbary party, for the first time (for me) in a long time.  Good news?  For a while they played a lot of good music.  Bad news?  They lost their good photobooth.  It was seriously one of my favorite ones.

Now they got this one that prints a dumb, grey, digital picture.  Six of them. Very unorthodox.

I guess the other good news is that I probably will save a few bucks when I go to the Barbary once every two years.  So I'm basically a millionaire.

sister

Here's my sister, making truffles.  (Hopefully that's what FedEx has been trying to deliver.)

Seriously, she's the cutest in this.  Also please note that on TV in Vail, they don't post the temperature, but rather how many inches of snow (and that it changes from 22" to 23" during the segment.  Phew.)

stitches II

Some more recent "Structural Embellishment". I guess I'm just posting the insides for now, they're prettier.  Click for bigger pictures (I think?).

Blue Ribbon (interior)

Feeling Better (interior)

stitches

A little behind-the-scenes (joke) look at a recent mail-based embroidery project I'm working on.  I think at this point I can definitely say that I enjoy free-hand embroidery more than cross-stitch and everything.

Warm Thoughts (interior)

#payingtonsofmoneytolearnstuff

etchings

Yesterday I had my last grad school critiques!  Here's some copper plate etchings I was working on.

Jubilee x2, soft ground and aquatint etching w/ embellishment

and a big picture of stupid Una.  

These are hard to photograph (on my living room floor).

I did work in other colors this year, but these guys were all blue.  

Now what do I do?

fabric-rac

Lots of sweet vintage fabric available lately.  And by "sweet" I mean both adorable and awesome.

Skydivers.

Leaves.

Only at times like this do I kind of wish I had a bigger house that included a Storeroom for Components of Future Projects. 

Will post about something other than thrift stores later, promise.

legs

If you had to choose between thrift stores and chairs, which would you pick?  I don't know either.

So I picked up this old Eames shell chair a couple weeks ago, because it was generally in great shape.  Good color, good condition, still had the paper tag and good shock mounts, but had the worst legs (those stackable giant ones), and was missing two screws.

I ordered new legs and replacement screws from Modern Conscience, and waited.  And missed UPS, because I don't have a doorbell.  But then today, worked it out, and: new legs!

The instructions were pretty minimal (as in one diagram), but after a little trial-and-error, I worked it out.  100% better, right?

The best parts
1. lemonheads
2. the slim new profile means I can get the chair into my kitchen
3. this price tag

Anybody need the old (stacker) base (it's wide mount), and two narrow threaded screws?  Holla at me, they're yours.  I guess they get curbed next week.

thrifty jawns

Since I'm underemployed, and have several days kind-of off per week, I hit the thrift stores in my neighborhood on the regular.

Here's some things I saw this week:

First, this Pyrex casserole.  You can't buy it, because I already did.  I'm probably on the verge of being a person that makes casseroles, right?  (I haven't yet, like, ever, but I might).

This embroidered dog pillow, which really caught my eye, because this girl I blog-follow recently found and Instagrammed a similar cat pillow she found in the Netherlands.  This is still available.

This Eva painting.

A ton of these super weird Indian boy and girl hangers.  I don't know.

This set of Junior Classics, which isn't cheap.  But very beautiful.  I don't like to have lots of books I'm not actually reading, but maybe you do.  And maybe you have $50?

And, finally, an really nice aerial shot of DC/Baltimore, which is hopefully still there, so Amanda can have it.  Phew.

Anyway, all this at Philly Aids Thrift!  Lots of good stuff lately at Retrospect and Mostly Books, but I don't want to spoil your Xmas presents.

S

I think you'll all be impressed to know that I have written much of a thesis, a number of important(?) emails, and many dumb blog posts on a computer with no* "S" key.

It's rough, guys.


*I mean, I have the "S" key, it's just not attached.

tracker

Here's a post that's just about cats, so you can quit now if you're not in the club.

I was vacuuming my bathroom rug All The Time, because Blanc and the Kitten kick up a litter cloud every time.  (Also, I'm partial to that Arm&Hammer Natural Litter, which is lighter than clay and, while it works well, doesn't stay in the litter box so good).

THEN, I had my eye on this litter box, which is very beautiful (for a cat box) and is supposed really solve a litter tracking problem.

It's ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY DOLLARS.

So, instead I got a big Tupperware guy, and cut a hole in it. Top entry litter box. It works great!  And, was ten dollars.  Phew.

Hopefully for you, and hopefully for me, I'll never write a post about litter again.

Pilgrim problems

Mayflower closet.

uppers, solutions

Somedays I feel a need, like "hey, I better raise this bed up so I can fit suitcases under it, and I need to do it TODAY".  Stuff like that feels so urgent when you're trying to not do homework.
Regular bed risers (those plastic jawns from Target or Ikea) won't fit on this bed (and they're real ugly anyway.)  So instead I hit the Aids Thrift looking for a solution, and came away with $3 worth of hardcover books.

Three books in each corner, and my bed is tall enough to fit one billion pink suitcases ("Christmas", "Halloween", "curtains", etc.)  And lots of room for MLB and the little one to get up inside the boxspring.  Wahoo.

 

And speaking of suitcases, I have this one little guy
I absolutely can't open. Now I can't remember what's in it, but it's probably something Real Good.  Anyone got a tip on opening a vintage Tiara suitcase? No?

power-ful

A week ago, my power went out (along with all the power on my block, maybe more).  It wasn't really a big deal, but it made me think about people who had been dealing with it for more than a long minute (as in, since Hurricane Sandy, a week before, which didn't really actually hit here.)  THEN it made me think about all the people that lived here before there even was electricity, which is crazy, especially doing these crazy stairs in the dark.
It's a weird thing (thinking about people that lived in the same spaces as me, almost two hundred years ago),  that makes me feel kind of specifically East Coast American, and I like it.

Here's what my house looks like in the dark, a picture taken by my iPhone, which still works without electricity. Phew.

nightly above wizard

I've got a little sampler in this show, which opens tonight and closes Sunday.  (I don't think I'm going to go, but maybe you are).  There's some real good stuff in it (if you're "into" fibers).

old timey

My lifestyle (or maybe just regular style) has taken a pretty notable jeans-and-t-shirt turn. Not all the time, but sometimes, which is way more than usual.

Anyway, for the 10 year anniversary (I think) of 'Nona's shoplifting scandal, and the 9 year anniversary of me having this shirt the first time, I got this shirt again.  I don't know, I think it's funny, and it reminds me of 2003 me, who had bleach blonde hair, lived in Hollywood, and wore t-shirts.

screen test

While I do have that general appreciation that we all have for Characters From Our Youth, I'm not a person who's really into the Muppets or something.  But this is really good.

Kermit and Fozzie discuss what is real, what is fake, and talk to cows.

lit

Got my great-grandmother's flashlight batteried up and ready to go. It is like one billion (60?) years old.  Bring it on, Sandy, you're a young-gun.

(I will do anything to not do homework, including taking pictures of flashlights.)

Sandy

Weathering the storm.  Already baked, had drinks with the neighbors, watched a ton of Sons of Anarchy, and photographed a lots of mommy blog posts.  Now it's all about hanging out with these guys and trying to write an entire thesis.

arches

It's been a minute since I talked about a product I really liked.  I'm for real, finally student teaching this Spring, and got on that Dansko train in preparation.

Obviously, they're not the most beautiful shoes anyone has ever worn. BUT because every chef, teacher, and barista in the world swears by the shoe, I felt almost obliged to try it out.

And, it's real.  These expensive, and kind-of-ugly-but-also-kind-of-fine shoes are it.  My feet don't hurt, and I feel like my posture is better*.  Into it.  Strong recommend.


*this second result may be imagined, but I'll take what I can get in the posture improvement arena at this point.

Philly Photo Day, again

Guess what day it is:  Philly Photo Day!  They've been doing it for a few years, and it's cool, you should participate.  It's easier than most things you'll do today, promise.

I've written about it before, but basically - you take some pictures today, pick a good one, and send it to PPAC.  They print it, and it's in a (fun, overwhelming) show in December.  Do it.  Take a picture of something (even camera-phone it, if you must).  Have a photo in a show.  K?

I'm thinking about doing something a little more abstract than portraity this year.  Not sure what yet though...

yawny.

Ugh, blogs are the worst.

So lately, I've been pretty wrapped up in school and a variety of part timey jobs (hanging out with kids, working at the brewery, and yeah, blogging). This means: less writing about the boring ins and outs of my life over here.

Never-the-less: some updates, a couple pictures, and maybe even life lessons, not in chronological order:

block printing and tea dying a cat dress, where MATH FINALLY COMES IN HANDY:

painting claws for a Halloween costume (lesson: make sure you have all the colors you're going to need, before you get too deep into this.  Additional lesson: kittens love acrylic fingernails):

making a new lining for a bike basket.  No lesson, just a good idea:

And here's some funny things I get to do for my freelance job - playing with coffee filters:

Anyways.  Those things, writing a thesis, seeing movies, thinking about Halloween, regular stuff. Y tu?





Oh, and as a general update to my last post, Blanc is doing good, and stitches out tomorrow. They used the words conclusive removal, which means tumor is all-the-way out.  Phew.

caturgery

A few days ago, the vet found a mast cell tumor on MLB.  Today my favorite buddy goes under the knife.

I'm pretty bummed out, but Cat Doctor says Blanc will be okay (he'll probably just have a dumb haircut, and he's pretty used to that.)  Anyway, wish him luck, and he'll be accepting get well flowers starting Wednesday.

Pizza Brains

Rander (and company) have been working on this new pizzeria for about a hundred years, and today it's finally opening, and EVERYONE IS SO EXCITED AND PROUD.

If you're in town, go to Pizza Brain tonight, with 1,000 other people.

miss

You probably missed me, because I've been really busy with other internet things. Like

1. taking pictures of really important things on Instagram (please get in on his, if you're not).
2.  figuring out how to close apps on my new (thanks, Mom!) iPhone.
3. and writing tutorials on how to use a salad spinner to make spin art and other projects. 

recording

I turned 30 and took a bunch of bad photographs (but it was fun).

peace out

Today, the last day of work at a job I've been at for forever.  Starting in one hour, I'll be at best floundering between underemployed and unemployed, living a budget lifestyle that I think I remember from being 22.

This weekend, 30th birthday.  Feels both like a big deal and exceptionally not a big deal.

Monday at 8am, I start my THIRD year of grad school (end plz?), which will include a lot of making stuff by hand, and a lot of serious, heavy paper writing.

Best way to mark this transitional moment?  In a photobooth, wearing glasses.

Lil PowWow

Some lessons.
Know what baby headdresses (as in, headdresses for babies) fit perfectly in?

Cigar boxes!  Know who thinks it's kind of weird-funny?  Dudes at cigar store.



Whatevs.  Here's a tiny headdress I made for my girl Nikki's soon-to-be-born baby Louie.  Making things smaller-than-they-ought-to-be is pretty fun.

Fujifilm 210

In a backwards sort of shopping event (like buying a dress to match the shoes), I bought this camera, because the film was real cheap. It is HUGE. If you know cameras at all, you know that Holga next to it is no small machine.  Dwarfed.

Anyway, so far so good - I've taken two pictures now and I feel ready to offer a formal recommendation for this gigantic Japanese gem.  

arrow plant

(Again) my latest, lush jungle plant was dying.  My bathroom smelled a little bad.  My kitten, as it turns out, was digging up in the plant (there was a lot of ground area...a lot of easily moveable dirt...) and PEE'D in it.  More than once, I suspect.
So: out with that plant (sorry, Dracena, you would have been great if your leaves weren't so delicious looking, and your ground such a litter box), and in with a this pretty, varigated, healthy looking yucca.  I'm 95% sure it's The One.

To prevent kitten indecencies, some vintage arrows.  GOOD LUCK GETTING IN THERE TO DIG AROUND NOW, Kitten.

We'll see how this works out (as far as...looks and feels. My actual hope is that this yucca finds my bathroom a perfect habitat for multiplying and filling that entire container with it's own impenetrable spikes.
For now? I think this solution is super great.  I knew I needed those arrows for something.

HBDs

This week is my sister's (40th!) birthday, which means it's my 30th birthday soon. Phew. Time flying or something.

stamp

the best part:  customized to-do lists take on an air of importance
the worst part:  deciding if stamp lives at home or work