Paper Whiskers

too quiet

I've really lost the knack of this, I guess. But, I'm not willing to give up on this blog quite yet.

I have lots of layouts from retreat to photograph and share, so that will be coming. I'm also doing Ali Edwards' A Week in the Life project. I started today and will go through Thursday. 7 days of recording where I go and what I do - hopefully it won't be too boring. Most of that time is spent at work, so we'll see.

Eric and I saw How to Train Your Dragon a couple weeks ago. Oh my gosh, was it good! I really want to go again, and can't wait for it to come out on blu-ray. I'm also on the lookout for a good souvenir. I haven't checked out the action figures yet, but hopefully there's a decent one. Or, I might buy the movie poster.

I'm also doing a monthly photo project, inspired by photographer Tara Whitney. One picture of our family every month, combined with a short list of stuff that went on that month. I think it will be interesting to look back on the 12 sets at the end of the year.

But probably the biggest excitement right now, is the Eleventh Doctor. New episodes started airing in the UK on Easter weekend, and so far, it is outstanding. I am super excited to see where the season goes. Here's a YouTube video of the season preview. Cool!

 

October Night

It's October! Finally. And as proof, I give you a spooky night:

I took this with my little point and shoot Canon Powershot from my truck. I had the window down on account of fogging, and realized with no traffic, it was the perfect time to capture a shot.

I'll post more photos from the night later, but none turned out as awesome as this one.

Snow Day!

We woke up to a heck of a lot of snow today, and it just keeps coming down. Work closed as a result and I've been home all afternoon. The snow is so deep and so pretty, I couldn't resist going out to take some shots.

Click on the photo to see the whole album.

Home Sweet Home

Jenny B. Harris strikes again! Jenny is a children's book illustrator whose blog I follow. Her website has several activities, some of which I've posted about before. Remember, Zoe? This gingerbread house is the newest one. Here's my creation. Sweet!

Finally Friday ::photos added!::

This week has dragged on and the end is finally in sight.

I just started an organizing project, on my ribbons. I don't have pictures yet, because it didn't occur to me. (That's how far off the blog-wagon I've fallen. It used to be I'd have thought of it first thing, not two days later.) Anyway, my ribbon collection started out on spools and baggies. But that was too scattered, so I deconstructed everything and sorted all the loose ribbons (not the spools, they were threaded onto an over-the-door towel rack) into a Cropper Hopper photo box, like my friend Kelly keeps hers. That was perfect for a long time, but then it got full. And I re-sorted some stuff and found more. And it's a mess to go through. (Especially at the last minute, which is usually when I'm doing cards.) So, something had to be done.

While I'm perusing blogs and online galleries, I always keep an eye out for scrap/stamp room organizing ideas. I save what I like in a folder on my hard drive for that studio I'll have some day. And that's where I got the idea for the ribbon storage I'm working on now. Wrapping multiple strands on a cardboard piece sized to fit in the photo box. It's almost too neat and tidy, which is why I hadn't seriously considered it before. I like the chaos of a mass of ribbon. I also didn't like the look of raw cardboard. But then I saw someone wrap it with brown paper. Bingo! That's exactly what I didn't realize I wanted to do. I have tons of brown wrapping paper. I love it.

So, Wednesday and Thursday night, that's what I did. I borrowed Mom and Dad's living room (and cable - they're the best two TV nights!) and made a mess. And it's obviously going to take awhile. I only finished brown and orange. But I'm happy with how it's coming together. And it's going to be much easier to see what I have at a glance. I just hope it all fits back into the photo box.

Finally identified:

"At Long Last Love" from the "Sinatra & Sextet: Live in Paris" 1962 concert album (album released in 1994)

I've been looking for this song performance for ages, ever since I watched Return to Me the second time. (The first time I was recovering from the emotional rollercoaster that movie takes you on.) The soundtrack doesn't have this song on it, played during one of my favorite scenes. (When everyone's dancing at the restaurant.)

I figured out which song it was, but every version I could find online sounded different from the one in the movie. And yes, I did actually have the movie going and compared the song tracks to the clips I could find online. No dice. He usually sings it much slower and smoother than the one that is in the movie. So, I gave up the search.

Until this weekend, when I was watching the movie again, and realized I could see part of the CD that the characters are holding when starting the music. Thank goodness for Pause! It's not a clear shot, but the cover definitely had a black center, with a white border. Definitely enough to match, thanks to the Internet! And I found it. I don't want the whole CD, so unless I find a single for sale somewhere, it'll just be in my reference file. But at least I know which version I'm looking for now.

:D

Man, I love research.

Good news for Hubble

The only positive headline on my home page this morning was NASA's announcement that they will be sending a shuttle to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. YAY!!! The mission is scheduled for 2008, and they estimate Hubble will start to deteriorate in 2009-2010 without repairs, so it's just in time.

The Hubble site.

CNN's article about the announcement.

Sky Blue Light/Muted Turquoise

I finally cracked open my new set of Prismacolor pencils tonight. I found them when I was cleaning off my table and had to stop and play for a bit.

This set isn't just new to me; it's the newest set of colors released (beige sienna, chestnut, chocolate, putty beige, ginger root, peach beige, sky blue light, powder blue, muted turquoise, pale sage, kelp green, green ochre).

My kit (white eraser, blending pencil, stubs [for wet blending], sharpener, blending marker, emery boards, spare white pencils):

I use a waterproof permanent black ink generally. Although, one of these days I want to try a dark grey and see if I can make it look like the image isn't stamped:

I always use at least two pencils in the same color family at the same time, and sometimes three. I color with them all, interchangeably, so it's easier to keep them close at hand:

I had Rubbermoon {cabbage} stamps on my table, too as well as a new batch from CatslifePress {present}. And two stamps that I haven't played with yet, but that I adore, from KidStamps {girl and dragon}, drawn by Trina Schart Hyman (my all-time favorite illustrator). I used only the colors from my new set for these, with the exception of a little pink for the girl's cheek and gold for highlights in her hair and on the dragon. The scan is true to the coloring, but not the paper it's on. Weird.:

Busy creating . . .

Working on something neat. It always starts out a little plain and simple; I'm hoping to get inspired and have some fun with it.

I'll post pictures when it's done.

13 Nights of Halloween

This is a little late, but it's still a fun site to play with.

Jenny B. Harris, a children's illustrator, has created an incredibly creative activity page for Halloween. She posted new entries on her blog during October, celebrating the 13 nights of Halloween, with a new costume for Zoe every few days. Now that it's over, she's put them all on the same page, so you can mix and match the costume pieces to dress Zoe. Here's a pic of my first attempt:

I just can't get over how wonderful it is. And even better, she's making Zoe into a real felt doll, with costumes! How perfect is that?