Things I Throw Myself in to...

When I came home from work, the earthquake from this morning had thrown two innocent books, that I had known were perching on the edge of my shelf onto the floor. They sat there on the carpet, mocking me. I took one look at my messy bookshelf that's been plaguing me for weeks and literally rolled up my sleeves.

This is part of an epic undertaking as inspired long ago by Baker at Man Vs. Debt.

It started off as an innocent ploy to get my bookshelf back to his former magazine photo-shoot ready glory, but now everything is more gory than glory....ish

Here's where I started the evening. UGH! What a MESS!

What my workdesk currently looks like at 12:52 am...

Now I think I'm going to figure out some place to sleep....

I am sure that Julia and the Crew are doing much better. Run along and cheer them on!

xo and heavy dreams of books, Amber

My Creative Space

It's been five years since I've had a job interview. You know how they always ask you your greatest weakness? I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and the true answer is, thank you cards.

Case in point. My great and wonderful friend, Rachel, first grade teacher extraordinaire, not only baked the most delicious cup cakes for my birthday, but also gifted me one of the most perfect gifts ever. These Boylan glasses are venn diagrams of perfection.

They are vintage. They are brightly colored in my favorite colors. They are upcycled (they used to be the actual bottles that you buy Boylan soda in! AND while I hate almost all soda, I would trip that lady in the building at job-job that stares at me like a little crocodile bird for a Boylan Root Beer on a hot day, OK...let's be honest,  I'd trip her anyway.) These gorgeous glasses perfectly match my 1950s kitchen, and I love everything that matches my 1950s kitchen. They are in a word: wonderful.

I am making an attempt at righting a very wrong, my weakness to send thank you notes.  So I am making one! I declare that it will be so spectacular that I will be forgiven the long months that have spanned since my par-tay! 

Well, at least I hope it will.

Here is how I am starting.
I am shutterbugging
my lovely gift x 4.etc.

NOW I WILL DIGITAL IT! Then I will sketchy, sketchy, sketchy it!

It is time to color it!

Next I print it!


Now I pull out this magical tool! I Score Pal it!

Fold, and we've gone full circle. Time to Shutterbug it! 

WOOT! Now to stamp it... I am going to report to you when it's in the mail. I need that level of accountability.  Afterall, it's not easy overcoming weakness. 

My Creative Space - This is my desk:

This is my desk on "work".
I've been watching a lot of PSAs lately as I'm studying to get my permit. At 28 I figure it's probably time to learn to drive.

On the fateful day I invented 'Baby Mermaids' the brilliant Sandra Gaddis and I were running on sleeplessness, giggles and hot tea. Apparently this is the exact mix I need for pure genius. It's been years since the spark that made Baby Mermaids, and nothing as creatively spectacular or clarifying has happened to me since, until....

What we will call THE PERFECT STORM (which happened today) I had a semi-lame but acceptable blog post ready to roll and scheduled to go live. I planned to be in bed hours ago, but this PERFECT STORM must be shared, and shared with you now on the evening of its birth.

On Sunday night my friend Sam brought me these.
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING MORE ENCHANTING?

(Incidentally if it's years since this post has happened and my future husband is reading the archives of this blog in our penthouse apartment across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I want you to know I never expect these blooms to be topped, so no pressure)

At one point this rainbow bouquet must have been a bunch of white roses. It seems they were somehow magically dyed to become rainbow blooms. They have been in a place of honor on the windowsill since the fateful day they were delivered. This afternoon after days of not sleeping and pushing myself too hard between job-job and licensing clients and follow up from Surtex (it feels like months since I've had a weekend) AKA PERFECT STORM... I panicked in a way that only happens when you are delusional from not sleeping. What if they were getting too much sun?! I picked them up and moved them to the kitchen table out of the harm of gama sun rays.

In the process one perfect petal fell from its rose and in theatrical Beauty and the Beast style floated to the table....

I was instantly devastated, proof that I need to go to bed. BUT THEN, my eyes did that criss-crossy thing that they do when you are looking at a magic eye poster or smoking crack ;)

In fast non-thinking trans like motions I started tearing petals. One after another.

At 8:00PM - prior to the next creative chapter in my life, my workdesk looked like this.



It's obvious what we're looking at here, right?
.
.
.
.
RIGHT?
OK, if you can't see them, maybe you're a healthy girl who goes to bed and remembers to eat ;)

They're fairy wings!!!
In homage to the masses of UK followers we have here, I thought they would start out sharing a spot of tea. As in, "would you care to join me for a cup of tea?"

They weren't working out exactly the way I had imagined in the moment that I'd cannibalized my bouquet of beauty. Exhausted and blurry eyed I crawled to the kitchen, driven by the power of suggestion to brew a cup of Earl Grey...

PERFECT STORM!

It's going to be hard to sit through job-job all day. I've got fairies to develop! Funny how we're only tired until we're lit up with an idea.

Now spit-spot - Off to Julia's to peek at all the other desks,
you know, the ones that aren't presided over by sleep starved idiots ;)

SO? We have these girlies sharing a cuppa hot tea.
What else do you think Photo Fairies do? I think they go to the beach, for sure.

WOYWW - Bunnytown

I sketched this


then I cut it out


I iron it on to a shirt and then slap some paint over it. I wait some. Then I peel it off, yo.


Moving forward....


Oh like you don't need a bunny shirt? Haha. Now I think I want one too. This is going to be a gift. I'm excited to show off how this turns out.

Hop on by Julia's she's the head elf chicky around these parts on Wednesdays!
What's on your Workdesk?

This is On My Workdesk Wednesday

So it's wednesday.

Here is some stuff on my desk.

Once I design a pattern I print it. That dolphin paisley up at the top is totally reject for stationary, it'd be fine for a shower curtain, but today we're designing stationary. I'll reduce it and test it again. Everything sitting in the printer tray is good to go and double and triple checked.

It's so fun and exciting and I wish I could just play with paper all day long.

Run by and check out the women who do at Julia's Stamping Ground!
I am loving WOYWW. It's so fun to see what everyone else does to get over this middle of the week funk.

So far my favorite desk this week is Jozarty's warm crafting room - mainly because the colors are to die for and that orginization wall makes me JEALOUS.

I promise that I'll break out my camera next week! Cell phone does her job, but I'm starting to get the hang of this WOYWW and I want to play at the top of my game ;)