driving along in my automobile...

I finally posted some items on our Etsy store...did I mention that already? Two of my "gadget pouches". We'll see how they fare.

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WORK BREAK

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Love the XM Radio in the new Santa Fe. Found a good station that's all 1940s Big Band Jazz music! Love it!!!

Also Love my new drink concoction at Starbucks...not really that inventive, but still tasty. Coffee Frappucino with Cinnamon Dolce syrup. Mmmm.

SYTYCD
Was amazing again this week. All of the dances were just so cool! They should make a DVD of all the group dances. I would spend big money on that!

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Who all among you would be interested in a monthly CREATE night? I find that sometimes craft and creativity take a back seat to all the crap of normal everyday life. But if I knew that one night every month I would be able to just sit and gab with my girlfriends and create like mad, I would be a little bit less insane. Bring back the Sanity!!

Everyone is welcome. We could hold it solely at my house or rotate depend on who's comfortable with hosting a "crowd". Heck, it would give me some motivation to clean up after myself!! Ha! Snacks (and wine...) would be on hand. And only healthy snacks...like cheesy poofs, and things dipped in chocolate!

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Artists...
Vivienne Strauss

I see a market on Etsy for...
...Plus sized vintage and handmade fashions that don't look like gack or whore-y. Big girls like to look good too! Once I get my sewing machine out and dusted off and buy some thread and figure out how it works and buy a pattern and figure out how that works and pigs will start flying and hell will freeze over so we'll all need some warm protective head gear which is where my clothing empire will begin! Mwa-ha-ha!

Check this out in the meantime...Boutique Mia. Some beautiful "made to order" shirts and dresses. I have also found a smattering of cute plus-sized vintage dresses! Now I must decide where to spend my hard-earned $$.

Super rad and fab!!







And most wonderful indeed!


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Some Flickr inspiration for you today...search "Glue Stick"

(photo credits below...)




#1: Evil Erin, Jodie Hurt, which isn't showing up for some reason so check ou the link #2: Ian Boyd, #3: Travis Ezell, #4: gascoynebowman, htcoogan (which also isn't showing up...argh...GIF...so just click on the link), #5: 999
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Am off to the back. Put the phones on answer, maybe warm up a bit with a refreshed coffee. Work hard, then head home. Last night I started prepping my wall to paint it today! Woot! It's very creamy yellow (baby ducks...) but I think - I hope - it will dry much much darker and less happy baby!

later skater alligator

and yet, here I am

been pouncing on etsy today. I like pouncing for stores that haven't made a sale yet. For three reasons:

1. I like the thought of being someone's first sale, and helping them get started.
2. I like seeing some of the plain weird and horrible "creations" posted
3. I like seeing the crazy prices people think their stuff is worth!


Also, there are three categories of items in the "Has Not Made a Sale" Listings:

1. The honest, good store that hasn't made a sale yet probably because they just aren't being found. They have good stuff, RAD stuff, decent prices, just no buyers.
2. The "Artists" that charge $900 for a painting, or altered item, or doll. Maybe in a gallery or art show, but not on Etsy...not unless you have already been "found". Godd stuff...too pricey.
3. The horrible, nasty, why would anyone buy that, kind of item. I'm not knocking people's art...I would never ever do that...but I am knocking on the kind of crap people think passes as good enough to charge someone else for. And the shoddy pictures just add to the failure of these items. Just pounce, and you'll see what I mean.

I bought this lovely brooch/hair clip today. It's all recycled fabric and nice and big and lacey and lovely...and I'm her first sale!


Also, it's super cold in here today. I mean, close to freezing here! So it is hard to type, or think or do anything. Xcuse the bad spelling! not sure how to turn up the temp...dangit!


The most awesome tatoo...but instead of "Bleubird", I could put anything!! Like love or believe or create or dream or sweet or later...


im so cold. i might just wander over to Starbucks to wait until Russ picks me up. get a nice warm coffee and sit on the patio. although I might have to bus it part of the way home, so maybe I should just bus it somewhere fun, then wait there! who am i kidding...I'll just wait here. im lazy bum.

did some little drawings today. one is going to be either the banner or the avatar for our etsy store (doornumberthree.etsy.com) and the other is just for fun. a little modern Alice in Wonderland. pencil doodles, so no colour yet. I quite love crayons right now, so they might get the Crayola treatment when I get home.

how was everyone's Canada Day? Ours was fun...will share photos later, not that I took many. We were at the Sherwood Park party for awhile, then home for a nap, then I "volunteered" at Mill Woods' thing. I pretty much just wandered around for an hour not handing out the brochures in my hand, got a hot dog and non-slushy slush, then walked home. Woot! We watched the Mill Woods fireworks from the hill behind our house with Russ' family. It was Lucas' first fireworks, so he was super excited...for about thirty seconds and then he wanted to run down the hill some more!

anyways...im outta here. got to clean up before Russ gets here. la-di-dah! quiet day...

try it out

For me...so very nice:


And something I can do right away. I don't have to wait for it to be mailed, i just get a lovely PDF file that I can print and reprint as many times as I like. You can now expect to receive a plethora of embroidered products for every birthday, Christmas, and any other non-denominational or Judeo-Christian holiday that comes up this year. I wonder if there is a Solstice pattern...tee hee!!


And I also really like lots of Sublime Stitching's patterns. They are super fun, and I am excited to try my hand at making my own. I like to doodle and draw, so all I really need is a disappearing ink pen to transfer my patterns. Anybody have some extra linen laying around that they would permanently lend me? I'll make you something as a thanks!


i {heart} this tutorial. ... a little robot pocket pillow. Am thinking of it for baby gifts or just because! I would love to make Lucas a precious little tiny stuffed thing that he can carry around. But I know it would have to have a car on it...EPIPHANY!! This...

but with a car embroidered on the front! Probably not McQueen exactly...my doodles aren't that good! But how perfect!! Am really super really excited now! Might even just make it with some felt I have at home so I don't have to wait to go to the fabric store. ACK!! EXCITED! This is making the rest of my day go much quicker!

Tattoo short list:
- cassette tape
- star (
- cloud (blue)
- pencil/ruler/scissors (some sort of craft supply)

Location...on the inside of my left wrist...so it can be covered by large leather bracelet when necessary! This is still a huge "up-in-the-air" for me. If you thought it was hard for me to convince Russel to have another baby, he is equally stubborn about putting a tattoo on Lisa.

That is all for now. To do tonight: pick up Lucas' bike, laundry, embroider something, hug my boys...later,

"no one's gonna save you from the beast that's 'bout to strike"

I have been so busy with work that I haven't had time to feel sorry for myself lately...which is both good and bad: good that I haven't been feeling sorry for myself, but bad because I am so busy with work that it wipes me right out and i have no energy to do anything when i get home. It's mostly just annoying. And my house is a mess, and I have no desire or motivation to clean it...at all. All my art and scrapbooking stuff is in disarray, and while I have managed to complete some pages I haven't been painting which makes me sad.

Also, I have never been able to imagine myself at a job for the long-term. A couple of years, yes. but not ten and certainly not forever! With my "new" job at the dentist's I can see and feel the expectation that I am going to be here for the long term. When someone retires, I'll just fill the void. I'm just really anxious about this.


Anyhoo, on to a lighter subject...CRAFT!

I want to "create" more than ever as of late. And anything goes!

here are some fun websites I've found:
Pimp Stitch
Handmade and Homebaked
KC...this one's for you! A free pattern! Plus this site has lots of other cool ones!
Design Sponge
Tiny Things are Cute

Things I want "so badly"...
- to be part of the indie craft/art/DIY/handmade community in Edmonton (if it exists)

- start it if it doesn't!!

- to do some embroidery, starting with something simple using one of the lovely plastic hoops I bought for el-cheap-o at my "on-the-way-home-from-work-sort-of" Value Village

- to paint my DR walls and install my Expedit shelves (this week...cross my finger!)...I've been trying to get an image of the colour I want, but the Behr website is all Flash, so you can just save a picture. Plus, my computer is really slow today, so it's already taking forever. You'll just have to imagine Garlic Clove #390C-2 for yourself!

- have people over for dinner (chicken, naan bread, tzatziki...yum yum)

- to print some wedding photos and stick them on the already completed pages I have waiting for them

- to buy a rad typewriter and write some letters (too pricey for right now...maybe I need to start entering the lotto!)
- and there's a lot more, but just getting those done would be great!

Bought Lucas a bike yesterday...we'll see if he wants to ride it tonight, or like, ever! it's yellow and a Tonka Monster Bike, and has forks and a hand brake and suspension, and a rad chain guard, and is very awesome! Grandpa was the most excited, then Momma, then a tie between Lucas and Poppa.

I saw a nice bike at Canadian Tire that I like, for around $220. It's red and white and it has rad fenders and a little rack at the back. There were also some nice ones at this small bike shoppe in Mill Woods (Sport and Cycle or something), and they are mostly used so less $$$!! Which me likey! This one is very lovely...should try and find it!! Dad doesn't get why I need a new bike, cause mine is about a year old. But bikes are supposed to fit you, and mine doesn't so my legs hurt, and my back and shoulders really hurt when I ride. I know it was a gift and everything, but...

Am waiting desperately for my payroll papers to come today...am hoping everything went okay on friday!

I'm going to go be me now (am done being Dianne for now)...sop maybe I'll continue this post up front during lunch!

later

now's not the time

I was so busy at work today. Payroll time again and feeling majorly stressed because it was my first full payroll without Dianne! Yikes! It took me the whole morning, but I think I got it all right...if not, I'll be hearing about it all next week! Those ladies don't hold back when it comes to making sure their paycheque is 100% correct!

I'm working on a cool project for my wedding layouts (for Amy's wedding, but I think this is a cool idea for any event!). I've got some kinks to work out as it stands right now, but I'm hoping to post it as the Techneek next week (or the week after)

Not much else to report. We're getting the car Tuesday, not Sunday. Our salesman is going out of town (family emergency) and we want to deal with him, so we're waiting.

Have to go pick up Russel.

later

Blog Update

new project on the Techneeks Blog...

who doesn't love mail??

cool cool super cool

one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time

Disposable Memory Project


{i have been wasting far too much time today. I started out feeling very stressed and overwhelmed with work stuff, and am now slacking off far too much for my liking. so I will get back to work now, for real, and see you back here on Friday}

later,

Hot and Hotter!

Happy Father's Day Handsome...loves ya!

WONDERFUL!

the wedding that is! It was so great, and awesome, and just plain wonderful! We pretty much slept all day Sunday, except for Lucas! My legs were so sore from dancing all night!

here are some pictures... the first three are the photographer's set up, I just snuck a shot or two from another angle! Sneaky me!

the photographer JASSER is a friend of Sean's family, and he did an AMAZING JOB! I have no idea how to get in touch with him, but he was so wonderful! And really fun to work with as well.

And LINDSAY did the flowers. She had an interesting job...only two bouquets and 11 corsages/boutenniers! WOW! That's 8 parents, plus a groom, best man and MC. They were so beautiful, and everyone kept complimenting them throughout the night. (Lindsay...you can take this picture for your portfolio, but I'm going to email you all the pics of the flowers I can find!!)

We went to the Ledcor building on 91street, just south of Ellerslie Road for our pictures. It is a super neat-o building...all reflective green glass, with great (new!) landscaping and awesome concrete walls with wood accents. Jasser got some great shots...and when he wasn't looking so did I!!! The parents joined us at the lake just north of there for some pictures (that's where the wooden bridge is)

I looked totally gorgeous, of course, and totally cried during my speech! But only for the last couple of lines, which was my plan all along!! And Amy said some very nice things about me as well, so we were both crying! It was very emotional to see my little sister get married...much more than I thought it would be!