Pizza....

Every so often I just don't feel like dragging out the pots, pans and dishes to cook. I (on occasion) like to order in. But as I've discovered tonight in my attempts to order pizza for delivery, there isn't a single place in the local area that delivers to my current house. The Pizza Hut 6 miles away doesn't, the Domino's 2 miles away doesn't and even the local place that's 8 miles away (and delivers to locations farther away then me) doesn't deliver here! Just a little rant because I find it a little bit, well, stupid for lack of a better word. But I'm hungry, and I don't want to cook. So I just placed an online order with the Pizza Hut because I've been wanting to try the pasta that they have now. So here I am, getting up to drive out there because no one delivers here!

an update....

So I figured it was about time for a bit of an update. In my last post I was worried about the kittens. After taking them to the vet we've discovered that it was likely that they had tapeworms but were given a medicine for three different kinds of worms. Other then that they're perfectly healthy! No ear mites, fleas or other problems.

In other news, Jim and I finally saw "The Dark Knight". Personally I was a little confused by most of it but Jim said that was because I haven't watched "Batman Begins" yet. However I knew enough to appreciate the role that Heath Ledger played as the Joker. Fantastic! So dark and creepy! I've heard so many people comparing his Joker to that of Jack Nicholson but I don't think you really can compare the two. Ledger's was simply a different character in a different Batman movie. Nicholson also did a fantastic job, his Joker wasn't nearly as dark personality wise but neither was the entire movie he was in.

Today I'm spending the day working on reorganizing the studio. When Jim and I picked up the kittens, everything that they might get into got shoved into my studio. There's so much stuff that I can barely walk in there, let alone work! And believe me, with the show at Pagan Pride Day in Dover coming up on the 24th, I have a lot of work to do!

Worried....

So I've completely fallen in love with our kittens but now I'm really, really worried. It looks like Alena definitely has worms and probably Cody as well. We don't know what kind of worms but I've scared myself reading information online. I'm trying really hard to convince myself that she'll be fine until we take her to the vet on Friday or Saturday. She hasn't lost her appetite and she's still running around, acting very playful so I'm hoping that she's not too sick. As I type this they're both chasing each other from room to room. It also looks like both of them have ear mites which is a simple problem that the vet can get us medicine for.

In better news- they both have figured out the litterbox. We had to move it because they had to pass the central air unit to get to it and were scared of it! Now that it's in an easier place for them to get to. They've also learned how to use the scratching post!

Kittens!

Jim and I just got home a couple of hours ago with two 11 week old kittens. They're absolutely adorable and have been chasing each other since we got home! Alena is the grey cat. She's a little bit shy but is having fun playing with Cody, the orange one. More to come later!

Stampin' Up

So I love scrapbooking and love the way that stamps look but always swore up and down that I wouldn't do the Stampin' Up thing. Well, I was recently converted. A friend of mine is into Stampin' Up and her distributor does monthly demonstrations. Suzann invited me to go along with her yesterday for this month's demonstration. And I loved it! We made a card to start out with which was really neat because it combined different techniques that I already knew a little about and expanded on them. I know how to emboss and I know how to roll ink but never thought to combine them and use the embossing as a resist to the ink. I didn't do a perfect job with the ink roll but I like the overall look of the card.

Project number two was to learn how to stamp on fabric napkins. And they turned out so neat looking. I absolutely love them! And by using 100% cotton napkins and the kind of ink pad (I can't remember the name right now) I just had to stamp and go. There was no heat setting involved at all which I think is simply fantastic. I wound up loving the stamp set we used so much that I decided to buy it! I also picked up a second set that has other floral designs. And when I sat down and figured out the cost involved, it's actually cheaper to purchase the sets from Stampin' Up then it is to purchase the individual stamps at the store. I can't wait until my order comes in around the 30th. By that point my studio should be completely set up and I can go to work!

And the laminating machine we used inspired me to design some jewelry that I'm working on as I type this! I should have some completed by tomorrow and a new post about it then!

I'm back!!!

In answer to MayRae comment on my previous post, I'm back! Or I am at least a little bit. I was finally able to set down yesterday and edit some posting in my shop. My goal at this point is to do 3-5 listings a day until I get caught up. Looking forward to talking to everybody at some point soon- just might not be this Monday's sale (we'll see how things go for now).


In moving in news, in the past week I've found my living room again (meaning unpacked and moved boxes!) as well as my laundry room and dining room. Up for today- the room that's out walk-in closet. Jim's hanging up a closet kit with bars and shelves so I can attack the mountain of clothes....

the move....

after a week of headaches (and backaches!) my husband and I are finally moved into our new house. However I can't find anything! Ah, the trials of moving. I got the kitchen straightened up today but I still don't have a living or dining room because of all the boxes. I need to find more time in my day to put everything where it belongs. Unfortunately I won't be able to get my Etsy shop back up and running this week. I feel like I can't function properly in all of this clutter!

On a sad note, I was upset to hear about George Carlin's death. He died Sunday evening at 5:55PST. I've been a fan of George Carlin for many, many years and have always loved his work. Comedy and the world in general has lost one of the best comics we've ever had. However the "Seven Dirty Words" will live on forever in comedy's history.

Moving...

At long last, my husband and I have found a house to rent in our area. After having so many issues with our apartment (and the management), we wanted to make sure that we moved into our own house. A landlord is fine, but a management system at an apartment complex is not. We found a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house in a little, bitty township right outside of Dover. The landlord is also open to pets so after a bit we'll be getting a couple of cats. So we're in the processing of packing up our belongings for the move (which should occur around the 19th). However this means that I've had to close up my Etsy shop for the time being. I'll miss being directly involved with Etsy and the Homefront Team but I don't want to risk selling an item that I can't find because of the packing! And since I've been working on redoing all of my pictures for the shop, I'll be able to reopen my shop with brand new images. I'll try to keep everyone updated as this entire process moves along! (no pun intended...)

New Projects!

I recently picked up a wood-burning tool at the local A.C. Moore and I'm thrilled! I used to do wood-burning many, many, many moons ago when I was only about 11 or 12. I love the idea of how permanent the image is- especially with my husband helping out. He thinks that wood-burned jewelry would look fantastic stained and varnished. So he's going to finish each piece that I've started. I really like how he's taken it upon himself to help out with my art.
And there's a hot knife point in my wood-burning tool kit. So I figure what better time to try to create some jewelry out of old records? I haven't actually tried yet but I'll let you know what happens!

Lightbox

For several weeks I've been waiting patiently for my husband to make me a lightbox. It was suggested to me by somebody on Etsy that using one might make my pictures turn out a lot better. At long last, I have my lightbox!

It was constructed using information that I found online (after many, many searches). It's made out of plastic sheeting (like for overhead lights), PVC pipe, glue and, of course- duct tape. After all, what homemade contraption is complete without some duct tape being involved!

I've also draped a piece of black fabric down the back and underneath of it for my backdrop. By doing it this way I have the option of changing my backdrop to whatever color I need!

As you can see below, the first picture is my original done without the lightbox. The second picture is the one with a lightbox. Personally, I think the lightbox makes a huge difference! I think the second picture is much more elegant looking. I'm still going to eventually pick up a different set of lights to use with it, but for right now my husband's lights will work.

(By the way, I'm still figuring out how to add pictures to my post so please excuse me if it doesn't look quite right yet!)

Figuring it out!

Thanks to the help of an Etsy friend (and fellow Etsy Homefront team member)- MayRae ( http://www.MayRaeCrochetnKnit.etsy.com ) I'm figuring out this blog thing. As you can see I've figured out how to make my blog have three columns which was a big goal of mine. I'm so excited about it! More to come soon....

Getting started....

Jumping into this blogging thing is actually a bit scary for me! Not so much the part about blogging itself, but just about figuring out what I'm doing to set it all up. I'm nervous because when I jump into something I usually at least somewhat understand what I'm doing or I can pick it up within an hour or two. Not this time! I'm trying to find a template to use on my blog and it's much harder then I thought. I want to at least have three columns. And I want to be able to personalize it with my own photos and such. However I don't know how to use html to design my own template. And I can't seem to find a three column template that I could use for the time being- how frustrating! I feel that if I could just get started, then I could be well on my way to figuring it all out.