Misc

Geez, has it already been five whole days since I last posted?
How does time zoom by so fast?
I have been spending too much time on Facebook, and not enough time here.

I was cruising Google Images earlier, trying to find inspirational photos for someone I was emailing, and I came across some fun ideas that I thought I'd share here.

Quilting without rules
Freestyle Quilt by Amy Seiffert


Pokey Little Puppy Fabric! Woohoo!


Scent-Sational Dog Beds makes beds from your recycled clothing.
Each bed comes with a pocket for your pet's favorite toy or bone


As found on Outsapop, amazing children's clothing made from vintage fabrics, by Kinchi
Kinchi's Etsy Shop
and Kinchimama's Etsy Shop

Bracelet Tutorial

What a fun idea!
I just discovered this cool website, Scavenging, from a friend's link on twitter.
Make a bracelet from a cut-up credit card

Woohoo!

I just received a copy of Amy Butler's Softwares: 22 unique and stylish sewing projects on CD--a free gift for allowing The Electric Quilt Company to include photos of the purse I made in Amy Butler's inspiration gallery.

Evidently I was one of 30 people asked to share their work.
The really wonderful thing about this, is the recognition for a job well done.
I worked so hard on that purse, and was really disappointed when it didn't generate much excitement.
Being included in the gallery now is a gesture of support that I really really appreciate.

My List, continued

Before I wrote the current list, I did accomplish some things that would have been list entries had I written The List sooner.
I figure they're worth mentioning, lest I forget I've actually accomplished some things.

I have:
*have flown in a hot air balloon
*toured the Marsten House
*toured the Gamble House
*toured homes in Bungalow Heaven
*learned to read Tarot cards
*learned encaustic
*learned how to solder charms
*took a class at the Oceanside Museum of Art (journal quilts)
*took a mosaic class (from an artist in Laguna Beach)
*learned how to tile a floor
*have seen the Pageant of the Masters (twice!)
*have been to Jamaica, Cabo San Lucas, Playa Pasquales (Colima, Tecohman), Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Penasco, Belgium, England, Switzerland, Monaco, and France
*attended summer school in Spain
*road on a train
*road in a horse-drawn carriage
*have driven across country (San Diego to Boston)
*have driven up the coast of California (San Diego to San Francisco)
*bought a new sewing machine
*have been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium
*started a blog (then two, three, four, plus Facebook)
*became comfortable on the computer (can write some html)
*went on a weekend getaway with friends to Lake Arrowhead
*got an Associate's degree

more items for My List (continued from yesterday--see part one):
29. take mom to the Getty Museum and the Getty Gardens
30. visit Watts Towers
31. learn to read Runes
32. see a play on Broadway (in NY)
33. take a class at the Atheneum
34. see a quilt show in Padukah
35. see a quilt show in Houston
36. make an art piece (quilt?) from old letters and/or diary pages
37. shop for antiques or furniture in North Carolina
38. tile my mom's hallway and front entry
39. visit Prague
40. visit Cozumel, and Belize
41. see Mexico City
42. tour the old pyramids in the Yucatan (and try the street vendor food!)
43. mosaic a piece of furniture
44. take a ride on the Coaster
45. go wine tasting (Napa?)
46. take a pet first aid course
47. take a pet massage course
48. visit Australia
49. visit Kauai
50. take mom to Whidbey Island

hmmmm, 50 things.
Do I want to stop there or continue?

My List

It all started with Andrea's List of "38 Things to do before I Turn 39".
It got me thinking, it stayed with me, it was inspiring.
I tend to be introspective anyway, but having had a recent birthday (a significant one) has my brain doing backstrokes.

I never thought I'd be the type of person to hide my age.
I used to have a friend who started doing that in her 20's (!) and I found it vain.
I find myself, however, doing it now.
Most of the people I work with assume I'm a decade or more younger.
Let's hope the trend (and the good genes) continues.
Maybe it's just that I'm in denial or something.
Like my mind still thinks I'm 29.
Yesterday I was talking to a hot guy, asked his age, and cringed when I realized I could be his mom.
Sigh...

Maybe it's just that I feel that I haven't accomplished anything.
I almost feel as if I'm on the highway of life in a traffic jam, or my car is stalled, and the rest of the world is zooming past.
The idea of completing a list, then, becomes compelling.
A kick start forward, if you will.
Besides, I like lists.

Then, in a stroke of serendipity, I came across the book "The Next Thing on my List", by Jill Smolinski.
The plot revolves around a woman completing a list of "20 Things to do before I turn 25"
The list in the book:
lose 100 pounds
kiss a stranger
change someone's life
wear sexy shoes
run a 5K
dare to go braless
make Buddy Fitch pay
be the hottest girl at Oasis
get on tv
ride in a helicopter
pitch an idea at work
try boogie boarding
eat ice cream in public
go on a blind date
take mom and grandma to see Wayne Newton
get a massage
throw away my bathroom scale
watch a sunrise
show my brother how grateful I am for him
make a big donation to charity

All this has me making my own list.

I would want to put substantial goals on the list, such as travel ideas, but I'd need plenty of time to complete them.
I'm not sure how far in the future I should make my list.
50 Things to do before I turn 55? 60 Things before I turn 65???

Here is the start of my in-progress list.
It's more difficult to write this than I had anticipated.

My list
1. learn to knit
2. sing karaoke (the thought terrifies me)
3. update my passport
4. take a cooking class in Italy
5. see Tahiti
7. walk out of my current job and never look back (celebrate)
8. get married
9. have sexy photos of myself taken wearing a man's white shirt
10. make homemade ice cream
11. look hot in a bikini
12. since I never went to the prom, throw my own senior (wink) prom party. Have all the guests wear prom-type dresses!
13. pay off my student loan (that means getting a new job and making more money)
14. go on a cruise
15. ride the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica pier
16. see the changing of the leaves back east (Vermont?)
17. walk the Quince Street Trestle footbridge
18. walk the Spruce Street suspension bridge
19. paint and multimedia a seagull head on a big square canvas (like the bird head in Sundance Catalog)
20. take a class to learn to speak Italian
21. lose 50 pounds
22. raise my own chickens for eggs/pets
23. hear Ruth Reichl speak
24. take a cake decorating course
25. finish my necktie quilt
26. finally buy a digital camera, but get one with a manual settings, and take some amazing shots
27. take a workshop from Andrea (at Squam?)
28. obtain a bachelor's degree

to be continued....
(update: part two)

other people's lists:
The Day Zero Project (101 tasks to do in 1001 Days)

Kristen McCraken's book "101 Things to do before You Turn 40"

Kumalata Kumalata, 33 Things to do before my next birthday

Up Mama's Wall, 39 Things to do before my next birthday

Treppenwitz' 100 Things to Do Before I Go

J Meadows' 101 Things to do before you die

Crazy Aunt Purl's The Big List

Do you have a favorite list that inspires you?
What's on your list?

On my "gimme" list

I so want this Eglu Chicken Cube
(it cracks me up that the website is "omelet")

The Animal Odd Couple

BFFs

I Heart Maypoles

The photograph has a description but not a date.
It says this is May Queen Ellen Lied Berg, 20, of Little Neck, Long Island NY, in the middle of brownie groups at the Old Westbury Gardens.


The New Yorker Magazine, May 1941


(click on image to enlarge)
This undated photograph appears to be a Maypole at an elementary school.
The back of the photo indicates the film was developed in Winona, Minnesota.

Photobooth Friday

I think it's interesting to find artwork that references or uses photobooth strips.
I've posted multi-media work, tee shirts, and fine art, but this is the first tattoo I've seen.
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day--his right forearm sports a photostrip of his wife, Adrienne.