A Piece of Art, or #7 of 30

About 6 months ago, in my quest to post more frequently, I posted a list of 30 blog titles.

So far, I've done six.

And number 7 is "A Piece of Art."

I am not a self-proclaimed artist.  I have several artsy family members, but I am not one.

I am, however, a self-proclaimed sorta crafter.

I'm pretty good at copying other people's ideas.

And not making them perfectly.  Rather imperfectly, in fact.

But most of the time, I like my little imperfect pieces of craftery.

I have a few things that I should be posting, but since it's too dark to photograph them even remotely effectively, I will just re-post a recent craft that I consider a piece of art.

Unfortunately, I just recently posted this, so it's not exactly exciting. 

But I promise I will take some photos of my other endeavors and post them here soon.

'Cause I still have 27 more days to go this month!

Since it's confession time...

I just found out my profile at mormon.org is up and running.

Check it out.

And if you have any questions, just let me know in the comments.

PS...I thought I scheduled this post and it's a good thing I checked so I could keep the ball rolling since it didn't automatically post.  Scary!  Spooky!

Hi. My name is Stephanie. And I'm an addict.

(Go ahead...say it.  "Hi, Stephanie.")

I have become absolutely addicted to Pinterest.
I joined months ago, when it was difficult to get an invite--and yeah, you used to need an invite to join.
I kept reading all these blogs ('cause, if we're being honest, I'm addicted to blogs.  Of people I don't know.  Yeah...I've got a serious problem) and everyone was talking about "pinning" and "boards."
I didn't quite understand and I was a little annoyed.  (Truth be told, I read several blogs written by people who annoy me.  Some of these people are over-the-top narcissists.  And tell everyone about their narcissism.  Only they don't call it that.)
So, although I was annoyed, I figured it was just another thing these self-apprecating (you know, the opposite of self-deprecating) folks were discussing that was a secret society, only accessible to the blogtastics.
But then, one of the bloggers I admire wrote about it.  And even described it.  And was willing to give out invites.  (That's one of the reasons I like her...she doesn't think the world-wide-web is HER oyster).
So, I went to the website and checked it out. 

It looked a little like heaven. 

A place I could put all those things I see on blogs that I love/want to do/dream of/etc. 
Somewhere that I could remember. 
It wasn't one of my secret hiding places.  (I have so many of them, I can never remember where I put what.  My cyber hiding places are various places on my C drive or emails I sent to a friend or emails I sent to myself or bookmarks on my browser or little pieces of paper I scribbled details or printouts I put in real [as opposed to cyber] hiding places like the pile of paper on the desk or the pile of paper on the floor in the home office or the pile of paper on the floor in the guest room....I think you get the idea.)

So I signed up and started using Pinterest.
I pinned a few things, but would forget about it most of the time.
I would get emails saying that someone I didn't know re-pinned a pin.  Or was following me.
And I'd pin a few more things.
I had a conversation with one of the 2 other people I knew who pinned.
We couldn't figure out the re-pinning.  And following.  And found it slightly creepy.
And I pinned a few more things.

And then more of my friends started pinning. 
And I learned about re-pinning.  And following.
And I pinned more and more.
And re-pinned.  And followed.

And now I find myself addicted.

And I'm SURE I can quit any time I want.
I don't pin at work, so it clearly isn't a problem.
I've gone DAYS without even thinking about it.
It's not like I installed the app on my phone.  (Ok...I don't have an i-phone, which is [currently] the only phone that has an app.)
And I've only tried to access it at a friend's house once.  And that was just because SHE wanted to see something I pinned.
And I haven't forced Darrell to sign up so I could have a secret Pinterest account...although that doesn't sound like a bad idea.


Ok....I'm an addict.

But hey...admitting I have a problem is the first step.

I saw that on a pin!

Holy freak-out, Batman!

First, I'd like to apologize that this post isn't even half as exciting as its title would imply.

In case you hadn't noticed, I haven't updated this here blog in quite some time. 

And a whole bunch of bloggers are posting every day in October, so I thought I'd jump on the band wagon since that's what I do.

I'm easily swayed.  And if you didn't know that about me, now you do.

So, to the point.  Since I decided to post every day in October, I started to do that very thing.

And blogger has totally changed itself.

When, exactly, I don't know.

And so, the reason for the blog post title.

Or maybe, even more appropriately, it is a little shocking I posted.

You decide.

(And comment your thoughts below).

Thanks for visiting!

E.A.T., or an example of my procraftination

I'm the girl who loves to start crafts.  But, unfortunately, I don't finish even half as many as I start.

Take my E.A.T. sign, for instance.  

                                                                         

For months, I wanted to make some sort of craft revolving around the word "eat" for my kitchen.  I wasn't sure of what it would look like, but I knew I wanted it.

One day while at Hobby Lobby, I saw the papier mache letters on sale and I bought an e, a, and t.  I still wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I needed to make a start and that was a good one.

I then decided to decoupage pretty papers on each and attach them to frames.  So I went back to the HL and searched the stacks and stacks of scrapbook paper.  (Because the stacks and stacks I have at my home--under the guest bed, in the end table in the guest room, and stuffed in little hiding places here and there--were not quite right).

I went to the dollar store and scoured the picture frame section trying to find 3 frames that had character and were made well enough to not look tacky and cheap...'cause when you spend a dollar on a frame, you don't want everyone to know.  But you certainly don't want to spend $5 on each frame.  I spray painted the frames a glossy white (which looking at them again, I should have done at least one more coat, but I am an impatient woman...sorta).

I painted the glass of the frames a dainty aqua (the inside, not the outside).  This time I painted about 3 coats to make sure you couldn't see the paint strokes and ensure uniformity.

Then I assembled the parts.  The aqua glass in the now-white-frames and glued (with E6000--good stuff) the letters to the glass.

Then the letters sat in the bookcase in my home office.  For months.  They weren't quite done, but I couldn't figure out what they needed.  So as I tried to figure it out (and live the rest of my day-to-day life), they sat.  And sat.  Finally, I figured I should hang them up and figure it out while I enjoyed them.

And I did.

About a month later, I decided to make some paper flowers, which wasn't too hard.  I'd link to the tutorial where I found the instructions, but don't remember which of the millions of blogs I checked out was the one with the instructions.  And so, alas, you'll need to just take my word for it.  They are easy.

And now, it's been about another month and I finally took the letters down and glued (with hot-glue this time) the flowers on.

So there you have it.  A tutorial of sorts.  On how a craft that takes other people 30 minutes can take my 492 days to complete.  (that is an estimate, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it was the true time frame).

Giveaway!

After years of blogging--admittedly, it has been rather sporadic and lame, especially as of late--I am happy to announce a giveaway!

The winner will receive the rights to my debt.  All of it.  My mortgage, car payment, credit cards, and (while we're at it) my monthly bills, like groceries, utilities, and my shopping sprees.  And by "rights," I mean "responsibility for paying."

The bad news is that it is way less than the national debt.  The good news is that I can make arrangements for it to last your lifetime. 

Here are all the rules of the giveaway:
Unlike all those other giveaways you are familiar with that have all sorts of questions to answer, or buttons you have to add to your blog, or Twitter/Facebook tag lines like "Oh my gosh!  I just entered the best giveaway in the world and you should too!  Just click here to enter.", all you have to do is nothing.  Yep, that's right!  Nothing.

'Cause here's the deal.  I have a special tracker that lets me know who reads my blog, including their name, shoe size, and cell phone number--even if you use a reader and don't actually read from my URL.  So, everyone who comes to my blog and doesn't leave a comment will be entered into the giveaway. 

Now, if for some crazy reason, you decide you don't want to win this glorious giveaway, just leave me a comment.

Thanks for entering!

Fine print:  I don't REALLY have a "special tracker" or know your shoe size, but I would really like to hear from my readers (assuming there are any :) ).

Girl power

My dad was in the Air Force, so we moved around.  A lot.  Maybe not as much as some people did, but when I tell you I went no more than 2 years at the same school, it's not an exaggeration.

So, unlike many of my friends, I don't have that BFF from kindergarten.  And I have secretly (or not-so-secretly) been jealous of those life-long BFFers.

Until a couple of weeks ago when I realized that instead of one Bestie, I've had several.

I had Anne.  She was my best gal pal from four to seven.  She taught me that parts can be on the side instead of down the middle and bangs are optional.  She ran super fast and would hold my hand so that I could keep up.  We played house and Barbies and grocery store.  She helped me be brave and walk through the giant pampas grass plants on the way home from school.

Then there was my sister Jennilyn.  We did everything together.  We played more Barbies, house, Primary, and school than any other kids alive.  We played Charlie's Angels.  With cap guns.  On roller skates.  We shared a room for about 13 years straight.  Some days were better than others.  Our bedroom was initially decorated in red and white gingham, followed by a crazy 80's rainbow theme, and finally the bedroom of our dreams--or at least the dreams of the designers of Seventeen magazine.  We exercised at night when we couldn't sleep.  And since we shared a room, we also shared a radio.  And listened to the same songs over and over together.  Take One Me will always remind me of Jennilyn.

Molly was the Shirley to my Laverne in 9th and 10th grade.  We were constantly doing something crazy.  We made all the scenery for the Ward Roadshow--mostly from a sheet we painted in the style of Bob Ross.  We entered the Audio/Visual Competition in lieu of doing a report in our 9th grade chemistry class--and ended up making a volcano, filming it, and dubbing the stampede scene from "May from Snowy River" as the sound of our rumbling volcano.  (Yeah...pretty weird choice, but it was the mid-80s and there just wasn't much to choose from).  We gave each other makeovers constantly.  We talked on the phone incessantly.  And we made plans to go to Ricks College and be roommates--and then she went to BYU instead.

So Lynell was my Ricks roommate.  We took classes together and crammed for finals--I still remember the scientist named Harvey had something to do with capillaries.  We set each other up on dates.  She let me tag along on dates with her and her Sophomore year boyfriend.  We did crazy things in the middle of the night--taped deformities into our faces, wore our undies on the outside of our clothes, danced and sang too loud.  We went to church together and shared our testimonies with each other.  We even worked the weeknight dinner shift in the cafeteria together.

And then because I enjoyed my nights so much better than my days, I went home to Tucson and tried to figure out my next move.  My compadre in adventure was Lorrie.  We both were sort of trying to decide what to do with the rest of our lives.  So we played.  A lot.  I think in the next two years, between us, we took 4 credit hours of classes at in institution of higher learning and 164 credit hours of LDS Institute classes.  We were in Lambda Delta Sigma together.  We went to every dance together.  We played pretty well.  And then we started to prepare for our missions.  Lorrie got her call to West Virginia and left a few months before I did.

That summer before my mission, Jamie was also getting ready for her mission and moved in with her grandparents who were in my parents' ward.  We both were working for probably no more than minimum wage in the fashion industry (she was at Judy's in the mall and I was at Famous Footwear across the street and down a block).  We were pretty excited for September to come, so we talked about our plans.  She went with me when I went to the temple for the first time and then we went the next week together.  She came to the MTC a week after I did and together we soaked up all the good the MTC had to offer.  We wrote each other on our missions and she was a great example of a missionary to me.

Allison had the important task of re-acclimating me to "The World" after my mission.  She set me up on my first date a week after I returned.  We rented an apartment together.  She introduced me to her circle of friends, many of whom played a huge part in my life.  Less than a year later, she moved to her parents' home to prepare for her mission.

A couple of years later, I decided I needed a change of scenery.  Arlissa lived in Mesa and was willing to provide the scene change.  We lived for a short while in her grandparents' house in downtown Mesa and then re-located to North Phoenix.  She has always had a way of making whomever she is with think that they are the most important person to her.  We found a great singles ward and jumped in with both feet.  We had parties galore, where we would cook for days in advance (many times by the light of a lamp when the overhead light would stop working).  We went on road trips to Utah.  With no A/C.  Over Labor Day weekend.  With my beta fish.  She introduced me to NPR.  She worked in the Governor's office and introduced me to movers and shakers.  And she introduced me to Darrell--and got him to eat Chocolate Silk Pie.

My last roommate before Darrell was Kira.  She taught me to eat felafel.  She was always thinking deep thoughts and asking me what I was thinking.  It astounded her when I would tell her I couldn't remember or that I was just zoning.  She is the consummate teacher and has a huge love for animals.  Even rats.  Especially Hans und Franz.

And there are way more that I could name.  I have been blessed to have so many good girl friends who have taught me so much.  And even though I don't always keep in touch like I want to (because I want to!), I really love the friends that I have made thus far in my life.

And last of all, I'm glad for you!