S-H-A-R-E T-H-E W-E-A-L-T-H

Rachel left the oddest message last week, "I have a bunch of Scrabble tiles that i figured you'd want for crafting purposes, when can you come pick them up?" When we finally spoke she explained that her company had ordered the tiles for some training event, used all of the E's, I's, T's and S's and were getting rid of the rest of them. I found a night i could swing by to pick them up, thinking that there were probably 100 or so tiles that i could certainly find a fun use for, even though they are missing 4 key letters. Imagine my surprise when she pointed to a big box FULL of bags of letters. There are multiple sets of tiles in red, white, black, blue and green. There are oodles of tiles! Wow. So, to all of my crafty friends, let me know if you would like some free scrabble tiles and i'll send 'em to ya. Let me know if you have specific color or letter choices. Remember - no E's, I's, S's or T's. Don'tcha just love free stuff?

ahhhh... paper mache

You know I love school art. At today's school they had a big totem pole in the front lobby to celebrate National American Indians and Alaska Natives Heritage Month. (who knew?) From top to bottom it represented the spirit totems of Thunderbird, Bear, Whale, Frag and Beaver.

There is just something magical about paper mache - it's versatile, paintable and can turn any old box into a bear. I miss paper mache.

Little Spice

I'm always on the lookout for fun new restaurants. Last week the Palmateers took me to this hole-in-the-wall place called Little Spice Thai Cuisine. Located by Arundel Mills it was excellent. The food was great (i had a yellow curry with potato) and moderately priced, the atmosphere was casual and friendly, and the decor was modern, but cool. The whole place had a nice eccentric yet inviting feel to it. When you get tired of turkey next week, if you're in the Baltimore Washington Metroplex try this place : you'll love it.

AUTUMN!

First it was unseasonably warm. Then it was rainy. Where was my favorite season? Today it was ridiculously foggy. But at our school in Calvert county (south of Baltimore, for non-Marylanders) the sun broke through at lunchtime and it was gloriously autumn. It was bright and clear with breathtaking trees. It was crisp enough to need a sweater, but not cold. It even smelled like campfire in the air. (i assume it was house with a wood-burning stove or something charming like that cause we never heard any sirens) I LOVE AUTUMN!

Project Mari

You may recall that my friend Francie is in the process of adopting a little girl from Vietnam. Adoption is a pricey endeavor and she has done some cool things to help raise money. She wrote a children's book, illustrated by her mom, about adoption. She also put together a children's CD of songs, stories and poetry (with a track by yours truly reading The Paper Bag Princess).

Here is the link to her Cafe Press shop, featuring both of these along with an assortment of gift items. Marvel at her creativity and perhaps do a little early holiday shopping, won't you?

One woman's trash...

...is my idea of shopping! The only thing better than looking through my local antique/art/junk/consignment store is looking through their garbage. Look what i found: What am i going to do with a broken glass lamp and the world's ugliest oval painting? you say. I have no idea! But that's the fun part.

Felt Frenzy

If you're hip to the crafting crazes, you know that using felt in paper arts has been hot for awhile. I've resisted thus far cause i don't really get the appeal - it just feels so 70's to me. So imagine my surprise when last night i was working on a pile of November cards (Happy Birthday Zachary, Ron, Colleen, Christina, Matthew and Glenn) when i thought This could use a little 3D swirl; maybe i'll use some felt. I sat down to try a few cuts in a few different colors and when i looked up, i'd done this: That's a lot of felt shapes to use for a girl who isn't sure if she likes felt shapes! So don't be shocked if you receive some felt from me soon!

Making Murder Art

Saturday night was Open Space Arts' annual Gala Fundraiser. This year former TSPer Annie wrote a murder mystery set in 1955. We all came in retro evening wear and had a fabulous time. In fact, we were having so much fun talking, eating and looking for clues that i forgot to take any pictures of us. The plot involved the moderately drunk and majorly detestable coat-check girl turned actress Angel Von Tassel being poisoned at a party hosted by Charlotte Rose for the 1954 Best Actress Oscar-winner, Cassidy Peacock. There was intrigue, infidelity, blackmail and the best line of the night, "There's been a little death. But I see no reason for that to ruin the evening." Plus it is always great to see former TSPer Thom in a tux as the head of the studio. I've wanted to host a Murder Mystery for ages (i was a bit too young to get in on it when it was all the rage back in the 80's) and this really makes me want to do it. Anyone have New Year's Eve plans, yet?

Bliss

One of my croppin' cronies - Anne- secretly eloped last year. She and her husband, Dale, didn't want to tell anybody until they were able to tell all of their kids, which took almost a year. On Saturday they had a wedding celebration. I went expecting a party, but they also renewed their vows and had a blessing. Since they were alone at the civil ceremony it was really important to them to have a Christian ceremony with their family and friends. Held at Dale's brother's house in Annapolis it really was a family affair as we gathered in the back yard - there were 3 generations of Anne's family, 4 generations of Dale's, friends, dogs and kids playing on the swing sets. Even the 2 pastor's from St. John's are married to each other. It was laid back, but very sincere and lovely. There was a lot of laughing and crying, as there should be at weddings. Congratulations to the Crutchleys and may they blessed all of their days!

Fashionista

There are many words that could be used to describe me, but clothes horse (technically a phrase, i know) is not one of them. As a child of the 80's there was a time that such things really did matter to me. Now, if i am showered and my clothes match I consider myself presentable. However, i realized that i randomly had 2 posts about appearance and figured i'd put them together. Firstly, i have mentioned to several people that i cut 7 inches off of my hair resulting in picture requests, so here ya go: Yep, that's a lot of hair gone. (if you're wondering why i'm looking to the heavens in the picture it's because i took the picture right before i started cleaning the studio behind me - yikes) Secondly, i don't buy shoes very often. In fact, i generally don't get that worked up by shoes. But WOW did i get some bitchin' shoes last week. Thank God that flats and ballet shoes are back in style. These shoes were buy one pair, get another pair for $1 - that's right, just $1. Soooooooooo, since i haven't bought myself shoes in... ummmmm... let's go with months, since i can't actually remember the last time i bought shoes, i bought four pairs! They make me happy.