Etsy word: Gelid

Okay, so I had a little unplanned vacation from blogging. I didn't mean to - I just took a break from all the family, holiday, school stuff and I found it hard to get back into the swing of things again. Anyway, enough about that. Today's word is:

gelid \JEL-id\, adjective: Extremely cold; icy.

Oooh, how appropriate for the cold winter days! Off to dig around in Etsy to see what I can come up. As always, please post any of your finds as comments, and I'll group them all together in one post.

Christmas cards!

I'm happy to say that my Christmas cards are done!!! They're not all originals, mind you, but I do have a stack of 48 handmade Christmas cards. Now all I have to do is address them all...

Complement-ary Etsy finds

Okay, I have to admit that this was a difficult Etsy search for me. As soon as I read the word "complement," I got this mental image of Danny and Sandy singing, "We go together..." Once that was in my head, I couldn't seem to shake it.

And for anyone else who has thoughts of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John dancing around in their heads, someone has created a cute journal from a recycled Grease album cover:


Denise's interpretation of this word was much more appropo - yin and yang as perfect complements of each other. She found a number of good examples. (See her comments on my previous post.) I think the yin yang baseball is my favorite, though.


Once I was able to banish the singing Danny and Sandy from my head, I came up with these two items. The first is a pair of ceramic cruets that seem to melt into each other. Visually, they are complements of each other, but I found the artist's description to be particularly fitting to this word. She describes the pair as a couple, the strengths of one supporting the weaknesses in the other.

And speaking of couples, how's about the very first couple? Adam and Eve, that is. Check out this pair of earrings.

(Hey Adam, that's a mighty big fig leaf you're wearing....)

Today's Word: Complement

Okay, so I know it's not a highly unusual word, but it IS the word of the day at dictionary.com.

complement \KOM-pluh-muhnt\, noun:
1. Something that fills up or completes.
2. The quantity or number required to make up a whole or to make something complete.
3. One of two parts that complete a whole or mutually complete each other; a counterpart.

transitive verb:
1. To supply what is lacking; to serve as a complement to; to supplement.

I've got some good ideas for how to represent this word in Etsy items, but I thought it would be fun this time to wait a day until I posted my finds. What item(s) do you think best represent this word? If you've got something to add to the list, email me or post a comment. Then, I can post all of them together.

New Blog Feature

I'm so excited about my new blog feature! I thought it would be fun to feature a word of the day and then items from Etsy that somehow match the meaning or tone of the word. I'll take the word from Dictionary.com's word for the day.

There's so much stuff on Etsy that it can be overwhelming, and I find myself sticking to the same categories or themes. My hope is that this will take me out of my Etsy comfort zone and discover the wide range of artistic ability and interpretation that is out there.

So, without further ado, our word for the day is:

perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\, noun: Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment. (http://www.dictionary.com/)

Actually, that's the word of the day from yesterday; it's just taken me 24 hours to put this entry together, what with the end of the semester and all.

My initial thoughts on this word were things that were clear or transparent, something with a clean look. This wall sculpture totally fit the bill, with the added bonus of a lightbulb image which fits with the idea of insight.


Then, I thought about enlightenment which brought me to this pendant. The connection to the word is pretty obvious. I also felt the clean, simple lines of this pendant were in keeping with today's word.

Finally, this ring has such clean, clear lines and the circle element seemed fitting.


So, what items do YOU think match our word?

Stampin' Up Retirement List! (and my reactions)

Stampin' Up has published the list of stamps set to retire with the new catalog in January. These stamps will be available until December 31. After that, they're gone!

They also retire a group of accessories with each new catalog, and I've got that list as well. The accessories are available until December 31 as well, but only while quantities last.

Retired Stamp Sets List - will be available through January 1

Retired Accessories List - while quantities last only!

So, which ones am I saddest to see go? I think it would have to be Label Classics (JUST bought that one) and the Letterpress & Headline alphabets. I have the Letterpress and it's my go-to set for scrapbooking. My friend Janna has the Headline alphabet, and it's one of her go-to sets as well.

In the accessories, I'm surprised (and sad) to see the Perfect Layers tool go. If you like to scrapbook and like perfectly sized mats, you NEED this tool!

Which stamps/accessories will you miss the most?

Has anyone seen my motivation?

And if they find it, can they return it to me???

As soon as I can get these last papers graded, my Christmas break will officially begin. But what do I do? I sit at my computer and aimlessly browse Etsy. If I'd get off my rear and finish my work, I could get into my studio and actually MAKE stuff to put out there. But instead, I sit and I click.

The Rubbermaid gods have been kind to me.

So I just got home from getting the passenger window on my van replaced (''nother whole story...) and I get a call from someone asking if I want any empty rubbermaid boxes. Um, YEAH. I have a serious addiction to plastic storage boxes. My family refers to me as "The Rubbermaid Queen." So of coures I'm going to want some more, right?

The deal was, her car was already pretty full and she couldn't fit it all in there with her stuff. And they were loading a truck to be donated to Savers as we spoke. I'd have to get over there right away.

My grading productivity for the day already being tanked, I agreed. Now, I was expecting maybe one large box, some 15-quart-ers, and a bunch of random crappy plastic. Nope. It was all huge plastic boxes, underbed storage boxes, and even a couple of stackable pullout drawers. My friend told me that there had actually been more, but that she had pulled out only the clear storage boxes. Except for one ginormous silver one. Filled with other boxes.

Thank goodness we still hadn't put the back bench seat back in my van. It wouldn't have fit if it had been there. Hell, it barely all fit as it was. Wanna see? Look below.

A booger and a collage

First, the booger... Looks real, doesn't it? Actually, it's just the reason why my big mama-jamma tape dispenser wasn't working - the hugests mono-booger I've ever seen. So what did I do? Stuck the puppy on my nose and took a picture.



Now, for the collage. I played hookie from my schoolwork tonight and made this collage. It's been a long time since I've created just to create. Tomorrow I start grading final drafts of the last paper in the semester. Liv went over to Tony's mom's house tonight so the house was quiet. I suppose a more responsible person would have gotten a head start on the grading, but I took advantage of the calm before the storm and played in my studio for a while.




This collage is a departure for me. I'm usually so much more controlled, planning out and cutting and measuring and obsessing over colors. For this collage, I just messed and played until I got a look that I liked.


The heart is chipboard with UTEE and glitter. The backdrop is layered with white feathers, with fibers wrapped around it to create a focal. The frame is painted with pink and copper paint, and then stamped with copper paisleys. The "Cherish" is actually stamped on transparency which is glued behind the second layer of the frame.


The frame for this collage started out as some dorky desk art thing from the Dollar Tree. When you unclipped the frame, all the pieces came apart. These puppies are the best value for a dollar! The dorky picture is totally separate from the chipboard frame elements. It's totally ready to be altered. I'm going to go back tomorrow and grab a handful more. Yay, cheap craft supplies!!! (Just don't go buy all of them until I get there to get the ones I want!)