Etsy word: Diffident

Well, it looks like once again I'm late with this week's Etsy word. Why oh why do I have a job??? I'd much rather be just hanging out with the little girl and making art.

Anyways, here's the word:

diffident \DIF-uh-dunt; -dent\
adjective:
1. Lacking self-confidence; distrustful of one's own powers; timid; bashful.
2. Characterized by modest reserve; unassertive.

Have fun!

Remember, if you want to play along just post a comment to this entry with links to Etsy items that you think fit the meaning of this word.

Etsy word: recherche

This week's word was recherche, and we had some fun with it! Idyllands, DeniseFelton, and I all came up with different approaches to this one word. How fun is that?

Idyllhands suggested items focused on uncommon pairings:

Best Friends cat and dog by Hollyvision Art

Thank You Notes - Dog and Cat by bbmowery

I LIKE YOU card by Anna's Aviary

Denise found items that are over the top in some way or another:




Extreme Cowl by Pam's Fiber

Rainbow Animal Print Ski Hat by Fire n Sand Glass Art


Chinese Devil Hair Falls by somethindredful



As for me, my search led me to items that featured exotic or rare animals:


Bathurst Copper Butterfly Wing Ring by Catherine Chandler


Shrewd Dodo Linocut by minouette


American Bald Eagle Family Needlefelt Sculpture by Blackberry Downs Woolery

Something new in my store...

Woohoo!!!! I've been so swamped lately that I haven't had time to photo and list some of my new items. It's been killlin' me - all these cool new little brooches sitting in a little box in my studio and no one seeing them.

Anyway, got a few minutes yesterday and photo'd this little brooch and listed it tonight:

Loading the ATG gun

Anyone who's crafted with me lately has seen my big yellow ATG adhesive gun. I love, love, love it! It's the same kind of gizmo that professional framers use - so I feel real important when I use it.

Okay, but here's my confession. I don't know how to refill the thing. It's the only thing I DON'T love about my big yellow. Whenever I run out of adhesive, I have to go sweet-talk the husband into fixing a new roll for me. Or asking my friend Janna, who's way smarter than I am about these things.

So you can imagine how happy I was today when I saw this post on Craft Critique - a video tutorial on how to load the ATG gun . Or, as Denise calls it, the Big Mama Jama.

http://www.craftcritique.com/2008/03/all-about-atg-gun.html

I'm SO bookmarking this for future reference!

Maybe once I conquer refilling the big yellow, I'll get brave enough to try the Dremel.

snow day, pink eye, and a craft project

This morning we awoke to find that it was snowing here in Little Rock! Now, we didn't get as much snow as northwest Arkansas, but we did get enough to start covering the streets. This is such a rare happening here that at the sight of snow falling (instead of freezing rain or sleet, which is usually what happens), I revert back to my childhood. Yay! A Snow Day!!!

Of course, today no schools were let out and it all began melting off just an hour or two later. It was fun while it lasted, right???

In addition to the snow, we also awoke to find that Liv had pink eye, which meant no school for her anyway. Not yay. I had plenty of school work to get caught up on, and I was really looking forward to having her at school so I could do it. Ah well, such is life... Liv did have fun playing around in the snow for a few minutes this morning, and I took the obligatory kid-out-in-the-snow photo:

And, finally, for the craft project mentioned in the title to this entry. My grandfather is in the hospital right now due to congestive heart failure. They've been pumping fluid out of him for several days now and he's actually on the mend. Anyway, Liv suggested that we make some paper flowers for him, like we did for my grandmother when it was her turn to be in the hospital. So out came my trusty Sizzix machine and some patterned paper, and this is what we came up with:

It's actually a very simple craft project. Just glue together layers of circles and flower shapes to make the flowers. Then, punch a 1/8 inch hole in the center of each and thread a pipe cleaner through. Bend over the top to make the little flower centers, and then make a little z-fold in the pipe cleaner on the bottom side of the flower to keep it from sliding all the way down. To make the little leaves, I just pinched out some of the pipe cleaner and twisted. Yay for easy craft projects!!!

It's actually a simple enough project that I'm trying to figure out if we can include these in our Jennifer Project. (The Jennifer Project will bring goodie bags to cystic fibrosis patients at Arkasnas Children's Hospital.) The only gotcha is that the kids won't have a hole punch to punch out the centers of the flowers. I'll have to ponder on that one. I'll either need to figure a way to assemble the flowers without a hole punch, OR a way to get the holes pre-punched while still allowing for creativity in assembling the layers of each bloom. Hmmm... Any ideas???

Etsy word is back: recherche!

The Etsy word is back this week, and it's a good one! Our word for the week is... (drumroll please)....

recherche \ruh-sher-SHAY\,
adjective:
1. Uncommon; exotic; rare.
2. Exquisite; choice.
3. Excessively refined; affected.
4. Pretentious; overblown.

Go forth, and find ye some Etsy listings that fit this word! If you find something good, just post the link in a comment to this entry. I'll compile them, along with my own finds, next week.

Have fun!

I've been tagged!!!

This is a fun one, y'all...

Denise (DeniseFelton on Etsy) tagged me from her blog, and now it's my turn. Here's how it goes:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five other people.

Can I just say that the technical writer in me LOVE, LOVE, LOVES the numbered steps?? Anyway, technically the nearest book to me is my Stampin Up catalog, but on page 123 there are pictures of stamp sets but no sentences. In fact, the only text is the names of the sets pictured - Seeing Spots and the Spot On jumbo wheel, if you're curious.

So the next book down is the textbook from my writing class. Technical Communication by Mike Markel. If you turn to page 123 in that book, you get the exercises for Chapter 6. The sixth, seventh, and eighth sentences are actually questions: "a. What are the three largest or most important professional organizations in your field? For example, if you are a construction-management major, your field is construction management, civil engineering, or industrial engineering. b. What are three important journals read by people in your field?"

Lame, lame, lame. I need to get a life. So if you don't count a SU catalog or a textbook, the nearest book to me is actually The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, which is in a stack of books that are currently looking for a new home. (In case there's any wondering, this means that I AM NOT PREGNANT, NOR AM I PLANNING TO BE ANY TIME SOON. Had to get that outta the way...) The sentences from that book are: "However, you can be sure that they are talking about it behind your back. This is when you will be tempted to buy a T-shirt with the motto, 'I'm Not Fat, I'm Just Pregnant,' but don't. Let's agree on one thing right now: A pregnant belly is not like the side of a city bus and is never a good place for slogans or advertisements like, 'Baby on Board.'"

So now it's my turn to tag some people: DiamondMeenah, Dyzart, and Debbie. (I know that's not five, but most other people I can think of have already been tagged...)