Paper Tearing as an Art Form

I decorated these journals last year and just wanted to post them here as proof that I do occasionally get inspired to craft things. When I worked at the bookstore I was addicted to stationery. I have more journals than I will ever fill in my lifetime. Several of them were plain so I used images from a calendar and an other-wise ruined Japanese Art book to spice them up a bit. I really like how they turned out.

Family Reunion Invitation

I finally completed a project! 36 handmade invitations to my dad's family's 29th reunion. My dad is the fifth of 12 kids and this is his third turn as host. He asked me if I could print the invitations. He wanted them to say "be there or beware" with a smiley face and a skull and cross bones for emphasis. My mom didn't like his idea and suggested a picture of my grandparents instead. I choose this picture of them from the 1930s just before they were married. I had the cardstock, but it was too thick to go through my printer so I had to print everything separately and stick it on with double-sided tape. The inside has a nice insert with all the reunion information. At the bottom of the insert, I instructed people to lift the page for RSVP info. Underneath I snuck in the slogan, smiley face and skull my dad wanted along with my parents phone number. It made my dad laugh and although my mom may have been irritated that I included the tackiness she disapproved of, she also said she hadn't realized they would be so fancy so I guess she liked them. It's near impossible to please my folks so I consider the invitations a success.

The FAILtruck

...or, How to NOT Succeed in Tree Removal,
otherwise known as "So this is What It Means to Live in Fountain Square."

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:

The FAILtruck.

I can almost hear Bad Decision Dinosaur in the background...

"YESSSS."

I want to be the new thought inside your head...

Yes, I realize the purpose of this whole blogging exercise was to craft (at least) once a week. Although I haven't been able to maintain that kind of frequency, I have still been working on things... I just didn't have any batteries for the camera.

"So go off to the store and buy some batteries," you say.

Well, I would. I probably should have. The reason I didn't: I purchased a giant pack of Duracell Ultra AA batteries from Costco a number of months ago. I think there are 20 or 25 batteries in said giant pack. I have used a grand total of two, if for no other reason than I have absolutely *no* idea where I put them. Why buy more batteries when you have half a million of your own hiding out somewhere in the house, right? Right. So E. borrowed some from one of our neighbors because there is a truck in our neighborhood that he wanted to take some pictures of (so he could submit them to FAILblog).

And now I can take pictures again. And clean up the house (someday).

I made this almost a month ago, and I still wear it frequently.
That's sadly not always the case as I am a fickle creature with poor short-term memory skills.

The beads are pink, green, and watermelon tourmaline, strung on 19 strand Beadalon. The spacers (which, in retrospect, I probably should have used a few more of but didn't have any on hand) are pewter. I have no idea about the clasp, but they were on sale at JoAnn's and I liked them. Sometimes that's all the reason I need. It matches the bracelet well, and it hasn't turned my wrist an unsightly shade of green, so WIN.

Although the gemstone lore varies from source to source, watermelon tourmaline removes imbalance caused by conflict and confusion. Green tourmaline brings a joy for life and encourages patience and openness, while the pink alleviates stress and obsessive behavior.

(And it's awfully pretty.)

This is the second multi-strand bracelet I've made so far (the first is two strands of faceted garnets), and I really like how they're chunky yet delicate. I fought the urge to go over to Bead Palace this afternoon since I figure paying for a new title/license plate/registration for the car was probably enough money to drop in one day... now it's time to throw in some laundry and pick up some of my mess. I'll try to post one of the FAILtruck pictures a little later on.