Good Books Bring Better Days

I apologize for yesterday. It takes a lot to get me so upset, so that should give you some idea to how awful the day was for me. Ugh! So glad that it's over and each day offers a new and fresh beginning.

I didn't have to work this evening, so I took it easy, spending the extra time with my boys, and curling up with a new book from the library. I saw it there last weekend, and I've been carrying it around with me everywhere since (I never leave home without a book) but today was the first chance I've had to crack open the cover. It's called, I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times In Stand Up Comedy's Golden Era by William Knoedelseder.


I thought it looked like an interesting read, but I wasn't prepared by how fascinating it is. Once I started reading, I wasn't able to put it down until dinner simply couldn't wait any longer. Even now, I'm anxious to get back to it.

I don't know why, but comedians have always pulled my interest. They're such complex people, standing up on that stage under those white hot lights, turning their most intimate and embarrassing moments into comedic fodder for the masses to laugh at. Yet so many of them are angst-ridden, painfully shy, and introverted. The guts they have to get up there and lay it all out -- "Here I am, this is me. Love it or hate it." leaves me awe-struck.

In that way, they aren't that much different than writers. Only we get to hide behind our books most of the time, while with comedians, the judgement is never reserved until later. I admire gutsy people. Those who have this burning within them to bare their souls and move people to laughter, to tears. That's what unites us and binds us together as human beings. The fact that we're able to partake in each other's joys and burdens, to lift up eachother's spirits or send them shattering to the ground.

So if you need a lift of your spirits, a temporary ease of your burdens, as I did today, why not give this book about some of the funniest people on the planet a read?

No Post Today

No post today, due to the sheer crappiness of this day.
Thank God it's almost over.

Tropical Turquoise

Happy Friday, everyone! Aren't you glad it's the weekend? I know I sure am. The rain is pounding against my windows right now, making me sleepy. Not good, since I have to leave for work in a bit! I think I'd better pop me open a diet Coke when I'm done here. ;o)

Thankfully, I did manage to get some pics of todays project before the rain began. I made a bracelet. I wear a lot of blue, especially turquoise and soft turquoise... what would you call that? Sea blue? That's what it makes me think of. Anyway, I needed a bracelet to match, so I picked up some beads at Michael's this week while they were all 50% off.


I used Bead Gallery glass beads and Crystazzi crystals with tiny silver seed bead spacers between. I wanted this to be very versatile and go with a lot of different things, so I stuck with a simple repeating pattern. It might even match my work shirt, though that's technically French blue, but I think I might be able to get away with it. I'll try it tonight and see. ;o)

I love the shimmer in these beads. The pics don't quite do them justice, because they don't show any movement, but I think you get the general idea. I actually used these beads in a pair of earrings way back when I started this blog, if you've been around that long. I was glad they still carried them when I went back.


Well, I'm off to guzzle that diet Coke and give some attention to that neglected laundry pile that's been growing by leaps and bounds all week. Then I'll be off to work! If I get a paycheck today (I'm hoping), my employee discount will kick in, so I'll be able to do another mini blog candy giveaway in the very near future. Stay tuned! And have a great weekend!

Howdy

Alright, here's the card I made with the images from yesterday.
I have to say that I am so pleased with how this turned out.

What I did was take a piece of white cardstock trimmed down to slightly smaller than my card front. I filled in the sky area using the chisel tip of my Copic BG10, then filled in the ground area with some Tea Dye distress ink from Ranger. I'd never used distress ink before, but I really love how it gave a dusty appearance, which is exactly what I wanted for these two little cowpokes. I drew in some pine trees on either side of the trail and popped the kiddies off with dimentional adhesive.


As you can see, I cut off the balloons that were in the original images, and made little ropes out of hemp. I glued those on, then added a bit more at the bottom of the card. I distressed the phrase "howdy" and popped that off the card as well.

Then I distressed the edges with a little more Tea Dye, and because the sky looked so flat, I did a little there as well. In fact, I thought I had ruined it when the circular marks (I used a makeup sponge to apply the ink) came in the middle, but after layering everything else on, I decided they sort of looked like distant dust clouds or mountains or whatever. Anyway, I decided to just leave them.


And that's it! I'm really looking forward to our visit tonight from Kathy Otten. She's a fabulous writer -- I'm simply in awe of her talent.

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Cowboy/Cowgirl Up

Hey y'all! As you can see I'm on another one of my "southern voice" kicks (I'm about as Northern as you get) but at least today I have an excuse! I was coloring cowboy and cowgirl images!

Tomorrow night we have another special guest speaker at my Thursday evening writer's group: Author Kathy Otten. If you haven't read her books, I cannot recommend them highly enough. She is AMAZING. Kathy writes westerns, so when I volunteered to make her a thank you card from the group, I knew I had to do one with a western theme. Check out these cuties.


Meet Cowboy Billy and Cowgirl Lily from Pink Cat Studio. The minute I saw these adorable little kiddies, I knew they'd be perfect. I only had time to color them before I left for work,, but I'll be cutting them out and making a card with them tomorrow.


Kathy is a redhead, sort of the color I made Cowgirl Lily. I didn't bother with the balloons, because I'll be cutting them off and making ropes out of hemp to glue on their hands instead.


I had originally intended Cowboy Billy to be dark-haired, but there ended up being so much brown already between the horses, hats, boots, and belts, that I added a little Carmel and turned him into a dark redhead. I actually really like how the color turned out.

I'll finish up the card tomorrow afternoon when we get home from school and have it posted before I leave for my meeting. I'm really excited for this one! I think it's going to turn out really cute.

Have a great night, y'all! ;o)

Hello Birdies

How are you all today? Here the sun is shining and I just saw a cardinal outside my window. Fitting, since today's card features one! How's that for a coincidence?

I've got dinner on (barbequed pork loin, roasted potatoes in a dry ranch rub, and corn) so I'm going to just jump straight into the card. My hubby will be none too pleased if his dinner goes up in flames! ;o)

I found this adorable stamp today at A.C. Moore (yes, I'm there even when I'm not working!) from Inkadinkado and used a 50% off JoAnn's coupon, since my employee discount doesn't kick in until I get my first paycheck. I just loved how cheerful these little birds seemed.


I colored them with Copics: R24, R27, R59, B00, B02, B06, G20, G21, Y11, Y15, Y38, YR04, and cut them out in a cloud shape to match this paper by American Crafts. The sentiment is from Hampton Arts -- one of those Footlong sets with little woodland animals. I wanted the ribbon to go behind the sentiment, so I cut two little slits on either side of the sentiment with my craft knife and threaded the ribbon through, securing it on the back with glue dots. I layered everything on some Georgia Pacific white cardstock, then popped the birdie cloud off with dimentional adhesive. It blended in too much with the background, so I carefully went around the edge with the side of my BG10 to make it stand out better.


I'm really happy with the way this one turned out! It's just a cheerful, everyday greeting card that's sure to put a smile on the face of whoever receives it.

What have you all been up to lately?

Cowgirls

Ever have one of those days where everything you touch seems to turn out wrong? I am so having one of those days. After lunch, I spent about an hour looking through the digi stamps I've collected for inspiration. I finally settled on a sweet Pure Innocence girl that I bought on Etsy from the talented artist. I haven't used it yet, so I printed out three copies -- one to use today, and the other two to save for later. Well, I ended up using and tossing them all. I don't know if I was being heavy-handed or what, but the color kept bleeding through the lines and messing up the whole image. So an hour later, I abandoned card making and decided to dig through my bead box instead. I must have tried 30 different combinations of earrings and bracelets, and took all of them back apart because I wasn't happy with how they were turning out.

So long story short, I spent a total of THREE HOURS this afternoon trying to get crafty, and failing miserably. So this is me officially throwing in the towel. Instead, I'm sharing with you a pair of earrings I made last summer, using turquoise and freshwater pearls. I called them "Cowgirls."


In other news, some friends of ours who served as missionaries with us in Cameroon, West Africa were in town this weekend and we were able to take them out to breakfast this morning. They are still serving on the mission field, so this is actually the first time we've seen them in almost EIGHT years! I can't believe that much time as passed. It was so nice to sit and chat over eggs and blueberry waffles and catch up on all that's transpired since then.

If you're a praying person, please send up a request for Hans and Donna that God would richly bless them in their ministry. So many lives are touched and changed because of them and the work they are doing in Africa, and I count an honor to know them and call them our friends.

Blessings to you all!