The Week in Glue

Here's what's keeping my soul glued this week:

Beverage: Pumpkin coffee, cans of seltzer, and *SHOCK* water. Yes, I am making an effort to drink more water.

Reading: I read a little bit in that Passion book I mentioned last week--the one I bought while totally out-of-it. I still don't know why I bought it. One of the other books I purchased during my book-binge haze of last week was Jennifer Hudson's autobiography, I Got This. Yep, the books just keep getting better. I think I bought it because I'm trying to get back into Weight Watchers and she's that company's spokesperson. It's not awful. The writing could be better. I can't fault Jennifer Hudson for that, though--she's a singer, not a writer, by trade.

The scene looked something like this.

Watching: Favorite Once Upon a Time moment so far: Captain Hook's lady love gets trapped by Elsa (ohhhh yessss the show whored itself out to Frozen) in an ice mountain. What does Captain Hook do? He starts chipping at the ice, like an old timey ice truck delivery man, with his hook. It was painmazing (tm) (a combo of painful and amazing) to watch.

Listening: Louis CK on Spotify.

Nickname for Gabe: Cheecherine.

Way to Waste Time on the Internet: I love Halloween. These pictures of strange vintage costumes are fantastic.

Etsy Shop Update: I hate to say it, but I'm moving at a glacial pace in terms of getting new merchandise posted. I have it to post, but it's been difficult to find a chunk of time in which to take and edit pictures. My hope is to have some earrings and cowls posted by the end of this week. Fingers crossed. What I really need to do is find a way to not sleep so that I can get everything done that I want to get done. Le sigh.

Around the House: Erik and I ran around the yard yesterday, raking and dead-heading plants. I harvested the last of our tomatoes.

Craft Idea: Last week, I decided to to reorganize and rearrange my craft room. I loved the room the way it was, but I needed more surface area. Basically, my Etsy shop stuff was taking over our dining room and looking messy. Now everything craft-related is in one space. Yay! I ran into a bit of a snafu, though, when I lost use of a bulletin board that is attached to a set of shelves. The shelves (the cube style ones from IKEA) were turned onto their side, and they now host my stereo and several boxes of magazines. I really wanted something to hang over my desk as an inspiration board. As luck would have it, the former owners of our house left a giant cork board in the basement. I decided that I wanted the board to have a decorative element to it. Check out the pictures below to see what I did:

Plain old giant cork board.

Above we have a potato masher. Yep. When my mom came to stay with us after Gabe was born, she decided that she hated this particular masher and bought me a new one. I don't know why she hated it. It was a Salvation Army special, but I always thought it did the trick. I've been holding onto the masher for a project just like this one! Basically, I used the masher like a stamp, covering it with white acrylic paint, and then stamping it onto the cork board to make a brick-like pattern.

Making progress...

And done! I took this picture tonight, so the light isn't great. You get the idea, though. Totally
easy project, and it looks super cute.

Things I'm Liking as I Type: Gabe's asleep, and the house is quiet except for the dishwasher. Peaceful.

What's keeping your soul glued this week?

The Week in Glue

Here's what's keeping my soul glued this week:

Beverage: Pumpkin flavored coffee. I ran out of it this morning, but Erik picked more up this afternoon. He is a good husband. (oxox Erik)

Watching: Erik and I began watching Archer a few days ago. I'd started it a while back, but then became distracted by...what? Other TV? Who knows. In any event, Archer is hilarious, raunchy fun.

Reading: Finished The Republic of Thieves. Next up: Cape Cod, an epic novel about two Cape families who date back to the Mayflower. I'm liking it quite a bit so far, as it's satisfying my inner historical fiction geek.

Nickname for Gabe: ChiChi-Bacca. Erik gets the cred for this one.

A mere sample of how you will soon be wasting time on the internet. Source.

Way to Waste Time on the Internet: omg THIS.

Etsy Shop Progress: Half of the a-Pair-a-Day earrings have sold! I know! Nuts! I am flattered, jazzed, and excited to fill the shop with many more goods over the coming months.

Around the House: Gabe has been suffering from a cold for the past few days, which has meant limited sleep for the grown-ups of the house. Last night, however, the ChiChi allowed us to get six consecutive hours of sleep! It's amazing the housework you can get done when you're not exhausted.

Craft Idea: Meh. I have not followed through with my image transfer plans. However, I did purchase shrinkable plastic that can be used with inkjet printers. All of those words basically stand for shrinky dinks. My plan is to do a Throwback Thursday Craft-a-Long post next month using said plastic. If you can't wait until then (heh), check out this link from the PhotoJojo Blog for a great tutorial.

Snuggly Leelu.

Things that I'm Liking as I Type: Leelu is snuggled next me me. Also, Bebe decided not to jump on top of the stack of folded towels at my feet. Good choice, Bebe, good choice.

What's keeping your soul glued this week?

The Week in Glue

It's a new week! Yay! I'm going to the dentist tomorrow! Boo. I've been chipping away at my Etsy shop in preparation for its opening on September 1. Along those lines, I've been finalizing packaging plans, retaking pictures and thinking about pricing options. With my mom and other work duties, things around the house continue to be busy, busy. In order to maximize my time while Gabe naps (yay for naps!), I'm going to try a more laconic version of this week's The Week in Glue.

Here's the short version of what's keeping my soul glued this week:

Beverage: I have been snuggling up with my best friend, Coffee, due to poor baby sleepage.

(NEW Category!) Favorite a-Pair-a-Day Earrings from Last Week: Float. Hands down.

Sooo tempted to keep these for me!

Watching: Erik and I are rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine together. We're coming up on the episode (Spoiler alert!) in which Dax dies. I'm planning on being out of the room for that. I can't hang with watching Worf scream over her again.

Nickname for Gabe: Sir Chunkington from the Duchy of Chunkshire, in the land of Chunklevania, located in the United States of Chunk.

Way to Waste Time on the Internet: This!

Troubleshooting: What to do with the giant cabbage leaves I harvested today. (Why did I plant cabbage when I really wanted to plant kale????? WHY??)

Words of Inspiration: I used to work with the elderly. I asked one of my elders on his ninetieth birthday what his secret was. He said, "Love everyone." Perfect and lovely, right?

Around the House: I want to be lazing like those cats over there. Le sigh.

Craft Idea: I'm starting to think about cowl designs as the summer winds down.

Want to Learn More About: How to sew with a pattern.

What's keeping your soul glued this week?

The Week in Glue

Taste testing the beach for freshness.

After a busy weekend of work and play, I am back at home, trying to get resettled. Work passed quickly on Saturday, followed by a road trip to Cape Cod with a few of my oldest friends. On Sunday, we braved the overcast weather and went to the beach. The sun never came out, but the air felt soft and inviting. Gabe played in the sand and had his feet dipped in sea water for the first time. He seemed wary of the beach scene. I think he'll warm up to it, though. 

As for other news, I have been LOVING my a-Pair-a-Day project. From the design of the earrings to the pictures to the posting here and elsewhere, the process has been filling me with creative joy. Later this evening, I will be posting pair 13, so stay tuned. For now, here's what is keeping my soul glued this coming week:

Beverage: Coffee, coffee, coffee. Gabe's sleep patterns have not regulated yet, and I often feel like a zombie in the morning. I relish that early cup of coffee. Last week, I RAN OUT OF COFFEE. OMG. It was AWFUL. CAPITAL LETTERS SCREAM THE TRUTH. My mom arrived later that morning to babysit Gabe, and, angel that she is, brought me a cup that kept me from drinking warm Coke Zero at 8am. Phew. I have learned my lesson, and I am prepared this week, having restocked the coffee stores.

Nickname for Gabe: Still using a lot of "ChiChis" and "ChiChas." My friend, Roger, came up with the nickname "G-Hank" for Gabe, an abbreviation of Gabriel Henry. I want to start using that amazing identifier more often.

Reading: Have not read as much Red Seas Under Red Skies as I would have liked. I like to read before I go to bed, but some nights my brain is just too tired to understand any sort of written language. During the day, I try to keep up with my Feedly blogs, though I do not get to sit very much due to Gabe's recent increased mobility (crawling is wonderful and terrible). However, when I have a second, I've been enjoying many of the posts from the makezine.com blog, which features lots of fun craft tutorials.

Way to Waste Time on the Internet: I borrowed "Mary Poppins" from the public library in our town. It totally holds up. As an adult watching Mary Poppins fly, control the weather, clean with magic, and alter medicine with mind bullets, I began to wonder: What is she? A fairy? A witch? I then proceeded to waste 10-15 minutes searching on the internet for an answer. I think this might be the best explanation I found.

Lwaxana Troi models the Riker
stud prototypes.

Troubleshooting: I made a pair of Commander Riker studs that did not please me as much as I wanted. After much thought, I have come up with an alternative plan that I hope to troubleshoot this week.

Words of Inspiration: My Freewill Astrology horoscope (which is just good advice in general):
"'There is no such thing as a failed experiment,' said author and inventor Buckminster Fuller, 'only experiments with unexpected outcomes.' That's the spirit I advise you to bring to your own explorations in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. Your task is to try out different possibilities to see where they might lead. Don't be attached to one conclusion or another. Be free of the drive to be proven right. Instead, seek the truth in whatever strange shape it reveals itself. Be eager to learn what you didn't even realize you needed to know." Thanks, Rob Brezny!

Around the House: Making baby food: Chickpeas, mango, spinach, and apricots. I'm not sure how much longer Gabe will want the mush. I've been attempting to balance the incorporation of more finger foods into his diet with my ongoing anxiety about baby choking. Gah.

Craft Idea: I found this pin for making a flower out of a cut up t-shirt, while looking for tutorials on how to make felt flowers. When I clicked on the pin to see more of the tutorial, it took me to the lovely blog, Inspiracion Hecha a Mano, and a page of accessories made from jersey knit (a.k.a. t-shirt) fabric.

Prolific squash plant with no squash. Boo.

Want to Learn More About: How to make my squash plants GROW SQUASH. The plants are gigantic and grow lots of lovely flowers that end up falling off the stems after a day or two. I read that this is something male squash flowers do to pollinate the female squash. The lady squash are no where to be found, however. Maybe I will find some magical tip on the internet this week that will teach me how to entice the lady squash to the garden.

What's keeping your soul glued this week?