Rayen

I was looking for a Victorian era photo album to use for a craft project, and ended up purchasing a lot of vintage paper ephemera for $14.99. Along with the album I got some lovely old photos, scrapbook pages, three Asian figurines (not pictured) and a ton of journal-making inspiration. I'll use some of these pages for my craft project, but I may turn the old album into a junk journal. The three magazines I received are from left to right: Collier's September 22, 1951 issue (ten years older than me!), Life April 19, 1948 issue (this one is older than my guy!), and Look January 26, 1965 issue. The first two cost 15 cents and the last one was a whopping twenty-five cents. Last time I bought a magazine I paid $15.00 for it, so prices have gone up quite a bit, lol. The old ads in the magazine are often hilarious to read. Here's one for Hunt's canned tomato sauce, possibly when it debuted on the market. No one shied away from bacon in the olden day...

I have been stalling on the July tote for my calendar project -- vacation kept me very busy, and I again had some issues creatively speaking -- but I hope to finish it before August 1st. To see my progress, check out my album of pics here.

If I want to buy new shorts for myself I'll have to fork over between $15.00 to $20.00 per pair -- and that's at Wal-Mart, which is supposed to be cheap. I'd rather save money and make them, so I went to the local thrift and got these two pair of trousers (with pockets!) to alter, both for $13.98. To alter pants into shorts, you put them on, mark with a safety pin where you want the hem of the shorts on one leg, take them off, and cut off the leg you marked 1-1/2" below the mark in a straight line. Fold the pants in half, cut off the other leg at the exact same spot, then turn them inside out, double fold the hem inside out by 3/4" on both legs, pin and sew on a sew machine. You can sew them by hand but you'll need to use small stitches. The white pair of pants (I was tempted to keep these as trousers for winter, but I kept imagining how easily I'd stain them.) Here are the finished shorts. They fit me perfectly, they have pockets, and I...

Last week we went to visit our nephew in his new home, which is beautiful. As we were leaving I noticed he'd framed and hung the bag of money I made for him in the laundry room. It's a reminder that he is loved. :) I ordered a bag of mystery dice for my favorite person, who also plays D&D (I was a dungeon master while I was in the military.) The dice are a pearlescent blue and lavender, and perfect for someone who lives in the islands. I finally sent a message to the vendor at the online thrift auction about this lot that I won back in June but has not yet arrived. They responded immediately, told me they're having staffing issues and can't find it, and issued me a full refund without me having to ask for one. That is the kind of customer service you just don't see anymore these days.

I've gotten back into hand writing a personal journal while I document the ongoing changes in my life this year. I don't write quite as much (or as prettily) as I used to, but the daily habit adds to my peace and calm. While we were walking around The Mercantile last week I spotted some journaling kits, emphemera and mystery bags of vintage things that gave me an idea, and invested in these three. First, the mystery bag's contents: A beautiful old beaded purse, four spools of vintage thread, an empty wooden spool, lavender, and seven cut sections of a birch branch. Everything fits inside the purse and will stay there while I cook up some ways to use it. The purse is definitely going to be a journaling project. :) The journal ephemera pocket matches perfectly with the journal I'm using right now. It contains a lovely little collection of tags and papers. The journal kit was a big surprise; I didn't realize it came with so many bits. I...

I haven't decided if I'm going to publish the entire story online yet*, but if you want a peek at what I'm working on purely for the heck of it, check out the opening scene of my apocalyptic urban fantasy romance The Night We Met here . *Due to all the self-pubbed pilfering and AI siphoning I might just publish a few parts of it for fun, and make the whole thing available strictly by e-mail request. Or not**. **Yes, I'm that mean. :)

While we were on our road trip for my birthday we drove through Rockledge and saw the old hospital they are demolishing bit by bit. I've never been able to get so close to this kind of job site and it fascinates me, so I snapped a few more pics from the car. Aside from it being excellent visuals for a story I'm writing for pleasure (yes, everything is grist for the mill) there is something haunting about getting close to such large scale destruction. It's apocalyptic for sure, but it's also a stunning visual metaphor for many things. The deconstruction site reminds me of how I've always torn down myself for never being good enough for others. No matter how much success I achieved, it was never enough for any of them. I was pushed to do more, land more contracts, write more books, and hand over the money I made. Everyone demanded, no one encouraged. As a result I never wasted any opportunity I had as a professional. When one thing didn't ...

Two years ago I made my first memory quilt out of my old t-shirts. It was also the last time I would even think about making a t-shirt quilt because I struggled so much with the execution. Cotton jersey is a nightmare to sew, even on the machine. My hands didn't want to cooperate so I couldn't do as much embroidery as I wanted to (that was the very first time arthritis kept me from quilting, I think.) The fact that it's become one of my favorite quilts does not tempt me to revisit the experience. I also know I couldn't make this quilt now (or it would take me a year or two.) The old me struggled with the making; the present me would not even try. I can barely hold a needle anymore. So I crochet, and I tell myself that's a reasonable substitution because what else can I do? I crochet well. I crochet a lot. Still, I miss quilting. And I hate that I miss quilting. And then I miss quilting and the me who could do it even more. And then I hate myself a li...

Last week we stopped by our local no-kill cat shelter with my favorite person to make a donation and to visit with the kitties. She attracts all animals and volunteers at a shelter at home, so this was fun for her. I have a hard time not falling in love, as I did with this delicate little princess. She wouldn't hold still for a photo for long but she has sky blue eyes. Just like they do my girl, the cats all love my guy. He won't admit it but he loves visiting the shelter, too. There was one cat named Pepper who was not adoptable, likely for medical reasons, who stayed beside me the whole time I was in her room. She looked pretty banged up and had lost half of her tail. That always breaks my heart, but it's also the reason we go to visit regularly. Some of the kitties have to stay at the shelter as their forever home, and they need as much attention and affection as they can get while they live out their best lives there. If you are able to help out...

I've heard countless artists from all corners of the creative world complain about becoming stuck or paralyzed and being unable to produce anything. I'm practically plagued with inspiration; I've never suffered from writer's block, and if a non-writing creative project doesn't work out I go to the next one. My philosophy at this age is "Life is too short. Move on." Not everyone has my mindset, and I get that. Self-doubt is almost as contagious and unpleasant as cyclosporiasis. The creative life is often like walking a tightrope, well, forever. If you struggle with being stuck, try one of my approaches: Aside setting: I want to put this first because to me this really is the most important skill a creator can develop, as long as they don't abuse it. Set things aside. It's okay to do that; sometimes things don't work out. Sometimes the project takes so long it's exhausting you. If you are struggling every single day, and you hat...

While we were out and about on my birthday we stopped at Rockledge Gardens , which is one of the loveliest garden centers I've ever seen. Along with countless plants for purchase, there are all sorts of outbuildings where you can buy gifts, food and fresh vegetables in season. They have amazing landscaping ideas, too. Here's a wall made of pallet wood for displaying potted plants. Isn't that pretty? It's quite a trek covering the center's five acres, but worth every minute. Highly recommended if you're every within driving distance.

After so many (too many) DNFs it was a pleasure to read a properly-written book, which is absolutely Dear Old Dead by Jane Haddam. I actually took my time reading it because the writing, the story, the characters, the detective and basically every other element of the story were so good. At a charity, church-supported Harlem health center, saintly director and surgeon extraordinaire Dr. Michael Pride is not having a great night. After being arrested on a vice charge for frequenting a notorious gay sex club and having his image splashed all over the papers (keep in mind this novel was published 32 years ago in 1994), Michael is trying to clean up surgically the mess created by an ongoing gang war. Then he receives news that his wealthiest media mogul patron is waiting for him in his office, and goes to face the music -- only to find the mogul dying of strychnine poisoning. It doesn't help that basically everyone at the health center wants the mogul dead, and the poison used...

My birthday turned out better than I expected; I spent the day with my guy and my favorite person in Cocoa Beach, where I stopped by Knit & Stitch and invested in a little Noro and Juniper Moon yarns. My guy gave me a set of lavender and vanilla relaxation products from Bath & Body Works (not pictured) which I'm already using and are amazing. My favorite person gave these gorgeous silver, abalone and koa wood earrings from Na Hoku. I also stopped by Hello Again Books and splurged on a stack for reading during my vacation. We then went to an Asian buffet and ruined our diets. Honestly, being with my family and having fun in one of my favorite places in Florida made the day perfect. :) I should also mention that my friend B gave me two more books for my birthday, so I have lots of reading to look forward to this month. Thanks, everyone.

I'm officially on vacation! I really worked a lot of overtime to earn three weeks off, too. What do I have planned? Last night I slept 8-1/2 hours catching up after many, many sleepless nights. My guy even walked the dogs for me this morning so I could get in a couple extra hours. This is why he's wonderful. Let's see, other than going along with whatever the family has planned for on my birthday, I'd like to wrap up some projects, like the liner I'm crocheting for this art yarn woven basket I made in June. Still need to get started on the July tote for my calendar project. I want to start using my new project diary to record what I'm doing with, well, everything. I need to replace the missing buttons on my heavy jacket so I can wear that this coming winter. I'd also like to finish this short story, which I'm writing just for pleasure. Not sure if I will, but there's no deadline involved. Mostly I'd like to stop expe...

I usually get myself a birthday gift every year, but this one was the #65 milestone, so I wanted something especially fun. I invested in a Blind Date with a Book gift box from Fama Collections . Book gift boxes aren't for everyone, but I love them. I've gotten several over the years, particularly when I needed cheering up. This assortment of treats and little luxuries along with a mystery book is just perfect. I thought I'd let the Universe pick my read so I specified any genre. Let's see what I'll be reading. Ah, New Adult. Been a while since I was one. :) Should be fun.