Glass Fountain Pens

Image courtesy of the website The Writer's Edge

I have one or two glass fountain pens in my possession... somewhere.  I used to love the feeling of writing with this type of pen, needing to stop every so often to refill the pen by dipping it into the ink bottle.  I collected inks and bottles, never using the bottles because they were too nice to mess up with the ink.  At the time I also had to keep all my letter writing items in a portable box and any ink that wasn't in a sealed container would have made a huge mess over everything.

I'm thinking the glass pen would be fun to use for drawing.  I have a hunch where they are... unfortunately that hunch is the basement and that is the black hole of our house.

Glass Fountain Pens

Image courtesy of the website The Writer's Edge

I have one or two glass fountain pens in my possession... somewhere.  I used to love the feeling of writing with this type of pen, needing to stop every so often to refill the pen by dipping it into the ink bottle.  I collected inks and bottles, never using the bottles because they were too nice to mess up with the ink.  At the time I also had to keep all my letter writing items in a portable box and any ink that wasn't in a sealed container would have made a huge mess over everything.

I'm thinking the glass pen would be fun to use for drawing.  I have a hunch where they are... unfortunately that hunch is the basement and that is the black hole of our house.

Snow Day

The view from our front windows yesterday afternoon.

We don't get very much snow down here "in these parts." So when it does snow and actually sticks to the ground, I get pretty excited.  Of course it means we stay indoors these days, but I'm sure next year I'll be begged to go out and play in it.  Baby man has only experienced the snow from the warm side of the window so far, and I think he's happy with that for now.  

The view from the back windows.

Snow Day

The view from our front windows yesterday afternoon.

We don't get very much snow down here "in these parts." So when it does snow and actually sticks to the ground, I get pretty excited.  Of course it means we stay indoors these days, but I'm sure next year I'll be begged to go out and play in it.  Baby man has only experienced the snow from the warm side of the window so far, and I think he's happy with that for now.  

The view from the back windows.

Model Man

our 2009 super bowl invitation

Baby man has become our model for most everything these days. With his infectious smile (most of the time) and cooperative spirit (again, most of the time) he has been a great model for both our holiday cards and now our Super Bowl invitations. We've decided to try to get him into real modeling and see what happens. Of course, every parent thinks their child is adorable and perfect, but when people continuously stop you in the grocery store - and elsewhere - to tell you how cute your baby is, you start to think it isn't just you.

The search continues for a real, reputable baby modeling agency that won't demand our money the second we step in the door.

Model Man

our 2009 super bowl invitation

Baby man has become our model for most everything these days. With his infectious smile (most of the time) and cooperative spirit (again, most of the time) he has been a great model for both our holiday cards and now our Super Bowl invitations. We've decided to try to get him into real modeling and see what happens. Of course, every parent thinks their child is adorable and perfect, but when people continuously stop you in the grocery store - and elsewhere - to tell you how cute your baby is, you start to think it isn't just you.

The search continues for a real, reputable baby modeling agency that won't demand our money the second we step in the door.

Carrie and Friends

As a Sex and the City fan (one who would do nothing but glue herself to the couch those Sunday nights) I'm embarrassed to say we just watched the movie this weekend. Granted it had to do with the fact that we bought it on blu-ray and haven't been able to watch anything on the blu-ray player for months due to a dying projector bulb.

I have to say I was so pleasantly surprised. I had read everything I could get my hands on when the movie first came out, and I was sorely disappointed in what everyone was saying. So I was somewhat expecting to be very saddened by the movie and totally disappointed in all the story lines. As a sappy, silly girl I was so happy that everything ended on a high note. Yes it was all pretty easy and yes it's all silly, but I wasn't looking for an inner meaning here. I was just looking for a happy ending for some of my favorite characters out there. I certainly got that!

Of course something has to be said about the fashion. As with the show some clothes were hits and some were misses. I liked Charlotte's wardrobe the best, which is rather surprising to me. Of course Carrie had some doozies, but oh how I wish I had her shoe closet.... both the closet that Big built for her and contents!

So all in all, after expecting disappointment I was so happy at the entire story. I really enjoyed it and will be watching again - after my planned marathon of all seasons and all episodes.

Carrie and Friends

As a Sex and the City fan (one who would do nothing but glue herself to the couch those Sunday nights) I'm embarrassed to say we just watched the movie this weekend. Granted it had to do with the fact that we bought it on blu-ray and haven't been able to watch anything on the blu-ray player for months due to a dying projector bulb.

I have to say I was so pleasantly surprised. I had read everything I could get my hands on when the movie first came out, and I was sorely disappointed in what everyone was saying. So I was somewhat expecting to be very saddened by the movie and totally disappointed in all the story lines. As a sappy, silly girl I was so happy that everything ended on a high note. Yes it was all pretty easy and yes it's all silly, but I wasn't looking for an inner meaning here. I was just looking for a happy ending for some of my favorite characters out there. I certainly got that!

Of course something has to be said about the fashion. As with the show some clothes were hits and some were misses. I liked Charlotte's wardrobe the best, which is rather surprising to me. Of course Carrie had some doozies, but oh how I wish I had her shoe closet.... both the closet that Big built for her and contents!

So all in all, after expecting disappointment I was so happy at the entire story. I really enjoyed it and will be watching again - after my planned marathon of all seasons and all episodes.

Save Handmade!

As someone just starting out in the handmade selling biz, this news is rather distressing.  Sure it won't affect my prints, journals, paintings, collages, or any paper art,  but who knows where it could eventually lead?  It could affect my etsy store with the bibs my mom has made, and it would definitely affect the stuffed toys I've been thinking about making.  Baby Man may be the only one who ever sees them.

An excerpt from the article:

The January 20 2009 deadline for millions of American homecrafters to object to a new law requiring expensive testing of their products, is approaching fast. Child-products without certificates proving they have no lead content, will have to be scrapped.

The new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act – passed hastily to bar poisonous foreign products – also will require millions of American homecrafters to have each of their products tested at huge cost, ranging from $500 to $4000 per product – including their old stock which was manufactured before this law had even been thought up. See law here

Formal complaints against this act must be lodged before January 20 2009 Comments must be labelled: Section 102 Mandatory Third-Party Testing of Component Parts'. Lodge complaints here

Without the CPSI certificate of compliance, millions of homecrafters selling their products on EBay, at fairs, in home-shops and at charity shops face conviction under this Act, which goes into effect on February 10 this year. Convinction carries tens of thousands of dollars in fines and potentially even jail time.

It seems so many things are done in haste these days, with no thought to the small business out there. Please, lodge your complaints and help save handmade.

Save Handmade!

As someone just starting out in the handmade selling biz, this news is rather distressing.  Sure it won't affect my prints, journals, paintings, collages, or any paper art,  but who knows where it could eventually lead?  It could affect my etsy store with the bibs my mom has made, and it would definitely affect the stuffed toys I've been thinking about making.  Baby Man may be the only one who ever sees them.

An excerpt from the article:

The January 20 2009 deadline for millions of American homecrafters to object to a new law requiring expensive testing of their products, is approaching fast. Child-products without certificates proving they have no lead content, will have to be scrapped.

The new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act – passed hastily to bar poisonous foreign products – also will require millions of American homecrafters to have each of their products tested at huge cost, ranging from $500 to $4000 per product – including their old stock which was manufactured before this law had even been thought up. See law here

Formal complaints against this act must be lodged before January 20 2009 Comments must be labelled: Section 102 Mandatory Third-Party Testing of Component Parts'. Lodge complaints here

Without the CPSI certificate of compliance, millions of homecrafters selling their products on EBay, at fairs, in home-shops and at charity shops face conviction under this Act, which goes into effect on February 10 this year. Convinction carries tens of thousands of dollars in fines and potentially even jail time.

It seems so many things are done in haste these days, with no thought to the small business out there. Please, lodge your complaints and help save handmade.

New Year, New Blog

In an effort to follow through with my main 2009 resolution to SIMPLIFY as many aspects of life as I can, I have created this new blog.  Yes, I know, how does creating another new blog simplify things?  Here's how:  everything will be posted here, save my Wilton teaching info - that will be the only blog to remain separate.  So, any daily challenge I give myself, anything about life in general, art, work, etc will all be written about here.  No more blu tatsu here, life there, art everyday somewhere else.  It will all be here!  I'm still deciding whether to combine all previous posts on the other blogs here or just start fresh here.  If I don't combine them all I may leave them up and dormant, or export them to my computer and keep them in my own archives.

So,  here I go - time to simplify as much as possible!