Peek at My Week (July 5-11)

The weeks continue to fly by, and I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad one. But, I try to take a little time to appreciate each day that I'm given. I hope you do too. 

On Sunday, I noticed this discoloration on one of my hydrangeas. While I think it's striking, I'm fairly sure it's sick (can you see the black spots on the leaves?) I've gotten some advice on Facebook about how to handle it. 

At some point the week before last, I made a batch of ramen and we ended up eating the leftovers on Sunday. 

While it's an easy and delicious meal, it takes a TON of pots to get this simple soup made: one for the broth, one for the noodles, one for the eggs... See what I  mean. 

As usual, Monday was all about knocking out the errands like grocery shopping. But, on Tuesday, I was able to divert my attention some. 

While out with Zoe, I spied this bent mushroom. I can only assume that the stem could no longer support the head. 

I also made a run to Southern Antiques and Accents to add a few items to the booth. While there, I took a few minutes to poke around the other booths. I discovered an old autograph book in one that almost came home with me. The most unique thing about it was this page toward the back. 

How neat is that!?

I tried to knock quite a few things off my list on Wednesday including some picture-taking outside in the natural light.

I hate to wait between thunderstorms to get the opportunity. And, when I had the chance, it was too humid for my good camera lens. I ended up just using my phone outside and getting a few other shots back in the house near a window. 

I also walked around a little looking for flowers in the yard as a reminder that we do have a few things that bloom in the summer.

Most of our flowers in South Alabama are out in the Spring. It's just too hot in the summer for them.

On Thursday, I visited with my mom and niece as my niece needed someone with her for a dentist appointment. But, on Friday, I was back home and finally able to get close enough to this baby to take a picture.

We've all seen this baby bunny for days. It's just over a handful big and so stinkin' cute! 

On Saturday, we indulged in some pool time as relief from the unbearable heat. But, I didn't get any pictures of that to share. I was able to keep on track with my #The100DayProject all week. 

For Day 90, I was just slapping down scraps of paper from my desk. I made sure to include the doily that was assigned to that day. 

I really just played around on Day 91 also. The border stamps were all that needed to be on the page, but I decided to play with watercolor crayons and lots of mark-making too. 

I started to get back into gear on Day 92, but it took a lot of layers to get there. The gelatos that I needed to use were put down pretty early and are mostly covered up. But, they add to the layers.

Watercolors were all I needed to use for Day 93. I started with blobs and marks then moved to the face.

Some of my precious ledger papers needed to go into art on Day 94. While I was in a rush that day, I let myself take a little time to get this one just right. 

I never seem to use my alcohol inks in my art journals or on paper in general. So, I made an effort to just play and experiment with them on book pages for Day 95. Then, I cut circles from one of those pages to use in my journal. It worked out nicely.

This hot mess was the result of Day 96's attempt to layer two stencils. I just wasn't feeling it at all and finally just made myself finish it up with the sticker. 

I can't believe it's down to the last several days of the project. I'm not sure what will come next. I may try to continue to work in my journals each day, but I may also need to take a break to actually get some jewelry made. We'll see. I guess I need to make that decision soon. Ha!

Here's some inspiration from elsewhere on the internet.

• Brighten up your accessory collection by making some DIY Colorful Painted Bangles. 
• Please go take a look at these animal illustrations by Helen Ahpornsiri in which she uses dried flowers and leaves to make the pictures. They're breathtaking!
• Rings & Things shared a fun tutorial for making a pendant using clay and beads. 
• Moois Van Me always shares so many great earring tutorials. Here, she shares tips for taking great jewelry pictures. 
• This collection of pictures from a photography contest will absolutely mesmerize you. 
• Not long ago, I shared a link to several ways to upcycle jeans. I just found this tutorial for making pom-pom flowers with denim. 
• Here's an earring-making tutorial from Moois Van Me for you. She calls these Sun King Earrings. 
• There's something so heartbreaking and beautiful about this watercolor sink art. It's temporary but unforgettable. 
• I have fond memories of making seed bead daisy chains at Girl Scout Camp. This tutorial to make them from Lisa Yang brings back those summer memories. 
• Despite knowing how to make Kumihimo braids, I've never tried a pattern. This tutorial of 8-Stand Patterns might be a great place to start. 

I've been working on this post for hours and keep getting distracted. I think it's time to just get it posted. I hope you're staying inspired to create. Let me know what you've found that sparks your creativity!

Friday Finds #12: Thrift Store Hauls and Oddities

I've been able to do a little thrifting this week and figured I might as well share!

It all started on Saturday at Southern Antiques and Accents. Every month or so they have a "Dollar Day" where booths have items marked for only a buck. I love this kind of sale because most likely the items at this price are likely to be small things that I can include in my jewelry and art. While I only spent $5 this month, I came away with some real treasures.

My first finds were these metal hardware pieces. I already have a couple of the rings from the last Dollar Day, but it couldn't hurt to pick up this one too. I'm not sure what I'll do with the handle. However, rest assured that I'll come up with something.

While there was plenty of jewelry marked at the sale price, I tried to stay selective and only came away with these two pairs of earrings.

Lastly, this unassuming set of cards caught my eye. Two decks for a dollar sounded good to me. But there was more to this than I thought.

While I was expecting the cards to have the palaces from the box on the front of them, these are the cards I found inside. Interesting.

The cards themselves are a little ragged. But the face cards. . .

Now, these are VERY interesting. 

I haven't flipped thorough both desks yet to see if there's anything else peculiar about them, but I'm happy with this Dollar Day purchase for sure. 

This is the marking on the back of the deck. Searches so far haven't yielded any information about them though. Let me know if you have some other resource. 

Once Saturday's Dollar Day shopping was complete, I thought I was good for the week. But, the thrifting bug bit again on Tuesday. So, out I headed.

My first stop was a large, local charity shop. There, I found a belt that might be fun to make a bracelet or two out of, a German (I think) children's book, and a baggie of yarn and some plastic canvas. I'll use the canvas as a stencil/texture in my art. 

Next was the Salvation Army. I haven't had much luck there lately, but did happen upon this book. I've been wanting to read Alabama Moon for a while - even before I knew it was written by a local guy that my husband kinda knows. For 75 cents, I couldn't walk away without it.

After that, I hit up one of my favorite antique malls. In the same booth, I found both these tiny shakers and the jar of jewelry. Obviously they came home with me.

Finally, I hit up a thrift store I'd only been in one other time. I thought I was going to leave with nothing, but finally stumbled across these goodies: another deck of cards, a roll of rectangular stickers, a tiny shelf, and an old baking powder tin. I don't quite know what I'll do with the last two, but I'll work it out.

While I was in said shop, these . . .oddities caught my eye.

First up was this Super Road Whiz. I guess this is what people used after maps and before GPS-es. Weird. . .

Just the words Telephone Listener caught my attention. From what I can tell, it was just a speaker phone. Perhaps this was before they had the term "speaker phone". However, I can't believe that 'telephone listener' was the best name they could come up with for this device. 

Finally, this baby caught my eye.

I had a Furby back in the day, and we have no idea what happened to her. Her name was Tallulah. At least that's what she told us it was as she repeated it over and over in the creepiest, slow, cutesy robotic voice ever, "Taaaaa-loooooooo-laaaaa." Like I said though, we're still not sure where she is, but we're positive she's plotting world domination. I had to bring this photo home to Pat, just to freak him out some. 

Anyway, that's been my thrifting experience of late. Have you found anything worth bringing home or an oddity that bewildered you?

Weird Things and Christmas Trees and Celebrities. . . Oh My!

I have just a few links for "Wild Wild Web Wednesday"

• If you're like me and have not even out up a Christmas Tree yet, you can still decorate a tree online.
• Here's a pretty cool way to manipulate a 3D image
• If you thought that was weird/cool, check out these glow-in-the-dark CATS. Yes, really!
• While many Guiness Records are pretty weird, here are the weirdest guiness records of them all.
  
• I'm so very excited because Peter Jackson (the guy who made 'The Lord Of the Rings' trilogy) will in fact be working on "The Hobbit" How AWESOME is that?
  
• After seeing the before and after of these photoshopped celebrities, I don't feel so bad about myself. Of course, who's to say that those pictures weren't photoshopped to make them go from good to bad...Wait!! I was feeling good about myself, so why think about reality, I was right in the first place. So there.
• Speaking of celebrities, check out this celebrity mash-up of what would happen when you combine a few of our favorite celebrities. WARNING! Some of these pictures are a bit disturbing!

That's all I have for now. While it's been a crazy week for me, it does not seem to be as wild on the web. Sorry!