artsy Amy

Loving Me Some iPhone

Far from free but oh how I've waited for this freaking fabulous phone!

Legal Drugs Are Dangerous

Remember that commercial from the 80’s with the egg in the frying pan? You know the “this is your brain on drugs” one? Well, Wyeth should have paid for it.

My Rheumatologist said this summer I needed to swap off the Cymbalta. Week one was halving my dosage, week two was taking the lower dose every other day, and week three I started the new. Week two coincided with the start of the 2009/2010 school year. Can you say bad timing? Now we’re a month into school and a month into the new Rx. The major side effects I’m experiencing are not listed anywhere in the super fine print on the massive foldaway insert. Side effect number one is anger. I’ve been upset at people or situations before, but seemed to always go straight to the disappointment emotion. Patience was a natural state. Now, I get pissed off and quickly. Side effect number two is the inability to keep my mouth shut. Imagine what a wonderful combination that is with side effect number one. My mouth has come unhinged. When irritated, I’ve said some of the harshest and insensitive things lately to people I love and respect. The words vomit out of my mouth. I need the filter switch turned back on in my brain so certain thoughts never become audible.

They say it takes a while to get your system “used to” a new medication. So for now I’m burdened with the brain-mouth disconnect. Geez I hope this isn’t a permanent state. I feel so unlike myself. Please, please, please forgive me if I’ve snapped or spat out a poorly worded comment to you lately. “Prescriptions” and “medications” are drugs you know. Just because they’re legal doesn’t make them any less of a drug.

Night Y'all

I'm trying hard to make some real changes in my life. More frequent posts is one of the easier items on the list.

School has started back. Busy. Busy. Our football season gets underway this week. You can find me on bleachers somewhere in rural Alabama every Friday night till November. I start classes next week. {Seriously overdue.} I've vowed to volunteer less so I can manage being a student myself again. Please remind me of this. The first meltdown, complete with tears and a snotty nose will occur before the end of September I predict. Time management has never been my strong suit. Ask any family member. My creative processes are adversarial to the notion of time, just as my craft supplies are to space.

Oh, I finally broke in my new Bernina ruffler foot. It's amazing! I made a tea towel using measurements from a handmade one. I'm not happy with it. That's why you're looking at my mug instead of a tea towel adorned with ruffles. I've got to work out the dimensions before I cut into my prized April Cornell fabric. Well it's so late now, if I calculate the amount of time between lights out and alarm time the product is oh crap so I better go. Hope y'all have a good week.

Dear Apple,

Pretty please send me an iPhone 3GS. I would be most grateful and promise to say "There's an app for that" to someone everyday.

My stupid Nextel phone hates me. It knows I'm plotting against it. Perhaps it was watching when I posted on Facebook a list of reasons I need want your practically perfect product. Yesterday, after my Nextel won the game of how many times will she take out and reinsert the SIM card before swearing, the screen flashed blue and turned itself off. Clearly, this was an act of self preservation. I'm warming to dear Son's idea of taking our Nextels to the shooting range.

Sprint/Nextel has me in a binding contract until the end of October. I want to divorce them. Please help me.

Kindest regards,

Amy

_{P.S. Black would be lovely, but whatever you can spare would be most appreciated.}

Drop Dead Diva | myLifetime.com

Drop Dead Diva | myLifetime.com Shared via AddThis

If you like Legally Blonde and Freaky Friday, Drop Dead Diva is for you. When Jane is lamenting Lane Bryant as a valid clothing label, Jane's assistant Teri refers to the designer as "Miss Bryant"... I totally cracked up. Click on the link text above to watch the premier episode on-line. Gotta go set my dvr to catch the next one on Sunday.

Post-it Pad for Dad

Here's a manly version of the Post-it pad I made for dear Dad. Take a gander at my earlier post {here} to find out the skinny on how to make your own. I've included a peek at the back below...

The sticky note phase is nearly over. Me and ebay are at odds right now. The ruffler foot I ordered was not a Bernina foot! Imagine how disappointed I was since the listing stated "Bernina" in bold CAPS as the first word. As if that wasn't enough to irritate me, dear Hubby was like "Just try it, it may fit." I tried, for like ten minutes. All the while muttering to myself how it didn't say Bernina on the crappy little box and that everyone knows Berninas have special attachments and that I may never order from ebay again. Dear Hubby had heard about enough and was convinced I was doing it wrong. "It just needs adjusted." he said. So I told him to have at it. He fiddled with it for several minutes and was like "It's not wanting to go on." No sh*t. Since he was not about to be held liable for my elevating level of frustration, he got it on and threaded the thing. I got the "See there." comment and was told to try it out. He had left the room by the time the third stitch broke the needle into shards, one of which hit me in the neck! That sent me over the edge; full blown hissy fit. He emailed the seller right then and she replied the next morning to send it back. In the meantime, I've been mending sewing since the two men in my life can't seem to keep a crotch seam intact.

By the way, dear Hubby promised me a genuine Bernina ruffler foot from the dealer store in Birmingham. A whole lot of drama just to make some flippin tea towels. 

Cover Your Post-it Notes

There's a southern saying about skinning a cat more than one way. I don't know the phrase exactly because it's rather creepy. I've been in a sticky note phase of crafting so I thought I'd share another way to make your Post-its gift worthy.

Here's the down low on how to make one. Go here for the old Sunflowers and Dragonflies blog to get measurements and instructions. [Click here to visit the new Sunflowers and Dragonflies blog.] I used plain white card stock as a base and layered graphics from pcCrafter in the size needed using a very basic software. Since my printer is inkjet, I sprayed the printed paper with a light sealer. 

A little tip if you design your own cover; set up your format with the front cover art on the bottom. Then flip/rotate the upper portion because it will become the back after folding, so it needs to be upside down when printing. I promise this takes very little brain power, you just have to think the folds through. Using a non-directional pattern on the back and fold will make your life easier on this project. Or, go at it with scrapbook paper and eliminate the printer altogether.  

Here's a view of the fold to see how a non-directional pattern can be your friend.

For the inside, I used coordinating scrapbook paper. Here's a peek...

I'm sharing how the crazy sometimes crosses over into my crafting. First, the Post-its are still wrapped just like you get them in the store. Did you notice? I didn't want to give something that looked up-cycled even though using the new recycled Post-its. Neurotics, carefully tear the Post-its down the perforated seam on the back and slide your scissors in to cut out the back portion of the wrap so you can glue it down. I used small embroidery type scissors; you know the kind that should only be used on fabric. I'm bad about that. Second, the inside fold was too plain for me so I added some purple raffia ribbon unrolled and glued down. You can't see it in the photo above because I thought I was done when I took the photos. But that dern fold was bugging me, so I had to go back and fix it. Third, if you look very very carefully there is glitter. You can click on the photos linked to my Flickr to see the original size. I used this glitter glue to make the butterfly wings sparkle.

And I used my corner punch to round the edges because I'm crazy about rounded edges. 

Things I would do differently next time. Layer the graphics on the front by printing them on separate paper, using pop dots for dimension. Add the ribbon to the inside before taking photos. Try my very best to be less neurotic. Like that's going to happen...

Crappy, and we're not talking about the fish...

I've been feeling crappy for a over a week. I get really snippy and go on in complete denial that bed bound sickness is imminent, in the beginning. It is imminent. I act like everything is fine. I hate that word by the way. Male readers, when a woman female says fine, it means not fine. Trust me. So, I say I'm just tired. I'm always tired. Then after a sleepless night/day/night of tossing/turning and having my mind run faster than our old hp computer's RAM, I'm "officially" sick. This is my issue...I'm always sick. Sometimes it's just worse. This is the sucky nature of chronic disease Ala Lupus.

I was especially crappy the other night and had my laptop out looking at my Flickr favorites. Dear Hubby came home from work to find me curled up in the bed with the cats in the dark watching a slide show; crying. Oh yeah. Doesn't every man dream of coming home to this after a long day at work. Lucky him. The cats bailed since their shift was over and relief had finally come. He was like, "What are you doing?" I was like, "Trying..." sniffle, sob, "to cheer myself up." He was like "Why?" What the h*ll kinda question is that? Male readers, if you ever are attempting to comfort a crying woman female, never ask why. That's a stupid question. Your job is to comfort, not ascertain the why of the situation. Little tip there for ya.

At some point that I feel up to it and the mood strikes, I'll share some geeky information about Flickr and how incredibly fabulous it is. And how non Creative Commons people are making my life difficult. Open source people, open source. I still ♥ Flickr anyway. For now, here's what I was in the dark watching....

Cottage Retreat

Birch bed, originally uploaded by house dreams.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT my bedroom. I wish it was. Since the cat is somewhat out of the bag {weird southern sayin'}, we are thinking about having a small cottage built. I'm a little house nut and the boys in my life have finally caved. Yay.

The builder only has a certain number of pathetic colors for the HardiePlank exterior. I hate all of them. Dear Hubby found two or three shades of horrid he could live with. Color is non-negotiable so I began googling to see other small cottages and found this photo. Cute barn looking red; perfect for Alabama. Dear Hubby emails the nice lady and asks for the color...Mill Creek Red. Sounds lovely. There is no such color. He then asks for the paint formula. {We've done this house thing enough to know the lingo.} The nice lady emails quickly the details & formula. Really nice lady. Dear Hubby borrows paint fan deck, which I so want in Valspar.

Mill Creek Red aka Scenic Rose is actually red with a bunch of Alabama orange-brown clay mixed in. Icky. It has turned me off totally to red. Sorry dear.

I'm currently loving this Nocturnal color, which is practically named after me!

Anyhoo, this bedroom is exactly the look I want. Vintage. Cottage. Grandma's attic. Not too Shabby. Plus, I love the birch branches. Ask my dear Mom, I used tree limbs for a curtain rod in our bedroom when dear Son was a toddler. It was fabulous until dear Hubby found a fake crow at Micheal's and wired it on one of the branches. Creepy.

Hey, if you look closely at my photos above, you can see the quilt dear Maw Maw & Paw Paw gave dear Hubby and I for our first Christmas as a married couple. Aw-ww, I nearly shed a tear again.

If you are loving this photo as much as I, click on over to Southern Adirondack Lake House Rentals. Staying in several of those gems is definitely on my bucket list.

Posting about Post-its

Perhaps I should begin this post with a shout out to Post-it for their new Recycled Notes in bright hues. I'm a tree hugger from way back but I love me some color.

So, I saw these Post-it pads on Angie's blog and loved them. She has a great video tutorial which I've embedded right here for y'all. (I do recommend scouring her blog when you have some time. She has a lot of nifty craft tutorials.)

I'd like to point out two things. First, the scrapbook paper I used was card stock weight and had a linen texture. You probably don't care how the paper feels, but these are the things that delineate what supplies are used in a particular project and those that age on my shelf/pile for another day. Second, I decoupaged the itty bitty metallic clip. These are the details I worry about.