check it out: clearly vintage blog

i ran into a new site today called clearly vintage. there are images available to download for personal use: http://clearlyvintage.blogspot.com/ and plenty of artwork using them and cora's line of vintage stamps: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6273904


and check out her other blog with more artwork: http://www.paperflowers1.blogspot.com/

Bleach Tutorial by valerie brincheck

valerie brincheck is a prolific artist. she has begun a new venture on her blog - tutorials! here is a link to her bleach tutorial:

The Sum Of All Crafts: Bleach Tutorial#links#links#links#links

valerie presents several different ways to use bleach on paper to achieve various results. this video is long - about 18 minutes - and worth every minute.

see her entire blog here:
http://www.thesumofallcrafts.blogspot.com/

the moral of the last two entries:

"new and improved smaller size"

WHAT??!!!! you didn't think i'd notice???!!

now, here's another one....

we always buy halloween candy after halloween. i kind of held off on eating it for a little while. it was in the freezer. out of sight; out of mind.

anyway, the fun-size milky ways called to me one day, so i got a handfull out of the freezer. i opened up one - and it only took one - and found that it was just as long but much thinner. i estimate that the candy bar is about a 1/2" shorter around than before. WHAT??!!! you didn't think i'd notice???!!!

again, i can't compare it to the old size. i simply don't have any older stuff around any more. you can help me with my dilemma by sending me some of the older milky way fun-size candy bars for comparison. once received, they become my property, and by sending these candy bars you agree with the terms set forth above.

now, try and find an old fun-size candy bar. i know you want to.

WHAT??!!!! you didn't think i'd notice???!!

to the people who make cottonelle bath tissue:
you think we are buying the same toilet tissue that we did 6 months ago? i don't THINK so.... you have reduced the width by about 1/4". you probably showed the change on the package, but we don't seem to read the packages about how many square feet of toilet tissue we buy from one time to the next. we simply like cottonelle.

i knew that something was different with my recent purchase from the dollar store. i knew that it was smaller. luckily, i happened to have an older toilet paper roll. i compared the sizes. sure enough, cottonelle dropped a 1/4 inch. so, WHAT??!!! you didn't think i'd notice??!!!

we will still buy the stuff, but the makers of cottonelle can just shove their new and improved toilet tissue up their you-know-whats where it belongs. i guess i have to get used to the smaller and more convenient size. i am just what you might call a little disgruntled.

+++++++++++++++++++++

now, on another note way at the "other end", let's talk about the makers of dove chocolate "promises".

some time ago, i noticed that the bags changed from 11 ounces to 9.5 ounces. now, to a chocoholic like me, i recognized that the bag felt a little lighter, so i noticed the difference. i thought "oh, well" apparently chocolate is getting more expensive to make, and it's still cheaper than our favorite candy store, anthony thomas, in columbus, ohio. (last i knew, the going rate for a pound of regular ordinary milk butter creams was about $10.00 a pound - and, sometimes we will pay it!) so, back to dove.....

recently, i started peeling the candy out of the stupid little wrappers (i could forego the wrappers!) and found that the foil was about twice as thick as that of the previous wrappers. i thought maybe it was a fluke, and i just got a bunch of double-wrapped ones. i kind of considered myself special. then, i realized that ALL of them seemed to be double-wrapped. i didn't feel special anymore. why did they make the foil coverings more sturdy? i thought the old flimsy foils were sufficient enough to contain the little square chocolate candies. so, WHAT??!!! you didn't think i'd notice.

now, if i wanted to, i could weigh all of the candy with and without the wrappers and see what numbers i can come up with. however, i have no bags with the flimsey foil wrappers covering the chocolates. so, i don't have a control group in order to conduct the experiment.

so, am i screwed? YES!!! will i still buy the crap? YES!!! but, i won't like it. i promise!!!

atc: purses and wallet

these are examples of atc purses that i made for a swap. notice the "explosion" inside.



this is a wallet that i did not swap. i tried out this more elongated shape, adapted from the purses above. it worked.



















i am new at this, so i am having difficulties with picture-spacing. i'm learning.

pet peeve: art

it really bugs me when an artists uses a cut-out image and neglects to cut close enough to the image so that the white shows. also, it is not a matter of cutting close enough- white edges just SHOW. it's unsightly!!

how 'bout doing something with that edge?! use a marker on the edges of image that either matches (or not) the color image or the background. that way, the image looks incorporated into the overall piece.

"being a couple": a very tiny book

some time ago, i received a package of miniature books. i wondered if i could alter one. this book can be covered by a quarter. it took a bit of time, patience and tweezers. it turned out well.

"wish on a star": altered tin

i made this small altered altoid tin some time ago.

outside:

+ sanded to expose the aluminum and left scratchy
+ drilled a small hole in the top for the jack and adhered with e-6000
+ placed label holder by drilling holes and fastening with brads


inside:

+ covered inside with dark blue mulberry paper
+ stamped
"believe" on inside of lid and glued a cork
+ coated inside of bottle with dimensional magic, filled with holeless beads and poured out excess
+ adhered bottle to corner of tin and covered with mulberry paper
+ covered lower half of tin with dimensional magic and pressed in star confetti
+ added more dimensional magic to highlight various areas and poured beads over it
+ made a trail of dimensional magic from lip of bottle to half-way point and coated with beads
+ after each application, spilled out beads and confetti that were not held by the glue
+ built up areas with more layers of glue and beads

pet peeves from the grammarian

when referring to a person, the word "that" is incorrect. see these examples:

the person THAT does this will get in trouble with the teacher.

the person WHO does this is correct and will receive a gold star.

now, as far as a pet-animal goes, i prefer to use the word "who". use your own discretion.

pet peeves from the grammarian

it seems to me that everyone learned the conjugation of the verb "to be", but maybe i am wrong. i can help!

present tense

i am
you are
he/she/it is
we/they are

past tense

i was
you were
he/she/it was
we/they were

there! that should do it for now.

starbook 008: an odyssey

this is a starbook that was completed at the beginning of december '08.



see my flickr account for a slide show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26744467@N02/sets/72157610709599746/show/

zetti or not, here i come

with these atc's, i pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

is it zetti yet?

i am keeping this one for the time being.




this goes to a winner of the december "wta x 2" on my yahoo! group: atc_world.



these two are for trade.








if you want to figure out what "zetti" is, visit this site: http://www.zettiology.com/ teesha and tracy moore: blog, rubber stamps, collage sheets and more.

yahoo! group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ATC_World/