Oh, the frustration...

We leave on May 10 for a week in Oceanside, CA. We just booked the condo this past weekend and are fortunate to have gotten it at all since they usually book a year in advance. We will take the boys out of school for a week and hate to do that but, we also are going before summer rates go in affect June 1! I'll be doing "classwork" with the boys each morning hopefully, on our balcony overlooking the ocean! I'm so excited! However, I've had incredible frustration in ordering swimwear stuff for my boys! Because they are both so fair and I have already had numerous surgeries for different skin cancers, I am very protective of their skin. I purchase swimwear with build in UV protection of 50 and buy long sleeve, one piece suits. This year, I wanted to get suits that look more like diving suits. They are full length. Well, very few companies carry them. I have spent so much time online trying to find them! So, I finally find some and order them along with matching hats. I found matching water shoes at Lands End in their overstock section. (For some reason, bees are very attracted to the beach in Oceanside and I had the unfortunate luck of stepping on one our last trip. NOT fun! So beach shoes are non-negotiable!) OK, so I have everything ordered and coordinated. Then, I get an e-mail saying the suits are out of stock. I find another company that has some that will still match the hats and shoes and order from them, paying about $40. more for the suits... only to find out that they can't guarantee arrival before we leave since they are shipping from Australia. In the meantime, I also find out the the original company #1 now only has one of the hats I ordered! ARGH!!! I ended up cancelling orders from both companies, ordering identical suits they had last year which do have the long sleeves but knee length instead of ankle. I ordered matching hats at the same site and they all match the shoes. Everything was in stock and I paid extra for expedited shipping. The total was less for all of this with shipping that just the suits would have cost! So, if nothing else goes wrong, all turned out better in the long run. But boy, all the time I have spent on this computer over those suits! I think the suits may fit for two years but if not, then next season, I'll order swimsuits in the middle of winter!

An Experiment

For months now, I have been thinking of a little experiment. I'm not much of an experimental artist but every once in a while, something pops into my mind. Well, this is what started it... I have a few paint palettes that are slick plastic. After my acrylic paint dries on it, it peels right off. If I've done a lot of mixing and playing around on the palette, the peeled paint splotches look especially cool. Anyway, I've been saving these "peels". So, today, I spread some Translucent Liquid Sculpey clay on a piece of watercolor paper and added my paint peels. Some were fairly thick with layers of dried paint so I took scissors and snipped it up into shards. I then covered this with a non-stick teflon sheet and heated it with my iron fusing all of the bits together. This is what I got!!!
OK, that's if for tonight. I'm waiting for The Bachelor to come on! Have a few more things to clean up in the kitchen after dinner and another load of laundry to toss in...

Collage Mania preview open!

For those of you who are regular visitors to my blog may remember the collage I created for Collage Mania...well, the preview for Collage Mania is now open! This fund raiser is for the American Cancer Society. Please go visit and look at all the collage pieces up for auction!
http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageMania081.html

Winners!

And the three winners are:
QuirkyTina (very appropriately named for this drawing, I might add!)
Connie
Knittingjourneyman

Congratulations ladies!

A new Journal

I feel like I'm sorta' getting back into the creative groove a bit. I made a new watercolor journal as a vacation journal and made a fabric cover for it and finally got to do my original binding idea in it. I really like it and have a ton of ideas swimming in my head for other journals. And my binding method allows for a more 'flat' laying page when working and also allows for room to add things without totally bulking up the book. Anyway, here is my little travel watercolor journal!

Quirks

I am really enjoying all the quirks comments coming in. You guys are cracking me up! However, the scary part is some of them sound like quirks I would like to incorporate into my life! Eeks! Do I need more? I'll share one more. I have a slight obsession with things looking balanced. I'm the one always straightening things on walls in Dr.'s offices, etc... and I get really weirded out with my food on a plate. When I go to a restaurant, I often have to spin my plate to make sure it looks right before I start eating. I only remember a couple of times where even that didn't work and I had to take my fork and move food around on my plate before I could eat it! Another is that when I cook, it totally ruins my appetite if I taste the food while it's cooking. I don't taste but go by look and smell and once it is on my plate, taste and add salt or whatever. I've tried to flex on this since my DH is a phenomenal cook and says you MUST taste. I've learned to compromise... sometimes. An even better solution... don't cook! ;)

Keep the comments coming! (see last post)

Give away time again!

I found a ton of these and think I'll sell some but first, I'd like to give a few away! (If you happen to want to purchase some of these, let me know. I also have some of the green ones in 8x8 size). Anyway, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me one quirky thing about yourself and A WAY TO CONTACT YOU if you are the winner! In fact, I'm going to give 3 away and you get your choice of color! These mini albums are 5x7 in size and would make a great little journal, scrapbook album, or gift item! I have them in pink (more of a rose, actually), navy, and green. And, to start you off with the quirkiness, I'll tell something about myself. I always organize my dirty dishes by the sink and clean all the counters before I start the dishes. If all the dirty dishes are nicely stacked and organized, it makes the mess look less... and if the counters are all cleaned up right away, it looks like there's less to do as well! ;)
Now, leave me a comment and spread the word! I'll be using the random number generator and choose the winners Monday morning!