Mainly in March - 2019 - The Sketchbook

I just sent off the next Sketchbook (Vol. 14) to the Brooklyn Art Library.  My first Sketchbook has been doing well.  At this moment it has been viewed online 742 times!  It has been checked out in person 6 times and favorited by 5.  I'm pretty happy about that.  You can see it here.

This Sketchbook needed to be postmarked by today, March 30, in order to be included in this round.  You all know that I've been moving into the new studio so I haven't had a chance to work on it (procrastination abounds since it was actually due in February (d'oh) but they gave us an extension, thank goodness).  Anyway, I worked like crazy and finished it this morning and sent it off this afternoon. 

The theme for the first book was "People I wish I knew."  The theme for this one is "City Streets."

I wrote the opening about the heart-shaped street we have in our town and the explosion in 2010 when a gas pipe erupted. 

 

These pictures are from our visit to the Haight Ashbury District in San Francisco a couple of years ago during the "Summer of Love" tour.  I couldn't get over the legs sticking out of the window and I love the Victorian houses.
                                                                                                                     





Really sad that we are not going to be able to see Bob Seger when he does his last tour.  We had tickets and then he had to have spine surgery.  When they rescheduled the rest of the tour, they left our area out.  Good thing we've seen him twice.

I know that the song Dancing in the Street has been done by a few people but I like Mick Jagger's version.








And, of course, my Journey!  Perhaps they were in Los Angeles but everyone knows they meant San Francisco in their hearts!

I thought this was an interesting quote by Virginia Woolf and it made me want to read more of her work.  I probably read some in high school but who remembers that?












Such a simple lesson.  Too bad we don't follow it more often.  Sweep in front of your own house and the streets will be clean! 

I've never been to Paris but I can imagine that the streets are filled with interesting sites.  

Herb Caen had some pretty good stories in his day.  I love the way the City looks at night.

This looks like so much fun!  Floating along the river while eating lunch or dinner. 









I've been down some old town streets like this.  They are usually full of great antique shops.  Could spend hours wandering up and down them. 

Another interesting place to hang out.  I can see I have to get out more!

This reminds me of the Farmer's Market in City Plaza that we used to pass when we were on the way to the Workers' Comp hearings we had to go to for my husband's back injury. 

Y'all know I love my gnomes!

It is fun to include Agatha Christie in my work. 

I was really happy to find this quote by Mariska Hargitay.  She has the right attitude about smiling! 

It's not perfect but I'm pretty happy with it.  Some pages I like better than others and I can see a couple of spots that I might have done differently but overall I'm pleased.  I'd love to hear what you think!  

There is another edition out now and I'm really thinking about doing another one but I have to get over the A to Z first.  We have until November to order and it is not due until February 2020 so I have some time.  This week they are offering the books at 20% off though so if you are considering doing one, nows the time to get it!  I can tell you it is really exciting to get an email telling me that someone has viewed my book or to see that the number of online views keeps growing.  I'm not going to make any "dough" from it but I might get some exposure that I wouldn't ordinarily get since I added my business information at the back of the book.  

(The "d'oh" and "dough" are added as part of Linda G. Hill's Stream of Consciousness Saturday)!

Mainly in March - 2019 - One more look at The Studio

I didn't get a chance to participate in Song Lyric Sunday yesterday because I was doing this:

The Shed Shop may have built it but we are making it our own!  My husband and daughter helped me paint the outside and now we are one step closer to being completely done!  I have actually been able to start doing some crafting!  Look out world, here I come!

Mainly in March - 2019 - Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Linda has set us the task of talking about the last piece of physical mail we got.  I've noticed that most people have been saying they get very little mail anymore, preferring to pay bills online.  While I pay the bills online, I still get the paper statement just to make sure.  I know, call me wasteful.  I like having the paper trail to refer to. 

I'd like to talk instead about the last piece of mail addressed to my husband.  He made the choice to respond to a Publisher's Clearing House notification about six months ago and since then he gets at least one, sometimes three mailings from them every day!  Well, maybe not EVERY day but at least 2 or 3 times a week. 

At first he was ordering from them, small things, but that just seemed to increase the amount of mail he was getting.  I told him that it was not worth it to continue but he said that he was going to keep up with it until the next big giveaway. 

Of course no one knocked on our door with the huge check on prize day so I thought that would end the matter...not so.  There seems to be a new drawing every few months and they keep telling him that he is getting closer and closer to winning (estimates place your odds at 1 in 1.7 billion).  Now they send him mailings that have a map of our town to show that they know where he lives! 

Each one of the mailings has an envelope with a sticker or something that needs to be attached and sent back in order to keep you in the running.  He has stopped ordering (thankfully) but still wants to send back the entries.  One day I had 6 empty envelopes going to Publisher's Clearing House (may/may not be an exaggeration). 

On the one hand, I feel like I am losing money in postage (55 cents for regular mail at the moment).  On the other hand, getting one of those oversized checks would be something!  Plus, at this point we are keeping at least one postal worker (possibly two - one sorter, one mail carrier) in jobs so we are contributing to the economy. 

To be fair, he was a winner.  We got a check in the mail from Publisher's Clearing House for $10.  That about paid for the postage for the month so we are almost even.  And really, how can I deny my husband the pleasure he gets from opening all these fantastic offers?  Could be worse. 

Thanks Linda.  Great subject. 

Mainly in March - 2019 - The Studio, Part 3

So, we've seen the first part about clearing the backyard and we've seen the second part about all my craft supplies.  Now comes the third part where I convince my husband that putting a shed in the backyard would be a good use of some of that space.  (Notice I said shed to begin with so as to make it more appealing to him).  I had been seeing "She Sheds" and I really liked them.

Of course I did my research about sheds.  I wanted something made of wood that would be sturdy enough to hold all my supplies.  I looked at a bunch of different options and I found a great local company that has been in business for a long time called The Shed Shop.  A friend of mine has one from them in her backyard that she uses as an office and it is very nice.  If we kept it at 120 square feet we would not have to get a building permit.  I needed electricity though so we did have to get an electrical permit, but The Shed Shop takes care of all that for you.  We picked out an 8 foot x 15 foot Tall Classic shed.

The Shed Shop sent someone out to measure our backyard to make sure we could accommodate the structure and we have plenty of room.  Next step was to prepare the foundation.  I was at work but hubby and our daughter took pictures of the concrete being laid.

We've had a lot of rain recently so the actual construction had to be delayed a few days but it didn't take them long to put it up once they started.

Next came the electrical installation.  That took two days and fortunately the rain stayed away long enough for it to be finished, except for one quick burst of hail which made the guys run and hide inside the shed! 

The inspector came to make sure that everything was up to code and then we were free to start tackling the inside.  We are extremely lucky to have a friend who does sheet rock and he came and put up the insulation and covered the walls and ceiling.

Once that was done I could paint.  I knew I wanted white for most of it but picking out the color for the accent wall was almost overwhelming.  I had a color picked out but when it came time to actually get the paint, I changed it and I am so glad I did.

  Notice how the wall color kind of looks like one of my favorite drinks?

The color is called Nautical

Baby Blue Ocean at Benihana

Once the paint was done we picked out some indoor/outdoor carpeting and baseboard.

Then comes the fun part of moving everything in!  My biggest piece of furniture is my Scrapbox so that had to go in first.  

My paper tower and craft table were the last two big pieces of furniture and now we fill in the blanks. 

I decided not to keep my sewing machine and the cabinet it is in.  I never sewed that much so I'd rather use that space for my paper supplies.  Anybody need a sewing machine or cabinet? 


We put up a workbench because I like to work standing.

 

And here it is for now. 

I have everything in, although not everything is put away where it belongs.  I need to have a few shelves put up but I have made enough space and organized it enough so that I know where everything is and I can finally start creating things again!  So excited.  When everything is finally done for real I'm going to try my hand at making a walk-through video.  Waddya think about that? 

Mainly in March - 2019 - 10th Anniversary A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal

I'm a few days late in posting my theme but to be honest, I'm not entirely ready for this adventure.  Last year I had everything planned far in advance and pictures taken for every letter.  This year not so much.  I've been able to move my craft room from inside our house to a new studio that we built for me in our backyard but I just finished the last bit of transferring yesterday and there are still a few odds and ends that I have to organize before I can be truly functional again.  My second Sketchbook project is due at the end of March as well and I'm gonna give it my best shot to make that deadline too. 

I am looking forward to the A to Z since this year is the 10th anniversary of the challenge.  I've been doing it since 2016 and it has really been fun.  I know the only really pressure is whatever I put on myself and there was one year that I didn't quite finish on time but I went back and added the missing letters so that I would be able to say that at least I finished the alphabet.

Because I haven't been able to actually craft anything since February, I've decided to make this year's A to Z about cards and mini-albums.  I'm going to take you through the alphabet making a card for each letter.  Some may be the typical - B is for Birthday Card - but I promise to find some unusual uses/types of cards.  This will also help me increase my Etsy inventory which has been neglected during the transition.

Of course I think sending cards by mail is much nicer than using e-cards but I'm probably biased :)  I promise no obnoxious selling techniques but if you should happen to like a card, arrangements can be made... 

Make sure to visit the A to Z Challenge headquarters to sign up for the adventure this year.  Hope to see you a lot next month!