The Unsaid

I didn't get to say goodbye to my friend Leslie, who passed away unexpectedly on Christmas Day.

Leslie is the wonderful, kind stamping friend who adopted Bobra. If you don't know that story, stop reading now and read this post before you go on so you know the kind of person I'm talking about.

Leslie is the friend who was almost always the first person to comment on every one of my blog posts.

She's the friend who was at the center of our little Twitter community that started more than 8 years ago. She was the most faithful tweeter of the group, and always hopped on to tell us good morning before she headed out for work. We had the greatest conversations in this group - funny, thought-provoking, and full of art and wonder (and a little complaining about work and award shows too).

We were early Twitter adopters, and so we lived through some things that modern Twitter users don't have any experience with. The crazy spammy robot accounts that we were reporting hundreds of times a day - and even that was a bonding experience and grew our community when people popped in to say "me too!"

There used to be all these outages too and also a tweet limit, at which point you'd go into timeout for a while. We called it Twitter jail. Leslie and I worked together as beta testers for Tweetdeck - which was our favorite Twitter dashboard by far - it made this sweet little birdie tweet when there was a new tweet from a friend, and it provoked a Pavlovian response in all of us - it was a joyful thing to know that one of our circle had something to say. It is such an interesting group of people.

We became very acquainted with each other's routines. So acquainted, in fact, that one time when Leslie got really sick when she lived in Maryland that we all actually found a way to notify people near her so they could check on her.

We grieved with her over the loss of her sweet cat Koshka. We loved her pictures from the farmer's market where she sold her cards - gorgeous veggies, all the dogs that came by - just such a great slice of her life that she shared. People who dismiss social media as trivial haven't had the joy of those real connections we all made that made our friends seem not quite so far away.

 We set up tweet-ups, where our little circle of friends started to meet each other. We joked that the only way any of us would believe that any of the others were "real" was if someone we'd met in real life had met that person. So my friend Mary Dawn, Angelique and Leslie had all met. My friend Bunny had met Leslie, as had our friend Patti Backer. I had met my friend Patsy in Florida, but none of the others had, so only the people I'd really met could count her as real, and so on.

Leslie and I talked about how once the two of us finally met - after a 7 year friendship - then the entire circle would have a first level connection to all of the others. It was just meant to be.

And I'm so incredibly grateful that it finally happened last year. Leslie had moved from Maryland (with Bobra in tow) to Dayton to care for her father after she retired, and became part of an incredible group of crafty friends in Cincinnati who get together a few times a year just to stamp, and laugh, cry, eat things that are bad for us, and do all those things that we stampers all do. She was kind enough to include me last year. When I saw her at the airport - it honestly was like we had known each other in person the entire time. We already knew so much about each other, and we fell in together like people who saw each other every day. We went to her house for a visit with Bobra, during which I cried, of course. PS - it's hard to take a selfie with a cat.

That is the most special little kitty in the world, and our friendship had even more meaning because of our connection to that crazy cat.

She absolutely hated having her photo taken, but at this special event, every now and then we could convince her we needed a private selfie just for our memories.  I'd never have published this before, but I think she'd let me now.

Leslie, me, Jennifer bringing in boxes of stamps.

 

There was no one who loved a random act of kindness more than Leslie. Even in the days before her death, we were plotting a few together. And she never wanted to be thanked for any of the millions of generous, kind things she did for people. She just wanted people to be comfortable and happy.

Everything she did, she did with an incredibly charming mix of humor, snark and kindness.

She was a challenge addict, and was an incredible host of many of our Splitcoast challenges, and a participant in many more.

When I saw her again in April for a crafty get together, she described (with joy) some of the things she had done for people who played in her sketch challenges. She was SUCH an encouraging person to new stampers, or cardmakers who lacked confidence in their skills. If you needed a boost, Leslie was your girl. Also, if you needed a really smart-assed and hilarious card, she was also your girl.



In the days before she died, we talked about normal, everyday things.

The things you talk about if you don't know that just around the corner, suddenly, there's a place where you won't be able to tell her the other things.

Like that you were so glad you were friends. That your life was infinitely better because she was in it. How you were so grateful to her for all the nice things she'd done for you, and especially for all the great people she'd brought into your life. How the fact that she took Bobra was one of the things I treasured most in my life, and how it made me happy every time she posted a photo of him. How I loved the way she talked about her sons, and how the way she busted into a big smile every time she mentioned them made me want to cry. How amazed I was when she taught me how to store the blending foam under the Distress Ink minis. How I loved how sweet she was if I needed to borrow something from her. How worried I was about her the weekend she was sick and stopped tweeting. How I'd be happy to do anything she needed me to do, any time, any where if she'd just asked. How completely broken hearted I'd be if I woke up one day and she was gone.

You know. Those things.

Loveyameanitbye.

All Is Calm, All Is Bright

Merry Christmas!!

I hope you have a great holiday week. I always take the week after Christmas off - it's a quieter week than the week leading up to Christmas, and there's no pressure to do any sort of holiday tasks. We can just enjoy the weather, the decorations and of course, the fruitcake and leftovers.

Christmas really snuck up on me this year. It feels like yesterday that I was posting my annual Christmas card breakdown on my blog for 2014! But I guess it was really 364 yesterdays.

So here goes for this year's Christmas card. This year was a record setter for me - I made and sent 200 cards this year - my highest ever. And I can say - it was also the easiest year, because I have the MISTI. Multiples are soooo easy with the MISTI.

But before we get to the process, let's talk stamps and envelopes.

I was THRILLED to see USPS' Peanuts stamps this year. They are so, so, sweet. I'm so used to traditional Christmas postage, and always love their elegant designs, but I thought the Peanuts stamps were just what we all needed this year. I snapped them up in November. Thank you USPS!

Also, I grabbed a big stack of DSP out of my Scrapbox and made some envelopes with the envelope punch board just for fun. That punch board is the best $20 I've ever spent. I didn't grab Christmas paper either - I didn't care that they didn't match my card - I just thought a little splash of color would be fun.

Here is a stack of 180 of some finished cards. I always stack them in tens like this so I can see what I have left to do very quickly. (I was sad at this point because we were watching Longmire and realized we only have three episodes left. We are saving them. )

Here's the way I had the background stamp set up in my MISTI for the stamping. I got it to work so that I could easily line up the stamp with the edge of the top panel at an angle - this made for really fast stamping while watching holiday movies and our favorite shows in early December. 

And now that it's Christmas Day, I can reveal the finished card.  I used Post-It Masking tape to create my tree - from the top corner of the top panel to the center of the card. Then I sponged just the edge with Tempting Turquoise ink to create my tree. After I did that for all the fronts, then it was easy as pie to pop them all in the MISTI and stamp the Dots for Days in Real Red ink.

I actually designed this card 100% based on the sentiment I used from Wonderland. I specifically wanted a calm, and bright card, so the soothing white space and the beautiful aqua/red combo I thought fit that bill perfectly.

I was excited when my friend Jennifer (superjen on Splitcoast) said this was her favorite of all my Christmas cards. I think it might be mine too. But I think I say that every year, so you shouldn't listen to me.


Now let's talk about getting them in the mail. I decided instead of making a video of the card this year, I'd make a video for you showing you how I manage my Christmas list throughout the year, so when the time comes it takes literally two minutes for me to print all my labels for my cards and know that my list is 100% up to date and current.

I think this is something that people spend a lot of time on, and I know a lot of people have manual, offline lists they manage - and that's no way to live, people! So I hope you enjoy this little tip.

I greatly enjoy the process of making these every year, and consider them a fun, handmade gift to people near and far.

I hope your Christmas is calm and bright. I appreciate everyone who has come here to my blog in 2015 - my customers, class students and all my stampy friends. You are my tribe.

Loveyameanitmerrychristmasbye.

One Tape To Rule Them All

I've found my preciousssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss....

I'm so excited to have found a masking tape that WORKS with watercolor.

I've tried it all. Painter's tape. Frisket tape, you name it. They all leaked, especially with my more abstract watercolor where I like to put down a good amount of water in shapes and then let the colors run.

Painter's tape I found to be the worst, along with "artist's tape" I bought at art supply stores. It has ridges and texture that lend themselves to inviting under-tape leaks.

But THIS TAPE - Frog Tape (Delicate Surface) - is perfect for that clean, sharp, edge. I'm in love.

Dina used it in her watercolor ornament tutorial and I was intrigued. But I never take anyone's word for anything - I have a scientist's heart - so I bought some and tried it. It's amazing.  PLUS - they make it in SHAPES, like chevrons - SQUEE! Check that out here.

Here are my test studies on the worthiness of the tape. The watercolor I used is Koi, the brushes are Silver Brushes and the sentiment is from So You (retired).

And here's my video tutorial.




And I wanted to share what might be my last recipe share of 2015. If you came to my Customer Appreciation Christmas party, you already know how amazing Mandola's caponata is. We ate buckets of this at the party and it was simply amazing. AND it's garlic-free, which is unusual for Italian recipes, so if you are garlic-averse, you'll love it even more. It's one of those things you cannot stop eating, so if you're having a holiday party - this is a great recipe people will rave about.

Mandola’s Caponata

½ C Olive Oil

1 medium Eggplant, skin on, cut into ½” dice

2 C Celery, cut to ¼” dice

1 large onion, cut to ¼” dice

2 TBS tomato paste

2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

⅓ C red wine vinegar

1.5 tsp sugar

1 C water

kosher salt, black pepper to taste

¼ C pitted halved kalamata olives

¼ C pitted halved green olives

1 TBS capers

2 TBS roasted pine nuts

1 C chopped fresh Italian parley

2 TBS chopped fresh oregano

• Heat olive oil on high in a large pan until it sizzles - about 3 minutes
• Reduce the heat to medium, add eggplant, and leave on one side to cook for 4 minutes. Stir, and cook another 4 minutes until it’s very tender. Remove the eggplant, and set aside.
• Add celery and onion to the same pan and add more oil if necessary. Saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Return the eggplant to the pan with the celery and onion.
• Add tomato paste, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat another 5 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and add the olives, capers, pine nuts and parsley. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate overnight.
• Bring to room temperature and serve with sliced rustic bread.

And remember - eat eggplant during the day - or if you have an extreme nicotine sensitivity like I do (eggplant is a tobacco cousin and you can read about that here) - you'll be awake for days and ruin your holidays :).

Or if you need to study for an exam - eat a large bowl of this at 10 PM.

Hope your week is going swimmingly.

Loveyameanitbye.

Before You Take Your Pants Off...

I have a few friends in law enforcement.

Now that I think about it - they're all women, and they are all REALLY good at coloring. I'll come back to that some day and win a Nobel Prize for doing the research on that connection.

Until then, let me share some holiday advice with you.

One of these friends - we'll call her Alexandra, Queen of Police - told me that a LOT of people - like MOST people - die without their pants on.

And by pants I mean over AND under.

We asked her why this is, and she does not know the answer - but out there in the world right now - police are finding a half nekkid dead person.

So here's my caution to you over the holidays - since for whatever reason, people are more at risk of dying during this time of year (I blame cold weather)...

BEFORE YOU TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, DO THE FOLLOWING:

• Check your surroundings - are there any large predators, like bears or lions hurtling towards you?
• Do you see a serial killer near you?
• Are you standing on the window ledge of the 13th floor of a tall building?
• Did you just drink drain cleaner?
• Did you eat at Taco Cabana recently?
• Look up - is there an anvil on a frayed rope hanging over your head?
• Are you driving towards a lake at 100 miles per hour, with the car doors locked?
• Are you on the Titanic?
• Have you just touched the filthy ordering Ipad in a steakhouse?
• Are you eating something that was made in China?
• Are you improperly using a Red Rider BB gun?
• Are you running with scissors?

If the answer to all of these questions is no, then you can probably take your pants off without embarassing your family. Unless you're WITH your family right now, in which case, please, do not take your pants off.

You're welcome.

I guess the only thing this doesn't really address is if the actual act of taking your pants off sometimes spontaneously kills you. I'll research that and get back with you. Until then, be safe.

I'm finally starting to get to play with my pre-order, and you know I went right for the fuzzy bear.

He's not wearing pants, so he probably won't be with us long.

 

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Bear Hugs comes in a bundle, with the matching framlelits, and I'll have an online class with both of these sets soon. The Koi watercolor I used is here. And speaking of coloring, if you need a Christmas present for yourself, the Derwent Inktense blocks are on CRAZY SALE right now.

I made a little video of the bear card for you - hope you enjoy it. With your pants on.




Loveyameanitdontdiehalfnekkidbye.

The Sky is My Ocean

"If you don't die of thirst, there are blessings in the desert. You can be pulled into limitlessness, which we all yearn for, or you can do the beauty of minutiae, the scrimshaw of tiny and precise. The sky is your ocean, and the crystal silence will uplift you like great gospel music, or Neil Young."

                                                  - Anne Lamott

I saw this quote on Facebook today and it exactly nailed my relationship with the high desert - especially the New Mexico high desert. That image of the sky as your ocean is so perfect. The allure of that deep blue may be universal - but as you know, I really don't like water in any form except as an ice cube. My ocean-loving relatives are horrified by this - but this makes sense to me - the sky is my ocean.

That's my squirrel moment before today's project. Ann Lamott has some great stuff. For some reason, in the last few years, a few books that are about the process of writing have been really appealing for me. Even though I find Stephen King to be way too crude - he's like a talented toddler that stops being a prodigy every now and then to talk about poop - his book On Writing - is spectacular. It's somewhat painful in the audio version, because he is the narrator, and he describes that terrible accident he was in in such a stark and terrifying way - it's a bit of a heartstopper, and you'll find yourself grieving with him for his pain and anger and lost time. But his advice on writing is extremely sound. Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird is also great if you enjoy these books about the writing process. She is funny, and the narrator was fantastic. That was one of those books I came across randomly, through a Facebook friend who started a book club group on it and I joined knowing nothing about the book in advance.

This is one of the great blessings of social media - that fast moving stream of cats and randomness contains a lot of things that are really charming and memorable and useful.

Guess it's one of those weeks. I have no idea how I found these adorable anime plushies on Deviant Art, but I fell down a rabbit hole, ended up on Allyson Dean's project and fell in love with those little guys.

The second I saw them, I knew exactly how to make a paper version. That's right - with the best die ever invented - the Curvy Keepsake Box framelits. My team knows how completely obsessed I am with this die, and I don't even DO 3D unless it's just amazing. And these are amazing.

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SQUEE!!!

How cute are those????

OMG I had so much fun making them.

Here's a little video of how they go together, and all the supplies are linked above.



Don't forget - my new online class is available - featuring 24 fun & unique color combos for the multi-step Picture Perfect stamp set.

Hope your lead-up to Christmas is peaceful and fun. Hard to believe it's just all a week away.

Loveyameanitbye.

From Russia With Love

It's amazing how, at the end of the day, all good things lead back to bacon.

Yes, even in papercrafting.

Yesterday, I was making my sample for my Virtual Stamp Night challenge at Splitcoast this weekend (come play!) and I had a bacon-related revelation.

You know how your paper warps when you do watercolor or embossing techniques? Well I usually glue my card together and then go slip it under the pile of magazines on my coffee table until it's dry and that flattens it out.

But then I realized - I have the perfect card flattening tool - and I don't have to dig through a pile of magazines to find my card after I use it.

It's a bacon press!

I've had this bacon press since 1990 - and I've actually never used it for bacon. The secret to good, flat bacon is to start with cold bacon in a cold pan. But it's so cute and heavy duty that I couldn't get rid of it.

And then today - it hit me like a lightning bolt - it's the PERFECT card press!

A few minutes under the bacon press and my card was perfectly flat! God bless bacon!

The VSN (Virtual Stamp Night at Splitcoast) theme this weekend is Around the World in 80 Days, and each challenge this weekend takes inspiration from a different country.

For my challenge, I chose Russia - specifically the Imperial Faberge Eggs. The story of Faberge is very intriguing, and the majority of the eggs made by the House of Faberge were made for the Romanovs to give to each other. It's a fascinating story for me, because it starts with a gifted French artist, goes through a horrid governmental overreach, and ends up with Aqua Net. Not even kidding. Read about it.

What's cool about Faberge is the uniqueness of those eggs - and how just the name Faberge calls that particular magic to mind.

So I chose my favorite Faberge egg as inspiration - it's a deep cobalt blue egg (currently owned by Prince Albert of Monaco) with ornate gold detail. It's stunning. So I used the First Sight stamp set (coming in the Occasions Mini January 4th) to emboss in gold, and then I spritzed it and added Turquoise, Violet and Ultramarine Brusho. I let it air dry so the color stayed vivid.

The ultramarine separates so that you see both blue and violet, which I love.

Speaking of color - my new online class is available now! It's a color combo study for the upcoming Picture Perfect stamp set - available January 4th. Here's a peek of one of the layering images in the set - I stamped out the four steps for this image.

This class shows you 24 total color combos - 5 combos for the hummingbird, taken from real bird photos, 1 hummingbird combo that give it a vintage, sepia look, 10 combos for the rose stamp, 5 for the starfish and 3 for the leaves.

These are unique combos you will be surprised by, and I also give alignment tips for this multi-step stamp set.

If you're a demonstrator and pre-ordered this set - you'll love this class for your own classes. If you are not a demonstrator - if you buy this set from me beginning January 4th - this class will be free with your purchase!

A little something for everyone.

Hope  you come play along with us for Virtual Stamp Night - the challenges are amazing.

Loveyameanitbye/

Tell Your Friend Veronica

Isn't it funny what comes to mind at the holidays? Just the mention of a particular holiday might make you crave a piece of pumpkin pie, or want to watch Die Hard - things that are as essential to the "season" as the actual holidays themselves in your own little world.

Well for me - I cannot even hear the first discussions about Hanukkah without singing the Hanukkah song. It's just a ritual. It makes me happy every time I hear it. Especially the part about Paul Newman and Goldie Hawn. :)

Anyway - I'm not Jewish, but we celebrated a lot of Jewish holidays at the Lutheran church I attended when I was growing up. Our pastor - who was a really great guy and also our next-door neighbor - wanted all the Sunday school kids to understand and respect the holidays and their intimate relationship with ours, so I remember him doing little Seders at Passover, where we sampled all the food, and studied where those rituals came from.

He explained Hanukkah to us, and the symbolism of the menorah and the dreidel, and we ate latkes - thank you Paster Otterstadt! Maybe he was very snacky all the time - now that I think about it we ATE a lot in Sunday school.

But even as a wee tot, what I remember about our Hanukkah studies was all the blue. I thought it was a much PRETTIER holiday than Christmas (which I'm sure would have horrified him), and to this day I look forward to this beautiful blue week.

Later, when I was studying Russian in college, I was thrilled to learn that Ded Moroz - Grandfather Frost - their Santa-ish character - wore ultramarine blue for the most part instead of red. 

The fact is it's a graphically fetching time of the year, in addition to being a meaningful time of celebration.

When I got my pre-order with the teeny birthday candle punch in it, my first thought was that this would make a spectacular Hanukkah card. So I made it.

I punched 18 candles - 9 yellow and 9 blue, and then cut the flames off the blue ones and glued them to the yellow ones.

To space them evenly, I cut a 1/4" strip of cardstock and put it between the candles as I was lining them up against the silver glimmer paper strip. Worked like a charm.

I'm still working on my Christmas cards - I'm giving myself a fuzzy deadline of this weekend to get them finished and in the mail since I don't have any classes this weekend. Then it will be time for the final spritzing of the fruitcakes and then the big event!

I have a great recipe for you too - I made these for my customer appreciation party this weekend - I had two cups of dried tart cherries left from the fruitcake production, so I made cherry oatmeal cookies and they were divine - perfect for those freaky raisin haters out there!

Martha's Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup dark-brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar (there’s a small chance I accidentally used a cup - and they were great!)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups dried sour cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. (These do NOT work on a non-stick cookie sheet - parchment is a must) In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder; set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes in your mixer with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat to incorporate. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating on low speed to combine. Stir in the oats and dried cherries.
3. Drop the dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 6 inches between cookies. Bake until edges are just turning brown, about 20 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Now tomorrow there will be a big sale - so don't miss out! It's the year-end sale and it runs from December 10th - January 4th. Shop here using host code KS94EJ7F and get a Christmas card from me! :)

LoveyameanitHappyHanukkahbye.

In a Blink...

Have you ever had what feels like a little psychic flash about something? Like you knew someone was going to call you, or you knew what was going to happen next in a certain situation?

I have.

And I'm not psychic.

But I have always been good at pattern recognition (or that's what I call it), and if you see enough of a certain pattern, that turns into a pretty good prediction tool. And in some cases, I believe, it has kept me safe from a variety of things.

I finally read a book - Blink - that makes all that make sense, and explains some of the reasons that things click in your head before you even have a conscious thought about something - it's really interesting.

One of the things he discusses in Blink is an algorithm developed at Cook County hospital for diagnosing chest pain - the somewhat (at the time) controversial Goldman Algorithm. It involved limiting the amount of information doctors based their diagnosis on to the answers to just three questions. This meant elimination the other information usually collected by doctors examining patients with chest pain - things like age, weight, other conditions, etc.

The facts were that if two of the three factors in the algorithm were present, the patient was at high cardiac risk, and if they were not present, the patient was not. The problem the algorithm solved was that a doctor's decision in the COMPLETELY overwhelmed Cook County hospital at the time to declare a patient at high risk and unnecessarily treat them, putting truly critical patients at risk, was influenced by things that didn't matter - like age, weight and other conditions. The statistics didn't lie. The less information the doctors used to refer patients to the next level of care, the more people who needed treatment got it, and fewer patients who didn't, didn't.

Too much information can most definitely be harmful to clear thought. A few months inside any university will teach you that.

And those little flashes of "intuition" you have are really based on your ability to recognize patterns and utilize some unconscious processing your brain is always doing for you - thanks brain! I highly recommend this book, and I was already a big fan of Gladwell - I loved the Tipping Point and Outliers too. The audio version of Blink is actually read by the author, which always makes for a better book.

So when I sat down to make kits for my customers for last night's customer appreciation Christmas Party, I deliberately stopped myself from overthinking the project.

I was creating a little snowman from these adorable miniature mason jars, (Tim Holtz has some different style ones that are a little larger here)and I initially planned to have a nose, buttons, etc. But I thought about what MAKES a snowman, and it's really the hat, so I eliminated a few details and focused on the hat and the scarf. I didn't want to cover up the word "love" on the jars. So cute.

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I made the hat by cutting a brim, by nesting the 2.75" and 2.5" circle die framelits to make a donut from Basic Black Cardstock. These make the PERFECT brim - no adhesive needed - it rests on the edge of the lid. Then I cut a 7" x 1.25" piece of Basic Black and adhered it to the jar lid by running a line of Tear & Tape around the jar lid and adding more where the cardstock overlapped.

Take the circle you cut out of the donut and adhere that to the top of the hat by running a thin line of Tombow Mono-Multi around the top and gently setting the circle on - let it dry, and then tie a bow around the hat with the 1/8" striped ribbon (this comes in a package with red and green striped ribbon.)

To make the scarf, I just twisted some pom pom trim around his neck - and POOF - a perfect, sweet snowman with just the right amount of detail

The jar is filled with individually wrapped Pep-O-Mint Life Savers (you can get a GIANT bag at Target for $8). I didn't want unwrapped candy in the jar because, germs, but I think those white butter mints would be cute too, or mini marshmallows and then you could put it with a packet of cocoa for a nice coworker or teacher gift.

The jars are teeny - just 3" tall, and 4" with the hat on.

We really had fun making these, and ended the night with a great White Elephant gift round and food, drink and merrymaking.

Hope you all had a good weekend too and got some crafting in. This is one of those glorious, cool Texas fall weekends we get to enjoy before the cedar pollen sets in, so the kitties are very happy about all the open windows. 

 Loveyameanitbye.

An Open Letter To My Chemistry Teacher(s)

I write this with a heavy heart, even thinking about the trauma that my high school chemistry courses induced.

My first chemistry teacher was actually the cheerleading coach. She was the only person who I'm quite confident knew less than I did, or do, know about chemistry. And I harbor no ill will there - chemistry is poorly presented at BEST in public school in general. No one should or could have been interested in it at my high school in the year (redacted.)

I remember vividly (as does my poor father) dissolving into giggles that got me kicked out of class at the WORDS molality and molarity. My children's book-soaked brain could do nothing but conjure up images of tiny moles with pointy faces doing ridiculous things when I heard these words and I could no longer concentrate.

My second chemistry teacher (how did I last that long??) made a long speech by (insert your favorite politician here) seem FASCINATING.

I didn't stand a chance.

And then - far too late in my life - came Walter White.

Walter White was the FIRST person in my life who made me appreciate chemistry. No - he made me LOVE chemistry. If only my class had featured dissolving a drug dealer in an inappropriate container one of the examples - I might have become a scientist.

Unbeknownst to me, the cheerleading coach and the drone, I actually had already been well versed in chemistry prior to meeting Walter White through my art supplies - alcohol and water, alkyds, properties of salt + pigment, yada yada - but to me those were practical matters needed for my projects - not scientific or academic pursuits.

So this weekend, as I donned about 400 pairs of latex gloves to do all the turkey prep and food prep for the holiday, I was in frequent contact with the box of gloves. (I never cook without gloves - my kitchen could double as a makeshift surgical unit.)

The box says that petroleum products can dissolve latex.

A light went off.

Kristina Werner had told me that the latex polish barrier she had painted on my fingers before she did her awesome manicure was like "masking fluid for nails."

I had a paintbrush that I had used to apply masking fluid for this card that was 100% gummed up. But I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.

Everyone tells you to designate a paintbrush for masking fluid, but that doesn't really make sense to me because they are so gummy and gross you don't want to use them again. So I refused to give up on this brush. Stubbornly. Against my better judgement.

I soaked it in various solvents I had around my house (Murphy's Oil Soap, Goo Gone) and nothing worked. I still couldn't throw the little guy out. He had served me well. He was a nice, straight edged shader. I sort of loved him.

But when I reached for the millionth glove during turkey prep and saw the warning, I thought of my sad, gummy brush, and I SQUIRRELED off my turkey task to grab the brush, a tsp of Vaseline and a red solo cup. Side note - this is why dinner is never ready at a time that is acceptable to less artistic types. You've been warned.

I made sure the brush was totally coated in Vaseline and put the cup in my closet and forgot about it. Until today.

It's alivvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

OMG ALL the gum is gone and it's like a brand new brush!!!!

THIS is practical chemistry, my people.

THIS is interesting.

THIS is the opposite of charts and books and long speeches with molarity, molality, Avogadro's number and other natterings.

THIS is something that makes sense to me.

Give me more of this.

PS - you need to wash it in Dawn (Vaseline's mortal enemy, so technically the friend of latex, right? Or am I confusing Shakespeare and some chemist?  ) after this to restore its fluff.

PPS - if you have a latex allergy and can't use Tombow Mono Multi (it does contain latex), then try the new Fine-Tip Glue Pen, which is latex-free.

That's my revelation for the week.

And entirely unrelated to that, a frosted watercolor card for you today.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

I colored this card on Periscope if you want to watch how it comes together - and the first scope got interrupted by a phone call, so it's broken into two parts.

Here's Part I.




Here's Part II.

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

I'm off to learn more practical chemistry so that I can have a storage unit filled with cash.

I am the Danger. At least as far as masking fluid is concerned.

Loveyameanitbye.