A Surprise Trip To Bodega Bay

This morning I attended our monthly Writers' Group meeting. None of us are actually writers, but we love extemperanious (SP?) writing once in a while. We are a very small group and usually just pick a word out of selections we all contributed months ago. Today's word was pinafore. As usual, I quickly went way off in my own direction, writing about letting our children grow up too quickly.

Anyhoo - while there, I got a phone call from my husband. He had left around 8:00 that morning to attend a 3-day offsite at the weekend home of his manager -- 120 miles away. Guess what he forgot? All his clothes. He had taken his suitcase with all the little stuff, but he was going to transport his clothing on hangers in the backseat. The clothes were still hanging in our bedroom. "Could you bring them up?"

Say what? I should spend 5 hours (round trip) in the car to bring you your clothes? Well, that's what I did. Of course I had to arrange for someone to take care of the dog overnight (at least I get to spend the night here before returning). Missed a 20-cent listing day on Ebay today, and have to miss my monthly Bunco group tomorrow. I know - nothing major. And what's a little driving on a sunny day -- to a beautiful place -- for someone you love.

(but boy -- does he owe me big time! ;-)

The First Day of 2008 / Sleeping Snails

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

Had a great dinner last night at one of my favorite restaurants, Kabul -- Afghan cuisine: best kabobs you can have. Hubby and I were joined by my best friend and her husband. Afterward, we went back to our house just to hang out until the new year had been rung in.

Got some email from a friend with some 'interesting facts'. A few of these I had never heard and wanted to check out. For example:

a snail can sleep for up to three years

I found quite a few trivia sites that stated this information, as well as some educational sites. But, the best information I found was on naturalhistorymag.com http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/master.html?http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/editors_pick/1954_11_pick.html

Here is a quote from that site:

"While certain land snails hibernate, there are others that estivate. Egyptian desert snails can withstand a prolonged summer sleep, and one was an estivator of such endurance that it confounded the staid British Museum staff. Assuming that the shell of an Egyptian land snail was empty, a museum worker attached it to an identification card in March, 1846. Four years later in March, 1850, traces of slime were noted on the card. It was immediately put in water, and when the shell came off the card the animal crawled out."

Now that's cool!
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Here's another page from my altered book "It's About Time".

This page is titled "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine"

Click here to see how this page was made: 'A Stitch in Time'

More Pages From My First Altered Book

Gosh, I hate the whole New Year's Eve tradition. What to do - Where to go? Will probably do the usual and stay home -- watch a movie and pause it at midnight to say "Happy New Year", finish the movie, and go to sleep. What's the big deal anyway? It's a night like any other.

New Year's resolutions are especially stupid. If you need to resolve to do something, you shouldn't be waiting for a certain date to start -- start now!

Nuff said.

So, how about some more altered book pages? These are the last 2 pages in the book "It's About Time", but they were actually the first pages I did.

JUST IN TIME

Click here to see how this page was made: 'Just in Time'

OUT OF TIME

Click here to see how this page was made: 'Out of Time'

My Newest Hobby -- Altered Books

Several months ago, I found the skeleton of an old table clock at a local thrift store. I'm not sure why I bought it (for a whopping $2!), but soon thereafter decided it would make a great base for an artwork about time.

(No - I'm not an artist by any means. But I do like to create things, as most people do. I have made my own paper and greeting cards, dabbled in mosaics and drawing -- but I would never label myself an artist. Who knows? Things could change!)

I repainted the black surface, decoupaged the sides with printed images of clocks and watches, and fixed up the paper clock face. While preparing pieces with which to adorn the clock, however, I decided that creating an 'altered book' first would make this art project easier in the end. And so I plunged into the world of 'altered items'.

(For those who don't know what I'm talking about: "altered items" are simply that -- items that have been altered and transformed into a piece of art. Although this is not a new technique, it has become a new phenomenon within the arts and crafts world - especially the process of altering books. Although some 'altered books' may have themes (such as my first book), it is not necessary at all. It's just about creating!)

Over the next few days I will share with you the many pages of my book, which I have titled "It's About Time". (I love the play on words, and have done the same in some of the pages.) I'll also briefly describe how I made each page. I'm learning as I go, so most pages are pretty simple.

I haven't done the cover of the book yet, so will begin with some of the pages inside.

TIME MARCHES ON

This first 2-page spread is titled "Time Marches On". I immediately thought of soldiers as the backdrop for this saying.





Click here to see how these pages were made: 'Time Marches On' and 'Time Flies'


TIME FLIES

The second 2-page spread seemed pretty obvious. When I hear "Time Flies", I think of an alarm clock being thrown out a window. The bird with the clock body was insipired by a Christmas tree decoration I had seen in a magazine.

Click here to see how these pages were made: 'Time Marches On' and 'Time Flies'