Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek
222 pages of bright and candy colored macro shots….
I did this as a reminder of how far I have come and also as a gift for my dad to share with him how far I have come in the past year…
I this because on the really hard days when it seems like nobody is making progress anywhere I can look at this and say holy crap, this is where I spent the last year….
Feels good. Off to work on the subjects for volume 2.
OK. So eventually you have to let little kids use elmer’s (or other brand) white glue in the squeezy bottle, right? Child cannot glue with gluesticks alone…
BUT the problem with anything that isn’t a complete solid and it’s interaction with younger kids, is that the combination of boundless enthusiasm combined with the sheer joy of “more” usually leads to a puddle of glue that frequently drowns whatever they were trying to glue and if on paper, can form a soggy, rippy, drippy mess…
For kids who will only sit and glue for a little while I have a suggestion… I tried this on a whim yesterday and so far so good…
Try putting your squeezy bottle of white school glue in the fridge- even 30 minutes works… I may start storing one in there to see how it “keeps” over time…
The cold thickens the consistency of the glue just enough that, when squeezed, it comes out slowly…
This effect seems to wear off (keep in mind we live in Florida and it is hot hot hot here) after a short while (I stopped trying it after 20 minutes because not only do I have a 4 year old, I have the attention span of one…) but lasts long enough that junior can glue a little bit without needing triple tarp protection and the vigilant hovering of the mama….
Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek
I have been looking for a solution for displaying the bits of art that my little guy makes for me…
Our fridge has been taken over by a family calendar and the wall next to it has been plastered with boyo’s papers for so long that I finally decided that I was going to get my rear in gear and mature our kid art display….
I looked into clip frames of all sorts and even a display “wall system” for hanging photos… All of those seemed either too makeshift or too “dainty” or frankly, required too much effort from this tired and sick and stretched mama to actually change out the art…. I wanted something substantial looking as we have very high ceilings…
I wandered around our local Michaels on a quiet Sunday and found these attractive shadow boxes. Perfect. They have a slightly padded linen backing for pinning artwork…They are a couple of inches deep so they offer even more of a substantial presence and depth…
The doors are hinged and held closed by magnets (strong)…
I think these are going to be the perfect solution for storing boyo’s creations where everyone can enjoy them and he can beam with pride….
When pictures are rotated out I plan on letting him scan them into the computer as he loves scanning and copying stuff…then they go in a large photo storage box in his room for safe keeping… I still have a box with my creations and school work from when I was a wee one and it’s a blast looking through some of the silly stuff I wrote and painted…Even if boyo isn’t as sentimental as I am when he’s older, i know I will enjoy looking at all this stuff…Little snapshots of his world for us to treasure….
By the way, these were on sale on Sunday- I think Michael’s home collection frames are all 40% off this week- so these were $29 and change, I believe…. And I hung them using a laser lever and Hercules Hooks/Monkey Hooks… Quick and easy and secure….
In the Etsy community forum, I frequently see folks looking for well priced supplies for their Gocco presses that are available domestically (quicker and less expensive shipping…internationally there are many supplies if you are willing to wait…)…
Here’s where I get my supplies:
Northwood Studios. The owner/operator is Judy Funk who is a Gocco-expert and a pleasure to do business with. She is informative and prompt and a nice person… Her pricing is fair (and better than many other sources out there)… She also occasionally has used machines and some neat gadgets available… As she has so much Gocco experience, she can usually answer any questions and often has great solutions available (like a great non-gocco branded screen cleaner) that only experience could have brought….
Anyway, give her a visit…
To see what Gocco can do, Flickr has a couple of Gocco photo groups… Here’s “Gocco”
A general, “What Is Gocco?” is available at savegocco.com
Happy Friday and Happy Printing!
b
Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek
Ok. I finally did it. I finally had enough of my little small parts boxes stacked high in their bright orange Black & Decker caddies…
So I took some measurements and did some research…
It’s a pretty obvious solution to my small-parts storage needs (in this case my bead collection) but it took awhile to get here….
My wants (wishes) were:
-able to keep dust out
-mobile within our home (casters, or overall portability)
-easily transportable outside the home (in case of emergency, but not a “you have 5 minutes to get out of the house and have to spend a week in a shelter” sort of emergency…. I do have my priorities straight.)
I researched a few options, and eventually decided to invest in a steel literature sorter- like the ones used in schools as mailboxes for the teachers… Sheesh, again with the old office stuff floating my boat…..
I already had all of these (ok. 30 of them, 24 are being used, 6 are just waiting for occupants) small parts boxes with lids… I figured I could put them in my (rather large considering I’m not a clothes junkie) closet and give each box a bin….Nicer and easier and less noisy (and frankly, hard on my old bones and muscles these days which really don’t take kindly to much lately) than pulling them in and out of the plastic caddies they came with.
Well, earlier this week I took another look at topdeq.com’s offerings (I have been getting their catalog since way back when) and my brain just decided to do the math…. I realized I could fit 2 tackle container things in each drawer- totally releasing the concept of buying the Bisley brand drawer dividers (at $10-$18 a pop and still not enough spaces per drawer for my liking)….
So I ordered…
I wound up with this beauty…. This is a Bisley unit, purchased from Topdeq.com, and delivered yesterday by freight. It has 15 drawers…Each drawer measures 2″ x 12″ x 16″…. Each drawer fits two of my little small part tackle boxes with a little wiggle room- just enough to put that hank or two, or bag of beads, where I can have a visual reminder of it (hugely important with my ADD and creating- I tend to have stuff everywhere because with me out of sight out of mind holds so true) when I open up the drawer of similar beads….
Anyway, this came with a plinth (steel riser) and I bought the caster attachment to go with the unit… So off came the plinth and on went the casters….
I busted the hinged lids off the little divided containers -with some success…. On some I had to cut a hinge, but the lids still fit on top, and if and when we do move and I need to transport everything I can just use some of those fabulous “h” rubber bands to hold everything secure….
So now I have a unit that holds all of my beads (I don’t like to buy more than a strand or two at a time as I get bored easily, so most beads fit in here)… And is organized…
And mobile….
And easily stashable (fits in the hall closet/linen closet…. Also tucks under my elevated kitchen bar area (43″ tall….Bisley unit is around 36″ I believe)….
Dust free…
Quiet….
and of course easy enough to use for a quick bead sort that I won’t put it off until I have a gallon bucket of loose beads (like now. *gulp*)….
It was delivered super fast- I ordered Monday night and got the call about delivery on Wednesday… Pretty awesome. And for the amount of space and comfort and peace of mind this creates, it was totally worth it, and no more expensive than the various other solutions I was looking at. Actually, as the drawers are such a great size, and not too deep, I wound up saving money and space…Yay!
I just need to pen some pretty labels for the drawers….
Oh and here is a picture of one of the drawers (with a freshly started small parts, tackle bin/thing, hence it has space to add more yippee!)….
My only cons about this purchase: I was instantly aware upon unpacking that I have many more spaces in my studio and home for rolling steel units and I have a pretty clear idea of what drawer sizes I need and hey, add a sturdy top to these badboys and I have a nice packing table…. Woohoo!
Also- the drawers don’t have stops. *gasp* So I will have to rig some up… Boyo has been warned that the drawers are not to play with, and I told him a dramatic bedtime story about what would happen if a drawer was pulled too far…. It involved beads, the shortcomings of our vacuum, and the dynamics of hard round things on tile flooring and tender little foot-soles….
I’ll list some of the other options I looked at shortly…. Some cool things for storing for folks like me that are combining family and work and art and then taming them into a happy and less frustrated ball of goodness.
Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek
Ok. So I was talking to someone yesterday and I was explaining the steps I have been taking, or attempting to take, in reorganizing the household so there are less distractions to send boy and me into our personal ADD spirals…. So my side of the conversation went something like this:
“I bought small plastic containers”
“They stack”
“I bought a bunch of them. Everytime I go to the store they have more in the same color. I’m not even a big green person- more into blue, which they had…Anyway. I bought a bunch”
“And I bought a label maker”
“This project has been going on for a month. I have a tower of plastic containers with green latches in my living room. I’m going to put everything in plastic containers and label it so it’s out of sight but I can still find stuff” (note: true to a life of ADD and being the creative sort I tend to leave things out because for me, out of sight=out of mind and leaving things out typically means I do eventually finish them but it also means that we have tons of visual clutter which would be distracting for a person without ADD/ADHD….Hence the reorganization)
At this point I confess the following.
“The label maker is put away. I made a label for it that says ‘LABEL MAKER’.”
And it is at that point that we both start laughing, hard.
The truth is that I have been having a hard time with my ADD and fatigue and a whole host of health issues…
And of course, boyo comes first- always. So now I’m staring at a pile of information about how to help him, how to help me help him, how to help the teacher help him, how to explain all of this stuff to his grandparents, and a sizable pile of how to help me. Because if I can’t focus at all, I can’t very well help him.
So today I went in and dug around and found some more suggestions on being a productive adult with ADD.
Those of you that know me, know that I work my arse off and I always have and I always will, it’s my nature. I do, in fact, get things done.
But what I cannot do is focus. Have a conversation with me in person and you will find that my brain likes to take detours. Trying to complete a task as simple as getting a cup of coffee in the morning can often turn into a 2 hour event, if it happens at all. Most folks have blinders that they don’t even think about- that ability to get out of bed and get the cup of coffee. They can tune out the things that derail me in my attempt at having just a regular morning. Everything has a million steps and points at which I can be pulled off of my track. I do many things exactly when they occur to me and it takes every bit of strength not to be derailed from one tiny task, and then I’m wiped out if it gets done at all…I’ve had other artists ask to come hang out- to have fun and to learn from each other, I’d love that, but I can’t function with more distraction, and I’m a little shy about my visual clutter and my mad scientist work style… I did function, for years, in office situations. Surprisingly, many of my jobs in the past have involved organizing other folks. But that was before the many things that make my ADD more symptomatic… I do manage to get my orders out on time, but instead of completing them in one simple swoop I have been finding that having more of a schedule/to do list of every part is necessary and while it only takes me a few minutes to get an order out (ready to wear pieces) those few minutes are quite broken and scattered across the day…
But as long as the label maker box has a label that says label maker on it and the label maker is in the box, then everything will be A-O.K., don’t you think….
(hubby just came back in the room and said “what’s up kid?” and that’s all it takes for me to be knocked off the track….eeeeek. I’ll post this anyway, even though I’m pretty sure it didn’t go where I intended it to….)
*hugs*
b
Did you take the pledge? Here’s the link: Buyhandmade.org
Sign it. Live it.
and BUY IT on Etsy!
Ok. Now on to my birthday news… It was a tough one this year, lots of mixed feelings and mounting health problems….Blah blah blah..
I did wake up this morning to a little birthday treasure hunt that hubby invited boy to join in (which makes it even more fun)….
Turns out that the baldguy signed up for his very own etsy account and raided my favorites. Yup. My birthday was handmade this year and it all came from my Etsy favorites list!
Links to the treasures coming tomorrow, after some sleep which will renew my ability to put some pictures on here, hopefully…
The best gift, by far, was that the baldguy took the time to figure out the whole Etsy thing and he listened… And I’m thrilled to report that all of the sellers were hugely helpful in answering his questions, getting the packages out, and providing excellent customer service to someone new to the whole Etsy thing. Big round of applause for the artists of Etsy- for not only making awesome things but also balancing good business practices on top of it! Yay!*hugs*
Off to bed to burn off the last hour of this day as I have to catch up on work tomorrow.
Oh and I usually name my present, if we have the funds, and buy it myself around my birthday. That being said, every year since we have been married we have mourned the loss of a major appliance (or a technically minor one that we “need”) or welcomed a new major medical device(insulin pump, muscle stimulator, TENS unit…another insulin pump…) into our lives -always between October 31 and November 7th…. This year, it is our garbage disposal (garberator, or in this case the in-sink (garb)erator :-) BUT, it is covered, thankfully. And I squirreled some money away…Woohoo. SO I did splurge and I have a fabulous custom bag coming from MoxieAndOliver
(ok and a little coordinating case for business cards and my id n’ stuff)
I will, of course, share photos when it arrives! Caitlin is a sweetheart and so talented! She is the very same genius who made my cane straps for me- her work is beautiful and unique- I saw the cane strap and knew I needed a bag to match it! It feels so good to put a bit of my hard earned money into another artists work…To get a little snapshot of their creative spirit to treasure…. Sure I could have bought a bag at one of our local mass merchandise chains but these days I am enjoying buying handmade, direct from the maker - better products, unique products, better quality, and tons more fun.
Oh and I am having a little free shipping thing until midnight… I was hoping to get to my blog a bit sooner but Lexo the Great read me “The B Book” (because my name starts with B) and one of my most favorite kids books “My many colored days” by Dr. Seuss (link is to the hardcover version…we are still reading our gnawed board book version and loving it!) SO for my friendly blog readers, free shipping until midnight 11/8 (up to $5, free shipping will be given via a shipping refund from paypal…if you are paying with propay I will send you an invoice reflecting the discount, just put “beclever” in the notes to seller area)….
What are you still doing here! Shop! Shop! Shop!
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