Flip-flops in NY (Babytease)

Baby Showers & Podcasts

The baby shower was back at the end of April, but I never got a chance to blog about it with everything that has been going on at home.  It went great.  B was thrilled.  There weren't too many people so she wasn't overwhelmed.  She received very thoughtful gifts and the food was a hit.  It was the last day of Passover so I made too much food, but B and E had food to eat for the next day or so.  You can see some of the pics at my Flickr.  B has gestational diabetes so I made the marshmallows and fudge as the favor, with the Doublemint gum tied up on the outside (for the twins).  They were bagged so she couldn't get to them.  I made a diaper cake and sugar-free chocolate pudding.  She loved it, and so did everyone else actually.  The rest of the food was geared to her also.  Asparagus wrapped in smoked salmon, roast beef sandwiches on whole wheat bread.  Deviled eggs, shrimp skewers, with tomatoes.

I just got back from my mini trip to FLA.  When my granddad died last month he left me a minivan.  Scott and I flew down Friday morning, spent the day with Daddy and drove back from Tampa to NYC starting Saturday morning, hoping to get here Sunday afternoon.  The traffic up north was horrendous, especially in Maryland and Delaware.  The rain caused all sorts of accidents there.  Then the NJ Turnpike was a parking lot.  But we got home safe and I have an almost brand new vehicle with no payments to make to boot.  Coming in Monday morning was OK because as tired as I was, my boss is on vacation this week.

My latest newest pleasure is listening to podcasts.  I listen to quite a few.  I download them on , as much as I HATE iTunes, but I love listening to some of them.  I do listen to a very diverse range of things.  I download books and delete the ones I no longer want.  To think I used to buy audiobooks!!!  But I really love the ones about the shows I like, such as Heroes and Lost...  I am also a Harry Potter freak, and there are too many of them out there.  But I've found that most of those people are just doing it to be on the air.  Not these people.  Jennifer at Craft Sanity interviews crafters, artists I should say.  Some of her podcasts are just a few minutes and others are an hour and a half.  I wish the Lost podcasts where that long!  You can subscribe to their podcasts through their sites, but it will load to iTunes. 

Here are my top three:

The Official Lost Podcast:  http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index

Harry Potter Prognostications:  http://www.hpprogs.com/

Craft Sanity:  http://craftsanity.com/

Soap "putting-together"

It's been a while, but I used to enjoy making soap so much.  I am not really "making" soap because I am buying the soap already made and just dressing it up with scents, colors and textures.  It's an odd thing for me, because I am allergic to so many different things.  But this way I can control what I am breathing in and what is on my skin.  I know I am not allergic to the base soap they sell at the craft shops, at least not the last one I bought.  I make a batch and then give out a few left over bars.  I would really like to make up nice packaging for what I give out.  I've seen some real nice packaging from so many people that make soap at home.  I wouldn't want it to look commercial.  That might be my next project.

This last batch I made was Honey-Almond with Apricot for exfoliation.  Unfortunately the apricot settled, but I like the look.  I also smells divine.  It poured some in a dipping bowl to keep by the kitchen sink, instead of using detergent.

New collages

I started these projects this weekend.  My problem is, I never know when to stop.  It never looks "finished" to me.  I want to keep adding and adding and adding.  But with this one, I know it's done:

This one is in the making:

 

      

 

Then I started a few other panels while I waited for these projects to dry in stages.  I can't wait to see what will come out of those.

Tee Shirt painting

On Saturday my son and his friends decided they wanted to try their hand at painting some tee shirts.  He knows I used to paint them and sell them a few years back.  I have plenty of supplies, which I offered them.  Paint, stamps, brushes, palets, and so on.  They bought the shirts and some supplies of their own.  I set them up in my apartment and left them alone so they wouldn't feel any pressure.  I was only able to take one photo, and they wouln't let me take any pics of the final tees.  Maybe next time.  Who would have thought that they would be shy?  Not these fifteen year olds...  They started on paper first to test out the blotter brush and the spray paint.  They were spray painting on a black shirt, then stenciling words on top of the spray when it dried.  It turned out sort of the way they wanted, but you know kids these days, they want instant gratification.  It wasn't perfect and my son's friend was not happy.  I told them how it takes practice.  "A technique takes practice."  I can't make the others listen, but I can patiently explain it to my son.  He understands and will practice because (1) he wants it more than the others do and (2) he has art running through his veins.  And I don't mean me.  It's all through my family and he has those hands and haven't put them to good use yet.  I will encourage them all I can, with every cent I can afford to.  I can't draw a straight line to save my life, but he can draw and has an eye for art and color, thank goodness.  I ended up with more paint on the table than on the finished tee, but it was well worth it.  I love to see them doing anything other than on their Sidekick or video games!