Connie's Hardboiled Egg

Yesterday I was at Beth's house getting organized for this year's Art Party (yes, we are ALREADY at work on it!) While sifting through a collection of old sheet music, this little slip of paper fell on the floor.

It's one of those random mysteries that has absolutely no ready explanation. Who wrote it? What was the author's relationship to Connie? Why were hard boiled eggs being distributed? Did Connie get her egg that day? Did Connie even LIKE hard boiled eggs? Why was this note in a book of sheet music?

Over the top...and around the bend

Wowza, 2 of my favorite artgirls, Lisa & Beth, bestowed an honor upon me by giving me the "Over the Top" blog award.

My responsibilities (insert solemn voice and furrowed brows) include passing this honor on to 6 of my favorite blogs and providing my answers to the questions below. The answers are supposed to be single words, but anyone who knows me also knows that just isn't going to happen.

Where is your cell phone? Usually in my left pants pocket

Your hair? Feria Red Number 56!

Your mother? in St. Louis

Your father? Not a significant person in my life

Your favorite food? Sweets!

Your favorite drink? Gin & tonic

Your dream last night? I don't remember one from last night, but a crazy friend texted me this morning to tell me she dreamt that she and I were living in a squalid apartment and I threw the only piece of furniture (a chair) out of the window before she helped me give birth. How can I possibly top that????

Your dream/goal? A cottage on a quiet beach made for long walks

What room are you in? Work office

Your hobby? Creating art and possibilities

Your fear? Not making a difference

Where do you want to be in 6 years? That cottage on a quiet beach sounds pretty good

Where were you last night? Walking, home, talking & texting

Something that you aren't? Patient

Muffin? Chocolate with cream cheese filling

Wish list item? More time

Where did you grow up? St. Louis, MO

Last thing you did? Talked to a friend on the phone

What are you wearing? Slacks, v-neck sweater, funky jewelry

Your TV? A semi big thing with On Demand

Your pets? Cats Max, Isabelle and Indy

Friends? About the best part of my life

Your life? Always evolving

Your mood? Content, excited

Missing someone? Not really

Vehicle? Honda Fit

Something you aren't wearing? Anything pinchy

Your favorite store? The Mother of all Goodwills

Favorite color? Soft teal

When was the last time you laughed? I live to laugh

Last time you cried? Welled up during a phone call a few days ago

Your best friend? Can't possibly pick just one

One place you go to over and over? The beach

One person who emails you regularly? Can't pick just one

Favorite place to eat? Anywhere someone else is doing the cooking

Art Party Afterglow

I'm sure you read it on Beth & Lisa's blog first, but our Art Party was a grand success! We really had a blast incorporating special touches for our guests...

collaged goody bags, nifty workshop kits, one-of-a-kind door prizes, sheet-music & tissue paper flower garlands, a beautiful buffet, Beth's homemade red velvet cupcakes and vintage table coverings. Every person won at least one door prize and a couple of people won 2 more!

It was no surprise that our workshops represented our personalities...

Starting the party, Beth's stylish aquamarine charm bracelets were elegant and could be easily contained on a paper plate...

Lisa's kits for her frou-frou fabric pins had beautifully coordinated vintage fabrics and were the perfect relaxed way to end the day...

And in between, the room pretty much exploded with junque journal madness. A happy, creative chaos reigned...at least it made me exceedingly happy to see so much energy and inspiration filling the space!

Mondo Monkey Madness

Yesterday as I was MIGHTILY avoiding actual work, I created this silly little sock monkey face on my computer. A friend of mine is starting a business making and selling sock monkeys, so the funny little creatures have been on my mind lately.

What IS it about sock monkeys that make them so universally appealing? This one is kind of a Shriner Monkey...can't you just see him riding a little scooter in a parade?
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OMG...this crazy exchange between Beth and me is too damn funny to leave hidden in the Comments section.

Said Beth (of Salvage Studio fame): I bet a zillion of them could cram into the little car too!

To which I replied: Oh Beth, that's brilliant. I'm now imagining an entire team of sock monkeys driving a flotilla of little red go-carts. I can see the tassels on their fez (what IS the plural of fez...fez, fezzes, fezi, fezzzz???) streaming behind them in jaunty exuberance.

I know that a whole bunch of REAL monkeys are called a barrel as in "more fun than a barrel of monkeys".* But I wonder what a gabillion SOCK monkeys are called...maybe a mondo? As in "Those art girls are as zany as a mondo of sock monkeys."

And then I looked up the plural of "fez" and found that it can be "fezzes" or most unfortunately, "fezes", the latter altogether too suggestive of something wholly unpleasant. And most unfortunate of all? Perhaps the fact that I could not keep this little-known fact to myself. Oh no, I just HAD to add it to my blog post for my dear readers to see.

I blame the heat. It's 100 degrees here in Seattle and we're just not used to it. It makes us mental.

* Yes, Gentle Readers, I, too searched "the google" and found that a gabillion REAL monkeys are known as a troop (no accident that troop is also the term for a gabillion Cub Scouts, is it?) But I saw no such reference for SOCK monkeys, and so I selflessly offer up "mondo" for the job.

Junque Journal Workshop Preview

As some of you may know, I'm working with Salvage Gals Beth and Lisa on the first-ever Salvage Studio Art Party on September 19. There's a ton more information and registration forms on their blog, but here is a little preview of the Junque Journal workshop I'll be leading.

Of COURSE there are birds involved...

It will be fabulous fun. I've already started putting together the journal kits, and am having a blast finding fun old books to convert into journals. Next will come coordinated papers, fabric snippets and secret embellishments. Hooray, indeed!

Again, thanks to my friend Jason for the blur-free photos!