Glue Gun Attacks Rampant

Ok, nobody said I was smart.  Oh, yeah, there was that one Phi Beta Kappa award that the university gave me, but I'm not talking about "book smart" here.  I dropped a glob of hot glue on my lap and without thinking (again?)and I grabbed the glue from said delicate spot with my thumb and forefinger.  The glue obviously burned my fingers, so I pulled the glue off taking ALL of the skin off of my forefinger of my left hand.   I'm not exaggerating.  Nothing was left but a large red hole! I don't think I will ever have a fingerprint there again.  Later, a quarter-sized blister formed on my thumb.  Both burns hurt like h-e-double toothpicks! 

Everybody makes mistakes, I know, but this was the SECOND time I've done this!  This is my new pledge, and if you use hot glue, I need you to repeat after me.

• 
  
  I solemnly swear to never forget that hot glue guns and the glue they spew are lethal.
• 
  
  I will not grab a hgg by the nozzle or at any time let a part of my body touch hot glue for a full minute after it has been spewn (is that a word?).
• 
  
  I will wear protective gear when I use a hgg. (Iron underwear and welding gloves?...or more realistically, garden gloves and only work on top of a table or lap desk)
• 
  
  I will immediately soak my burn under cool water if I am so stupid as to do this again. (That's what the internet said to do.  I had to soak for 2 hours, and it was still burning by the time I let my husband bandage me up).

Please, fellow crafters, be on the lookout for hhgs.  These vicious offenders think nothing of assaulting careless, stupid, and/or unprotected crafters.

Journals: Just add text!

I am back to blogging after a week of trying to recover from shots in my spine that are supposed to help.  That seems to be the key-- "supposed to".  They sometimes take a little while to kick in, so we will see if going through the torture they call modern medicine was worth it.  In the meantime, I have been working on my latest obsession: art journals.  I posted about doing one for a little boy not too long ago, and now I have been doing them for adults too. 

Whatever theme strikes one's fancy, I can do.  I love to find old books and cut out their illustrations, copies of pictures, or photos and add a place for heartfelt thoughts and other ephemera.  The above is a combination of a wedding magazine and a book about Native Americans.  Lately, I've been feeling a bit like her, and have been carrying about my best tomahawk.  Mr. Loosesparrow ought to keep out of my way!

Books about the artist, Mucha, are fun to work with because he does so much for the female form. Note that he can make even a poochie tummy look sexy!  I bought some natural fiber wallpaper to use as the background, along with some plastic-backed burlap to use as contrast.

I couldn't leave out doing one in honor of my heroine, Frida Kahlo.  She makes me want to let my eyebrows and Italian mustache go wild.  You know, in real life, her face wasn't quite so hairy.  I think she had a lot of issues about her looks and about being crippled. She was probably making fun of herself before anyone else could do it!

You will find my journals on my Etsy site as I pump them out.  I have a charm school book from the fifties that I plan to cut up next.  Heaven knows it's useless in this day and age.

Rest in Pieces

(Outside the Frostop)

My poor husband had had it at work (and at home) and decided we should take a long weekend road trip.  We once passed through a town named Ashton in Idaho and had stayed in a cute cabin and so we decided to head that way.  The town on first glimpse looks a little boring, but had hidden treasures. One was the Frostop Drive In that was really the most adorable and delicious diner.

We followed the river road there and saw tons of beautiful wildlife: bald eagles, bluebirds, yellow and orange tanager birds, deer, etc.  It was so lovely, we went two days in a row.  The third day we went into Montana to search for antique stores (great ones in Driggs) and to Virginia City.  What a great old West ghost town turned into a boutique and museum heaven!  In the window of one museum were the items found behind an old wall.  Note the mouse mummy!

We ate at a yummy cafe/antique store where the owner told us about the local hauntings.  She said a lady with "the vision" from NY told her that the strange sound of a bell that they were always hearing was from the ghost of a little girl who rides her little bicycle back and forth inside of her store.  GULP!  Above the town are two Boot Hill Cemetaries.  The first one contains the bodies of 5 outlaws road agents who were hung inside one of the buildings inside the city.  I found miniature cemetary off to the side reserved for mouse outlaw  rodent agents!  Someone shares my cracked sense of humor.

We had a great time, my husband is no longer knocking the hats off passerbys (read Moby Dick for reference) and I would highly recommend traveling into Idaho and Montana for a great time!

I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke

Ok, so I'm hopping off my education soapbox and getting back to crafts.  I was shopping in Walmart when I came across these great novelty shaped Coke bottles in honor of American Idol.

Fun, huh?  My crative wheels started turning.  Christmas decorations?  Vases?  Storage?  How about patio table decorations?  Yep!

Materials Needed:

Plastic Coke bottle or other container of your choice

Mod Podge

Colorful Napkins

Varnish (I used Minwax Waterbased Polycrylic)

Uncooked rice, sand, pebbles to weigh down plastic container

I found these fun, colorful napkins at Dollar Tree and cut them into strips.

Cover the bottle with Mod Podge, and also the strips of napkin as they are applied. I applied the word "Fiesta" on both sides of the container.

After the Mod Podge dries, apply the polycrylic.

Fill with something to weigh down the container, tie pretty ribbon or twine, etc, around the neck and enjoy!