the scatterbox organized

Hoops -- there it is!

Sorry, I had to use that as a title after someone recently spouted it out.

Going to music festivals and such, usually those of a grass-roots nature, you tend to see a more eclectic, creative, laid-back group of folk in attendance.  Which, to me, makes the festival in question that more enjoyable.  People who are there to experience the music and arts for the intrinsic joy of it and for what it does and how it makes them feel.  You see people on the sides of the crowd, getting all blissed out, dancing in their own world... and some of them... well, some of them come with their own equipment.  The hula hoop.

For most girls, when they are little, they are exposed to the plastic ring almost like an initiation into girlihood.  I was introduced to the hoop because friends of mine had it.  I just never could get the damn thing to work. 

Fast forward many a year and you'll find me in a sporting goods store a few months ago getting a wild hair to bust out some sure-to-be-ill-fated moves on the retail floor with one of theirs.  But something happened... I GOT IT TO WORK.  Granted, it was just for a few steady seconds, but for once in my life, I was totally coordinated at something right out of the gate.  Shazam!  I immediately wanted to buy it as an award of my accomplishment.  A lost part of my childhood that I could re-claim.  Instead of paying the simple $5 that it cost, I suddenly wanted to get serious.  I knew a friend that hooped for realz, and I found myself wanting in on the action.  The 30 seconds of circular stability I experienced had apparently gone to my head.  My friend made her own hoops.  I wanted to make my own, too, dammit!

This past Sunday, I finally got my wish.  The home team I used to skate with in the Carolina Rollergirls league, the Debutante Brawlers, was having their annual "Day of the Deb" celebration.  Basically it's another excuse for us all to get together, sans wheels, while eating, drinking, and shooting the shit.  This time, though, we had a little arts and crafts session, and a few of us got to hoop makin', guided by the lovely Holly Wanna Crackya.

Down in the basement of one Shirley Temper's house, a few people started the process by cutting up the tubing to size for everyone.  Then we took our tubing and end connectors upstairs to soften the ends in boiling water.  This makes the connectors slide in pretty easy.  Here's Eva Lye starting us off.

 
  

Once all the tubes were connected into hoops, we picked out our tape colors and got to wrapping.

 

 
 Some a little more ridiculously anal than others...

I so loved it with just the regular and shiny red, but added the white for the scatterboxy effect.  It makes me happy.

All of us did a very good job, as seen below.  The fanny pack has no bearing on our activities.  It was part of Holly's most awesome Halloween costume as a fanatical 80s workout junkie, and it's just plain fabulous, it had to be included.

Honorable mention goes to our other craft assistant, THE KEGERATOR.

I'm already contemplating taking it up to some college football tailgating this weekend, which the mister gives me the eye for.  Whatever.  He was totally digging trying to get his own spin going when I brought it home.

Now all of a sudden, hooping is showing up in the media.  In two days, I saw an article on Yahoo about all these celebrities now picking it up as the new "it" workout, and even in this month's Southern Living magazine, there's a big article on one lady that started a hoop gym.  In a sense, it's very cool to see.  It's not like hooping was exclusively part of some alternative/hippie club or anything, but that's pretty much where it's been kept alive by chicks over the age of twelve.  I might even try to get my mom into it, because I think it would be great for her physically and such.  Surely, it's about to blow up as the new soccer mom workout fad, but I can't lie... I secretly want to keep it tucked away as one of those activities that the alternative/hippie club is known for.  Where they do it for the art and spirituality of it, not just the killer abs.  Just like the yoga explosion, though, if it keeps people from being unhealthy and/or going off the deep end, I'm all for it.  Next stop - compact travel version!

Happy Early Halloween!

Tomorrow's the big day!

I look forward to Halloween every year, and every year, it sneaks up on me.  There's usually some grand plan I had in mind that ends up not getting done, and this year, my big fail is that we haven't even had our traditional pumpkin carving while watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  Scandalous, I tell you.

Let's pretend for a sec that I did have my act together, and you can enjoy these pumpkins that we carved three years ago!  They were from our best carving year so far, so I don't mind the fact that I just copped-out and pulled up old photos.

This was the mister's, which he very nicely recreated from one of those templates that can sometimes go awry.  Not in this case, however.  I dig how the flames on the pumpkin look particularly... flamey.

And this was mine, from a design I whipped up myself.  I was actually quite pleased with how well it turned out.  My favorite personal pumpkin.

To add a little flava, here's some great Halloweeny items that caught my eye on Etsy.  You can click on each image to go to the listing in that seller's shop.

 

Trick or Treat by Multiple Personality

Love how the shadows depict who they really are...

 

Candy Corn on Crazy Cat by Crescent Hill Designs

How do you not love some candy corn rockin' out?

Instant Cemetery Display by Crafterella

This one is a big seller every year at this time on Etsy.  Great detail and concept.

 

Bunny Bandito by The Decorated House

.............buuunny.....

Eyeball Pillow by Crow's Cloth

Big ol' eyeball pillows made out of velvet and silk taffeta?  Stop it.

Don't forget about the Halloween bonus this year -- Daylight savings time ends Halloween night!  You'll get an extra hour to sleep off any partying you do on Saturday night... If you remember to set that clock back before you pass out.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Best purchase of the summer

You know you want one!  And it was red and "white", and it was made by Slinky, which makes me also want a Slinky.  I'm so... six.

MAN, has this blog has been boring, or what?  That's my fault.  I've been hibernating like a champ as of late, for better or for worse.  On the good side, I'm getting back into the swing of re-vamping the shop, which will be more art-centric.  Just about everything on there at the moment is on clearance, and once I get enough new swag together to make for a nice update, I'll be removing those unsold items for good.  Hopefully this will take place by about October/early November at the latest, in time for the holidays.  Until then, I honestly don't mind hermiting away from the crap heat and humidity out there these days.  I was sweating from the kneecaps today.  Who does this?!?!  I spent a couple nice sweltering days at the Atlantic seashore recently, but really, fall needs to get here stat.

In case you had been looking for it, I closed down my photography site, Photobox.  The recent plan was to put everything in one shop, but now that I'm getting a better idea of what that will look like, the photos still cry for their own home.  The new site will be under a different shop name, which is good, because I'm going to bring them back with a little more... flair.  Stay tuned!

The J Project

For quite some time now, I have been hoarding and collecting the letter J.  I have a font & word fetish, especially when it comes to decorating.  I love the use of a random letter here or there, a carefully chosen quotation, or just a single word highlighted in a room.  Based on images I'd seen in the past, I wanted to do something with my surname initial.  It's not the prettiest of all letters, not like the majestic M or the soft + rigid combination of the R, but it is mine, and personalization was the goal here. 

Similar to the idea pictured below, I am going to start kicking this project into high gear.  And by "high gear", I mean finishing it before December 31st when I'd have to chalk it up to another resolution busted.

 

This wonderful photo is from the January 2007 issue of Living etc magazine, a British publication that doesn't look too unlike my now, sadly, defunct Domino.  I came across the photo in a search that led me to the now-bookmarked, eye-candy blog for Oh, Joy! Studio.  This is a great example because of the monochromatic colors that are broken up by the fantastic array of characters.

For my project, keeping it more personalized, of course, it will be all Js, so the beauty (hopefully) will come in the form of their design.  Currently, I have 19 of them, some of which may not make the final display cut.  I am hoping that I can have more found objects in the mix, like old movie marquee letters, or wire letters, or something with an industrial edge, or just something that doesn't look like I decorated a craft store item. 

Until then, I am making the best of it, not to mention that it's a great way to try out new craft techniques with little to no permanent commitment.  Ranging from 4" x 1.5" to 12" x 9", I've got some good canvasses.  My tiny one reminds me of the movie Beetlejuice.  It might be on the re-vamp list, though.  Another so far is the classic gold-atop-red, and one that I decoupaged some tissue paper that had a nice vintagey map illustration. 

Considering each one cost anywhere from a buck to five a piece, over the course of a few years, it's not a bad little project.  I'm hoping to have them grace my entryway wall, spanning it top to bottom.  If anyone has any technique ideas, please share!  I think I'm being a little too picky with the ones I want, which ultimately leads to them sitting in a bag in my craft closet for a few years.  Like they have already.

***

In other news*, today is National Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Day, Quiet Day, Let's All Eat Right Day, and, on this day in 1862, President Lincoln introduced paper currency to the U.S.  So spend your lunch eating healthy and reflecting, then after dinner, go spend some cash at the movies with a box of Goobers.

*Information supplied by one of my new favorite websites, Gone-ta-pott.com.  With their help, I'll hopefully end my blog-topic drought!

Pine tree fresh

Ahh, the smell of fresh pine.  The tree is here!

This year's selection is a bit smaller than our usual by a couple feet, but well-loved just as much.  Getting it all dolled up was a lot quicker, though!  The mister and I have had debates in the past about white vs. multi-colored lights.  I think it has a lot to do with where we're from, me raised in the midwest/east and him in the south.  Our preferences seem to correlate to the tendencies of each region, respectively.  For me, white lights are classy, to be sure, and great for themed trees, but to really put me in the holiday spirit, I need the color.  In that regard, the white ones just leave me cold.  Besides, when you and whoever trek out to check out displays at this time of year, do you go for ones that are completely all white?  Oh no, sir, I think not!  Festivity.  That is why colored lights rule.

However, that being said, colored lights teeter on a fine line, especially when it comes to outdoor decorating.  There are many styles out there... big, fat lights, small jewel-toned twinkly ones, blinkers, runners, two-color strands, etc.  Here's the thing with me -- I love when homes choose the colored-light route, but really, you kill it a little for me when you pick every style of light on the market and throw it all over the house and yard like Yukon Cornelius just lost his lunch.  These things need planning!  If anything, just stick with one type to be safe.  Big fatties and tiny twinklies kinda clash.  But in the end, I give you kudos for throwing caution to the wind and keeping it interesting. 

For quite a few years, we were only putting white lights on our indoor tree.  I couldn't seem to win the festivity argument to use the tiny multi lights to save my life.  They're so magical!  Then it happened...  We hit a compromise.  This is when I came up with the idea to create The Greatest Tree on the Planet, as referenced in my last post.  I would re-create the tree that I had as a child.  That perfect time when Christmas was the be-all, end-all of existence for my brother and me.  When we would do a countdown to the big day a good 200+ days out.  Not that it doesn't still mean that to me, but you know how it is when you're a kid. 

Somehow, this concept stuck.  He was digging it.  Re-living his childhood, as well, seemed to be the kicker.  So where the tiny lights were "tacky" in his book, for some reason, the big bulbs won him over.  Go figure.  But it really is wonderful.  The way the light bounces off the tinselly strands of the garland...  The delicacy and intricacy of the glittery topper...  The glow it brings to the room when all of the other lights are off...  No, it may not be the most glamorous tree on the block, but it feels like the holidays more to me than just about anything.  It takes me back to when I would sit and stare at it, sometimes under it (just like my kitty does now), and sometimes falling asleep there, as the warm colors contrasted the beautiful, white chunky snowfall outside.  It was comfort.  It WAS Christmas.

And so it is today.

 

Ain't she purdy?

I would like to also use this time to plug what I feel is the greatest invention in holiday tree accessories, ever.  The Swivel Straight tree stand.  We bought this thing about ten years ago when it was strictly "as seen on TV", and it. is. the. bomb. diggity.  Tree a little off-center when you bring it home?  No problemo.  Pop out the little pedal, give it a step-on, swirl your greenery to the desired angle, lock it back, and you're in bidness.  It's gotten a little pricier over the years, but seriously folks, you'll never go back to anything else.  The end.

***

As a side note, I've been lapse in posting some nifty new ornaments to my shop.  There are only one or two of each of these available, if'n ye are interested.

 

Also, my shop will be closed from December 15th to the 21st, so if there was anything listed that you were looking to grab before the holidays, you'll probably want to do so by Saturday at the latest.  I've also got quite a few items on sale as I continue clearing out the shop to make way for a newer, artsier direction for 2009.  I'll be sure to give sneak peeks as I come out with the new goodies, so stay tuned!

Tiara time!

My quest for a tastefully tacky Christmas continues!

Our annual tree (to be purchased tomorrow) got a little makeover a couple years ago.  It has turned into what I like to call "The Greatest Christmas Tree on the Planet", basically because I am re-creating the tree that I grew up with.  The fatty-fat C7 lights, fluffly gold tinselly garland, and one of those retro-ish glass toppers.  It makes me very happy.  So when the idea and opportunity arose to create a similar masterpiece for my head... game on!

At a random stop into my local bead shop the other day, I noticed these big clear bags, each color-coordinated with a pile of retro decor goodness inside.  Cynthia, the owner, came into a ton of these goodies and decided that they would be splendid as crown kits.  Genius!  But which to choose... All gold?  All silver?  Bluish?  I ended up picking a very scatterboxy red and white set complete with little satin peppermint balls.

Ladies and gents, I present to you my entry:

 

(My apologies for the wonderful yellowish tint from the poopy lighting, which my computer didn't seem to want to correct for me.  I'm sure I'll get all perfectionist about it and retake them.)

It's so fun!!!  I made it just in time to wear to tonight's roller derby match, and it was quite the hit.  Either people loved it, or thought I was a complete dork, which are the two reactions I was hoping for.  I'll also be sporting it at a local Christmas parade next Saturday, craft show on Sunday, and maybe just every day between now and the 26th, darnit.

Here's a closer shot of the bird side.  It's sitting on three of those plastic white pine sprigs, but unfortunately, you can only see one now that everything else is on there.  But they were good for giving it height.  Hey!  Look closely and you can see my reflection and my bathroom in the gold balls.  Yeah!

 

Here's a shot of the other side.  The faux chandelier crystals and sparkly snowflakes in the back are my favorite part.  The striped satin balls are pretty rockin', too, though.

 

When I was making this, I had asked Mike if he thought it would be cooler to have the crystals sticking up, a la Superman's crystal fortress, or hanging down icicle style.  Of course, his response was that "cool" shouldn't be the term to describe it.  Pshaw.  It is the epitome of Christmas cool!  I think it was the sting of jealousy that I didn't make him a man version.  As you can see, I went with the Superman style, now apparently doubling as an impalement device when needed.

Wanna make one of your own?  If you live in Raleigh, you can visit Ornamentea and get a kit like I did, or just scavenge some yard sales and flea markets (or gram's attic) for your stash.  There's a little tutorial here.  You do have to get or make your own headband base, though.  I used one I already had that was lightly covered in fabric, thick and plastic, so it worked perfectly.  There was also a big, white-flocked mouse playing a drum in the kit, but he was fairly weighty and had that bit of mystery grunge that I wasn't too fond of, but he'll likely still have a home on my tree. 

If you make one, share it here!!

Is that drought still going on?

Is this thing still on??  Jeez. 

I promise I'll be out of blogger jail soon and get something remotely interesting up.  The last month disappeared on me somehow, but it's all good.  I was out of town for almost two weeks, then got back with two craft shows to prepare for.  Busy, but good!  The Big One (well, biggest for me yet, anyway) is this Sunday, so hopefully when it's over, it might give me a little more quality time with the blog.  I can tell you all about the trip we took (evidenced by some of my newer photos, if you've been looking...) and how I'm finally nailing down a direction in my mind for scatterbox.  I'll be training up that scatterbrain to follow suit so it can make it a reality.  But it should be exciting!  Hopefully it also means I'll be able to have enough new goods for my show in November for all the locals to see, and just in time for Christmas shopping.  Good lawd... it's almost holiday shopping time already...

Be back soon!

And sketchbox makes three

Yes, it's true, I now have THREE shops on Etsy.  Glutton for punishment?  Meh.  Whooooaaa, killer!  Seems like I jumped the gun a bit.  After just a couple weeks, I started to re-think in what direction I ultimately wanted my scatterbox shop to head, and decided that eventually, these two shops wouldn't be that different from each other.  So I have closed up sketchbox, about as quickly as I opened it.  The artwork that was featured there can now be found in scatterbox.  I'm only partially crazy.  :)

In other shop news, I have a couple new nature-themed items in the scatterbox shop, including some nifty leaf garland to get you all geared up for the always-awesome autumn season.  The listings are in various sizes because of the felt I had on hand when I was experimenting.  If you'd like a custom listing, I can make them in 10-foot lengths.  Just give me a holla.  On the photobox front, I am happily awaiting the arrival of a purdy new digital SLR camera that should hopefully be here within the week!   Yessssssssss...  I'm also taking a trip next month that will undoubtedly provide some colorful and wonderful new snaps for your viewing pleasure.  But I'll keep that location under wraps for the time being.

And finally, for you local peeps out there, I have two shows coming up.  The first will be FestiFall in downtown Chapel Hill on Sunday, October 5th.  I will admit that I'm mildly wetting myself over this show because last year's attendance was over 10,000 people.  Yes, ten THOUSAND.  Ack.  Makes my brain shut down just thinking of what I need to do to prepare.  But the exposure potential is delicious.  The next show I have lined up is the Designer's Downtown Market, this time on Saturday, November 29th.  I was hoping to be in their September show, but alas, I will be on said trip mentioned above.  I'm pretty sure I'll get over it quickly.  ;)

Have a good weekend, ladies and gents!

Ni hao!

Seriously - did you watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics?  Ridonkulous.

But not surprising.

We've had the wonderful fortune of visiting China three times in the last seven years, and their eagerness to show themselves to the world has always been present.  My in-laws have been there on work assignment, and it was very different on our first trip in 2002 compared to our most recent in 2006.  That first journey to the other side of the world felt very much like I'd imagined: extremely foreign.  We were basically the only western-bred folk on the plane there and back, and everywhere we went, we stood out like a sore thumb.  The height, my husband's light hair, and, of course, the fact that we spoke zero Chinese.  When we visited the Great Wall, I even had a woman run up and drag me over to her two children so she could take a picture with me.  Passers-by would stop to speak to you just so they could practice their English.  Not to mention that to even get permission to enter the country, we had to tread lightly.

By 2006, just a mere four years later, the changes were incredible.  The city of Beijing, and more specifically, Tianjin, Tanggu, and TEDA, the area my in-laws are in, seemed to explode overnight.  I went from losing weight on my first trip (somewhat of a picky eater, here...), to having numerous choices fit for an American.  Not to say that they should cater to me by any means, or that I shouldn't try the local grub, but it was nice to know that I might have a whole meal to eat from time to time. :)  There was a huge change in the amount of Americans on the plane (which unfortunately dashed hopes of a peaceful flight).  More and more non-Asian faces appeared on the streets.  More western-style shops were abound.  We had no problem applying for a visa.  The doors to tourism had opened.

Our first trip was also just around the time that Beijing was awarded the games for this summer.  In 2006, we saw the headquarters for the IOC and the early construction stages of the Bird Nest arena.  They were preparing for the world.  In 2006 and even now, I find myself with mixed emotion over all the progress.  While I in no way feel that the growth and modernization of China is a bad thing, I can already see the charms that made our first visit there so special beginning to fade away.  I just hope that while they are growing, they can do it in a conscientious way, especially when it comes to holding on to tradition.  One thing that surely won't fade, however, is the generosity and kindness of the Chinese as a whole.

I'm not sure if or when we'll ever make it back to China, but I'm so glad we had the chance.  Prior to 2002, I had sub-zero interest in visiting the country, to the point of even just walking by the Chinese pavilion at Epcot.  And I loves me some Epcot.  Now, we can go in and feel like we are back there once again, if only for a moment.  Seeing what is happening during the Olympics, and wondering how much they will impact things once the celebrations are over, it makes this non-Chinese person hopeful and proud.  I can't wait to see how they close the show.

Aside from the pics I have featured in the photobox shop, I've just listed a cute pair of earrings in the scatterbox shop from some great stamps we received on a package from overseas.  A nice, little way to celebrate the beauty of the culture.

August promotion!

Hello, ladies and gents!

Just a quick note to let you know that in both the scatterbox and photobox shops, there is a promotion for FREE shipping on all items purchased today through the end of the month, August 31st!

All jewelry items in both shops are always gift-boxed, so if you'd like to take advantage of this promotion and send a gift to someone special, just include the information during checkout along with your message to the recipient.

Happy Friday!