i like this app

I want to be the person who writes letters and notes, but I'm not. At least right now.

Maybe that's in my future. Or not. Who knows. (-:

BUT, I just found this totally rad app that lets me feel like I'm writing awesome hand-written, cute, fun, snappy, nifty notes. 

SO STINKING CUTE! This is from Red Stamp, I don't know if it works for anything except the iPhone, but if you have an iPhone you probably need it. Plus, it's FREE! Holla!

Most of them you can personalize and customize. See the right side where there are different color options? Yeah, totally brill. [I just had to get a little abbrevin' in.] You can also add pictures for additional personalization.

You write and send your note.

I'm excited for the "MAIL PAPER POSTCARDS" in my future! EEEeeeeee! CUTE! They have a "pop-out" option where the picture is perforated and you can punch it out and keep it! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?!? I love it.

Cute thank yous for a wedding or birthday? Or invites for an event?

Ahhhhh! Get it. Do it. Love it. Or prepare yourself for emails and texts from moi [or Hank].

I decorated a t-shirt

I posted a picture of a shirt I decorated on Facebook and received a backlash of comments! Who are you people?! Are you as excited for The Hunger Games  movie as I am? Or is it your love of crafting that has you up in arms??

I just whipped up a few of these babies for the crew I'm going to watch The Hunger Games with on Sunday.

Trust me: it's easy. The basic jist of it all is tracing a picture.

I did a freezer paper stencil. Here's a better tutorial than the incomplete one that I'm about to write.

Supplies you need:

• t-shirt or fabric to put the stencil on
• a picture
• freezer paper
• x-acto knife, the Dolla Tree equivalent or mad scissor skillz
• iron
• paint
• sponge brush
• something to put between the layers of your t-shirt/fabric

Ooooooh-kay, down to the nitty gritty.

Freezer paper. You can get it at the grocery store. I got mine on clearance for $2.09, but I think it usually runs around $5. If you're into crafting, a $5 roll of freezer paper will last you a long time. You could also attempt to ask at your local meat market for a piece of freezer paper for free. You only need about a 10"x10" square. Charm your meat cutter. (-:

Freezer paper has a paper side (lower left) and a plastic side (lower right). The plastic side will stick to your fabric when you iron it creating a similar effect as painter's tape on the wall. The plastic is thin enough that you can just peel it off without a residue once you're ready. It's magical. 

Your picture.

Since I was making a Hunger Games t-shirt I just did a google image search for The Hunger Games and chose a simple picture. You want to keep it simple. You're going to cut it out and all the little tiny details [while totally do-able] make this a much more difficult project. I printed my picture on cardstock and then cut the picture, next I placed my cut out picture on the freezer paper and cut around it with my faux-x-acto knife. 

I don't want the actual picture I want the dead space [in this example the black areas are the actual picture and the white areas are the dead space/negative zones]. So I cut as carefully as possible and have to put the negative zones in the correct areas so that when I paint the image and remove the freezer paper what is left is the picture. Capiche? 

As I arrange the negative space on my t-shirt I use the edge of my iron to just barely stick the paper down. Just a dot in the middle, so I can move it if I need to. Once everything is in place I press the iron over it for about 5 seconds. It doesn't take long. 

Then I put something between the layers of fabric to keep the paint from soaking onto the back side of my t-shirt.

Then I dab my paint on. 

Then I let the paint dry.

Then I peel the freezer paper off. 

Then I wash the shirt (inside out).

Then I put it on.

Then I take a picture.

Then I post the picture on fb.

Then people think I'm awesome. 

You think I'm awesome, right? 

Just in case you do think I might be awesome, I should also tell you that this is what my tiny living room looks like because of one night of crafting:

**I don't own rights to this picture and it could be illegal that I traced it, but I don't actually know if that's true or not. So, this shirt is just for me and my body and not for sale even though I know you want to pay me $52,028,384 for it, I will have to say no.

***Also, because people keep asking: apparently I look like a super-fan because I made a t-shirt. I am a super-fan. I really, really love sleep though, so I'm not going to see the movie until Sunday because of my desire to sleep and also because I have to work. People don't really like it when their massage therapist falls asleep. I don't know why. 

fear

One time I was in this women's group where the leader always said the most oblique, obscure, non-specific, vague, IHAVENOIDEAWHATYOUARETALKINGABOUT things. I realize all those descriptors are redundant. I only say that because I'm about to be that person. You're welcome.

I'm about to do something that scares me. 
I don't want to talk about it.
Say a prayer. 

The end.

Celebration of Flight

YESTERDAY WAS BEAUTIFUL!

I seriously don't know what to do with this weather. I moved from the south where the weather was amazing 95% of the year. I moved to Indiana where it was supposed to be snowy, dark, dreary for at least 6 months of the year; spring was supposed to start in May. This is not what is happening.

Weird.

Yesterday, I got together with some college friends and we went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art to see the Spring Equinox Celebration of Flight performance they had outside.

Puppets and kites took over and [although it was intended for children] this adult had a great time! (-:

At the end all the kids who made kites ran out and flew their kites with the professional kites. Let me just say: CUTEST THING EVER. An explosion of joy everywhere! Loved it!

why, hello

You may notice that I rarely apologize for my absence here. Why not? Because I don't feel sorry.

And I'm not sorry that I don't feel sorry that I'm not sorry that I don't feel sorry.
(-:

OK, for real: this blog is fun for me. I want it to be fun and I want it to be something I want to do and not something I have to do. I love that you read. I love that you comment. I love that you sheepishly tell me that you read my blog when I see your face. I love that you pester me to write more.

Except, I can't make this a job.

When I get into a funk, when life gets busy, when I feel lame, when I want to do something else--I'm gonna be MIA.

That's been life lately. Feel free to pester/love/message/call/text if you want to know more. Because I really do love y'all too.

Yeah, I said y'all. Wanna fight about it?

-----------------------------------------

Last week I made this salad...it rocked my world.

I'm still thinking about it. You should probably make it too. Unless you're my mother/father/brothers and you hate both blue cheese and garbanzo beans [where did I come from??]. Then you should make something else.

-----------------------------------------

Today this makes me SO HAPPY:

[This is the PolyFrame lite app.]

Today is a taste of summer. You know what I always think the most during these first days of warmth?
1. Oh, sunshine. I love you.
2. Dude. PUT ON A HELMET. Your mother/wife/children/partner/brother/sister/friend loves you.
3. Gurl, put on some pants. It is not time for daisy duke shorts yet. Is it ever time for that?
4. What's my hair doing in the wind as I drive with my windows down? Meh. Don't care.
5. Sunshine, I love you.
6. I hope spring lasts for forever.

How's spring in your part of the world?

Dreams

I've been having dreams lately.

Dreams about my Manchester College people.

Usually they're not too exciting, just talking and hanging out kinds of dreams. I always wake up feeling peaceful when I dream about these people. Those were some really good, very formative years filled with lots of growth.

So, I had my dreams and then I had to go through my stacks of pictures and photo albums and laugh at some of the ridiculousness that was my life. And probably still is.

These are from life before facebook. We used telephones that were hooked up to the wall. Cellphones were clunky and too expensive for a college student. AIM was our top chatting format. Almost no one had a laptop because they were so expensive. I didn't even drink coffee. Digital cameras? I think not. My favorite TV show? Trading Spaces.  I also made that hat I'm wearing.

Apple Pi girls, fake sororities were all the rage. OK, they weren't. We made one up and thought we were awesome. Because we were. Are.

California Raisinettes, no one knew who they were then either. (-:

Once Bea, Sarah and I went to a semi-formal in 80s dresses from the thrift store. We were that cool.

My first time in Europe [2003]:

How did I get the opportunity to travel with such fantastic people?

I really like to keep my mouth open in pictures. These are two firsts for me! On the left, my first time to use a street toilet. I was dying the entire trip to try it out and I finally had the correct change to do it! On the right, my first time on the Metro in Paris. This was my first time on any subway/public transit.

When I look at these pictures I think of lots of things but the top two are:
1) awesome people and
2) terrible clothing. I'm happy to say that my wardrobe has improved dramatically.

Ahh, college. (-:

I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up then [that hasn't changed], but I knew who I wanted to be. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in what's happening and when it's happening and how it's happening that I forget about who I want to be.

I'm grateful for a reminders of that through dreams and friends.