most of the time, this status merely consists of me asking him things like, "is this too much?" or "does it look balanced?" or "what's the first thing you see when you look at this card?" (i tend to work in the living room of an evening while he is watching tv); you know, sort of "fresh-pair-of-eyes" type inquiries. but sometimes i am so enthusiastic about a LO i've seen online or a new product in a magazine, that i will insist he see it too; which explains how he has started to know who heidi & elsie are...and what their products and styles look like...almost through osmosis. it has happened so subtly that i don't think either of us was completely aware of it. a few months ago he cracked me up by asking quite naturally if a card i made--with which he was particularly impressed--was based on an original idea of my own...or "a lift"!
last week, when my back was super-bad (...sadly not in a "mc-lovin" sorta way...) he set up the ironing board for me so i could work a bit off & on, standing up. at one point, when i was trying to fit a too many oversized letters into too small a space--and getting rather frustrated--for the first time he actually came up next to me and asked if he could "try something" and began to move things around on the page! as it turns out, his idea didn't work, either, but he had managed to think of something which hadn't occurred to me!
but the very best evidence of this phenomenon happened last night: i am making a collage for the bloglandia ball (more on that later) and i've pretty much gotten my main elements together. but it's missing...something...i try a few things, but nothing really satisfies me, and i express my dissatisfaction. "it's not quite right," i lament, "but i don't know how to fix it!" jeff casts a critical eye over the masterpiece-to-be, looking at it this way and that, before making the following pronouncement--which i *swear* i am quoting vertbatim:
"it needs some flash and dazzle!"
flash and dazzle, baby? i'm alllllllll over that! because, hey! they don't call me "gingerburst raisinette" for nuthin'! :)
I think you and I landed us two keeper husbands. I also knit and cross-stitch, and my dh now knows the difference between floss and yarn (he used to call everything "thread"), and he knows the difference between vellum, cardstock, and scrapbook paper. I too ask him for advice when I need a pair of fresh eyes :) His usual response, "Less is more." He probably isn't quite as interested in my stuff as your sweetie is, though. I like to tease him when he asks me for ideas on what he and I can do together (when we have a babysitter) and I usually say, "Let's go make a card!" He smiles and rolls his eyes...
ReplyDeleteFLASH & DaZZZle!!! gotta love it!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL... gingerburst raisinette giirrrrrrrl. you are a lucky woman. flash and dazzle indeed. he sounds absolutely wonderful. mine - well he doesn't show quite the interest that your dh and june's does but hey he doesn't say a word when i go shopping or complain when we're on vacation somewhere - there is a scrapbook store nearby - he just looks at me and laughs. we're lucky girls now aren't we?
ReplyDeleteLucky you!! If I ever get married... I would want him to be as understanding...as helpful...and tolerate my idiosyncrasies!
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing me with some laugh outloud moments this morning when I read your comments on my blog. I have now decreed that we are card making sisters who were separated at birth.
ReplyDeleteI too create in the livingroom while my husband watches TV ... his primary duty when called upon is to provide his finger to help me tie knots in my ribbons ... and when I asked for an opinion from him, my favorite comment of his has thus far has been "sorry, but that's no contest winner" ... which was a nice way of saying, it wasn't exactly my best work (and he was right). Gotta love 'em. ~ Stephanie aka Charmin Vibe