more miscellany

designing:
...a new header for the blog. this one's got A LOT of color, doesn't it? maybe too much? i dunno, but it was so much fun to aimlessly play around in photoshop on a recent road trip (don't worry, i was a passenger!) and the result definitely brightens up the top of my page. the background is a real-life collage i made last summer, scanned and forgot about; i found it in a file on my laptop whilst looking for something else entirely.

planning:
...a LOT of small crochet and knitting projects, maybe too many to realistically complete before christmas. but then i always get carried away by "project lust" especially around the holidays! at the moment i'm working on another version of a crocheted rainbow purse for a special young lady; it's loosely based on the pattern for this adorable change purse, which stephanie* found for me.

listening:
...to the roof literally being ripped off our house (!!!) and replaced with a new one; one that doesn't have badly retro-fitted, leaky skylights. it will be so cool to only worry about my *HAIR* the next time it rains! (ps: holy wow, roofing guys work HARD, in all kinds of weather and crummy conditions, twenty feet up in the air; yet another job you could not pay me any amount of money to do!)

teaching:
...my first-ever "victorian christmas" card class last sunday at paper anthology in kenvil, nj. i had the nicest group of students you could possibly imagine, who made the whole experience SO MUCH FUN! i'll be teaching the same three cards again on wednesday, december 3rd and saturday, december 13th; i'd love for you to come!

admitting:
...quite sheepishly... that a typography junkie like myself had never heard of corita kent until i saw this morning's google doodle! (how was that even POSSIBLE?!)

watching:
...the delight with which my husband is preparing to cook TWO thanksgiving dinners, two days in a row. we'll be at his parents' house in maryland next thursday; then home again on friday, where we'll be joined by most of my family. i should mention that all of the above was his own idea, it's something he's done other years, and it's kind of like his own personal version of playing in the world series or running a marathon. except his sport is *COOKING*!  (mine is washing dishes, lol!)

finishing:
...holiday journal kits to list in my etsy shop. i LOVED working in one of these last year for december daily, and i had a blast making something similar for the lovely amy tsuruta, so i'm pretty excited to be able to share them! each one will feature a little collection of holiday ephemera, some music paper, and a hand-made ring-bound book with 25+ pages composed of a mix of vintage christmas illustrations, christmassy patterned papers, and write-able patterns (like stripes, notebook patterns, graph paper, etc) for journaling. at the moment i'm covering the chipboard covers with vintage sheet music; then they'll get with fun endpapers, and a remove-able decorated cover that's built on a sturdy piece of transparency. so folks who want to jump right in with a pre-made book, can use the cover provided; those wanting something more personal can re-purpose the transparency as a page, instead, and build their own collage on the front of the book! hoping to get these into the shop over the weekend.

wishing:
...everyone who reads this an absolutely lovely rest of the week, darlings! ♥♥♥

*amongst her many other talents, stephanie is world-beatingly good at finding and pointing out things she knows her friends and family will love. she also provides a more general service for the world at large with her awesome link love posts every thursday. obviously you should be reading her blog EVERY day, but if you want to know a great day to start, i'd go with thursday. hey wait a minute... TODAY'S THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (gee... what are the odds...? off you go!) :) :) :)