a rude girl

urban dictionary defines a rude girl as a dedicated ska fan, with a sense of history, style of the ska scene, also known as rudi, roody, rudy, etc. traditional of the "rude boy/girl" is clothing similar to that of the swing dancers of the 1940’s or that of the historic gangsters akin to al capone.

just to clarify the blogger name. i'm not impolite, just a fan. i guess i should also define ska.

ska: three different types: "traditional", "2-tone" and "3rd wave". traditional came about in the late 1950s as new dance music straight out of jamaica. 2-tone is named such because whites and blacks came together to form ska bands to spread unity in the 1970s. 3rd wave is when ska hit america in the late 1980s, and added a bit of punk flair.

you say it's your birthday

i admit, i have somewhat of a handbag fetish. luckily i've kept it in check. keeping the bags and the pricetags to a minimum. i was searching ebay for some craft supplies. looking mainly for paddle punches, to be used for my felt creations. after finding a few, i went off on a tanget and typed "tattoo" in the search engine. (i occasionally look up tattoo-inspired artwork, another fetish.) and i came across this handbag. *insert me drooling here!

i can't remember what the bidding was up to when i first came across it, but i do know that it sold for $400. definitely too rich for my blood. i had never heard of the designer, isabella fiore, so i started doing a little research. i thought it might be selling so high on ebay cause it was hard-to-find. that was the case, that and the fact that most of the bags retail between $600-$800. i actually like most of the bags i've seen in her collections, so i'll be on the lookout for a reasonably priced bag. i think i'll be looking for a long time. my birthday's tomorrow, if anyone's still looking for that perfect gift! ;)

in my research, i came across this site: bagborroworsteal. where you can rent a designer handbag for a week/month at a time. i remember seeing this on the big idea and thinking how ridiculous a concept it was. i guess if you're really trendy and have to be seen with all the latest, it's perfect for you. paying $100 to borrow a bag for a month, not gonna happen here.

yes, tomorrow is my birthday. yesterday aaron told me he actually has something planned. drum roll....and this is what it is! all i can say...i have an awesome husband!

feedburned search of the day: "how do you like my balls in your face?"
and this is what they found. i should probably be a little more careful with the titles of my blogs. ha, ha.

feedburned

i added feedburner to my site a few days ago, mainly to give people the option of subscribing to my blog. i like having all the blogs i read on my front page, that way i don't have to click through to know if they've been updated. luckily, gmail lets me grab feeds without subscribing, but i wanted to have another option for those who don't use the program.

as an added bonus, feedburner also keeps track of the traffic that comes to your site. where visitors are from, how they got there, what they looked at and what they clicked on. i even know the operating system they used and the screen resolution of their computer. it's my mini form of "big brother." i'll share a few of my stats.

stats for yesterday:
wednesday, march 26: 15 visitors (73.3% new), 26.7% direct, 33.3% searches, 40.0% other sites, average time spent 2:15 on site
visits from: severn, mountain view, pleasant grove, ferndale, london, san francisco, jakarta, auckland, saint louis
what they searched for to reach my site: "site:rudegirl.blogspot.com," "westphal family blog," "nautical star tattoos," "sweet wiis"

it's always interesting to see how someone reaches your site.

bottlecap craft

it's been awhile since i actually posted a craft project. and since i need to get back in the swing of things i'd thought i'd start here. i found this tutorial online a few weeks ago and went to town collecting and making bottlecap pincushions. the caps are the ones you'd find on a 16 oz. plastic bottle of soda. yet another recycling craft.

easy, fun, and a small help to the environment.

most valuable pet

a few weeks ago i entered marley in the bissell most valuable pet contest. i kept seeing the commercial on tv and thought she'd be a perfect mascot. i guess thousands of other pet owners thought the same thing. well, i just got a email letting me know it's time to vote. here's the photo i cropped as her entry. vote for miss marley today!

facespace

i've been avoiding facebook, mainly because i don't see the need for another social networking program. i'm pretty happy with myspace as my social hub and occasionally i'll check my facebook account to get an update on friends who don't myspace. yes, i have one along with a hundred other miscellaneous accounts out there. i also found that facebook is not-so-user-friendly. at least for me. i really don't like all the "bling, bling" facebook has. giving people gifts, the wall, the super wall, comparing everything. it just seems more annoying to me than anything. but alas. i'm starting to convert. i've got a stack of friends only on facebook and ones that are only on myspace. so i find myself spending equal amounts of time at both. why can't we all just use one...and we'll call it facespace. i found this pic on facebook. too funny.

long week short post

i've been meaning to post about the rest of our disney weekend but with company in town i just haven't had the time. now i'm playing catch-up. i think i'll just summarize the rest of the trip with photos. disney photos.

we both had a lot of fun. it was a bit chilly the first few days we were there. i wore my app. state sweatshirt pretty much the whole time. we found that hitting the parks early and using the fast pass system we didn't have too long a wait for most rides. i think the longest we waited was for splash mountain only because we had a fast pass for space mountain and we really wanted to get in as many rides as possible so we stood 45 minutes in line. it's funny cause i thought disney had more rides than they actually did, at least adult rides. maybe cause everything is spread out over four parks with three or four major rides at each park it seemed sparse. my favorite was the new aerosmith rocknroller coaster and aaron's was the tower of terror both at disney's hollywood studios. we'll have to go back again, we weren't able to spend much time at animal kingdom. with spring training games in the middle of each day we had to plan accordingly and we only had a morning to spend there. our main objective was to ride the new everest coaster, but when we got there it seemed like it was everyone elses plan too.

spring training was a great experience. cardinals weren't looking too hot though. they played the atlanta braves and lost both games. they've practically got a whole new team. i found myself asking, "who's that and where's he from?" a lot during both games. unfortunately with our new location the only time we can see the redbirds play is if it's against cincinnati. aaron was contemplating getting a satellite dish just to watch games this season. i think he might just wait til the team is in better shape all-around.

the day after we got back from disney, nate and katie arrived from illinois. it was their first trip to the high country and i have a feeling it won't be their last! we got some fly-fishing in. katie actually caught a rainbow trout in the first 20 minutes we were out there. aaron, danny and i have been fishing a countless number of times and none of us has ever reeled in a thing. so kudos to katie for her catch. to sum up the rest of the weekend...wii, shopping, hiking, drinking and tapas! we all had a blast. matt, kristin, max and grandma westphal are heading up here saturday. we've got a little bed and breakfast going on here now!

yesterday we took bosco in to get a little snip-snip. yes, i decided in order to curb his pee problem we had to be a little aggressive. i quickly regretted the decision when we had to drop him off, but he's home now and doing great. i decided to post a pic of the two of us from a few months ago. hopefully our problem is solved.

blogging molly

we actually had a direct flight from charlotte to orlando. i don't remember the last time we didn't have to transfer planes to go anywhere. that put us in florida at 2 p.m. friday. we checked in at our hotel. a doubletree suites close to downtown disney. hung out there for a little while then decided to walk the 20 minutes to downtown disney.

aaron had looked up shows before we left and saw that flogging molly was playing at the house of blues. what a great way to start our weekend we both thought. luckily he bought tickets online because when we headed over there we saw it was sold out on the marquee. we both were surprised at how popular they had become. danny had mentioned they would be signing autographs at the virgin megastore across the way from the show so we stopped by there to check it out. there were two members still there when we arrived. just chatting with fans. we had planned on getting one of their new cds signed for dan but we thought it was a little cheesy to walk up to one in the middle of his conversation and hold out a cd for him to sign. plus we had no clue who the band members were. we know who the singer is and that's about it. and he certainly wasn't one of the two standing there. we decided to just head over to the show and get a bite to eat before it started.

unfortunately, aaron had a bit of a stomach bug and really wasn't feeling the flow of food or show. it's really unusual for him to get sick, especially while on vacation. he stuck it out and ended up having a good time. i had decided not to bring a purse, so i had had my i.d. and camera in my back pocket. little did i know, there was a restriction on cameras at the venue. i tied my sweatshirt around my waist to disguise the fact that i had it. metal detector found it and i ended up having to pay $2 to check my camera at the door. otherwise i would have had to go all the way back to the hotel to drop it off.

once inside the first band was already playing. "i think the flute player is japanese." aaron said. "i think the whole band is asian!" i said. it was the cherry cokes. it was very weird seeing japanese people playing irish music. they rocked it though. next was the reverand peyton's big damn band. they were okay. they sounded like primus but with a washboard. finally flogging molly took the stage and they absolutely brought the house down. it was so great seeing a show with so much energy. both of us were bouncing around, chanting and singing along. it was an awesome show to start the weekend with. since i got my camera confiscated i had to use aaron's cell phone to take pics. being it was a dark club, none of the photos came out but this one. yes, i have this strange desire to take photos while urinating. it's my thang. i might have to continue my toilet obsession gallery.

back from madness

we're back from our disney/spring training/flogging molly jam-packed weekend. i thought i'd be blogging nightly after we returned home from the day/evening activities. unfortunately, we didn't have internet access in our hotel room, or at least free internet. plus i was completely drained to even "blog now post later." hopefully i can update tomorrow before nate and katie arrive. yeah, we're both excited about their arrival. even more photos to come.

another interpretation

i got a sweet tin in my last swap. it's always interesting to see how different people interpret the same theme. i'm slowly acquiring a little "day of the dead" collection to add to my craft room decor. i love the detail in this one. i'm always amazed at the different things you can do with polymer clay. always learning and feeding the mind's eye.

i also loved all the content she included. i'll have to figure out a way to incorporate all the cute little charms into a unique and different necklace. some nice eye candy. i'm still searching the net for some inspiration. i don't want to start a new hobby, but it's always nice to look.

i'm in a bit of a funk lately. hopefully our trip to florida this weekend will get me back in the groove. aaron is completely pumped. disney and cardinals baseball = his dream vacation. we got our spring training package in the mail a few weeks ago. they only promised tees, but they delivered so much more. it had cardinal t-shirts, hats, baseballs, messenger bags, pins...and so much more. i was quite surprised that they sent so much. i need to get a pic of aaron sporting all the gear. maybe i'll do that tomorrow.

through the wire

"I broke my jaw in two places last night but I don't need any wiring or anything. Just thought you would want to know."

the message i got a few weeks ago from dan. "you better call your dad," i told aaron. "danny broke his jaw last night."

"what?"

after finding out details: running and sliding on ice, falling, hitting his chin on a friend's knee, we're told he's doing good and will be on a liquid diet for the next week. mark took him to a radiologist the following day and that's how they found out it was fractured in two places.

after dan went back to u of i, mark asked an oral surgeon friend if anything else needed to be done. long story short, he recommended dan see a specialist to make sure everything was healing properly. mark drove up to champaign and took dan to see an oral surgeon. it was decided that full metal gear was needed to stabilize his jaw. to ensure no movement would cause it to fracture more. considering how it got fractured in the first place, it was definitely a good idea. now poor dan can't talk or eat anything unless it's in pureed form.

i've never seen what a jaw wiring looks like so i asked him to send me a photo. behold.

looks like braces for your gums. they compromised and he's getting the vertical wires taken out next week, so he'll be able to talk again. don't know if that's a good thing! :) a few weeks later he'll get the rest taken out. now he's a walking advertisement why you shouldn't run and slide on ice, kiddies!

big hair, class of 1993

this evening dana bombarded my cell with old photos from high school. all of them were new to me. and most of them should have been burned instead of shared. i don't think my hair could have gotten any bigger. embarrassed? no. funny? hell yeah! now it's my turn. we're supposed to get snow tonight and tomorrow. know what i'll be doing. high school friends beware.

bacon on the brain

a couple of weeks ago, jen had her appendix removed. as a 'get well gift' i sent her a few slices of bacon. yes, bacon. if you've checked out loopy rocket you'll know she has an undying love for the pork product. all i can say is that i made her a very happy gal. you're so welcome, jen!!

walls of pain

i started wallpapering yesterday. what was i thinking? it's a lot harder than i anticipated. i thought by starting somewhat small, the master bathroom, i'd be able to get my feet wet and be hanging like a pro in no time. apparently our bathroom is the definition of "wallpapering around the tricky spots," (a brochure i picked up before starting). and our bathroom is a lot bigger then the lady at lowes thought. i had measured before i went in to order the paper. i then forgot to bring in said measurements. but i thought i could wing it and told the lady what i was papering. "two should be enough," she told me. and when i picked up the order i thought the same thing. "what am i going to do with all this extra paper?" ding. once i started, i knew i was gonna be in trouble. i'll have to go back this afternoon and order at least two more rolls. i'll be posting before and after pics once i finish with the two rolls i have. it may be a few more weeks before it's completely done. i do have to say, i am getting better with each strip and it does look good. i should have started with a room that didn't have so many in-corners, out-corners, fixtures, tight spots, etc. another lesson learned.

on another note. i rarely encounter a rude person in boone. at least not one of a local persuasion. when i went to pick up the wallpaper, the interior electronic doors at lowes wouldn't open. they were open just a crack. i stood there waving my arms, stepping here and there in front of the sensor. nothing. i walked over to the service department and told the girl they wouldn't open. "it's the wind."

okay. so i walked back to the doors and tried to get the doors to open again. she walked over, pulled the doors open and again said "it's the wind." and turned and walked off. i don't know why this bothered me so much. perhaps it was the "it's the wind, moron." look she had on her face. that i was supposed to know it was okay pry open the doors myself. AND that there was no freaking wind blowing.

it's the first time i've ever had the desire to report someone. man, i'm getting old!

it runs in the family

my uncle dick won the 'world wide trails top outdoor photograph of 2007' contest. the local paper wrote an article about him in sunday's paper. the photo and the article were on the front page of the outdoor Xplore section. way to go, uncle dick! being artistically inclined does run in the family.

his name is john, my dad's name is john, and my grandpa's name was john. so we called him: dick, my dad: joe, and my grandpa: jack. just thought i'd clarify. it made sense at the time! ;)

lady and wood

on our way to san antonio, i passed the time working on a few projects from the "doodle stitching" book i got a few weeks ago. here is my first project done in completion. too cute. i've been on a ladybug/wood grain kick lately. right now i'm working on another altoid tin. next week i'll start brian and irina's throw pillows along with setting up shop. goal for the month of february is to get something up and going. i'm about 75% there.

we decided not to do anything for valentines day. at least that's what we told each other. no gifts, no nothing. aaron came home with a big bouquet of flowers and i had made some valentine brownies. originally i made a batch of sugar cookies that turned out horribly wrong. i followed the recipe for cookie-cutter cookies, but something went awry. they were heart-shaped and they weren't burnt but they were rock hard. so into the trash they went.

when desert time came around, i used the heart cookie cutter to cut out a brownie, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream, added a few raspberries, powdered sugar and chocolate syrup. it looked divine. i almost ran upstairs to take a pic of my creation. aaron was impressed. all in all, we had a good day!

memory lane

with the arrival of adobe creative suite, i have deemed it necessary to clear off hard drive space. i will be moving all 3000 photos to disk. before doing so, i'm gonna post a few photos that are blogworthy. most are from our time in springfield. only 3000? remember this time last year, we had a major malfunction with the macbook. i lost the equivalent plus some. now on to the photos.

who do you love?

when we first started dating i told aaron if he ever wanted to get married he'd have to get a tattoo. a small sacrifice to prove his love. actually i told him it had to be large, no dinky taz or tweety for my man. maybe my name across his chest or a dragon across his back. of course he told me tattoos weren't his thing. i'd keep chipping away til he changed his mind. eight years later, they still weren't his thing. i knew he wouldn't budge on the subject, so i ended up compromising in the end. happily married, me inked and him naked of art.

i came across the perfect alternative on etsy today. uncorked sells the cutest symbols of love. i considered buying a set for us, especially with valentines day approaching. i'm almost positive he'd be happy to receive it and i'm equally sure he wouldn't wear it. but i thought i'd share these original gifts in case anyone else is still looking.

he doth protest

When we went out of town this past weekend we had a girl, gracie, watch the dogs. She offered to stay at the house a few nights too, which I was really happy about. I had talked to aaron about boarding them, just because both dogs have been having "accidents" when we were away. But since gracie was going to stay the night, I'd decided against.

I did expect there to be pee in a few places when we returned, and there was. Bosco seems to really regress when we leave even with someone around. I've found a few times where, if we let marley sleep in the bed, he gets out, trots downstairs and pees to express his protest. Anyways, we cleaned up the messes and for some reason I thought there might be more than what the eye was seeing.

I asked aaron if he could bring home the uv light they use to spot skin cancers so I could double-check. Yep, big mistake. He brought the light home, I waited til dark and then set out looking for urine. Turned on the light in the front room and to my surprise the floor lit up like a crime scene. The little turd, i mean urinator, had been using the front room as his personal toilet! Pretty much had lifted his leg to every piece of furniture in there.

We hardly use the room, and the carpet is green so I never noticed anything before. I promptly went out and got a steam cleaner and a blacklight of my own. (Funny how we're using a blacklight to light up pee rather than posters.) I cleaned the mess, deodorized and vacuumed. Luckily, our carpet is stain-resistant so it all came up easily. I made sure there wasn't any other "accidents" in the house. Found a few upstairs, mainly where my brother stayed with his little dog. Cleaned those and now hopefully with everything gone it'll deter him from doing it anymore.

Now I've added to my ocd obsession. I'll be prowling the house nightly with blacklight in hand looking for messes! Not only does the blacklight pick up urine, it also picks up dust and dirt among other things which the naked eye doesn't detect. Fun for me!

meet me in san antonio

awes and i returned from our long weekend in san anton yesterday. let's just say we had an absolutely fabulous time. it was so great seeing everyone from the patch. i didn't realize how much i missed everyone. it was like old times, back with a vengeance. i'll be posting a link soon to all the fun that was had by all.

dropkicking

i did finish my t-shirt reconstruction monday. i actually had it done sunday but wasn't too happy with it so i went back and revamped it.

originally i used just the dropkick shirt with some plaid fabric i had in my stash. i know, irish and plaid is a no-no but i liked the combo so i went with it. i modified a dress pattern i also had. thought it would be best to use a pattern since i have no child to make sure everything fits correctly. what you see to the left is the original dress. it just looked too unfinished to me.

i ripped the top portion off and took one of my tops that was too small and went to work. i should have taken before photos of each. the top originally had four buttons on it. i cut it down, added the black binding around the collar and finally added the sleeves. i have a feeling the sleeves are gonna be too tight on a real child. but i'm satisfied with my first attempt at t-shirt surgery. at least it looks wearable.

when i first brought it down aaron thought it was for me. i may be little but definitely not that little. i can understand why he thought that. i've been wearing a lot of babydoll looking tops and i'm sure if the arm holes were bigger i could probably sport it. next t-shirt to go under the knife: a misfits long sleeve. it'll have to wait til we get back from san antonio.

i've been meaning to post this and just now got around to taking some photos. a few weeks ago i received a surprise package from angela. she did another altoid tin for me.

this one is holiday themed and it has a mini album inside. i haven't gotten around to putting pictures in it yet. luckily i have a ton of photos to choose from this year. it's adorable and i'm super impressed with her scrapbooking skills. thanks again, angela!! maybe we need to move on to bigger things to swap/trade?!?

we leave for san antonio tomorrow. not sure what type of internet access i'll have so there might a slight lag in posts. i'm super excited to see everybody from the patch, especially jamie and adrian. i miss my mom group, okay, one mom, one dad and me! i also get to see jennaya tomorrow! we're flying out of greensboro, so we're gonna stop by and see her and the fam. double yay! yeah, i'm giddy with excitement!

video documentation

my manly man

i suggested to "sometimes aaron" he should post a blog about his christmas hike last month. "a what?" "a why?" "a who?" <--this may be slightly exaggerated. in other words, "i won't be posting anything anytime soon." just like his refusal to get a myspace page, "the day adam earl get's a myspace, then maybe, i'll consider getting one." so no myspace. he hates technology, always and forever. which means i'll be posting on his behalf.

the back story: aaron's friend, tom, goes on a hike every christmas holiday with a bunch of buddies to the outskirts of washington state. they've been doing this every year for the past 15 years. from what i've been told they get rowdy, drink, smoke, wrestle, not shower, etc. basically they're men behaving badly in the wilderness. i'm not sure if females can go, i'm not sure they'd want to.

anyways, if you've ever been to the langei's abode you've seen group photos from every year hanging on their wall. well this year, tom invited aaron along. of course, aaron jumped at the opportunity. yesterday we got a disc from tom with all the photos from the trip. i may have to twist aaron's arm and have him write a more detailed description of the trip. i'll post some photos in the mean time. and after seeing them, i really want to go. not necessarily on this particular trip. but something similar.

very beautiful and untouched nature. i'm sure the photos don't do it much justice.

givin a hoot

my partner received today so i can post all the "owlie" goodness i made. i tend to go on a rampage when i have a specific goal in mind. what i made: a reversible tote with a wood grain pocket. i'm pretty proud that i managed to do it on my machine. matching owl stuffie to hang out in said pocket. an owl pin. also matches the fabric i used on the tote. a hand-painted tee. found a nearly new tee at goodwill and went to town. i planned on doing a more elaborate design but decided simple was better. i used a stencil i found here. a hand-painted i.d. wallet/coin purse. another thrift store find revamped. first time i've painted leather or pseudo leather. hopefully it lasts. i sprayed some clearcoat on it, but i'm not sure if that's gonna help. i'll have to research that one a bit more.

a fabric-covered journal. i had a real hard time parting with this one. i was soooooooo happy with how it turned out. i'm not a big writer, at least not with paper and pen, but i almost changed my mind when i completed this one. i attempted a scrabble tile pendant but learned i needed to decoupage/seal the top of the image before i pour resin over it. the resin leaked under the white making it look almost transparent. so instead i used it as a button on the journal. it's not a functioning button but it does give it that extra kick. i'm gonna have to wait til it gets warmer to work with resin again. it's more of an outdoor activity. it definitely needs plenty of ventilation. someone's gonna get the other projects i made when i worked on this one, but i'm not naming names.

a polymer owl pendant. still working with the stuff. this is one of the first non-food subjects i've made. not sure if i'm ready to branch out yet. it's just another thing to add to my never-ending list of projects to do. and finally the last items: stamped polymer clay thumbtacks. it's the first time i've tried stamping in clay. i used an owl button i have and made impressions in the clay. pretty easy. the only thing i didn't like: i used a circular cutter to punch them out and they lost their shape when i pushed them through. i had to mold them back into little circles. i might have to cool them in the fridge before trying to push them out of the cutter. another learning experience.

all in all, i was quite satisfied with everything i made. and my partner was happy with everything and that's all that really matters. to see more photos check out my flickr set. and all of these photos were taken before my lighting setup. so they have the yellow tinge to them.

i did finish my t-shirt dress. but i'll save that for tomorrow.

something funny this day happened

before i forget. aaron and i headed to lowes to get a few home improvement items this afternoon. when we were getting out of our car there was a dog barking uncontrollably in the car behind us. i looked over to see what's got him all worked up. there's a truck beside him with a dog and a goat in the cab. yes, a freaking goat. i had to do a double take. at first i thought it was a deer but then it looked straight at me and i knew exactly what it was. only in the south would that be a normal occurrence. maybe not.

well lit

today i made my own little indoor light studio. i was having some difficulty/frustration figuring out why my photos had a yellow tint. especially when my subject was being blasted with light from all directions.

i'm a novice when it comes to macro photography. i assumed if i had a white background with lots of light it'd be enough. (that's what you see behind my makeshift lightbox) i took my first photos and the result is what you see to the left. the yellow is so bad that i can't enhance or mess with the levels to correct it. i started thinking maybe i can't have direct light on the subject that i needed to diffuse it somehow. i googled how to create a lightbox and found a great tutorial. made a tiny box just to see if it was the problem. nope. still yellow photos. i decided to hit up a photography forum to figure out what i was doing wrong. posted my dilemma and a few minutes later i had my answer. needed to adjust the white balance on my camera.

i was afraid i'd be reamed for asking such a basic question. but they were extremely helpful and told me how and where to find the and adjust my settings. the results were immediate. at least i can now adjust the levels to correct the background without ruining the photo. luckily i'll be getting adobe creative suite in a few weeks so i'll have photoshop at my disposal again. i've been going through software withdrawal.

shop construction--lighting setup: check!!

now on to the next step.

x2

here's the second wrist cuff i made. it's pretty much covered from top to bottom with stitching. i just finished sewing a back to it to hide all the handywork. i gotta figure out how i want this one to close. i cut a slit in the back but it's not working as nicely as i'd like it to. now off to figure it out.

wrist art

here's the first wrist band i finished earlier in the week. mixed up all the new stitches i learned. added some buttons and presto! i did another, more complicated one but i'll have to add it tomorrow. want to get a good photo in the sunlight.

here it is laying flat. i'm a little disappointed with the picture quality lately of the camera. i usually take photos outside but with the weather being what it is, i've had to resort to indoor photo sessions and the lighting doesn't do anything justice. meaning, it looks way better in person. it probably doesn't help that we've been taking the camera on all our snow excursions. and it's been dropped a few times. i'll have to look into better techniques or invest in a stay-at-home camera.

this week i concentrated on working on a swap where the sendout is monday. yes, i bit the bullet and signed up for one again. it's an owl swap. i finished and mailed everything today. hopefully my partner receives soon so i can post all the "owlie" goodness i made. look for photos early next week.