Liquid Paper

come a little closer

I've done a little bit of a blog re-design. Nothing major, just a new banner and some new sidebar links and images featuring a few of my teensies. So... if you're reading this in bloglines, you'll need to come over and see everything!

p.s. We have bees! Yes, a swarm of them is living right under my kitchen window and so far yesterday I counted six in the house. Guess who sounded all panic stricken and "they're swarming" on the phone to bee control yesterday? My husband was laughing at me because I told the woman on the phone that "there are hundreds of bees." In hindsight, perhaps tens would have been a more accurate term.

they're at it again

Orange is the color of the day. You really need to see these larger: here, here and here.

I'll be spending time with family this weekend as well heading over to the Japan Festival here in Houston. I'll try to take some pictures. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, see you Monday!

they don't let me play in their ninja games

For today's installment of "it must be the colors" I give you... King of the Hill: Ninja Style. Even if they did invite me to join in, I would never play any game with these guys. They're crazy competitive! In fact, they were so into their game that they didn't even notice I'd taken these pictures. It's probably the only reason my life was spared.

For larger versions of these (here they are cut off a little) go here, here and here.

wednesday greens

I'm a little late joining in, but here are some greens for it must be the colors.

Drop of water on a shrub in my front garden. | An Obra Desaparecida stamp from Brazil.

Green vacuum. Yes, I am slightly obsessed with these tags. I promise I won't post any more pictures of them - I don't have any that are tomorrow's color - so please come back!

finding the ugly

Our bathroom has been destroyed. We're in the middle of replacing a leaky shower, re-tiling the shower and bath, and removing old wallpaper. (By we I of course mean my contractor and her many helping hands.) I am doing my part though - today I'll be taking our old shower glass ouside and trying to scrub it down to a scum-free sparkle. Something it has not been for many, many years!

When I took these photos I thought, "Here are two of the worst corners in my home." Isn't it funny how looking at a thing close enough through a camera lens makes even the ugly beautiful?

around the house

I'm busy this week. The weather has been lovely. Lots of spring cleaning, home repairs and work going on here. I haven't had time to work on any crafty things this week so today I made myself take a break and walk around with my camera. These are just pictures of things that I like and that I see everyday. The last image is of my cat Hugo. He likes to sit under my desk and wait for the opportunity to hop up into my lap. It drives me crazy but looking at this picture makes me see how cute (and obvious) he is... just waiting to hop up.

introductions

Now that you're all familiar with how I feel about ribbon, I thought it was the appropriate time to show you what I prefer to use to wrap all of my gifts and packages. Meet the cotton twine - natural, not waxed. It is both delicate and strong, no? I have it in three colors: cream (shown here and most used), pale blue and tan. I bought all three rolls at a thrift store. I doubt I'll ever see the end of them - their size never seems to diminish no matter how much I use. It's a beautiful thing, yes?

You really ought to see it larger.

ribbons are for saving

I wish that I used more ribbon in my crafts. It bothers me when I think about it, like a small nagging voice inside my head. Ribbons are so pretty and they should be used and enjoyed. Why do I resist using them? I've held onto three rolls of my grandmother's velvet ribbon for over a decade and only ever used about fifteen inches. (Is it obsessive that I know that?) Do I conserve ribbon because it is too precious to use? That could be but other than my grandmother’s ribbon I wouldn’t consider any of them precious. I don’t dream about amassing a huge collection. In fact, this picture is almost my entire stash minus one or two large rolls that won’t fit on the bar. I got several of them about a month ago because they were on sale for 87 cents per roll. I surrendered to that small nagging voice that said I needed more ribbon.

Why I do save them? Why is it that I rarely bring scissors to ribbon unless I’m positive that whatever I’m doing wouldn’t be complete without that exact piece? I can’t help but admire their slightly pompous attitude as they sit up high on their display, daring me to find a use for them knowing all the while that it will be a very long time before that day comes.

My one consolation is that I don’t like to use ribbon for gift-wrapping. When I wrap a gift I almost always tie it with twine, string or yarn. I love the simple and natural look it gives to a package. Take that ribbon! (Seriously, have I stooped to taunting inanimate objects now?)

flavor

See it larger here.

punc-tu-ate

What is it that a picture is worth? I know, I know a thousand words. But I've been finding a lot of photos in the blogosphere recently that I like for their simplicity. So, instead of using a thousand words to tell you about them (and failing miserably because my words always do) I thought I'd start a little photography series called:

punc-tu-ate To interrupt periodically: “lectures punctuated by questions and discussions.”

This is my excuse to share photos that don't always have a story to accompany them. It could be a daily, weekly, monthly or just an "s often as I come across something-type series. No pressure. The goal is to take and find pictures that make me want to interrupt the current flow of my normal blog-versation.

Oh, and I also want to share links because I've accumulated so many favorite bloggers and flickr contacts (and hope to find more!) who take amazing photos that I love. Here are just a couple:

Cotton Strudel (How does she make every photo that she takes so lovely?)
her blog - her flickr photos

port 2 port (Is there anyone who does not know their work?)
the blog - mav's flickr photos