my brain is mush, but i’m delightfully happy

listening to a ridiculous (ridiculously cool!) combination of the legendary invisible men* and dead can dance today kept me alert and on my toes. or dazed enough to stay on my arse in front of my computer for a zillion and a half hours straight while writing boring code after a mere three hours of sleep and a mild hang over.  i wanted to art, but sometimes “the day job” must come first… and sometimes said day job means coding instead of arting or designing… and i don’t like that.

* paul buck is the king of the universe.

around precisely 12:08 this morning (or so my clock claimed it was), i received a delightful telephone call from my sweet debrina friend while on my way up to bed.  you just have to ring her — she is the cutest ever and has the sweetest accent and is so fun to talk to.  🙂  i wanted to smooch and hug her right through the phone for soooo many reasons.

earlier in the day i had received this package from her.  she had filled a miniature suitcase for me and i had filled a lunch box for her.  of course due to my own stupidity that i’ll only partially admit, my package from her arrived probably four days before she’ll get hers from me.  we chatted while i opened my fabulous box as was the plan (except, uh, she was supposed to be opening mine too BUT this just means i get to call her in a few day’s time and we can do it all over again in reverse).

this is what the package looked like after i went through each and every little individually wrapped present. look at how many beautiful bits and wondrous goodies there are! on the bottom left, is the wonderful wee book she made me!

of course i adored EVERYTHING in my suitcase, but just above are some of my favorites. i totally forgot to get the precious pin cushion she made me in the shot — it’s brilliant! the book is so sweet! i should have made a decorative book for her rather than a blank one. how rude of me! but all the more reason to start a new bundle for her (which of course i already have).

look how precious the wonderful little thing she sewed and put in the last page of the book! okay, that’s it! between miss debrina‘s brilliance and kc willis and her fabulous online workshops, i now need to start an “alicia needs a new sewing machine fund”. oh, i am serious, just you wait.

self interruption: at this point i appear to be a liar.  but i assure you i am not.  when i said “this morning” i really meant it.  now, i must say “yesterday morning” because i was hit with several bouts of ADD and it’s now tomorrow.

moving right along… i didn’t really like my beeswax collage the other day when i looked at the really dumb close-up photo.  it was fine from, say, twenty-three feet away but the i’m-so-close-i-can-see-your-pours view was a bit ‘not right’.  i don’t know if this is entirely better, but somewhat, and that’s good enough for me.  i think i give up on beeswax collage.

and some of the side-view-texture (ignore the shadows — i’m a crap photographer):

my friend jo archer has recently started her new blog,  the crow road and i love it!  almost every day (certainly more regularly than me) she posts fabulous art, videos, links, etc.  yesterday (for real this time) she posted an amazing video i’d never before seen or heard of  with a girl creating sand animation.  holy crap — just go watch it.  she’s one talented little thing indeed!  you’ll want to link to jo’s blog, i already know.  ❤ she also had a wonderful ken nordine video a few days back that i wish i could cram into the black and white zine.  here, i’ll repost it here so you can see, but i got the idea from jo who rocks more than i could ever dream of rocking.

back to sewing machines for a second — what should i get?  seriously.  i am so sewing ignorant.  i want to sew art and journal covers and skirts sometimes but i’m not terribly sure what i should get.  my machine rocks for a vintage singer!  but it’s older than me and only sews straight which is boring.  anyway, if you have any ideas let me know.  in the meantime, i’m starting that official “alicia needs a sewing machine fund” or whatever i called it.  i think i’ll just auction things off cheaply or something but i’ll get back to you on that.  😉

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happiness is…

i love days like today.  the rain interrupting my gardening due to its force, but the little disintegration piece i buried is surely being effected by the elements which thrills me.

yesterday, i received 3 ATCs from deryn mentock of something sublime for a swap she invited me to do a couple of weeks ago.  it was a lot of fun working on each of her cards and i utterly adore what she sent me (of course!):

and my very favorite of all three gorgeous ATCs:

hopefully she should be getting mine today, and hopefully she enjoys them at least half as much as i’m enjoying hers. i sent these to her:

and to top off the day with utter bliss and excitement, i get to meet my dear friends kerin and charley of remnants of olde for coffee (or lunch?) today. they are returning from teaching a workshop and passing through portland which is, quite luckily, where i live. yays! and with that i must go get ready as i’m running on less than two hours of sleep…