Crafty Crafterson Is At It Again

I made this distressed beach-themed frame for my pal Marsha.  The undercoat is light blue.  I should've taken a picture of it with the photo I inserted.....

but it was this one.

Then I made one for Liz.  The undercoat of this one is dark green.  This frame project kept me busy during Hurricane Sandy.  I sure hope she doesn't read this before it arrives in the mail, which hopefully is today!  lol

I found this amazing crystal candlestick at a yardsale for $1.  What's a girl to do but ADD GLITTER!!!!!

I came across a really easy project on one of my Pinboards, on how to make crackled marbles.  So I dipped into my stash of modern/machine made marbles and baked some at 350* for 10 minutes.

Then immersed them in ice water.  They cracked but not dramatically, so I dried them off and popped them back into the over for another 10 or 15 minutes, then back into the ice water.  By the way, if you try this be really careful because the marbles could shatter when they hit the water.

.  

 As you can see, they did crack.....

But not as dramatically as these crackle marbles that are part of my stash.  I think maybe they need to stay in the oven longer than 20 minutes.  

I prepped this one like 2 weeks before Halloween.  You cut funny eye shapes into used paper towel rolls, then use glow sticks inside them and put them in a bush.

I do like they way they look, but unfortunately, there's a street lamp almost across the street from my house that bathes my front yard in orange light, so the lit eyes aren't terribly effective.  I'm sure they'd look OK in my back yard where it's very dark.

Right after I went in the house after leaving them in the bush, we had a very brief but violent thunderstorm, brought on by Hurricane Sandy the day before, which moved through with torrential rain and a microburst of 90 mph wind that hit neighbouring Wareham.  HERE is the news story about it.  Needless to say the glowsticks were knocked out of the bush and the cardboard rolls disintegrated in the rain.

"52 Reasons Why I Love You".  Believe me I can come up with way more, but this project calls for a deck of cards so 52 it is.  Not sure when I'll give it to him; maybe Christmas, maybe in a lunch bag when he leaves.  I sanded each of the cards to make them look a little more used and tried to shuffle them a bunch too.  It took about 3 hours to prep the deck, type and cut out all the reasons.  Then I mod podged them to the suit-side of the deck.  Some of the projects showed the reasons on the back side of the cards but I opted for suit side.

Russell's niece suggested I make something with beach glass, so I did this using the craft 'beach' glass and some that I bought at a yard sale.  I would NEVER use my own stash, even if I were to keep the project for myself.  This took about 4 days to complete and to be honest, was a royal pain in the ass.  Marsha asked if she could buy it and I was more than happy to let it go.  I've told my friends if I ever get the hankering to do this again, to please smack me upside the head.

And a sample of more glitter ornaments that I made to sell at the craft show.

Please Make It Stop....I'm Beggin' Ya.....

No this isn't going to be another weather rant, or about the annoying holiday ads on TV, or the really sad abused animal posts that I'm sick of seeing on my Facebook newsfeed.  It's about CAPTCHA, that little box that pops up on blogs and other websites and makes you type in a hard-to-read sequence of letters and blurry numbers.  The purpose of this is to prove you are a human and not a robotic spammer.  It sucks.  There I said it.  Sucks out loud.  As you've noticed, I have limited my life-ranting ever since moving here.  I really don't have much to rant about anymore anyway, but this issue is like a burr under my hide and it's annoying me more with each passing day. 

I don't want bloggers who use it to get mad at me or think I'm telling them how to run their blogs.  But please hear me out on this topic.  I do understand the need for it on certain fan, political and business blogs and sites.  Ones that get more traffic and, therefore, subject to more robotic spam than a craft or photography-themed blog.  Blogging A-Z Challenge also posted about this topic HERE on September 27th.  The key here is robotic spam.  99.9% of your readers are, indeed, human and having to prove it with this ridiculous feature is, well, ridiculous.  If you are a political blogger and post controversial topics, or you have a high profile fan site for a celebrity, you are going to be subject to human spam and vitriolic and/or wacky comments by humans who don't care about filling out a CAPTCHA just so they can leave their two cents.  Having the CAPTCHA turned on makes zero difference, so you might as well turn it off because it's pissing off the majority of your readers.   

I have been aware of CAPTCHA for a long time.  And in the beginning, like 2005 or so, it seemed like a good way to protect your blog from weirdos and spammers, and as time went on the technology got better in terms of building in robotic-spam blockers to stop it before it starts.  In the over 6 years since my blog has been open, I have been subject to very little spam or nasty comments either by humans or robots.  Every now and then someone posts a link to something, but it's certainly not enough to force my friends into typing a CAPTCHA.  I see it, I delete it.  No big deal.  It's not like I get hundreds of comments like The Bloggess and Wil Wheaton do.  As a blog reader, I want to comment and move to the next blog.  Sometimes if I remember there's a CAPTCHA and my time is limited, I won't leave a comment.  Then I feel guilty because I know the time and effort it takes to put out a quality blog and I should at least acknowledge that I stopped by.  But when it takes a person twice as long to type in a nonsensical word than it does their comment, blog owners are going to see less traffic/comments on their sites.  Believe me I would much rather see that my comment 'is in moderation and waiting blog owner approval' than the dreaded CAPTCHA box.  The only reasons I suffer through it is that I have become quite fond of many of the blogs that I read & their owners, and I look forward to each new post, and also because I have way more time to waste online than when I was working.  If and when I do go back to work, I will be unable to visit like I do now and if CAPTCHA is turned on, it's even less likely I will comment.  

When I did Blogging A-Z in April, they emphasized over and over to turn the damn thing off or else the Challenge would come to a screeching halt around the letter H as bloggers opted not to leave comments on, or decide not to follow, a CAPTCHA blog.  Throughout the challenge, the Blogging A-Z hosts asked us how it was going, what were the positives and negatives, and the #1 negative was CAPTCHA.  They again stressed to turn it off.  The people that used this feature refused, even when some readers came right out and commented nicely that it'd be great/appreciated if CAPTCHA could be turned off.  

It's really easy to turn this feature off, turn on comment moderation and even limit who can comment.  This way you can weed it out without forcing people into the word verification.  Maybe some of you don't even know you have it on.

When you are in your list of posts, look on the left side and click on Settings which has a picture of a wrench.  In the drop down of that, click on Posts and Comments.  Now you can select to turn on Comment Moderation if you want to nip spam in the bud.  Where it says Show word verification, if that box next to it says 'yes', click on it and pick 'no'.  When you are done, go to the top right and click the orange 'Save Settings' box.

Please...I'm beggin' ya.....stop the madness......please turn of the word verification once and for all!

Linky to a December Holiday Giveaway!!!!

I was recently directed to the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe blog, by way of Wendy at The Crafter's Apprentice, for the Victorian Motto Sampler giveaway!  I can't resist entering giveaways so of course I had to enter it!!  

In other quick news, tomorrow I'll be doing the Sandwich Legion Post 188 Holiday Craft Show.  I have been having panic attacks off and on about this for weeks.  I had one so bad, on Halloween in fact, that I nearly called the organizers and withdrew.  All I kept thinking was that I wasn't going to make any sales, people would say my stuff was crap,  I'd go home in humiliation and be embarrassed in front of friends and family.  As George McFly said, "I just don't think I could handle that kind of rejection".   But then that afternoon a friend commented on my Facebook that she was looking forward to seeing my 'beautiful wares' at the show, so I was glad that I didn't follow through on quitting.  

Been packing up all my stuff....

....and crafting like a maniac, in preparation.

Wish me luck!!!  

Resurrection Blogfest

From December 18, 2006, following a devastating wind storm that brought Western Washington to it's knees on 12/14/06, with widespread and prolonged power outtages and terrible damage.  My power was out for nearly 6 days, during the darkest and coldest time of the year.  It very nearly ruined the holidays.  Crews were brought in from all over the USA to try and restore power & phone service.  The rural and mountain communities didn't get power back till Christmas Eve.  It was so bad that this storm even has it's own Wikipedia entry HERE.  It was dubbed The Hannukah Eve Storm of 2006.  The emergency response came under massive fire and criticism.  It should be noted that after sinking nearly $10,000 into a state of the art generator & gas stove after this storm, we never lost power again.  This post was done when I was at work since I  had no power at home until the 20th.  I was unable to post the photos taken the day after the storm for several days.  

Without further adieu, I give you:  

BUT HEY, I'M OK

POST-STORM REPORT CARD:

State of Washington: F

Puget Sound Energy: F

City of Bonney Lake: F

Qwest Telephone: A

Comcast Cable: A

It was one hell of a storm we had on Thursday night. It poured rain in buckets all day long, and my boss sent me home at 2 to prepare for the storm. I was so relieved when Brian made it home. The wind didn't start kicking up till about 6:30 and it was pretty bad. Our power flickered for a few hours. We finally went to bed at about 9:30, and when Pepper woke me up at 10, shivering and crying, the power was out. Poor little doggie was so frightened. I got up and gave her half a doggie tranquilizer and let her get up on my bed, but she wouldn't stop shaking. Brian finally got up and gave her the other half and let her up on his bed.

We woke up to massive devastation on Friday morning. Fortunately, no trees fell on our house, but we had a lot of huge and heavy branches in the yard. We also discovered that Sagan was so frightened that he'd vomited in his crate all night long, so Brian had to clean that up. Friday we went for a walk w/ the dogs and checked out the damage. Lots of trees on power lines, snapped poles, one guy had a tree fall on and cut in half his brand new 5th wheel. We also saw a few damaged homes. All things considered, we were in good spirits on Friday, and Friday night we figured our power would be on by Saturday night. Meanwhile, we withheld food from Sagan on Friday but he did drink water, which he proceeded to projectile vomit all over the family room rug that night.

Saturday arrives and our kitchen freezer is clearly melting, fast. There's a huge puddle of water on the kitchen floor. We threw out all the food in the freezer, and put some of the fridge stuff outside since it's cold enough to keep. We were able to get the cars out of the garage by propping the door open. We were starved so we went out for breakfast, came home, and did storm clean up just like the rest of our neighbors. The thing that REALLY annoyed us was that as soon as you turn off our street, everyone else has power. But you should see the piles of debris alongside the roads!!! I swear, just let the City of Bonney Lake tell us to remove the debris and they will suffer my wrath. Meantime, we let the doggies out in the backyard to play and get some air while we cleaned up out front. Saturday night arrives, and we are still in the dark. I notice that Sagan is acting really weird. He can't seem to stand up or walk right, he keeps staggering into the walls, tipping over and he has this goofy grin on his face. Brian gave him a quick exam and there were no yelps of pain. Then we smelled it.....sour apples. Sagan got into the rotting apples in the back yard and was drunk. I half expected to wake up the next day and see that he had a tattoo on his leg that said "mom" or "rosie" or something. lol We spent Sat. night in the dark, again.

Sunday we get up and there's STILL no power. By this time I am pretty much apoplectic. I was able to get the car out and go to the bank, but the gas station was out of gas, and they had jacked the price dramatically. I called PSE and was assured that they were "working on it". I called them again at 3:00 and I shit you not, the message they had on their first menu, after listing all the towns (in King County of course) that may not see power for another week, was "for emergency shelter information, go to our website." HELLO!!!!!! How can you check a website WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY POWER? Morons. I finally talked to someone and basically bitched at him.

Before I explain further, those people who do not live here or have ever lived here need to understand the dynamics in Washington State. King County thinks that they are god & Seattle is the center of the universe. They think they are the only county in the state. They look down on Pierce County as if we are a bunch of redneck country bumpkins. A few years ago I was on my way home from work and there were 2 accidents on Highway 410, and a brush fire at the top of the highway, and not one single Seattle-based traffic report mentioned it. Not one. All facilities are restored to King County FIRST and foremost. (Unlike the east coast, where people are more town-centric, west coast people identify themselves by county. It's the same in California). Meanwhile, as you travel around town, you can see plenty of Qwest and Comcast trucks working on their lines, but not a PSE truck or City of Bonney Lake truck to be seen anywhere.

At 6:30, I called PSE again. I wade through their stupid menus and finally get a person. I am stark raving mad now. And you know what she tells me???? She has the unmitigated AUDACITY to tell me, "I know, we have people in Medina who are still out of power too." That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. "MEDINA?!" I scream into the phone. "WHO CARES ABOUT THE GODDAMN BILLIONAIRES IN MEDINA!" (Bill Gates lives in Medina!!) The only reason the fucking lights are off in Medina is that the richest of the rich flew their private jets to Vail or Aspen for the holidays!!!! If she had said any other town - Spanaway, Graham, Yelm....places that are remote and poor, I would have been more understanding, but don't expect me to feel sorry for the mucky mucks in Medina for chrissakes. So then she explains the 4 stages of repair: "First we assess the situation. Then we assign a job number to the repair and wait till that number comes up, for the repair stage, but if the crew has to wait for another piece of equipment to arrive like the tree cutting crew, they will leave and go to another location to keep working. Then we next make sure that the mainlines are working & power is restored." She goes on to tell me that they are flying in crews from other states to help.

I said, "OK, the trees are on the lines, there's a pole snapped in half and dangling over the road, SITUATION ASSESSED! NOW GET THE DAMN TRUCKS OUT THERE!" She was actually really nice and took my abuse pretty well......and I did try to tone it down a little b/c a part of me felt sorry for her b/c I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was that upset. In fact, she said they were getting a lot of irate calls from my neighborhood. But she did say that it was in their system so that meant that the crew had been out to "assess" the situation & repair number was assigned, which meant that we were now in the "repair stage". Well la-de-frickin-da. And another thing, it's not like they didn't know this storm was coming! Why weren't crews from the other states on their way up here on Friday? They wait till Sat. and Sun. to fly people up?

At that point, I left a message on my work's machine and my boss' home machine, with my cell phone number, requesting that he call me at 6:00 a.m. to wake me up so that I could get to work on time. He called this morning, as requested, and felt awful about our situation. I had to bring Pepper to work with me because the house is too cold, and we took Sagan to day care. Both dogs desperately need a bath.

Next time my PSE bill comes in, I'm thinking about sending my payment at the last possible second with a letter that says, "your bill came in and first I assessed the situation. Then I assigned it a bill-paying number and put it in line after all the other bills that came in before yours. But then when I went to pay it, I didn't have a pen that worked so I moved on to other things. Then once I found a pen that worked, I was able to write the check. Then I had to bring it into work to get a stamp. Then I mailed it."

So all things considered, we are fine and in a lot better shape than those who had multiple trees fall on their houses. However, we are greatly inconvenienced without power and clearly, I was not cut out to be Amish. The first 3 things on my "want" list are: A landline telephone, a generator and a gas stove.

Another Trip to Mashnee Island

Being the greedy little opportunistic beachcomber that I am, all I could think about during Hurricane Sandy was, 'Gee I sure hope the high tide and storm surge pushes more glass onto the beaches in Buzzards Bay.'  The day after the storm I jetted over to mom's to make sure she was situated OK, then came home and was so restless.  I didn't feel like doing anything.  It was warm and kinda humid too, raining off and on.  I checked the tide charts, and low tide was right before 3:00 p.m., so I hopped in the car and drove over to Mashnee Island.  

Lots of snailies today.

Rounded the point at the Canal entrance and was very disappointed to only find a couple pieces of white glass, some of which aren't even that worn.  I took a fairly fresh piece of cobalt blue even though it's not worn down and still sharp.

Stupid golf ball.  I am starting to see a lot of golf balls on the beaches these days.  I'm not sure why but Russell told me sometimes idiots hit them into the Canal.  I took this one with me.

The storm washed the soil away from this tree's roots.

There's an abandoned building at this beach that must have been some kind of clubhouse or restaurant at one time.

Looked like more rain was coming so I left at 3:45 and headed home.

This is the last of the foliage as of 10/30/12.

Bead Embroidery Book

The bead embroidery book that I started out going gangbusters on came to a major halt in mid-June. I really hit a wall with it as I began to cut the designs down.  When I realized that many of them would have the white background showing, I got frustrated and put the project away for awhile.  

But I finally decided to get it finished and, overall, I'm pretty pleased with it, but for the white that has to show around some of the designs.  

Cover.

 

First Annual Resurrection Blogfest 2012!!

Mina Lobo at Some Dark Romantic is hosting a Resurrection Blogfest, which will take place on November 7, 2012.  This is an opportunity to resurrect a post from your very first year of blogging.  

If you'd like to participate, please click HERE to add your blog to her Linky List.  Initially I wasn't planning on participating, since my first blogging year was 2006 and I wasn't sure I wanted to revisit my old life of 6 years ago just yet.  But I figured what the heck, I can take a quick look through my posts from that year and see what I can dig up resurrect.  Hope you all can join us!!!!