Argyle, Lines, Pop Tarts, and Happiness

I saw a chem-trail plane this morning but couldn’t get to my camera in time… I must say one thing for the guys spraying the skies over Plano, TX (with God knows what) - kudos on the creative trail patterns. I like the argyle patterns you make here better than Vegas’ boring straight lines (see video). As a crafter, I’m all for creativity - I’ll remember your pretty patterns when the tumors start to develop and my children can’t breathe. *_*

My (conspiracy) theory is that someone is trying to manipulate the weather and/or slow down global warming. The German government has already announced publically that they are spraying their skies with “harmless” bits of dirt and other stuff as part of ongoing wargame exercises. The chemicals sprayed are supposed to trick any ground radar facilities. They also admitted that they had manipulated weather satellite images to keep it from the public. Well, I guess if the Germans are doing it… our government might be practicing their wargames, too. Darn, I was hoping for weather manipulation - preferably with a mad scientist who has hair issues and a secret lair.

What I really prefer over chemically induced migraines are Pop Tarts. I can’t eat them (bad, bad, processed, toxic, ick) but I remember them as being especially delicious in the Brown Sugar & Cinnamon variety. So what better way to satisfy my desire for Red No. 40 and Pyridoxine Hydrochloride goodness than to make them out of FELT… *sigh*

Yummy, felty goodness. The glass beads might bring up some digestive tract issues but it might become unnoticeable once the brightly colored hairballs start to come up. Enjoy!

I’m going to go drink a cup of freshly ground coffee before my sarcasm and excessive eye-ball rolling turns me into my pre-teen son.

Love and kisses,
+ann

P.S. The book I’m currently reading, Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert, is NOT a self help book as the title implies. Yeah, I was bummed when I found out too - I’m all for self-help. It is however written by an amusing Harvard psychologist (wrap your brain around that oxymoron) and teaches you all about the human brain, why we do what we do, think the way we think, some other deep psychological insights, and all with a dose of intelligent humor. It gets technical in some places and I have yet to come across any fluffy rainbows or catchy feel-good phrases. It’s science, baby! So far, so good.

Part of your complete breakfast.

Bowl-o-Fuzzies! Lots of new one of a kind Felt Fuzzies hair clips starting at $0.99 (eBay auctions).

And in other news…

My new painting. I call it “Sea Serenade.”

It’s inspired by that fun and crazy hormonal roller coaster ride we gals all know and love. For the past week, I’ve been drowning myself in the murky waters of self pity and sleep deprivation. Sprinkled with intermittent bursts of “Hairspray” karaoke and dance-outs. No… my kids don’t think I’m weird. They think this is normal. *_*

Tonight, I decided I had had enough of this funk and painted it all out of my system. I had a little help from Billie Holiday and Diana Krall - crooning my blues away. Now I can sleep. Ahhhh, sleep.

G’night!
+ann

P.S. I’m listening to the Swinging Pop Standards channel on AccuRadio… Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Diana Krall… and Bjork? I’m scared and confused.

Happy Smooshies Day!

The day of Love is upon us, also known as the Gimme Chocolate Covered Diamonds Day, or more commonly referred to as St. Valentine’s Day. I could regale you with the history of this holiday but a simple check of our Magic 8 Ball (Google) could do it for you much more quickly and factually.

It doesn’t have to be just for lovers though - it’s for anyone capable of accepting and giving L-O-V-E. Love of life, God, self, kids, puppies, Fuzzies, trees, dirt, pumpkins, kitties, chocolate, bubble wrap, wine, opposable thumbs… and so on. It’s a reminder to us that we should celebrate and appreciate love in all of it’s glorious forms every day of the year. Just as we should remember our troops and veterans every day and not only on Memorial Day. Or that green beer can be drunken on any day, not just St. Patrick’s Day (although all the merriment that comes from having more than 6 green beers is not recommended). Or a reminder prompted by Thanksgiving that we should give thanks every day.

These holidays can become over-commercialized (Buy more Fuzzies) or hyped up (*B*u*y* *m*o*r*e* *F*u*z*z*i*e*s*!*) if we choose to accept them only as such. But I’d like to think of them as little breaks in an otherwise plain calendar that I can look forward to. I’m giving everyone I see today from the grocery clerk to my mailman a little token of my love in the form of a Spider-Man Valentine’s card (with temporary tattoos!) and a wee bit-o-chocolate. (I couldn’t find the Simpson’s cards… “I choo-choo choose you!” ) Of course it won’t repair a broken heart or fill an empty spot - but it will bring a smile to their faces and hopefully remind them that love comes in more than one form… if they choose to let it that is!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love and smooshies,
+ann
(That annoyingly cheerful gal with the sappy grin…)

Oh Hammond, how art thou.

After years of experimenting with various Turtle to Cuteness ratios - coupled with many shakings of tiny fists and infected bites from non-cute snapping turtles - we are proud to present to you, Hammond the Sea Turtle. We didn’t just stop after attaching his warm, Walnut Brown shell to his svelt Limbo Lime body. Oh no, our Felt Guru went above and beyond the call of cuteness and added… get this… irridescent flowers and marvelous glass seed beads to this awe-inspiring hair clip! *gasp*

Awww shucks, please hold your applause. We at KarmaBox do what we do to benefit all Fuzzi-kind, not for the life-affirming glory or free schwag. But if you insist on showering us with our due praise and adulation, how can we deny you the satisfaction?

You.

Are.

Welcome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

… Too much? Yeah, well I’ve been suffering from delusions of grandeur caused by the constant freezing and melting of my brain brought on by a typical Texas winter. Cross country frequent flyers don’t get this many weather changes - I don’t know what to wear anymore. So poop on yer. Turtle poop. *_*

*sniffles*
+ann

Bragging Rights!

This gal has had an insane couple of days! Lots to report and lots to brag about...

First, I got my 95 pounds-o-felt yesterday! Hooray! However, 'Hunky UPS Guy' failed to be the one to deliver it. Boo! No offense meant towards the UPS guy who did deliver it, of course. There ought to be a UPS Drivers' calender... hmmm, I'll be sure to mention it at our next Bored WAHM's meeting.

I nearly fainted at the sight of all this GORGEOUS felt. Three large, kid-sized cartons were stuffed almost to bursting point with this:

A feast for the eyes! Most of these colors have been nearly impossible to find and now they are discontinued. Lucky me, I stumbled upon an awesome eBay seller (quiltershusband) who went out of his way and really hooked this fabric junkie up.

In other news, my brilliant monkeys brought home their fabulous works of art from school yesterday. So what's a momma to do? Scan them and show them off, that's what! And because I think they are good enough to sell, I've uploaded some high-res pics of them to my CafePress shop to have them printed on lots of goodies. They now have their own section in my shop and the commissions earned from each sale will go directly into their respective college savings funds. Monkey 2 wants to go to MIT for goodness sakes! Monkey 1 is looking at either UT Austin or get this... Yale. *_* Either they bust their tails to earn full scholarships or I'd better win the lottery.

Here's my oldest son's work. He didn't have a name for it so I named it 'Abstract Cat'. Squint, tilt, lift your right arm... I promise there is a cat in there.

I absolutely loved his use of such fiery colors. This masterpiece was made with crayons. He usually gets frustrated by paint because he likes to put so much detail in his drawings which doesn't translate well when he uses brushes. He really enjoyed making this though so I'm hoping to encourage him to try painting abstract works on canvas.

And here is my little one's work. He calls it, 'Robot Cat'.

Can you believe how amazing it is? I was (and still am) very impressed and surprised when he showed this to me. He used mixed media (crayons, paint, and markers). I'm sending their art teacher a friggin' huge gift basket after seeing these two masterpieces.

Let's see, what else have I been up to... Besides wearing myself out writing HTML, CSS, and PHP & Java scripts for my various sites... listing tons of inventory in my eBay /Etsy / CafePress / KarmaBox stores... answering 90-150 emails a day... Fuzzing gobs of Fuzzies... drumming up Ron Paul support in my neighborhood... and writing this little ditty... I guess not much.

Okay, I'm going to take a nap while you buy some of my genius children's artwork.

Blessings,
+ann
(An unbiased mommy. Ha!)

Roar.

Latest addition to our Felt Fuzzies family of fine felty fun.

I’m also working on the following new and spifferiffic hair clips:

• Electric Guitar
• Giraffe
• Sea Turtle
• Lotus Blossom

Of course, I have a bunch of other kewl new Felt Fuzzies still in the design process. I’m talking goobles* of design ideas. My favorite thing about this medium is the versatility - the possibilities are endless and so much fun.

However, lately I’ve been juggling a ton of creative projects along with all the day to day e-business administrative duties so the new items just aren’t coming out as quickly as I’d like. The good news is that if my new minions survive my vigorous training program, I’ll be able to delegate more of the admin work to them. Here’s hoping! ^_~

Blessings,

+ann

P.S. I have 95 POUNDS of felt coming tomorrow!!!! Ninety-five! Egads! It will be arriving in three large cartons and hopefully carried in on the shoulders of my hunky UPS driver. H. U. N. K. Y. Oh yes. You know the one, he commands that glistening brown chariot through the winding streets of Plano just to bring me gifts of his affection. *sigh*

P.P.S. Okay, so he’ll probably use a hand-truck instead of his shoulders, his hunkiness will be concealed by heavy winter garb, I had to pay for those “gifts”, and the only thing glistening on that truck are the oil stains in the back… A girl’s still allowed some fun you know. *_*

* goobles (adjective) - less than gobs, more than oodles, and trademarked by me (not really). Not to be confused with Google’s Goobles, which is a noun and is Google’s form of currency. Didn’t know they had their own money, didya?

A little bit of 80's wisdom, Benson-style.

It's funny how much has and has not changed in 28 years, eh?

It's really not that difficult to get registered to vote and educate yourself on our choices and the issues, check it out:

http://www.declareyourself.com

Get off your barstools!

The cutest puppeh in the WORLD!

And if you disagree with me, you must be blind. Or hate puppies. Are you a puppy hater? Or do you just hate America? Just kidding. Kinda. Anyway, as I might have mentioned before, I am a CuteOverload.com addict. Imagine my glee when I found their "Free Schwag" category! Goobles of wall-paper sized pics and buddy icon images for you to choose from. Goobles!

Like this:



Oh.

My.

God!

Thank you for making such a cute, cute, cute, cute, CUTE puppy! Now when the web worker grind hits me and I'm feeling a bit ickish, I can quickly swipe my mouse to a hot corner and see her beautiful wittle face on my desktop. Ahhhh.

They have more pics on the site. Check it out!

Your Fuzziness,

+ann

Showing some love!

Thanks to sites like Zazzle and CafePress, I can paint to my heart’s delight, sell the originals to art lovers, and then sell high-resolution prints of them on things like calenders, shirts, yard signs, mugs, bibs, tiles, and hundreds of other useful items. My family can set aside their morbid fear of being trapped in an art gallery (no touchy!), I get to pay my bills, and you get sumpin’ purdy! Woo hoo! A starving artist no more. Besides, everyone should be able to enjoy art regardless of socio-economic hoo haas.

Seriously though, I love my CafePress ‘printables’. I have bought several of my own tiles, shirts, and other useful household items (waiting with bated breath for my Bob & Jane apron!!). Another thing besides the prices that I love about CafePress is the superb quality of their products. I have a shirt from there that has been washed a countless number of times over the past couple of years and it has yet to fade.

My compulsion to combine form and function in my work can be traced back to my youthful obsession with MacGyver. After all, if anyone can diffuse a bomb with a squirrel and a piece of chewing gum AND look ruggedly handsome enough to distract sexy KGB bombshells… it’s MacGyver. Oh yeah. My creations may not be nearly as exciting but I present to you the following: Exhibit A… my Felt Fuzzies hair clips are not only crafty & cute, they also provide you with a vital arsenal in the fight against bedhead. Exhibit B… the t-shirt I’m wearing right now is not only smokin’ hot, but also keeps me from facing indecent exposure charges AND… tells the world that Ron Paul Rocks. As for your shirt? It’s just a shirt.

Where was I…. oh yes. Zazzle has been a bit pricey (try a lot pricey) lately forcing me to upgrade my CafePress shop and move my full line of artwork and digital designs to their site. Well, a number of them anyway - more will be added weekly. Oh, but it’s now all so pretty and spiffy! After 3 consecutive hours of butt sitting, typing, and staring at a light bulb (monitor) it had darn well be spectacular, by golly.

Now on my store website, there is a new section under the ‘Categories’ box entitled ‘Artwork‘ with lots of little links to the different product types and design categories available for your giddy perusal. Go, click, BUY!

On a completely different subject, mucho congrats to Dr. & Mrs. Paul on their 51st wedding anniversary! That’s impressive!

Blessings,

+ann