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Recently, I discovered this great resource page for students and teachers, Clipart, Etc. This page is full of royalty-free illustrations divided into themes. These have so many great uses. Give them a visit!

It’s summer! The insects are certainly out and about right now. For these guys, I started with pattered paper, which I cut down from the original 12×12 into 8.5×11 pages for use in the printer. My printer can’t handle even slightly heavy paper, so I had to make sure the weight was similar to normal printer paper. The best company I’ve found for that is Me & My Big Ideas. DCWV also has some pretty light weight papers in the numbered stacks available at Joann. I believe the current one is Stack 7.

I put several images on a page and printed them out. Then I cut the insects out. For some that requires extremely patient cutting. If your hand isn’t steady enough, get images without a lot of legs and antennae to cut out. Alternately, you could cut out a rectangle around the image, which would also be interesting.

As you can see in the image, some show the pattern really well, while some are only subtly patterned. The stick insect took on the correct color, but the pattern isn’t visible. Obviously, the more white area on your images, the more pattern you’ll get.

I now have several pages of patterned insects. I am going to use them for scrapbooking and cardmaking. They could also be used for collage or creating interesting framed art or whatever you might want to do with them.

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I’m so glad you asked.

Here’s 15 of my favorite dance songs at the moment… the order changes for me hourly:

1. Rocket in the Sky // Benny Benassi
2. Available // Flo Rida
3. Alors On Dance // Stormae
4. Fireflies // Owl City
5. Revolver // Madonna
6. Q.I. // Mylène Farmer
7. Bad Romance // Lady Gaga
8. Pour Un Infidele // Coeur De Pirate & Julien Dore
9. Caught // Ari Gold
10. Hush Hush // The Pussycat Dolls
11. I Love My Sex // Benny Benassi
12. I Am the Body Beautiful // Salt-n-Pepa
13. Big and Chunky // Will.I.Am
14. Inside of Me // Benny Benassi
15. The Look Of Love (Madison Park Vs. Lenny B Remix) // Nina Simone

Here are 15 other songs I can’t stop listening to right now:

1. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love // Ethel Waters & Duke Ellington
2. You’re the Top // Ella Fitzgerald
3. Let’s Do It // Ella Fitzgerald
4. Miss Otis Regrets // Ethel Waters
5. It’s Only a Paper Moon // Paul Whiteman
6. It’s a Bore (from Gigi) // Louis Jourdan & Maurice Chevalier
7. Kristofferson’s Theme // Alexandre Desplat
8. Honeysuckle Rose // Django Reinhardt
9. Waltz At Maxim’s (She’s Not Thinking of Me) (from Gigi) // Louis Jourdan
10. Happy Feet // Paul Whiteman
11. Django’s Tiger // Django Reinhardt
12. I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate // Madeleine Peyroux
13. Cette Chanson Est Pour Vous // Django Reinhardt & Jean Sablon
14. Gigi // Louis Jourdan
15. Mr. Fox In the Fields // Alexandre Desplat

I’m thinking of a reboot to my little blog universe here. Keep me in mind; I have not abandoned this exactly. 🙂

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I’m really over all of the horror-infused classics.  It was clever when Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith was new. It was amusing and fun — Jane Austen’s original, but with zombie parts that seemed to work in well. We could all see what was coming next. The genie had been let out of the bottle and everyone who had the slightest way of jumping on the bandwagon was going to do so. Now it seems that nearly every classic novel will be reworked with zombies, vampires, werewolves, or some other horror staple. I can’t be the only one who thinks it has run its course. To Mr. Grahame-Smith’s credit, his fresh idea wasn’t his only one. His new book is promising, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Sure, it is in the same vein as his first work, but it is different. He’s moving forward, can’t everyone else already!?!

I’ve discovered music from the 1920s and 1930s. I’m hooked.

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I’m obviously ready for Spring. Here are a few things I’m into this week:

Daffodils: I got some daffodils in with my produce this week. It is nice to have in a flower that won’t be around for a couple of months here in Anchorage.

 

 

 

“Rabbit & Hedgehog” books: This series by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell is so adorable. I couldn’t resist them, even if I don’t have kids.

 

 

 

 

Yellow & Grey: I always like this color combination, but it just seems like the perfect time for it. This is a scrapbook page in progress which makes use of a yellow organza bag I ripped as soon as I got it home from the store. I really like the way the organza pulls all of the random images together.

 

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Happy St Patrick’s Day to all. I’m spending my 13th* creating a special birthday present for Kerith. I’ll post a photo after I give it to her. Next year, I’ll attempt something more for this day. This year, low key feels just right.

*y’all know what it means… right?

Here’s Kerith’s gift.

Yep, it’s a two-headed giraffe.

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I’ve been on a bit of a movie watching kick… that is, a new-to-me movie watching kick. Here’s what I’ve seen recently:

•I Could Never Be Your Woman (good)
•In Good Company (good + Topher Grace)
•City of Ember (excellent)
•A Series of Unfortunate Events (blah, I fell asleep; I really hate watching Jim Carrey)
•Finding Neverland (pretty good)
•Valiant (decent, fun)
•Mr & Mrs Smith (okay)
•Elizabeth: the Golden Age (very good)
•The Assassination of Jesse James (okay, I have trouble getting to the end)
•The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (excellent)
•Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (cute, not as good as the 2nd, but okay)
•Because of Winn-Dixie (cute, good)
•Mammoth (pretty bad)
•Oklahoma Cyclone (pretty good)
•Journey to the Center of the Earth (okay, I guess)
•In His Father’s Shoes (silly & sappy)
•Out of the Woods (good)
•Silent Night (good)
•Where There’s a Will (okay)
•Nosferatu (excellent)

I’ve still got a bunch I haven’t seen. I don’t know why I’m so glued to the TV.

I still hope to read more books this year than last year (and last year was my record). I’m a little behind, but if I stress over it, I just won’t get it done. Here’s my booklist. And on Shelfari.

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Daniel, thoughts about a friend on his birthday (mostly unfinished)

To be an artist and troubled,
untroubled, beautiful — as beautiful as you and…

My dreams seem more vivid than they used to;
I credit you, unsure of how you are responsible.

Everything your ex-lover does reminds me of you,
reminds me of laughter, but not his, of yours,
reminds me to stop and notice nature, reminds me…

You were looking back at me through
the ceramic eyes of that white stag.
You’re in everything. I wonder if you’re real, if you…

I’m whispering secrets about you
to myself on cold nights.
I’m wondering what you’re creating — love, beauty,
magic, great catastrophes, or…?

You’re still dancing through trees in my brain,
you are plucking the commonest items,
pointing out the simple beauty, the perfection, the…

I wonder what your skin feels like.

I’m in love with who I am when I remember I know you.

1.15.2010