The One when the Boss Was Gone


Monday, March 30, 2009

Courtney (+) guitar I had to re-make for Simply Handmade (look for it in the June/July issue!) (+) absent boss (=) priceless goofing off pictures PS - I would have taken these pictures whether or not David was here :) It just so happened he was gone so it makes for a good title.

The One with the Scenic Route


Sunday, March 29, 2009

When we came out of the theater last night I couldn't help taking pictures all the way home - the sunset was so pretty.

The One with Art's Birthday


Saturday, March 28, 2009

Chris' friend Art drove here from California to celebrate his 1/4 century birthday. We went to his parent's house at lunch for homemade burritos. Mmmmmm.

The best part about Art's house besides the burritos? His dogs! All three of them combined wouldn't equal one of Chris' poodles. But I love tiny dogs. This is a face only a mother could love. Poor Kobe (as in Kobe Bryant). I hope this picture makes it to Cute Overload some day.
This doggie's my favorite. Such a poof ball. Nicky as in... Nicky...
This is the newest addition - Magic, as in Magic Johnson.
Attack of the wittle doggies!
Dancin'!
This photo reminds me of a joke. Knock knock. Who's there? Harry, Butch, Jimmy and Joe. Harry, Butch, Jimmy and Joe who? Harry up and Butch your arms around me and Jimmy a kiss before you Joe home! (It's a Tedderism).
I just wanna take Nicky home with me. That's Art's sister Wendy sneaking in the photo. I guess she's known for doing that :)
Art has a lot of people in his immediate family. This isn't even half of them.
Funny story - we told one of Art's nieces that Chris' name was Christmas and she kept calling him that all night. Everybody loves Christmas!

Then we saw The Haunting in Connecticut. I didn't really get it. I probably won't buy it, which means something. But it was okay. 5 out of 10. Happy birthday Art!

The One with the Valuable Book


Friday, March 27, 2009

I attended a book enthusiasts conference yesterday with my grandpa John Taylor. It's tradition! This is my third year in a row going with him. The last two years we learned some bookbinding techniques:This year, we went to an illuminated manuscript workshop first and I learned how to gild and add gold foil to hand painted letters, among other things. After lunch we went to a workshop focused on recognizing when a book has been altered/repaired/changed. Sometimes book collectors buy supposedly 100% authentic, un-repaired books for a lot of dough, when in actuality things have been done to them that significantly decrease their value. It's a very interesting and ethical debate that I don't know too much about, but I'd like to. For the last half of the workshop, old books were passed around and we were supposed to identify repairs, if any, that had been done to them. When this book made its way into our hands, there didn't seem to be anything special about it. Just an old book, right?When we opened it, we realized it was a copy of the Evening and Morning Star.
The Evening and Morning Star was the first periodical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, first published starting in June 1832 in Independence, Missouri, until a mob destroyed the printing press, and then it was continued again in Kirtland, Ohio, until September 1834. Each issue consisted of 8 pages and it was published once a month.

The value of this book? It's written on the top right corner.
Can't really see it? Here's a zoomed in shot:
Still can't see it because my photo is blurry? It says 100,000 - meaning $100,000. I don't know about everybody else in the room, but I was about to make a run for it, book in hand, cuz I could sure use $100,000! It's hard to believe they were just passin' this book around, letting people handle it with their greasy and unwashed fingers. But it's cool to say that I've held a book worth $100,000. And that's my story. And I'm stickin' to it. And the end.

The One with Eightysomething


Thursday, March 26, 2009

My eightysomething-year-old Grandma Doris has a blog - that's gotta be some kind of record right? (Nope - I just googled it and I guess the oldest blogger just died. She was 108. Read the story here.) If my grandma can blog, anyone can! And I mean that in the nicest way possible :) She says of her blog: "I will write about growing up in the south, some family background with an attempt to make it interesting and amusing. Stories of my marriage and child rearing years and profiles of our three daughters will be separate from my professional experiences of forty one years in education. Many of my experiences are unique, and I hope they will be interesting to read."

My favorite story so far includes this little tidbit: Women did not wear men's clothes in those days, but long skirts down to her brogan boots, Mammy Yokum style. Maybe Grandmother Gatsy wore her skirts a little shorter than most, showing a little bit of leg, because she had no shortage of suitors..." Read the full story here.

Keep the stories coming Grandma! They're VERY entertaining!

The One with Art-Turned-Tattoo


Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Recycled post #2 for the week. So sue me. (But don't really.)

We received an email the other morning from a woman who loved the new Craft Fair line so much that she got a tattoo of the sewing machine Richard designed for the line.

Here's her email:
"Hi American Crafts,

I LOVE your products SO much! When I saw "Craft Fair" I fell in love... so much so, that I just got a fabulous tattoo of your sewing machine from the Craft Fair minimarks rubons!!

My local scrapbook store has yet to receive your winter CHA lines, and I can't hardly wait to get my hands on it!! Hopefully they get it soon. I LOVE it, and those Thickers are to die for! What an amazing team and company you have - so talented!

Any who, just wanted to let you know that I love your products, and had to share your amazing sewing machine tattoo! I LOVE it!"

So here's Richard's drawing:

And here's the lady's tattoo:
Do I detect a part time job in the making for Richard?

This situation reminds me of my brother-in-law, who while on his mission, a lady liked him and was grateful for him so much that she got "Elder Evans" tattooed on her arm.

The One with New Color


Monday, March 23, 2009

I haven't dyed my hair since April of last year and I was itching for a change. So last week I went to the hair school Bon Losee and asked them to dye my hair as red as they could without bleaching it. They kept calling it "virgin hair" because it was my natural color. Weird. But I like it, it's something new that I've never done before.

The One with the Twilight Partay


Sunday, March 22, 2009

My friend Katie, whom I first met when we worked at Pebbles in My Pocket back in 2003 and who is Marlene's BFF (small world), threw the BEST Twilight partay EVAH last night. These are the deets:

I had to dine and dash (sorry!) at my cousin's 6th birthday dinner at Brick Oven in order to make it to the party by 6. We were supposed to dress in our favorite Twilight gear or as a character from the book or movie and bring a Twilight-related treat. I wore the shirt I screen printed with all of the books on it and brought a Little Caesar's pizza because it's what Edward ate when Bella asked if he could eat human food.

This is what everyone saw as they walked inside. Love it!Marlene made the biggest salad I've ever seen. It's "vegetarian!"
Katie's sister Kendra made a fabulous cake like the cover of the Twilight book.
Katie made "irritable grizzly bear" sugar cookies.
Another play off the book cover. I love me some apples dipped in caramel.
And Emily made these crazy cool wolf cupcakes.
The living room was decked out in red and black. Marlene even brought out her red paintings from her wedding to decorate the walls.
Nothing but the best for us to watch :)
This is the fun group of ladies who came. Props to the gals who went all out dressed up like a character. And I know that my eyes are closed, but what can you do. Not my fiercest moment :)
Next Katie passed out Twilight awards which she made up herself. I was given the Jacob Black award: "You are a very loyal friend. You always have a smile on your face and you are very likeable. You like to tinker with your bikes and cars (scrapbooking and photography). You consider your family like a pack and nothing can break that bond. You love a challenge and you never back down. Your heart belongs to a certain someone...you would do anything for that person."
And these are the fantastic necklaces that accompanied the awards.
That's hot.
Then we played "Pin the Kiss on Edward." Lots of spinning was involved and since I don't like taking pictures with the flash, I got a bunch of blurry action shots. Here's Marlene being spun.
And here she is approaching the poster to plant a kiss on Edward.
Close, but no cigar.
Katie being spun.
Close, but no cigar.
Kendra and Alisha pretty much put their kisses on the same spot so they had a "kiss off. "
Alisha won and got a poster of Edward. It's already hanging on her ceiling so she can stare at it 24/7 :)
Then we watched the movie and ate treats. Afterwards we watched some bonus features and chatted 'til way past my bedtime.

We MUST do this again for when New Moon comes out in 242 days.
Paige Taylor Evans © // Quinn Creatives DESIGN