Creative Play Time

I'm a night owl and it's really kicking in now that I don't have to get up at any certain time. My body still wakes up at 7:00 am no matter what time I've fallen asleep but my most creative time is after midnight. 

I went dumpster diving Wednesday as I prepped the bins for the Hope truck pick up. I like to the have things in boxes or bag (as they requested) so the loading of the Hope truck is easier on the guys. I found a big basket to cards by Theresa Robinson that were on their way out. Her original artwork was done in pen and ink. They were turned into greeting cards that I can only guess didn't sell well. At first I thought maybe my friend who does collage would like them but she passed on them. I had to think of something else to do with them as I didn't want them throw away. I first separated out the envelopes that I can use for my workshops at some point. Then I decided to practice my using my color pencils and gamsol to color in the images. Using the images like a coloring book and a jumping off point to make alter art. I can also practice using my ink pens to alter her images as the ink doesn't bleed on her cards. At some point I will break out my water colors pencils and paints.  

This morning plan is to make a few No Kings Day signs for this weekend. It's been on my list of things to get done before this weekend. 

Eldreth Pottery Santa

Eldreth Santa

I use to collect Santas years ago when I had a big house to decorated every Christmas. Now I just have the ones that are super special to me. Twenty plus years ago I saw this Santa at a small store in town. The woman in front of me picked it up and I waited to see if she would put it down. Yes, I followed her around the store. She didn't so I've been on the hunt for it all this time. Took me many years to figure out who made the Santa, way before Google or even eBay. Someone (on MaxSold) collection is up for auction. So now I have to decide if I should buy the whole collection to make it worth the long drive. It's way out of my normal driving zone.  Sell off the ones I don't want to cover my costs? Is there still a good secondary market for these Santas? 

Ink Pen Nib Storage 2025

I think crafters fall into two categories, those who do and those who collect. I lean more toward collecting and organizing. :) Yes, most of the time I know what to do with my "stuff" and now know where it is but do I actually use it? 

I've been on the search for a way to store all my pen nibs. That's a big part of my hobby,  craft storage. Do I know how to use all the nibs and inks I have? No, I do not but I did find out there aren't as many sizes as I thought. After sorting them out by size, finding a storage system was easy. I picked up some pill boxes at the thrift store, which are donated all the time so super cheap. One of my "when I'm bored" tasks is to try out each nib size and practice. Some inks flow better than others but it could be because of the age of the inks. The pricier inks seem to hold up better than what I can only guess are the cheaper brands. Since I got all my inks at estate sales, I have no real idea what's good. 

Trader Joe's Mini Bags

 

As a reseller I try to stay away from fads, think beanie babies. When the first release of mini Trader Joe's bags came out, I just happened to be at the store at the right time before reselling them was a thing. They are a big hit in Europe as it's something you can't get there. I didn't like the colors they had for Easter so I passed on them. I do like the orange and lime green handle ones. The black bags are the most popular if you planning on selling. 

While I was standing in line (only did this because my daughter wanted them) I watched some Japanese ladies from Hawaii (yes, I know them) get at least 50+ bags. The store limits how many you can get at a time, 12 in total. So grandma stands in line and when she gets close she switches places with her daughter. When her daughter buys them, she comes back out to the line hands them to grandma and switches places again after she's taken the bags to the car. Have to say everyone was very nice in line and it went pretty fast. The guy in front of me wasn't even there for the bags, just wanted something for breakfast. :) 

Pen Nibs and Inks

Just a few nibs in my collection 

Once again Sandy Allnock got me to break out my very large stash of pen nibs and inks. Go check out her new series about working with pen and ink. 

If you go to or do enough estate sales you will find boxes full of nibs. I've been collecting them for years. Don't ask me why when I'm left handed and calligraphy is a right handed thing. I've also found bottled ink at estate sales but most of the time they are way over priced. It's better to buy a new bottle even knowing the ink doesn't really go bad. So I'm looking at all these nibs and not knowing anything about them wondered how artists know what each nib does when you have hundreds of them. Went down the rabbit hole but never found anyone who showed how they store their nibs and keep track of what sizes they have. Yes, you can break out a magnifying glass and look at the numbers on each nib and I'm guessing if you work with them enough you'll just know. But what about us crafters who just break them out when we're bored?

Since I'm also working on my book binding projects I made a little booklet. It's a design in progress so don't judge me. I like the idea the nib is on the same page that shows what it does. 

I also have several very old fountain pens that need to be filled or need new cartridges. Sandy has a tutorial on that too so I at least know what I'm looking at. 

Joy of Cooking

There are days when the small wins are great. I found a copy of the Joy of Cooking with the how to cook squirrel at the library book sale. Years ago when I was in Michigan, the family talked about when the squirrel population got out of control, Grandpa would say it's time for a squirrel dinner. For some reason I looked up how to cook squirrel in one of the few cookbooks at the cabin. To my surprise I found a recipe! Alton Brown just talked about having the Joy of Cooking book with the squirrel recipe, which I thought was hysterical. It must be a thing as he was very proud to mention it.  :)

No, I'm not making squirrel for dinner but I am using my table top oven for the very first time! Baking chicken wings until crispy, sautéing eggplant and broccoli with a big pot of rice. I don't use an oven very often anymore so it was no big deal my place (designed to be a man cave) doesn't have one. The smell is amazing! :) 

Paper Weaving Covers

 

First Go Around

I did some paper weaving with my washi paper because I have a lot of it squirreled away. They turned out just ok. The tricky part is to get the right size to fit into the binding machine. 

The first round, the ends were a little ratty so I had to cover it. I didn't like the way it turned out. The second one just by accident was the exact size where I could just fold over the strips. A little too exact to do for a class. The other down side is that it's just a faction too big for the binding machine. If you look at the top left corner it's a little too close to the edge making it very thin.

My next attempt will try a patch work design and see if I can get that to work. 

Second Try

Washi paper to the rescue

In the beginning of the day yesterday, I made this little book. Finding the right size to fit a machine that was made for the standard 8.5X11 paper has been the challenge. Then getting the thick wallpaper once wrapped around chip board to fit has been another hurdle. 

As I was housecleaning during my domestic diva time, I found these stamped images from Hero Arts.  I made them several months ago when I was dog sitting. I decided to whip out my very large stash of washi paper and make a little book. Washi paper is much easier to wrap around the corners and easier to glue up. I'm still trying to make the wallpaper work as that is what FabMo has in stock.

I'm a night owl so around 10:00 pm I got the idea of making a book cover by paper weaving using my scrap washi paper. Today at some point I will try and turn it into a book cover. :) 

Testing Binding Machines

Today is going to be a domestic diva and creative recharge day. I need to put things put away and do some general house cleaning. If the rain stops I'll even do a little gardening.

I picked up two more spiral binding machines at an estate sale. Did I really need two more (and one was broken) to make my total of four? No, I didn't but I thought for class I could have each machine set at the correct size for each project. Last night I tested if the machines were cutting exactly the same and interchangeable. Found out they're not. I made a 7X10 book of watercolor paper as my first test. In my mind I will someday go outdoors to paint so thought the bee cover would be appropriate. The arrow shows where the two machines didn't line up with each other. They looked like they would but they didn't. I also have to figure out how thick the cover can be with each machine. The orange one can handle thicker (not by much) covers than the gray one. The broken one can still punch holes but the binding part is broken. I took the machine apart only to find the plastic parts inside completely broken. Someone had to really strong arm this machine to break so many internal parts.

Catch Up Time

It's was a long week of helping out at an estate sale. Mainly cleaning up and organizing after the family had gone through the house to take what they wanted. One of the family members pretty much ransacked the house dumping things on to the floor. I was tasked to make it safe for the public to walk through. Because it was very physical labor, I was exhausted when I got home. All of my side projects just had to wait. 

I'm slowly getting my jewelry carded and ready to go into my booth at Cottage Crafts. I've only kept the more interesting pieces the rest went in glass jars and sold off in bulk. 
 

Things You Think Of After A Long Day

 

I picked up some samples of wallpaper at FabMo for my future book binding class in 2026. Wall paper is a little too thick to wrap around regular chip board. That has been a challenge for me to get it to work. On my drive home after a very long day helping out at an estate sale, when I wished I had a self driving car. The thought of wetting the wallpaper to make it more pliable to turn the corners on thick chip board. Since wall paper already has the glue on the back it should work, right? The butterfly wallpaper will be the one I use in class as there's enough but I'll practice with the bee print. 

By The Teashore - New Place in Town

Not even sure how I found out about this new high tea place in Half Moon Bay called "By the Teashore".  After my research, I thought it would be a nice place to take a good friend for her birthday. 

One of the things that really interested me was their request for nice china sets. Almost every intake day the store gets a set of china. That's like 12 china sets a month! It's not something that sells well or fast but takes up a lot of space. Being able to donate them to someplace that will actual use them is super! At least they get a second chance to be used even if in a restaurant setting probably won't last long. It's a very nice place to slow down and chat with friends. It's a small place in a tourist town so going mid week is the best option. Prices are around $40 for the whole high tea service, which I think is reasonable. The food is simple but fresh. I gave it a 5 star rating. :)