Eek! A Mousepad!

I needed some help conjuring up a Christmas spirit this year. Fortunately, it was just a click away with this mousepad!

The Flakiness Continues

Is this my fifth pair of snowflake earrings? I've lost count. But they each have their uses. After all, no two are alike! These have red and green sparkles and were among three pairs of earrings I was gifted this holiday season. I am going to have to buy a new jewelry chest in the after Christmas sales!

In One Earring

Either the Solstice Fairy or the Hanukkah Fairy left these on my desk at work yesterday. Now, what is a good occasion to wear them? Comments welcome!

Sunshine on My Earlobes Makes Me Happeeee

Happy Solstice! Yule probably be seeing these on my ears at the summer solstice, too.

Candy Canes

Can't quite reconcile in my head whether it would be clever to wear these at Carolina Hurricanes hockey games in a nod to both the Canes and the holidays or whether it's just asking for trouble to associate my team with candy canes.

Fancy Snowflakes

Still more snowflake earrings. Picked these up at the Biltmore House with matching necklace.

The Reason for the Season

Happy St. Andrew's Day!

So these are my current earrings options for St. Andrew's Day, celebrated on November 30.













St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. I have some celtic knot earrings I got in Scotland, some Charles Rennie Macintosh earrings recently brought to me by a Scottish friend, and some dinosaur earrings that I choose to think of as Loch Ness Monster earrings.

But St. Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania, and Russia. His feast day is also celebrated in the area of Germany/ Austria/ Poland in some interesting ways. I robbed this below from Wiki:

In parts of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Romania, superstitious belief exists that the night before St. Andrew's Day is specially suitable for magic that reveals a young woman's future husband or that binds a future husband to her. Many related customs exist: for example, the pouring of hot lead into water (in Poland, one usually pours hot wax from a candle through a key hole into cold water), divining the future husband's profession from the shape of the resulting piece (related divinations using molten metals are still popular in Germany on Hogmanay). In some areas in Austria, young women would drink wine and then perform a spell, called Andreasgebet (Saint Andrew's prayer), while nude and kicking a straw bed. This was supposed to magically attract the future husband. Yet another custom is to throw a clog over one's shoulder: if it lands pointing to the door, the woman will get married in the same year.

In some parts of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, young women would write down the names of potential husbands on little pieces of paper and stick these into little pieces of dough, called Halusky. When cooked, the first one to float to the surface of the water would reveal the name of their future husband.

In Poland, some women put pieces of paper (on which they have written potential husbands) under the pillow and first thing in the morning they take one out, which allegedly reveals their future husband.

In Romania, it is customary for young women to put 41 grains of wheat beneath their pillow before they go to sleep, and if they dream that someone is coming to steal their grains that means that they are going to get married next year. Also in some other parts of the country the young women light a candle from the Easter and bring it, at midnight, to a fountain. They ask St. Andrew to let them glimpse their future husband. St. Andrew is also the national saint of Romanians and Romanian Orthodox Church.

Alas, I do not have earrings made of 41 grains of wheat. There's always next year!

Potion Ingredients

Finally figured out what to do with old business cards.

Morgueritini

Accidentally created a new potion called the Morgueritini. It's the same as the Margueritini but instead of regular vodka, you use Blavod black vodka.

"Yes, I Can Drive A" Sticker

My new and true bumper sticker.

Jolly Roger

September 19 is Talk Like a Pirate Day. I flew this flag during most of September, but now that October is here, I've replaced it with a witch flag.

Witch Flag

Welcoming in the Season of the Witch!

Fighting Fire with Earrings

I figure these helmet and fire hydrant earrings would be the best choice from my collection for September 11, or there's always the American flag earrings. Sorry the photo isn't very clear; I always have a hard time with the really small earrings.

Thank you to everyone who risks their lives in service to others.

Back to School Earrings

These are a lot larger and tackier than they appear. Fortunately, "small" and "tasteful" were never prerequisite qualities for earrings in my collection.

Level 42

Happy b-day to my old college roommie Wendy, who turns 42 today and is/was a fan of the band Level 42.

I made her this card, which says, "Your friends from the 80s couldn't help noticing that 'there is something about you' that's different today. Could it be that you have finally reached Level 42?"

Feel free to print, fold, and send to your 42-year-old friends (probably the only friends who remember this band).

Vive la Révolution!

As I mentioned in a previous post or two, I have been wanting guillotine earrings since I read about them in 1989 in a magazine article about the French Bicentennial. They were the Holy Grail in my quest to have earrings for every occasion. Until this year, I only had Eiffel Tower earrings to wear on Bastille Day, but I didn't feel like they quite cut the Grey Poupon. I finally acquired the guillotine earrings shown in the photo from ebay; however, I would really like to know what the antique ones from France look like, so if you ever come across them, do let me know.

Today is Bastille Day (the storming of the Bastille is seen as the symbolic start of the French Revolution), and I finally get to wear guillotine earrings, but it is also my last day of employment at a company where I first worked 19 years and 9 months ago. I have been unhappy in my position there for many years, and I finally got a new job.

Thus, today is a day when two of my longest held desires are fulfilled. By literally fulfilling the one desire, I also symbolically celebrate the other. Vive la liberté! Let them eat cake.

Flying Saucer Earrings

I picked up these UFO earrings at the UFO Museum in Roswell, NM a couple of years ago when a friend hooked me up with VIP passes to the annual UFO Festival. The festival seems to coincide with the Fourth of July because it commemorates events that happened in late June and early July 1947 in an area north of Roswell, which was the site of a crash landing of, depending on whom you believe, an alien spacecraft or crafts, a weather balloon, a top secret U.S. high altitude surveillance balloon, or Soviet aircraft carrying grotesque, 12-year-old human Guinea pigs meant to scare the bejesus out of us. (You can always blame anything on a Commie plot!)

I greatly enjoyed my trip to Roswell. I made myself a silver duct tape skirt just for the occasion. They have an alien-themed parade. There is no such thing as traffic, and parking is not a problem. It's a cute little town, what with its alien-head-shaped street lights, but you can tell its tourism is soon to take off even more. The museum plans to move to a bigger location, and I heard a rumor that a UFO-themed amusement park is in the works.

If it weren't so dang dry and far away from a beach, I might consider moving to Roswell and setting up some kind of cute little shop with a punny name. Like the Cup & Saucer coffee shop or the Crash Here Bed & Cocktail. The place is practically screaming for a Flying Saucer franchise.

If you go to the convention, see if you can find some UFO Dip: a tin of dry spices, created by some enterprising Roswell residents, that you mix with sour cream. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have a website, but the stuff is truly out of this world!

Spectacular Earrings

These earrings are good for the Fourth of July, but they are getting kind of old and not as brilliant, so I could really stand to get some new ones. I also have these flag earrings and several stars that also work for the occasion. Have a safe and happy Independence Day!

Origami Earrings

Although it is Canada Day and I am actually wearing maple leaf earrings, today's post is a lovely pair of origami crane earrings that I received just now in the mail as a surprise from a friend.

I am also kinda surprised I hadn't made myself some origami earrings by now. When I was in college, a roommate once brought to me as a souvenir from Germany a book about the Japanese art of origami. Folding paper into 3D shapes is hard enough to learn when the diagrams are in 2D, but it's even harder when the instructions are in a foreign language.

Nevertheless, I now habitually make lotus flower coasters out of napkins and fold beer labels into cranes while sitting at the bar. I do it absent-mindedly, hardly thinking about it, but it's a good way to keep track of how many beers I've had.

Thanks for my newest pair of earrings, Amy! How cool!

Dad's Day Do-dads

These are my Father's Day earrings.

Flag Day Earrings

Happy Flag Day! Also, happy birthday to my husband's other wife, the Army.

Defending Your Freedom While I Do His Chores

Ok, I'll say it. Sometimes, as the spouse of an Army Reservist, I really don't feel like "supporting our troops." Sometimes, I get a little irritated that I have to do his chores while he goes off to school for three or six weeks or to jump out of perfectly functioning aircraft for the weekend or to see the other wife I'm convinced he has. In "Honduras." Sometimes I think I will strangle the next person who asks me where my husband is when I get bored enough to venture out of the house socially on my own for the thirty-dozenth time.

I know, I know. I'm supposed to think, "At least he's not deployed." Which is true. If nothing else, being a military spouse will teach you not to take things for granted. Although, for all I know, maybe they really did send him to another country. How would I really know? Sure, he said he was driving past the Gaffney peach on his way to jump school, but where was the photo?

They say art makes good therapy, so out of frustration, I made these little stickers, which I printed onto label paper in order to then stick onto some badges I have lying around the house. Perhaps I will make a t-shirt someday.

The Marjito

A triumph! Another in my collection of purple cocktails featuring Marie Brizard Parfait Amour, a liqueur that is purple but tastes like orange. This one, of course, is a spin on the Mojito. I used fresh mint from my brother's garden.

Cheers!





The Marjito
1 oz. white Rum
1 oz. Marie Brizard Parfait Amour
1 oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice (about one lime)
1 oz. soda water (Seltzer)
1 tsp powdered sugar
3-4 mint leaves (muddled)
Another sprig of mint for garnish
Crushed ice

Take 3 or 4 mint leaves and muddle them (bruise them with a muddle or the end of a spoon or something) with powdered sugar and about half the rum. Pour into tall highball glass. Add the rest of the rum, Parfait Amour, lime juice, and soda water. Fill rest of the glass with crushed ice. (You can use a blender to crush ice cubes.) Stir, stir, stir! Add another sprig of mint for garnish.

Salut!

Hang in There

A good card to send to deployed Airborne soldiers and/or their spouses, family, and friends. Deployment sucks.

Moms Like Jewelry

These are my Mother's Day earrings. They were actually meant to be some sort of gift tag.

First Saturday in May

I like to wear these saddles in honor of the Kentucky Derby, but should you run across some mint julep earrings, I'd be happy to have a pair of those, too.

May the Fifth Be With You!

A print-and-fold card for Cinco de Mayo.

And Also With You

These are my first Star Wars earrings, although I've had Star Wars necklaces since the 70s. I suspect someone made these from Pez dispensers.

May the Fourth be with you!

Coming Out Earrings

Happy Pagan Coming Out Day! I picked up these earrings in Manitou Springs, Colorado. I think they look like witch hats and will add them to my subcollection of Halloween earrings.

Card for Crybaby Haters

I was wondering if the Hockey Jesus was going to resurrect Himself for the playoffs (and Easter), but it has not yet come to pass. If you know someone who hates Sidney Crosby (aka Snotty Crosby or The Crybaby), this might be perfect print-and-fold card. Go Canes!

If you hate Sidney Crosby, you might like some of Clever Sign Chick's signs.

Klingon Birthday

By request from a friend after she saw my Star Wars card. Do I really speak Klingon? HIja'!

Doe I Have Easter Earrings?

Did you know that a female rabbit is known as a doe, just like deer? I had some other Easter Bunny earrings, but they got injured, so Mrs. Easter Bunny will have to fill in this year. Thanks, Mrs. Bunneee! Bock! Bock!

Not Eggzactly Easter

Do my blog titles crack you up? They're a dime a dozen. I'm just trying to come out of my shell, but perhaps I am ovareaching. My thoughts get scrambled, and I'm kind of a basket case. Hopefully, you still think I'm an ok chick. Anyway, just thought I'd lay some of my Easter earrings on ya. More in that batch tomorrow.

Happy Good Earth Friday!

I am not a fan of holidays falling on other holidays. It makes getting dressed in the morning take that much longer as I decide which earrings to wear. I hope Jesus will forgive me for posting my Earth Day earrings instead of the less unique crosses I might otherwise wear on Good Friday.

A Long Time Ago

Print-and-fold card for old Jedi knights.

Easter Peeps

Print-and-fold Easter card for one of your favorite peeps.

Checkin My Peeps

Print-and-fold card for Easter or any time.

Happy Passover!

A friend sent me these seder plate earrings from West Pwalm Beach, Florida.

My Favorite Pair of Earrings

These are my most favoritest pair of earrings, and I like to wear them on trips to the mountains. Not only are they just cool because they are outhouses but also they have moving parts. The doors are on hinges, and if you open them, you will find a guy inside reading a book. Or maybe it's the Sears catalog. You can't tell in the photo, but the guy also moves. His feet are on hinges, too, so he will fall out but not get lost. When I saw these earrings at Light Years, I had to possess them. They go great with overalls.

Tax Bills

I used to wear my penny earrings on Tax Day, but I owe a little more these days.

Stationery for Army Wives

Print-and-fold card for use by military wives. Wish I had a dime for every time somebody asked me where my husband was.

Hippo Boaty

I created this print-and-fold birthday card from a photo featured on FoundMagazine.com.

Let's Escape

I believe this is the last one of the print-and-fold cards in the Princess Bride collection. "Hello, Lady!"