Lampwork: Delicious Lampwork Beads by Clare Scott

Clare Scott is an SRA Lampwork Artist living in North Yorkshire, between York and Leeds. (U.K.)
These fantastic beads look like candy!
I love this set too!
She has an etsy shop -- go check it out.

Humor: Unhappy Hipsters photo captions

Visit the images on Unhappy Hipsters to see what sort of photos could have captions like these:

You can come out when you can properly explain the differences between Modernist architecture and postmodern ornamentation.

The things that once so defined him — shag carpeting, Room & Board sofas, monogamy — now suffocated him.

It became their routine. And so the evenings stretched out before him: still, gray, and gravel-strewn.

I don't know what it says about me, but this sort of mildly sardonic (I have never used that word in speech or writing before!) humor is my favorite kind. (I found these through A Cup of Jo. )

Boots! I love boots!

From October to April I wear boots almost every day. I have several pairs of black, and one pair each of gray, red suede, brown, and silver. I would own purple too if I could ever find a pair to fit my size 11 feet. A guy on etsy seems to have a secret stash of interesting '80s shoes. I would happily wear these boots or these boots.

My favorite pair of boots were purchased at DSW but that store has let me down lately. I used to find lots of 11s there but almost none in the last year. About the only place I can find shoes now is at Payless, JC Penney, or Zappos. I loved the boots pictured at left from Aldo but the biggest size was too small. Cry...


My feet were this size by age 11 (1973) and back then the only big foot shoes were hideously ugly "old lady" shoes or exotic items meant for transvestites -- not the look I wanted in Junior High. I spent my youth with one pair of ugly dress shoes and the rest of the time I wore boy's shoes (nice way to build the self-esteem! NOT!) Finally in my senior year of high school, I found a pair of nice black pumps like a "real girl" would wear. That was the beginning of my love of shoes!

Technology: Bar Code yourself!

Drive people right to your website with this clever, cool, customizable button!
According to BarCodeArt on etsy, "Snap a photo of this 2D barcode with your camera phone, and it will automatically dial a phone number, load a website, or send a text message." I think I need to get one (even though my own phone is low-tech and doesn't even have a camera.)

Food: Wheat Thins Toasted Chips -- YUMMY

If you have never tried the Wheat Thins Toasted Chips you must get some -- unless you try to avoid addictive, delicious treats. The Garden Valley Veggie flavor is my favorite but they're all good. 130 calories for 12 chips. Probably too many but man, are they tasty!

Of course, in my book, the lime Tostitos are the all-time king of snack chips, but these are a close second.

Beads: "Scrap" clay

I make my beads from "scrap" clay almost exclusively. Generally, it's the centers of my beads that are a solid color. I like the blended, layered colors...it's similar to my other love, pastel!
Here are a few examples...

Leslie Hawes: Colored pencil magic

Click on her name to view Leslie Hawe's lovely little colored pencil pictures for this month's Virtual Paintout. So pretty!

Sketchbook: Fantastic book by Joseph, aka yard_ape

If you want to see a super sketchbook, check out all of Joseph's pictures from his "friends of friends" themed book.

Virtual Paintout: Corsica

With so many holiday things going on I missed last month's VP of Mexico City so I made sure to get my Corsica project finished early! One thing I noticed about Corsica...the dogs there are absolutely fascinated by the Google car! Go see the other participants' images. Check back at the end of the month to see all the submissions. It's always an interesting tour!

Sketchbook: Finished!

I mailed my sketchbook off to Art House on Thursday and it was supposed to arrive today. There were still a few blank pages but it is finished, such as it is! I posted more images to my Art House page.