Shark Yourself

Discovery Channel has a fun little tool to morph a photo into a shark. So I had to turn Eva into a shark. I don't think Mo is shark material.

Holiday Express

I had so much fun painting on Saturday. The Heart of Texas Tolers (painting chapter) monthly meeting was replaced by a full day of holiday painting. There were two class offerings for the morning, and two for the afternoon.

In the morning, I painted a darling little snowman on canvas paper. We did almost everything by stippling, so it was super easy and fun. Once it's varnished, I'll cut him out and glue it together. It creates a shade to sit on a wine glass or votive holder.

In the afternoon, I painted a witch, a spider and a bat. All these will get attached to a wreath. She's just the cutest witch and was really quite easy to paint. I'll post another picture once it's on the wreath.

Ravelympics

During the last winter Olympics, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (knitting humorist and overall big needle) organized the Knitting Olympics. You cast on and finished a project during the Olympics. Pretty funny stuff. I didn't participate. Now that I'm done with my Master's and only work 9-12 hours a week, I've got time for some silliness.

I'm on Ravelry, a social networking site for knitters, and they've organized the Ravelympics. I've signed up for the Sweater Sprint, which means I have 17 days to knit and finish a sweater. I'm going to finally knit the Deco ribbon jacket that Mom bought me the yarn for about 3 years ago. I've had a lot of trouble getting gauge, and so I'm going to have to go work up a swatch and do some math so I'll be sure to get a jacket that fits. Ugh...math!

Wish me luck!

Librarians are weird

I think libraries/librarians really should publicize this side of themselves. At the conferences, there are book cart drill competitions. It definitely shows a different side of librarianship! Might help shatter the shh/glasses/buns stereotype.

Austin Public Library came in second, and gave a stellar performance.

If you are looking to kill time, do a search on YouTube for book cart drill teams.

ALA Conference

I don't really use my site to talk about work, but I just got back from the American Library Association annual conference. The picture is my goody haul! It's the first time I've gone, and it was exhausting! Action packed days attending programs and roaming the exhibition hall. Many of the publishers were giving out advanced reading copies of books that will be published this fall. I went a bit crazy gathering these lovely prizes! Random House gave a nice presentation of fall titles. Check out the side bar for a list of the books I brought home and plan to read.

Memory Box

The painting chapter participates in the memory box program that provides a decorative box for the hospital to put papers and mementos for parents who have lost a child. I painted this cute fuzzy panda for this wonderful cause. The pattern is from Sandy Aubuchon. Marie and I watched her video together and then painted our memory boxes.

Cleaning

Eva and Mo have really been getting along lately. They are hanging out together, and Mo really likes having Eva clean him. They got quite cozy in the front hall, and Eva really gave Mo a good cleaning. She's got a long tongue!

June Painting

At the June painting chapter meeting, we painted jolly Santas on gift bags. I need to do a bit of detail work, but he is a cutey!