Too much of a good thing!?!

I have lots of supplies.  I have supplies for several different crafts.  Each craft has its own set of supplies & tools.  Some of the supplies & tools, however, crossover.  In other words, some of the supplies & tools are used in more than one craft.  HOW does one organize supplies & tools in that situation?  I guess I'll need to visit some blogs of crafters and put the question to them & their followers. 

Yet another class, and another hobby, and . . .

I took another class at The Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville yesterday.  The class was Stamping 101.  Although I've had some rubber stamps for over 30 years, I've never had a class, and I've never really done much with the stamps.  I worked in office supplies in the late 1970s, and that's when I got my first rubber stamps.  I had (and still have) Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, stars, and several other stamps I used to stamp paper bags, plain paper (for wrapping gifts), and toilet paper (fun for birthdays).  I did that about 30 years ago - before the stamping & scrapbook craze.  I've accumulated some more stamps over the years, and now I want to do more with them.  Besides putting the images onto paper, I want to put them on fabric too.   Anyway, I made two cards & one card container in class.  I love the idea of making containers/boxes.  I've always had a thing for boxes, baskets, bottles, bags, and bins.  (How's that for alliteration?) I like containers!  So, the stamping - another hobby or an enhancement to what I already work with - fabric.  Love fabric!  I love to touch fabric.  My husband laughs at me because I'm always touching things in the stores.  Anything of a textile nature is fun to touch.  I even have a soft plushy bear by my bed for when I don't feel well.  The touch is very comforting.   It soothes the little girl within.

Oh no! More hobbies to pursue!

I went to a Beginning Stencil class yesterday at The Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville.  What fun!#!  Although it's a whole new hobby for me, I've been wanting to get into Mixed Media and use my many many fabrics in new & different ways.  Yesterday I used small stencils,  embossing pastes & glitters to create beautiful images on paper.  I also used a stencil, stylus and pigments (no paste) to create a different look - again on paper.  As it turns out, I can use some of the same tools/supplies to create images on fabric.  I've been wanting to try Shiva paintsticks on fabric so now I have some ideas on how to do that.  I already have a couple of books, stencils and rubbing plates for using the Shiva paintsticks.  So, bottom line, I can justify more of these classes because I can incorporate the new techniques into creating new art & wearables & whatever with my fabrics.  Yes!!!!  I also signed up for a Beginning Clothing Construction class at Sierra College (SC) this fall.  I've made some clothing on & off over the past 40 years, but I've never had any outside instruction.  I'm really looking forward to the class at SC, and I have my eye on more classes at The Stamp Art Shoppe and at The Tin Thimble in Loomis and . . . .   Can't wait!

Spring has certainly sprung . . .

I love this time of year.  Everything is greening up, and all of the birds are busy.  We have about 10 hummingbirds at the feeders a good part of the day.  They're going through about  1/2 gallon of nectar every 2 days or so.  The geese are back.  Last year the female made her nest on the roof of the shed closest to the house.  (That shed houses the chickens, a storage/work area, garden tools, and wood.)  I could watch the goose tend to her nest from the house.  She had six babies.  Mom & dad took very good care of them until they were grown.  They all flew away at the end of the season.  This year the mom built her nest on the roof of the shed out in the pasture.  I can barely see her from the house.  This year she only had two babies.  Again, mom & dad are taking great care of them.  The babies are usually between mom & dad, and dad gets uppity if anyone (or anything) gets too close.  Great parents.  The orioles are back.  Gorgeous colors!  Bright orange & yellow-orange.  In the past we've had two pairs.  At least I think it was two pairs.  There were two brightly colored birds and two that were less so.  Anyway, we've had a woven, hanging nest in the willow tree the last 2 or 3 years.  Mother Nature is amazing.  I could watch birds all day.  I think of birds as my guardian angels.  I can never be sad while watching them. 

Lizard in the larder . . .

Lizard in the larder, lizard under my chair, lizard in the cupboard, lizards everywhere. 

This time of year we have lizards everywhere.  I don't mind.  I like to watch their antics on the granite outcropping I can see from my kitchen window.  (I call it Lizard Rock.)  I'm not afraid of lizards, and I certainly don't dislike them.  However, I am started when I come across one in the house unexpectedly.  Several years ago, I had a brief encounter with a lizard in the larder (our food storage space in the basement).  There, on a shelf at my eye level, was a small pair of eyes staring at me.  It's a bit startling to come across a lizard when reaching for the pasta noodles or other dinner ingredients.  Another time I found a dried up (and dead of course) lizard stuck in the web-like facing on the bottom of my easy chair.  For a while we'd had an overabundance of flies in the house.  I guess the dead lizard was the answer as to why we had flies.  There are many, many times I've come across a lizard in the walk-out basement where I've set up my work space.  Sometimes it's just a tail that I find.  My guess is that one of the cats found the lizard before I found the tail.  Right now we have a lizard living in our upper cupboard above the microwave and fridge.  We tried to catch him a week or so ago and he fell out onto the floor and then went under the stove.  Frank found him later and put him outside.  Well, now there seems to be another one!  (Or the same one is back???)  Oh well.  I much prefer the lizards to rodents in the house.