I'm packed and ready to go...

Tomorrow I get to spend a lovely day at work, scurrying to finish my grading and making lesson plans for the substitute before I leave for Seattle. Woohoo!

Before I leave, I thought I'd show you my trades for the Fest.
Here are all of my trades ready to go:

I made two different tags. The one on the left is made with the backgrounds I had planned on using for my ATCs, but I didn't get around to doing. The one on the right is made from recycled cardboard and images from a Little Golden picture book I bought at the thrift store

With the tags, I've included bubble rings with images from fairy tales.

I made a bunch of these charms for the Artfest charm swap, and then I made a few more for my Artfest friends.

Well, I need to get to bed. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. See you all in a week!

The Best Places for Writing Inspiration=The Worst Places for Writing

There are 3 places where I get the most inspiration for my writing. These three places are not always the best for doing actual writing. One place could be quite dangerous if I pulled out my netbook and started getting down the perfect pieces of dialogue that come to mind. Another place is rather...humid. Soggy paper is not the best writing utensil. And the third place...well, it's really the timing with the third place rather than the location itself. So, in no particular order, here are my 3 best places for writing inspiration but the worst places for actual writing:

1. The Car: I really do come up with some of my best ideas for writing while I'm driving in the car. My characters have entire conversations in my head. Some people might call this schizophrenia; I call it amazing. Sometimes I'll pull out my digital voice recorder and try to get the basics down for the conversations. Other times I'll actually pull over, pull out my notebook, and start writing so I can get it all down just right. I try to do very little writing while I'm actually handling a car though. That probably wouldn't be much better than texting behind the wheel.

2. The Shower: It amazes me how often I can be stuck in my writing and then discover the answer while I'm shampooing my hair. I have actually, in the middle of writing, stopped to take a shower so I can get the ideas flowing. I've also started thinking about marketing dry erase markers for writers to use in the shower. I haven't tried it myself yet, but I will soon. So don't steal my idea! Please...

3. The Bed...just before I go to sleep: I actually do most of my writing while sitting on my bed. I do absolutely no writing at my writing desk in my studio. My bed is just so warm and comfy and ahhhhh. I do a lot of my writing just before bed time. Then I'll shut down, plug my netbook in, take my contacts out, and snuggle under my covers. After about 2 minutes, I'll have an epiphany about what I've been writing, and I have to turn on the bedside light, put my glasses on, and jot down the idea on the sticky-notes I keep on my night table. Then I'll take off my glasses, turn out the light, snuggle back down into my covers, and close my eyes. After another 2 minutes, something else will occur to me, and I do it all over again.

So, I ask you, dear reader, in what location do you get most of your inspiration for, well, anything?

Bucket List #55: Flamenco

In November, I started my list of 100 things I want to do during my lifetime. Learning to do this is #55 on my list. Okay, watch the video first, and then continue reading the post. The video is a little long (a whole 8+ minutes, which seems long in a world where we have the attention span of 10 seconds...okay, I'm really just talking about myself here) but it is totally worth it. Watch all of it. Please.

Now, here are some of the things I was thinking of as I watched the video myself:

1. I'm going to have to lose a lot more weight to fit into that dress.
2. I wonder if she waxes her armpits. Ouch.
3. Can I be a flamenco dancer with my big bosoms?
4. Hey! She has my shoes! (#56 on my list is to own a pair of red flamenco shoes.)
5. I love how her hands move. They're so graceful, so poetic. Can hands be poetic? If they can, hers are.
6. I'm fascinated by how her feet move. How does she do that?
7. Is the tattoo on her shoulder the source of all of her flamenco powers?
8. Where did she get her magic flamenco powers tattoo?
9. If I get a magic flamenco powers tattoo like hers, will I also magically be able to fit into that dress?
10. Should I use my flamenco powers for good or for eeeevil?!

So, if you could learn to dance any dance, what would it be? And would you use your dancing powers for good or for eeeevil?

Learning to fly

"When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly."

--Barbara Winter