On My Desk Nov 19

OMD Nov 19
Originally uploaded by redazadi

I'm feeling very worn out today so after getting the postcards ready for the two swap mails, and assembling the papers that need to be sorted, there's not a lot of creative activity about.

One thing I'm very grateful about is the ability to make the donations I do. The Food Bank is my priority for I realized about 15 years ago that I had NEVER been hungry one day in my life. NEVER. Now I've groused about what I had or been too lazy to cook what I'd really like but hungry? Really hungry? No, never even close. In today's world, I realize how blessed I am.

On My Desk -sort of

Well I have a desk here in the hotel and I have a camera full of pictures, but no connecting cord to show you the two.

There's no real project in the works while we're here in Chicago but I did get some new pens from Dick Blick and a couple of Moleskine cardboard books for Little Books. The clerk ooohed and ahhed over the Staedtler thinline pens which she called top of the line. I agree with her re quality, and at US $1.09 for each of the individual pens I got, I'm thinking we get quite a bargain with these. How cheap are they in Germany?!?!?

Sorry to miss adding to this week's OMD and having time to Look At other desks. This is one of my favorite memes and it's all thanks to Kirsty so click over on the On My Desk button and you'll see what's going on round the world...on desks and project tables.

On My Desk...October 15th

Lord...I almost wrote August. It IS almost summer weather, the Indian summer kind of day in the mid to high 70s. Three desk areas to work with today.

Here the primary project is to get the dregs of some aerosol glue off the cutting board. Then perhaps some ATC work and finalize some postcards. One package to mail later in the week.

Here I have all the contacts from BlogHer to sort thru and my terrible notes to read. I am sooo out of notetaking practice, sigh, and wished I had taken a notebook of my own, other than the little one from my bag. I started to and then decided not to. Mistake. Also big reminder to make/get BlogCards...the mini Moos look great and feel great. I often forget how important the tactile is to me.


Finally...IRA rollover paperwork to finish and absentee ballot to fill in. The IRA stuff has been in progress for a while so it isn't directly related to the current economic crisis but I sure wish it had been finalized in June! I'm sorry we won't be IN the voting booth this year, but la dolce vita calls. ;-)

Now the rest of Wednesday's desks are over inside that On My Desk link on the right. Amazing how Kirsty can keep them all neat and tidy inside that button, isn't it...

On My Desk...September 10

Still in the am, and not much really happening yet. I have other stuff to get done before I get down to some hopefully fun ATC making and creating this afternoon! Retired, and still 'other' stuff to do...how does that keep happening?!?!?

This was Saturday, a gift from Dick's boss who was unable to make it to my birthday get together. It was pouring with the dregs of Hurricane Hanna when they arrived. So very nice of Steve and Yumi to send these. I did share..a bit.

I am doing some Halloween ATCs and one of my swap partners is interested in the 1940s. I googled "Halloween 1940" and this is one of the images that came up. I have a very hard time imagining a child dressed as Hitler in 1940...but then who knows what the politics of this Canadian family might have been... Very very strange and creepy to me.

Other desks are listed on Kirsty's blog which you can go to if you click that On My Desk button on the right...go ahead. You'll have fun.

On my Desk...September 3

Not so much today. Well, that means it looks like it looked Monday night. For all my good intentions, birthday afternoon had me reeeeally sick.

(Thank you all for the birthday wishes!)

I am so unused to barfing that I was shocked. Suddenly sitting at the computer, I felt terribly hot and dizzy...burning up in fact...but thought ok, the room gets really hot in the afternoon. I went downstairs, turned on the a/c and nearly passed out. So here I am, throwing up/and lying on the kitchen floor and bless the dear cat, he decides to walk round the kitchen and do some sympathy barfing. I didn't have the energy to crawl over to the phone, and get my husband out of his office. (Does this mean I should start carrying my cell on my hip? I think not...)

I put it down to some shrimp I ate for lunch that my head told me were probably a bit past their time, though they tasted great. (Listen to your head Maureen!!!) Add a good tasting sample of cheesecake for a Saturday party/dinner, and oh my. After my stomach emptied, and my temperature dropped, I was mostly comatose all afternoon and evening. One step above napping but not totally present. Dormant, even tho I had dvds of MI-5 series 4 and 5 to watch!!!

One good thing...I had had a 3pm haircut appointment that was canceled cause the stylist was ill. Had it not been canceled, I would have been driving there when my stomach called it quits. Better the compost bin than the inside of my car....

And finally...on the desk... to be finished, are a couple of art bits to get into the mail this week. I'm more in the mood to clean up and clean out but they should be a priority. I've lost the enthusiasm for that collage but maybe it will come back.

More desks? and less sickness? Check the "On my desk" button which will take you to Kirsty's list of players. Or just jump to Kootoyoo .

On my desk...August 27

It's good to be back in the groove of making things in the a.m. Making with paper and scissors and all the ephemera that goes with atcs and postcards.



I slept until 7a.m. today but the light was still great. Soon it will be dark when I come in here so it's nice to relish in both the light and the 'approaching autumn' coolness.



A final shot of a postcard I did yesterday with one of our vacation pics. Working with a .png frame came easily - for a change. ;-)



For peeps at more desks, click the On MY Desk button on the right and you'll be wisked off to Kirsty's list. She's Kootoyou in case you're wondering.

On My Desk...August 13

Well today is a mess.

But that is because yesterday, I finished up some ATC bases and then spent a long - a very long time! - trying to teach myself something in PhotoshopElem. Filling a single text character with images. I did at least finally figure out how to make a Brush stamp stick to the image I was working on... I seem to have misplaced my PE book also so it was a clear off the computer desk last night from the multiple printings and clean out a few piles of papers today.

Yesterday was a fun day despite my graphics-grief. DH had one of his Boys Night In dinners, and we started the day at the Tuesday 7am Farmers' Market. Not too many vendors on Tuesdays but enough to get what we needed.


He surveys the stalls.


Pretty maids all in a row...ready to be eaten!


Hippie Chick, as I call her, has great blackberries...with yoghurt and granola, a wonderful breakfast.


Sebastien is overwhelmed by the idea of 8 men showing up for dinner.


Dick works on the halibut as the rice and tomato/green beans wait.



A perfect summer evening.

There are even MORE desks to be seen over at the button on the right...On My Desk. That will take you to Kirsty's list of meme players.

On My Desk...August 5

Well this has been my desk for part of this week, down in the kitchen using the kitchen table. Unfortunately, I realized later that I had put the setting on close up, so there is an unfortunate unusual quality to the shot. (The only reason I am able to use the kitchen table is because dh is not home to be eating his 3 square a day here.)



I made good progress on some ATCs and feel I am getting a better handle on both creating them, and actually fabricating them. I really would like to take a class/be in a group making them. Ok, so this is putting that out there, so I'll wait and see what the universe comes up with.

(Now click that On My Desk button over on the right to see more desks and works in progress.)

I also heard from the fisherboys who reached their 100lb halibut limit for the day today and again called my son out in the desert lands. My dgs is getting an eyeball workout with all the scenery and the animal life...seeing whales frolicking up close and personal. I could tell from Dick's voice how much he is loving the company of a young 'un and the opportunity to share one of his loves...Alaska and fishing.

Good thing I have one empty freezer now!

On My Desk...July 30

Wow....July is fading fast.


Postcards to be sent off tomorrow as soon as I glaze them. This swap used cardboard boxes...who knew I'd find pizza on the back of a Kashi box!

And I've started a postcard bulletin board until I get my wall painted with magnetic paint.



Click the ON MY DESK button Kirsty made to see other players' desks. Look to your right --->

On My Desk...July 23

On my desk was actually last night as I wasn't sure what the a.m. was going to bring, other than a dark overcast day. Not much difference in light.



Paperwork. I needed to get some old divorce documents to fax to the government now that my ex-h has retired and pensions are in place. In many ways it's so much easier now with fax and voicemail. I look at the one letter I received back in 1992 and it actually was written with a typewriter.


But now all that paperwork can be put away and I will have a CLEAN desk to work on those ATC cards. They are certainly a challenge to me with that small size but I have an idea that amuses me (at least) and if I can get it from my head to paper, I will be quite pleased with myself. Now I just want to get the computer table cleared off, the rest of the scanning for Dick done and I'll feel quite happy.

So to see more desks, go to the On My Desk button on the right of this page and click away to see some more Wednesday players. Have fun!

On my Desk...July 16

An early morning shot, just after 06:30, to do some work before it gets hot. Working on some swap postcards and last night two "Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip" cards printed with the wrong orientation...grrr. With an a.m. brain and a quiet house, I am going to redo some those two...in'shallah. I have an idea of how to tweak the 'mistakes' to use them up too.

The journal silently waits.



So for your patient reading, here is the recipe that will be on the back of the postcard. It really is simple, and oh so yummy.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
1 C. Texas Pete wing sauce (or other wing sauce/HOT Sauce)
3/4 C. blue cheese salad dressing

Mix all together, pour in baking dish, and heat at 350 until bubbly (20 to 30 minutes).

Friends of mine made this. They used low fat blue cheese and reduced fat cream cheese. It freaking ROCKED! (quote from original poster on GardenWeb)

There are more desks with creativity or the chaos that comes with creativity over at Kirsty's list. Go have a peep!

On My Desk...July 9

Not overjoyed with these postcards today as it appears that I brushed the ModgePodge on too thickly. I'm not sure if I'll redo them or not. I also want to get some heavier cardstock so that I don't have to double layer them. You 'do' and you learn, don't you?!?

The recipe template came from Smilebox and I wasn't overjoyed at the clarity of the printing. Anyone have a good recipe template to share? This is a SwapBot postcard exchange, Recipes starting with A. If I decide to continue in the alphabet series, I know I want a better template to work with. (btw, I don't like pastels so this is sooo unlike me. )

Look! I finally FOUND my iron!! I put it on the desk so it will be really visible for a while. Now go check out some other desks at Kirsty's.

BooHoo...no on my desk today

Why oh why? because we have no internet connection at home. While this is just a pita to me, it is a bigger deal to dh who works at home, and email is the lifeline to $$s. So after an eye dr checkup, and getting my eyes back to their undilated state, we are coffe-chop connecting to the lifeline.

But I send you all a hello, and hope to check some desks later this week. However, good news is that I will be in NYC tomorrow - if I get myself on the 7:45am bus which is about an hour from my house. That means I get into my own car...early. Ugh. It's the price one pays for about 8hrs in the Big Apple, all for $35. Still not sure what I'm gonna do but just soak up that NYC vibe.
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Friday footnote - looks like we are switching IP so I'm not sure when I'll be back to use on my own computer. Godwilling and the creek don't rise, I hope to be back up in a week or so. Don't forget me!! Maureen

On my desk...June 11

Today is clean off the desk day. A lot of crapola to sort out, throw away (aargh!!). put away. I want to see wood!



Some of it is the debris from the Artist Way group's studio day at my house last Sunday. I had help in doing this 6 Element (ONLY) ATC. I think ATCs are too small for me to enjoy right now...too much looking for fiddly little things. I may try it again sometime, but not with such a structured theme. Lesson learned.



And this lump of fluff is dryer vent fluff to add to candlewax in paper egg carton cups. Yes, highly flammable and that's the point...fire starters which will be gifts for those friends who have wood burning fireplaces. Ours is gas...which is good and bad. Good cause it's f.a.s.t but bad cause you lose that scent of woodburn. At our age, the ease won out.



Noting all the orange. Hmmm. Orange means change so I guess I better get off my computer butt and start that a.m. tidying. btw, first day in 3 days that it promises to be under 100ish. I came into this room at 6am and could open the window again! so nice to feel the breeze, and there is one. I accept our Maryland summer but I like the cool end of it best.

Ok, nuff from me...check out other desks and have a visit with Kirsty.

On my desk...June 4

We have had a lot, a LOT, of ip trouble this week, making dh tense, terse, and fed up. While we had a half day without the net, I decided to redo my room. So...on my desk looks in a different direction.



The page in the center is the basis for the 6 element ATC swap I'm doing. I have moved the elements around and around and am not very happy with them. I think I may have to look for 'smaller shoes' to paste on the card. The orange was just for sizing. The cards will be white so I can print the Olympic Rings. I have an idea for altering that element to express some of my feelings about the location.

Now that you've seen my desk, I'm sure you want to see more desks . Kirsty is the keeper of the desk-list.

On my desk...May 28

Yikes, I'm not sure there will be anything new on my desk today as I got the postcards for a swap finally done, and sent out. I wanted to seal the inkjet printing and am flumoxed as to what to use. Modgepodge for paper(which I doubted but bought on the clerk's advice...)made one run, as I thought it would. I bit the bullet and used some old aerosole clear lacquer which worked but of course smelled to high heaven. I would do this outside but it was starting to rain. To quote Gilda Radner's Roseanna Dandanna, It's always somthing. ANY suggestions as to what to use to coat ink jet prints is appreciated.



And as I put most of the stuff away, I am probably going to do some 'word cutting' for collages. I love doing this and used to journal with random phrases.

So I will add the pic of the postcards that were sent. Each had more stuff on the mailing side but the addresses are there so... you don't get to see that side.



What is NOT on my desk but is now on my mind is a swap I signed up for - a journal exchange, and the topics are really quite good, don't you think?? You must mail the Journal to your partner on July 1. This will take some dedication for me. (I think it will be the green journal or the black one that will be for the project.)

Here are the themes (there are 31 in total)

* write a letter to yourself in the future
* find a photo of a person you do not know. Write a brief biography about them
* Fill and entire page in your journal with small circles. Colour them in
* create instructions for a simple everyday task (e.g. washing up, making a cup of tea)
* Write a letter to somebody you admire
* Glue a photo of yourself as a child into your journal. Write about what you think you were doing that day
* Make a list of everything you would buy with a million pound (2 million dollars)
* write an entry in code
* find a photo, alter it in anyway you wish
* illustrate your grocery list
* make a map of everywhere you went in one day
* cut out all media for one day, write about the effects (try to do this on a non work day, but if you work everyday you may continue to use the essential things - not swapbot!)
* go for a walk, draw/list all the things you see
* Physically alter a page (i.e. cut holes in it, pour tea on it, burn it, fold it etc)
* glue an envie into your journal. For one week collect items you find in the street and put in the envie. Please don't put dangerous or really dirty items in.
* Draw or list all the things in your purse/bag (the bag you carry all your belongings around in i.e. money, phone, lipgloss, hairbrush, diary. Not the one your money and cards go in)
* Write your own definition of one of the following concepts - sitting, waiting, sleeping or eating
* write an entry in your journal in really LARGE letters (free choice what you actually write)
* Write down a secret. Cut it up and glue back randomly. You could cut the letters from differant newspapers and magazines if you wished
* create a character based on somebody you know. Write a list of personality traits
* Create an image using dots
* list 10 of your habits (or all of them if you have less than 10)
* list 10 things you would like to do every day
* list your 10 most important things. Not including animals or people
* make a list of everything you buy in the next week
* write in your journal using a differant medium (i.e. brush & ink, charcoal, old typewriter, crayons, markers) (again free choice what you write about)
* Draw the individual items of your favourite outfit
* Find a piece of poetry you respond to. Rewrite it and glue it in your journal
* record all the sounds you hear in one hour
* write about your relationship with a household appliance (i.e. washer, dishwasher, kettle)
* cut a random shape out of layers of a magazine. Make a collage of the results.

Feel free to join...Journal Swap-Theme a Day. Final date to sign up is May 31st.

Other desks to spy on are at this girl's blog...have a peep.

On my desk...April 16

Not a lot today...I got sick from a lunch out yesterday and am feeling, as my Nana used to say, quite punk today.

But these are items I worked on Sunday at our Artist Way group's Studio Day. They are out to finish up this week, and I thought it would happen yesterday. Instead after 'losing my cookies' I slept and slept and slept. In fact, that is what I plan to do right now.

On my desk... April 2

On my desk... April 2
Originally uploaded by redazadi

Ok, this is part 1...lots of sorting out to do and today is the START. Maybe if I get on a roll, there will be a part 2, showing more skin...er wood. ;-)

More desks at Kootoyoo's list .

On my desk...March 12

I had thought about this meme from Kirsty at Kootoyoo. Last night, and woke up early fed up with the way the tables are. This is my first full year of using the room, and I found I could not reach the window with the table up against it. (i.e. in the side by side arrangement) So I had moved them apart and had my chair w/back between the tables. This worked ok, but I hated seeing the back of the well loved Imac as I entered the room.

There is ongoing clutter tho the shelves are pretty well organized - it's still the boxes that are still packed and the decisions of how to store things I have never used - or at least for a long time.



So shift and push and get the tables back to back - and look what I see while I'm sorting out.

But will you see the tables as they are now ???oh, no, because my new effin' card reader is doing nada. The blue light is on but nobody's home. Grrrrrr. But I am working on a project for dh...so shhhhh!

Next week...another view, and hopefully less crapola.

On my desk...Feb 29

I love playing these games I find online. But now I'm wondering if this is a phenomenon of life 'down under'??? Whatever...it's fun. It was Kristy who suggested this one. Boy oh boy, desks have lots of interesting stuff.

So on my desk, there are many things but as it is pm, the light isn't that good with just the camera flash gripe gripe gripe and I have hair to color (mine!), this is quick and dirty.

You will see the corner of my Imac, the corner of the keyboard, the Who cd that will not record on Itunes (what is it with some old cds?), a drained mug of Russian Caravan, and the new thingamajig I had to buy to upload pics from my camera. It was dirt cheap but I can't believe I wore out the old one. Dh says yes I did...

Gotta put a note on the cal to check next Weds...Thanks Kristy