Ruined

 The first of many: expect a deluge of posts about bella Italia.  

First up, the ruins of Italy.  

Le amiche delle cose antiche, (the friends of the old stuff, as we fondly called ourselves) visited dozens of historical sites, and among them were ancient ruins.

Growing up in America, I had little grasp of the concept of true antiquity--but in Italy I was able to encounter it.
I could touch, smell and clamber on top of gorgeous ruins.  

Our itinerary included stops at Pompeii, Herculaneum, Ostia Antica, The Roman Forum, the Colosseum and many more.  

Italy was practically preening for pictures, the weather was beautifully overcast the first two days and then dazzlingly bright the remainder of our stay.

Travel Notebook

 I took a broken notebook of mine and revamped it into a travel notebook with my new washi tape.  

I'm leaving in the morning!

Dirt Collection

I have decided to start a dirt collection from my world travels (I hope travels plural).

My Aunt Marion brought my dad back dirt from Greece and I've decided to bring back samples from famous historical sites: The Collosseum, Herculanaeum, Pompeii, etc. 

I hope I make it through customs.

Italian Wardobe

Mom and I went on an epic shopping spree last night at Kohl's.  

If you don't know already, my mother and I are the Predators of bargain hunting.  

We hit Kohl's when everything was 50% off and then knocked another 20% off at the end.

Such savings.  

We went in for walking shoes...we left with my Italy wardrobe.  

Here are some of my favorites.

Speckled with Stars

Night Swimming

This print makes makes me feel wonder.  

It reminds me of nights walking on the beach (one of the few times I actually enjoy the beach) and feeling true awe for the scope and majesty of His Creation:

The great, deep gulping sea and the even darker, grander skies speckled, actually speckled with stars. 

Like flecks of paint, but in reality massive, burning, consuming fires.  

Countdown to Italy

photo

five days to go

Washi Tape Splurge

I've watched Washi Tape rise in popularity, beginning as a crafter's phenomenon and eventually filtering down into Martha Stewart Crafts (no shame, I love me some Martha Stewart).
But I always remained an envious spectator.
Washi tape is a kind of patterned, semi-translucent tape that has the texture and adhesive properties of packaging tape.
It is simple and beautiful, but I could never plunk down the cash to get a full role in a pattern I couldn't commit to--Cam will testify to my indecisive nature.  

Voila! 

I found an offer I simply couldn't resist, solving all of my problems: Lacey B. of Le Box Boutique sells oodles of packaging supplies for other etsy sellers and amateur crafters.
Her most recent sale was a sample package of washi tape: 8 rolls in two foot length samples for $5.92--pick you flavors.  

Whee!!!

So now I'm working on covering my keyboard in bits and pieces of my soul.  

Noisy Jelly

NOISY JELLY from Raphaël Pluvinage on Vimeo.

This is not the name of a band or some new edible, it is an experiement reworked into a child's game in which different kinds of jelly molds produce different sounds on a game board that doubles as a capacitive sensor.
The board is a thin sheet of wood lined with foil that is designed to detect conductance.
The different sizes, shapes and thicknesses of the jellies in combination with the intensity of the touch are triggers to a multitude of sounds.  

Newest Craving

For a lovely close to a night on the town, Cam and I were craving something sweet.  

As a special adventure, he took me to Whole Foods Market.  

Help me...it was the best grocery shopping experience ever...

but there is a reason they call it "Whole Check." 

*sob*

I digress.

Cam walked me through the fallacies in my decision-making process as I paced up and down the frozen food aisle.  

Apparently I take a little while, suddenly fear that I am taking too long, and rush into a poor decision.

After helping me to understand that spending his money on something I wouldn't finish made him far more frustrated than me taking ten minutes to pick out gelato, I was able to ease up and make an informed decision.

TALENTI GELATO SICILIAN PISTACHIO FLAVOR!!!

This is what heaven tastes like.  

Warm, smooth and then filled with delightful chunkies.

I bought it again at my Gainesville Publix two days later and had it for dinner.

Even though gelato has less fat than regular ice cream, I do not think it was ever intended to be consumed by the pint.  

Oh well.

For my next gelato adventure I'll split the pint with Cam. 

Actually, I'll have it all to myself because the next time I have gelato I will be in Italy sampling the real thing!!!!

However, when I return to blah blah America, I will fall back on Talenti. 

Here are the flavors to which I look forward:

Grocery Time with Gnomes

The final technique Claudia taught us in Printmaking was one that I had eagerly anticipated: screen printing.  

It was a technique that I felt pretty sure that I would be using in my future work, so I wanted to do something a little more difficult to challenge myself.

So, while everyone else in class made quite stunning, simple, single-layer screen prints, I decided to make a six-layer monstrosity.

It was so fun!

I made two gnome-themed grocery bags for Cam.

The happy mistake of this project was that Claudia had me make stencils out of opaque butcher paper rather than clear contact paper, which we later found meant that we had to print blind. 

Twice. 

So, the gnome bits are all a bit disjointed and adorable.