weekend

between our crazy puppies, wedding planning, work, art, gun classes, and trying to sleep occasionally, things have been nuts around here!

i helped out at a women's defensive gun class over the weekend. saturday was a beautiful day and the sun was bright & warm. the class was good and i was exhausted by the end of the day. its amazing how much energy i use making sure people are being safe. the other coach & i did get to shoot during lunch time for a bit...and that was fun! :)

art news....will post this week!

puppies...our two furry kids are getting along great! mia has finally settled in to life with us and wags her tail a lot more. we have been taking her to puppy class and she is doing quite well. its interesting to watch vito & mia interact...vito seems to be a little more "grown up". sometimes. mia has become VERY attached to vito - something we are a bit concerned about. we don't want her to have separation anxiety. she's so sensitive and intelligent. bfff & i both wonder what happened in her past. here's a couple of pics from my phone (they came out dark, so i tried to brighten them up and now they are washed out. poo.)

vito on patrol & mia taking a break

relaxing for once while i'm getting ready in the morning

wedding planning...coming soon!

puppy antics

our dear puppy vito stayed the night at our (& his) friends' house over the weekend. bfff & i were going to help out at a gun class early sunday morning and our options were to either take vito & have him be stuck in the car, then probably start eating the car....or leave his with his bestest friends. so we decided he would have more fun with his buddies.

he had a blast. and he was also exhausted. he slept hard when we picked him up and all the way through monday. and we started getting worried. "why is he SO tired? he should have bounced back a bit by now." he usually jumps up when he hears the cheerios box rattle. he normally looks out the window with a bit more excitement than this:


then, at about 5:30pm, bfff was petting him and vito started the sound. if you have a dog, you know what i'm talking about. the "i'm-about-to-throw-up" sound that usually happens at 3 in the morning and wakes you up from a dead sleep. fortunately, he made it to the linoleum. lo & behold...he had eaten a squeaker. we don't know when he ate it or where for that matter. at least he threw it up. and didn't choke.

5 minutes later, he was back to normal. he wanted to play, race around the house, bite bfff's ears, eat, and be his usual mischievous self. geez.

labor day weekend

i hope everyone had a great long weekend! i'm still getting caught up, as you can tell, since it's already wednesday and i haven't posted anything. bff & i helped out at a defensive pistol course all day saturday & sunday. it was a great class - everyone was tuned in, the weather was gorgeous, and it was a lot of fun! (doesn't hurt that i got to do some shooting too.) puppy met lots of people and was pretty good for the most part...except for the chewed seatbelt buckle. but it still works. we also had a chance to catch up with some friends sunday night. it seemed like its been forever since we've seen them!

monday was my day to get stuff done. did a bunch of laundry (although it is still waiting to be folded). finished some books for bella boutique and cut down a bunch of book board, paper, and ribbon for my next batch of books. also figured out my supply inventory. whew. bff came home from fishing and made the best spaghetti and meatballs EVER. and i made funfetti cake!

so i figured out what i would need to purchase and placed a couple of orders today with my suppliers. and i have to get on my soapbox for a couple of minutes: shipping costs up to alaska STINK! for goodness sake, we are NOT another country, we are part of the united states and should be included in the same shipping rates as everyone else in the contiguous 48 states! it's not the mail delivery people have that hard of a time delivering packages to us - its the same as everywhere else. and how about offering some other shipping options besides UPS? because they might as well ask for your first born child instead of the ridiculous shipping rates they require. *getting off soapbox now* does anyone else have this problem?

oh here are some pics of my favorite books i dropped off at bella (i seriously contemplated keeping them for myself):

this paper is PHENOMENAL in person. it is "Katazome-shi" or stencil dyed paper, printed based on traditional kimono printing techniques.

isn't this perfect for fall?

i hope the rest of the week flies by! i love short weeks :)

weekend catch up

the weekend was extremely busy, so i didn't have much time to post anything. i was at a gun class over the weekend, line coaching. for those of you that don't know what line coaching is - basically i watch everyone in the class, make sure they stay safe, and help them adjust or fine tune their shooting skills. we had two days of women's classes and everyone did pretty good! they were overwhelmed with information and learned a ton. the weather co-operated & i even got a slight tan/burn!

bff & i also house/doggie sat for our friends. so lucky vito had a chance to play with his two black lab friends! he also managed to knock the lid off of their dog food container, eat to his little hearts content, and then have an awful upset stomach for the next couple of days!!! what a mess...literally. but he is better now, back to his normal, bitey, playful self.

and here's the update on the custom order - i have the cover almost finished and will be gluing in the book block in the next day or so. it looks GREAT. and i'm already inspired to make a wedding gift for my friend getting married in august.

until next time...

fun weekend

so this past weekend, i took this awesome 3 day defensive firearms class with my bff and my dad. it was intense! we reviewed a bunch of basic techniques, worked on marksmanship and then got into fun stuff: moving drills, pivots, working with a team or a partner, shooting from awkward positions, seeing how we shoot under physical and mental stress, vehicle drills....and much more. it was physically demanding and mentally exhausting. i could use a nap right now.

we also brought our puppy to the range. he hung out in the truck and got a little chewy....and proceeded to chew through one of the seat belts! he's been behaving in our vehicles for quite a while then friday morning decided to go on a chewing spree. what a little troublemaker! that being said, he was very good for the rest of the weekend.

blogs galore

i don't know what it is about blogs but lately i've been really into reading them (hence the resurrection of my blog). i like getting a sneak peek into someone else's world. i've mostly read the blogs of artists & designers - especially those who print letterpress items. and WOW. i have come across some beautiful work. check these sites out: jessica hische, studio on fire, and boxcar press.

i love letterpress. adore it - all of it. the process, the hand setting type, the choosing of colors, the impression left by printing onto super luxurious paper...and then end results are always spectacular.

finally purchased a roller gauge. it's this cool little tool that helps me adjust the rollers on my press to the correct height - instead of me futilely trying to eyeball it. here's an old pic of me with my press:



i've also noticed something else....there is a site called Design*Sponge that has a ton of great ideas for a number of projects and beautiful pictures. its a great place to visit if you are looking for inspiration. on a number of the blogs i've been perusing, Design*Sponge is mentioned! they are ALL over the place! must be a sign that i need to go check out their page again...

on another note, i was working at my friend's firearms shop yesterday and a photographer dropped by with a photo for me. the photographer had been taking pictures at a few classes and i happened to be taking one of the classes. he gave me this awesome black and white pic of me, all decked out in my gear, looking like a bad ass. it was such a nice surprise!

have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!