WhiMSy love

Week in Review {the day after}

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:37:00 +0000

Ok, so I'm one day late. But I have an excuse: Far away adventures. Not-so-happy plane rides. And just being plain old tired & exhausted! And I have a feeling this Week in Review will give away clues about our journey this weekend. I'll be able to share more about stuff next Monday. I can hardly wait!

It was a busy weekend. And an exciting one.

(And whoever suggested that my "mystery trip" might possibly include an appearance on the Martha Stewart show, sorry to disappoint. But, that woulda been uber cool too.)

*For a photo play-by-play, click HERE.

♥

So, um, yeah...

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:13:00 +0000

We're getting ready to leave on our "mystery trip" this morning & Mr. WhiMSy love got online to print out our tickets. Well, for some reason he couldn't print out MY ticket. He tried & tried & tried, but to no avail. So, he called the airline & found out that sometimes they randomly target random people for searches. And today that would be...ME. great.

Ok, Tia's almost here to give us a ride to the aiport!

Ta-ta-fer-now!

♥

I'm Outtie Like a Belly Button.

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:44:00 +0000

Things will be quiet here in WhiMSy world for the next four days 'cause Mr. WhiMSy love & I are going to be taking a big trip. We leave tomorrow morning & get back Monday evening. And I can't really say where we're going or why. *Oooh, the mystery of it all.* I'll share soon enough. But I can tell you that our family may shortly experience a great adventure & a life-changing point-of-view.

Have a super-de-duper happy weekend & a lovely Monday too!
Peace out.

♥

What is it?

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:58:00 +0000

This is a most awesome creation designed by my 7 year old & I. And what does it do?

It will be the display piece for my Bug Catcher/Treasure Keeper Necklaces at the only holiday bazaar I'll be participating in this year, December 5th & 6th. I've been trying to think of some creative ways to display my handmade goodies. So, I grabbed the tinker toys & my kidlet & I went to work. The little blue piece at the tippy-top has a slit in it & is the perfect spot for some signage. (The sign is still a work-in-progress.)

It's been fun to see the identity of this year's stuff morph into its own little bright & wacky collection. Last year's table was pretty soft & vintage-looking in comparison.

And it's kinda nice to have a starting point now to get inspiration from.

Anyway, just had to share 'cause I was so excited about it!

♥

{my man}

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:00:00 +0000

When he takes part in my loony antics & plays along with my silly ways
it makes my heart go thumpity-thump-thump.

*swoon*

♥

Happiness is...

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:40:00 +0000

...makin' it to the top....AGAIN!!

I trekked out on Halloween morning with Tia, my pal Tiffany & a gaggle of her family & had a GREAT hike!

I even shaved about 5 minutes off the time of my first hike. Oh, there was still the excessive panting, wheezing & pained lungs, but I didn't take as many rests on the way up.

When we got to the top, it was so windy that you could lean into the wind without falling over.

OH, & check this out!! A shadow-jumping-self portrait!!

I'm awesome.

Yahoo!
Me. Tiff. Tia.
{Tiff & her hubby snapped some fun photos on our hike but I can't get them to load for some reason. If I figure it out I'll post more pics.}

Ok, & this is the shakiest video ever. It might be one of those "you had to be there" moments, but Tia & I just crack ourselves up. We noticed our shadows on the side of the mountain & decided to have our own shadow puppet show as we were walking down. At the end of the video Tia says "Kick me in the head!" So, I'm pretending to kick her as she pretends to be kicked. Yeah, um, maybe you had to be there. HAHA!

Jumping out-take.

Ready for lift-off.

Bench Shot.

After climbing the mountain, I again realized how AWESOME it felt to conquer something. To achieve an objective. To overcome. And it makes me want to set more goals in my life, even if they're little bitty. It's very rejuvenating to triumph & prevail.

♥

Week in Review

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Loads of leaf jumping. (Even Mr. WhiMSy love got into the action. See, I told you he'd jump again.)/
Happy flowers from my man, just because./Surprise cupcakes. (*Thanks Sierra! They were delicious!*)/
Hot cocoa. And tea. Oh, & pumpkin spice chai lattes please!/ Cheap & yummy cookies. In a fab pink box to boot!/Hiking, again up a mountain! I must be crazy./Trick-or-treating: a first for my 7 year old!/
Crafting--duh, huh?/The most fun thrift store trip EVERS: Tacky Christmas sweaters./New biz cards!/A hoedown./Busy with bottlecaps./Lazy days./Sweet family visits.

*Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

Happy Monday!
♥

WEEKEND SALE!

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:50:00 +0000

I'm TOTALLY behind on announcing a fun sale at WhiMSy love this weekend! So, here goes...

All Bottle Cap Badges are BUY ONE GET GET ONE FREE!! Yes, you heard me right. Isn't that awesome?!?!?!?!?!

(While supplies last!)

This weekend only. Found in the FunkOlicious Jewelry section of WhiMSy love.

Offer ends Sunday Nov. 1st @ midnight PST.

{Email me at whimsy-girl [at] hotmail [dot] com or message me if you have any questions.}

♥

Tacky to the Max (cont.)

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:47:00 +0000

Tia & I had a GREAT time hunting for the perfect tacky Christmas sweater! There were so many to choose from. Our shopping cart was piled high with all things awful & awesome in the holiday sweater department. We tried on 13 sweaters, all varying in ugliness. Some of the best were: a faux cross-stitch mitten sweatshirt, a completely sequined angel sweater, & a teddy bear sweatshirt--lined in gold glittery puffy paint! After our impromptu fashion show we both fell in love with some fabulous sweater vests.

Here's a video of our vests in action...

And, yes, I do realize I look like a Christmas whale. My vest is 3 sizes too big. I thought maybe it would make me look smaller because of the surplus in size. But, nope. And I'm pretty sure I broke that "black makes you look slimmer" rule by a longshot! Who cares though, it's all in good fun. And I have great plans for my tacky sweater vest. I'm hoping to pair it with some red leggins (wouldn't stirrup pants be the icing on the tacky Christmas cake?!) & a long-sleeved turtle neck.

Oh, & Tia's vest has major bell overload. It's awesome! And the back is my favorite!

This picture, my fave of the day, shows some ugly sweaters that almost won us over.

Yay for silly days with friends!

♥

Tacky to the Max

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:41:00 +0000

Last holiday season Tia & planned on buying really tacky Christmas sweaters. You know, just 'cause. BUT, that never happened.

Until today. We're heading out to the thrift stores to begin our hunt for the perfect ugly holiday knitwear. I hope the ugly sweater fairies bring us heaps of horrible cardigans. We're looking for the hideous, the distasteful, the unattractive. I'd honestly swoon for a sweater vest!

*Bedazzled? Bring it on!!

*A sweater featuring cuddly teddy bears wearing their OWN tacky sweaters? I'm sooooo there!

*Light-up Rudolph nose? I'll buy replacement batteries if I have to!

*Bells? The more the merrier!

*Giant life-sized Santa head complete with mop beard & other obtrusive facial features? I think I'm going to faint.

*Puffy paint? *SQUEEEEE!!!*

To be continued...

♥

Vintage Fabric=Happy!

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:42:00 +0000

I just recently did a trade with a fellow handmade creative in Spain & what I traded was a bundle of 6" squares of some of my collection of vintage fabrics. I thought it would be neato to put a couple of these bundles in the shop just fer fun. I call 'em Happy Stacks & you can get yours now!

♥ ♥ ♥
(To see what I received from the trade click HERE & HERE.)
UPDATE: I totally goofed on the pricing of these, so go check out the new l-o-w price!

3-2-1..Blast Off!

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:23:00 +0000

Sometimes I want to launch like a rocket to the sky. And forget about laundry. And ignore the bills. And pretend not to see my long list of things to do. Gliding high & obliged to do nothing but fly...

♥

Week in Review

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0000

It was a wonderful, silly, & random week. Tutorials were on the menu this week. As was a last trip of the season to the Farmer's Market: in the drizzly rain with my mom. And some thrifting. Yahoo! (Thrifting & Markets & Tutes..oh my!)

Unexpected prezzies arrived in the mail for my girls from a sweet blogger. Tiny handmade kitties? What gets better than that?! {Thank you Leah!}

I spent the first part of this week trying to recover from last weekend's retreat. I was so stinkin' tired. Nothin' beats a Sunday afternoon nap. I don't know why. A nap any other day of the week is just not as lovely as one on a Sunday. Ya know? Has there been some scientific analysis or research data collected to support this strange phenomenon? There should be.

A not-so-fun happening this week was my 2nd visit to the dentist in a week & a half's time: for a DEEP clean. Ouchie mama. But nitrous was my friend & I'm pretty sure I can do anything with that strapped to my face. Suprisingly, after not being to the dentist in about 9 years, I had only 2 little cavities--& they were found under some fillings I already had. So, a crown is next on the list of dentist-y things to do. Ugh. And this "crown" has nothing to do with royalty or princesses or NOTHIN'!

The fam did some pumpkin carving too. I'm afraid our sweet-faced pumpkins will be mush by the time Halloween rolls around. But the hubby was so giddy to carve 'em up that I just went along with his jack-o-lantern antics. Silly me to follow that Mr. WhiMSy love down a happy pumpkin craftin' path!

Well, here's to a great week!
Happy Monday!!

*Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

Shop News

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0000

The girls & I have made lotsa Bug Catcher Necklaces. We're hoping they'll be a big hit for kidlets this Christmas & for making awesome stocking stuffers! I've been too slow at gettin' them listed in the shop. But I'll eventually get to it. If you see one in this picture you want, let me know & I'll check if it's still available: I'm also beginning to set aside some of my finished projects for the upcoming Holiday Bazaar. (And remember, when you buy a necklace made by Pazely or Zoey, you're supporting they're tiny pocketbooks. And that makes them very happy. And keeps them motivated.)

♥
Did you know that WhiMSy love now has gift certificates?? Yeppers. I can create 'em to any denomination you desire.

♥
Also in the works: Vintage Button Ring Coupons! Want to give a friend a nifty Vintage Button Ring but aren't sure what color or style they'd love? Purchase a Vintage Button Ring Coupon & your problems are solved! A pre-paid Coupon will let THEM decide!

♥

Next weekend (you're the first to know!) I'll be promoting the Vintage Bottle Cap Badges. I just ordered a hefty load of grape bottle caps--my best sellers--& I'll be craftin' up a nifty sale just for these badges. So, stay tuned!
♥

Sylvia C. Winner!!

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:36:00 +0000

The winner of the Sylvia C giveaway is:

kayla!!!

Congrats on winning the Speak Your Mind bangle!

Thanks for playing along everyone!

I know Sylvia was inspired by all your comments!

And, don't be sad if you didn't win. You can still get fabulous goodies at Sylvia's Etsy boutique HERE!

History in the Making

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:55:00 +0000

Recently I was thinking about how the things we make have a story whether we realize it or not. All handmade things have a history.

For instance, you might think about "that baby quilt" you've saved for years & remember how your little babe used to lay so innocently upon it or played peek a boo with it as a toddler. Eventually it became the building materials in some serious fort construction. And then it folded so nicely at the end of a teenager's bed. But, did you think about the "birth" of the quilt? Yes, grandma made it. But, did you know she made it while smoking cigars & watching reruns of her favorite soap operas? (OK, that might be a bit extreme. haha!)
But I think it's fun to think about where things came from or wonder how they came to be.

My vintage buttons rings are usually made while I'm cozy on the couch late at night, all alone while the family sleeps, sipping hot yummy drinks & watching my favorite indie films.

My little felt owlie pencil toppers were mostly made as I traveled back & forth with my family over the mountains to visit my dad at the Veterans hospital in Seattle after he was diagnosed with cancer last year.

My girls & I create our bug catcher necklaces while making up nonsense stories & giggling about silly things.

And I just thought about a delicious pistachio torte dessert I made not long ago---while crying & brokenhearted.

The saga of our handmade treasures doesn't start when the final layer of decoupage is dry or the last loose thread is snipped. The tale of our projects-in-the-making do not commence once the painting is "just so" or the meringue has perfectly set.
The story of each thing we create begins even before they are loved. Their history begins....in the making.

♥

Goofy Glasses from Pipe Cleaners TUTORIAL

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0000

I got this idea from a book, but I changed up a tiny bit of the construction. I thought these would be perfect accessories for Halloween costumes, not to mention everyday dress-up for the wee ones.

The only supplies you need to make 1 pair of Goofy Glasses are: 3 pipe cleaners & scissors. (NOTE: If you have the really sturdy nice pipe cleaners then 3 will work. I had some pipe cleaners from the dollar store that were pretty flimsy so I doubled up in certain steps & had to use a total of 5.)

Take 1 pipe cleaner & cut it in half. These will become the "lenses". Oh, & I'm sure the fuzzy pipe cleaners would be more comfortable to wear (& less itchy), but all we had were these metallic ones. (Can you say 'pipe cleaner rash'? haha!)

Loop these 2 pieces into a circular shape, twisting the ends over themselves.

In this next step, you'll cut 2" off the remaining long pipe cleaners.

If you have the strong kind of pipe cleaners, you'd just be cutting TWO 2" pieces off. But, I had to double up & that's why there are FOUR 2" pieces on mine. (Gosh, hope that's not confusing.)

Take ONE of those 2" pieces (I took TWO) & twist it to connect the "lenses".

Now, take your two long leftover pipe cleaners (I had FOUR) & connect them on opposite sides of the "lenses". (I twisted each of my pairs together. You can see how the bottom side is twisted & the top side hasn't been twisted yet.)

Now fit the glasses on your face to measure how long they should be. Twist them up, over & around the ears.

Carefully take them off your ears & snip the excess off with scissors.

These bigger Goofy Glasses were made the same way--except you'd use one whole pipe cleaner for EACH "lens".

You could really go crazy with silly shapes like stars or triangles, etc.

Have fun!

♥

Giveaway from Sylvia C!

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:05:00 +0000

The lovely Sylvia, of Etsy boutique Sylvia C., is giving away one of her popular

Speak Your Mind bangles! You get to pick any phrase--up to 35 characters--& Sylvia will create a custom piece just for you. What would your bangle say?
Leave a comment for a chance to enter & win!

I'll draw a name this Friday morning, October 23rd.

Visit Sylvia's shop to support handmade & get great ideas for gift giving this holiday season.

(And tell her I sent ya!)

Visit Sylvia's blog by clicking HERE.

♥

Week in Review

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Yay!--I'm back after a weekend away. But it was a relaxing & peaceful & lovely weekend with Mr. WhiMSy love. We went on a reatreat to a beautiful place, were surrounded by lovely people, ate scrumptious yummy foods & learned a lot about how to keep a healthy marriage. Goodness all around I tell ya!

Even though this was such a mucky, grey, damp & dark week in terms of the weather, I got a lot of "happy" accomplished: fishing with my brother, pumpkin patch field trip with Pazely & her Kindergarten class, weekend getaway with the hubby &....not so happy: a visit with Mr. Dentist. (I did get a self portrait with the tooth pro though!)

Lots & lots of jumping went on this week too. I could have had a whole mosaic of jumping, simply from the last seven days: in a boat, on a bed, on a bench, on a log, on a dock, with my mom, off a train...(this sounds like that Dr. Seuss book).

Oh, speaking of "jumping": The center square of my mosaic this week is rather sacred & miraculous. Mr. WhiMSy love jumped with me. For the first time. (Moment of silence please.....) He mentioned something about, "This is it. Please don't ask me again." Whatever. I'm still gonna ask.

I've decided I really need to get busy with my handmade goodies for the *hopefully* upcoming holiday rush. So, I'll be crafting up storm after storm for the next several weeks. I've got some fun tutorials in mind & a really cool project in the works for my shop specifically for the holidays this year. But, of course, all that has to be put on hold until I get some custom orders finished up, stockpile a bit more on the pretty much un-stocked Holiday Bazaar pile & do the whole mommy & wifey thing.

Here's to a productive week!

(And a giveaway tomorrow! Stay tuned!)

♥

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

Stuff-n-Things

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:26:00 +0000

The girls have been madly crafting their sweet little hearts out by making oodles of Bug Catcher/Treasure Keeper Necklaces. I'll be stocking the shop with our latest designs early next week. (And we're all tickled that Bug Catcher sales are picking up! Stock up for the holidays people!)

♥

I'll be gone this weekend with Mr. WhiMSy love on a retreat to Newport, Washington with other couples from our church. We'll be staying at Inn at the Lake. It looks gorgeous! I can't wait!

(Tia has the lovely duty of playing "mommy" to my kids. She's got 3 boys, so she'll have her hands full. Thanks pal!)
I'm totally psyched about driving 3 1/2 hours & crafting, crafting, crafting this afternoon. Wheeee!!! Gotta go! See you on Monday my lovely little blog peoples!

♥

I Came. I Saw. I Fished.

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Yahoo! My fishing adventure was a success!

Honestly, I mostly just enjoyed hanging out with my brother. We had 2 1/2 hours to troll Lake Wallula in the quiet-mucky-yucky-rainy-wet-grey day-weather. We had no bites all morning & were heading back in. Until.....my prize showed up.

It's funny 'cause I had just been talking to Andrew about how we should try some different bait. Particularly some ham-n-cheese sandwiches in the cooler. He just thought I was weird, but I was seriously gonna pull my pole in & loop some hammy goodness on that hook of mine.

I reeled & squealed & was as giddy as any fishing girl could be.

It was pretty cold out there. I borrowed the giant coat from Mr. WhiMSy love & the ski pants, snow boots & fishing gloves from my bro. The Vera Wang hat is mine.

I passed the time by drinking lots of hot cocoa, munching on Doritos & pop tarts, looking at all the sparkly shiny things in my bro's tacklebox, asking all sorts of fishy questions, & taking pictures of everything.

I also thought of a cool business: there needs to be a little boat out there on the lake that trolls around & offers warm yummy drinks & delicious snack treats to the other fishers. Wouldn't that be neato?

Oh yeah, & I did some jumping! A wee fishing boat jump! Can you believe it? My brother is now on the list of people that officially think I'm nuts.

Oh, & I had to laugh at this: In my brother's wallet he showed me a pic with him & an 18 pound steelhead he caught last week---right next to the picture of his daughter. Isn't that hilarious?! I loved it.

So, here's my smelly catch! It's a 10 lb Chinook Salmon.

My brother said he was rather proud to see his sister catch a fish. (Awww....)

Ok. One more.

I loved fishing. I think I'm hooked. (har har har!)

♥

Here fishy, fishy...

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:12:00 +0000

(Guess who's going on a fishing adventure in the morning with her brother?! ME! Yahoo!)

I'm a fishing newbie. The last time I really fished was when I was a kid, with my dad.

I got my 1-day fishing permit tonight. And in the morn' I'll be packing lunch & munchies & 2 hot pots of warm yummy drinks. Is it weird that I'm bringing pumpkin pie? I just thought it sounded delicious. Although, anything mixed with the smell of stinky fish seems to immediately turn unappetizing. So, we'll see...

I'll be wearing thermal undies & Mr. WhiMSy love's oversized coat & every other warm piece of clothing I can find. *It's gonna be cold!!*

Anyway, I'm super excited & can't wait!!

♥

Adventures in Mountain Climbing.

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:31:00 +0000

Once upon a time there was a girl. She was out of shape, which was no surprise to her. She does not make exercise her friend or fitness an acquaintance. She's bad like that.

Well, one morning, this girl & her pal got it in their heads to go hiking. One chilly, cold, windy, miserable, grey morning I might add.

The girl donned her grubby sweats, her under-used sneakers, her happy socks, a little mascara, some lipstick & started on her journey. Up a mountain. (Well, it looked more like a large hill.) But still, it was daunting to the girl.

The girl started out in an amusing mood, taking candid photos as she walked.

But that pretty much ended right when it started. The camera now captured images of pain & distress.

And, yes, that's the girl gasping for precious air in the background:

Oh wait. Another almost-lifeless snapshot of the girl. The girl's pal played the part of paprazzi while her friend turned blotchy red & almost passed out several times. (The girl says "Thanks." I do detect a bit of snarly sarcasm in that expression of gratitude.)

The girl took many, many, many, many, many, many breaks on the way up the mountain. Old men even passed her by. The wildlife mocked her. Giggly fit young girls whispered & pointed in her direction.

By the time the two reached the top, the girl looked like this. It was not pretty. This mountain could have been Everest. It was all the same to the girl.

The girl & her pal talked about making their mark at the peak of this hill-ish mountain. You know, like mountain climbers stake a flag to symoblize their pinnacle achievement? A lone orange-flavored lollipop was all they had. Stuck it right in the ground, those two did.

The girl was really proud. She was proud that she pushed herself to keep on going. She was proud she made it to the end.
But, she was not proud of her slow pace. Or her MANY mini rests along the way. She was not proud of the way she wheezed & panted for air. She was not proud of all the whining & complaining she emitted on the way up.
The she realized, it's not important HOW she got there. It's THAT she got there. This was the hardest thing the girl had done in a long time.
She realized, too, what a super pal she had, who didn't give up on her. Who listened to the chorus of wheezes, pants & complaints the WHOLE WAY UP. I'm sure the pal wanted to push the girl down that tumbleweeed covered hillside more than once.

Before heading down the trail, the girl commemorated the experience in her own way.
She felt happy. And alive!

And now she could experience the beauty of nature...the loveliness of friendship. For she knew tomorrow she would experience...the pain.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: The girl & her pal celebrated their "great" acheievment by downing some pumpkin pie & waffles smothered in peanut butter & syrup.

♥

(The girl would like those interested to know that she hiked up Badger Mountain. And please don't laugh or make fun of her. Because, though you may be able to hop, skip & jump up that wanna-be-mountain, or even moonwalk backwards with your eyes closed all the way to the top....SHE--obviously--cannot.)

THE END

Week in Review (October 5-11)

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:10:00 +0000

I realized just recently that my Monday "Week in Review" posts are the perfect platform for me to just spew random thoughts & happenings. So, get ready for a mix-up & mash of completely unrelated thoughts...

I've been a sick girl all week. Started coming down with something last Monday night & haven't quite gotten rid of the germies. It's nothing major (so far) but it sure feels all kinds of blah! to not be at 100%.

My Craft Foam Tutorial Extravaganza made it to the CRAFTzine blog. Wahoo!

I went on a hike this week & I am seriously glad to be alive. I might show pictures later on. It was brutal. This body of mine, (no surprise to me), is out of shape. I haven't had to do something that hard in a long time.

I had a hankerin' for some fried zucchini last week, which is weird because I've never made it or even eaten it before. Mr. WhiMSy love, who isn't much of a vegetable consumer, ate it. And liked it. AND thought it was chicken. Final verdict: I. Am. Awesome.

My new favorite warm yummy drink? Starbuck's Pumpkin Spiced Chai Latte. It's gonna be all I drink from now on this Fall. Instant happy.

How is it that making stuff gets my heart all a-flutter & pitter patter at an excessive rate? Well, it does.

Stop motion. *swoon* I love you. I have all kinds of plans & dreams for new stop motion adventures. (!!!)

How fantastic that we've officially had a full week in October! Pumpkins are everywhere & sometime this week I'll be accompanying the wee one with her Kindergarten class to the pumpkin patch. Seriously, my favorite field trip EVER!

Also on the agenda this week? Oh, an afternoon fishing trip with my brother & *crosses fingers* hopefully my buddy Tia, a dentist appointment (you can slap me now: I haven't been to the dentist in over 10 years!), & hopefully giving the firepit out back some use! Brr. It's starting to get cold. I love it! Nothing too cold though. 'Cause then I'll just whine.

Happy Monday!

*Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.*

♥

Stop Motion.

whimsy-girl@hotmail.com (nikki/WhiMSy love) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Several of you have asked about the stop motion video I made. (And by the way: thanks for all the props, kudos & love!)

I actually only discovered stop motion a few weeks ago. I'm JUST learning to play with this new "toy", so there's not a whole lot of proper knowledge I can bestow. I'll just share what I've discovered or found helpful...

Here's a very basic way to describe stop motion, in my own words: Hundreds (even thousands) of pictures are photographed & smooshed together in a really speedy quick slideshow.

I used 293 photos to create my 37 second video.

The Wikipedia description of stop motion can be found HERE.
I found THIS site very helpful in describing the "how-to's" of Stop Motion Photography. I have Windows Movie Maker, which is used in the instructions for that tutorial. (I know that doesn't help if you have a Mac, but just search the 'net & you'll find one that works for you.)
I uploaded my final video to Vimeo.com & if you search around that site for "stop motion" you'll find lots of interesting videos created by others using many different styles.

I am so psyched to "film" more videos! You definitely need to set aside a block of uninterrupted time. The concept for my 1st video was pretty simple & straightforward--& it took me a couple hours to complete. And that's not including uploading the photos on my computer & doing all the editing/picture/movie stuff. You should have seen the contraption I had set up. I had my grandpa's old-school tripod taped horizontally to a small chair on top of the dining table. I may need to invest in a fancy-schmancy tripod.

Anyway, I hope this helps get you started. And, believe me, I'll be sharing my stop motion adventures along the way! I still need to learn how to add music to my videos. I really do stumble around with all this computer stuff. I'm one of those "dummies". So, I know that if I can do it, you TOTALLY can!

♥