Grungeboard Creations

It has been a while since I have nurtured my creative spirit. In the midst of professional transition, personal challenges and an active 17 month old, Creativity was collecting dust on the bottom shelf. Well, a recent visit to the Rubber Stamp Convention in Carson, CA was all the inspiration I needed. It was a smaller convention than usual but I didn't mind because it allowed me to slow down and actually watch some demonstrations. I spent most of my time at the Tim Holtz booth, watching the artists there and picking up some new tips and tricks. I learned how to make my own version of Tattered Angels' Glimmer Mist by mixing water with Perfect Pearls (which I already had at home but didn't know what to do with!) in a $1.75 mini spray bottle (saving myself about 8 bucks). My favorite purchase was Tim Holtz's Grungeboard which takes ink like paper but acts like leather. The night I came home, I made a series of tag cards celebrating Spring's arrival. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, I had fun making a 20 page journal for a friend. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Anxiously Awaiting Amazon's Kindle

I've been patiently watching the life of the Kindle Reader for over a year now. This is completely unlike me -- I am an impulse buyer, a manifester of consumer destinies. Only with my car have I have spent this much time looking and studying (and that was a good buy!). So, I didn't buy the first generation because I wanted to see the world's reaction and allow Amazon to work out the inevitable kinks (Amazon is no Apple). I was ready to break down and purchase one for the holidays when I learned that they were back ordered for months and would not ship until the end of the 1Q 2009. What?! Were they crazy? How disappointed was I? Well, very until I learned that Kindle2 would be coming out early this year.

It is here and it looks fantastic. I'm saving up all my pennies to get one. Until then, I can pretend to have a Kindle on my iPhone. (Again, Amazon is no Apple, but at least it knows to befriend the technological behemoth.) My new favorite -- and free -- application on my iPhone is the Kindle App. It allows you to read any and all books you've purchased or downloaded on your Kindle or from the Kindle store and read them on your iPhone. So, even though I don't yet have a Kindle, I can purchase a book from the Kindle store and read it where ever I go. It is much better than the existing book reader apps simply because of the size of the book collection. Stanza has nothing on this. Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!