Blog Archive February 2007

It’s hard to believe!  Watermelon Rind Designs has had a blog for one year now, which means that the business is going on 2 years old.  Thanks for your support during this time – it means a lot! As always, we appreciate your word of mouth – a referral or a compliment is the highest form of flattery! Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us…

As part of The Daily Rind’s birthday celebration, I thought I would provide you with a few cool links that you might or might not be aware of.

Spend 10 minutes and get a personality analysis here:http://www.thecolorcode.com:80/

Looking for an incredible memory to give that special someone?  After you take photos of your amazing experience from http://www.incredibledays.com/driving/index.aspx – you can order a scrapbook from us and make the memories live on forever.  (Boston area only)

Tom Holtz is truly a master of his craft.  He just came out with an amazing storage line for all of the Ranger products.  If you are like me, you will be getting some of these tins to tidy up your workspace:http://cropperhopper.com/timholtz/

A few of my favorite blogs:
She has been referred to as the Oprah of scrapbooking: http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/
Took a class from her once and loved every second of it – an industry icon:
http://www.donnadowney.typepad.com/
One of the Pioneers of the industry, her book is a constant source of inspiration:
http://rebeccasower.typepad.com/rs_out_of_hand/
Her photos take my breath away:
http://tarawhitney.typepad.com/
For those of us that are juggling a career and family:
http://www.workingmother.com/web?service=vpage/161
She has an amazing knack for putting things together and her monthly kit rocks:
http://www.jennibowlin.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!!

I love the calm and the all-encompassing silence that accompanies a fresh snowfall. It’s like all of the chaos of the world is muffled by a fresh white blanket of fluffy precipitation. There is no drone of traffic. No wildlife. Just the occasional swish of someone cleaning off their car or shoveling their driveway. The hustle and bustle is reduced to a crawl. Maybe it’s Mother Nature’s way of encouraging us to slow down for a few minutes and witness Her beauty.

Seeing normally busy intersections covered in pristine whiteness, tree limbs succumbing to the weight of their frosty blanket, and fresh footprints in the snow make me happy that I live in New England. I love the offerings of each new season: spring’s renewed life; the heat, electricity and intensity of the summer; the colorful splendor of autumn; and finally the chill and tranquility of winter.

It gives me pause.

This is a project I actually did for work (day job, not this Web site).  We had an all day retreat and one of our “assignments” was to bring in something that inspires us.  It could be anything: a photo, a letter, a book, a journal – anything. So, I did what I do best and I made a scrapbook page about how my husband and my two daughters are my biggest inspiration.  Sometimes it’s hard to articulate how I feel about them…but this pretty much sums it up. Enjoy –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The journaling strips at the bottom read: I find incredible inspiration in family. These three faces give me unbelievable strength, courage and belief in my own personal abilities. They drive and fuel my creative spirit and inspire me to be the best person I can be. They remind me of what truly is important in life. I am more appreciative, kinder, sillier, and more wondrous because of them. They make me laugh a little harder and love a little deeper. They are gifts. They are my legacy. They are my biggest inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

It’s funny how business opportunities can crop up in the strangest ways.  A brother of one of my best friends is an incredible painter – talent runs deep in that family as my friend can also paint and does amazing dried wreaths and floral arrangements.  He does a lot of landscapes and seascapes and the occasional portrait.  He saw a scrapbook that I made for her and loved the photography in it, commenting on how the “composition was wonderful, the colors were rich, and they would make great paintings.”  He contacted me and asked if he could use some of my imagery in his paintings.  I was thrilled, agreed to provide him with photographs for photo credit on his paintings, and we worked out a bit of a professional swap.  I’ll provide him with photos and he will paint me a portrait!  Perfect – I love a win-win situation!! I would love a gorgeous portrait of Horseneck Beach for my dining room wall!  You have to check out his work…he is amazing!  http://williamnihill.com/  I am really honored to be working with him.

We are sending you a bunch of virtual higs and kisses on your special day! All our love – Bob, Jenn, Brenna and Shaylagh

It is so nice to be greeted by a bouquet of fresh flowers when you get into work in the morning.  These were a “thank you” from a co-worker.  I did a favor for her earlier in the week.  A totally unnecessary, but much appreciated gesture by her.  The buds really spruce up my basement office space!! (ever see the movie Office Space?  Has anyone seen my stapler?)

So, like the millions of other people around the world, I tuned in to the Superbowl last night.  (I also watched Criminal Minds, but that is a whole level of creepy that we can save for a separate post.)  I am not a Bears or Colts fan, so the game meant little to me.  I tuned in mainly for three reasons: Billy Joel singing the national anthem, the commercials, and Prince’s half-time show.  I love Prince…huge fan.  I spent my teens worshipping His Pint-Sized Purpleness.  I loved him even when he was just a symbol.  I was devastated when I tried to get tickets for his concert, waited in line at Sears for hours on end, and they sold out 2 people in front of me.  Love him or hate him, you have to agree that he is talented.  Very talented.  And Iloved the halftime show.  I thought it was incredible…right down to his purple electric guitar and the fact that it was actually raining in Miami last night – which made hearing Purple Rain all the more enjoyable.

So, here is my funny tale from yesteryear.  You know you have a tale or two like this, so feel free to share.  As I mentioned, I loved Prince.  And, posters were very popular in the 80’s.  I guess a poster on your wall in the 80’s would be the equivalent of having your favorite artist’s ring-tone on your cell phone today.  I had this risqué poster of Prince that I brought home from Spencer’s or some such thing.  He was nude, lying on his stomach on this round bed of purple satin sheets, with just a smidgen of his tushy peeking out from the sheets (gasp!).  Now, my parents didn’t appreciate the poster as much as I did, so they made me hang it in my closet behind a bunch of clothes.  So, I would go visit the poster often – get out my Z. Cavarrici’s and look at his tight little tush – hahahaha.  Well, one day (and if any of you have younger siblings, you might be able to relate to the rest of this story), I went to take a peek at His Purpleness and I was shocked to see that overnight he had sprouted raging acne on his back and a patch of hair on his derrière – all courtesy of a sister two years my junior and her angry magic marker.  There are no words to describe how angry I was about that.  Now it’s just a funny story from my youth, but back then it was a catastrophe.  Funny how time gives you perspective, huh?

Then, there was the story about how my mom made me write an essay on why I liked Prince and it showed up in the scrapbook she made me when I turned 25.  I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, but I do remember it said he was “foxy.”  hahahaha!  I’ll have to dig it out and refresh my memory.

Any funny tales from your younger days?  Don’t be afraid to write about them or stick them in a scrapbook.  Those stories are little pieces of you that most people probably haven’t heard before and would get a chuckle out of – just a few moments from your life that have helped to make you you.  I know that as my daughter gets older and really starts pining for Zac Efron, she will love to hear how I also had celebrity crushes when I was younger.  I wonder if I will make her hang her Corbin Bleu poster in her closet?!?

If we didn’t have jobs, or kids (flash back to 1993 if you will), or husbands, we would spend today doing some of our favorite things.  Maybe we would light the stove in your barn and make wreaths of dried flowers or scrapbooks while listening to classic rock and munching on some sort of cheesy concoction.  Or we would spend a leisurely day putting around some of our favorite antique stores and marvel over the treasured finds we dug out of some dusty corner.  Maybe we would top the day off with a pedicure, since life is so much more tolerable when your toes have a fresh coat of polish and your heels aren’t like a heavy gauge sandpaper. Then, we would grab a greasy meal consisting of burgers and beers – the waitstaff frustrated with us because we are too busy chatting to look at the menu.  We would laugh and joke, reminiscing on the college days and catching up on all the current news in our lives.

But, mid-week birthdays when you are in your 30’s are the pits.  So, how’s about a raincheck?  Love you, pal!