Truckin

So much is going on - I just wanted to post a couple of quick things.

First of all - our internet stopped working over the weekend. We were going to get it fixed but then decided that since we are going to be out of our apartment within a week - that would be silly. So if you send us emails - we might not be getting them. (I'm in our gym right now.) If you really need us - just call :)

On the house front - we still do not have a closing date. The owners are siding the garage right now with hopes of it being done this week. We then need to wait for a new inspection and assessment to be done, then a date can be set about a week after that. There is a chance that we can move our stuff into the garage, but we'll see if that works out. For now, our plan is to move all our stuff next Saturday - either to the garage or rent a storage unit. Then we will be completely out of our apartment by the 30th. It is looking like we will be staying with some friends over the next couple of weeks. We are so grateful for all of the wonderful and kind offers that we have received for places to stay.

Next up, it was the Ithaca Festival this past weekend. Mike and I had to work most of the time but I got to go to the opening parade on Thursday and then we both went to it yesterday for a few hours.


It was raining - it seems to rain almost every year. Luckily it wasn't as bad as last year's rain. Here I am with Nicole - we were twins :)

Yesterday was a big day at the Festival. There was an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the World's largest peace sign. The decision isn't in yet - but as far as we know, we did it. The largest known sign was 2,500 people - we had around 5,814. here is an article on it from the Ithaca Journal. They're going to post something on Youtube in the next couple of weeks.

There I am! Can you see me?




Ithaca Beer had a tent set up there. Mike wasn't going to work at it but after the huge rush from the peace sign, he couldn't resist stepping in.
All of the plates, silverware and cups at the festival were recyclable and or compostable. Ithaca is really good at making this happen with most of their big events. Here is my Ithaca beer - Partly Sunny, in my compostable cup with my bean from the count for the peace sign. :)

And onto the saddest news of the week. Last Wednesday, I was heading to work in the morning when I got into a car accident. I was making a left turn onto a main road and a woman ran a red light and tore off the front bumper of my Scarlet :(. I was really sad about it and it's been a big pain. At least no one was hurt though and it really could have been much worse. I can still drive it and thankfully for a witness, the other person's insurance should be covering the whole thing. It just couldn't have happened at a worse time. Anyway - what can you do? Just move on and stay positive - although I must admit that my positive vibes are running low.


Well, I hope that everyone reading this is doing good! If you're going to be in Ithaca next Saturday - you are more than welcomed to come to our "moving party :)" Should be loads of fun! Also, don't mail us anything either. I'm in the process of getting a PO box and don't have the address yet. As you may have guessed - since we won't be in the house for a little while, we can't get mail there.

PEACE OUT!

Oh yeah!

I'm sure I'm just procrastinating about packing now, but I wanted to show two papercuttings that I just got done.

This first one was for our friend Kirk who got married last year in CA. We weren't able to make it to the wedding, but I still wanted to make them a papercutting. Unfortunately, my slackerness set in for this one and I didn't cut it until about 3 months ago. And THEN, I slacked off even more and didn't get it framed until last weekend. But it finally got in the mail and hopefully has reached them safely by now (a few days after their one year anniversary). I really liked the final product though - can you find the koala bear?


Then this one is for a girl who is actually working with me this summer. I gave it to her as a thank you and also a congratulations for graduating college. She did her internship with me this past Spring semester and worked full-time with no pay! I was so grateful to have her because she really helped me get ready for this summer. Over the semester she developed a Black Bear program, so that's why I did bears. Also, it's kind of hard to tell but this is the first time I mounted a cutting on a clear frame (it's just stuck between two layers of glass). I LOVED the effect - so I think I will be doing more with this style.

AND, as I'm sitting here on the computer this morning, Myra discovered the mattress leaning against the wall and decided it would be a perfect climbing gym. Cats are so silly. Our poor pets are freaked out about all the packing going on, this will be their 8th move in 5 years - I think they are also ready to plant some roots.

Happy PaPA's Day!

Just a quick shout out to all those Dads out there and especially to our own two Dads :) We're sorry we can't be with you but hope you have nice, relaxing days! Thanks for being so great!
Love you :)

On the Move

So much to update on, so little time...but I'm gonna try :)

We've begun our packing finally. Some of you may be wondering why we're so late in this process but it's because we've had some set backs with our house purchase. To make a LONG story very short, we've been having issues with the garage not being sided. Our bank feels that it should be before they approve us, so we've been going through so many different scenarios to get the thing done. As it has turned out, the owners have finally agreed to do it themselves and should hopefully have it done within the next week. Our hope is that we will still be able to get in by the end of the month (since we have to be out of our apartment then.)

Anyhooo, it's been an adventure, an emotional roller coaster, and we still aren't positive that the whole thing will go through. But we're keeping our spirits up and staying positive about it all. It really helps to have the packing underway. It makes it feel more real - and we're getting super excited to make our final move, at least our last move for several years!

So I realized that I never posted pictures of our apartment after we moved in. I know it's kind of late, but here are some before and NOW pictures of our place - for those who never made it :)

Our living room (my mini-papercutting gallery :)

now!

More living room - the beast - want to come help us move???

Abner! More living room - you can see our balcony.
.

Dining room - kitchen on the left

Kitchen
More kitchen :)
And more kitchen!

My tribute to Delaware - plover papercutting, great blue heron & a going away gift of the towers found on the shore of DE.

Tiny bath

Before

After

Guest room before

now :) - did I mention that we have a little bit of stuff to move?

So I hope you enjoyed the tour (sorry I didn't get pictures of our bedroom - it's way too much of a disaster zone). Stay tuned for the new set up :)

We'll Miss You Ryan & Sarah

So I haven't written about this, but Ryan and Sarah have decided to head back south to Atlanta. They decided a few months ago that they really weren't finding the types of job opportunities that they were hoping for in Ithaca. So they made the decision to move back to Atlanta and focus their attention towards furthering their careers.

It's been a sad thing for Mike and I since we have grown really close to them over this past year. But we completely understand their reasons for moving and wish them the best on their new adventures.

This past Wednesday was their last night in Ithaca and we were able to have a mini going away party for them.

The girls (& Dylan :)

Here's Bill, Ryan, Sarah, Patina & Dylan

We miss you guys so much already!! Best of luck in Atlanta - Ithaca will miss you :)

Happy Shower to Ryan & Sarah!

Last Monday, Memorial Day, we had a shower for Ryan and Sarah in Wellsboro, PA. Mike's Aunt Toni and his cousin Jenifer threw it and it was a lot of fun. Since it was a holiday, we made it more of a picnic for the family, instead of just a bridal shower for the girls.

Of course we had to start off with some good ol' brother bonding time :)

This is a skull umbrella that I got for Sarah (she loves skulls and I thought it would be appropriate for a "shower" ha ha :)

Candles and Eggs with Legs (salt and pepper shakers :)

Here's Roxie, Uncle Walt, Aunt Toni, Grandma, John & Scott

My mom and dad were there too :)

Here's Ryan and Sarah practicing their duo-cake-cutting skills!
Congratulations!!

Pretty Rainbows

I've been seeing some amazing double rainbows lately - just had to share :)

GAP Collection 2008

On May 21st, I ventured to Lancaster, PA to attend The Guild of American Papercutter's Collection 2008. It was a conference for papercutters that ran Wednesday through Sunday, and I must say, it was one of the most exciting things that I have ever been a part of.

I have been papercutting for about 13 years. I first discovered the art when my mom and I went to a Christmas craft show at my high school. There was a booth of papercuttings and I couldn't stop looking at them. That day we went home and I tried my first papercutting. At first I was very sporadic about cutting. I think I would do about one cutting a year or even every other year. Then I attempted to do some for my Christmas craft - I'd do about 15 and not cut again for about a year after finishing. It's really only been during the past 8 years or so that I have begun to do them on a more regular basis.

The funny thing is that this art form is so rarely seen, I've only met a handful of people who do papercuttings over the years. Luckily I got introduced to the Guild of American Papercutters around 2001 and it has been a wonderful connection to others who also do cuttings. The guild publishes a quarterly newsletter and it has been so inspiring. So it was such a great experience to go to the conference and meet all these people who I've read about over the years and have studied their work. I felt this wonderful sense of community - and it was just so cool to be able to be with all of these people who have the same interests as me. I didn't want it to end!

During the conference we spent most of our time at the Lancaster Bible College - attending workshops and different presentations by various artists. We also had a couple of field trips to The Landis Valley Museum, The Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum, The Lancaster Cultural History Museum, and the Lancaster Farmer's Market. I also got to visit with my cousin Lisa and her husband Randy and her daughter Tori - they only live about 10mins from the campus!

Overall, it was a great experience and it really helped to inspire me and get me even more excited about the guild.

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend and if you are really interested, you can check out the slide show of all of my pictures (there are a lot - just to warn you!)

This is my first attempt at using scissors (I do my papercuttings with X-acto knives). This was from a workshop on how to teach large classes.

This is from a workshop on multifolds and layers - my first cutting with layers of paper - fun!

Here I am with my cousin Lisa :)

It was the Guild's 20th anniversary so they had a cake. It was covered with all of these pretty little cuttings done by the committee members.

These are both cuttings I did for fun while I was there. The blue one has initials (SNL) and the gold one is just different designs.


We did a valentine exchange. Here I am with some friends I made - (L to R) Joan Sulecki, Robin Goodfellow (she got the cutting that I made), Me (I got the cutting that Zipora made), and Zipora Ne'eman.

This is another cutting that I did while I was there. It's a heart made out of lilac flowers.

And here is the slide show of all the pictures!!

2008 GAP Collection