Long Awaited UPS Delivery

Feb 2011 - Alright, I'm giddy.

My first shipment of Faux Bone strip has arrived!!! No more hand cutting sheets, resulting in aching wrists and blistered palms... I can now play to my heart's content. The good folks at Crackerdog Designs were kind enough to work with me to have their great product cut into 2 foot long sections of 2mm, 3mm, 7mm and 9mm strips. They will be available to everyone on our websites in the next few months. I finally had a chance to sit down and work with it last night. I've been concepting a series of rings in my head and they've been screaming to get out. I've pictured the first one here.

The geode fragment came from a local store call Jerry's Rock and Gem in Kent, WA. I went down there a few weeks ago with the idea that I'd just pickup a few things to play with...2 hours later (with a 3-year-old I might add), and I have a pile of rocks and crystal fragments that will hopefully make it into rings over the next few weeks. Aiden, my son, was a gem himself. After getting over his initial excitement of seeing rocks and fossils, he sat quietly next to me playing Angry Birds on my phone. He got to pick out a rock for behaving so well and he looks for it almost everyday so he can keep it in his pocket.

Already down south, I made a side trip to IKEA, where for the first time in many years i didn't walk out of the "As-Is" furniture section with some piece of furniture I didn't need. Then, I headed to Fry's Electronics, where I bought a random assortment of computer parts, colored zip ties, and shrink tubing. I already have a bracelet in the works using the zip ties...more on that next time! But of course, those were not the reason I went to Fry's. I had to buy some Ferric Chloride to do some copper etching. My daughter's elementary school is having an auction and I had all the kids draw pictures on copper squares which I will etch and frame. Twenty four kids with Sharpie markers sent fear through me, but in the end it was great fun and the kids did a fantastic job. I'll post the final piece when it is done.

And this brings me to teachers. Having had a chance to see my daughter's teacher in action several times now, I am in awe of her. She spends all day interacting with the kids and works hard to create a calm, nurturing, creative yet structured environment that allow the kids to learn. Yet, every week, we get a long email newsletter and attached to it are flash cards, wave files of her singing songs the kids are learning in Spanish, pictures of some of the kids work, and detailed plans for what is coming up. When does she do this? I have a feeling much of it is done on her own time.

I'll be honest. I don't think I "got it" until now, having had no kids in school. But now that I "get it" I hope I can find a way to let her know how much we appreciate her... at least until Hallmark invents a thank you note that comes with a gift card for 2 extra hours a day.