Stamp of Approval

Good evening lovely friends!
I wrote another story tonight (on my super secret side project) and I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself. 


It’s been quite a fabulous Saturday! Besides the story, Man-go-round and I checked out a house on the river, I bought some new winter boots (the old ones “checked out” on me last week…), and we spent a little time watching Hockey and enjoying the orange fireball sunset. Life in winter is pretty quiet, but it’s nice to share with someone you care about.


There was one more item idling on my to-do list for the weekend, however (other than watch the Oscars… counting down the minutes!)


Try out my rubber stamps I bought in a Michael’s-specific shopping binge before Valentine’s Day!


So I got out some paper, cleared a space on the coffee table, and played around with my new toys.
Here’s the results. It was fun!






Happy Saturday Night everybody! What are you all going to do? I’m gearing up for a dance party 🙂
Meri
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Brushstroke of Midnight

Scene: Approximately 2005


The clock on the wall says 3:12. I’ve shed my retail smock for the evening and I am free, arms akimbo, to do as I please until sleep beckons. Only with this summer schedule am I able to spend my nights in the quiet, alone, painting to my hearts content and interrupted by nothing. As my next gig the following day, nannying, isn’t until after 1:00, I am free to sleep the morning away.


But for now, vodka tonic by my side, I slap paint on the canvas like a giddy child, savoring this moment to myself.

You don’t have to be Picasso to enjoy paints and canvas!

A few years later, I resume some painting again to soothe my soul and calm my nerves. I am now living in a delapidated mansion with two lovely ladies and one evil cat. I tend to leave out my painting supplies and canvas as I work during the days, and paint most nights that I am home.


I decide to paint something for my parents’ home in Arizona. I haven’t seen their new place yet, but I guess at the color scheme. I have completed it the day before I am set to go visit them. It is drying on the floor in my room, ready to be packed in my carryon.


Alas! that darned cat creeps its creeper paws creepily into my room and appears to pounce on it, spilling my dirty paint water on top.


THAT DARNED CAT!


*A big shout-out to dad-go-round for the i-phone photos he sent me below. Thanks Pops!

I managed to sort of fix it, but to this day it sits
smudged and discolored at my parents’ place

By the way, it matches their place quite well if I do say so myself! Also, notice that the colors are the same as my wall hanging pictured in recent post “Hanging Garden.” Yep, leftover paints.


Finally, we move to the year 2010. My momma has been glorifying all of these recrafted and recycled trays she has been seeing at posh shops and antique roadshows and whatnot. So, when I spot a 2 dollar red tray at a garage sale, I snap it up.

A slipshod paint job or two later, it got wrapped up for Christmas, fated to hold her covetable jewelry collection forevermore!

See?
Were I to be that tray on that Arizonan table…
beam me south, Scotty!

So there you have it! A few lovely paint jobs from my “youth.” If you think I have a lot of photos here, you should see my high school bedroom. Someone was apparently a bit too “emo” for their own good. Just kidding, they were all flowers and sailboats. I never could take the emo thing very seriously 🙂

(wearing my beret and posing, hoping to get man-go-round’s attention from the hockey game…)
signing off!
Meri

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Mirror, mirror on the fridge

Who’s the fairest of them all? Hmm. If we’re talking fair skin, I unfortunately still don’t apply. My Bohemian forefathers have ensured that as winter drags on my skin takes on not a porcelain dewiness, but a sallow olivey fairness. Yikes. 


Luckily, I leave for Arizona to see mom and pop go-round in mere days!


I digress. 


What has me talking mirrors and fairness? Well, both my obnoxious vanity and my craft project from Christmas involving both magnets and mirrors! So here goes, from the birthing stages to the happy unwrapping.



Step 1: collect corks (or let me collect them for you muah ha ha)

Step 2: Nerd out and arrange them on the windowsill for their photo op

Step 3: Spray paint jar lids. Or have man of the house do it hehe

Step 4: Amass crystals, mirror pieces, anything silver, hot glue gun

Step 5: Hot glue silver crap onto jar lids in any pattern you see fit

Step 6: Chop corks into thirds. Take care not to sever fingers

Step 7: Hot glue corks onto lids. Stick or hot glue magnets to corks.

Step 8: Finito! Crafts for everyone on your holiday list!

So there you have it. A few of mine fell apart that first night, as I put all 20 of them on the fridge. Now they are hand mirrors or other decorations. 


*Disclaimer: lightweight jar lids work best!


Okay, happy hot gluing y’all. I’m off to feed my lefse addiction.


Meri

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Fruit Cocktail

Need a place to rest your glass? Never know what to do with the colorful stickers on your bright and cheery produce?


I’ve got an idiot-proof craft for you!


A few months ago my sister gave me these coasters with frames to put photos in. 

This craft is brought to you by the Notorious B.I.Z.
I showed them to man-go-round, and our initial thought was to put some travel pics in there from one of our recent trips. However, I had not gotten around to choosing any photos.

Then, one fateful day, I plucked the stickers off of my bananas, and onto their rightful place:

Why on earth have I been collecting fruit and veg stickers for over 6 months?

Well, I had no idea, until today!


I had been collecting these stickers in our take-out menu folder for months now, and didn’t have a plan in place to use them. My a-ha moment was that they might be fun to display in the coasters, as they are food related.


Man-go-round was aghast that I might so capriciously cut apart my precious collection, so I ended up using the old scanner and making a color copy.


Then, I cut out some squares containing my favorite stickers (the banana monkey stickers are a hot commodity)


And put them in the coasters. My apologies for the picture quality, the glass reflections sort of befuddled my poor point and shoot.

All together now

There’s one of the monkeys 🙂

“family portraits”

So there you have it, my little 15 minute Wednesday night craft. 


I’ve also started brainstorming all sorts of other inserts to put in these, seasonal or not:


-scans of ketchup/ soy sauce/ mustard packets
-wine/champagne/beer labels
-wrapping paper
-dried leaves or flowers
-artwork (child or otherwise)


What else would you guys put in these?


And more importantly, what do you do with your produce stickers? Am I the only wacko that saves them?


Meri

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Vice Versatile

Hey errrrbody. Award season has arrived!


No, I don’t mean the Oscars. Although I do wait with bated breath to see what couture confections the rich and famous don this Sunday, I’m speaking of an award given to ME!



This bundle of flattery was given to me by Petite Hermine, a really cool blogger with a super fancy etsy shop (I want about half of her necklaces). I would recommend checking out her blog and buying some of the things I can’t afford until I’m a famous writer/ the president.


The rules of the award entail sharing 7 things about myself. I do recall sharing 7 things about myself when accepting the Stylish Blogger award, and in the interest of keeping my lovely readers, I’m going to do a variation.


So, in the spirit of the cheesy title I created for today, I’ll share 7 of my “deadly sins.” Well, maybe not deadly sins, but 7 of my vices anyway.


1. I am frighteningly addicted to Good Earth Original Caffeine Free tea. I stockpile boxes and boxes of it, drink 2-3 cups a day, and panic at the thought of its discontinuation. Something about the combination of cinnamon, orange, spices, sweet… mmmmm.

link





2. Archie comics. Yes, really. No, not just as a kid. As in, I recently purchased a double digest with my Borders Bucks (I hate owning books but don’t mind owning a few magazines!) My sister will surely appreciate this as she was just as gaga over them. Note the past tense for her, “was.” I’m still in arrested development.


3. Diet Mountain Dew. I blame my best friend for liking this years back and getting me into this crap, and a current co-worker’s daily drinking of it for it’s resurgence in my life. I’m now in the “dew club” at Super America. God help me.

link



4. Crossword puzzles. Can’t go a day without one.


5. Going to the library several days in a row. Nerd alert.


6. Reality TV (Yes, even mighty meri is not too good for this. sarcasm) Project runway, What not to wear, Food Network, America’s next top model, and most recently, “Four Weddings.” Man-go-round watches in horror as the plots develop across our 42 inch high definition television.



link





7. Errands. Sometimes I run errands just to get out of the house. I think even though I can be really quiet I’m also a hopeless extravert who gets a lot of my energy from being “around” other people. Not necessarily interacting, just being around them. There’s a difference.


There you have it- 7 more things to make fun of me for! Open season on Meri! 


Tee hee. 


Now the second part of this is to pass the award on. I’m going to follow a trend I’ve seen lately and say that if you read Meri-goes-round, you deserve an award. Therefore, I give it to ALL OF MY FABULOUS READERS!


I want to know 7 things about each of you! Please send a link if you do so I can come read it!


Goodnight now! I have a date with a cup of tea and a crossword 🙂
Meri

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The Lunch Packing District

How did I spend my day today?

SNOW DAY!

This has been the very first snow day in my adult working career, and boy was it exciting. Since I don’t drive to work, I would have made it there just fine, but it was nice to enjoy the 3 day weekend that everyone else had for President’s Day anyway! When I rolled out of bed at like 11 o clock, I noticed my lunch bag sitting on the counter, ready to be packed with items from the fridge.

Thanks TJ Maxx- $6


I have always been a bit too cheap to spend money going out to eat for lunch, so I always pack snacks for work. I still often supplement this lunch with something purchased, but I only end up spending a dollar or two instead of several.

Plus, due to work schedule/ digestive needs, I’m definitely more of a “lots of small meals” type of gal than a “one huge lunch” girl. Guess what goes well with small meals/ snacks?

Thanks Paperchase!
Yep, you guessed it: Really cute nesting snack containers! You can fill them with veggies (I think I’m one container away from cucumber rehab…), leftover lentils or barley, goldfish crackers (yes, for adults…) almonds and dried fruit, sandwich halves, and more! I love these things and they put a smile on my face every time I pack or eat a snack.

Last but not least- how does one save money and the environment on their daily beverage needs?
They bring this trio to work with them:

Left to right: Mug from Mama, Sippy cup from Target, Lidded mug from Caribou Coffee


This may make me look like crazy beverage lady, but they serve distinct purposes:
1. Photo mug (thanks mommy!) for coffee at my desk
2. Sippy cup to keep dust out of my water at my desk
3. Covered mug for tea during sessions

The trifecta!

Now go forth, out of your hibernation, back to work, and PACK A LUNCH!!

Meri

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Don’t be a flake!

Snowflake, that is.


I was caught by quite a surprise this afternoon when I headed out to the library to meet my sister and two of my nieces. We had planned to meet at a branch on the other side of town that happens to be open on Sundays.


Mother Flaker! What a snowstorm!
In reverence to this obnoxious storm which bestowed 4 1/2 feet of visibility, clumps of ice freezing onto my windshield wipers, freakish winds, and the fact that I live on a hill and my car wouldn’t make it back up, causing me to back up onto a busy street in a foot of snow…


I give you an homage to snowflakes. Craft style.


First, some scans of magazine snowflakes I made:


Snowflake monster!

I’m callin this one Lady Gaga

Sort of Christmassy

Tropical Snowflake Flower

The preppy in me loves this one


Go Vikings!

Another batch of snowflakes is white painted newsprint flakes hanging on our front windows, with the snow raging outside in the background:

Une

Deux

Trois!

And finally, a memento from a birthday of yore (okay, actually it was from my 25th birthday, not really yore), are these snowflake badges that I created and made everyone wear at my party. Man-go-round stuck his on our window frame, and it’s been there just over a year now. It’s looking a bit frayed…


Anyone else remember these?


Well, maybe now that I’ve shown my love and devotion to snowflakes, it will STOP SNOWING? Especially since the aforementioned snow kept me from getting to Target to get the new boots I need (the paperclip will only last so long on the current ones),


Did any of you guys have crazy weather today? Anyone else brave the storm to drive somewhere today?


Meri

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The Stained Glass Menagerie

Heyo-


We finally saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1, tonight. Thanks Riverview! I was stricken by the freakish resemblance between the actress who plays Ginny Weasley and Laura Linney- has anyone else noticed this?


I managed to hold it together when they buried Dobby, but it was touch and go for a minute there.


So it’s a bit late now and I am feeling like posting a little montage of some art glass projects I did back in high school. I really enjoyed my senior year of high school, seeing as my class list looked something like, 


3D art
strength training
stained glass
phy-ed
world religions
knitting AP Psych
creative writing


Seriously, I think these were the classes I took. Can I go back to high school now???


Without further ado, I give you my senior thesis:

I think the lotus flower was inspired by my World Religions course?

Here comes the sun…

Tell me that boombox isn’t’ awesome

So there you have it.


Were you guys slackers in high school too? Or did you work your butts off and take Chemistry and Physics?


Do tell!
Meri Potter

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Back to the drawing board

Hey diddle diddle! I wrote you a riddle, and now I’m over the moooon!


I’m in a goofy mood. It’s Friday, I met a few personal goals this week, and I’ve now received both my federal and state tax refunds. Plus, it was payday. 


Feelin’ fine at 10 minutes to nine…


Today I investigated this site called “750 words” that was brought to my attention by my literary genius eldest sister. The founder of this site based this website on a concept introduced in The Artist’s Way, a book introduced to me when I was fifteen by my totally awesome guitar teacher. It’s been years since I read the book. It now collects dust at my parents’ house, but the inspiration I found in that book has stayed with me over ten years now. 


These days, I continue to do personal writing. One day, I may even share it with the world. For now, I’ll share with the world another “brain dumping”pastime of mine. 


DOODLING!

I doodle in class…

I doodle in meetings…

I doodle in candyland themes…

in pen, pencil, crayon, and more…

Doodle bug!

Doodling has always been a tool to help me focus. I am lucky enough to work in a profession where we diagnose kids with sensory integration disorders daily, and so this need to doodle or fidget is not only acceptable, but encouraged! At trainings we sometimes get playdough and stress balls to play with. I’ve discussed my doodles with case management families while we were meeting, and they were totally unoffended.


The times they are a changin’, and baby I’m thrilled.


Are you a doodler? Or are you guys familiar with The Artist’s Way or 750 words?


Peace,


Yankee “Doodle” Meri

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Please sir, may I have some mochi?

At the co-op earlier, I espied some tantalizing mochi sitting on the refrigerator shelf. It reminded me that I saw it much the same way a week or so ago, and purchased it.


Part of my enviable success with spending half of my paycheck at co-ops and whole foods type groceries comes from my unstoppable impulse to try every single new thing I come across. This either comes from my curious nature or the fact that as I grew up I basically subsisted on three white foods:


-Potatoes
-Rice/ Pasta (rescued mere moments before it was put into whatever the “normal” and carnivorous family members were eating)
-Cauliflower (which I strangely ate the tops off of and then arranged the stems in patterns around my plate…


I’ve become quite adventurous in my more advanced age. Now, I’m no Sandra Lee (who can aspire to the greatness of her culinary genius, after all?) but I figured that I could slice and bake some dessert confections with the rest of them! 


Without further ado, I give you: 


Meri-Mochi with TJ’s Peanut Flour Sauce

Step 1: Purchase Mochi, a delightful puffed dessert bread

Step 2: Cut Mochi into 1 1/2 inch squares

Step 3: Bake Mochi per package instructions, watch as it puffs up into
curious anthropomorhic blobs and chunks. 

Step 4: Mix together a few tbps of Trader Joes peanut flour (if you still
have some, that is) with equal parts water, some salt and some sugar.
Alternately, you can thin it out a bit and nuke it a few seconds. Or, you
could just melt a few tbsp of actual peanut butter in the microwave.

Step 5: Pour a little sauce over each mochi piece. Enjoy! I thought it sort
of tasted like the texture of a mini-doughnut, with a less sweet and less
greasy flavor. Also, this is the cinnamon raisin variety so it was flavored as such.

The verdict? It was pretty good, I’ll finish making the rest of the package. But it isn’t the tastiest thing I’ve ever made. That would be my similarly semi-homemade microwave pancake cookies hehe.


Goodnight Y’all! (channeling Paula Deen now, Sandra Lee has been kicked out of my consciousness)- Do you ever deign to make store bought baked goods like a peon like me? Go on, admit it… you ain’t all gourmets all of the time!


Meri

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