blog — Page 29

Less is More

May 9, 2012 at 7:04 am by Claudia

I’ve been itching to clean things up around here. Here, meaning the blog, and here, meaning the cottage. I have a lot of stuff. And I love it all. I’m a collector. But sometimes I just have to go through everything and decide what I need to toss or store and what I truly want out on display. Since I’m limited right now as to my time at home, the only area I can really attack is the studio. It took me all of an hour today to put many things away in boxes to be stored and to neaten things up a bit. Keep in mind that when I left for Hartford, there were stacks of boxes on the sewing table, stuff on the chair and lots of stuff on the floor.

All of the boxes I use to ship items from the shop have been put under the sewing table. Hmmm. I’m thinking about changing the skirt on the table sometime in the future.

Many of the things I had on top of the sewing table have been put into storage. If you look to the right, you’ll see I took most everything off my inspiration/mood board. It was way too cluttered. And to the left you’ll see I’ve added a photo of my mom when she was a teenager.

Isn’t she pretty? I used to have that dress when I was young. I wish I knew what happened to it.

I cleaned off most of the mantel/shelf. There’s much less there now. (Sorry for the grainy photos, it’s very rainy here today and I’m leaving for Hartford tomorrow. So I just went ahead and took them anyway.)

Bye bye clutter on the top of the bookshelf.

I also cleaned off the top of the cabinet. Do you ever get the urge to purge? I want to tackle the bedroom next and my everything-but-the-kitchen-sink closet, otherwise known as my craft closet. Not only does it house work stuff, craft stuff, and all sorts of other stuff, it is now holding some of my husband’s clothes. It’s bursting at the seams.

I’ve been cleaning up the blog as well, starting with my new banner. I’ve changed my post divider. I’ve eliminated some of the things on the sidebar – that seems to be a never-ending battle. I also made a new blog button. The old one just didn’t suit Mockingbird Hill Cottage’s current incarnation. The new button is so simple it might even be boring. However, does anyone use blog buttons anymore? It used to be a big thing, but now I really don’t see them that much. Maybe they’ve gone the way of the dinosaur? I’d be happy to get rid of my button altogether. What do you think?

I’m off to Hartford this morning. The next 9 days will be full of afternoon and evening rehearsals and performances. This is when I have to adjust my sleep cycle. I’m usually in bed by 11 at the very latest and now I won’t even be done with rehearsal by 11. The older I get, the harder it gets to change my sleep schedule!

Happy Wednesday.

Twitchy, Lamps & Fonts

January 16, 2012 at 11:14 am by Claudia

I’ve had a twitch in my left eyelid for 2 days now.

It’s as if the eyelid has been possessed.

Meanwhile, it’s very cold here. I had my flannel pajamas and a shawl on for most of the day yesterday. Very cozy and, frankly, warmer than a pair of jeans and a sweater, which I also had on for a short time until I realized my pajamas were a much better choice. Does extremely cold weather make you sleepy? Must be the urge to hibernate that runs through us all.

I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to sit here in my blogging chair and see this funky, cheery desk across the room. Seriously, it makes me smile. It brightens up that corner of the room. I brought the lamp down from the studio and replaced it with another cute lamp that I found at Target.

This isn’t the best photo; I took it very quickly. The wall needs painting, as does every other wall in this house. But you get an idea, right? A soft pink color on the shade that really suits the colors in the studio.

Here’s the question of the day: Brenda and our friend Nola have been bugging me about my font. The one I was using previously is Century Gothic. (I love it.) For some reason, they have trouble reading it. Yesterday, while on the phone with Ms. Brenda, we tried other fonts and this is the one I ended up with. It’s called Josefin Slab.

But at the end of the evening yesterday and again when I woke up this morning, I had a little trouble reading it. (Perhaps because of the dreaded twitch?) I spent an obsessive 2 hours this morning trying different fonts. Now I have no idea what I want.

What do you think of this font? Can you read it? Is it too dark, too light?

Let me also say that there’s no guarantee I won’t be messing with it throughout the day. But I promise to leave it alone for a couple of hours so I can read your comments.

Let’s close with a shot of the sky this Monday morning:

I’m glad I snapped it when I did, because it looks totally different now.

Go figure. Now I’m liking the font again. I’m sure that will change in about 2 minutes.

Update: Now I’ve changed it to Merriweather – Josefin Slab was just too light. What do you think? And yes, I know I’m slightly obsessive, but the look of my blog means a great deal to me. And if you liked the old font, let me know that, too.

Books & Threaded Comments

January 15, 2012 at 9:30 am by Claudia

It’s Sunday morning. I’ve been awake since 6 am. A mite too early for my taste.

:: My current stack of reading matter:

The Prime Suspect mysteries – these were the inspiration for the British television series starring Helen Mirren and the current series starring Maria Bello (both of which are excellent, I might add.) I’m reviewing these in March and April.

A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé – A wonderful read by a French author that has been translated into English. My friend who owns a bookstore in Spring Green, Wisconsin recommended it to me last summer. I’m just now getting to it and I really love it.

Starting an Etsy Business for Dummies – If I can, I will always consult a book for ‘how-to’ knowledge. I need to see all the information on the page. And I like being able to go back to the reference book again and again.

Country Gardens magazine – Because when I am in the midst of Winter, I desperately need to see green things growing.

:: Someone recently asked me about compiling blog posts in book form. I’m sorry but I can’t remember who it was! There are several programs available. The one I use is Blurb. It’s very simple. All you have to do is download the software – then you can have fun editing and designing your book. I have another one ready to print, but I’ve been lazy about pushing the publish button. I like the idea of having a book for each year of my blog. My 4 year blogiversary is around the corner, so that means I’m about 2 books behind!

:: I’m going to try something out. My friend at Olive Out recently wrote a post about how to add threaded comments to a post. That means that the blogger has the ability to respond directly to a question or a comment within the comments section. I get a lot of questions and, as you know, there are still many bloggers out there who have a “No Reply-Comment” address which makes it impossible to respond via email.

I’m a little hesitant because I know that I rarely go back to a post I’ve commented on to see if there is an answer to my question. This means there will no longer be a pop-up window when you comment, which I’ve always liked. But, let’s experiment! I’m willing to give it a go – who knows? It may be the perfect way to respond to your questions.

Let the thread begin!

It’s absolutely frigid here. Is it cold in your neck of the woods?

Update: I did some googling and it looks like bloggers who use IE are having problems commenting on posts with embedded comments. I don’t want anyone left out, so I’ve reverted back to my pop-up window until the issue gets fixed. So…I’ll definitely do this in the future, but let’s hold off until everyone can comment.

Less is More

Twitchy, Lamps & Fonts

Books & Threaded Comments

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Lambs Like to Party

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