Helloooo. :)
I'm back from Sunny Las Vegas. Sigh.
No more nightly bubble baths for me. No more city of lights. No more free shows. Back to real life. With lots of laundry.

It sure was a nice week though. Despite the sore feet, and calves, and thighs, and back...
You see, the hubs and I went to the World Of Concrete convention this week. I know. You're like: What the heck is that?
Unless you've got some construction industry ties in your world, then maybe you already know, that WOC is a convention held every year in Las Vegas for construction industry types from all over the world. Basically anything and everything that has to do with building stuff. From software to dump trucks and everything in between. Brands you might recognize like MAC trucks, Carhartt, Honeywell, Quikrete, Case, John Deere, Ford...really I could go on and on...they all show up and bring their products to showcase, to do some networking, and make some contacts.

Since my hubs is one of those construction industry types - a Pre-cast Concrete Production Manager to be more specific - we attend WOC about every 3 years. He takes classes, he networks, he gathers info and swag, I gawk and all the stuff I didn't know you could do with concrete and ask a million questions...I pretend to be a dump truck driver...

And claim if I could be assured I would get to drive a 40 ton dump truck I'd have a new career path. Cause it's so dang cool. It's like climbing a jungle gym to get into the thing! They have obstacle courses for these trucks, and for all sorts of other construction vehicles - front-end loaders, forklifts, skid steers, etc. I couldn't convince the hubs to compete, but I'm pretty sure he'd have kicked butt. :)

It's not all big equiment and guys out there at the convention either. There are some pretty awesome things you can do in concrete that utilize brilliant colors and art skills.

I think maybe that sort of thing is more my style than driving a dump truck!

So, everyday for three days we headed over to the convention center and walked one of the 3 'halls'. Giant spaces with hundreds of vendors. We watched competitions in the lots outside - one of which was a brick laying competition. Can you imagine laying 700-800 brick in a 12 foot wall in an hour? It happened. The winner walked away with a new truck and nice check. I'm just impressed with these guy - and 1 gal - for their skill and stamina. My arms and back hurt just watching them!

Our evenings were full of Vegas exploration. If you've never been to Las Vegas let me just tell you that you can be fully entertained and have lots of fun without drinking, gambling, or seeing an expensive show. I know, cause that's how we roll. :)

Among our favorites is the Bellagio fountains...We watch for an hour. Every 15 minutes there is a new song & a new show. It's awesome.

We also love Freemont Street. It's old school Vegas, but so relaxed and fun. The giant TV canopy over the street is pretty cool, but the street performers are so very awesome. Musicians, contortionists, painters...there is always something new and interesting to see. Last time we went there was dirtbike riders in a giant steel globe, this time Chinese dance and opera...

Most hotels have something entertaining to watch or do for free...MGM has the Studio Walk screening (you watch a TV show and get coupons for your opinions and the 45min. of your time) & the lions are pretty cute too. Mirage has an erupting volcano, Caesar's Palace has the Fall of Atlantis animatronic show, or you can stoll along the canals in The Venetian and be charmed by the living statues. And, don't forget The Sirens of TI show at Treasure Island.

Las Vegas was good to us this week. Even though by Thursday I was declaring my sneakers to be some kind of torture device and bought a pair of ballet flats at the Luxor to wear home on Friday. I look forward to going back in another 3 years and that old-friend feeling the city has begun to have for us. Do you have a favorite vacation spot that's like an old-friend?

    The original Inspired To Create Tutorial to sew up an earbud zippy!

    I actually used this idea one other time & hated the results, so I didn't count it till I used the idea again & decided it was great inspiration. It's a Zippy Earbud Pouch. Here are my first hideous results...

    What I did wrong was 1. improvised instead of reading directions, and 2. rushed and didn't think it through. So, I used it a bit, it started falling apart, and I set it on my cutting table to remind myself to go back and try it again. And, I did. But with my own twist. 
    The HST BOM has got me thinking up things to put Half-Square Triangles on, so I decided I wanted a little HST pouch for my earbuds instead. I made some little 2.5 inch squares from scraps and turned them into 2 inch HSTs that I played around with to find a pattern I liked...a pinwheel?

a diamond?

a hourglass? So many ways to rearrange!

I finally settled on a chevron design for one side...

and hourglass for the other...

    Now that is an earbud pouch I can admire!
It also is not that much bigger than the little circle - only about 3/4 on an inch taller & wider. I used a little extra piece of zipper to make the loop which I kindof like & will do again in other projects. Yay!

The original Inspired To Create Tutorial to cover your earbuds!

    I'm also using this idea to fancy up my plain black earbund to go in this little pouch. I used to do this wrap and knot technique for friendship bracelets in junior highschool so I just dumped out a bunch of embroider floss I thought I might like to use up and got to work. This one will take a little bit to wrap all the wire but it's an easy something to do in front of the TV. I also didn't get fussy with colors choices, but you could totally color coordinate your earbuds with their zippy or phone or purse. 

EDIT: This post was formerly 'Using a Pin' & linked to Pinterest. But, now...I've decided to delete myself from Pinterest & go back and post a link the original sites where the ideas I used were found. I love the idea of Pinterst, but all the legalities of photo ownership & lack of good credit for all the people with these great ideas bothers me. Plus, do I really need another thing to do online? No. I need to spend more time in real life creating rather than endless hours gathering millions of ideas I'll never use. I already get lots of photo inspiration over at Flickr, which I have used for a long while & can continue to do that.  If you happen to know of a different or variation on the source I use please let me know!

    I thought I would start a little series here on the blog...
Nothing too precise, no timeline, just a little something to get me motivated. The only rules? That I have to use a project, tutorial or photo I find on the web as inspiration. Because I can spend all day searching for projects, collecting ideas & thinking over inspiration & nevery really getting to the actual doing of all those projects, never using any of the ideas. And, I need to use them. Inspiration is wonderful but the act of putting it to work for you is the real glory. 
    So, here we go...
My first used inspiration! Drum roll please.
Painting all the shiny brass knobs with Rustoleum!

For a really, really long time we've wanted to change this:

Into this:

    We just could not fathom spending hundreds of dollars on new hardware for all the doors in our house. We managed to change our front door - the door itself went from solid and brown with brass hardware to a reddish wood with a glass mosaic design and brushed nickel hardware - a few years ago. But getting to all the other doors has been a long study in waiting. 
    
    I've also wanted to paint all of our interior doors white for a while now. Dark brown doors in a small house make everything feel that much smaller and darker. I had a feeling white doors would make our hallway bright, light and open. I was so right! I haven't even finished all the doors in the hall yet & already I am amazed and in love with the change! Not to mention the nickel finish on the hardware is perfect and saved us major moolah! Woot! 

    We have 10 interior doors in our house, by the way. This will be a long process. I managed to get 3 of them done this weekend. And, I use the word done loosely. Here is what I did:
    
    I began by having my hubs remove the doors, carry them to our garage and remove all the hardware. I then had him load the electric sander with a 220 grit sandpaper. I stretched 1 door on sawhorses, leaned the other two against cabinets, & set up a card table covered with newspaper and cardboard to hold all the hardware. Then, I sanded the first side of all the doors, and sanded all the surfaces of the hardware. I wasn't trying to remove all the finish or paint, but to remove all the shine and to well scuff the hardware. After all the sanding I wiped everything down with a vinegar & water solution to remove all the dust and any residue. When everything was dry I started painting. 
    
    For the doors I used Olympic Paint & Primer in One from Lowe's. I used the True White Base in Satin. I rolled on 3 coats, allowing about an hour in between. For the hardware I used Rustoleum Universal Metallic Spray Paint in Satin Nickel, also from Lowe's. I used 2 coats allowing a half-hour in between. After the last coat of paint on the first side I let everything dry about 3 hours before I flipped it all over and began with sanding the backside of the doors.

    After all the painting I let the whole mess dry overnight. Then, the hubs reaffixed all the hardware and rehung the doors. Now, I say that the doors are loosely done because as I've looked at them today in the light of morning I think I will choose a semi-gloss white and go over the doors one more time. The satin finish is just a bit too flat. I also will repaint all the trim in the same white - since the aged white now looks yellowed next to the fresh crisp new white. So they are done for the moment - as I work my way through the other 7 doors in our house. Overall the project will have a second faze, it's a bit of a long term one in that respect, in a few months I am sure I will be very very happy with the end result. And, during the second painting faze I'll probably use this handy aluminum foil tip to help me. 

   Are you an inspiration collector? Have you used any of your favorites lately or are you still collecting? I have a bunch of kitchen remodel inspiration collected that I'd like to start after all these pesky doors are done. But. One major home improvement project at a time. Or so my hubs tells me. :)

EDIT: This post was formerly 'Using a Pin' & linked to Pinterest. But, now...I've decided to delete myself from Pinterest & go back and post a link the original sites where the ideas I used were found. I love the idea of Pinterst, but all the legalities of photo ownership & lack of good credit for all the people with these great ideas bothers me. Plus, do I really need another thing to do online? No. I need to spend more time in real life creating rather than endless hours gathering millions of ideas I'll never use. I already get lots of photo inspiration over at Flickr, which I have used for a long while & can continue to do that.  If you happen to know of a different or variation on the source I use please let me know!

    So, I've been cleaning out the photo album where I store my printed pictures until I use them in a scrapbook layout. Cleaning out the ones that never made it into a layout, and the ones I won't put into the family album of extra photos for one reason or another. I really like most of them, I just don't know what to do with them. I need to make room for all those 2012 pictures I'll be taking with my new camera! (Thank you, Bubba Gump!) I have a system for storing photos on my PC for the year they were taken & then removing them all to a external harddrive once that year is over to make room on my PC for the new year's photos. I kinda do the same thing with my one photo album for scrapbooking. I always seem to end up with extra photos that I dunno what to do with.

    Since I discovered last year that I really enjoyed making postcards I decided to turn a bunch of my extra photos into some. Most photos became postcards for note writing to friends and family, some became thank you post cards to add to packages sent from my shop. I embelished some with stickers & odds and ends from my scrap supplies, I also played around with my stamps for the thank you cards. It was fun, easy & useful. Not to mention I'm so glad I don't have to wonder what to to with all those extra photos now. 

    All this photo storage & cleaning out got me to wondering how all of you store your photos? Do you keep everything digital? Use prints? What kind of system do you have? I love organization tips so if you have some that work great for photos please share! Do you rotate stuff around at the beginning or end of the year? What do you do with extras? Postcard, anyone? :)

Nurture.

This is my word.
It was an immediate knowing this year.
No hunting for the right word.
It was just waiting for me to get to it, to pick it up & see how it felt.
Nurture.

Definition:
verb.
1. to feed & protect
2. to support & encourage
3. to bring up, train eduacate

noun.
4. rearing, upbringing, training, education
5. development
6. something that nourishes, nourishment

I especially like the verb definitions.
I feel like this one little word speaks to so many aspects of my life, especially the realtionships in my life....with myself, my friends, & family. I'm excited to see how it develops & informs my year. 

Have you chosen your word yet? 

I maybe should have done this two days ago, but better late than never...   :)

I'm wrapping up my 2011 One Little Word...I thought I'd share my thoughts in how this project worked out for me, the things I'm keeping for this new year, & the things I'm letting go.

I didn't work very hard at allowing my word to change my life in 2011. I discovered here at the end looking back that it informed who I was anyway. I made new friends & developed new relationships - something that is usually very hard for me to do in real life because I am so shy. I embraced who I am just a little bit more, embraced my little quirks & laughed at myself more than I beat myself up. That alone seems amazing to me. Bloom was about getting healthier, I just didn't realize in the beginning it was about more than the physical act of making my body healthier. It was also about making my internal world healthier, loving who I am a little more, being kinder with myself, facing a fear or two. I love that my word surprised me this year.

I'd also like to talk a moment about my goals, what worked, what didn't, what I'm carrying over...

Goal #1 was to eat more veggies. Done. This is my new way of life & I love it. I'm not 100% vegetarian, I like to tell people I'm about 95% all veg all the time. But, if I feel like I'm craving something - BBQ wings or crab bisque or turkey for Thanksgiving then I eat what I'm craving & don't beat myself up about it. I also don't make a big stink when I go to someone's house & my option for a veg dinner is coleslaw. Sometimes I can eat all sides & it's totally a meal, other times I eat what's on the menu & move on. I plan to keep this up, & try to think more creatively when I'm in situations where I feel like I don't have a vegetarian option.

Goal #2 was Activity 365. I bombed this a quarter of the way through the year. I feel like maybe I set such a strict ideal for myself I just could not maintain the intensity I thought I should have. So, I am carrying this over to 2012, but with the caveat that I need to be gentler with myself & my expectations of how I make this part of my life. I don't have to spend an hour on the treadmill for me to feel like it 'counts'. I need to find a way to do this so that it can just be part of who I am & not something I torture myself with in the process of or with the failure of.

Goal #3 was a 5k. This never did work out, even though I still think it would be fun to walk one. I'm not carring this over as a goal but will embrace the opportunity should it come up. I still love the idea of a whole group of my family & friends getting together & supporting each other in this endeavor but as a goal it just is not for me.

Goal #4 was to learn to knit in the round. Which didn't happen. It turned out that my creative learning process had another goal in mind - to learn to knit lace - which totally did happen! So, I'm rewording this goal to be - learn a new creative skill. I definitely plan to do that in 2012. Maybe this will be the year for knitting in the round. Ya never know. :)

I'm excited to share my new word for 2012 with you, but that will come in a nother post. I'm still getting comfortable with it today. What I would love to know though is how you word/goals/life changed over the course of the year. Did you change in unexpected ways too? How was 2011 for you & your family? I'm praying there was more laughter than tears, more blessings than sorrow, & more love in your life.