Color-coordinated cropping and antique shopping

It started when I was cropping Friday night. These new Craft-Mate notion boxes were flying out the door. At $20-$33 a pop, I wasn't jumping up to get one myself. But then I realized I drag my tackle box along EVERY Friday, and never open it. I started to think of how unorganized the tackle box is, with fibers, beads, buttons, charms, etc. etc. stuffed in it, no order to it, everything buried in the bottom compartment and stuff falling out of the open slots every time I forget to lock it and accidentally carry it off half-opened.

Sunday I went back to the store just before closing time and got the big one, 56 compartments, thinking I couldn't possibly fill it with the stuff from my tackle box. Until I got the idea to sort everything by color. I'm obsessed with color.


Spooky.

So yeah, everything fit. Or I made it fit. It makes me want to use my notions now, so it's a good purchase. Only the tackle box is nowhere near empty.


Tackle box

It's filled with tools - eyelet setter, pliers, wire cutter, needles. etc. etc. and all the rest of my notions - all the neutral stuff: gold, silver, black, copper, pewter. So much for *reducing* my carry-alongs for cropping.

Still sick. Going on week 3, so I hope this is the last of it. I barely slept Friday night after returning from my crop. I made the mistake of drinking hot black tea all night, then going home and taking a cough expectorant. Man, I was wired. I didn't sleep until 4a. Somehow I still woke up in time to go the antique show in Chelsea at 8a. I was completely wiped by the time I got home, around 10a. The weather was cold and rainy and it finished me off.

I picked up "vintage" postcards and auto decals for my Everglades layout (oh, and vintage buttons, which made me realize I needed to get organized in that department). I want to try printing images on cotton (Office Max has the fabric for ink jet printers), but it has been impossible to find old Everglades ephemera. Here's a postcard that just tickled my funny bone.


Alligator races

Found some very cool auto decals as well. I just realized "Wolverine" is spelled wrong on this one. Ah, well, everything can be fixed in Photoshop.


Decal

I found a Florida decal, too, crooked, but again...the wonders of Photoshop.

Then we went out Saturday night, unbelievably, to a fencing friend's house. E hasn't fenced in ages; although he still has all the gear, he did not bring it along. It was good to hook up with old friends we haven't seen in a while. The fencing club is "unofficially" known as the AADDS -- Ann Arbor Dueling and DRINKING Society; these guys know how to have a good time. One of them is off soon to be a brewmaster in Boyne City (he's a brewer at Grizzly Peak here in Ann Arbor), so we had some mighty fine beer Saturday night. I woke up with a flaming sore throat Sunday morning, but otherwise slept well and made up for Friday night. With the time change, we all slept until 10:30a.

Last night, not so good. Up every. hour. on. the. hour, to cough up a lung. I'm wiped again today and Tess is starting to get cabin fever. Hopefully we'll be out and about tomorrow.