I was shopping at The Container Store last weekend and saw one of these Slice precision cutters. I've had a paper cutter with a ceramic blade before, but this one is such a pretty green that I put it in my cart.

When I got home I took it out of it's package. It feels really good in my hand. It has a soft finish and is weighted well. It cuts paper like a hot knife through warm butter. It does not cut fabric. I may not use it often, but I know I will use it.

Turns out that these folks make ceramic cutters for food too. Check them out here.

FYI – If you have never been to a Container Store and you get a chance to visit one, don't pass it up.

I've had my new Nikon D90 for months. A zoom lens came with it and I just, tonight, took it out of the box. (Seriously, I need more free time.) Luckily, the camera is really simple to use. I figured out what button to push so that I could take off and put on the lenses and then I went outside and took these:

The gold flowers above are zinnias. Old fashioned flowers that are easy to grow from seed, they are really pretty. Bumblebees love the salvias, below!

Click on the photos to see them larger.

My mom has a big enclosed porch on the back of her house. The roof was ruined during the recent hail storm in Oklahoma City. The ceiling, walls, and carpet in this room were flooded and, luckily, her insurance covered the repairs.

Here is the room after they put up new ceiling tiles and painted. The brick, which makes up one wall in this room, is from what used to be the exterior of the back of the house. My mom's house is pink!

Mom didn't want more carpet, or vinyl, or wood flooring. That left
paint! The workmen prepared the floor for me. They used a chemical stripper to take up as much of the old carpet adhesive as was ever going to come up.

It was hot and humid yesterday. There is a small window unit air conditioner in this room and I had it on. If it had been cooler out I'd have opened windows, but that would have been worse yesterday. I re-hung the blinds on the windows before I started painting to help keep the sun out. And then I painted the floor…

Here's a detail:

My mom and sister wanted a color and chose this dark green. The lighter shade of paint is really a light gray-green, not white. I might have chosen a different color but this sort of floor is easy to change when you want a new color. It is my hope, however, that they love the green for a long time :-).

I only took a picture of one end of the room because I stopped with the room half painted to take this shot. Then I painted the other side and out the door. It takes alkyd paint 24-48 hours to dry.
And the fumes are awful. Luckily they have a door between this room and the rest of the house.

If you haven't seen this yet, you must. Yet another video from Improv Everywhere. Click the button to view it full screen…

I was in New Haven, CT, early this week teaching for the Shoreline Quilters. I wish I was good about taking photos in my workshops but I can't seem to work that into the day. I can tell you, though, that a good time was had by one and all, including me.

I'm home and was running some errands this morning and that is how I ended up in Hobby Lobby. If you don't have a Hobby Lobby nearby I can tell you that it is a very nice, huge craft store.

I was checking out the sales on summer stuff when I caught the edges of Christmas glitter. I know that Christmas merchandise is out earlier every year but it seems wrong when it is so hot outside!

I am a sucker for Christmas bling so of course I got pulled into the aisles of ornaments. Last year I got some of the unbreakable ones and they aren't bad at all. They look like glass but you don't have to worry about them shattering.

I almost bought one of these bad boys for my grandson, Jack, until I reminded myself that's way more into trucks than dinosaurs. And besides I know that these will go on sale well before Christmas.

I finished my quilt!

I embroidered the (very long) title of the quilt on a patch sewn to the back:

It's a happy-looking quilt with an incredibly sad back story. My artist's statement is as follows:

"My father-in-law, Craig Goldsmith, is fading fast. At this point he likes to share stories from his youth. He is sharing the bits of himself that he can still find and it is an honor to hold those memories for him because they, too, will surely fade away."