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Take a trip with me. There's room. Come on, it'll be fun!
(though they are not underlined, all blogs mentioned are linked so just click on the blog names if you'd like to visit them with me)



Did your family ever go for Sunday drives? Mine did, not always on Sunday, but often it was. We would go to church, come home, have a big Sunday dinner, take a little nap and then go for a drive. (By the way, in Missouri where my family is from, lunch was dinner, and dinner was supper.) My dad was a wildlife biologist so many of our drives were out to the country (I lived by the Missouri River in three different states and it is especially blue and beautiful in SD where I lived the longest) to try and spot deer, or wild turkeys, or watch people fish (if we weren't fishing ourselves) or see the Dogwoods in bloom or the prairie grass grow tall and green. In Los Angeles, these drives are not so enjoyable or pretty and it seems the last thing you want to do is go somewhere if you don't have to. So, I am providing for you here in this post, a little Sunday drive, a cyber tour so to speak. You can see some of the world without leaving your abode.



I made some blog visits this evening to a few places I don't stop by as regularly as others. There are some very special spots I drop in on when I am ready to be overwhelmed with the resulting tidal wave of ideas and images and random thinking of random things I don't always make time to enjoy. Invited head spins are not for everyday use and I can only spin my head on purpose when all other things are somewhat caught up - kind of like getting to sleep in late and enjoy those dreams that only come from indulgent cat napping on a weekend morning when you wake up and realize you can sleep longer several times. So you do, and you continue the dreams your conscientiousness momentarily interrupted.

So, anyway, my first blog visit was to Ginny's Small Studio blog. I visit Ginny with extreme caution because she always sends you on adventures to other blogs and you find yourself wondering if you will ever get away from your computer again. You ask other people to bring you food and water and answer the phone and the next thing you know, the house is dark and quiet and your family has gone to bed without you, abandoned you, have written their goodbyes, painted mustaches on your face without your noticing, and yet you still find yourself glued to your chair, atrophied from not moving your muscles, still looking at what Ginny has presented to you on a cyber silver platter. Don't say I didn't warn you. You might want to visit the powder room now, get a snack, and put on your jammies. I will save the link for just a minute longer so I can prepare you and you can prepare you for the adventure you're about to take yourself on.



Of course, as I started my trip tonight, I had to stop by the store first and pick up some splurgey but well deserved fun stuff (I can always find a reason to spoil myself). Prepare your mouse and cursor to go on an adventure. I suggest that you also stop by Ginny's store first, Small Studio Productions. Click on the Emporium link once you get there. I bought some 7 Gypsies paper and journal background pages tonight. I've been very "into" papers recently in efforts to change up my backgrounds. I'm working on adding stamping and drawing too but not quite there yet. Anyway, in the past, I've purchased from Ginny tin letters, acrylic ATC bases, and shrine kits all of which came beautifully packaged and await my guts to use. Oh, here's a side trip. I will soon be brave enough to use these things after watching Linda Cain of Friends in Art blog spin her magic. Linda makes samples for Small Studio among many other vendors for which she is a Design Team Member. Stop by and see her beautiful creations too - talk about spinning your head with ideas. She is also linked in my side bar if you want to swing by later. After checking out the Emporium, choose the link to Ginny's blog, Small Studio. Again, Ginny is in my links too, conveniently right next to Friends in Art, Linda's site (Neat how that worked, huh? They were meant to be paired up. And, it is funny, that I originally found Ginnny from my buddy Tace's blog, All Kinds of Stuff. Then I found Linda through some kind of unrelated blog hopping and now Linda and Ginny are comrades and the earth grows smaller. I would like to think they all revolve around me but that is my ego wishing again.)



If you're following directions, you should be at Ginny's blog next. You will be entertained with her stories and pictures but as you start to scroll through all of her posts you will find the links I speak of. Tonight, she sent me to two other blogs that had me completely entranced and the world grew large again with all of the wonder and amazing things and ideas and people I would have missed without a guide to point them out. Yes, Ginny, like my pal Linda Crispell is someone I consider a tour guide to all the pretty and wondrous and downright cooler than heck things in this world.

Ginny first took me to Design Amour. You can get there from Ginny's so you can keep reading here until you are ready to go. Like Ginny, I suggest you scroll down until you start seeing the stenciling. Have paper towels ready for the drool you will soon find on your chin. If you are like me, you will ask someone else to get the paper towel for you as you now find you will not be able to leave your computer. There are lots of interesting posts and links to check out but pace yourself as you have at least one other stop to make, one I must insist on.

Go back to Ginny's blog and pick up her next link to The Rag and Bone. Oh my. This one officially created for me the tidal wave of inspiration and wished-for abilities and time I do not possess. You will find archways made of old books, amazing "toys" carved from wood and recycled parts, art made from plastic bags, art made from toilet paper tubes, a very cool stop animation video and the model used to make it, book art like none I've seen, paper dresses, and then The World's Smallest Postal Service. I especially enjoyed this link as, I think I've told you, my family goes out of its way to see the World's Largest and Smallest of things. I've seen many. I've even seen the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things.



I didn't even get past the first page of posts at Rag and Bone before I decided to save myself from wetting my pants and legs falling asleep in my chair. The other pages will wait for me like an unopened present.

I'll give you some space to explore on your own and find things I have not yet found. I am off to make some art tonight (I hope). I haven't got to change my music here yet, but maybe I'll get that done tomorrow. Before I go, I'd like to send a special "I love you" to one of my best friends and blurkers (for those that don't know, a blurker is someone that reads your blog without ever commenting, like a voyeur (which we would find a way to make funny and dirty), Monica, THE Chick. I know you're there (in more ways than one).