it's easy to refuse a visit from the ex when you've got a project brewing

last saturday, i was finally able to set-up my pinterest account. and together with pinning away, i loved looking at other people's boards and getting more inspiration from them.

one of the boards i love - understandably - belongs to sherry of younghouselove. as i was going over her boards, i saw this:

{inspiration downloaded from here}

now, while i dabble in crafts here and there, i'm not exactly the type of person who'd create art (or some permutation thereof) to fill in a blank wall. i am comfortable with blank walls. blanks walls aren't scary. but then i saw this and was just inspired to fill the wall facing my bed with giant letters spelling out a lovely quote (and reminder to myself ☺). since we had just made lovely glitter letters spelling out my boss' name for a contest (see glitter letters here), i figured, i'd make this out of glitter letters.

since i couldn't get the image out of my mind, i made the pic my desktop wallpaper. but, as i looked at the picture more, i realized that the beauty of it came from the variety of papers used + the lack of uniformity and perfection, so i started gathering my supplies and started working on my own sign.

{leftover scrapbooking stuff. i don't scrapbook, but i love the supplies}

i didn't mind that it was nearing midnight already. i figured, if this thing didn't work out i would have (1) lost my scrapbooking supplies and (2) i'd have an excuse to buy glitters + cardboard + glue when i go out sunday and start all over again.

since i'd at least need a "guide" to determine the size of the letters, i cut out a famous amos box i had lying around and made a rectangle. my letters should more or less be this size.

it wasn't long before i got really busy. at some point, i realized the overhead light wasn't enough so i got a lamp to further illuminate my working space (a.k.a. my dining table)

{love that pair of scissors}

the first couple of letters were complicated ... not shape-wise (especially since the printed circle was the last piece of a notecard set that i particularly loved. the project was a nice way of "immortalizing" the notecard set.) but more like since i was getting the hang of working with letters again. prior to working on the glitter letters for my boss, the last time i made letters was way back in college when i was studying to become an elementary school teacher.

{first four letters, two of which i scrapped in the end}

an hour (or more ... much more -- i had lost track of time already) later, i had all the letters i needed. yards and yards of curling ribbon + stringing the letters in the proper order + fighting tired eyes, i had this:

{my version}

i had actually pulled it off. for some reason, the version i saw online still makes my heart flutter more (but i do love the fact i was able to do something close to it at least) but i figured, i could have the sign up for as long as i want, and i could take it down anytime without feeling bad since this was virtually zero investment on my part as i had in store everything i needed for the project.

and about that title, well, here's a little side story:

my ex lives a block away from my house but miraculously, we don't really bump into each other at all. while he'd call once in a while, i eventually changed all of my numbers so there was a year or so where he had zero ways of contacting me. one day, about a month an a half ago, i saw him as i was on my way home and he dropped by the house. he'd text every so often to ask if he could come over, and i'd say yes -- for reasons i don't even understand. all he'd do would be to (1) ask if i had food; (2) steal my mint chocolates; and (3) sleep on my couch. an hour or so later, he'd wake up, say goodbye, and i won't hear from him at all until the next time he feels like repeating the cycle. last night, he asked if he could come over. i was so engrossed in this project that i pretended that i told him i was about to sleep so he can't come over anymore.

hmmm... maybe the best way to rid myself of the impulse yes is to make more crafts?

oh, younglings, we so have a problem.

dear sherry and john (and burger and clara),

sometimes, i don't know if i should regret the day that someone put the link of your website on twitter and i clicked on it and i started reading your blog. because seriously, after reading all the little tabs, and going back in time (i'm on august 11, 2008) now, i must admit, i've got a serious young house love addiction.

now, while that's necessarily a bad thing (i actually cleaned out parts of my house and room that i've dared not venture into in years), i remember promising henry sy that he and i ought to cool things off for the meantime. and cooling off with henry means avoiding SM as much as i can. unfortunately, since i've been so hooked on fixing up my house, getting rid of stuff and getting some new ones (unavoidable in certain situations), henry and i, well, we're so back.

at first, i told myself, all i needed was a place for me to get some work done that isn't the ironing board. so i cleaned out my desk. but since i was removing the bazillions of hotel toothbrushes and what nots, i ended up cleaning my shoe cabinet to transfer my toiletries there. and then i envied clara's lined drawers so i lined my desk drawers as well as my night table drawers. and since my night table drawers turned heavenly, i couldn't avoid cleaning the entire night table.

well, i guess you get the idea.

and you know what else? i've gotten pretty adventurous too. for the longest time, i've been looking for clear glass jars to hold my cotton, qtips, and floss picks. i saw one that was perfect, until i realized that the metal top might rust in my bathroom. so once more, i searched high and low. unfortunately, the only thing that was available was this nice jar with plastic/rubber stoppers, which i hated cause, well, they made opening the jars difficult. for a couple of days i kept looking at the jars, knowing i wanted them but knowing too that it wouldn't work until i realized that, hey, why not remove the plastic/rubber stopper, which i did, and viola, perfect jars. happiness.

i've also gotten pretty neat. for the first time in months, i didn't rush out of bed (although i desperately needed to) and took the five minutes to make the bed. the reason? well, because i finally whipped out the nice blanket + matching pillow sham my mom sent me from target, which fabulously matched existing sheets so i couldn't exactly leave without fixing the bed. after all, no matter how pretty my sheets, blanket, and pillows are, if they were all in a pile when i arrived home, it wouldn't be so lovely, right?

of course, its going to take eons before my three bedroom, two bathroom (with a maid's room + maid's bath to boot) will be in young house love condition. and given that i live in a third world country, the DIY options available to you will mostly have to be contracted out once i make enough money to do that. but considering that you guys have been at it for several years now and are still going at it, i guess i should be happy that i've at least hung my own curtains and once i retrieve the drill from my brother, who knows how far i can go.

with much love from your fan,

rosa