Sometimes it feels like nothing much is happening. During those times, it can be helpful to make a list of the changes or lessons (however small or silly) from the recent past. The idea of sharing your list on your blog is from the blogger Emily P. Freeman who does it on a quarterly basis.
In no particular order, here's what I learned this spring:
- Acrylic pour painting is super fun.
I've been wanting to try this technique for a long time, but never seemed to get organized and do it. When a shop held a quick free painting lesson during a downtown Friday Art Walk, I knew I had to try. I love how my very first painting turned out. - Wool dryer balls actually work.
I have no idea how I learned about these, but I do find that my laundry seems to dry faster with them. There are environmental benefits, too, if you normally use those throwaway dryer sheets. You can find wool dryer balls on Etsy or make them yourself if you have time. (Search "DIY wool dryer balls" for tutorials. It looks like there's a couple basic methods, including one that uses yarn and one that uses wool batting.) - Bob Ross spoke in a soft voice for a reason.
I never watched Joy of Painting with Bob Ross on PBS, although I feel certain I must have seen clips of the show over the years. I recently borrowed Happy Little Accidents compiled by Michelle Witte. It's a tiny book full of his paintings and quotes from his show. There is a short biography in the beginning that mentioned that Bob did not enjoy yelling at people in the military and vowed that after he left he would never do so again. - It's easy (and profitable) to recycle your sterling silver scrap used in jewelry making.
I make and sell hand stamped jewelry using all types of metal, including sterling silver. The problem with hand stamping is that sometimes your hammer misses the mark and you produce a double letter or another mistake. I never like making mistakes, but it's especially painful on sterling silver since the price of that metal is so high. (It's $16.94 an ounce as of this writing.) I have been saving my mistakes in a bag and finally sent them into a jewelry supply shop which will give me cash or credit. Two jewelry making places that offer this service are Rio Grande and Monsterslayer. - Which type of shopping checkout line is the quickest?
Is it better to have a single line or individual lines for each checkout station? I enjoyed watching the Mythbusters Systems Check episode on Netflix. Apparently a single line (called a serpentine) takes longer, but people feel happier waiting in it. - Alabama has a Shakespeare festival.
Admittedly, my knowledge of Shakespeare festivals is limited to the one in Ashland, Oregon and a vague idea of one in Colorado (Aspen? Boulder?). But still, I was surprised to learn that the Alabama Shakespeare Festival is one of the ten largest in the world. You can now buy some of my jewelry and keychains in their gift shop, including one of my new adjustable cuff bracelets featuring tiny books and cups of tea. - You can buy organic pupsicles for your dogs.
A local Fort Collins business Revolution Artisan Pops sells these cool treats. I like that they made the handle a dog treat, so the entire product is edible. (They sell items for humans, too, which I'm sure are delicious, but didn't capture my imagination in the same way.) - "Lorem ipsum" is based on real Latin.
Since I've worked in publishing, I knew that the words were used as placeholders by designers. I just came across a magazine that actually had the words printed (a major copyediting oops!). After learning from a Lorem Ipsum website that the words were based on a work by Cicero, I was inspired to make some lorem ipsum earrings. - You can buy knitting needles with sizes in feet, not inches.
Apparently, knitting needles the size of baseball bats have been around for a few years, but I just recently learned about it. The bigger problem seems to be finding equally huge yarn to knit with. (See "Giant Knitting Is Mind-Blowing And Quite Possibly Your Next Hobby" for photos of items made with giant needles and yarn.) - It's important to keep speaking out against injustice.
I heard the author Kate Moore speak about her book Radium Girls and found both her talk and the book fascinating. The story involves the women who painted glow-in-the-dark faces on watches and ended up with severe radiation poisoning, which the (male) factory owners tried to dismiss. While it's not a happy topic exactly, the story is a great example of the importance of ordinary people being persistent in pursuing the truth. - Emily and Jacob were the most popular baby names in 2000 in the U.S.
When I make personalized graduation keychains, I enjoy seeing the names that were popular 18 years ago. (Be careful if you do a search on Google. I've noticed that the top match is the list from Australia, not the United States.) - Tanked and Fish Tank Kings are two separate TV shows.
This wins the award for the most ridiculous/embarrassing thing I learned this spring. I had watched Fish Tank Kings occasionally several years ago. I recently found Tanked on Hulu and decided to watch a few episodes. I couldn't figure out why they had different people on and why the shop looked so different. Duh. - When you need to clear out your entire refrigerator because it is being replaced, you'll eat some weird meals.
So looking forward to that radish mint chip ice cream later this week!
What did you learn this spring?