My new favorite things

So, although no one reads this, I will still post some things that I am thinking. I am thinking right now that I really like these Prismacolor markers. The colors are so fun and look great when I color in my stamped images. They also are dual-ended, with a broad and a fine tip (pic from prismacolor website).



I am waiting for a big sale so I can buy the sets... but for now I have been getting the individual colors (trying to avoid the ones in the sets). So far I have:

• Crimson Red
• Clay Rose
• Pale Vermillion (orange)
• Tulip Yellow
• Green Tea
• Jade Green
• Light Cerulean Blue
• Peacock Blue
• Grayed Lavender
  
• Light Umber (brown)
• Cocoa Bean
• Brick Beige (skin tone)
• Colorless Blender (supposed to soften edges between different colors)
  

Most are muted or light tones since I rarely like bright, especially since I'm new at crafting. I made my goal, however, of having at least one pen in each major color group!

Another Card

Hello. I just wanted to share another card I made. I was for a friend's friend's spring wedding. I used a small tag, vellum and glittery stickers to make it fancy. I tried to keep the colors light but keep it fun. Hope you like it! P.S. The scanner isn't so good and I don't use a camera.

Card Making

I recently started making my own greeting cards. I found that I was paying way too much for them in stores (although I still can't help buying totally amazingly fun ones) and decided to start making my own. The owner of Paperdoll, a local card and art shop (SE 79th and Stark) really helped me get going and constantly is giving me new ideas and tips! So I just wanted to post one card that I made. I haven't sent many out so I have to post one that I gave away as a gift. Anyway, it's simple but I think it's cute.



So, tell me what you think and send some tips if you have them!

Cheers!

A short blog

Eddie and me on Haleakala, Maui.

Hi to anyone that actually reads this. So, I returned from a relaxing vacation on Maui. Now it's back to the grind. I have three clinical days this week at a short-term care facility, for folks that are recovering from surgeries or falls. The lady I am assigned to doesn't seem to like me much but whatever. My eyes are starting to get weird and I'm not sure if it's because of the constant sinus pressure and headaches I've been getting since returning from holiday. I bought a humidifier. It's nice but I'm not sure if it's helping much. We'll see. So, that's about it for now. I don't really have much to say in these blogs anymore. My creativity has been sapped from the four nursing textbooks that are over 1000 pages (one is just shy of 2000 pages). Yikes! Back breaker!

Salaam

When I worked at the American Red Cross, I had a couple of Egyptian coworkers that would teach me random Egyptian Arabic phrases and words. I am hoping to someday take classes at Portland Community College to learn conversational arabic. Don't ask why, but I want to learn. Actually, when I started to learn the little arabic I know, I was interested in Hindi. I have this weird tendency toward Bollywood although I know nothing about it.

Anyway, I have been searching online for places to learn simple phrases in Arabic. I have some Pimsleur Approach audio CDs for Egyptian Arabic but I like to see the words written out and I am pretty slow at learning. So, here are a few sites for you to browse if you're interested. It can get confusing because I started looking specifically for Egyptian Arabic but some of the best sites tend to be the regular or eastern Arabic.

This site called Babel has a few phrases that you can listen to. They're also spelled out for those of you who also need a visual.

This site is pretty neat. It shows you how to say numbers, days of the week and a few simple phrases to get around if you're visiting an arabic-speaking country.

The site, www.al-bab.com, has a few links to interesting information pages, including the The Alternative Arabic Dictionary and Yemeni proverbs. I guess in the alternative dictionary, they give you words that are left out of the dictionary... if you know what I mean.

Okay, I have no idea what is going on with this site but they have songs and games you can play to learn how to read arabic. It's kind of freaky becuase it talks or sings to you automatically after you click on the first lesson, so be aware. I think it'll be interesing to figure this site out though.

Click here to go to a site that has a few often used phrases in Arabic. It seems okay for a beginner's intro but does not have audio.

This site has a bunch of links to various Arabic language resources. It seems pretty comprehensive.

A fun site called Arabic-O-Matic allows you to type your name in and it will try to translate it into arabic letters. It's fun but I would like to find that scrap of paper that my coworker wrote my name on so that I could compare.

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope you have been enlightened. If you are interested in or know arabic, I would love to sharpen my skills in this language.

Ma salaama