Recently in Websites Category

I discovered The Pleated Poppy blog this weekend. It's oh-so-cute and full of crafty inspiration. The blog's subtitle is "Beautiful Imperfections of the Everyday". Lovely.

Let's have the woman behind the blog tell you about herself:

hi ! i'm lindsey cheney. i am married to an incredibly supportive husband and am mom to 3 littles, 6 and under. my days are full of sewing, home schooling, crafting, snuggling, avoiding the laundry, sneaking bites of chocolate, and wondering "is it naptime yet?".

Lindsey sews a lot (she has her own shop, too) and she throws many parties. She's also kind enough to give glimpses into her lovely home and often features guest bloggers.

I think you might enjoy:

The Family Rules Tutorial

The Pleated Poppy Shop

The Playroom Reveal

I found this color career test at How About Orange (how's that for a color choice?) and tried it this morning.

Best Occupational Category

You're an ORGANIZER

Keywords

Self-Control, Practical, Self-Contained, Orderly, Systematic, Precise, and Accurate

These conservative appearing, plotting-types enjoy organizing, data systems, accounting, detail, and accuracy. They often enjoy mathematics and data management activities such as accounting and investment management. Persistence and patience allows them to do detailed paperwork, operate office machines, write business reports, and make charts and graphs.

ORGANIZER CAREERS
Suggested careers are Administrator, Secretary, Printer, Paralegal, Building Inspector, Bank Cashier, Private Secretary, Statistician, Operations Manager, Financial Analyst, Bookkeeper, Medical Records Technician, Developer of Business or Computer Systems, Clerical Worker, Proofreader, Accountant, Administrative Assistant, Banker, Certified Public Accountant, Credit Manager, Store Salesperson, Actuary, Dental Assistant, Business Education Teacher, Food Service Manager, IRS Agent, Budget Analyst, and Underwriter.

ORGANIZER WORKPLACES
Your very careful, conscientious, conservative nature gives others the confidence to trust you with handling money and material possessions. Structured organizations that have well-ordered chains of command work best for you.

Suggested Organizer workplaces are large corporations, business offices, financial lending institutions, banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, and quality control and inspection departments.

 

True, or not? Well, despite my ADD (or, maybe because of it), I have always been rather fond of order. I loved filling out forms as a child, the first big purchase my husband and I made was a filing cabinet, and my favorite part of homeschooling is the lesson planning.

I'd love to know how you all fare on the test. Please let me know if the test is accurate.

Don't forget that today begins Extreme Shakespeare.

I also wanted to mention this post regarding Vincent van Gogh and his love of the Bard. Thanks to the internet we can read Van Gogh's letters and we find that he was very pleased to own his own book of Shakespeare and reread it often.

Not too long before his death, Van Gogh writes that he read this passage from Henry VIII (Act III, scene ii):

'And when I am forgotten, as I shall be,
And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
Of me more must be heard of, say I taught thee;

Appropriate for Shakespeare...and Van Gogh, don't you think?

I thought after yesterday's post of my Green Cabinet organization that it might be nice to share some of my links on Organization.

Below are a few Flickr photo groups I have found inspiring. Please share any other groups you know of.

Flickr Groups

Craft Rooms

My Crafting Room

Organized Collection

Organization is for Squares

Operation: Sewing Room Organization

Pretty Organized

The Savvy Organizer

Unclutterer Workspaces

Work Spaces

Workspace Karma

In one of my very first blog posts (back in 2005), I mentioned a great organization show called Neat. I recently started watching the show again - thanks to the FitTV channel and my DVR. Neat is a great source of organization inspiration and I was pleased this week to discover that the host, Hellen Buttigieg, has her own website, ezine, and blog. Buttigieg is also on Twitter. Four more ways to get inspired about organization - isn't that neat?

While many were watching the Grammy Award Show, the children and I had our own TV viewing.

First, we watched "A Special Duggar Delivery". It was so sad to see the suffering of the Dugger parents and their tiniest baby. We're glad to hear that Josie is now doing well. The show will resume this Tuesday at 9pm Eastern Time. If you visit the TLC website, you can view photos of Baby Josie. You can also visit a forum and read silly and inane comments about the Duggars. I especially enjoyed the accusation that the Duggar children are uneducated about World Cultures. Most Americans do not send their children off to foreign countries to aid the indigenous population. That is more of an education than reading a textbook. What a logic fail!

Next, we viewed the rest of the "Emma" miniseries on PBS's Masterpiece Theater. Hooray! We loved it. Though it did not include all of our favorite lines or scenes and did have an anachronistic PDA (public display of affection), one member of the family has petitioned for this "Emma" to now be declared our Emma. Is this so long and farewell to faux British accents? No, I think we can love more than one Emma. However, for those of us who long to see a bit of post-wedding bliss (my daughter), this newest incarnation illustrated just how romantic Mr. Knightley was.

Just an aside: people always rave over Mr. Darcy, but I've always been a Mr. Knightley fan. I'm not talking about looks, just character. To me, Mr. Darcy is just too high maintenance and is really a "fixer-upper". Mr. Knightley, though, is nearly perfect and aptly named. Just wanted to get that off my chest. Thanks.

So, who is this Lady Gaga? (No, I don't really want to know.) Doesn't Gaga sounds like baby babble.

Did you view Masterpiece Theater's "Emma" on PBS last Sunday night? When it was shown last year in England, it garnered less than stellar ratings - leading many to announce that the Age of Jane Austen Movie Adaptations was now over. However, after watching Part 1, I completely disagree with the naysayers. I thought the miniseries was wonderful. Though some may dislike an adaptation which strays a bit from its literary birth, I have yet to discover any part of this newest Emma which would make her creator fume. Any writer who begins a story with "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."  is one who keeps her tongue firmly in her cheek. A reason why Jane Austen has never gone out of style is that she was an acerbic wit and much of her novels must be read with a twinkle in one's eye.

Speaking of style, did you experience quite a bit of deja vu viewing while watching "Emma"? I did and the trivia page at IMDB reveals why: I've seen many of the costumes in other favorite movies. One most particular is the lovely gown worn by Emma at the Weston wedding. Formally, it was donned by Edmond's love, Mercedes, near the beginning of "The Count of Monte Cristo". Reusing costumes is, of course, a common practice for period films, but it is still great fun to play the "Where have I seen that dress/coat/bonnet before?" game.

Part 2 of "Emma" (60 minutes) will air this Sunday night and Part 3 (60 minutes) will air on Sunday, February 7. Any missed part can be viewed online until March 9, 2010. Also, a second Twitter Party is on for this Sunday night. Details at PBS.

The PBS website also offers many sweet treats, such as behind-the-scenes videos, an article from the Chawton House Library, a screenwriter Q & A, and much more.

I found a great site yesterday for those of us who need or want new furniture. Knock-off Wood shows, step-by-step and for free, how to build mimics of pieces found in magazines or fancy-shmancy catalogs. Naturally, I have already found at least three plans I'd like to try...or, rather, I'd like my wonderful husband to try.

I think Ana, the woman behind Knock-off Wood, is great for showing the rest of us how to save hundreds or thousands of dollars by building our own furniture, as my husband and I found out when we built our bookcase, craft cubbies, and large window seat. And, of course, another great thing about building your own furniture is that you can build to your own dimensions. This is important when you have limited or odd-sized space.

I hope Knock-off Wood continues; it looks like a very helpful website.