Author: Dina

[Haven’t been able to work on JYC the last few days, but I’ll catch up over the weekend.]

Have you ever wondered how many cans of your favorite caffeinated beverage it would take to kill you? Well, now you can find out.

Death by Caffeine

For me it said: "303.33 cans of Diet Coke + You = Death." ROFL!! And for more amusement, here’s the page on how much chocolate/candy will kill ya:

Death by Penguin Mints

It told me: "If you eat 440.32 Hershey’s Special Dark bars, you’ll be pushing up daisies." And, even more fascinating, "It would take 13,650.00 Hershey’s Kisses to put you down." WoW!!

I also love this disclaimer on the site: "Disclaimer: This tool is for entertainment purposes only. Nothing on here should be construed as medical advice or information. Don’t try this at home. If you actually try this and end up dying after only 140 drinks instead of 143, it’s not my fault."

LOL!! Sigh. Good times.

Okay, someone needs to fess up!!

I found a little brown box on my porch this a.m. full of Fairytale Brownies. The box was addressed to "Dina Wakley, Creative Genius." Inside was this little card:

To whoever sent this to me…THANK YOU. Thank you. I’ve been in a bit of a "poor me, no one appreciates me" mood. And then on my porch is a box of delicious brownies with a mystery note.

And the best thing of all is that when I opened the brownies, there was a coconut one right on top that was doing a hula dance and singing "eat me for breakfast!" Gosh, those brownies are hecka good, especially when chased with diet Coke.

Let’s all pass on the love & tell someone today that you appreciate her! To the mystery brownie sender, I appreciate you!!!

Theme was advent calendars…

The theme is reflective surfaces, and this pic doesn’t really fit. But I noticed my shadow today…and my shadow had a reflection, and thought it was kinda cool.

The challenge for Day 3 was to include a Christmas card, and for Day 4 was to include a photograph. I combined both concepts and included Christmas card photos on the left page, and torn-up bits of Christmas card letters on the right page (if you can see them under my weird & wonky journaling…I really need to find a pen that will write over paint & gel medium…suggestions??).

It’s fugly but it’s done. Just painted & wrote. Not feeling too creative today.

Here’s my take on Day 1…

I admit it. I’m a deadbeat blogger.

I’ve just been going through the motions lately. Getting by. No Self-Portrait Tuesday portraits. No art epiphanies. Heck, forget epiphany. There’s been no art at all. And not much on the horizon… I signed up for Shimelle’s art journal class again. She said the prompts would be all new. I’m looking forward to that push & inspiration. The class starts in January.

Oh, yeah…I also have the Journal Your Christmas class that starts tomorrow. Guess I should go buy a scrapbook or journal for it, eh? I guess some art is on the horizon. I’m not sure if the class is "arty" or "scrapbooky." We’ll see how it turns out.

I’ve made about 34.7% progress on my Christmas "to do" list. I go to stores & leave with nothing…not a gift, not a roll of wrapping paper. What is wrong with me?

What has been inspiring you lately?

Links for you to enjoy:

• Elsewares. Cool stuff. Eclectic.
• Paper Source. Do something creative every day.
• Mod Dots. Cool stuff, yo. Check out the teensy pins.

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for many things, particularly this country in which speech is free. You might not like what people have to say, but it is vitally important that they are FREE to say it. I was only in China for 10 days, but the icy grip of Communism affected me and my little ole’ blog. So write in your blog today and be thankful that you can do it.

Some great indie shopping sites for the holidays:

Stupid Creatures, from the imagination of John Murpy. "They’re cheaper than taxidermy and nothing has to die." You can also buy John’s book Stupid Sock Creatures at Amazon.com and make your own.

Gerbera. Get your skull stockings and cool ipod covers here.

Pixie Girl Shop. Handmade stuff by artists from around the world.

Scarlet Beautiful. Cool t-shirts. I need this one:

I discovered Katy Horan today. Very inspiring illustration! Take a gander:

My creativity is stagnant…probably because I’m just so dang tired. Anyway, when I feel like this I look at other people’s art. Then I get inspired and it helps get me out of my funky gunky funk.