leta joy

WIP & Teaser

13 May 2008 Leave a Comment

by letajoy in polaroids

This is the first time I’ve used one of those polaroid maker thingees, and wow, it was really easy.  Totally not the same as taking an actual Polaroid, but still pretty cool.

This stool belonged to my grandparents.  It is kind of wobbly and probably made of scraps, held together by glue and some 50-year-old nails.  A month or so ago I got a wild hair to fix it up, along with my dining room chairs.  The chairs have yet to be touched and it has taken me this long just to get this far with the stool.  I’m not so much with the motivation these days. I failed to sand it before I started slapping paint on it and the white paint I used doesn’t seem to want to stick.  I used painter’s tape to make the stripes on the rungs and most of the three coats of white paint I had applied came off when I removed the tape.  Now I just don’t know what to do with it.  I don’t feel like it’s finished, I might paint the legs a different color, I’m kind of at a stand still.  The yellow on the steps is my dining room wall color.  The blue on the rungs is my kitchen wall color.  I’m trying to tie those colors in with the fabric I purchased to recover the dining room chairs.  I feel like it all needs something to bring it all together, I’m just not sure what that is.

Have you ever tried to paint an object that requires a lot of moving and flipping around when you have this big watermelon belly attached to your front side?  Slightly difficult.  Also, I am 1 cm dilated and I think we have decided on a name for this poor child so I can’t call her No Name anymore.  But we’re not telling.  The deciding factor MAY have been if the domain name was available.  She has no idea what kind of family she’s being brought into.  Stay tuned.

Is This Reuse or Recycle?

29 Apr 2008 2 Comments

by letajoy in polaroids

Huh.  I put a new package of film in the camera and suddenly my weird lighting problem is solved.  But now the pictures don’t have that retro-cool 70′s feel.  I guess that’s what happens when you leave film in the camera for several years.

I always mean to write a post every day during the week.  I usually do great on Monday and Tuesday and then … I don’t know, life happens?  I get busy or I don’t feel like it and the next thing I know it’s been a week since I’ve written anything.  Oops.

This is Arwyn’s bike.  Those tires are some kind of cement-filled rubber or something, because this is the heaviest damn little bike I’ve ever seen.  It’s about all I can currently do to hang it up on it’s designated hook in the garage.  Arwyn loves her little bike.  It was her daddy’s (I think) when he was just a little Bubby (minus the recently added flowery training wheels).  I would love to get it repainted and jazzed up a little, but she doesn’t seem to mind one bit.  She’s just excited that she can ride it all by herself.  And I love to see her using and playing with something that meant something to one of us many years ago.

How long do you think we have before she wants a shiny new pink one with a basket, a bell and tassels?

Tulip Tuesday

08 Apr 2008 1 Comment

by letajoy in polaroids

Some purple tulips that I bought at the grocery on Sunday, just because.  Because they were in buckets of water at the checkout and I’m a sucker.  They are a little floppy and Arwyn said they were hanging over the edge of the vase like that because they are “lonely”.  My tulips in the yard aren’t blooming yet, so I guess these will have to be lonely for a just little bit longer.

Lay-zee

01 Apr 2008 Leave a Comment

by letajoy in polaroids

Why is that every time I scan something it comes out crooked?  And apparently I am too lazy to correct it because I just leave it that way.  It adds to the aesthetic of the photograph, don’t you think?  That’s what I tell myself, anyway.  I meant for it to be that way.

This is just a little blue flower petal bowl that I picked up today on my solo shopping excursion.  Alone.  All by myself.  Well, not exactly since the babester is sort of, um, attached.  I wore out quickly though, and had to come home to eat lunch.  I have no stamina these days.

Happy April 1st!  I was going to say that this was our new puke bowl as an April Fool’s, but I think April Fool’s is kind of weird, so there you go.

Christmas Circa 1981

25 Mar 2008 Leave a Comment

by letajoy in polaroids

Another Polaroid Tuesday brought to you by the eighties.  Why are all of these Polaroids taken at my grandma’s house?  The only thing I can come up with is I remember my aunt had a Polaroid camera, so perhaps she gave the photos to my mom?  This one portrays my approximately six year old (?) self, my sister and her then boyfriend (future husband) sitting on the “davenport”.  The blondie is my cousin and partner-in-crime.

My grandma quilted and always sat on one end of the davenport.   On her end you could always find an assortment of pins and needles stuck into the arm, where she sat next to the lamp and worked on cutting and piecing her quilts.

It looks like one of us scored some Strawberry Shortcake swag for Christmas.  I always wanted whatever it was my cousin received.  I recall one year we both received purses and I, of course, wanted the one that she got.  Once we both got knee high socks and I coveted her purple and white striped ones, which I eventually came to own in the form of hand-me-downs.

I could always count on several things when my cousin came to visit.  It would be lots of fun, I would get into all sorts of trouble and do things I wouldn’t normally do, and I would be sad to see her leave but also relieved that I could stop getting into trouble and go back to my goody-two-shoes ways. I’m going to visit her in a couple of weeks.  I wonder if we’ve outgrown our trouble-making now that we are grown ups with families of our own…

Still a Nerd at Heart

18 Mar 2008 1 Comment

by letajoy in polaroids

I like to have an assignment. There I said it. Things flow much easier from my brain to my hands if I have a theme to work with or a particular subject to write about. That’s one of the reasons why I am digging Polaroid Tuesday. I don’t have to come up with anything spectacular or creative or show you what we had for dinner last night. You have to look at my Polaroid because it is Polaroid Tuesday and those are the rules. DeeJay says so.

Here is another oldie but goodie I dug out of an album my mom gave me for my 21st birthday. An album which I love dearly but for some reason keep under my bed? I think I was about three years old, but that’s just a guess on my part. The photo did not hold any enlightening information.  All I can tell you is I am at my grandparents’ house, sitting in Papaw’s chair.  I do remember the (matching) orange rockers they had.  I am barefoot, which was my preferred state of being.  I always took my shoes off as soon as I entered their house.  I am shocked that I am wearing a dress.  It must have been a special occasion, or I was bribed really well that day.  It looks a little bit frilly, not something I would have chosen if left to my own devices.

Little Miss Arwyn loves to be barefoot also.  It is so funny to see your personality traits show up in the next generation.

I’m off to the Deep Dark Dungeon (aka the basement) to work on a birthday card.

Make-up Post

12 Mar 2008 1 Comment

by letajoy in polaroids

Oops! Yesterday got by me without a post and it was Tuesday! I even thanked Nino for reminding me about it and then promptly forgot again.  Let’s blame it on pregnancy brain, shall we?

This is a photo of me and my big sister.  On the back my mom has written that she is 10 1/2 years old and I am 10 1/2 days old, so this would have been November 29, 1975. You’ve gotta love her huge barrette and my socks!  And why does a 10 day old baby need to wear shoes????  Maybe I was really advanced for my age and I was getting ready to bust out my super sly moves.

I am pretty sure this was taken at my grandparents’ house.  That looks like my Papaw’s chair. His chair changed a few times over the years, but there was always one that was his and if you were sitting in it and he wanted to sit down, look out!  There was always a big fat chaw nearby and it was in prime viewing location of the tv.

These old Polaroids are really small.  This one is about 3 1/4 inches square and there isn’t a space at the bottom to write on.  I looked for film at Target yesterday and couldn’t find any at all, not even regular 35 mm.  So I guess that guy wasn’t a wacko after all.

Simply Snarky

04 Mar 2008 2 Comments

by letajoy in polaroids

Recently I heard a guy in front of me on line at Target talking about how Polaroid was going to stop making their film and he was stocking up on it while he still could. I briefly thought, “Whatever, wacko” and went about my business. But it seems to be true. Now I have to be sad and nostalgic AGAIN. Also, my apologies to the random guy at Target for calling you a wacko in my head.

So in the spirit of Simply Sassy’s Polaroid Tuesdays, I am going to make an effort to dig up some old Polaroid shots and possibly make some new ones. I only have six frames left on my current roll of film, and I don’t know if I can still get it locally, especially if that wacko is out buying it all up. Oops, I did it again.

I think Bubby owned the camera when we met, but we rarely use it. Our Polaroid is a OneStep Auto Focus. Like this one, only ours is blue. Also, it is made in the United Kingdom, which makes me love it even more. Did anyone watch the Royal Family special on ABC last night? I did!

{Thanks, Nino, for the inspiration, once again!}