Below is a picture of what I made from Shrinky Dinks last night.

I am not entirely crazy about how the flower came out, but I love the leaves. I might make more since I think those would look awesome as earrings - strung two or three to a small chain? Or as a drop necklace. Yeah, the ideas are brewing.

I used my lovely German colored pencils for vibrancy. They really are the best colored pencils. I got my first set of Staedtler pencils when I was visiting Poland in 1990 or ‘91 (so, uh, when I was 11 or 12?). My grandmother took me to an art/stationery store where I got a set of those pencils and some blank notebooks so I could draw and write. It was just after the fall of communism in Poland and the stores were still running on the “everything is behind the counter -you must ask to see it” model. I remember that that was really weird to me - that I had to ask to see something, and that there was a sense of expectation of long consideration from me. I would just say, “Yeah - I want it” and hand over the money.

That was still something shop clerks and people in general weren’t used to - that sort of throwing around of money. But I was some little kid from America who just knew that her dollar was worth a lot more there and got all excited when she went to exchange money. And the whole time, I was figuring out how much things cost in American money because it was like everything was on sale. I recall that the exchange rate at that time was something like 8 złoty to a dollar, and a few years later it was up (down) to 4 złoty to a dollar.

I should confirm this with a family member since it seems kind of crazy.

So here’s the dilemma: I’m not a religious person, but the holiday season is pretty secularized at this point, so it has become a time to wish your friends and co-workers good things for the new year (and not related to the birthday of baby Jesus), as well as a time to drop a line to people you think about but don’t get to see very often (or at all) and let them know you still care (or make them feel guilty or make yourself feel like a better person in fractured cases).

It’s difficult to find cards that convey the care without much of the holiday message. You’re usually stuck with ridiculously gimmicky cards (like the Festivus card I found yesterday) or something so generic, it’s devoid of personality. I managed to find two cards that did the trick for me:

The first I found at Barnes and Noble; the second at Target. The second is a bit harder to read, but it simply says, “snow is glistening.” I dig the rounded corners.

Now all I have to do is draw up my list and see if I have addresses for the peeps on the list. This strikes me as a perfect Sunday afternoon project.