Thank you for all your sweet emails about the pillow I made for my mom. She's enjoying it still even a week later. Her caregivers tell me she holds it all the time and tries to tell them about her family in the picture. Since it was such a big hit I will try and do another one for her soon. It was easy to do, just print out the picture on t-shirt transfer paper and iron it on to fabric, then sew it into a pillow form.
Last week was quite interesting for me. I was summoned for jury duty. I'd never been called before so I figured I'd show up and be released by noon and on my way to work. We were taken into the actual courtroom with the Prosecution and the defense teams. The defendant was in there too! We were given random questions to answer out loud in unison, like "does anybody in here have a moral problem with passing judgment on another individual" and "is anybody in here married to someone in law enforcement?". It went on and on like this for about 30 minutes. They sent us all out and called us in a few minutes later. They called 12 people to be the jurors and I was one of them! I couldn't believe it was happening. We were told it was a criminal drug case and the trial would last two days. (It ended up lasting three full days). The defendant was facing up to 20 years in prison! We heard testimony for two days, some from forensic scientists from the police crime lab that tested the drug. In a nutshell it boiled down to this:
The person was caught on two separate occasions by the SAME police officer with a schedule 1 drug (in the same group as cocaine, heroine, marijuana etc). Schedule 1 possession in Virginia can get you ten years for each offense.
We found him guilty on only one of the charges. He was never accused of selling it, just possessing it. So after we found him guilty we were sent back to the jury room to decide his sentence. In the state of VA the jury decides. My heart was pounding so hard. It was surreal. Out of 12 jurors, 8 wanted him to have jail time. We argued back and forth for about three hours. It's very strange and yet very liberating to argue with total strangers, because you really don't CARE about their personal feelings.
We sent a note out to the judge saying we could not decide. He sent it back and said that he will have to declare a mistrial! So we got to work and had to have major compromises on everyones part. I was not happy with the outcome but it is all give and take.
The defendant got 7 days in jail and a $2000.00 fine.
It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I was a part of it.
...ok...lets clear our thoughts and think of HAPPY things!
After all that mental anguish I was really in need of a craft date! I don't have any crafty friends who want to hang out and make big messes. I was thrilled to see that my friends Karla and Beth are hosting an on line workshop called Romantic Gothic Ghosts. The workshop is just in time for some wonderful Halloween images, but really these projects can be left out all year. I'm not a fan of the Orange Halloween thing anymore, in fact I prefer just using black and white and tans if I decorate for Halloween at all.
(my Halloween decor last yr)
(you can see more Halloween decor from last year here)
The images are full of mystery and leave you wondering if it really is a ghost you are looking at. You know how the old vintage photos can make your imagination wander.....they've used a lot of old vintage photos and they're incorporating them into several different projects.
I just love the different "gothic windows"
Do you remember the show called Dark Shadows? I do and it scared me to death! Karla and Beth were able to find some vintage sheet music titled "Dark Shadows" that they use in one of the projects! You will be able to download all images and backgrounds to use in your own projects!
I can't wait to try these projects myself! They have step by step instructions and even some videos to explain how they've done different techniques!
They use lots of sepia colors and natural materials like burlap. Of course you can follow right along and do it just like they show you, or you can get the inspiration from them and use their images and go off on your own to put your own spin on it!
Check out the on line workshop here! I hope to see you there!