Can you hear me now?

Today we celebrate our love of the Earth.  Today is also my bEARTHday.  I'm not sure whether I've been influenced by Earth Day, or whether I've always looked for ways to recycle, even before it was popular.

I was raised by grandparents, both born during the depression, when "make do" was a way of life.  Even though my grandmother came from a wealthy home, after her first husband (my birth grandfather) died, her family disinherited her because she "married below her station."    I'm actually glad I never met my grandmother's parents.   I was appalled by the way they acted.  After all, it was 20th century America, not Victorian England.  That belief of fighting injustice may also have contributed to who I am today.  I often stand up for those who are unable or unwilling to.

My grandmother's second husband (the man she married below her station), my grandfather was the only one I ever knew.  He was great in math, which I learned from him.  I learned to read from my grandmother and knew the alphabet and could write all the letters before I went to kindergarten.   I was often bored or accused of being the teacher's pet.

It took me getting my master's degree before I truly realized I wasn't dumb was smart.  I've always been scatterbrained and many people called me dumb because of it.  When I got accepted into a Ph.D. program at Wichita State University (go Shockers), I finally felt at home.

When I graduated, everyone called me Dr. E.  I added the the phrase "Dr E., Queen of Free" after that.  Sorry for this reminiscing, but it's truly a morning of reflection for me.

But now it's time to shift gears.  For today's recycling entry

I started with a book cover given me by my friend Sally.

I added some gold infused tissue paper

I saved from a gift.

I used white PVA glue to adhere the tissue paper to the book cover.

While the glue was drying, I decided to create a new universal hole locater.  I began with a pad of post-it-notes and a steel ruler.

I measured down 2 mm from the top of the pad on two sides and drew lines.

I used those two lines as guides to create a single line across the width of the page.

I measured 2.5 mm from the left and right sides

and drew two perpendicular lines to meet the horizontal line.


I drew a small circle at the intersections of each line,

then wrote the words "left" and "right."  That was for your benefit, not mine.

The idea is, no matter what width

you are measuring, the hole locater will work perfectly by lining it up with either the left or right side of the piece.

Here is my completed assemblage with holes punched, but minus wires.

I'm really happy about the completed assemblage.

I'm including a few random shots for your enjoyment.

I need to adhere the "Hear Hear" a bit better, I see.  As an aside, it is left over from the deli paper I used a couple of days ago.

For this assemblage, I started with a book cover and some used tissue paper.  I deconstructed an old cordless phone and used the "motherboard" as the main assembly.  I added the speaker from the same phone, along with some beads and baubles I either assembled, or used to add interest to this assemblage.   For the hanger, I used a colorful deconstructed telephone wire.  I used a stencil to write all the words on the scrap deli paper.

Thank you beyond belief for your continued support of my recycling efforts through the past 22 days.   And please have a glorious Earth Day everyone.

You'll find me here today:

My friend Sally bought two of these shirts, wore and washed this one,

and has allowed me to wear it today.  I chided her about her cats' fur all over it when she handed it to me in the car on our way to eat my bEARTHday lunch on Thursday.  I think this must be her fluffy cat, since the other one has very straight fur.

This tee is so large, I could probably wear it as a dress!

Thank you again for sticking with me through these 22 days of recycling.