By Bay Loftis
8/21/2007
"I kept my hands busy today and I made this crazy little box with Bistro papers. All I did was take apart a cigarette box, trace around it, and score it a bunch before gluing it together.

The stamps -- which you really can't see clearly on this scan (I'm sorry; my camera is broken so I have to just scan) -- are Bistro woodmounted stamps in VersaMark with Perfect Pearl "Sunflower Sparkle". Good ol' fashioned Sunflower Sparkle! It still looks the most like gold to me... Anyway, you can't see those stamps on these photos. I did also stamp the Que Sera Sera on the top with Black Perfect Medium and Perfect Pearl "Berry Twist." I thought it was pinker than it turned out. On the sides, I used a Chocolate Shoppe UM with Scrapbooker's Palette pink ink and a Fizz stamp in Scrapbooker's Palette orange. I tell you what, those Scrapbooker's Palette inks surely did match Bistro nicely.

The faux cigarettes were more troublesome -- I had to cut apart bamboo skewers, paint them, let that dry, ink them in Bistro colors, let that dry. The ink didn't dry, in fact. So then I sealed the ink into place with Clear Acrylic Sealer in matte and let that dry. Then I wrote my little phrases on 'em -- the thoughts that are hopefully going to help me get through the next few weeks without smoking. They say things like "Save Money," "Feel Better," "Walk Farther," "Taste More Desserts," and so on and so forth. Rah rah rah, y'know?

Ooo -- last step -- ringed each faux cigarette with Krylon gold paint pen.

And I have to say, it really does help to be able to reach for something that's shaped like my cigarettes and chew on them while going cross-eyed as I read my own personal messages to me about quitting.

Now let's hope the Chantix (my prescription smoking-cessation drug) keeps me from using these little things from poking my eyes out!

And I don't know if anyone ever would've thought to use Bistro this way, but... I guess it was just topical and timely for me!"