Anna Aspnes:
ESHAS supplies (used artstroke, flower, word strip, word art, overlay, tape, lined frame, light leak, threadz)
APP Simplicity
APP Heartland
Button Threadz

Story:
I loved Play-Doh as a kid. But despite what you might think, I wasnt very creative at forming it, mostly just making colorful mock-meatballs, or rolling it out into hot-dog shapes. What I liked most were the colors, and even better, the smell. I LOVED the smell of play-doh. What was that smell? The ingredients seem to be fairly olfactoryily innocuous:

This compound of flour, water, salt, boric acid, and silicone oil was originally manufactured as a cleaning substance for wallpaper.

I remember the impression of first taking the lid off a fresh can of Play-Doh. The surface was so smooth, the color so saturated, I hated to take it out. Although I have no specific memory of this, I wouldnt be surprised if I savored the sight and smell, then popped the lid back on for another sensory fix at a later playtime. I can see myself playing with one or two of the cans (for I believe it came in a 3-color pack, the original colors being blue, red and yellow, or perhaps 4, the fourth color being off-white, the original color used for the wallpaper cleaning task.) and saving at least one can. I can see Frankie mocking me for this goofy behavior.

Fast forward forty years. We first planted pink oleanders in our yard in Cupertino. I suspect Neal raised an eyebrow at this choice in the landscape design, but even then, I was determined to not fight mother nature. If theyll grow on median strips of polluted expressways, they will likely grow in our garden. And they did, quickly and fully, and provided a great screen at the back fence. Then one day when the pink oleanders were in full bloom, I discovered something else about them. The flowers had a smell, and they smelled like play-doh. You had to stick your nose right into the heart of the inflorescence, close your eyes and inhale deeply, but there it was, unmistakably the smell of play-doh.

Yesterday I walked to and from the fitness center, a walk I do not relish because of the steep hills in between, but I told myself there soon would be a Bavarian castle at the top of likely even steeper hills. When I passed the pink oleanders, I stopped, stuck my face into a cluster of pretty pink blooms, closed my eyes and inhaled, and there it was, the memory of childhood.

July 22, 2016