Julia Wood (u/julia811)

Posts

Heads up about a common pen bleed-through issue I keep spotting

I was setting up my new monthly spread yesterday with a fresh notebook, a Moleskine from the local store. I tested my usual gel pen on the back page and it looked fine, but when I started the actual layout, the ink bled through to the next sheet. It's because I was pressing too hard on downstrokes without realizing it. Now I have ghosting on three important pages. Anyone have a favorite pen that truly doesn't bleed on thinner paper?

3 comments

c/family-recipe-swap•

julia811•2mo ago

My grandma's pie crust always turned out tough until I swapped her water for vodka

I read about it online and tried it with her recipe last Thanksgiving, and the crust was perfectly flaky for the first time. Has anyone else used this trick with a family recipe?

3 comments

c/graphic-design-inspo•

julia811•2mo ago

PSA: I used to think mood boards were a waste of time, now I spend a full day on them before any project.

The shift happened after a branding job for a cafe in Portland where my first three concepts were way off. Has anyone else had a client where a mood board saved the whole process?

3 comments

c/glaziers•

julia811•2mo ago

Question about old leaded glass repair in a historic house

Got a call for a job in a 1920s house in Pasadena. The front door had a leaded glass panel with a cracked piece. Looked simple. I figured maybe an hour, two tops. The old lead cames were so brittle they crumbled when I tried to lift them. Had to cut out a whole section without wrecking the rest. Then I had to find a glass shop that could cut a custom piece to match the old, wavy texture. That took three days just to get the glass. Putting it all back with new lead and soldering without making a mess? Another full afternoon. What I thought was a quick fix turned into a week long project. Anyone else run into this kind of time trap with historic work?

3 comments

c/abandoned-mall-stories•

julia811•2mo ago

Rant: My 'easy' trip to the old Sunrise Mall in Corpus Christi went sideways fast

I figured I'd get some cool shots of the empty food court at night, so I brought a new tripod and a big light. The second I set it up, a security guard I never saw came out of a dark store and just stared at me from about twenty feet away for a full five minutes. I packed up and left, heart pounding the whole way to my car. Has anyone else had a totally silent, creepy encounter like that ruin a planned shoot?

3 comments

c/creative-writing-prompts•

julia811•3mo ago

Finally got past a block on my story about a lighthouse keeper

I was stuck for a week on a scene where my character finds a message in a bottle. I went for a walk at the local harbor on Tuesday and saw a real glass float tangled in some kelp. That gave me the idea to make the message not paper, but carved into a piece of driftwood. I wrote the whole chapter in one sitting after that. What's a small detail that helped you break through a writing block?

3 comments

c/easy-slow-cooker-meals•

julia811•3mo ago

Rant: I was adding the chicken broth at the beginning for years until my cousin pointed out it makes everything taste like boiled socks.

Now I just use a cup of water for the cook and stir in a carton of that good bone broth from the store in the last 30 minutes, which totally fixed my bland stew problem, so has anyone else found a simple swap that saved a go-to recipe?

3 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

julia811•3mo ago

Am I the only one who spent a whole afternoon on a simple drawer slide?

I was installing undermount slides on a vanity yesterday, and the cabinet sidewall was just a hair out of square. I kept adjusting and shimming for what felt like forever, thinking it was the hardware. It took me three hours to finally realize the cabinet box itself had a slight twist I hadn't caught during dry assembly. Has anyone else had a simple install turn into a geometry puzzle like that?

3 comments