Collage: L'espirit d'escalier or 'why didn't I think of that *then*?'

Hi hi.

I've got a new collage page to share in a second but, before I leave this post without saying something important [which is appropriate ... you'll see ...] let me tell you about the new kits I've compiled and put in the shop this week.  There's a new batch of themed 'Ephemera Bits' with packs titled:

• 'Retro Summer Days' [bright, girly, pin-up, floral]
• 'Inspired by Suffragettes' [strong women, suffrage] 
• 'Places to go People to see' [turquoise, green, retro, travel] and
• 'Golden Vintage' [vintage, warm, textured]

There's also a few new of trimmings and ribbons [in gold and chocolate shades] which I thought you might like, plus vintage map packs and sheet music, and finally 3 new Art Journaling 'bit of everything' packs over there too.

Right then, now that's done, I can move on to a way you can actually use some of the kids of ephemera and vintage paper you can find in my shop.

Here's the latest entry in my collage-style journal which was inspired by the idea of staircase wit ...

Yes staircase wit ... or as the French put it - in their splendidly French way: l'espirit d'escalier.

[p.s: if you're a Francophile you might like the Modern European Languages text packs I've got in stock]

I can't recall why I wanted to make this page now ... it's just been on a list of things I'd like to illustrate for a while now.

I guess I just love it when I discover there's a neat and tidy phrase out there to defines something much broader; something of the wider human experience. Something which puts a pithy spin on those woolly 'tell me it's not just me' feelings we all get from time to time.

And staircase wit, if you don't already know, describes that moment just after a heated debate, an argument, an interesting conversation, a chance to impress etc etc ...

... when, on your way out, after they've left the lift, once you've put down the phone ... on the stairs afterwards ... you suddenly think of the perfect response!

When it's too late

Don't you hate it when that happens??

And it goes round in your head. And you wonder why you couldn't have thought of it sooner!

And the best you can do is to tell someone who wasn't there, and who doesn't really care, your really funny if-I'd-thought-of-this-at-the-time-it-would-have-been-a-killer-comeback.

Or else you tweet / Facebook it because why let a good punch line go to waste?!

So, next item it happens, while it won't stop you kicking yourself ... at least you can now take a tiny snip of comfort from the idea that someone coined a beautifully elegant phrase purely to describe your predicament!

[Then say it in French. It'll make you feel clever again.]

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And here's my chopped-up staircasey / snail-witted brain collage in situ in my notebook journal:

Can you think of any [not too personal!!] examples where you've had a dose of staircase wit?

Fancy sharing them in the comments?

Or on my Facebook page?

I wish I could think of one of my own to share but I can't. Won't it be ironic if I think of one as soon as I've hit 'publish' on this post?

Julie :-)

p.s: don't forget to browse the new kits in my shop when you get a minute.