The End is Upon Us

The End of the YEAR is quickly approaching!!

Oh wait!  You didn't think I was referring to anything else did you?! (wink).

This time of year gets CRAZY with having 3 teen age boys. Baseball is cramming in 3 games a week. Senior recognition for baseball that will require me to go through 680 pictures multiple times in order to put together photo collages for the senior boys and their coaches.  Teacher's are cramming in as many last quarter  projects that might be possible to complete without parents hiring a team of hit men. Music performances are doing double services at the local churches, not to mention the spring concerts that will be upon us soon.  Award banquets.  Teacher appreciation days. School golf tournaments.

A family wedding to attend.  Oldest Kiddo's birthday coming up.

And let us not forget graduation and the party announcements that still need to be made up and sent out. And graduation cards for classmates.

Cloning. That may be the only answer to get all of this done.  

To add the final cherry on top, the Youngest Kiddo decided that it would be the perfect time  to break his wrist.

The Toad suggested he get a white cast so that I could custom paint it for him.  The first idea was to do the Terminator look with mechanical parts bursting out of the skin.

Uhhhh.  Nope!! It would seem that when mom has not drawn or painted in a loooong time, such skills required for that type of detail are no longer an option.

And yes, I did try.

Next option, Ironman.  As simple as this should have been, it took me several tries.  This cast has more paint on it than the Sistine Chapel.  

You may have noticed that I didn't share the top of the cast.  It would seem that became my nemesis. While it doesn't look bad, per say, it just doesn't look as good as the palm.  It looks like it went through a battle to get painted and it won.  Oh well!! The Youngest Kiddo has informed me that I'll have the chance to have another go at it in a couple of weeks.  Yes, this Kiddo will have the pleasure of multiple casts as he fractured the scaphoid bone in his wrist, which just so happens to have the poorest blood supply.  This meaning more x-rays in a couple of weeks to make sure it is healing.  

It goes without saying that further posting will be sparse over the next couple of weeks!! I hope the month of May finds you with plenty of time for creativity! Enjoy a few extra moments for me!!

'Till next time......................

  

Experimenting in Black and White

Hello People!  Can you believe that we are already nearing the end of July?!! Summer is just flying by and before I know it, the Kiddos will be back in school!

This summer has not lent itself to a lot of creative time.  In addition to summer league basketball and cross country for the Kiddos, I joined in on a challenge that one of my cousins dangled in front of the rest of us: a goal for exercise miles for the year.  It started out with the goal of 1500 bicycling miles then morphed into a 2000 (or 2013) mile challenge that could be met by biking, walking/hiking, running, tennis (30 min= 1 mile), kayaking or what ever other activity we could convert to miles.

Did I happen to mention that the challenge was given at the END of May?!! And that while I had been walking/running some, I had not been keeping track of any miles prior to that time?!!  So, not only did I accept this challenge in the negative, I started with not having ridden my bike seriously for a couple of years and a nagging chronic plantar fasciitis foot pain.

But, I'm chipping away at it!! The foot pain is now tolerating up to 7 miles of walking with some very short distance jogging started this past week.  I'm slowly getting back my biking legs. Basically, I have to average a minimum of 60 miles a week to reach my goal of 2000 miles by December 31. As of this writing, I have knocked out 673.02 miles, only 1,326.98 to go!!

But, those miles also mean that 2-3 hours a day is spent away from the possibility of any creativity.  And right now, that's okay.  I miss the creating, but I'm starting to feel better physically, which is a plus.

It's a give and take.

On the creativity bright side, I "won" a spot from Linda's (Studio L3)  blog for Claudine Hellmuth's Technique Toolbox Class!  (There is still time to sign up for the class if you are interested!! While the class has officially started, registration does not close until July 24th!!  QUICK!  Go sign up!!).  I was so excited to have the chance to give my creative mojo a swift kick in the rear to get back into gear!! This week one of the techniques is tinting photos with acrylic paint.  While out on one of my walks, I came across some wild sunflowers (weeds) that I immediately thought would be the perfect subject for this technique.  So this morning I dragged the Toad out for a little walk so that I could take some black and white photos of the sunflowers.

Go figure that this morning the wind was blowing in a summer storm!  Despite the flowers literally blowing every which way, I managed to get a few photos (with the Toad literally having to try and hold some of the flower stems still!). This is the first time I actually have set up my camera to take black and white photos.  I'm hoping that this storm system will pass this weekend so that I can experiment some more with this setting.  In the mean time, I had a bit of fun attempting some photo editing (which I have very limited skills in!).

I have to tell you that I was amazed that any of these photos came out somewhat in focus as I was having a hard time just trying to focus on a spot where I hoped the flowers would "blow" into!! LOL!!  Now to get these printed up and photo tinted!!

Stayed tuned!  

Cartoons

Soooo.  Would someone please tell me how we are already into the second week of May?!! The Kiddo's will be out of school at the end of the month and in the mean time, every teacher is cramming in as many possible end of the year activities as they can come up with in 5 days a week.

One of those end of the year activities is for the Youngest Kiddo's class.  They will be spending the night in the Pit (assembly area of the main school building) later this week while watching the live cam of the watering hole, Pete's Pond., in Botswana.  

Unfortunately, it is also the rainy season this time of year in Botswana, so the teacher is a bit afraid that there may be NOTHING to see that night.  She has planned some games and other activities to occupy the kids.  One of her ideas was to have a safari photo prop. She found a the "perfect" photo prop board that fit the fun safari theme she has planned.

$99.  $99 dollars for a photo prop that is probably made out of cardboard.  Seriously?!! Who the heck would pay $99 for a cartoon style photo prop?!

So, Mrs. L. asked me if I could draw and paint a similar style of photo prop.  Looking at the picture, I thought to myself "piece of cake.  Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."

Want to know why people pay $99 for a photo prop?! HAHA!

Actually, it really didn't take me too terribly long to draw up and paint the photo prop.  I wasted more time trying to take the "easy" way out and use a terribly cheap light bulb projector to "trace" the picture idea.  I finally admitted defeat and just got out the picture, pencil and a large eraser and drew out a sketch myself.  

Mrs. L. had originally planned on using a single piece of large cardboard that she had ordered from the local paper company. Life got in the way and she was not able to pick up the board. Plan B:  duct tape two project boards ($1 each, by the way!) together.  Worked for me!

After drawing and tracing with a black Sharpie, I got out my cheapo acrylic paints, a little tub of water and painted in a very loose, cartoonish (is that even a word?!) fashion.

Want to hear something funny?  There is a teeny tiny little blip of brown paint that I smudged on the board that just bugged the beejeebees out of me until I had Youngest Kiddo pose behind the prop.

THEN I had the the very disproportional left shoulder bug the major beejeebees out of me.  

And the fact that this guys thighs must be three feet long and his calves about 6 inches.  

I keep telling myself that this is a cartoon drawing.  I keep saying it really doesn't matter that the shoulders look like someone stuck a 9 foot pole in the shirt for shoulder pads and that the body is totally out of proportion.   I'm saving the classroom $99 that they don't have to spend on such a silly photo prop. Right?  

The shoulders are bugging the beejeebees out of me.  The legs are now bugging the beejeebees out of me.  

And as I keep staring at this, the feet are too little too. I needed to make the jacket shorter in length.  That would have helped considerably.

Sigh.

It's a CARTOON.  I am willing to bet that not ONE kid will notice these silly mistakes.  This is one of those projects that I just need to take a deep breath and say, "it is what it is.  Let it go."

So, 'till next time.  Remember, they can't all be zingers! HA!

I'm Still Alive....

......but still trying to dig my way through 7+ years of  paper crafting accumulation.

Yes, that means the Toad is correct.  I did not have a craft room. I had a crap room.  Seriously.

Downsizing from an entire room to mostly a desk and corner of my bedroom has not been easy.  I have given two rather large boxes of "stuff" to a couple of teachers at the Kiddo's school.  I figure they can decide what to do with the stuff they don't think they'll use.  Although, I did mention that any of the stamping stuff that they didn't want, I'd take back to offer as blog candy.  But, don't hold your breath on that.  That could be weeks, months down the road before they decide what they want.  I sent another box to a friend.

You'd think I'd see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Not really.  I still have piles in my room to go through.  I still have piles in the hall way to go through.  And the Newest Kiddo isn't going to have use of the closet in his room.  The Toad had built shelves in it for me  it to store all my SU stamps, family photo albums, the kiddo's mementos from each school year.

I bought the Newest Kiddo a self supporting hanging closet thingamajig to hang his dress clothes in. This girl can only handle so much at one time!! LOL!

While I've been going through things, I've had many conversations with myself.  Such as:

**You are NOT TO BUY ANOTHER PAD OF PAPER FOR THE NEXT 5+ YEARS.  OMG.  You have enough paper to last FOREVER.  Doesn't matter how cute it is...the answer is NOOOOO!

**Your art was changing.  Now, how the heck are you suppose to know if you'll use this stuff on your emerging art that you haven't used over the last 7 years?????

**Why do I still have all these Mrs. Grossman's stickers????

**Just how many paper cutters does one person need???? (My answer:  two.  The rest were given to the teachers)

**Really should get rid of all my SU ink pads/refills.  BUT.  I still use some of them.  Sometimes. They are great for classroom projects.  sigh....

**WHEN was the last time I even opened up one of these OLD SU catalogs for inspiration?

**OMG.  I still have Creative Memory idea books.  I have not done any scrapping in 12 years.  Ewwww.  Now I know why I had so many stickers.....

**REALLY.  Brads, grommets.  Why are you still keeping them???? WHY???

**Just trash it.  Don't over think it.  If you have to struggle to think of the last time you used it (or, in more instances than I'd like to admit...have NEVER used it) just get rid of it.

**You realize that once you go through everything, you should go through it again and pitch some more.

**If this takes much longer to go through, I'm just going to pitch everything.  Seriously.  Okay...maybe not.  But I'm starting to like that idea more and more.

**And the biggest, yet still unanswered question:  what do I do with the dimensional art that I have made?  The altered frames, metal projects, the canvases?  

Cards, easy.  Give them to others.  Art.  Not so easy.  It is more personal.  You can gift it, but ONLY if a person asks for it.  Otherwise, it is most likely junk to them.  Yet, I can't make myself toss it.  It has a part of me in it.  And while me, myself and I don't always like each other, we all put a little bit into each project.  That is hard to trash.  sigh.....

Suggestions and comments welcomed on that sticky point.  I'd love input.

This weekend, I figure I'll take some pictures and share how I'm organizing what I am keeping.  Who knows, maybe you'll gleam an idea that will work for you too.  And maybe you'll be able to share some ideas with me too. I'm open to suggestions!!

Till then....is creating a mess creating????  sigh.....






  

I leaped...

I usually avoid entering into "contests" or such as I NEVER win. And, usually, it requires so many steps, emails, etc., that I don't find it worth the time or effort.

But, someone must have conked me over the head because I got the wild hair to try out for the Spellbinder's Explore Beyond contest.

To make a long story short, I leaped.....

.....but I didn't win.  Didn't even get one of the honorable mentions.

And really, while I will admit to disappointment, I knew as soon as I saw the two finalist's picked for the mixed media category, that they would be the project's chosen to move on to the finals.  Having been lucky to attend CHA (the Craft and Hobby Association showcase of all the latest and greatest crafting goodies in every medium imaginable) the last couple of years, I could see what trends were starting to take place and what "looks" companies were being drawn to in presenting their products.  Those two finalist products were perfect in that area!!

So, why didn't I create the "look" I thought the company was looking for?

Here are my rambling, creative thoughts that I am going to share with you in regards to what I created.

My creative Mojo has been missing for MONTHS.  I have had ideas, but no energy or desire to create them.  I have been feeling overwhelmed with trying to create what I think others want to see.  I have been overwhelmed with the over abundance of  supplies that I have accumulated over the years, yet the pressure of using NEW product to gain looks was stifling. I did not want to purchase new product just to impress. 

 I have been trying to find or rediscover a medium that I can express myself in a creative manner that excites me.   I took the title of the contest to heart.  Explore Beyond. I wanted to be inspired and let the journey complete the project. I did not want to create the  project for the journey.  I decided that if I was going to leap and try for this contest, then I had to create what came from the heart.  I could not allow the creativity to be what I thought the judge's expectations were.  

This first project that I made (yes, I ended up finishing two!) was my way of expressing the above thoughts.  The all white aspect symbolized the "expected".  Though lovely in itself, it is what everything else is. The bright blue butterfly symbolizes what I hope to accomplish. Breaking away from the "expected" and not being afraid to be ME.  

I will admit to one "fatal" mistake in submitting this canvas.  I was beyond rushed with the holiday season and  really, had no business taking the time to make this.  I was having a HORRIBLE time in photographing this piece with the all white and the metallic butterfly.  So I settled on the  photograph that I submitted.  It wasn't any of these photos, which I just re photographed.  It was against a white background, too much natural sunlight and a bit washed out.  Not that it would have made a difference, but the lesson learned was, if you are going to take the time to do something, DO IT RIGHT.  

Even though this canvas didn't connect with the judges, I REALLY like it.  I like what it symbolizes to me.  And once I gain the energy and courage to face the mess my office/creative space has suffered, I will find a spot on the wall for it, to remind me of my ultimate goals in creating.

Later this week, I'll share the second project that I created for this contest.  TOTALLY different look,LOL!!

'Till next time.....remember to ENJOY the creativity!!

Just a Quick Note

Raise your hand if you HATE word verification?!

(picture Arnold Horshack here, raising his hand and saying OOOO, OOOO, OOOO!!) Yes, I just dated myself with that picture.  Does ANYONE remember Welcome back Kotter?

I really hate word verification as it is a pain in the patootie to figure out the weird fonts and combination of letters. 

But, I am going to have to turn it on for just a bit.  I'm getting several spam "comments" a day, and while blogger has done a great job at catching them, I'm hoping that by turning on the word verification for a few days, that they will just GO AWAY and I can turn it off again soon. 

I need to start working on a 50th wedding anniversary card or frame for tomorrow.

Should be back within a day or so with something to share unless Mojo flees in having to face creative demand on a tight schedule yet once again!! haha!!

'Till then..................explore some creativity!!

 

Thank Goodness for Mojo...

.....unfortunately, it's not MY mojo!!!

It has been three weeks since I last posted.  At that time my mojo had left for an extended vacation.

I think she has moved and has no intention of sending me a forwarding address.

Although, I really can't blame her.  I've been putting in full weeks at work (someone obviously forgot to let my secretary know that I'm only part time) and by the time I get home, I have no energy or desire to create.  And I won't even mention the state my room is in.  Let's just put it this way:  anyone who was brave enough to enter would think this room had been hit by Hurricane Issac.  Unfortunately,  I live across the country near the OTHER coast!!

Luckily for me (or unluckily, might be more appropriate) my kiddos continue to have friends with birthdays, the kiddos themselves are having birthdays and I just realized that Big Papa (great grandfather) is also having a birthday.

Sigh.  These are the only reasons that I am wading through the mess in this room to try to create.

My first challenge for the weekend (brought to my attention at 9:30 pm last night as Oldest Kiddo was texting) is to make a last minute birthday card for one of his classmates that he and a couple of other friends decided to treat to a movie tonight for her birthday.

Yes.  I said HER.  

If you have tuned into my blog previously, you might recall that I am the mother of TWO boys.  I am married to a boy who occasionally remembers that he is no longer a boy.  Even the dog is a boy.

In other words, I have NO IDEA how to do teenage girl cards that my teenage boy won't cringe in handing over.

I started by choosing the design paper, Black Orchid, from s-e-i.   I'm pretty sure that this particular paper pack is a couple of years old.  I'm really trying to use my over abundance of supplies instead of purchasing "new" supplies.   I admit this is a lot easier to achieve when one has no creative energy, LOL!!

Anyhoos!  After choosing the paper, nothing struck me for an idea.  No theme, no layout, no nothing.  I started looking at all my favorite links and finally found a layout idea on the Mojo Monday sketch challenge that I thought I could work with.  I chose sketch 243, from February 2012.

A tad "busier" than I usually tend to create, but I really wanted to use the background paper and could not come up with any other ideas, LOL!!

Here is another view that shows all the dimension on this.

Basic details:  Card base from Gina K's Pure luxury, top fold, cut 5.5" square.  Black mat from scrap pile.  All other paper from the s-e-i Black Orchid paper pack.  I used my score buddy to add the embossed lines to the panel behind the butterfly and the "flag".  The straight panel was edged with Martha Stewart punch.  Self adhesive pears from my stash.  After looking at these pictures, I went back and rearranged my "swirls" to have more of a curve, but no new pictures.  Kid has the card in the envie, ready to head out the door.

Butterfly die is from Quikutz.  Sentiment is retired SU.  The sentiment panel was die cut and embossed using Spellbinders.  

Not too shabby for using up some old supplies, if I do say so myself!

That is it for me tonight.  I have a very faint idea as to what type of card to make for the Youngest Kiddo's birthday celebration.  NO IDEA at all for Big Papa!  And both cards need to be completed by tomorrow evening's family celebration.  

If any of you have an over flow of mojo, could you please send it my way?!!  Thanks!!

'Till next time..............

Creating Joy

I was introduced to Happy News  from Susan's "other" blog, Questioning My Intelligence.  This morning, I was reminded that you can always find ways to create joy.  Even in a war torn country.




'Till next time..............

Sneak Peek 3



Getting Inky

Hello?!!  Anyone still out there?!!

Yes, once again life has gotten in the way of crafting.  BUT!! I have some good news: I have been getting ink and paint all over my fingers today.

Of course, there is a slight downside to that:  this idea is not one that can be finished in a day. 

Or two days. 

Let's cross our fingers it doesn't go into next week. 

 I'm trying to let the creativity decide where this goes and when it is "finished".  Well, sort of.  It is for an upcoming blog hop with the E-Team.  But this is an idea that I have had brewing in my noggin' for a while.  It just took a little shove to get me started.

I'm liking it so far.  Paint. Metal, alcohol inks.  VerDay (more on that later).  Yep.  It's a new mixed media journey that I'm excited to start exploring.

 I'll share a little sneak peak with you.



Did I mention that I'm making a mess too?!! 

Stay tuned.  There is more to come soon!!

Why I don't have a Cooking Blog, Part A

While my creative motivation seems to be either on strike or vacation, the "creating" has not stopped.  It has just ventured onto a different path.  This weekend it was all about creativity in the kitchen. 

The Youngest kiddo informed me that he would like to do the demonstration speech at school that was for extra credit.  GREAT!!  Then the Kiddo came up with the idea of pizza.  Uhhh, okaaaay.  Not exactly an easy demonstration project, but we'll work with it.  But!  Then he mentioned that *A, a classmate with Celiac disease, would not be able to eat the pizza.  Maybe we could find a recipe that she could eat too?  This  sweet child  makes his mama so proud!!  So, the hunt for an easy, demonstrative and gluten free recipe was started.  Found one that seemed to fit the ticket perfectly!  After a conversation with *A's mother to confirm that all the ingredients were allowed (did you know that even Vanilla can have gluten in it?!!), the Youngest Kiddo and I set up to make Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.  

This is where I came upon the realization that I'm a failure at food blogging.

When blogging, it is to your benefit to take good pictures.  Notice the background, which may distract from your focal image.  It is also imperative that your main image is in focus. 

Only I could manage to get all pictures out of focus!!  I'm off to a fabulous start on this blog post!!

Another important consideration in blogging is to photograph step by step illustrations, if applicable.  Blog posts on cooking or say, art techniques, require this step to engage your audiance.

Yeah.  Okaaaay.  It would seem that someone, who shall remain nameless (cough, me, cough), got caught up in the actual making of the cookies and forgot to PHOTOGRAPH the steps. 

 I could have easily enough "re staged" this whole cooking episode with the Kiddo (in focus), the kitchen spotless, and each and every easy little step in the cooking process photographed.  But I didn't. Why?  Despite the demise to my "cooking blog", I'm just too lazy.  And this is my real  life.  Unedited.   Photos out of focus. The kitchen a mess from another baking project.  It is what it is. 

But the cookies still tasted good!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

adapted from a couple of recipes on the www

Ingredients

1 cup natural Peanut butter

3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar

1 egg slightly beaten

1 teaspoon Vanilla (gluten free, if needed)

Corse sea salt (optional)

Hershey's Kisses (could be optional, but why?!!)

Place oven racks in the upper and lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Roll into 1" ball (approximately) and place on prepared cookie sheets.  Use a fork to make cross hatch pattern.  If using sea salt, sprinkle on cookies now.  Bake 10-15 minutes, switching cookie sheets half way through baking time.  Bake until slightly golden at edges (which, is a bit difficult to tell, since the cookies are already golden in color!).  Remove from oven and let cool on sheets for a couple of minutes, before transfering to cooling racks.  Place Hershey kiss in middle of warm cookie.  Transfer cookies to cooling racks to finish cooling process completely.  Makes about 18 cookies. 

ENJOY!

Stay tuned for Part B:  I'm not Bakerella.  

Saturday versus Today

On Saturday I was lazy and slept in until 7:30 am.

Today I got up at 5:50 am. 

Saturday I woke up to blue skies and sunshine.

Today I woke up shades of grey and white.

Saturday I went for a long walk wearing short sleeves.

Today I bundled up in long sleeves, pants and my mountain hardware jacket to take some quick photos.

On Saturday I considered doing some spring planting.

Today I feel sorry for my plants.



On Saturday I opened up all the windows to enjoy the fresh air.

Today, I'm thinking that sitting in front of the fireplace sounds good.

On Saturday the sun shone bright.

Today the sun is starting to reflect off the snow.

CHA Update

Hey there People!  I thought I had better pop in before someone sent out the Search and Rescue team to find me!

CHA was a blast!  Daisy was the ultimate hostess and treated us to a luxury weekend at the California Grand Hotel and a wonderful tour of Disneyland.  Sherry and I ended spending the afternoon exploring Disneyland together until our feet demanded we head back to the room before a FABULOUS dinner at Club 33 with all the E-Team plus a long time friend of Daisy's.  I finally got to meet E-Team members Linda Ledbetter and Linda Duke for the first time!  Let me just say that Linda L is as cute as I thought she would be and I'm sorry that her class schedule prevented us from spending more time together!  Linda D is a RIOT!  I ended up walking most of CHA with her and had fun being in the shadow of stamping royalty!!

You are probably wondering where are all my pictures of the new product coming out.  Uhhhhh.  Let me explain.

This year, I did a lot of meeting people in the industry (one of the perks of following Linda D and Sherry around).  And I'm not the type to ask for photos with them.  Not that I wouldn't love photos of these creative icons, but mostly because that would mean I would have to have my photo taken.  And I HATE my photo taken.  Yes, I know.  I need to get over that.  But that didn't happen this past weekend! haha.

Let's see if I can remember who I met:

Karen (imastampin on SCS) and Wendy (wendybell), who were both in the original challenge chasers group way back when I first joined SCS.

The wonderful duo of Stacy and Jeff, owners of Spellbinder's.  And I got to say a quick hello to Heidi Blankenship   , who I was on a previous design team with in the past.  And the absolutely adorable Juliana Hudgins.  I have to say that her new dies from Spellbinder's are something that I originally didn't think I would use, but after seeing them in the various projects the Spellbinder's design team came up with, and working with the die at Juliana's make and take, my mind was racing with different ideas for them!  As soon as I save some pennies, these dies are going to come live with me!!

I also met Donna Salazar.  She also has some new dies out with Spellbinder's and are also on my wish list.  I'm afraid I may have to start working more to afford all of these dies that I want from Spellbinder's new release!!

Then I got brave and begged the incredibly talented Wendy Vecchi to please, please make the different modeling films in her art parts line on a roll.  I would love to use that stuff for "sculpture" ideas floating in my head, but don't want the limitation of the size of the sheets. 

And the grand dame herself, Suze Weinberg.  I got really brave and stopped Suze when she was passing by me.  She was so nice!  She was very encouraging in my growing interest in making jewelry and using wax as a medium. 

As far as products, I went off the paper craft trail and did some exploring of other booths.  I have been finding myself wanting to explore more mixed media type creations and wanted to see what was out there.  Let me tell you, there is sooo much out there to spark your creativity!  I want the ENTIRE line of Viva Decor products.  I played around with some ArtDeco paints for glass and fabric (which I also want).  Then there was the Ice Resin booth.  Oh yes!  I'm going to get my desk top cleaned off so I can start pouring!! And there were other companies creative paints and molding compounds that I need to look into more.  Very cool stuff. 

And no pictures.  I'm such a bad blogger!  I was just caught up in the products and asking questions that pictures were forgotten.  One of these days I'll get it all together!!

I will be patting myself on the back as well as tooting my own horn in my next post.  I even have a tutorial to go along with all the self congratulating!!  'Till then.........

CHA!!

Hey People!  Things have been rather crazy around here (as usual!).  I'm just dropping in real quick to say that I'm running around like a chicken with her head cut off getting ready to hit the road to CHA (craft and hobby trade show, for those of you who may not know)!!  Daisy is hosting Sherry, Linda L, Linda D and myself for a wonderful weekend of walking around Newport Beach, Disneyland and of course a in person view of all the new craft and hobby goodies that are coming out in a few weeks!!

I'm hoping to post a few pics along the way, but we'll have to see if I can figure out my new camera, the borrowed notebook from my kid first! hehe!!  Technology and I have a love/hate relationship!

'Till then....

And 2012 is off to a Roaring Start

Hey Peoples!  The first week of January is done.  Have you found your groove yet?!  This  past week has been spent getting back into the schedule of school, sport practices and games and deal with  a stomach bug that hit the household.  Well, actually, it just hit me.  But! When mom is down, it affects everyone!!  The bummer part of this particular bug was, I wasn't sick sick to my stomach.  Just had  pain and slight nausea everytime I ate.  So, I didn't eat. 

Now, that sounds like an ideal way to quickly drop a few of those extra holiday pounds. But let me tell you, this is NOT the way to do it. 

Food = Calories = Energy.

No food = No Calories = NO ENERGY at all. I, sadly, am not one of those who can function on a piece of peanut butter toast for the day. 

I also came to the conclusion that the reason those waif thin models lounge in all the photo layouts is because they don't have the energy to stand up.  I am no where near 5'10" and if I can't move on eating nothing, it's no wonder they can't hold themselves upright under all those hot lights.

I may be stretching this comparison a bit between myself and tall, waif thin models.  It is possible that I was starting to hallucinate due to lack of food.  But, I do think it is a plausible theory!!

ANYHOOS!  My lack of energy  was absolutely pathetic.  I'd get up, get the kids to school and go back to bed for a couple of hours.  Then, try to get something small done, such as, unload the dishwasher, and have to rest again.  I didn't even have the energy to spend time looking at Pinterest on the computer. 

I'm telling you, it was BAD!!

But as quickly as it hit me, it went away.  Yesterday I even went hiking for a couple of hours.  AND FELT FINE. 

Go figure. 

So my first week of January was rather a bust.  But I have high hopes for the next 3 weeks. The first step will be to clean off my desk.  While in my energy deprived stupor, I actually came up with a couple of new ideas that I'd like to try.  Exploring something new. 

So, on with my supermom cape (no outfit.  I didn't lose that much weight!) to tackle the laundry and my desk.

'Till next time...............think about exploring something new!!

A Very Good Day

Found this on my cyber friend Gail's blog.  It is too wonderful not to share.  And trust me....it is worth the 10 minutes to watch it NOW.

Have a VERY GOOD DAY friends.

Guilt

Guilt.  I swear I am the QUEEN of quilt. 

As well as the QUEEN of procrastination.

And .....wait....we were discussing guilt. 

I'm trying to work on relinquishing my crown of Guilt.

Guilt over the fact that my house is a disaster.
Guilt that I ate a PayDay candy bar for lunch (as in it was my lunch).
Guilt that I haven't exercised for 4 days.  (did I mention that PayDay's are my favorite lunch of late?!)
Guilt that I haven't walked the dog for 4 days.
Guilt that I don't post every day.  Or every other day.  Or even weekly.

I wear a HUGE, blingy crown of Guilt. 

But, I need to realize that the Princess Crown of Guilt fits me better.  I can only be Queen of so many things, so I'm keeping the crown of the Queen of Procrastination.  And the crown of Queen of the House (disaster that it is). And possibly a couple of other Queen crowns too.  But, I'm going to try downsizing to the Princess crown of Guilt. 

So, what does all this mean?

Yep.  No actual project to share today.  But, I can PROMISE you one on Friday.  AND I think it is kinda cool.  Out of my usual mold.  Rather artsy, if I do say so myself.

Check back on Friday. 

Catching Up

Hey People!

I know it has been forever since I've posted. Tonight I thought I'd take a bit of time and update (aka giving my excuses) as to what has been going on in my prolonged absence.

Missing Mojo

While I have experienced my mojo taking a break before, I have to admit to a growing dismay and fear that my mojo has moved permanently and has no intention of sending me a forwarding address. I don't know if it is the climbing temperature, the fatigue of fighting the never ending ant invasion in every room of my house or the restless thoughts on creativity, being an artist versus being artistic (more on this in a bit) that have caused my mojo to up and leave. I do know that the old trick of getting out some supplies and letting things flow has only resulted in extreme frustration and the ruin of several sheets sheets of my favorite metal and card stock.

Thoughts


Recently, I have been reading about people following their dreams and taking the leap to make them a reality. In the absece of my mojo, I've been giving a lot of thought regarding what it means to be creative, artistic or an artist, as I feel they are all different, yet, each can be an integral part of the others.

While I will admit to having some artistic ability, I don't think that makes me an artist. I can draw and paint, yet I lack the skill to create from an image in my mind. I have to look at visual prompt in order to be able to create my version. Whether this would change if I devoted time and effort to refine those particular skills, I don't know.

I know I have the need and desire to create and I am drawn to various mediums of creativity. Yet I sometimes wonder if the lack of devotion to a particular medium is preventing me from reaching a higher potential in my creativity. Or is the lack of my potential due to the fact that I have yet to discover what medium of creating reaches my soul in a way that I'd risk all because I'd be unable to live without the joy and fulfillment that could only be met through that medium?

Lots of thoughts. No answers. But I've bought supplies to try some new things as I'm willing to keep exploring creativity. Maybe I'll discover the artist in me yet!, LOL!

Computer Issues

I've yet to find the time to sit on hold to figure out why my computer won't connect to the Internet. I had every intention of completing that task today. But time slipped away. So posting is still a bit of a chore since I'm utilizing my phone. But since I do enjoy connecting with all of you, I'll just have to figure out another block of time to get that done. But I have to say, that it has been good in the fact that I've spent more time hanging out with my boys in the evenings, versus us all connecting to our choice of electronics. And
that has been worth the disconnect.

I think that is about it! I am interested in hearing how you all deal with missing mojos, and what dreams you have, that you haven't quite taken the leap in making a reality and how you deal with that also.

Till then............if you see my mojo, would you tell her that I'd be willing to stop the deep thinking and be happy with what she has to offer if she would move back home? Thanks.

The Lazy Days of Summer

Do you remember when summer time meant sleeping in until the bright rays of the sun pulled at you stronger than the comfort of your bed?

When days were spent running around the neighborhood with friends and cousins until dinner time?  Then the evening games of tag, hide and seek, with special effects of "Daddy shot all the bears last night, there won't be any bears tonight", and the screams when the "bear" would jump out and chase you all over the yard while screams of terror/delight filled the air?

The days where you had so much time that you could finish not one, but TWO books in a day?

Those days no longer exist. At least not in this household. 

In the three weeks since school has been out, the Oldest Kiddo has participated in basketball boot camp, volleyball camp, started summer league basketball and will start cross country tomorrow.  The youngest Kiddo, having the fate of being born second, hangs out in the gym all day with his older brother or in The Toad's office while I'm covering vacationing therapists at work.

There has been no lazy days of summer here.  But as a family, we have been enjoying the lazy EVENINGS of summer.

Ice cream bars and fruit soup for dinner. 

Windows open to the cool evening breeze (just a few more weeks of that PLLLEEEASE!!) while as a family we watch movies all night long.

Obviously no creating has been going on. 

Except the creating of memories.  I've decided that the creating of memories outranks the creating of cards or such right now.  Not to say that I won't be doing any creating at all over the next month or so.  I NEED to create for my own sanity.  I'm just giving you all a heads up that the creating might be a bit more sparse than usual over the next month or so.

I want my kids to look back and say "Do you remember when we would sit around eating ice cream bars and watch Myth Buster's all night long?"  Those summer evenings were the best"

The lazy days of summer might be jammed packed.  But the lazy evenings of summer still exist. 

Till then...............enjoy the evenings!

Treading Water

Hey Peoples! Have you missed me? (did you even notice I was gone?!)

I'm still having computer issues. Stupid thing still refuses to connect to the Internet (I'm writing this on my phone. Who would have ever imagined that one day our phones would be capable of such tasks?!). Anyhoos!

I would REALLY like to get the dang thing fixed, but I have had no time to even think about sitting on the phone for the amount of time it would take to understand some computer geek to explain what I need to do. It would seem that somebody (ahem) scheduled herself to cover vacationing therapists all this week. DUH! What the heck was I (I mean SHE)thinking? We are in the last two weeks of school! This means a push for those last minute projects, field trips, "skip" days, etc.! Not to mention the oldest kiddo has a birthday this coming weekend, and is planning on having some friends over for a weekend of Xbox, movies, air soft shooting and eating me out of house and home.

Did I mention that this same kid graduates from 8th grade the first week in June? And that the same lousey secretary said I would decorate for the reception? Just smack me now!
I also have his b- day card, graduation card and the graduation cards for four other kiddos to make. Of course, this means that if and when I'm finally able to use my computer, I should have quite a few cards to share!

So. I hope you will all hang in there with me until I manage to get on top of things. I really do miss posting, and even more so, visiting my favorite blogs! But! This is just a crazy, busy time. Things will slow down in the next couple of weeks( well.....somewhat, anyways, LOL!) and hopefully I'll have my computer up and running by then and lots if goodies to share!

Until then.....

P.S. Please excuse any major typos or funky paragraphs. While it is incredible that I'm able to do this on my phone, it is NOT ideal! Lol! Not easy to see my whole screen or correct mistakes!

I'll be back!