Mood: Good

I'm leaving for vacation in about three hours. The picture above represents how I wish the weather was going to be. Nope, snowy Denver, Colorado for me! Brrrr!

I'll be returning January 1st.

Tootles!

The Forlorn Queen

Mood: Irritated

Cory keeps hassling me to pack but we don't leave until 3pm tomorrow. I don't see the point in doing it right now when I have to get my toiletries out again to get ready in the morning.

I was actually extremely productive today. I guess I just need a day to myself to relax a bit. We didn't end up going to the movies after all and I don't think I left my craft room for more than an hour today. I started and completed this piece today. I was browsing through pictures of the "Queen of Hearts" when I came upon this one. At the time I just saved it to my computer and now I can't remember where I got it to give credit.

I originally started out trying to sketch her face but my faces never look anything remotely like the person I'm doing them after. I combined the collage and paste method for the background a la Rachel Rae and used techniques from Suziblu's class for painting the face. The result was this. I'm quite happy with it. The eyes are a little kooky but I like that. She's available in my Etsy shop.

I also started another piece though it won't be done today. I signed up for Suzi's goddess class at the tail end of November. I was a little frustrated with the lack of organization from the last class but I decided to give her another chance (it was her first workshop after all). I'm really glad I did too. The class is more about self exploration and body issues. Anyway, we are studying goddesses and lately I've found myself drawn to the various goddess figures. I started on a black background this time which is completely new to me. I'll post pictures when I get a little farther along.

Merry Christmas!

Mood: Slightly relieved

I started my new meds last night with the increased dosage. I was so afraid it was going to make me a total zombie like they had last time. To my surprise I'm alert but slightly jittery. My hands have a tremor in them but that usually goes away after a few days.

I hope everyone's Christmas is starting out well! Cory and I don't really celebrate Christmas in the traditional (religious) sense. Both of us are agnostic but we were raised Catholic and Christian. I think we celebrate the holiday now just out of tradition. I love the decorating and giving of gifts! Oh, and all the lights! I usually give out baked goods for gifts because people are a lot less picky when it comes to sweets.

Cory and I discussed going to see a movie today but I'm not sure if we're doing that or just slumming around the house today. I kind of want to see a movie but I don't. The movie theatres are going to be packed like they always are on Christmas day. I can’t decide between Marley and me (above) or Bedtime Stories (below). I crack up at both the trailers. I figured out how to embed them, yea!

That's the mortgage industry for you!

Mood: Chipper


FINALLY some good news at work! Apparently we are on the verge of another refi boom! We heard talk of it a while back but it's starting to get more and more certain. The loan projections have more than doubled for the next month in refinances since the Feds dropped the interest rates. It's not good news all around as it won't help all the struggling industries but it's a start in some areas.

Our client is hiring all the staff back plus and additional 20 or so. They hired back a couple of the people I was upset about being let go too. So far the rest of the new hires are unfamiliar faces. We've rehired one of the people we laid off and are in the process of hiring more in. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage now is the time to refinance into a fixed rate! I certainly wish we had enough equity in our house to refinance but we don't yet. Here's a link to one of the news stories from yesterday if you are interested: Mortgage interest rates falling fast and furious. They are expecting the boom to last until about March before it tapers off again.

Speaking of expecting, one of the girls at work found out she's about eight weeks along. It will be their second child. I'm happy for her! I know they've been trying for a while. I also found out one of the girls I used to work with is expecting too! It must be the water...She's just barely a month along though. I'm REALLY happy for her! They have been trying since I've known her. She has got to be just beside herself!

The Treasure Trove

Mood: Tired

As I mentioned I opened a second Etsy shop called : The Treasure Trove. In it I sell my extra craft supplies, stamps (ahem *Barb*) and books. The majority of the stuff is either new or just slightly used. I have a bad, bad habit of buying the next big thing that comes out only to try it once and not like it. I am hoping to collect enough money to pay for my craft supplies and workshops. It's the same goal as my original shop but hey, you have to sell stuff first, right?

I debated a long time before I posted this on my blog or mentioned it in my main shop. As many of you know I oversee the monthly atc contest over at AFA. Many members of the site, myself included, have donated items for the first and second place prizes. I worried if people saw I was selling craft supplies and such they would 1) be worried to donate for the prizes for fear of them being sold and 2) worry things they saw in the shop were things they donated. Hopefully people from that community know me a little better than that, I mean how friggin unethical would that be? Also, I would be really pissed if I saw (or even suspected) someone of doing that with stuff I donated. Plus, I thought it looked better to have everything out in the open rather than looking like I have something to hide

To avoid the whole issue I chose to only sell my bigger and/or heavier items and steer completely clear of the kinds of collage items everyone has donated. Besides, the extra stuff I have like that goes toward the site prizes or my local craft group anyway.

I just listed ALL my extra books and many of my rubber stamps. I need to take better pictures of the stamps as the ones I have kind of suck but they'll do for now. I will probably list more Christmas morning or the following day before I leave on vacation.

A lot of whining coming your way

Mood: Drained

I was down this past Friday with a migraine and then constant headaches the rest of the weekend. My sinuses trigger the migraines so it's nothing new. It's just a pain. HA! I crack myself up. A trip to the doctor later and I was given some antibiotics for the sinus and ear infections I apparently have. Guess that explains the headaches!

I really have no one to blame but myself for being sick. I worry about things I have no control over and when I worry I force myself to go, go, go until I crash. I focus on less important things like cleaning and shopping to avoid thinking about everything else. Then comes the "clean-up". The apologies and the catch-up and the back tracking from everything I've allowed to slide.

This weekend gave me some time to slow down a bit. It's funny how when your mind goes into overdrive sometimes your body jumps in and starts calling the shots. The doctor switched my meds and increased the dosage when I went to see him today. I figure I will start taking them while I'm on vacation in Colorado next week in case I get a case of "space cadet". He said I'll still have trouble sleeping with the new ones more than likely which really sucks. I don't think I should have to counteract meds with more meds. He said if these meds don't work he is going to recommend I go to see a psychiatrist to see what is triggering everything. Otherwise I see him again in June. FaaaaaannTASTIC!

I was suppose to go to the company Holiday party put on by our client this evening but I didn't feel like going. I wanted to come home and finish getting things in order. I added a bunch of stuff to my new Etsy shop this weekend (another post entirely) and packaged up a long overdue Secret Santa gift for mail off this morning. It's over two weeks past due. The sad part is the gifts have been sitting here completed for about that same time frame. Cory said it cost $45 to mail it since I sent it priority. He was not happy with me.

I still need to go through our checkbook and see what sort of damage I have done. I have been shopping like crazy. What I SHOULD have been shopping for is new clothes since I've gained fifteen pounds and quite literally no longer fit into my pants but I've been getting house decorations instead. I haven't produced any artwork in over two weeks. I pick up a paintbrush and "blah". I have Thursday and Friday off before I leave for the week so I'm hoping I can kick my butt into gear and get something done. Of course, maybe a break is what I need. Who knows....enough whining for now. I' m off to put some "no bite" on my finger nails and make some ramen noodles.

Woman accused of trying to sell 'gothic kittens'

Mood: Disheartened

What is wrong with people these days? Will they do ANYTHING for a quick buck?

Click here to read the article.

I'm in a bad mood right now anyway and this just completely disgusted me.

Turn About is Fair Play

Mood: Pooped!

I have no idea what prompted my last three hours of cleaning out the closet in the spare bedroom. I went into it originally to find a picture frame to take some photos for my etsy shop. Three hours later I have two boxes of stuff, two large framed pictures, three smaller framed pictures, some office desktop stuff and a lamp to take to Goodwill and one box to go into the attic.

Geez Louise! I forget how much it hurts your back to sit in the floor indian style for that long. One of the boxes is nothing but picture frames. Another is just full of glass vases and trinkets - Nothing too spectacular. I'm very proud of myself. I am one of those people that cannot let go of belongings. It's actually emotionally draining for me to get rid of it! It's probably due to some sort of unresolved childhood issues, who knows. At least the closet is clean (with the exception of the shelf of all my photos and photo boxes)and I am returning the favor for some finds at Goodwill. I know I have some other stuff to take there too. I need to go find it before I sit here too long and get too tired.

Fantastic Finds at the Local Goodwill

Mood: Cheerful

Today at lunch I went to the Goodwill by my office to see if I could find a cool little plate to take photos of my atcs in. I did end up finding a plate though I'm not sure how well it will work for what I wanted it for. I found a TON of other stuff too! I'm so excited about my finds! I got everything for just a little under $50. I don't think I got too much of a bargain on the green ceramic thing but I made a killing on the ribbon bucket!

I thought this would look great in our living room! It was a little pricey in my opinion for second hand - $12 - but I really liked it.

Here is the plate I bought for taking pictures and I found these cool little plaques. I thought I may be able to upcycle them and use them as bases for some of my wooden atcs. I'm not sure how good it will look but I figure it couldn't hurt to try.

I found these little flower pics too. I thought they would look really neat in some altered art.

I think I hit the jackpot though when I found the bucket 'o ribbon. The lace is what really caught my eye. I need it like I need a hole in the head but I collect it like it's going out of style. I really need to stop. It just sits in a drawer and I don't do anything with it.

On top of all the ribbon in the bucket I got all this piping and hem and bias tape. I also got the sterilite container they are sitting on. It's the size you can hang hanging file folders in.

I also go some odd items in the bucket. A flower pin that doesn't work, two ribbons that are stiff enough they could stand on their own, Partially used blue jean patches, a piece of torn elastic, I'm not really sure what the wooden thing is, a piece of granite with and inscription on it that has been broken and glued together in several spots, torn ribbon with a bell attached to it, a plastic hook and those little pom pom thingies. I got all of this, the ribbon and lace, hem tape stuff and these odds and ends for FIVE BUCKS!

One of the other finds I'm quite happy with is this clock. I recognized it as a clock from Allen Design Studios as soon as I saw it. It's missing it's pendulum but I think it looks cute even without it. I contacted Michelle to see if she happens to have one stuck back in storage somewhere.

And my favorite of all the finds....My Lobster potholder! It makes me smile everytime I see it.

On top of what I have pictured I got some wire frog figurines that hold tealights, some glass jars that match the jars in my bathrooms, a lint roller and a cool little frame.

A Whole New Look

Mood: Chill

I meant to post this yesterday but didn't get around to it. For some reason I was tired enough to go to bed at 9:15pm last night and 10:00pm the night before. I figure I'm trying to fight off a cold. Go figure with this weather right?



Anyway, I looked and looked for the picture I could have sworn we had of the fire place before I yanked of the facing and cleaned it. I think it accidently got deleted. I have this one where you can sort of see the fireplace and unfortunately I think that's as good as it's going to get. You'll have to excuse the mess we had JUST moved in when it was taken.

You should have seen all the soot underneath that thing! We had renters in our house before we bought it for about five years so I don't think it was ever cleaned. Not to mention they were burning real logs on top of the gas logs that were already inside the fireplace.



I read online you can "erase" the soot with an art gum eraser. I thought it was a bunch of crap but it works really well if you don't have a huge amount built up! This wasn't my case. I cleaned off what I could with the eraser and took hot soapy water to it followed by some ammonia. It turned out great! There is one spot that didn't come clean. I'm guessing they dropped an ember on the concrete and just let it burn there. Cory said I could get some sort of acid to finish cleaning that at Home Depot. I'm not too worried about it right this second though. It's easy enough to hide.

I still need to clean the inside. I probably should get the chimney swept before I do that though. It's probably been about a decade since that's been done.

Kitty Update/Door

Mood: Tired

The two cats seem to be starting to get along. Almost as soon as I hit publish on my last post about them it's like they started acting completely different. Hailey is now by Cory and my sides constantly. She won't allow me to be in a different room than she is once I get home from work. Each evening we have been locking the kitten out of my craft room and playing with Hailey. She has started watching out the front door window and is gaining her weight back too. I'm very happy! I guess we just had to wait until Hailey decided to forgive us. Damn cat didn't have to be such a butthead. She had me quite worried! Of course, what can I expect right? I would probably be just as upset if I were in her place.

This is one of the many pics I promised from this weekend. The lighting is horrible on this, I know. We are still working with the cats on going through the cat door. We got one of those triple insulated ones to keep the cold out from the garage. It has two plastic doors and a yellow "insulator". Until last night when we put the insulator down we only had the one door to make sure they could push through it. They weren't quite sure what to do after we put the first door down. We had had it taped up all day and they seemed a little scrared to push it open. We worried they wouldn't take to it and we would have to go back to having the catbox inside the house.

They've done really well! Not a single accident and they don't seem to have any problem with going in and out. The only drawback we've found (and we didn't think about this at all!) is that they go play outside in the garage and then they track all the leaves and cobweb gunk back into the house. Saturday when we first installed it our carpet looked like it hadn't been vaccumed in weeks! We are thinking of taking the shopvac into the garage this Saturday to clean everything up as best we can.

Weekend Update

Mood: Good

This weekend was pretty busy for me even though I hardly left the house. We installed a kitty door so the cat box can go in the garage instead of inside the house, tore down a nasty old dog house, took off the fireplace facing (not sure of the name for it) and scrubbed down the brick, hung some pictures and some wall hangings, cleaned house and had our monthly craft meet-up. Oh and last night I finished an atc and made a light box for taking pictures. I might need to do a bigger box and get some light clamps for bigger items but it's working really great for atcs. I'll post pics of everything later. I need to go get ready for work. I started a diet today so I have to measure stuff - fun, oh, fun.

Next on my to-do list is to get the treadmill moved into the bedroom so we can start to work on the spare bedroom, hang some more stuff, go through my pictures and frames, finish my paintings for the day spa, post my stamps and paper cutters on Craigs List, and finish my secret Santa gift but not necessarily in that order.

The Red Balloon

Mood: Rushed

I've been busy cleaning this morning as I have people coming over to my house. I didn't get to do any of the cleaning I usually do on Saturdays because I was busy scrubbing my fireplace instead. I FINALLY mopped the kitchen floor. Jeez, it was disgusting. I can't believe I let it get that bad. We are making a quick trip to Wal-Mart before all the church goers and holiday shoppers come out. I'm just waiting on Cory to finish getting dressed before we leave.

I found out some good and bad news yesterday. The salon I thought I was going to put my stuff in isn't a salon. It's two upscale day spas. I was pretty psyched to hear that because I can probably get more clientele than in a salon. Bad news is a lot of the stuff I was creating is WAY too casual. I have a few more sketches done for some other stuff so it's no big deal. This piece, the girl with the Red Balloon was one of the things I did that I won't be able to use. I just listed it in my Etsy shop so be sure hop over and take a look if you're interested!

My first blog award

Mood: Cheerful

I received my first blog award the other day! It was given to my by Linda from Just My Little Bit. I was originally "introduced" to Linda as a fellow member of atcsforall. Since then Linda has been extremely supportive through both the blogging and creative community. We both took Suziblu's Les Petite Doll class and participated in Sarah Whitmire's Soul Journal Challenge.

This award states: This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY- nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends, they are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these artists.

I am passing it on in no particular order to the following people:

Karen of Purplecat's Corner
Connie of Altered Route
Stuart of Pumpkin's Patch
Katy of Katybat
Lisa of Creating Art in the Burbs
Wanda of Wonder Wanda
Carolyn of Carolyn Gallo Art & Design
Barb of Barb's Craft Therapy

I hope you come to appreciate all of them as much as I do!

WIP

Mood: Encouraged

I had a really productive evening last night. My finger healed enough that I could work more on my secret santa project. I really, really want to show pics! I can't wait until she receives them so I can post them up.

I also got to working on more pieces for the salon. I need to have everything done in the next couple of weeks. Remember my boils situation with the SuziBlu girl? I got it all fixed and that piece will be going up. I need to mount it on some plywood and paint the back so it looks like a gallery piece but other than that it's done. I found out if you don't seal your wood you can scrape off everything you've done with you finger nail! That's how I fixed her face. I'm really happy with the end result. It's one of the Suzi paintings I was talking about before but chances of people knowing her work outside of the art world are slim. I'll post pics later. I tried taking some but the light was really crummy in my craft room so it didn't turn out.

I worked more on another piece that I'm really happy with! It's just going to be a mixed media painting of some red flowers in a vase. I have the vase and background done. I need to work on the rest. So far it's coming along really fast! I just started it Monday night. I got the inspiration to do the piece from a mass produced painting I bought at hobby lobby (see right). I'm really please it looks similar but also nothing like it at the same time. I guess that's what taking inspiration is all about right?

I sealed the first layer of the three little paintings I'm doing for the salon this evening too. Now I can work on the second and third layers. Again I have to post pictures tomorrow. I'm thinking about trying to build a light box for my pictures. I can't wait until the weekend every time I need daylight.

My poor Hailey

Mood: Worried

I'm beginning to worry about Hailey. When we first brought Martin home they did the whole hissing and growling thing. Well, rather Hailey did the hissing and growling and Martin just wanted to play constantly. The two seemed to be adjusting well we thought. They chased each other back and forth through the house and Hailey lets him bathe her if he catches her when she's in a good mood.

Hailey seems to become more and more withdrawn from Cory and myself as time progresses. We've had the kitten now, what, three weeks I believe? We have been giving Hailey extra attention, treats and play time (though she's not having any or it). She doesn't come to greet us anymore when we come home, doesn't play anymore, won't let me hold her, she doesn't do her "perimeter sweep" and all she seems to do is sleep. She's even growling at me a lot of times! One of them had an "accident" outside the litter box but we're not sure who it was. We were thinking all this behavior was just her adjusting because she was mad we brought the kitten home but it hasn't stopped.

What has us concerned is she is losing weight. We thought at first it was just because she was getting more exercise. We kept extra food in her bowl to make sure she always had some and just in case the kitten was eating hers. We come home and there is food still left but she is still losing weight. If she loses too much more I'm going to take her to the vet. I'm not sure if she's depressed or just being a piss pot. As bad as it sounds Hailey is our priority over Martin. The place we adopted Martin from said they would take him back if he wasn't working out. Hopefully it won't come down to that though.

Finding a Style

Mood: Jazzed

I completed two more pieces (they are available in my Etsy shop). They are left overs from when I was doing the Suziblu workshop. You can tell I used her techniques but I steered clear of doing her girls. I have two I am completing that have "her" girls in them. It's funny to me that the first two pieces I started are the last ones to complete

I find it a little disturbing (for lack of a better word) when I read the blogs of some of the other members of the workshop. I read they have "found their style" but their stuff looks exactly like Suzi's. It don't see how that's finding your own style. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to get confident in learning new techniques. .
Even if you start of doing stuff exactly like in the workshops (I learn that way a lot of times) but I think once you learn the technique you need to put your own spin on it. I hope those members will continue with their learning and venture out. It's always neat to see a style emerge.

I think this is also why I have taken so long to complete the last two pieces. They were done very much in Suzi's style and when I look at them I don't see "me". I need to complete them though. They are just sitting there taunting me.