Buffy Vs Edward

I found this video on Artsnark's blog and just had to pass it on.

I'm really hoping whoever made it did it for a school project or something. Otherwise they must have a lot of free time or just really like vampire dramas. I watched the Buffy series when it aired but hell if I can remember all those scenes!

All in all I think it's a pretty cool little video. I definitely got some of chuckles out of it.

Hope you enjoy.

Winner! Winner!

We have our June winner! It just so happens to my favorite number in the whole wide world - number 13!!! Woohoo!

Wait - who was lucky number thirteen? Why that would be SeekingForArt. Congratulations chickadee! I will send you an email shortly.

Everyone else be sure to keep your eyes peeled! I will be announcing the next book up for grabs shortly *read: hopefully tonight but I have to cook dinner first. maybe tomorrow*.

Clipart courtesy of http://www.cksinfo.com

Whew! I made it!

Well, I'm still alive. See the damage I did?

To my surprise, Cory wasn't mad at me. I decided to call and tell him before he came home from work as the suspense was eating at me.

You know that reaction where you tell someone something and they just chuckle at you while shaking their head? That about sums it up. I guess he knows me well enough to know I would have done it eventually anyway.

After we took the frame out we discovered why the previous owners put the mirror there in the first place. Look at this!

We knew there had been termites at one point in time but haven't had a problem with them since we've moved in. Apparently this was one of the areas they had to treat.

I'm so thankful it's not active! What an unpleasant surprise would that have been? Now that I'm thinking about it, it's time for me to schedule another appointment for someone to come out and check for them again.

I have a few more pictures up on my flickr account if you want to see more.

Impromptu Home Remodeling

My husband is going to kill me...

He should be on his way home from work in about half an hour...

I am impatiently awaiting his arrival...

See that mirror? We affectionately call it our two-way mirror. It's not one but it's kind of freaky to have one that looks like it. The last owners of our house literally built it into the wall. It's recessed by about a good three or four inches and it's absolutely hideous.

We didn't have the money to have contractors fix it when they painted so we decided to just live with it for a few more years until we can afford it. About two or three months ago we bought a huge mirror we could cover it up with. In order to completely cover it, we would have had to nail boards to the sides of the current mirror so our new mirror would sit flush.

Today, I ran my errands, cleaned the house, got bored and decided I was tired of waiting until we had the money to fix it. I was hoping the frame that's poking out was just nailed on top of the frame attached to the mirror and I could just pop it off and cover the recessed mirror and frame up for the time being.

Um....no...It comes out in one solid frame piece. Now there's a huge stinkin' hole in our wall! I didn't take it completely out of the sheet rock yet because it's open wall behind it. I think our friend knows how to do sheet rock or at least knows it enough for us to patch it. I figure we can worry about the texture at a later point since the new mirror is big enough to cover it.

Now, I'm just waiting for my husband to come home.

Wreck This Journal - Week 4

Okay so I FINALLY have some pictures of my journal. I started a little late because I was being a weinie about messing it up so these ones don't have too much done to them just yet.

I have a bunch more pages to take pictures of but I'm taking more time on some than others. Especially the ones where I'm drawing. I forgot how much I like drawing simple pictures with markers!

The very first page I did "This book belongs to:" I messed up the instructions! How fitting is that for me. I've never been good at reading them and this should be no different right? Good thing the whole point of the journal is to mess it up and let go!

This page "Burn this page" was the second page I started doing. Holy crap - the book started burning a lot quicker than I expected it to. I wanted to do a neat little design but I almost burned off the whole page in the middle instead.

The page after that I was suppose to drip my morning coffee on the page but dripped Mountain Dew on it because that's what I drink in the mornings. Note to self...Mountain Dew and ashes from a freshly burnt page don't really mix. They just smear. A lot.

I thought about going back over it at a later time with something else but I pretty much said "Forget it" and moved on to more pages. It's too much fun to be destructive to worry about cleaning up the pages that don't look right.

I hope you're having fun with your journals! If you haven't joined in yet you can start at any time and join us at "The Next Chapter: Wreck This Journal"

I do not tolerate blog spamming!

I feel the need to get something off my chest.

I have been hit by someone spamming my blog just to get others to visit theirs and I will say it very loudly - IT IS NOT WELCOME HERE!

I do not comment on other people's blogs unless I find a post interesting nor do I follow or subscribe to a blog unless I enjoy reading it.

I most certainly don't comment on or follow other peoples blogs just to get traffic to mine. I find it DISRESPECTFUL and RUDE!


I fully expect the same consideration in return. If you can't give that, I will block your ass.

Any questions?

Wreck This Journal

I have to admit when I first bought the book Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith I was a little uneasy about tearing it up. I mean, sure I use book pages in my artwork but I don't purposely buy a book just to destroy it.

I stumbled upon a blog titled - The Next Chapter: Wreck This Journal. The author was attempting to get everyone together via the internet to work on their journals as a group. Updates are posted every Friday.

My book sat on my desk for a couple of weeks. I couldn't bring myself to do it but I watched the videos and looked at the pictures everyone posted and saw how much fun they were having.

FINALLY this weekend I opened up the book to play! It felt weird at first but I'm having a lot of fun! I don't know why I was so afraid to start. I'll post pictures soon.

You should join in! The book is 13 bucks or less and you'll have a blast! I would love to see your pictures if you decide to do it. You'll have to be sure an let me know.

Happy Cartwheel no more

This little lovely finally sold! A coworker of mine bought it from me. She's interested in another piece too. How cool is that?

It feels a little weird to have someone I know in "real life" buy my art. I don't know, maybe it's the whole "I'm not good enough" mentality that makes me feel that way.

Do you have that feeling when you sell to people you know?

Don't forget! There is only one week left to sign-up for this month's blog giveaway.

You could be missing your chance to win a copy of Art Journals & Creative Healing: Restoring Spirit through Self-Expression by Sharon Soneff. Entering the giveaway is simple - just click here!

Frozen People in Grand Central Station

I was reading up on blogs I follow and came upon this video on Miz Katie's blog. I just had to pass it on.

More than 200 people froze in place at a specific time in Grand Central Station in New York. Can you image something like that happening while you are there?!?! It would be so friggin' awesome!

You can read the details about it on their website Improv Everywhere. I encourage you to stop by there as it's really an interesting read! The specific blog post is here: Frozen Grand Central.

Feed Redirect

I'm starting to errors from my feeds with the whole Feedburner/Google switch. You might start receiving the 301: permanently moved error or that my blog does not exist

On Tuesday, Google / Blogger stopped redirecting the old blogspot URL to the new URL in error. This is a system wide problem, impacting thousands blogs using the redirect feature from Blogspot. Blogger engineers are working on the problem.

For Firefox users, you will see a redirect warning. Safari and Internet Explorer users are told the site no longer exists.

In my case this means Google-Blogger is not correctly redirecting:
http://blueskysunburn.blogspot.com/
to my new URL:
http://www.blueskysunburn.com/

This is a problem for anyone who bookmarked the old URL, or is coming in on a link from another site (with the old URL).

I apologize for the inconvenience. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

Work and a Flamingo

I got so much done while on my extended weekend! Most importantly I got to rest and relax. I think I may do the same thing next month as well. It certainly helped my attitude at work when I had to come back yesterday.

We actually got to take lunches AND we got out by 6:15! My coworkers told me it was the same thing while I was on vacation. I couldn't believe it!

We got to take one lunch break at the beginning of the month but we figured that was all were would get for the month. We aren't sure what this means either. We should be slammed right now. I have a bad feeling we are going to be hating life come next week.

I worked on three paintings and redid one I already had posted. I haven't posted any pictures yet though because I can't figure out my software! I upgraded from Elements 4 to Elements 7 and a lot of the stuff is different. In the meantime I'm posting an art journal page I don't think I have posted before.

Team Edward all the way!

Well, I've gone and done it! I have finished all four of the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer. I am just in love with the whole series!

I wasn't too fond of the second book - New Moon but I have to admit a lot of the background would be missing if it didn't go into all the detail. I don't really care about Jacob too much. I'm more interested in the love/angst story of Bella and Edward.

I never could get past the age issue with Jacob. I always saw him as 14/15 or however old he was when he first came into the picture and the whole imprinting thing? Ew! Bella's character got on my nerves toward the end of the series too. I mean, how many times is the damsel in distress? Oh, and Edward? Dear Edward brings out the teenager in me still. *swoon*

My favorite book was the first followed closely by the last. I'm really pleased with how it all ended. I don't want to say what happened though in case you haven't read it yet!

I felt oddly hollow once I was done with the series. Do you ever do that? Get so wrapped up in books that you feel like actual relationships have been taken away from you once you are done reading them? I think that has a lot to do with why I don't read fiction too much.

I'm really excited for the next movie to come out! November, if I remember right. I'm hoping this movie won't be quite as rushed as the first one but we'll see how that goes. Go, Team Edward! (sorry couldn't help it!)

Etsy shop has new items listed

I've just put more items into my Etsy shop! Be sure to stop by and have a look!

All is well that ends well

So yesterday was an interesting day. It went well over all except for a few mishaps. I went garage sale trolling first thing in the morning. I had not been having any luck but I found an area that has pretty good sales this time. I got this cute little wooden holder! I figured it would be good for holding little baubles.

First mishap of the day - I had a guy literally get out of his truck to scream obscenities at me! There was a road I turned into that only had room for one car to go through. I didn't realize it until I had turned onto the street and he had to wait on me. I said I was sorry and waved as I went past but he was already screaming and throwing his fists in the air. As I'm driving away he proceeds to get out of his truck and scream obscenities while pointing at me. I was a little freaked to say the least. H-o-l-y c-r-a-p! I worried he would start following me but he didn't.

I picked up a few more goodies from Goodwill. I found a frame that will work perfect for my collages on wood panels! I think they will sell better if they are in frames. This one is the perfect size. I just need to find more but at least I know what I'm looking for.

When I got home Cory and I went to run some errands before I had to go to my Etsy meeting. We are trying to find a mattress set for out guest bedroom that's not astronomical. I think we found a place too!

We ran our errands for a bit and stopped for a bite to eat at Habaneros Fresh Mex. This is where my second little mishap occurred. Apparently they changed from a grab and go to a sit down restaurant. So much for a quick bite! First, we got sat at a dirty table and our waiter look liked he just got through smokin' a bowl. Then after we were waiting for over ten minutes to get our food order taken our waiter told us the reason we were waiting so was that we forgot we were sitting there. What?!?! You walked by us like fifteen times! Anyway, once we got our food (Cory and I were splitting a meal) it was completely the wrong order. We walked out of the restaurant.

So, after we ate at Rosas Cafe we shopped for a bit for household decor. This is when my stomach started giving me trouble again. I'm thinking stress has a lot to do with it. I took some medicine but I ended up having to miss our Etsy meeting. It's the second one I missed so I'm not too happy about it. I was able to find my inspiration for the colors I want to use in our guest bedroom. It's going to have a tropical feel to it. Aren't the colors just beautiful?


The best news I can offer of the day is I have been painting like crazy and it feels wonderful! I've got four paintings I'm working on at the same time and I hope to finish them up this weekend. I have Monday and Tuesday off so it may not be too unrealistic to expect! I'll post pictures when I get a little farther along.

A Breathe of Fresh Air

Here's another new collage! The bright blues are a change of pace for me but I really like the color.

Also, how awesome is that doily at the bottom? It's the only one I've ever seen like it. I just had to use it!

Too much of a coincidence

I love fortune cookie fortunes. You'll see them as a constant reoccurance inside my artwork. There is just something about the complete randomness that attracts me.

I got this fortune when I was in Chicago on New Years Eve this year. I liked it and so I decided to hang onto it instead of use it in something. I only have a select few I have done this with.

Of course, time goes by and I lose it completely. In the bomb site of my studio it's not surprising. This weekend as I cleaned I gathered all my fortunes and put them in a glass apothecary jar paying no mind to the sayings.

The last fortune I found I decided to read for some reason. Low and behold it was this same fortune I had lost!

I jokingly told Cory it was a sign of the direction I needed to take for my job situation. I tacked the fortune on my bulletin board for safe keeping and paid it no further mind.

So after all the cleaning I did that day I had no interest in cooking dinner that evning. By our house we have two choices for delivery - Pizza or Chinese. Since we had pizza earlier in the week we chose Chinese. Do you see where this is going?

After eating my dinner I break open the fortune cookie and I'll be damned if I didn't get the same fortune!

Now I'm not big on "signs". I'm not one of those people that see signs in every random occurrence and think it's fate leading me.

Sometimes though, sometimes it makes you wonder when things are too much of a coincidence.

Artwork by Candlelight

Well, yesterday's evening pretty much went to pot. We were about to get ready to leave the office and what happens? The stupid tornado sirens start going off!

Nine times out of ten they go off when it's just a bad storm or really high winds so no one really pays too much attention to them anymore. Apparently this time there was actually tornado activity and they issued a tornado warning for our area.

That meant we all got crammed into the conference room for about half an hour. Then once we were allowed to leave, we got to walk through the pouring (and cold!!) rain to our cars to make the trek home.

I had originally planned on catching up on the blogs I follow and watch "So You Think You Can Dance" on TV. Unfortunately our electricity decided to leave us (in the middle of cooking dinner I might add) so that plan was scrapped.

Cory left to pick up dinner from a fast food restaurant that was still functional and I decided to draw by candlelight until he came home. I think a couple of drawings came out pretty good. I'll have to post them once they get a little farther along.

I got to take a shower this morning by candlelight. Thankfully my haircut is low maintenance and I had some clothes that were unwrinkled.

Hopefully this will be the last of the storms for this season.

Julie & Julia

I grew up watching Julia Child with my mom and brothers. I always thought it funny the way she did things though I didn't always understand what she was doing.

Of course, now that I'm older, she's passed on but I can look back and appreciate her candor.

It brought back memories when the preview for this movie came on and I'm anxious for it to come out. I think Meryl Streep will do a fabulous job. You can already tell from just the previews!

Blowing Bubbles

I got several collages done in my mini journal this weekend. I thought the eyelets gave this one just the right touch.

I really, really want to be able to commit to myself to make something everyday but alas, with my job it's no can do. I did promise myself to try to make at least one arty/crafty thing a week. I figured I could swing that.

Is it too early to have a life crisis?

I've been freaked out by the fact I'll be thirty next year since sometime in the beginning of May. It just got me thinking about where and how I want my life plan to go and where I currently am.

I'm in a stable relationship with my husband, we have a house, a pet and I'm have a stable job. Those things I'm very grateful for but in order for things to progress in my life some things have to change.

Those who have been following me for a while know the majority of my time and energy is spent at the office. It's gotten even worse since the refi boom hit. We are working twelve or more hour days Monday through Friday - no lunches, no breaks. We start each day going full speed ahead and don't slow down until it's time to go home. Then we get to come in one day each weekend to work more.

My supervisor says it's only temporary but the projections have this pace going until December. Then once we slow down we will go back down to a skeleton crew and still have to stay until 7pm each night.

I'm no longer saying I can't do this much longer. I am now saying I won't do this much longer. In fact, I'm thinking about doing something incredibly stupid - I'm playing with the idea of cashing in my 401k and walking away.

As dumb of a decision as I would normally think it is, the thought of it leaves me with such a huge feeling of relief and hope. I feel happy and giddy and absolutely scared out of my wits at the same time.

Cory and I are going to discuss it more today. We have to do the whole debt/income, what the hell are we going to do kind of thing. If I do it I will be taking a huge pay cut so it's not something we want to take lightly, especially with the job market right now.

I feel like this is a decision that will be a turning point for the rest of my life.

Do you think it was a message?

My mother in law said it didn't mean anything when she gave me these a couple of weekends back but I'm not so sure...

Do you think it was a subtle hint?

Catherine's Graduation

Getting this little girl to smile is a trick.

I've known her for over seven years now and I don't think I have seen her as happy as I did when we went down for graduation weekend. I wasn't able to get too many good photo's of her as she's a bit camera shy but I did get this one.

She seems to be growing out of her "the world is evil and it only exists to torture me" phase and is showing signs of becoming a young adult.

Her graduating class was small - only three hundred something students. The ceremony was suppose to be held of the football field of the high school but school officials called for it to be held in the gym a few hours before it started (due to the weather).

It apparently caused quite a stir as that meant it limited each student's guests down to eight. About thirty minutes before the ceremony they moved it backed to the football field when it became apparent it was no longer going to rain.

The graduation had the usual long student speeches with their words of wisdom. There was one guest speaker, Joe Alvarez I think his name was, that was very enjoyable to listen to! I think Catherine said he was a teacher there? I can't remember.

The students had their usual silly string and beach balls and had trouble paying attention for all their excitement. All in all it was a good ceremony.

Help us decide on our new team logo!

We are progressing rapidly with our new local Etsy street team Etsy Fort Worth! We are a small but loyal group gathering together in the metro areas too far of reach for Etsy Dallas.

I've been working the majority of the weekend (outside of working and yard work)on our team blog. We are currently working to get everything in order before we recruit members.

Help us decide on our new logo!

Please stop by our team blog and show your support! We need all the traffic we can get and your support would be greatly appreciated.

June Blog Giveaway

"Through real-life journals, personal stories, creative excercises, and journaling worksheets, the book explores how the combination of written and artistic expression can help unlock the subconscious..."

THIS MONTH'S GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
ANOTHER ON WILL BE COMING SOON. STAY TUNED!

This month's drawing will be for Art Journals & Creative Healing: Restoring Spirit through Self-Expression by Sharon Soneff.

I didn't realize it before I bought the book but some familiar names such as Emily Falconbridge and Tammy Kay have been published inside as well. The creative tips are great jumping points and the book itself provides a wealth of inspiration.

To enter just sign up in the widget box below before Saturday, June 27th! I will be drawing the name of the winner sometime that weekend.

Good luck,

May Giveaway Winner

And we have a winner! Congratulations Artsnark!

I'll post this month's giveaway this evening.