New Banner Here + New Blog #2!

Hidyhoyo!

(This is the current greeting among Missy's pals this summer...it's so hokey, it makes me chuckle every time I hear it.)

So, how do you likey my new banner? I have been wanting a banner-lift for a while, and yesterday I just rolled up my sleeves and made something I'd had in my head. I dunno, I kinda like it.

And hey, guess what? What's a year without me creating a blog, right? So far this year, I haven't done that. But, wait! LOL, yup, I did it again, hehe.

Seriously, I've been wanting to separate my life and opinions from my art. This blog has a good title for my life and opinion posts, so it became apparent the the new blog #2 needed to be the art one. That's how Paper Paisleys art journal blog was born!

There is still tons to do over there in the way of transferring links and decorating here and there, but I'll fill in those things as I go. Please go visit and see the banner I created for that blog, too. :-)

Meanwhile, here at the ranch, I need to catch up. I was blessed to have been given no less than 3 blogging awards in July, and I have them displayed on my sidebar.

Karyn awarded me the Twinks Award.








Then, Benita and Jill both awarded me the Brillante Award. Thank you very much, Ladies! (And Happy Birthday, Jill!)





The rules for the "Brillante Weblog" award are:
The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
Link to the person you received your award from.
Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
Put links to those blogs on yours.
Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.
I am giving the "Brillante Weblog" award to the following bloggers:

1. Cheryl - she needs a tiny little pick-me-up right now
2. Lynn - I've been thinking about arthritis and wrestling lately, and that fits only one person I know! ;-)
3. Noelia - I've been working on a special sumpsump for her, a year overdue {hangs head in shame}, but good things happen for a reason and ever since I decided on something I loved, I finally started it last week. Soon, my friend. And hoping you are having fun on your trip. :-)
4. Maureen - she's funny and I have so many of her posts to catch up on {hangs head once more in shame}
5. Vicki - love this woman...and she and her DH need some healing thoughts right now.
6. Theresa - because she is the only female golfer I know :-)
7. Texas Kim - this girl needs another job and maybe this will be good luck. :-)

Onto other items of note, my health has worsened a bit since the spring. The arthritis needs strong meds and then I get complications that are a pita as much as the disease.

I definitely have to close up my tax shop and there'll be no more working for the next several months. I'm embarrassed to say that I have ADD now as one of those treatment complications. Lord, I'm really glad I didn't have this my entire life. They tell me it will go away once I finish the therapy protocol, but part of me wonders about it. And I'm also told that it gets better as I learn to deal with it better. Hope so. Typing is still a real chore some days.

I've really had to re-think my involvement in almost everything in my life this year. This is why I've not been blogging so much. That saved energy works better for me if I put it into my art because that calms me down and helps me practice focussing. Since "focus" was my Word for 2007, how creepy is that, that I would be taught the following year that I was then a pretty good focusser, after all, before I really needed work now.

Making things also helps me stay more positive. It's been tough to lose your previous life-as-you-knew-it, in bits and pieces, inch by inch, slowly. It just never stops, ya know? I am going to write more frequently though. Just maybe in shorter spurts. And then just upload images to Paper Paisleys with few words. On those days that a big old post (like this one! Already breaking my rules...) seems too complicated and hard to do.

That's my cue to sign off for now...Sooner and Laterz!

It's {still} Friday, and I'm Here!

true that.

it is 9pm my time and almost saturday, but i made it to post, as promised.

note to self: improvement over last time. yay for small accomplishments.

i won't go into what i had to wade through to get here. it's a little too woe-is-me, even for me. just know i was bound and determined to get here.

i didn't even blog last time about my hands and about the trial study drama. i've been trying not to think about it. but, my problems with the meds are still plaguing me, plus some. my toes are also in the same boat. damn, there went my idea to type with my toes, huh? lol but i'm hanging in, counting the days til i get tested (12 to be exact).

oh, and thanks for all the well-wishes and suggests. reading your comments helps me stay connected so much, and i'm really getting tired of only reading and not interacting on a daily basis. so, when i read your comments and emails, it helps me get through this, more than you'll ever know! {{{hugs}}}

i had to giggle at the voice-recognition idea for the blog posts, though. then it made my brain hurt when i thought about having to buy a program and ugh, learn it.

sort of ditto for the video idea, too, although the blame lies 100% with me on that one. i should know how to do that. it's almost 2008, for gawdsakes. and i do have the equipment. alas, i'm able to figure it out after investigating the idea, but only about 2% motivated to actually try. it's on my back burner for a later time, though, cuz occasional video blogging does seem pretty neat and intriguing...

oh, and thanks for putting up with the lower-case. hopefully, just a couple more weeks...

well, without further ado, i've some art to show that I've worked on since last I posted.

i'm linking to my flickr gallery, like last time, because there is more details about each piece posted over there, so it saves my fingers.

my aedm for 11/21 was our potato soup recipe:

the recipe itself is in the flickr description. we like this soup on the first day of a cold front, with some cornbread and a salad.

my aedm for 11/22, 11/23, and 11/24 is the dreamy girl i posted the last time, asking for ideas:

thank you to those who did offer up some. i've had some rhonna farrer autumn leaves stamps for a while that i had no clue how i was gonna use, but this gave me a chance to. you may notice the four stamped phrases surrounding her face. that's all i ended up doing. i could have flourish-stamped the edges all around and more, but i chose to keep it simple. this way, if the notion stays with me to do that, i always can. or not.

do you ever have any art (cards, layouts, journal pages, altered pieces)that you hesitate to finish, and decide not to for awhile? i've been going thru a phase lately where i hesitate to add on everything, fearing i'll ruin it by over-doing it. it's really a bugger to deal with, too. so, if my stuff seems too plain, that's probably why, sheesh! the worst part is, it may also be a wonderful thing. it might be me adjusting, evolving my style. i cannot see it in stone yet, though. so frustrating. the voices need to just tell me what's what and be done with it, ya know? hehehe

my aedm for 11/25 and 11/26 is a birthday card for the hubster's mom:

this card was inspired by a card i saw in my paper crafts magazine for dec/jan (current issue, pg. 36):


my aedm for 11/27 and 11/28 was a birthday i made for the hubster's oldest sister:

this card was also inspired by a card seen on the same page as the first one. lol, why not, they were both cute cards:


and finally, my aedm for 11/29 and 11/30...note to self: this means i actually completed aedm!!! yay for big accomplishments, too.
since i made a dozen of these cards, i decided to make a little photobucket slide show with them all and not clog up my flickr gallery with 7 uploads:

i told you i was going to start a holiday card marathon, and i did. i am trying to continue it through sunday, then see where i stand on how many i've completed. i'm at 28 completed right now. it is so fun! of course, i now wish i'd started in september, or maybe even july.

(note to self...yadayada).

next blog post will be monday, and i promise some cool web site shares, more creations, and a little family 411...

til then, have a great weekend, and leave me some comment love to let me know you stopped by!

TOO MUCH FUN FOR ME

...or so the headline should read. oops, my bad.
Hope no one missed my absence on black friday.
had i a lick of sense, i'd have planned to post today instead of then.

after the holiday weekend.

i'll have to say that this was the best holiday for me in many years. we celebrated with the hubster's family aka my in-laws, as we've done for the last 2-3 years since my parents moved away. we brought our famous corn casserole and our equally delish green bean casserole, with the topping of french's french fried onions. everyone was there, too, so that would be in addition to hubs, me and missy: hub's parents, his brother, 3 sisters, 1 sis-in-law, 2 bros-in-law, and 6 other grandchildren. what is that, 18 people. not one dull moment all day. gawd. why couldn't the previous 19 been this way?

hub's dad recently found out he has lung cancer, so i knew everyone would be on their best behavior, but even i was amazed at how loving everyone was. for hub's family, this is not a normal behavior, lol. they may love deeply, but they don't usually show it. whereas my family over-shows it.

so i was enjoying the atmosphere thursday. only bad things that happened were no ham to eat (bah!) and i should have flat ironed my hair because the nasty wet weather we had turned it into crap. Anyway, i figure if that was all, it was a very good day, and it was indeed.

well, where did i leave off on my art every day thing? i think 11/8's was the last i've shown. so, 11/9's aedm was baking
drop biscuits. i'll just link you to my flickr, where the details are, if there are any.

11/10's aedm was a
green butterfly box that's another little stash box for a niece.

11/11, 11/12, and 11/13's aedm was a
birthday card for my friend cindy.

11/14:
toll house choco-chip cookies. and they were good, too. lol

11/15, 11/16, 11/17's aedm was a little art journal essay
about that christmas cheer.

finally, 11/18, 11/19, 11/20's was another little art essay piece
about my tradition of eating ham instead of turkey on thanksgiving.

oh, i do need your help! this is an art journal piece that i finished up saturday. I haven't offically uploaded to flickr and called it an aedm yet because i don't know if it's finished or not. and, i'd love to know your thoughts or take, etc... some advice, please:



i'm wondering if it needs a title and/or some journaling. i really felt no need to add any (and i suppose that could be my answer, but i'd rather ask your input first). i cut that little girl off some junk mail, because she really looks dreamy, doesn't she? and then i began making a sunburst quilt pattern with paper scraps around her, that being her inner light shining out. and that's really all i wanted to say. so, do you see that just from the art? or do i need to add some words to make that happen? please leave me a comment or email.

that is all i've gotten uploaded so far. there are more because i am actually all caught up on my aedm's. i very much want to be excited about completing the entire month, it is the 26th after all, but that might jinx it so i won't mention it. lol but after what all happened over the weekend and the doctor today and the dentist tomorrow, i need to upload the others later in the week.

sometime during late saturday night / early sunday morning, hub's car tires were slashed. right in the driveway, next to our 2 other cars that were spared. and he says it was unlocked and nothing taken, so we are thinking a teen prank. it's really unsettled me even though i haven't let myself dwell on it too much. where we live is always peaceful and pretty untouched by any crime, so something as petty as this is big trauma.

every couple of years we will have cars broken into or some such, but that's it. lots of folks talk about property crime on a weekly basis. and we could clean out that garage and use it as it's intended. i doubt we'll do one thing different, though.

being hit by crime is just kinda unnerving, like you had to appear nekked in public or something. leaves ya a bit exposed. i plan to do my best to keep thinking of it as random and therefore over until the next time not soon.

now this worked out well for missy who had been campaigning to take her car back to school with her. suddenly it seemed maybe safer for her to do that, so off she left sunday and nobody had to take her. sweet. her insurance will go up again probably, but what else is new. with gasoline costs, it might be cheaper. might.

she got a job at the applebee's near the campus before she came home last week. another reason for needing her wheels back. she's got big plans for making some serious bucks. she knows it's hard work. so we'll see. how better to do that trial and error living otherwise known as growing up.

she was working 40-plus hours a week at the beginning of the semester at the book store (for the rush the first month), working hard, too. and she can always quit if it gets too hard. her advisor in communications (her major is broadcast - radio, tv & film) offered to get her a job operating a camera at the local nbc-affiliate for $7 an hour, but it was right after she'd accepted applebee's, and she's thinking she can make like $10 waitressing.

personally, i think she won't make that, but hey, not my life.

sunday i was stressed and exhausted over the tires and all the homecoming. hubs and i both fell asleep as soon as missy called to say she got to the dorms safely. and today I'm still dragging. so, i'll call this done for now. i'm thinking i will try to post this friday with more art.

i'm planning to start a card crop marathon on wednesday to finish them up and get started getting them mailed off. i did order stamps, but did i order enough? we are heading into that crunch down on christmas, aren't we? dec one is this saturday. ack!

i hope you each have an amazing fruitful week, since saturday will be december one and that means 25 days countdown crunch starts. ack! let's get in gear here, aimes...

still puny, but on the slow mend

i'm here, still in lowercase! how are you this morning? i hope everyone had a great weekend.

i followed doctors orders most of the weekend and will need to keep my typing at a minimum for a few more days. i was prescribed muscle relaxers and they've helped keep the hand cramping down, but they don't help with the keyboarding (i know, i tried on saturday morning like a naughty girl). the guess is that my painful hand cramping is being caused by the medication i am taking as part of that study, since it's a known side effect. great, huh? that makes sense. i don't usually get full-blown cramps like i am experiencing, just arthritis pain. the physicians assistant called to check up on me saturday evening, and seems to think it may subside after a while.

at any rate, i won't be able to post more than a tidbit every day, and today's was this explanation, lol. i'll think hard to come up with an interesting short for tomorrow, and of course the daily creative will just have to wait, but i'll make it up. i've been doing a little bit of magazine collaging in my art journal and have been enjoying it. i actually did some creating every single day since my last upload of art.

hope everyone has a great start to the week...till tomorrow! :-)

the details were sketchy, at best....

[[[note to readers: my fingers are feeling their arthritic pain today, so as few shift-key strokes as possible are called for and it's all lower case for me. hope you don't mind. just making the " and the ! etc. are painful today. suck-ville. oh, well, i *will* not let it keep me from writing, since writing to express myself is as essential to me (almost) as breathing...]]]

My AEDM for 11/7
...felt good to get a sketch under my belt again, haven't done one in so long. i did this while watching tv. i'd seen a woman who was laying on her side talking and fighting falling asleep, and it just stuck in my head. I thought the camera angle was interesting...it made her hair seem like it was floating on air, so I kinda exaggerated that in my sketch....

[[[note to file: put a digital frame around the web images of sketches i show in the future. white background axiom #1,445 and all.]]]]

and, i hope you like my sketching. what do you think? it isn't exactly a 30-minute art meal for me, but it is a way for me to get some daily art done. I studied art in college as a minor to my writing/journalism major, back in the ancient day, before changing to the more "practical" discipline of accounting. in my junior year, i had an epiphany of sorts and suddenly became bent on having my degree be something i could count on to financially support me for the rest of my life. that was a wise move because accounting did pay my bills well during my decade as a single career woman, and it has provided me with a lucrative way to work at home for almost 20 years now.

but i never lost my "first loves" of writing and art-ing, and that's why i turned to them, and re-discovered them, when i was diagnosed with the 5 arth's. it's all made me realize that i never chose wrong in college; there's just a time and season for everything. turn, turn, turn, etc.

oh, wanted to give an update on my online shopping credit-due story from earlier: i was credited that shipping amount to my paypal and the order has been shipped. i dodged the bullet on this one, i think. i rarely shop at smaller online stores anymore, and this experience does not help. i do have a cadre of smaller stores that i've bought from for a few years now, having gotten to know their owners and benefit ted from the great customer service that can result. i try to support that. but it's getting harder to. this spring's shipping increases were especially tough on that, but i do still try.

i really ought to share my short list of smaller stores with you, because many of you have expressed fear and trepidation in shopping online, and these places are worthy of your trust. i'll work up a list for tomorrow's blog entry.

well, my nice and cute dishwasher guy jose is here, so i need to wrap this up here and get my supplies out and ready to clean up after he finishes. his work today has been a bit messy, lots of water on my floor from the dishwasher-on-loan when he pulled it out, i guess from the hose. anyway, looks like my floor is getting mopped today, oh joy.

have a great evening!

What Color Are You?

Saw this color quiz on Heather's blog and thought it looked fun! Try it for yourself. My color result is not my absolute favorite, but it is in the complimentary triangle of those I like, and the description of me is pretty close! (how'd they do that?)

you are mediumseagreen #3CB371

Your dominant hues are cyan and green. Although you definately strive to be logical you care about people and know there's a time and place for thinking emotionally. Your head rules most things but your heart rules others, and getting them to meet in the middle takes a lot of your energy some days. Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it. Your outlook on life is brighter than most people's. You like the idea of influencing things for the better and find hope in situations where others might give up. You're not exactly a bouncy sunshine but things in your world generally look up.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Remember what I said yesterday about the art journal page I was working on?

It's way too cutesy.

It's pink.

It's "little girl-y".

Ok, then, you were prepared ahead of time, so here it is:

It's an homage to my childhood love of ballerinas and all things pink. Serious love back in the day. When I look at it, it helps me bring up visual memories of my ballet classes, my endless Barbie play, and itchy, scratchy, frilly, floaty dress slips made of netting, worn on Sundays under crisp cotton dresses with black patent leather shoes. Those kinds of memories, and as I have no photographs of them and am getting up there in age, this and other art like it will have to do as my helper. I'm suddenly reminded of the phrase "reverting back to my childhood". LOL Yep, the older we get, the more we cherish that time, if only to be able to still remember it.

{Shiver, shudder} Whoa, that's getting to be old fart talk, right?

Hey, I'd like to thank all of you who left comments here! What empowerment I get from you! And, just so you know, I try harder than heck to repay the favor by going to all of your blogs and commenting.

I'm pretty excited right now. I had a doctor's appt this morning with my rheumotologist (one reason I'm late blogging today). Sort of like a final checkout from the heavy-duty therapy I've been on to fight all of my arthritii. I'm now on maintenance! WooHoo! Plus, and I'll explain more about this later as I learn about it, he asked me to be in a special drug trial for a new med to help improve my cognition and my inability to handle stress. I'm so in. Tired of being slow and avoiding stuff due to the possible stress. Something about putting the coating back on my brain synopsies or something like that. I was like, what has this got to do with arthritis, though? He laughed and explained that so many chronic arthritis patients have been damaged by the pain meds like I was, so his specialty is a targeted population for it. My biggest problem now is not to get my hopes up. I have my first prescription, but it'll take 1-3 months to see if it works. I just have to hope this can help me regain some ground. There are things I want to do! LOL

Have a great weekend! Thoughts and prayers to the California fire victims as they begin to piece it all back together. {{Hugs}

It's A Not-Want-To-Blog Day

I'm just not that into it today, but I am into trying to write every day, so I am making myself do it. Don't you have those kind of days? I do, not that often, I admit. I usually love to write, so why is today different?

I've been creating today! Oops, I am breaking my October rule, I know. Just couldn't help myself, I suppose. Playing in my art journal. Nothing finished, of course. Of course. But, I am closer. Promise.

And you are not going to believe one of the pages when I finally upload them all. A hint: it defies everything we've been taught to not do anymore.

It's way too cutesy.

It's pink.

It's "little girl-y".

Part of me keeps lobbying to just lie and say I made it for my little 7-y.o. niece, hehe. You know me, though. Too honest and open for my own good, so I will be owning it as my art. And, you know what? I likey. I am really into the Who-Gives-A-Crap School of Art: in other words, don't try to dictate to me what is and isn't art. I'll do my own thing, thank you. I might even do more. Eegads!

And you thought I was exxagerating about being a nonconformist last week? HA!

Lord, What I Do For My Friends...

Heather has tagged me, with the same challenge that Gina tagged me with last week. It's not Heather's fault, though, and I loves me some Heather and Gina both, so I'll play. Actually, it's not a bad tag challenge, and one that could be done every week if ya had to. Last time, I refused to tag other people (I wasn 't in the mood, ya know), but today I'm a gonna. So, look out, some of you will be tagged, but it's pretty fun to do, so do it, ok?

Here are the rules for it:
1. Link to the person that tagged you (that's me) and post these rules on your blog (like I'm doing right here).
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself (on your blog, we all want to know them).
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okay, to begin (and I'm desperately trying to think up 7 new things):
1. You probably know that I have a list of fall season TV shows that I watch (ya think? With a TV show calendar just for that at the bottom of this blog? Nahhhhhh). Well, the voting's been close, very close, in my head, but my 2 favorite shows are probably "Damages" and "Mad Men", and BOTH are in ratings trouble and will probably be cancelled! I just cannot get a break from Hollywood.....
2. I happen to think it's important on some level to shower at the same time every day, so I try to do that. I fail miserably, but I do try.
3. I live with a man who abhors leftovers. I, on the other hand, have it ingrained in me to eat them so as not to be wasteful. So, guess who ends up having to eat them? Me, but I finally snapped to recruiting Reggie-Dog as my assistant on this. And I'm delegating more and more, getting more off my plate and onto his, so to speak, hehe.
4. Although I will occasionally sleep on my back, I'm mostly a side-sleeper. And, I rotate, too. (Okay, not continually.) I start out on my right side, then when I get up for my first bathroom trip, I swtich to my left side. I do this with any other bathroom trips (that varies). If I do not do this, I will wake up the next morning with all kinds of arthritic skeletal problems. My pelvis will feel bruised badly.
5. Our mail is delivered late in the afternoons, at the same time in which our neighborhood is the most active (walkers, people driving home). So, I wait until dusk to go out to my mailbox, because I don't like everyone looking at me (might have something to do with the clothes I wear on days I stay in).
6. I read my local newspaper online every day instead of subscribing. I subscribed for decades until a couple of years ago. The paper build-up and the cost caused me to just put my foot down, and I frankly have not missed it much.
7. During the time I was really ill with my 5 arthritii, I got out of the habit of following the local gossip and staying tuned into my community. When I got lots better, I decided to stay gossip-free. When my friends try to draw me back into it, I balk. I like being clueless.

Okay, that's it. Now, I'm going to post this entry, go around and find 7 other people to tag, then I will edit this post to add who I tagged.
Edited to add: Here are the girlies I have tagged!
1. Chris
2. Gail
3. Kacy
4. Kim
5. Mackey
6. Vicki
7. Sandee

And that's gonna do it for me today, because I'm not that into it, remember? {Eyeroll}

The Rain, The Cards, & Other Things

Is there anyone reading this who is old enough to remember a Tweener pre-adolescent crush on the Cowsills (60's pop-singing and original 'drink milk' family that the Partridge Family tv show was 100% based on)? My blog title today draws on one of their many song hits. The Rain, The Park & Other Things. Oh man, I was eat up with them when I was 9, 10 years old (and The Monkees, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and Herman's Hermits). Next to the Beatles, those groups were my faves. (Yes, I realize the disparity in genre and quality between the Beatles and those groups, but wasn't that the way with any group compared to the Fab Four? And, I never was a Rolling Stoner, lol.) That's my Memory Walk for today.

Errands
It rained today...that's why I thought of that song. Drizzling showers, intermittant but constant, we get this great kind of rain far too little. Plus, while my eyeglasses did manage to fog up every time I ventured outdoors, the temps stayed sane and so it felt good out. I went to get my blood drawn (again) for another check on infection and thyroid levels. They have to take it out of a vein on the top of my hand and that's kind of weird icky (the lady who draws it knows all about my quirky behavior with this: she lets me spasm and emit groans while keeping the needled hand perfectly still...would probably make a great YouTube video...and she doesn't even snicker...much, LOL). I apparently have veins in my elbow that hide at the mere mention of drawing blood.

After that lovely experience, I was filled with a desire to get busy with my heretofore health maintenance procraastinations, so I called for a dentist appointment...gone for the day already, they'll call me Monday. Oh well, I tried. (I also badly need to get my eyes checked and get new glasses, but I'll have to get more inspiration at an earlier time of another day.)

Next, I had my always pleasant drive over the bridge to the grocery store I love to frequent in the next town over. Love this drive, it makes me feel free and alive being on that suspension bridge (I think it's the water below and all around since I'm a Pisces). Arriving at Kroger, Score! Lean Cuisines were 5 for $10 and I loaded up, even got some of those Panini's to try out. My fitness club girls say they're good. Oooh, and I got some Pepperidge Farms mini bagels. Love those and they're such a cute size that is a much better size for me. Only 110 calories for one, and nothing left over, since those full size ones are almost 300 calories and I always slice them in half. Now I can have an entire bagel for less calories than half a full one. Dig that.

Got home, unloaded groceries, had an afternoon green tea and answered a few emails, then got down to cooking dinner. Tried the quinoa (Keenwah)! Dude, it's tasty, a great rice or cous-cous type dish. I fized up some cornbread, some Stouffers beef stew for 2 and a romaine salad. I ladled the stew over the quinoa -- delish. Hubs liked it too, and do you know what that means? It means "approved for flight", or okay to cook from now on. LOL I researched it a few weeks ago (you may remember it's one of those Super Foods and I had to order it from amazon and it took over a week to arrive). Oh and it's super easy to cook, similar to but even easier than rice, okay? Enough said.

Frizzle My Shizzle
I do have to show you one casualty of my rainy day excursion, though and that's my hair. Frizzle my Shizzle! I flat-ironed that moptop prior to my errands, albeit lightly, and never really took a look at it while I was out and about. I almost frightened myself silly the next time I passed a mirror, LOL. The waves are totally natural. This is the first time I've ever seen the effects of my flat-ironing totally obliterated, so either I am going to have to flat-iron every inch of hair and at a higher temp (something I don't really think I should do to my menopaused tresses), or I need to use some heavy duty product on days like this. I'll be trying the latter for sure. I've quite a lot to learn about doing my own hair, something else I've procrastinated on since Missy left.

Artful Progress
I knew that as soon as I stated that I was not going to spend forever on each art journal page that I would spend a lot of time. That's just my luck. I say something, I end up doing the opposite. Oh well. So it was that the next idea I had for an art journal essay was my childhood thing about ballerinas, and a desire to play in my paints and such.

It just so happens, as I have a daughter who had her own ballerina flirtation once, that I'm left with dance embellishments among the ruins of my scraps stash: stickers, tags, collage sheet images. They've stayed in the scraps stash because of course they are long gone from the list of current "in" product, but I cannot bring myself to throw them out because to me they are very cute and some strange out-of-touch part of me keeps hoping they'll make a comeback. Well, they're only gonna do that if I force the issue, so I decided to channel the Rebel in me and create that comeback for this essay.

But, how to lessen the impact of sticker cheese? How about cool painted artsy background paper? I spent some time last night and this evening making some with junk mail paper. I didn't start with my paints, choosing instead to play with my oil pastels and my Craf-T rub-in cremes. Once I had tired of them, I moved on to my paints, applying them with a round stencil sponge dauber. I adhered some pink plastic mesh to one background with some tape runner, and then took my cheesiest ballerina image, adhered her to some cardstock, cut her out and then made several little holes in her for brads to attach her with. This is as far as I've gotten, but I ask you: try to push back your disdain or dislike for cheesy sticker shapes and just tell me you don't think she's just the cutest thing. Ah! LOL, I probably need help dealing with this sickness, I know. But hey, I am recycling and for a packrat, that's sadly as good as it gets most of the time.

Card Making, World-Style
I'll be making one tomorrow, how about you? Don't have time? Just make one, okay? You don't have to make a ton and they don't have to be brilliant. I just think the idea of card makers everywhere each commemorating the day by making a card is kind of cool. So, if you can, do. I made a pink tag just for this event from one of my cheesy dance tags last night. I painted over the text that was on it with pretty pink paint, then used my own handwriting to write the info, then added a flower, a button, some eyelets, ribbon and a staple. I liked it so much I made a smaller image to use as a sidebar ad for tomorrow. All I'm gonna say is, it's really sick how little I know about digital elements when I spend an hour making what I could have just created digitally. {Sigh} Maybe one day....

Fitness Update
Got extra walking in today, since I ran errands and walked that grocery store again. (I really ought to go there every day and buy one or two things, LOL, and don't think I won't consider that!) I was also a good girl food-wise. I slept late this morning (as usual) and then had to work at my accounting crap for a couple of hours (will have to be doing that, and more, until the 16th), but I did manage to put on my new yoga dvd just to watch while I worked. It's really cool. Can't wait to clean up a floor area somewhere in this dump so I can do some yoga! Cuz, I think this one will make me successful at being able to actually have a repetoire of positions, LOL. Based on the preview, highly recommended. A more thorough critique to come...

Feel like a Number
Well, today marked another week of viewing my TV show list. It has been difficult keeping up with everything I've wanted to see, so I added a Google calendar for them (at the very bottom of my blog page), so that when I get confused I have a place to get straightened out. Don't think I'll be adding any more shows to Sunday-Thursday, and based on tonight's viewing, I think I'll add Friday Night Lights and then I alway try to watch 20/20. FNL has always intrigued me (lovelove that Kyle Chandler!), but it has so many boring passages (part of its cinematic style and using real kids as actors, I've decided) that I'd quit watching. Now, the story line interests me again, and I'll just go tinkle or smoke during the boring parts. Sounds like a plan. But, check this out: it's on a new night (Friday), which is neat cuz it's about football, but answer me this: is the show just trying to be the most-Tivo'd show in history or something, because...helLO...doesn't the show appeal to viewers who are, I dunno, AT football games on this night? That scheduling decision just astounds me, what will they think of next? {eyeroll}

Ack, fingers sore, too much typing (and correcting my voluminous typos, hope I caught them all), so I will catch up on my blogger challenge questions tomorrow, as well as upload the card for you that I made for my nephew. Have a great Saturday, yo! ;)))

Anyone up for this?

Sorry. I didn't really mean anything by that. Just liked it as a title, hehe.

I've been in the Bat Cave since last I posted, doing accounting work and hating every minute of it. Whoa is me (sniff sniff).

And on my breaks, I began creating in my new journal. I'm doing the pages outside of the journal, then tacking them down into an old discarded cheap spiral-bound notebook of Missy's. I thought I'd try to use papers, etc., from my scraps stash on every page if possible. Then, I thought I could also try to use junk mail, too. What would that make it, journal trash? Since I'm more of a writer than an artist (like 60/40 maybe), I'm also using it as a free-writing practice vehicle. Just something to mess around with...no expectations of beauty or workanship. At. All.

And may I say that so far it shows, LOL. Yeah. I don't want to spend forever on each page. I just want to "get them out of me" and be done, and leave them until such time if and when I might want to go back and pretty them up more. The journal is primarily for free-writing, illustrated free-writing...which is why I decided to title the thing Essays in the Language of Art. That doesn't really describe it accurately, but that came to me and I liked it.

So I don't know if it's correct to call it an art journal. It's more like an illustrated diary, but not really even that. No set theme. No set topics, anything goes. Could end up being a journal about nothing at all. Move over, Seinfeld. Yeah, I wish.

One of my nephews has a birthday in 5 days, so I need to get my arss in gear and make him a card to go with his $20 bill. Nothing's percolating upstairs, though. I just wanna make journal pages, LOL. I feel displaced, like I misplaced my creativity with cards. It's my boy-card phobia, I know. So tough for me. And not a good time for it, either, as I have 3 nephews with birthdays in the next 30 days. Eegads, that's kinda scarey. Every card has to be unique, too, cuz 2 of them are related and all 3 are different ages. I would love to reach the day where I spend a weekend making all my relative's cards for the year! I've tried before. It doesn't happen. It's a combination of my Type-A deadline-driven motivation and my lack of speed in all things creative.

I read on my friend Vicki's blog about Blog Action Day on October 15th. If you click on the banner blinkie, it takes you to their website where you can read all the details. I am definitely doing this! My idea is to do a journal page about giving junk mail a real and higher purpose by making art with it. Please think about participating and if you do, don't forget to register your blog at their website and embed one of the banner blinkies on your blog.

Just great.
I've been like this lately towards everything. Bleh. Watching myself gettin' behind on stuff and not really caring. One of those rare times I wish I still had my uterus and ovaries, so I'd have PMS to blame, ya know? hehe Well, not really. Histerectomy = Good Thing. On so many levels.

Well, guess I need to post a bit about my health regimin. What a segueway, LOL.

reg·i·men /ˈrɛdʒəmən, -ˌmɛn, ˈrɛʒ-/
Spelled Pronunciation[rej-uh-muhn, -men, rezh-]

–noun 1. Medicine/Medical. a regulated course, as of diet,
exercise, or manner of living, intended to preserve or restore health or to
attain some result.

Things are good, under control. Another "save" in my book of yo-yo's. I suppose I should confess: things appeared to go South the day I drove to pick Missy up from college, which was this past Friday. She'd emailed me saying she wanted to pig out at Luby's Cafeteria, except our local one is not that great. Not bad, just not great. So, just as soon as we got on the freeway to go home, the first exit, there's a Cracker Barrel, and so we exited and ate there.

Now, I was a reasonably good girl. I ordered badly (fried catfish plate with mashed potatoes and greens, and raspberry lemonade - actually I ordered the tea but Missy wanted to switch and as Moms are want to do I took her drink). So I drank stupid useless sugar and ate all my catfish and most of my greens, but truly only a few bites of the potatoes. And then when Missy wanted the apple dumpling a la mode for dessert, I insisted on the sugar-free ice cream and I only took one bite of the dumpling and like 5 spoonfuls of the ice cream. And I was very full. So full that by the time we arrived back home, I was ready for a nap. Bottom line on Cracker Barrel: it could have been much, much worse.

I awoke from my nap to Hubs coming home from work, and guess what he brought with him? Half of the stromboli he'd ordered for lunch from this awesome Italian place that is catering their special project. (Yes, when they work a special project, Hubs and his coworkers get all meals catered. Such is Life in the discombobulated world of mega corporatism, sigh. Not complaining much, though, as we cook much less and I usually don't have to wait til he gets home to eat dinner cuz he's already eaten.) Anyway, I'd never had real stromboli, so of course I had a slice, then another. I displyed super-human effort to keep from slicing a third one, lemmetellya. M-M-M-M-Good, man. And I have no idea what was in it except a massive amount of mozzarella and some kind of boiled meat and wonderfully delish marinara.

Okay, by Friday night, my shame having caught up with me, I walked an extra large number of my step-laps and somehow managed to not eat another morsel. This was hard, as by now my stomach was stretched and I was continually hungry.

Saturday started off well, back on the program. Missy went off on her scheduled bridal party shopping trip with the bride, and life returned to normal. I was flirting with fasting for the day (other than my required yogurt and fruit quota), so when Missy returned with a doggy bag box and announced they'd gone to Olive Garden and here were her leftovers just for me, I was primed for temptation (having eaten next to nothing). Ah, the delectable taste of Spaghetti and Meatballs with a breadstick. I slurp-inhaled every molecule. I doubt my dogs could have cleaned the plate as well.

I kind of forget what else was eaten after that. I doubt it was anything else bad. Probably a tv dinner from my Healthy Choice collection. Missy came in and announced that her boyfriend Jonathan and roommate Anj were driving down to pick her up tonight instead of me driving her back to school on Sunday. At this point, all I was thinking about was how great this was: I didn't have to drive for two hours and my life could go back to normal. So, kiss-kiss and be safe and great to see ya. It's so weird how quickly Hubs and I got used to her no longer being at home, so much so that we prefer it. We're in that period where she prefers being at school and we prefer her being at school, and there's no resentment or hurt feelings. But still a bit awkward. We all agreed she won't be home til Thanksgiving, and that's so refreshing and relaxing. Here I was thinking I wouldn't be able to live without her and look how quickly that changed. I'd feel guilty, but I'm too busy enjoying not having to deal with a 3rd person at home.

So, Sunday I got back on track for good and made sure my steps number was high. When I finally weighed on Monday, I was only a half-pound above my last weigh-in. So, all I can think of was that I'd lost weight between the weigh-in last week and Friday, that I didn't know about, and that's why there was only a half-pound increase. Which I've now lost as of today, Wednesday. Back to the same weight in a week. See how lucky I was?

Blogger Challenge Catch-Up
I need to get current with these and no time like the present. Here's are the questions I've missed (this catches me up until Friday, because Thursdays was posted tonight):
When doing a layout, do you chose to mat or not mat your photos? It depends, frankly. More often than not, though, I do prefer the look of matted photos. It just adds a nice dimension and helps the eye to focus on the photos.
When you are stuck and need some inspiration. where do you turn? For cards, I like to look both at sketches and at what others have made with the materials I'm using (if possible). I usually start at 2peas' user gallery and do a search of the materials. I like to look at Maria's and Di's card sketches. Many times, though, the circumstances are such that I end up having to come up with a completely original card. Maybe I use a little touch here and there that I've seen. For layouts, I have to browse different galleries, magazines, books, not looking for a specific layout per se, but those little touches again. Often I'll combine a few of them, putting my own spin on them. Occasionally, I will get a mental picture of a complete layout, and on those, if I don't sketch it out first the layout can lack balance, since I'm not trained in graphic design or have that natural "eye". So, in each case, no matter what the piece, I do look at others' creations. I usually stop when I get an idea in my head and the finished piece looks like my own, so I look for inspiration and to get my own juices flowing. If I didn't look first, I suspect it'd be way much harder for me to conceptualize something.
Have you ever made layouts/cards to sell at craft shows? If so how did it go? Never have done the crafts fair thing. I have sold cards on commission, making them to the customer's specifications, and I've also made smaller layouts that were auctioned for good causes. I doubt I'd sell cards any other way, because of the time I put into mine. I've lucked out being able to charge at the high end of the range for them because these were people who contacted me and wanted my work without any price dickering. So even though I guess you'd say I got a good price for them, it honestly wasn't that worth it to me, didn't feel like I got repaid enough. I've thought about selling them on ebay or etsy, but so far I'm still not motivated enough. I'm never saying never, though, not this year.

Well, enough of that for now. I'm also behind in my blog visiting for my inner circle girls, so that's what I'm gonna do now. Til tomorrow, peeps! May your Thusday be as good as it gets!