Heavy {UP}Lifting

I chanced upon a nice little blog last night that is trying to provide good advice to peeps. It's called The Wisdom Wall and it's filled with some very cool thought-provoking fodder. Check it out.

I found it to be quite uplifting, as I'm currently in full post-holiday funk mode. I needed the visit. I'm having a helluva time with a pinched nerve in my hip joint (I think) that is controlling my every waking and sleeping physical (and now, mental and emotional) moment. My usual escape from this kind of trouble is artsing and crafting, but I seem to have lost my focus and motivation for that, temporarily (I hope!).

As a funny aside, I have to admit that if I had only one wish to come true at this moment, I would be hard-pressed to decide between alleviating this pain and getting my creativity mojo back! Folks, that's what I call hard-core love. Well, either that or just plain idiocy. Yes, I know, I need to definitely wish for no more pain, I get that....

Anyway, there are some posts at The Wisdom Wall, in the archives, that list some awesome quotes by famous people. I happened upon an appropriate one for me by the late financier and statesman, Bernard Baruch:

In the last analysis, our only freedom is the freedom to discipline ourselves.

This is so true, isn't it? Even in America, the land of the free. So, I'm gonna once again work on Mind over Matter to try to get my mojo back and my spirits raised up. I'm gonna look in the mirror, smile, and say: Lie to me, honey. Hit me, baby, one more time.

It's worked before more times than I can remember, so I'm hoping I'll get lucky again.

The life vision thing for 2009

First of all, a heartfelt wish to our military boys and girls in harm's way for a safe, peaceful, productive 2009.

Yes, 2009 is here now, and there seems to be two ways to look at it.

A new year: how exciting and promising -- an adventure with unlimited potential.

OR

Another year: might as well make the best of it.

Which sounds more familiar to you?

What if i told you that, around here, we accept both interpretations. lol

Why? Because, in reality, the truth of the thing is closer to both.

If you have any years under your belt, you know that the first approach is fraught with potential for a set-up for failure for most of us (except for the fabulous Tina Zarlenga and the equally fabu Sarah Coggins, both of whom I'd bet real money on to actually and consistently do the impossible -- they are incredibly energetic and self-disciplined women that I greatly admire, even though I have little understanding of what it is that makes them tick much faster than me...not even when I was younger did I have that much focused energy to complete so many things).

I kid about Tina and Sarah when I say that I privately suspect addiction to crack or something similar...to repeat, I'm kidding! It's just that I would have to literally be hooked up to an amphetamine IV in order to do half of what they get done, and then my lack of focus would sabotage even that. Anyway, hats off to you both, my friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what you conquer this year.

As for Sarah, that goes double since she recently announced that she is expecting her first baby! This is such wonderful news! Congrats to her and hubby Trent.

And a little story on Tina: I read today she mentioned not meeting her goal of reading 100 books in 2008. OMG, did that ever make me eyeroll and chuckle. You see, I'm one of her friends over on Good Reads. I get emails when friends update their reading lists. Let me tell you, that girl updated her list more frequently than a squirrel finds nuts, all year long. She read over 50 books! That's about 1 a week. I think I might have read one the whole year...sigh.

I might kill to get that kind of energy back again. But until then I'll just live vicariously through them both.



Anyway, I'm going to try to just stick to making the best of 2009:

-->Accept what I can and cannot do.

-->Focus on doing the things that will accomplish the goals I've chosen, whenever possible, but remember that it doesn't always work that way.

-->No pie-in-the-sky goals, but stuff that will really make some sort of positive difference in my life.

For me, 2009 needs to be about adjusting to 2008 changes. I need to re-assess and re-calibrate:

-->I am right now working on completing the paperwork that will officially end my tax business and my SOHO-career in accounting. I cannot stress how big a change this is gonna be for me after 30 years of living my life around the IRS's filings and deadlines schedule, but it is a change I welcome with sheer gusto.

-->Ike caused some changes for us that we still need to deal with, namely to finish clearing debris in the back yard and to go through several big plastic bins in our garage that are full of stuff that was stored in our portable buildings that are now debris. Our city had to "hurry up and wait" until Congress appropriated more money to pick up debris, but they finally did. Removal begins again next week and throughout January. We will probably be getting right on that, since we are not being told exactly when the trucks will be on our street...lovely planning, huh? Guess I'd better call them...

-->Missy getting her own apartment in early December with much of our furniture caused changes. Good changes, but changes, nevertheless. I have decisions to make about new furniture, as well as a new room in the house to give a function to.

And, I am finding it very enjoyable. I frankly marvel at how frugal I naturally am. Here it is, the first time in my married life that I can buy outright whatever I want, yet I am firmly rooted in a "if it ain't broke, don't throw it out and replace it" mentality. I figure it's all good, cuz I can always buy it later if things change, right?

Still, I'm needing to move things around and make existing pieces work in new spots, and at the same time look good enough. And, had Missy stayed in the dorms, this would not be happening, and I'm happy she left the dorms. I'm happy to give her the furniture. This is forcing me to re-assess how things work and don't work around here. Plus, I am trying to include my ideas for decorating with all my little ideas, like the miniature trees I've been buying to hang paper pretties and ATC's and such.

-->Then, there is my weight loss and fitness. I go to a nutritionist 4 times a year, and she finally made me a believer of her approach to it. Basically, she preaches that if it took 5 years to gain 40 pounds, it's gonna take 5 years to take it off for good. Anything quicker, and it won't be for good. For the last 2 years, I've been a skeptical follower of this, and I can now say, I think she is right.

Case in point: in May, 2006, I was 80 pounds overweight: 40 of them slowly creeping on over 10-15 years time and the other 40 blobbed on in the immediately preceding 4 years (due to me being over-medicated for pain and depression after contracting my arthritii in 2002). I spent the rest of 2006 losing 30 pounds. And then I spent all of 2007 and 2008 holding the line on those 30 pounds. As of today, 25 of them are still off of me. (I gained 5 pounds over the holidays, which is a blessing considering what I've indulged in!)

This is almost exactly what my nutritionist says should happen: that without surgery, most people can lose only about 20-30 pounds at a time without "resting" and letting the body catch on and catch up. She says that we should have periods of maintenance within the weight loss process, or we are sabotaging ourselves. The body needs to re-learn the new weight and adjust daily metabolism and energy needs, and that takes time. Otherwise, that "fight or flight" thing activates and the body fights against you to reclaim those pounds.





I didn't just waste the last two years, but now it's probably safe to lose some more, slowly and surely. So, I'll be attempting to lose 20-30 more in the coming months. No, it's not much fun to realize that at this rate, it'll take me 4 more years at a minimum under her regime, but hey, if it works for good, I'm there. I just need to remember that all good things take time, and that Rome wasn't built in a day, get back on the horse that threw ya, etc, etc.

So, there you have it -- my stab at doing my life vision thing (aka resolutions) for 2009. Yikes, them's some big goals, and I was trying to not be over-reaching. And double-yikes, we still have some chocolate ice cream and cookies left. Oh, the temptations...teehee.

What is your life vision thing for 2009? I'd love to know!

Political Potporri

Before I get into my hodge-podge of links and newsworthy items, I want to send a well-wishing shout-out to 2Paws Sarah who is experiencing Tropical Storm Hanna as I write this. She was just leaving me a comment the other day wishing me well during Gustav, and I remember thinking, she's in the middle of NC. How nice of her to think of me when hurricanes aren't a part of her life... Dang, hope I didn't cause the Hanna karma to find her... You might laugh, but after awhile a hurricaneer sometimes wonder why oh why, do I have a hurri-magnet on my butt or something? LOL

Anyway, Sarah, stay safe and dry! (She just re-did her bathroom floors this summer, too...).

And lookie what might be headed toward me next week? I don't like Ike!



Okay, on with the Potporri!


Saw this advertised on Greta Van Sustern tonight, and I'll be watching. I like Greta a lot. She is about the fairest commentator out there, and always takes great pains to appear neutral politically. Probably worth watching, on her recommendation...

Don't know about you but I can only take so much of this partisanship. I'm a judicious type by nature, always gotta weigh pro and cons, both sides. So, I think in a couple of days I will start something like a double-sider on the issues or the candidates. Doing that helps me stay grounded, like a reality check if one of those ever exist in politics...

Most of the internet posts and comments I read about the election are partisan, but sometimes there will be people post who say, "What Palin attack? I don't see it, can you provide links?"

This usually sends me into fits of laughter, but geebus, what a great idea that would be to have a website where they are all listed and linked? Anybody know of one or wanna start one? Huge job, too huge for me to produce, but I can provide help. Email me or leave a comment if you are interested. I mean, hell, Obama has an entire website devoted to fringe emails about him being Muslim. I think it might help us remember it all. And, I'm still waiting to receive my deluge of Obama email. Seriously, I'd love to know what the heck he's talking about?

See how that can go both ways? I'm just sayin....winkwink

Anyway, I can't decide whether to really believe that kind of question if it is indeed being asked sincerely. I guess someone who is watching Turner Classic Movies 24/7 would miss it. Or if they watch network news.

But it can, as I showed, easily be a tactic to cause chaos and upset. One of the boards I was on the other day had a group of Obama supporters in an obvious concerted effort to start as many threads as they could with Palin rumors. And after awhile, we McCain supporters were worn out trying to defend and correct the record, and one big reason I quit once I realized what was being done.

Those of you who do not know the name Saul Alinsky and his effect on Obama need to read this excellent 2007 article. When I look at what the Obama supporters teach each other to do (and his campaign can deny this all they want, but I'm sure the talking points are distributed by them albeit covertly), it always makes me think that Alinsky would be proud. Alinsky is the unofficial father of community organizers, among other more radical ideas. Anyone wanting to look objectively at Obama better make a long stop at Alinsky. The article I provided is a great start.

I kind of want to buy into some odds on whether Keith Olbermann can make it until Election Day without totally imploding or exploding. Let's think back to when MSNBC Prez Phil Griffin rationalized that they maintained objectivity using Matthews and Olbermann as anchors during primetime election coverage. The boys are supposed to be subdued and non-snarky. Right. Anyway, Keith finally blew that beyond all recognition on Thursday night. See the story here, complete with video.

This interesting piece of info from the article: Keith blogs on Daily Kos and read the comments in order to gain perspective.

WHAT?

I kid you not, my friends. (HA! I've actually begun using that phrase at times!) This arbiter of journalistic-objectivity-my-ass gains perspective from Daily Kos. Oh, never mind. He and they are both beyond any sane comprehension. Still, people should know he's a loon. A frickin loon.

Now, I used to love Olbermann before that political switch clicked in my head. I seriously did. I used to watch MSNBC 24/7 and abhor Fox. It's now the exact opposite. I really do think that partisans see the same issue or candidate through completely different lenses. And I have been, in one year, at both ends of the spectrum, lol. No wonder I've been having headaches, lol.

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!

I Wish

I've been thinking that a lot lately, those two little words, I wish. When I was a child, those were almost sacred words, to be used most judiciously, lest the wishes wouldn't come true. Now that I'm grown up (most of the time), I think I might want to start wishing for my desires and as many as possible.

Like, I wish we'd had these cute little cartoon graphics on sandwich baggies when I was a kid...



And I wish that every Western Gulf hurricane goes in just like Dolly...

...not that today's gonna be a walk in the park for my part of the world. Just look at that radar image, above. That's as of almost an hour ago, 5:30 a.m. See the Houston area and all the rain we are getting? It's going to be like that all day long and maybe all night. The Houston news this morning is already predicting definite street flooding for today, since Houston floods at the first sign of spit. Brownsville and Corpus are getting the hurricane, but you hide and watch, if any rain band training occurs, some areas around me will be impacted almost as badly.

There is some weird-ass "black hole" type meteorological explanation for it, but we often get pattern "grooves" like El Nino a few years back, where storm clouds travel over and then are caught up in. So, certain areas get 10x more rainfall than other areas just blocks away.



I felt the first outer bands of Dolly exactly at 3 p.m. yesterday. I was walking out the back door to go drop off some mail and a gust of wind almost pulled the door out of my hand. It was a dry very hot wind. The second I got into the car, it began to slant rain. It squalled the entire time I was travelling, and then died down the moment I pulled into the driveway. Talk about timing!

Now, as the sun is coming up, I have been up all night and am on a naturally-wired Hurricane high, even though the dang storm is going in 300 miles to my South. It never fails. I've been this way (my "hurricane high") for every storm I've lived through since my first in 1961. I'll collapse later on and sleep, no worries, but for now, I'll just be grateful that in my alert state I've decided that I want to blog, LOL.

So, I also wish I can get back into regular blogging again. It's really tough when you're out of the habit.

Hm, I wish I could continue to create like I've been recently. I'm still working on creating organization more than anything else, but I am pushing myself to do my little art like daily exercise. Sometimes I finish in a day, sometimes in 3...




The first atc with the little boy was one that Tina liked on my Flickr. Thanks for the comment, Tina! And Reba likes the Bird of Pair-a-Dice (LOL, you know how I like my puns, thank you, Reba). I made the backgrounds for all of them: 2 of them with my new crayon pastels, distress ink sponging on one, and acrylic paints on one.

As for my organizing, my little homemade Clip-It Rack is growing and filling in...



Remember the 3-ring binder spine label I made, and said I'd probably have to change it out once I found a better use for the binder? Well, haha. It happened. I just turned the label over and made a new one on the back side. Here it is:



Then, I finally found a great yahoo group to join for trading and swapping 4x6 APC's (altered post cards). That made it necessary to create a template for this new size of art, so I worked one up (got a little silly, too):





I bought one of those templates for my ATC's at European Papers, and I like it so much, I tried to replicate the idea...really helps me visualize how an image will look on smaller-sized art.

And now, since I am seeing little lightning pops and hearing the rumbling of thunder, I'll close before we get any power interrupts, with a birthday photo of the most gorgeous young woman:



I am continually amazed I gave birth to this girl. Isn't she WOW to the 20th degree? Even though summer semester college algebra here at the local junior college is currently eating her lunch. Mega-homework and killer quizzes for a subject she doesn't really like and probably won't use much in advertising as a copywriter. 57 on the first quiz, yup, that's my Missy, LOL. I'm smelling a C, hopefully. Which is fine cuz the grade doesn't count, only the credit earned, if she passes. If she doesn't, she just tries again next summer. Since her aptitude in math is plenty high, having to take it a second time should be motivation enough to pass...

My 411 Lately...

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Also, had a pleasant Mother's Day:

Missy had our fave photo of us sepia'ed and framed for my office.

Hubs got us chocolates.

And, my Muse has had me in a very anal retentive organizing mood lately. Into the minutia of cataloguing and indexing diecuts, which could last months but headway must be made before I literally go nuts over not knowing what I have that I can use to play with.

Here's a view of some of the index sheets I have completed. These are fun to look at, I think, but then I have a little bit of a diecut fetish:

Made a drawer into a basket with my antique kitchen cabinet handles:

And the Kids send Peace and Love to Blogland:

Happy Hump Day!

Dang, I knew enough to feel guilty for not posting some blog entries, but it's been a whole week? I've no excuse other than I've been in deep deed.

It seems that every spring is like this: all of a sudden, I'm awash in chores with deadlines. After April 15th, I always want to chill out for a month or so, but nooooo. No one else waits around for that. winkwink

I can proudly boast that I've succeeded in biotch-slapping Hubs to hire out the humongo pool cleaning (after over a year of bog-like conditions). Finally, YAY!

May I present the most gorgeous blue water I've seen in a while, lol:








I had to sneak the photo because I didn't want Pool Guy to know he was being snapped. Kinda awkward. lol I have to say he worked hard. It was a tough job, and I have no idea if $325 for 3 afternoons of work was worth it more to him or to us, but it's paid and the pool's clean.

Of course, in 7 short days, it'll need the regular maintenance of brushing and chemicals to keep it from slowly going downhill again, which we can count on Pool Guy to take care of for $40 a week. That's $160 a month. And let's not forget the 12 hours of pump electricity each day for aeration. I guess I now know why our electric bill seemed lower, lol.

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose. Whoever first said that must have owned a pool, but I digress. I'm usually the first to goad Hubs into doing the DIY thing, but this time I'm voting for Pool Guy to do the weekly work. Hubs came right out and asked if we could hire him. LOL Yeah, like maybe he hates doing the pool? Ya think? My thinking on it is that Hubs wasn't that great at it, and it needs to be done correctly or that investment gets more costly.

So, anyway, that's now the plan for the summer (which is like 6 mos. down here, if not longer). It's amazing to me looking at it in retrospect how it could take so dang long to do just that much, but I've been working hard in my thorny-sided role.

First, starting last week, I had to spend almost 3 days in virtual verbal war as I told Hubs he needed to find someone, then I told him again, and again, because he went into his usual little weirdo rebellion fits, until he realized his way wasn't happening. It only took 2 screaming matches to get to that point.

By Sunday, Pool Guy had made two appearances and Hubs returned to work on days. I only took it easy just a little bit because I dived back into creating, and haven't really looked up until tonight, when I became duly red-faced for realizing how long I'd gone without blogging.

While all this was going on, I have been having a midlife art crisis, for lack of a better description. I've been getting more and more into stamping, paints, background techniques, gessos, glazes, and glitter. A bigger canvas than an ATC affords. And the awesome ways so many out there are combining ephemera with the liquids to create mixed media art.

It's like Scrap booking, but it's not. It's, to me, the closest you can get to feeling what a real artist might feel, short of drawing or painting everything on the piece. You are more free, less constrained by the photos, which in art collage are people you don't know but are attempting to create a personal relationship which. And it can be anything you want it to be, what fantasy! I mean, you can't control the lives of the real people in your scrapbook layouts, but you totally can in your collage.

I don't know. On one hand, it's so much work, learning the ropes and getting informed. But on the other hand, it's fascinating. I even got out the old Artist's Way and read some, need to read some every day. I will admit to being reminded by the author Julia Cameron's ex being interviewed on TCM the other night. Who is her ex, you might ask?

Martin Scorsese, that's who, the film director and obsessed American Express photo development customer. She even refers to them in one chapter, so he's in the book's index. And he was describing in this interview about a tough mental time he went through, about the same time they broke up. Hmmm.... Oh, to be a fly on the wall concerning that one! I really enjoyed seeing him in that interview. I find him quite refreshing and a very positive and religious man. (Cameron's book is laced with religious metaphor and inspiration). Double hmmm.....

I seriously sometimes think I was really meant to be Mary Hart on Entertainment Tonight, except that somewhere something went horribly wrong for me, LOL.

Anyway, if I actually do go through any material changes, you heard it here first. Lately I have been so lazy that if God himself told me I'd win a million bucks if I'd just be a tad more industrious, I'd honestly have trouble finding motivation.

Relaxing and letting time roll along in a parallel universe is just so nice.

Well, speaking of rolling along, I was shocked in a great way to discover I won a RAK from Shirley! Congrats to her for her 1,000th post and I guess that'd be me! LOL See, it pays to reply to practically every entry you're behind in reading, LOL.

Anyway, I know Shirley's RAK will have something neat in it, so even though it may take a while to get here, it'll be sweet!

And, I've been tagged! That, for next time....

Happy Earth Day!

In fact, the next few days contain Earth Day celebrations globally, so perhaps it's Earth week, LOL. And when I Googled for info, I saw a couple of celebrations that were on Saturday, the 18th, but that might have been for the sake of weekday workers who wanted to plants trees or some other day-long venture.

Those of you who've been reading my blog for a year or more know I like to make something to honor this day that incorporates the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle theme. This year I wanted to add bestowing an award to someone special who is environmentally aware and pushes for it on their blog more than anyone else I know.

The choice for me was easy. I immediately thought of my friend Vicki Cook, who never fails to commemorate days of action on her blog, whether it be to celebrate the beauty of trees, to plant flowers, install a bird feeder, or coax new birdie visitors with a nesting house.

Vicki, I salute you for being a 2008 Earth Angel and all around Nature Girl Extraordinaire! Here's your award, for displaying on your blog sidebar (I hope!):


Ok, so on to my Earth Day creation. I wanted to make Vicki a piece of hanging art-iness, and I wanted to include my ATC "Patchwork Earth" that I'd made weeks ago, because I'd originally made it with Earth Day in mind. Although I'd been excited about making this ATC from little slivers of scrap paper to look like a quilt, I wasn't 100% happy with it when I finished it. It was missing something.

So, I laid it aside and forgot about it for a while, hoping and knowing deep down that I'd come up with something to make it more acceptable to my tastes. Picking it back up recently, I decided to do the back with a map of the world stamped image (one of those background stamps from a previous post that I mounted cling cushion on and created storage in the VHS tape cases). I then let it sit some more and thought about adding some rhinestones and jewels and maybe some little stamped cut-out birdies to finish that side.

Turning to the front of the CD, I decided to go over the red gel pen with black, blue and green, thereby toning the red down some. That helped. And, I coated the entire top with my favorite Diamond Glaze, which always makes things look better. I also filled in the bottlecap earth with some Glaze, and then I applied some Crystal Stickles to the inside perimeter. Now, I was getting happy with this little card.

Next, how to hang it? Well, I killed two birds with one stone by using an old CD -- I was able to recycle, plus I'd be able to get out my alcohol inks and paint like I'd been wanting to. That done, I went looking for other elements I could add that were sitting around waiting to be re-used. I had some skinny green satin ribbon that I'd looked at for a few months on my creating desk, so I grabbed it and curling-ironed it straight, then stitched it through holes I'd punched with my Cropadile. Then, I found some beads that were the perfect colors and started stringing two tails on the bottom. (And I might add a couple of "arms" on the side.
I think those beads are so pretty, like porcelain or that turquoise kitchen ware from California in the 1940's (with the drink pitchers that look like a tire-shape with a spout and a handle?) Uh, yeah, obviously, I don't collect dishware, right? ROFL!

Anyway, I'm terribly later than I wanted to be with this post, because nothing went anywhere near a timetable today. So, I'll close with a cool thingy you can make to funnel rain water from your gutter to a rain barrel. And, it hangs, too!You can then re-use the water for feeding and watering plants and birds. You'll find instructions here, courtesy of Lowes.

IN MEMORY

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
b. January 15, 1929 - d. April 4, 1968
What a wonderful difference his life made!

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MY "MAJOR AWARD"
That's right. Just like the Dad in "A Christmas Story", I value and highly covet major awards, LOL, especially cyber ones. And thankfully, no fishnet leg lamps have to sit in my living room.

I want to thank Tina and Lida for awarding me this in March, and Lynn in April:

The rules for the *you make my day award* are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times yourself, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved:
So I'm passing on the award to the following people (in no particular order):
1. Kim L.
2. Kim KT
3. Katy
4. Sandi
5. Vicki
6. Cheryl
7. Jenna
8. Gina
9. Heather
10. Noelia

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MONTHLY MISCELLANEOUS:

I've taken lots of photos and collected tidbits of info in the last month to use here on the old blog, but as often happens with me, I either forget to upload them or I'm not in the mood or situation to bother getting into the detail needed to explain. And this past month has been a real black hole for my free time, what with tax returns and policy research.

Well, today I thought I'd try to get some of these out of inventory and into the light where they belong, so to speak.

Some things I've been into lately:

Here it is, April, and I still have not finished altering my 2008 art calendar I started back in January! Argh! I'm using it to keep track of the birthdays and dates of my artsy friends, as well as deadlines for swaps and challenges, and although not having it decorated does not stop me from using it, it still bugs the bunion outa me, so I'm making it a goal item for April.

Back in January, on Flickr's Inspiration Boards group, I saw people making these on their walls to help them keep their notes and inspiring papers out and visual. Soon, this morphed into people using these to show off their little pieces of art or pretty images, whatever, which is also inspiring. I've been wanting to make one for my wall and even decided where it would go, but was a bit shy about sticking the thumb tacks into a pristine wall. One day I just did it, and I'm glad I did. I'm using this one to hang my art after I finish it to "cure" a bit. And I plan to make more inspira-lines in other places. One cool thing about them is they can be as long or as short as you need them to be. And, they are really easy as pie to string up: just start at one end and then the other.

Aren't these pretty? (See? I even strung some more line under my bookshelves over my desk, LOL.) I took an afternoon not too long ago to work on cling-cushion my background stamps, and made up some image sheets for my stamp binder while I was at it.

I keep most of my stamps in VCR tape cases by theme, and these were all thrown into the cases, no rhyme or reason.

I have finally created a system for organizing these case contents. I make chipboard inserts that have glossy photo paper adhered to one side where the stamps cling to the surface, and have sticker paper on the other side where I stamp the images. That way I can pick up an insert and know what which stamp each image belongs to. It really makes it easier to see what I have in there. Only a million more cases to fix up this way, but at least I have a plan now.

Well, this entry is becoming a mile long so I will call it quits for today. Have a great weekend, everyone!