Happiness Day 1O Return Of My AWOL Muse !

AWOL ; "Absence without proper authority from the properly appointed place of duty"...."one who is away or absent without leave"...."absent from one's post or duty without official permission but without intending to desert" .....I think I like that one the best :) Anyway I am apparently feeling much more creative because I have a lot in the works for the next month or so.

I don't really scrapbook because...well I don't know exactly why, just not what I'm best at. But I found this wonderful site called Scrapbooking From The Inside Out . It is Rachel Kaufman's concept. She is very welcoming and I love the concept. It feels similar to journaling as it revolves around a monthly one word prompt using a gorgeous kit. October was Loss, November Gratitude and this month the theme is Peace. I got my first kit today and it is just full of wonderful papery goodness, stencils, stamps, ink and more. So I will be trying my hand at a couple monthly projects using my kits.

I'm involved in several good online projects now.....signed up for one more month in Kelly Kilmer's class "Prompt a Day". Also working on Karen Grunberg's Reclaiming My Time project. I start Dispatch From LA Remains Of The Day class with Mary Ann Moss on the 15th and then I'm taking DJ Pettitt's upcoming photo editing class. I've loved her style of painting for years and I'm sure her new digi class is going to be fun. A bit intimidating but fun! Her sample photos are beautiful and I'm looking forward to it. Last but not least I'm doing a Wacom Bamboo class with Jessica Sprague in January.....Take that rusty muse! Break time is over! :) Welcome back !

Happiness Day 9 It Was A Dark & Stormy Night

It WAS a dark and stormy night.....I didn't post for Happiness Day 9 because we had no power last night. It was peaceful and INCREDIBLY quiet though. You don't realize how much noise your house makes until the power is off at night! Or that your dog snores ! Even kitten makes little ghostly groans as she sleeps....I read by flameless candle light!

Happiness Day 8 Little Orange Crocs !

Still going through my piles. I love mixed media but there is almost nothing ever that I want to get rid of because I will use it someday...ahem....seriously..no REALLY! Anyway in my mini sort today I found these tiny baby crocs that I probably planned to send to my neice a couple of years ago when they would have fit her but they are so darn cute they are going up on my "sparkle" shelf. My happy stuff shelf. I'll share a picture of that soon. :)

Happiness Day 7 STUDIO CleaNuP !

I have realized no one pays too much attention to my blog when I'm not doing artwork ( there are exceptions....thank you Lynn and Becky)..... :) you both are so sweet to notice when I need a bit of a pick me up comment! Truthfully it is pretty liberating doing these 30 Days Of Happiness posts. No rush rush to meet challenge deadlines or trying to create when I'm just not there yet. But the happy news is that I found out Thursday that a lot of my feeling so bad the past couple months was due to a prescription problem. When I had my thyroid removed I was told it could be a rocky road but I was just glad to be cancer free. Now I am starting to understand how the wrong dose of thyroid RX can take the wind out of your sails and if there are any stressful things or sad things going on it is amplified. So I'm looking forward to feeling much better. I know it takes several weeks to feel really better but I am noticing a little difference already. I feel more creative and can do a bit more without being short of breath or heart flippy flopping. Yeah! I worked today on my art supplies/thrifty finds storage area today with my friend Lori and we really did some work. I have totes. They are labeled. They are accessible. This makes me very happy! Next my studio!

Happiness Day 6 Lazy Days & Journals

Well it's almost midnight and I have been so lazy today that I forgot about my happiness post. Is it wrong just to be happy to have a lazy day? I hope not because I'm happy I did!

I painted 14 pages in my journal last night so I can start adding collage and writing. What a messy fun thing that was! Here's a sample from my daily journal prompt with Kelly Kilmer. The prompt was about your feet! Ugh but fun to do! :)

I also signed up to take a class called Remains Of The Day with Mary Ann Moss from Dispatch From LA. It is a journal made of all sorts of bits and pieces with sewing and well...just too much goodness to believe. Can't wait til class starts on the 15th!

Happiness Day 5 Cat Houses & Cookies

What a great relaxing day. Full of homemade cookies and homemade cat houses :) We had a big box and I was laughing, saying that it would make a neat playhouse for Yoshi. Next thing I look up and see said house in progress. Two windows and an escape hatch ! I should mention that this fur ball has the man of the house wrapped around her little stub of a tail...completely. The second it hit the floor in all it's glory it was occupied. Definitely made me smile.

Next off on the "Home Improvement Store date". I'm sure most of you married ladies are familiar with these. A quick meal, a trip for hardware necessities and there you go! I even got some shelves for my studio redo.....repainting and rearranging to be more organized. Art stuff sure does seem to multiply!

Home to make cookies while the Florida Gators played in the SEC Finals. Only glitch in the day was when they lost and Tim Tebow cried. He's such a nice guy as well as a great quarterback. Hated that they lost their first game of the year! Still a good Saturday was had by all.....especially one spoiled kitten.

Happiness Day Four The Perfect Gift

Gosh , where to begin...first the obvious when I opened up a box with no return address. We live very remotely so I order a lot thru the internet...etsy...eBay...art supplies...QVC..etc so I'm thinking it must be from eBay or etsy. Imagine my delight when a shock of teal followed by bright purple followed by shiny followed by warm fuzzy! And finally a sweet sweet note buried down in the depths of all this goodness from my wonderful SIL and my niece Lily. A birthday gift because I missed our Thanksgiving get together when we sometimes have little somethings for each other. So here's a pic of Lily and Steve playing the last time we saw them and a couple photos of teal and purple goodness :) Grinning still! Thanks so much you two ! I love you!

Happiness Day Three TEESHA StUff

"Nothing is so personal as Happiness...Each soul is fitted for a joy entirely individual....Often a whole life is required to discover it. Jeane De Vietingghoff "

Today I was struggling with my new happiness project. The dark and twisties were really trying to get a hold of me. Among other things I was on call #92...the "on hold in a foreign country" type call and waiting for the oven repair man to show up to fix my broken (NEW !) oven (he didn't). I was really trying to find my happy thought yet alone take a photo of it when the mail showed up with a little box with neat stuff from Teesha Moore. I had ordered some beautiful teal twine so I could bind the journal I'm working on and was surprised to see all the neat little goodies that were in the package with it! And in that little pile of treats was the long stamp on the right that has the above quote on it about happiness....how serendipitous ...LOL! I had to look that up after it popped into my mind to be sure I was using the word right and found this definition "the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for" ...... Sometimes it is indeed the little things that make you happy. So thank you Teesha Moore !

Happiness Day Two STaRfiSh !

I am amazed at how many little things make me happy when I am looking for them. It really is a whole new attitude adjustment.

This morning I was considering putting away my starfish to decorate for Christmas and realized that I really like my starfish out and they are pretty enough to be Christmas decorations themselves. So I am digging out a few silvery blue candles to add to the mantle and we will have a simple but beautiful reminder that it is indeed that time of year.

I relearned how to cut stained glass again. Like riding a bike...rolling eyes here :) and have a simple but oh so pretty design started. I felt happy being around other creative women today. Hope you had some fun today. N

31 Days Of Happiness....Day ONE

I have had a good day. I woke up and things just went well. My copy of Artful Blogging is here and the first article I read was by Erin Wallace. She has a blog called Bluebirdbaby and she talked about blogging "30 Days Of Happiness" and it really struck home with me. She wrote that she was struggling with with hard personal issues and decided to step out of her normal blogging routine and try something new for 30 days. She wanted to find the joy in every day. Take a picture and talk about what made her happy in that photo. I am a believer in that old saying "You are about as happy as you make up your mind to be" so it made me sit up and take stock. I am happy today for a lot of little reasons.....In no particular order....I found my pink eraser that I had been searching for forever :) I had lunch with a new friend....my little Mina feels pretty good today...I had an comment from Lynn that warmed my heart...the weather is beautiful...I am taking a refresher stained glass class tomorrow...I had a neat package from Hannah Grey Curiosities & Dry Goods full of neat little stuff to art play with. Wow..that's a lot of happy! Hard to do just one picture so I picked one I took of little girl snoozing in the sunbeam because it makes me very happy! Hope your day had some happy in it :)

A Moment To Remember A Friend..LYLAS Deb

I had forgotten how life can change in a instant....I lost my growing up, unconditional love, best friend this week. She died very suddenly with no warning from a brain aneurysm. We were preparing to celebrate our shared birthdays this weekend as we are a week apart and try to see each other every year. I have had a lot of other things going on this year but to lose such a dear friend so suddenly puts most everything in perspective and in a different light. There's not a moment to be lost in this life. Let the people you love know it right now, everyday....

I miss you Deb.....so many firsts we shared. You were one of the bright shiny people and the world is worse off for having lost you. I am worse off for having lost you. I am done with tears now and I am moving on to celebrate your life this weekend as we were planning on doing. This is a photo I love of us when we were 14 and off to the Charles Chips Christmas party your parents had every year. We were so fancy and felt so glamorous. I remember it like it was yesterday. Dana, Tom, Carla, Harriet, David, Karl ....let's all just keep on loving her the way she loved us. Unconditionally

I'll be back in a while after I regroup and can think creatively. I wish you all very peaceful loving holidays with those you love most.