New Classes Kit SAVED 1/2/10 POST

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 !

January 2 2010 Post Saved
No, I haven't run away and join the circus or come down with a horrible case of hobokorokis. But I did abandon my 30 Days Of Happiness project. I've been trying to stay positive through a lot of personal losses recently by working in my art journals but had to take a break finally when my sweet little dog Mina took a turn for the worse in her battle with brain tumor she's been fighting. We had to let her go two days before Christmas so it's been a very sad time for me personally. Everywhere I turned was a reminder of her so when my brother called and asked me to go to Homosassa Springs with him for a day and then come back up to Georgia to be with family I jumped at the chance. I knew it would be very good to spend some time with them. That's a picture of all the girls except Loni the wiggle worm when we woke up today. I'm hiding in the very back row. None of us were feeling very glamorous but we were all here in the main house at the same time which rarely happens. It's always a full house here and everyone here is a night owl like me. Love that and waking up to a house full of family and friends. I'm really enjoying spending time with my nieces and nephew, especially getting reacquainted with my youngest nieces Loni and Lily as they are growing up so fast. My niece Lucy and I are definitely cut from the same cloth as we both love thrift stores and shopping. I am, however, going through some communications withdrawal. I left with an hours notice to pack and forgot my cell phone charger and laptop among other things. Today I hijacked the computer in the family room. Lily is at my shoulder demanding to know what I am writing and WHY is it taking so long ? :) Anyway lots of time to think about about my journal projects but not much time or many supplies to actually do much about them right now. I plan to take a long meandering drive home next week sometime and hit every thrift store I can in search of neat fabric and "stuff" to add to my journals, especially my "Remains Of The Day" journal. Sorry I haven't been answering my phone or emails but I truly hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and I will talk to you soon!

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!

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!

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!

Drawn To Digital....

I have been resisting doing too much digital art as I really REALLY enjoy getting all messy with paint, pastel, ink.....all of it! But I keep signing up to learn more with Jessica Sprague and I keep updating my Photoshop Elements software and then I asked for a Wacom Bamboo Craft tablet after seeing Rhonna Farrer doing digital doodling with hers. So I must somewhere on some level be yearning to master this new set of skills! I just found PenScrappers which is a dedicated Bambooo blog so off to see what I can learn today.

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.

I am PINK today.......

Two posts in one day.....it must be a blue moon tonight! I thought I'd share my inspiration for a journal page from scratch and then I will show you the results in my next post. Yesterday was my checkup day with two docs and I just hate waiting rooms so I always take a sketch book and a magazine. I had quite a few of those ah ha inspiration moments looking through Elle and Real Simple. Unfortunately these were NOT the magazines I had arrived with. I hate it when people tear up magazines in the waiting room...you know half way through an article and RIPPPP....you're left hanging so I went to the window and quietly explained "I had to have these magazines or my inspiration would be lost and I would gladly bring two magazines to replace these next visit"......by now the girl is "Good..sure..just back away from the sliding partition lady" So now I am off to work with these gorgeous images. I am pink inspired ! I keep singing that color song from the Dell laptop commercials..."I am green today...." but inserting pink! Here are the lyrics for anyone who has managed to stay with me this long :)

Colors By Kira Willey
'I am green today, I chirp with joy like a cricket song,

I am grey today, gloomy and damp like a morning fog,

I am orange today, loud and messy like finger paint on the wall

I am red today, hopping mad like a playground ball

I am black today, strong and tall a great big bear

I am purple today, bright and happy like a butterfly in the air

I'm a rainbow today, all the colors of the world

I'm a rainbow today, all the colors of the world are in me

I am yellow today, I shine my light out like the sun

I am White today, soft and quiet like new snow

I am Blue today, calm as glass and cool like the sea

I'm a rainbow today, all the colors of the world are in me.'

Beautiful Day To Be Getting Older :)

I just took a walk down our drive today with little pup in my arms and my big girl trotting beside me. The sky is an amazing shade of blue. I had to go back for my camera to record it and share it. I did not do anything to this photo other than throw it up here to remember that we do have absolutely beautiful days here at the Sandspur Ranch. This is fall for us. It's in the 70's and clear as a bell. Fall takes it's sweet time, granted, but when it sticks around for a few days I am happy!

Lines blur.....

I realized I've missed my blog. A lot. It seems as if I've been struggling forever to get back to a semblance of normalcy after my surgery this summer. I've had to make choices about how I've spent my time. Blogging just didn't make the top 10 when I couldn't seem to create the smallest thing or cook or properly take care of my household. I have had a lot of time to think of course and that can be a good thing or a bad thing as I'm sure you know. I've come to realize that I love being able to have a communion of sorts with other artists as we create and if we share some personal info along the way I am good with that. The reason I mention this in particular is that the way I've been pulling myself up out of my artistic dry spell has been to read other artist's blogs and finally to take a journal class with Kelly Kilmer. Now this is not my first journal class. I took a wonderful class with Pam Carriker and one with Dina Wakely but I was more interested in technique. I considered my journal pages more personal than my other artistic endeavors and wasn't sure how I felt about the overly personal posts I'd seen other artists blogs. Did I want to read about other peoples thoughts or have them see mine. Big question...did I want to mix art with my personal life? Now it's not like I have a huge audience but still....However as I spend more and more time playing in this art I find I am drawn to this very aspect of the whole thing. It's wonderful to see how art and emotions come together. So my blog may be taking a slightly more personal direction as I share a little bit of life with you through my journal art. I still want to do my favorite mixed media challenges when I get up to speed. I've met some very wonderful and creative people doing those. But I also love to look for old things to create with as well as things to decorate myself and my home with. I'm going to share those things too. So here's to living the lives we love and never taking a single moment for granted.

Hello Again....Halloween Class!

Well, I have been organizing and playing with all my fun things but as for my creative output...well...my muse must still be recuperating! I am very happy to say that I will be teaching a class at our LSS L & M Scrapbooking in Branford called "Use Every Scrap". I think most of us are being cautious with our expenses these days so I thought it would be fun to take 2 or 3 sheets of paper and some supplies most of us have and make a couple of Halloween projects using the new Spook Alley line by Making Memories. I made a "BOO" banner, a card and had enough left over scraps to make a book mark and a magnet. Kim, who is scrapbooker extraordinaire has made a great LO to go with the pieces I made. It was fun and a jump start for me. I did not take pictures though before I dropped them at the shop so I will try and do that soon.

Missed everyone and hope to be back doing my favorite challenges soon. Oh and for those of you who have been following the great kitchen remodel....I have a SINK !!!!! The kitchen is functional on all levels as of tonight and only needs to be painted and trimmed out! Woo hoo! It took a year but it is wonderful! Would I do it all over? Not only no but no no no ! Kitchen installers need to work too...right? And electricians and plumbers.... I am glad to have my DH back as just that, my DH !

TGIF A Day At The Beach

I was so pleased when Sandy at TGIF asked me to be the guest designer for this week's challenge. Can't wait to see what everyone does! :)
Almost forgot..my image is from Suzee Q's wonderful Flickr site! Thanks!

Back In The Saddle Again....Kinda :)

Well, my surgery went well. I had the very best outcome possible and my test results came back last week and I am beyond happy to report that they were good and the proverbial cherry on top! Now I have to be patient(so not my strong suite as all who know me well are quite aware of!) and allow myself time to heal.
I'm not quite up to sitting at my drawing table for more than a few minutes as of yet so thank heavens for the creator of the recliner. I can sit here in my chair and use my laptop, read, watch movies and even sketch a little. However danger lurks as my little four footed children DO NOT understand that I am no longer their personal trampoline for a while!
So I am thinking and dreaming of the days to come and how I want to live this next chapter of my life. The one thing I am sure of, there will be art! Thanks so much to everyone who sent me your kind wonderful thoughts and prayers. :)

New Little Update....

Finally after a gazillion tests, my surgery is tomorrow and I have all day today to rest and just look at all your wonderful blogs. Thank you so much to everyone for all the kind words of encouragement. I can't wait to be creating again. And I did miss my class with Tim Holtz but the shop owner at Ruban Rouge was even kind enough to give me a refund which I promptly spent on the newest bright alcohol inks, his mini stapler and some of his amazing new stamps. Fun toys just awaiting my return to my studio !

We Now Interrupt This Blog To Bring You Some Word Salad

Well I just found out last week that I will be having surgery very soon to fix a long standing problem. The first words out of my mouth to the doctor were "We can't do it then..I have a class with Tim Holtz!!!!!" Of course the doctor and my Steve both just stared at me but I know you guys will get it! That what I love about my fellow artists in blogworld! That brought up my other thought.... I won't be able to do the my favorite challenges or sit to do art for several weeks. AGH!!!!! Anyway that brings me to my Word Salad for the Three Muses ..... I just love this new challenge blog and don't want to miss one single one! So even if I am confined to sketching and the like I will try to play....I will still be watching and commenting on everyones work as much as possible. I am going through withdrawal already!

Crazy Amigo Red Bingo Shadow Box

This is a little recycling piece for the Crazy Amigos bingo challenge. Little goodies from the thrift store and a dress form image from Shabby Cottage Studios. Great fun!

Mide Wide Open Contentment

My entry for Mind Wide Open. Lot's of fun this time. Love how Gail created the image we all used. These are my favorite color too. I need to learn how to take a good photo on a rainy day or at night. We have had record amounts of rain this summer. I often finish a piece at night with moments to spare.....Gail must have the patience of saint since this is the second time I have turned in something at 11:50 something! I just looked at all the entries and they are so beautiful.

Go look if you get a moment, you won't be sorry. So inspirirng!

Three Muses Cat House Artist

This is my entry for Three Muses theme of surreal... Hope everyone is having a good week! Off to look at everyones surreal stuff!

MMM Beaded Beauty

This is my piece for MIxed Media Monday. The theme was using beads. I did use beads but good grief....have you ever had one of those days when the universe was saying DO NOT CREATE TODAY! I have dropped more beads....shredded more thread....poked myself with the needle...you name it! But I have had this project in mind for a long time and really did enjoy doing it. It is a large piece for me, 12"x16" and that was new for me too. Anyway I am rambling. Can't wait to see what everyone did!

Almost forgot...the image is from SuzeeQue. Thanks!

Let Freedom Ring ATC Arch

This is my ATC size arch for Gothic Arches.....up late tonight playing in the studio....love a relaxing holiday weekend. Hope everyone else is having some fun too!

TGIF Pears

This is my piece for TGIF.....the the theme was pears and or apples. I saw this paint chip booklet at our home improvement store yesterday and had to play. I'm a bit late but it's been a busy weekend! Hope everyone here is having a wonderful 4th and everyone is having a good weekend!

Three Muses Time Flies Up Up and Away :)

Well....It's official. I'm losing my mind.I could have sworn that the sneak peek on Three Muses was Time. EDIT ALERT :) The Muses have told me that Time was the theme for a day perhaps but it seems time was abundant on other challenges so they made a brilliant switch to Up,Up And Away and I want to do that one too! I do have a bad habit of waiting til the day a project is due to get creative even when the hosts are wonderful and give me a sneak peek or a psst! I wrote down Time/3Muses on a slip of paper, put it on my work table and there it sat til Tuesday night! That's what I get for not going back and peeking around some more during the week. Plus I also missed later posts by some really creative women. So....there you have it. If by some miracle you are still reading my ramblings you are now returned to the original post. PHEW!

Anyway.......I made this 8'x10"piece tonight for Time with a watch I got at the thrift store and did a photo transfer of some tiny little shoes I had. I used tinfoil for the mirror. I guess the wings on my clock will have to suffice for time flying up up and away! Can't wait to see what everyone did this week.

When Life Permits I have A Little Fun

This just about sums up the new art adventure I'm doing. It's a Flickr group called CollagePlay and it's run by Nancy B at Something Two Crow About.We get a sheet of very disjointed images and you would be surprised at the wonderfully creative collages that come from this. These are my 2 first pieces and I love doing this. I'm at a point on my journey to being healthy that I have no idea from one day to the next what I will be able to do. So I am rolling with the punches and this is such a fun type of art to do and I can do it whenever I am feeling good. Love it!

Wings Gothic Arches

Late night try at Gothic Arches...The theme was anything with wings. my dragonfly stamp was calling my name and this is some Elizabeth Arden tissue under stamped and inked acetate. I used Staz On and then dye inks.

A Moment In Time Theme Thursday

This is my piece for time on Theme Thursday. I printed my photo on a tag and used Tim Holtz alchohol inks and some stamps. I did this a while back and it was on my blog I lost but I like it and wanted to have it here. As I've said I really like doing new pieces but occasionally I'm going to post a piece I really like from the "lost" blog and hope no one minds too much! :)

Parrots Like the Wildlife 3 Muses

This is my piece for the 3 Muses wildlife challenge...I read the funniest thing today..."parrots are monkeys with wings"... LOL! Having been aquainted with several parrots in my life I wholeheartedly agree! Anyway here's my vision of wildlife! Thanks for looking!

Tell Me A Story MMM

This is my piece for Mixed Media Monday. I took the challenge of Tell Me A Story very literally. It's a spread for a round journal I'm working on. It's called The Secret To Me. This is my third layout and I had already decided to do a page on reading and books. This old photo is me engrossed in a book! It was Father's day today and this is the second one without my dad and I was thinking about him. One of my fondest memories of him was our story time. Him reading to me or making up the most wonderful tales and then illustrating them in pencil. Thanks DB for the love of stories and the gift of art. 2 pieces!

Hope you all had the weekend you wished for and were able to do something fun and creative!

Postcard Theme Gothic Arches

I never realized how much postal related ephemera and stamps I had until I started working on this challenge for Gothic Arches. I do tend to collect things like that and suddenly the collection takes on a life of it's own. That's why I've spent a good part of the year sorting and purging! I've been busy today playing in my cool art room after a blazing morning clearing off my back porch. I've just relaxed and played with paper, glue and stamps.....no big expectations....just having some fun !

Boys Club Twinchie

I've done inchies before but never a twinchie.....that's just a fun word! This is for Small World Of Inchies & Twinchies. I used one of my favorite images. I've used it before. It was actually from the very first collage sheet I ever got. Now I have a portable file with all kinds of beautiful images. Life is good! Hope you all are having a fun creative weekend. I also hope you are cooler than here. We were 101 today!!!!!!

My First Blog Award....Whymsical Musings

I was given this lovely blog award by Becky from Whymsical Musings. She has been one of my favorite ATC artists for a long time. I have many beautiful little works of art from her around my computer that I got several years ago before I was able to start being creative again. It was wonderful to find her blog. Go check it out. You won't be disappointed. Her word verification fairies are just the most imaginative thing!

TGIF Secrets...A Little Birdie Told Me

My entry for Thank God It's Friday...The challenge is "secrets" ......I am trying to type and get this up before our power goes...Lots of thunder here this summer! I did an ATC with an image I've had for a while. I can't remember where I got it but I love her expression!

Three Muses Doors

Here is my piece for the door challenge at Three Muses. I've always been fascinated by doors, especially arched "hobbit" doors like this. One day I'll coax my talented but very busy woodworker husband to make one for my studio.

I did a photo transfer method that I learned this week from Lucy who learned it from Audrey. It was lots of fun and the most successful transfers I've ever been able to do. Thanks you both for sharing your technique! I learn a lot from Lucy...she may be my muse!

I cut out the vines from dictionary pages with my dusty Sizzix. The bee is from Basic Greys Wisteria stamp set..I love this set! Lots of gel medium and other fun stuff. I am loving this site... the muses are doing a wonderful job and bringing in all kinds of talent !

Numbers Mixed Media Monday

Here's my numbers piece for Mixed Media Monday challenge. It's another page for my project from the old "Lazy Thoughts Of A Lazy Girl" book. I had to skip the first chapter and go to the second since it was on bills. How perfect was that?

I am so glad to have had some time to do art today. It's been one of those almost artless weeks and I just can't stand that. Sometimes things are just out of your control and while I accept this I don't like it at ALL! Anyway I did get to play with some digital art this week thanks to Bev's great instructions to me for some baby steps and to Lucy, my patient wonderful friend for helping me learn some more amazing stuff at 1 am in the morning after we were done trying some transfers. So my first 4 layers are digital!!!! Thanks so much for the help!

Mona Lisa Eyes Three Muses

There is a new challenge site called Three Muses and it is run by three very talented and fun ladies. Ann, Bev and Marie. I am so happy to see their new venture. I think this will be one of my favorite places to play every Wednesday! Their idea this week was to use the Mona Lisa however we chose. I instantly thought of my sweet girl Penny who definitely has a Mona Lisa smile. Here she is in real life and then altered by me above...poor thing!

Lazy Thoughts Of A Lazy Girl MMM

This is my entry for lace on Mixed Media Monday. It is a series of book pages I am doing an ongoing art piece. The book is very old and so funny. The author was very opinionated for her times. This is the cover which I thought was perfect for lace. I used spackling paste and shimmer mists I made with hairspray. Fun! I hope to finish every title page I've started and make one large wall hanging. The next chapter is her opinion on children and dogs. Maybe I will be able to work a page in here and there for this challenge.

I have been creatively challenged this week with the all the mess we are making in our house! This has been going on since AUGUST! But we chose to do it ourselves so there is no one to blame but ourselves! Hah! The upside to not having a kitchen is that we got sent home with all the leftovers from a great party this weekend! Anyway I hope you all had a wonderful creative weekend. Mine was wonderful but not as creative as I would have liked! But there's always tomorrow! And thanks for looking if you are still reading! :)

Issues With Blogger

I don't know about if a lot of you are having issues with Blogger but I'm very frustrated trying to open blogs to view and comment on artwork and having the page shutdown. I found the answer here I believe... http://knownissues.blogspot.com/

"Some users are seeing an 'Operation Aborted' error message when trying to load their blogs from Internet Explorer. We're looking into this and will update this message when we have a fix.We apologize for the inconvenience.Update (May 26): We are still working on resolving this bug. This only affects viewers using IE to view the blog; for right now, blog owners can either move the Followers gadget lower in their sidebar, or remove it altogether. Either action will eliminate the pop-up dialog box in IE.We will update this post when a fix has been made."

I've also been told that hitting the refresh button may reload the page properly. Personally I'm tired of the problem and will be using FireFox as my browser for a while and see if I like it. I have some friends who really like it better than IE and say it's faster. I'll keep moving this to the top of my posts and maybe it will help someone else who has been stressed over this.

Dream Journal TGIF

Here is my piece for Thank God It's Friday.....I started this dream journal about a year ago and I'm was so glad to see this challenge and get it out and work on some more pages in it! I loved working on it and even used it when I had to redo my blog header. Now I have the perfect thing to work on this weekend! Thanks for looking and hope everyone has a fun creative weekend!

Problems With Blogger and Internet Explorer

I don't know about if a lot of you are having issues with Blogger but I'm tired of trying to open blogs to comment on everyones artwork and having the page shutdown. Some answers from here...

Here's the message from Blogger http://knownissues.blogspot.com/

Some users are seeing an 'Operation Aborted' error message when trying to load their blogs from Internet Explorer. We're looking into this and will update this message when we have a fix.We apologize for the inconvenience.Update (May 26): We are still working on resolving this bug. This only affects viewers using IE to view the blog; for right now, blog owners can either move the Followers gadget lower in their sidebar, or remove it altogether. Either action will eliminate the pop-up dialog box in IE.We will update this post when a fix has been made.

I've also been told that hitting the refresh button may reload the page properly. Personally I'm tired of the problem and will be using FireFox as my browser for a while and see if I like it. I have some friends who really like it better than IE and say it's faster.

This is for the cool guy with the cool tattoo! :)

Two great guys delivered the third and final part of my kitchen today . It was a long delivery and they were so good to find a way down our road. We made quite a few trips up our tree lined lane in my van since their truck wouldn't fit under the tree canopy and now all the cabinets are safely here! Phew! Along the way we found we all like some great music and good books......so here's a piece of art with a touch of Twilight and Anne Rice thrown in just for them. Thanks so much guys!

As Long As There Were Wishes

Here is my fairy for Wednesday Stamper. This is a Character Construction stamp and the rest is part of a master sheet I made and cut up in mosaic pieces. Thanks for looking!

Crazy AMigo One Fish Two Fish

Here is my bright entry for Crazy Amigos. I got a new bubble stamp today and was happy to get to use it for this challenge. Also inked my fish stamp for the first time. I have had that stamp for a couple years I bet and just rediscovered it. I am going through my stamps and it's like shopping at my own house. Gotta love it!

MMM The Dance

This is my layered piece for Mixed Media Monday. It is 9" x 11" and I did it on a piece of chipboard. I painted the dress used torn paper strips, foaam stamped images and glazed it with a gesso wash. All in all a good time was had by me! Wonderful theme!

Altered Book Come Into My Garden

The theme for Saturday's Workout is altered books. I've been playing in mine this week and was so pleased to see this was todays challenge. I put my first page up on Monday but here's the rest of the 4 page spread......Had so much fun doing this. Thanks for looking!