The Dogs Of Godiva :)

Watching TV this morning and suddenly there is this artistic eye catching commercial on. I usually skip thru them but this one made me go get my camera and try to get a still shot. It was for Godiva chocolate and every frame was of this stunning architecture but of course the one that made me get the camera was the dog shot. Love the emerald green windows too. Unusual doors and windows always stir up the creative pot for me so maybe there's a collage for Life Is A Verb coming on today yet !

I Miss You Sweet Girl......

A little post for Miss Mina...I can't believe you've been gone 1 year today. I was just waking up this morning and in that moment before being fully awake I thought I heard you making that little noise you made when you really wanted me to get up but were trying to be patient. I am surprised to find myself missing you so much every day but then you were my little shadow. I have loved all the dogs in my life but you are the one I miss the most. I do love this picture. I remember trying to work on my computer and you standing right there, looking so earnest, as if to say "ready for my closeup".
I am so so grateful to have had 12 wonderful years with such an amazing dog .

ACK! I can't have a cold for Christmas!!!!!

It doesn't say anything in the " Life Is A Verb" book about taking a break from the 37 day challenge if you have the worst head cold ever. ;0( Don't remember ever having a cold hit me so hard and fast!
I may take a brief hiatus from the studio until after Christmas or after this bug goes away, which ever comes first!
Anyway I took a break from being grumpy & snorty to make my day 11 collage. I am often inspired by packaging to not only buy things but create things. This was the package from Pepperidge Farm's Snowball cookies. Too pretty to just toss. And as pretty as the package was I didn't like them! Goes to show you that you really can't judge a book by it's cover... LOL!
Hope you all are having a good week and I wish all my blogging friends a very happy and healthy holiday. Be back soon I hope!

Sick

I hate being sick!

Nooooooo....

I'm sick and achy...what a nasty bug..hurt all over and a sore throat. I've tried being nice and telling cashiers, bank tellers and anyone near me that they may want to to disinfect their hands or be careful using the card readers at checkouts after me. This has lead to many different reactions. The main one being thanked heartily by most and several people who looked at me like I was crazy and one snotty snotty woman who glared and said "I don't have any hand sanitizer"...the cashier gave her some and I left before I could receive her sweet, I'm sure, thank you :) I wish I didn't have to go out but doctors, drugstores and groceries for Christmas just won't wait. I'm sure all the sick people who were out when I was Christmas shopping last week and caught this bug had the same dilemma but I wish THEY would've stayed home :) Oh well that's life.....

Tangled Up In Blue

Life Is a Verb day 5..... I love this song and when I saw this picture of Steve I noticed how truly blue his eyes are.... No wonder I fell head over heels :) Good thing he doesn't read my blog or he would have a swollen head !

Life is a Verb...The Generosity Of Friends.....

Today I realized how good it is to have friends...the kind who don't mind dropping you at the front of the store if your knee hurts.....the kind of friend who stops and get you tea because they couldn't get a tea and not bring you one.... the kind who inspire you with their creativity...the kind who give you that perfect discontinued piece of red and teal polka dot paper from their stash.....the kind who listen when you have an off day and don't think less of you for it....I feel so lucky to have some of these wonderful women in my life.

I'm on day 4 of my mini collages......I have struggled with the "Life Is A Verb" lesson of quantity vs. quality in my little creations. It's hard to just do a quick piece and let it go! So I'm a little behind...still learning :) I used a piece of a master sheet that I did at Gail's shop....hated to cut that but they are meant to be used. The polka dots are my pencil eraser dipped in a chalk ink. Then took a piece of light weight brown paper and spritzed it with Shimmerz Red-y or Not Vibez to make the ruffle at the bottom. the glitter stamp is from River City Rubber Works and the flower stamp is from Penny Black. Love that stamp! That's all...hope everyone had some fun this weekend! :) Nan

Glitter Everywhere...

And I mean everywhere! I spent a couple hours with a friend today, just playing with old/new supplies that are starting to become old as they sit on my shelf waiting for me to get around to using them. You know those things! What got my attention this afternoon was some gorgeous champagne glitter and a TH rosette die that I bought in the fall and just never got around to using. My friend had some beautiful vintage looking Christmas paper and gifted me with some great pieces to play with. So what I noticed today was just a simple thing. Using what what I have and love as well as using the occasional newest brightest shiny thing when I get it. So my theme today is recycle, reuse, make it or make do. Or take that 50% off coupon to Michaels and get that bright shiny new toy but use it! :) I did get a new Fiskars deluxe cutter Friday... Love my old one but need one that has the numbers printed on it instead of the debossed numbers that my eyes just don't see anymore! I used the new one today ( proud of me ) and it rocks! Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. I am going to relax and spend some time visiting my artsy friends blogs tomorrow!

Friends Are The Flowers....

Life Is A Verb 5 ....Tangled Up In Blue

Just noticing how beautiful my husband's blue eyes are :) Nuf said lest I embarrass him. LOL! That's it for number 5...just a simple little photo collage.

He Feels Sometimes...

It's been a long day! I decided to go into the "big" city and do some Christmas shopping today and just got home. Phew...I was ready to return to the forest where I live. No crazy drivers, no bright lights, just a very calm quiet place with lots of trees and animals. I almost ran over a little cottontail coming up our drive. My headlights must have confused it and it took a while for it to head into the woods. So even though I had some great photos of lights and people to inspire me, rabbits were the thing I thought about when I sat down to my drawing table tonight. Always loved this part of the book Secret Garden. Hope you all are enjoying the holidays and finding the things you enjoy about this crazy time of year. :)

Talk Talk.....

Well almost forgot to post Day 2 of my project. Trying to use scraps and also to use a tiny leftover bit from the previous days piece in the next days piece. Had this fabric scrap I confiscated :) from my friend Lucy's scrap pile and an old dictionary page sprayed with Tattered Angels in my still favorite color teal. The background paper with the tiny cute creatures is Olivia from BG. I used Tattered Angels "Santa Baby" red on the butterfly. ( my fingers are stained sooo red...)I was listening to an old song called Talk Talk from the 80's and it just seemed to fit my day in so many ways. Off to bed since I do the town thing tomorrow, red fingers and all. So glad to see you all in blogland!

Baby It's Cold Outside...

This is a the first of 37 small mixed media pieces I'm doing for a series I'm calling "Notice". As I mentioned earlier I'm reading Life Is A Verb by Patti Digh. She has a series of 37 day challenges to help your creativity and one of them is to pick an art form and create one item for 37 days, no exception. The thought being that quantity not quality is a good thing at times to get you going if you get in that perfectionist mode. Don't know if I'm explaining it well but can't imagine anyone not enjoying this book. So I'm off and running. Here's to 37 days of imperfect but heartfelt art. :)

I used a bit of netting and a Tim Holtz snow stamp I bought from Gail. Everything else is from my scrap pile. I used his mini stapler and now have a new favorite toy. I will be keeping it out on my desk and reaching for it often. The back of each piece will have a place to write something about the day and a pocket for a daily photo.

The cold weather has definitely caught my attention. It's going to be in the teens here which is very cold in December for North Florida. Hope everyone is keeping warm!

Over The Edge....WOYWW

I have been fighting to organize my studio for a long time...as you know. :) I finally figured out that one of my main problems was a huge table that I loved because it's solid wood but it's 5' x 5' and the middle is just an unreachable black hole and the shelves above useless so I decided to look for a smaller table in the clearance section of a local furniture store. I was shocked to see that most everything was in the $300. range. I was in sticker shock because I like to buy my stuff gently used with a bit of an aged patina to it and a thrift store price to match. Then there it was, in the back of the store, an old kitchen display cabinet with all the bells and whistles. Drawers and little shelves everywhere. The only problem was how would I get it home? Usually I can figure something out but this thing was heavy! I almost pushed Mr. Wonderful (not so wonderful at the moment, after all it WAS Friday after a long hard work week..) over the edge when I called and asked him to come pick this thing up. All he's seeing is one more THING into this crazy chaotic house and an hour round trip drive. I however knew this was the piece, the holy grail of organization and was willing to endure a very grumpy Friday night. However Saturday was a new day. The cabinet was installed. I made favorite meals as a big thank you. I am thrilled and Mr. Wonderful is back in residence. Phew!

UPDATE: I wanted to put in my WOYWW photo of my actual desk top too. This is after this evenings bout with Glimmer Mist and glue......I am a happy mess! Go visit Julia's site to see some of the best dressed desk messes..LOL!

What Inspires Me......

Humm...so long since my last post. Even longer since my last project! Just getting my imagination back full swing in the past couple weeks. Someone asked me recently how I get my inspiration and ideas and when I tried to explain this elusive thought process I actually felt a pretty big surge of creativity. I get inspired by words a lot, music in particular. I was also reminded of how much I like Bob Dylan and his lyrics. I think I may have worn out my CD the past few weeks but I now have a notebook full of sketches and thoughts so I just have to go from there to something I can actually show you!

I have also been doing more inchies since playing with the group. I put a few of my older ones up and will put some of the new ones up when I get them downloaded. They are so addictive!

I guess the grumpy fairy inchie is an pretty accurate picture of me this week. :) I have been sidetracked by a sprained knee from hiking about the mountains in November (it was worth it) and other STUFF! I am tired of the "stuff" I've let get in the way of being creativE and I'm tired of resting!!!!!! I can always think of how lucky I am and usually do but today I am being crabby...I'll be over it tomorrow! Anyway I am reading a wonderful book called "Life Is A Verb" and the author suggests, among other things, picking one artform to do in quanity as opposed to quality for 37 days. I think it would be fun to do "4x4" mini mixed media squares. Off to go see what all my creative blog friends have been doing and hope to have something to contribute to the creative flow very soon! Til then.....