Happiness Is....................

• A clean studio
• A day of uninterupted play in a clean studio
• Staying up late with the kids star gazing because it is summer break
• Sleeping in late because we stayed up too late
• Getting up before the kids, watch the sunrise, hear the birds sing, & drink a cup of tea
• Painting your toenails a really weird color
• Talking to a good friend on the phone
• BBQing (food and of course, tins for art projects!)
• Telling your husband I told you so and it did not involve having to call a repair man
• Looking at artful friends blogs and seeing new art work

Mini Journals to fill with Big Thoughts

I am almost done cleaning my studio. I have been sooooo good about cleaning up as I go, and then over the last month I don't know what happened! No excuse, although I could think of a million of them. While cleaning I came across the little mini book kit from the Art4acure in October. I was about to find a place to put it, and reminded myself about one of my New Year's resolutions.........no more unfinished projects! Instead of trying to find a place for it to do it later, I did it right then and there! It probably took 2 minutes longer to put this thing together than it did to find a home for it unfinished. I added eyelets to run the ribbon through and stamped and embossed the front with the words find peace within . The mini journal on the right (Journey of the Soul) is a super scallop tag from Sizzix. It was folded and I added the brads, and there is wonderful, thick handmade papers inside.

Destination.........unknown. Again, I was suppose to be cleaning my studio, and as I was cleaning I caught myself playing. I knew I wanted to fill this journal with stuff, I just did not know what stuff. I love vintage stuff, antiques, things that time has faded and yellowed. Sepia. Hmmmm, was the world back in the 1800's and early 1900's all shades of sepia and yellowed and faded. I would sure hope not! I again grabbed up some materials and began to paint the pages in this journal all sorts of wonderful bright colors! I used some Pearlescent paints and some of my new Twinkling H2O's! How much fun, such exciting color! I can not wait to start filling the pages!  

He's so excited........he just can't hide it! Altered cabinet photo. I knew the theme of the card, and had set it aside trying to think of the perfect background and embellishments. It has sat for about 2 months. Tonight when I was suppose to be cleaning my studio I decided I would wing it. I would pull stuff out of drawers and just do it. No thinking allowed! No worries about what if it doesn't turn out right, what if I think of something better next week, what if, what if, what if! If I do think of something else, then I will just make a new copy of him and start again.  

My twist on the Redlead Make and Take! This is the first Make and Take I have attended, and it was so much fun!  

Its hard habit to break................

A lesson I am finally starting to learn.............

To s t r e t c h and GROW!!!!!!

pink and green.......my two favorite colors! I thought this ATC should be a breeze.....NOT! I intantly had the basic idea I wanted to do for this ATC. It was cute. When it came time to do the background it just did not want to come together. I ended up with 4 different backgrounds, painted, patchworked, you name it, I tried it. At this point I needed to rethink my idea. I realized it was the cute part that I had planned out that was causing the hang ups, because it did not want to fit with the backgrounds that were not cute, or worse yet, because then it was sooooooo cute it was drippy and could have put a diabetic in a coma! The good thing is I played with dyes again! I decided to dye my own papers! Well, not everything turned out the way I wanted, but I knew I was heading in the right direction. I added texture to the paper by throwing salt on it straight out of the dye while the paper was soaking wet. I love what it does to the texture and the color! After I was done dying, I was off to Redlead to buy some really cool paper I had seen on my previous visit. I love the holes in the paper, the overall texture!

My favorite thing about doing the Pink and Green ATC is that I had a hard time with it! Sounds weird, huh? I do these swaps to push myself to stretch and grow. I love the challenge. I could have taken the easy way out and just thrown something together when I got frustrated, but I would not have been proud of it. I love coming up with an idea that excites me! An idea that excites me can make my day. An idea that I am proud of.....and that is what I ended up with. I have signed up for a couple of swaps that are not exactly my thing, but those will be the most exicting to work on!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.........

My first 4x4 and I LOVED IT!!!!! I hope I can do one again soon! As soon as I saw the list of subjects to choose from, this is what popped into my head! I have been wanting to do a piece like this for quite awhile! Something a little different and unexpected. I went to work on the piece so excited to work on something that seemed so me! I love things that are just a little off, things that make you think and maybe you don't always get it all the first time you see it. As time went on a couple people had posted pictures of their 4x4's. I loved them all! Yikes (!) though, would mine fit in with this group? That little voice in my head began to creep in again, the one I thought I had squashed and booted out, the voice that made me doubt myself and feel afraid to let the real me show through. That little voice that had ruled my life for too long! But there it was, that little voice had almost convinced me to trash what I had done and start from scratch. Then while sitting in my studio with this goofey war going on inside my head.....it hit me! I am doing a 4x4 based on the saying BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER!!! And here I am afraid to submit what I hold as beautiful in my eye because I am afraid it will not be seen as beautiful by others! What a dork I am! So with a new passion I forged ahead!
I know some people will look at this piece, but not see it. Some will just see an icky eyeball with wings and think how weird, how gross, or ' do they really let this crazy woman wonder free with the rest of us normal people!' But I hope that this picture will find its way to those who can see that the winged eyeball means something. It means we are all free to choose, free to be, free to do what is beautiful in our own eye. That what a wonderful and interesting world we have because it is filled with millions of unique individuals who all find many different things beautiful!
I was still a little nervous to turn this piece in at Redlead when it was done, but that little voice was just barely a whisper now compared to what it had been. When I asked a person whose opinion means alot to me, a person I feel has become a good friend, she said my piece was maybe a little 'edgy' . I did not know how to feel at first.............being edgy.......but I think I like it!