Chips Antidotal Wanderings

On the Move!

2007-08-01T07:43:00.000-06:00

This is now a non-active/archived blog.
New postings can be found at:

I'm still working on getting the site to look the way I want it. But will hopefully have it done soon. Come on over and check it out. Be sure to update your RSS feeds and/or bookmarks with the new site URLs. Because this one will no longer be updated.

Looking forward to seeing you at the new home of my new “Wanderings” blog.

More Great News!

2007-07-12T14:59:00.000-06:00

I've recently started new website. This one for digital scrapbook professionals and for those hobbyists who are moving toward the business side of the house.

Come check it out and let me know what you think!

http://dsd-professionals.com/

Requesting Your Help with a Study

2007-02-09T02:55:00.000-07:00

I am conducting a study about art in general and the views of today's creative souls. It is for both personal and professional reasons that I'm doing this. To collect the information needed, I'll be asking a series of art-related questions to members across several online communities that I participate in, and folks who read my blogs too.

With this first go around, I'd love to hear your thoughts about:

Defining Art: It seems when developing a definition for the word "art" there are as many diverse opinions and answers as when coming up with a definition for love. I'm curious to see how the talented people of this community define "art." I don't want you to go to the dictionary or any other source to pull up a definition and quote it. What I'm looking for is how you, personally, define art. If it helps you to do so though, feel free to add your comments in "dictionary style." In other words, use syntax similar to how many dictionaries are laid out: Write the word "Art", followed by a definition (in your own words). Then use it in a sentence. This, of course, isn't necessary. Free form thoughts are welcomed!

Please Note: If you choose to add your input to this message string, you are giving me permission to use your comments in my study documentation. For the most part, credits will be given in general terms (i.e. "a member of the So-and-So online community expressed, "this, that, and the other.") Please do not add your comments, if you wish NOT to have your words repeated in the study. In some cases I may be contacting you for permission to use your real name, pen name, or online username. If this should happen, you are welcome to say no and I will totally respect your wishes!

Jump to my New Blog to give your response!

Vintage ArtiStamps

2007-01-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I created new ArtiStamps. So the swap that popped up over at ScrapArtist pushed my muse back into action again. We were only to make one. I got a little carried away and did three. You know how it is when you get started on something and just don't want to put it down.

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Added Notes: I had a couple people mention to me that I didn't follow my usual way of doing things, because I didn't describe my creative process for these stamps (that's what I've done in previous ArtiStamp postings). So here it is inserted for those who are really bored and want more to read:

Design Process:
I picked out an actual vintage stamp for the base of my art piece.
Found pictures I thought would go well with the feeling or theme I was going to create.
Then I cut, and trimmed, and re-colored, and cut some more, added shadows, blended, cut some more, and finally got the elements all collaged together the way I thought would be apealing to the eye.
Then I "mounted" the collaged pieces to the vintage stamp and blended, cut, and re-colored some more.
When everything was placed on my palette how I wanted it, I added some additional distressing.
I cut/pasted a "postage canceled" seal onto a couple of them and called it good.

Stamp Names/Themes:
"Sail Away" - Fly Away with me over the open seas to a place where the sun always shines bright
"Meet Me At the Station" - Oh the places a young soul dreams of going to
"Sit for a Minute and Read" - Let the imagination go to colorful places and experience big adventures through the pages of a book

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I'll have them available for sharing on my "Chips Creative Friendship Circle" that's coming very soon. (wink, wink) Keep your eyes open for more info on the circle.

... Don't you just hate it when they only give you a tiny taste of something and don't give you the entire plate full.

Would You Go Back and Do It Again?

2007-01-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

I fried my computer not too long ago. And the new one still hasn't been delivered. So I've been stealing away time on DH's computer when he's not on it. But that can be slim pickin's. Today however, he had to work and I was lucky enough to have the day off. So I made the best of my time. I got in some chat time with friends and bounced around the web for awhile too. Landed on a new website called Tinkering Ink. A group of scrappers with some new products they will be introducing at the end of this month, I believe. They are catering to both the paper and digital scrapper audience. So that explains what lead me there. Still an unfinished site, but they are making big strides in getting things moving in the right direction. Check them out if you're a scrapper looking for new products and fresh friendships!

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On a different note -- A co-worker asked me not too long ago, "If you had it to do over again, would you?" My answer -- Not in a million years. You couldn't convence me to repeat those teen years... or the earlier 20's either.

Oh don't get me wrong I had a great life. But I like how things have turned out thus far too.

Photo of Boo by Me / Digi paper by Gloria ValVerde - Carmel Mint kit
(I took artistic liberties and scuffed up the paper. You know how I like the distressed look.)
I wouldn't be where I am today had I not gone through all that I did in previous years. I like the way my personal puzzle is put together.

A Day on the Computer

2007-01-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

I'm still plugging away at the heritage album for MIL. Even though I'm printing the digital LO's and assembling everything in an album, I'll be saving photos on a CD too. So I got the CD label accomplished, thanks to a challenge I answered at ScrapArtist. The photo on this label is of MIL as a child and I tinted it degitally. I used elements from Monique VanBekkum aka Jomi Designs to complete the project.

And here's the latest LO I did for the album too:

Used elements that I made, a few goodies pulled out of the SADS Heritage kit from the "Digital Scrapbooking Place" and a thing or two from the "As Time Goes By" kit by Gail (northsky) of ScrappyDooBooking.

Venting a Little and a New LO

2007-01-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

So here's my 1st rant for the day. You know the shots I've been getting for my migraines that cost upwards of $1,300? Well the insurance company has decided they aren't going to cover them anymore. UGH! We finally find something that works pretty good for me (this procedure cut my migraine frequency in half!)... and the insurance company says, "No can do. You're on your own now." I am not a happy camper this day!

My second rant? Well since converting my blogger to the new (and improved???) google blogger - My customized template doesn't work the way I want it to anymore. Poo! I hate when that happens. When I did recent upgrades to my personal website, the blogging component went haywire as well. So now blogs all over the place are just so screwed up! Ugh... change isn't always so fab-dab-u-lous.

But I will survive! The computer WILL NOT win! It will not. It must not. I simply won't let it! After all, it's just a machine.

Stomping feet, rolling eyes, squealing out profanities, punching pillows..... okay, settling down now. Hissy fit over. Back to the drawing board and ready to set my sights on wading through all the paper work that's necessary for yet another insurance appeal, and new blog templates. Not exactly what I had planned for my weekend. But hey - at least it's another 3-dayer. :-)

So --- let's move on to stuff that is much more fun! How about a new digi-LO? This one features the oldest DD with her DH. I've had this song title floating around in my brain all week long. Thought if I did something creative with it, I might be able to move onto other things. LOL.

The steel blue paper in the background is from Traci Murphy's Uptown kit. I grabbed it up from SrapArtist I used a couple of swirly brushes from Obsidiandawn also. Grunged up the paper and swirls just a bit and changed a color photo to black and white.

Captured this little moment of affection when we were in Montana for Kev's graduation a few years back. And now we're preparing for Boo's graduation this year. I can't believe how quickly time flies!

I was Tagged

2007-01-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

Blog Tag

I was recently tagged by Cheryl at ScrappyCat. Thanks alot Cheryl - I will get even! ROFLOL!!

These are the rules to play blogtag:

-- List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.
-- Tag 5 friends and list them.
-- Those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.
-- Don't forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

Here's weird things about me:

1. When I'm trying to stay awake on long car trips, I sing songs to myself that I learned many, many years ago in Sunday school. Songs usually only sung by children.
2. If I could, I would wear only sweat pants and T-shirts all year long. Wonder if I could get this dress code approved at work?
3. I enjoy Letterboxing and wish I had more time to devote to this little hobby.

Weirdness about our dogs:
4. When Topaz farts, she jumps up and looks around startled as if she has no idea where that sound (or smell) could have come from.
5. Even if she's freezing and really wants too, Lacy won't come in the house for anyone except me.

Here's the five fun-loving, easy-going, non-grudge bearing ;) folks I'm going to tag:

1. Amy Knepper - A great digi-scrapper friend who will never talk to me again after getting this tag.
2. CindyJo - A terrific gal with a new blog who does some great digi-designs over at ScrappyDooBooking.
3. Jeanne - A talented friend of mine who dabbles in stamping, scrapbooking and other crafty endeavers and hangs out at CraftHappy.com too.
4. Gloria ValVerde - a digi-scrapping friend who's now designing for MooTwoDesigns!
5. Carolyn - A scrappy friend of mine from Australia who stays busy teaching classes and hanging out with friends at CHW!

Photo Restoration

2006-12-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Taking out this year with cleaning up some old photos. Restoration projects can sometimes be such a challenge. But this one wasn't so bad.

This is a photo of MIL and it was water-stained and sun-bleached. I wasn't sure I'd get that cleaned up so well. But in the end I didn't even have to work that part of the photo at all! I used PSE4 for this particular project. Below is the scrappy LO I created with the finished photo.

Not my favorite LO by far. I'm not even happy with out it turned out. But really I'm tired of working on it. So it stays as is, until I feel like looking at it again. The cluster just doesn't fall right for me.

Credits: Used elements that I made, a few goodies pulled out of the SADS Heritage kit from the "Digital Scrapbooking Place" and a thing or two from the "As Time Goes By" kit by Gail (northsky) of ScrappyDooBooking.

Winter Bliss

2006-12-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

We had a bit of a snow storm come through yesterday and today. Lucky us, we had an "early release" from our jobs and got home without mishap. Which was a white-knuckle driving experience for sure! I hate driving blind in white-out conditions!

Now we're snowed into our cozy little home and enjoying some family time watching movies, playing on computers, video games, and just hangin' out. Since the blizzard is still going on, we have no plans of shoveling out until later this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Waiting for the high winds to quit long enough for our efforts to be worth something. It doesn't make much sense to start the work before the snow is finished blowing.

Not sure how many inches of snow we actually got with this storm yet. Haven't heard any current rulings. But our snow drifts are pretty high. When I took these photos a few hours ago... right in front of the garage door we have a drift that's 6-foot already. And looking in the backyard you can see that the drifts are as high and in some places, even higher than our 6-foot fence. Since taking these clips, the drifts have gotten even higher. Almost the entire fence in the back of the yard is completely covered in snow now.

Boy, is it cold too! Last I heard, they still had the frost bight warnings out. Which is another good reason not to go start the snow removal efforts. We were going to get in the hot tub last night. But when we opened the cabana we found ourselves in a winter wonderland that needed a little scrapping. And the temps were too low to be out there long enough to gett things cleared. So we put that on hold for a while. ROFLOL

Blizzard conditions are predicted to end sometime this afternoon. I think the snowfall is supposed to tapper off before Santa's sleigh is due to fly also. But I'm sure we'll have plenty of the white stuff still on the ground for him to land his team of reindeer. :)

Get Freebies Now!

2006-12-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

Hey folks the Holiday Happiness Gifts are now ready to download! Don't walk. Instead.... RUN to pick them up, because they are only available through the first week of January '07. Then they are taken offline.

We had eleven artists contribute to this project. There are some great digi-kits and printable goodies there too. Invite your friends to take advantage of these gifties too! Have a happy holiday season from the CHW folks!

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Jan 15, 2007 -- UPDATE: Freebies no longer available. Everyone have fun with your goodies!

Decorating the Tree

2006-12-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

We decorated our holiday tree this past weekend. I think this is the first year in many that I got out from behind the camera lens long enough to have someone take a snap shot of me. :-) What did you do this weekend?

Welcome to the Family

2006-12-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

Greyson Michael is the newest member of our family. Here he is with Mom shortly after he made his grand appearance. Greyson is our 8th grandchild. :-)

BTW - all elements for this LO were created by me and I'll have a freebie to share with you before the month is out, that has a similar flavor to it.

It's December!

2006-12-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Jan - 2007 UPDATE: The freebies mentioned in this posting are no longer available.

I can hardly believe that December is already here. I'm just not ready for the year to come to a close yet. Maybe by the end of the month I will be. But for now, I'm still enjoying 2006!

We have a new grandbaby. Greyson finally decided to join us this last week. He's a big 9 pounds and some change. Mom and baby are doing just fine. Mom and Dad even got a new digital camera, so we're hoping to get pictures more often now. :-)

Over at CHW I've been adding freebies here and there. This month we added an Advent Calendar to the site and folks have been sharing little goodies each day. Here's a clip of some of the freebies I'm offering. Jump on over and enjoy the downloads if you are interested.

Tomorrow is the LAST day!

2006-11-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: This collaborative project is closed now. We had 11 great artists participate!
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Hey there you fabulous designers -- We're down to the last few hours to contribute to the Holiday Happiness collaborative digi-project! If anyone is interested, be sure to add your item today.

We've had some fantastic shares! The mega-kit is amazing with over 200 fabulous digi elements in it. Here's my latest share:

REMEMBER - every contributing artist (whether they submitted only one paper or several full kits) will receive EVERYTHING in the mega-kit. And then we're going to mix up a few of the goodies into a smaller kit to gift away to ANYONE who wants it during the last two weeks of December.

So jump in before midnight tomorrow night (mountain time) if you want in on the entire mega-kit! Last-minute contributions are welcome and will be added!

Open Art Call for Digi Scrappers

2006-11-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: This collaborative project is closed now. We had 11 great artists participate!
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We're looking for contributing artists at any experience level.

Be a part of a special Mega-Kit Project this Holiday Season!

The holiday season is just around the corner. This year CHW members are gathering together to celebrate by building a collaborative digi Mega-Kit that will be distributed to everyone who contributes anything to the project. Plus some extra freebies for CHW visitors too!

The theme for our project is Holiday Happiness.
It is specific to the Christmas and Hanukah holidays.

How it works: Through the month of November everyone submits digi-art you've created using a predetermined palette of colors. You can create full digi-kits, a few elements, or just one piece of digi-art that fits our Holiday Happiness theme. How much you contribute is totally up to you. All the submitted digi-art items are compiled into downloadable zip files to make up a Mega-Kit. After the deadline (31 November) the download links are made available to every person who contributed to the project, so you can grab up your Mega-Kit and start having fun.

All pieces in the Mega-Kit go to every contributing artist.
It's like a big digi-swap!

Then we'll select pieces from the Mega-Kit to build a wonderful freebie-kit to gift away to anyone who wants to download it during the last two weeks of December. This gift package will also include a selection of printable items for scrappers who prefer paper arts. The freebie-kit is a gift from CHW and the many talented digi-artisians and hobbiests that play around on the web all year long. Visitors DO NOT have to be a member of the CHW community to download the freebie-kit. This is an honest to goodness gift -- with no strings attached! We don't even collect names, email addys or any other info from visitors. Just give out the link to the download page to all your friends and let them delight in the freebies!

~~ Outdated Film Strip Removed ~~

Halloween Madness from Boo

2006-10-31T21:14:00.000-07:00

A Face that only a mother could love? Oh dear! I'm not sure I could even go there with this one. ROFLOL

The Boo got dressed out for her work day:

Getting Ready for Major Card Creating!

2006-10-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

I know in the last few postings I've made to my blog I've yammered on about some digi this or some digi that. But honestly, I still do so much other paper creations than I do digi-art. And this weekend I picked up some lovely papers and cardstocks for making my holiday greetings. I'd really like to get an early start on things this year! So that's what's on the adgenda for me to do when MIL leaves. I'm so itching to get back into my art studio and play with inks again!

Cutting up the papers and arranging the cards is the perfect thing to do while sharing time with Hubby. He's such a TV nut and I'm not. But I find I can enjoy the time in front of that darned Boob-Tube if I'm keeping myself busy with other activities. So when it's the time of year I make our holiday cards I'm more content in the family room. :-)

Speaking of hubby... his foot is still healing. He didn't have to have surgery (Wahoo)! But he's still gimping around in that boot cast. I'm having to play taxi to get him to and fro everywhere and that can be a hassle sometimes. But nothing too bad. Other than the way I get told how to drive. LOL I told him the other day that I was going to install a steering wheel and an extra brake pedal on the passenger side of the car. Just to keep him feeling like he's in control. LOL I do believe the driving thing is causing him more stress than the foot pain.

Well, I'm out of here for now. Catch you all later!

SADS - Heritage Theme

2006-10-28T22:47:00.000-06:00

SADS = Seriously Addicted Digital Scrappers

I recently finished up making my contributions for the current SADS project. The theme this go around was Heritage. I don't know how many artists contributed. But we have over 600 super terrific goodies in our kit. I was looking through the gallery at what was submitted. And WOWSA! There are sooooo many talented people addicted to it. LOL I can hardly wait to get my package(s) so I can get to scrapping with these new toys.

Here are the contributions I made, a set of striped papers:

And a smaller set of designer papers:

I plan to re-package these paper sets and then offer them as digi-RAKS sometime in the future. Probably after Christmas when I have more time on my hands. But they will be offered for only a limited time and I doubt that I will have time to advertise them out much. So keep your eyes open here in the blog or at CHW if you want to know when I get around to that. :-)

Have a creative day, my friends!

I Won New Digi Kits!

2006-10-23T13:13:00.000-06:00

A little toot for myself here today. I've been doing the "New Kid on The Block" contest over at the DigitalScrapbookPlace.com. This is not an easy contest! I was honored when recently I placed during the 2nd round of the contest, the 3rd round, and then in the overall scoring as well. I won several new scrappy kits. There's a ton of goodies to pick up in their store. So I haven't actually used my coupons yet. But I'm itching to get over there.

This is the first of the three LO's I accomplished for the contest:

I didn't even place in the first round. But I had a ton of fun and created not only a great LO for our memory albums, but also got some wonderful constructive critiques as well!

The second LO was way easy to do. It's one of the photos from Boo's park visits. I posted them in my blog earlier. She was the perfect choice for this round in the contest because we were given patriotic kits to work with. How could I not scrap our Boo when those are the color choices? LOL

I placed 10th place using that LO. I tied with a couple of other scrappers too.

Then for the last round we had to do a heritage LO. My MIL gave me some WONDERFUL photos a couple years back and since she was in town this past week - I decided to use one of her family photos for my entry.

I came in 4th place with this LO. :-) That made my day. When the contest rounds were over they judges added up all the points and then gave the group our overall placements. There were about 57-ish scrappers that stayed in for all three rounds. I came in 7th place overall. Wahoo, for me!

Okay, I'm done bragging now. Thanks for visiting today. Have a good one!

E-Snap Templates - Check them out!

2006-10-19T11:54:00.000-06:00

I recently added a new tutorial over at CHW for folks who are trying to learn the ins and outs of layered templates in the digi-scrapping world. I included a step-by-step instruction packet, and a free template to play with (in several formats to help folks get started).

I also added a free mini digi-kit to practice with too:

If you give it a go, will you please let me know if the instructions are thorough enough and if the free goodies worked out okay for you? I'd appreciate whatever feedback you offer. And I really do like honest constructive critiques. I'm pretty tough skinned and can take it well too.

Follow this the link to the Goods. Enjoy!

The Give and Take Ad Challenge

2006-10-18T05:55:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: Freebie no longer available. Outdated links removed.
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We have a new ad challenge at CHW. We call it the Give and Take Ad Challenge. Basically each time you pick up a challenge from the mix, you give one back so others can play with it. There's always a new advertisement piece to play around with!

I was inspired by the Pears Ad Challenge that Gayle gave recently. There were some pebbles in this ad with words on them. These little tags are similar to what I saw in color, shape, and creative word theme.

I’m offering these tags as a digi RAK for any digi-scrapper who’s interested. Jump to the Download page and have yourself some fun. If you create something with them, I’d love for you to share your creation in our gallery! Thanks for the challenge, Gayle!

Shots Didn't Take

2006-10-16T19:32:00.000-06:00

Here's a little update on my migraine situation. As you already know, the neuroligist that I've had for several years finally convinced me to go with the Botox shots treatment. When I did, I had wonderful, wonderful results. We even accomplished the "less than 10-a-month" goal for the first time in over two and a half years! It's been so fantastic having days and nights, and good health returned to me.

My Dr recently moved out of state and all his patients were transfered to a differnt neuroligist. This new doctor has been in practise many years and comes with a fantastic reputation. Although she has done Botox shot treatments for other ailments within her practise, she's having to learn the injection methods for migraines now. She received her training directly from my usual neuroligist.

I met with the new doctor and developed a good repor immediately. Wahoo! That makes such a difference when it comes to ones healthcare! So she did the procedure this last time. Unfortunately the shots haven't worked at all this go around. I'm assuming it's because her method was slightly different than the neuroligist before her. I've been back to the old routine of more frequent headaches with higher severity and they are more difficult to manage... again.

Ugh! Is my word for the day. I so hate when stuff like this happens! Because I can have the treatments only once every 3 months, I can't go for the next set of shots until late November. I'm not looking forward to the holiday season this go around, because I know the pain free days will be hit-and-miss again this year.

Darn! -- Just when I thought things were great!

Creative Views - Friday Photos

2006-10-10T14:08:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple photos I've submitted for the Friday Photos weekly challenges we are doing at CHW.

Challenge Week One: Expressive Faces

Challenge Week Two: 123 All in a Row

Check out the gallery album to see what everyone else is posting also.

Hubby is picking out 3 or so photos each week as his favorites. Here's a page that shows all the "Pic of the Week" photos for October.

There are some fun photos in there. :) I hope you'll come see them!

Fun Happenings at CHW!

2006-10-01T01:15:00.000-06:00

We've got several new things going at CHW. If you haven't come to visit us there yet, oh please do!

Remember the Alphabet Soup Challenge we started last month? Here's how it works: Each week we offer up a new creative challenge starting with several letters of the alphabet and at the end of the 17-week challenge all the participants will have some great projects to admire or gift away to loved ones! You can jump into the challenge at anytime. There are little gift goodies along the way too for our participating artists. Freebies for paper artists and digi artists alike! We've got really great challenge projects in the gallery. Come check them out. I think you'll enjoy seeing what folks are doing with this Alpha Challenge.

Here are examples of the Altered Journaling Cards I'm making:

Click to see the cards I have finished so far.

Grandma's Stitches

2006-09-26T13:13:00.000-06:00

So here my husband is, stuck in this silly boot cast everyday and through the evenings too. Having to put that thing in the bed with us each night after dragging it around everywhere, just seemed so... well yucky. To keep the yuck off our sheets, he's been putting it inside a pillowcase at night. This past week I grabbed up an old pillowcase from the drawer that I haven't seen in ages. It was ratty and torn and just the right thing to use for his bootcast covering.

However, it had some rather interesting stitches on it. Embroidered by my grandmother many moons ago and it was almost completely ruined from years of washing and use. But I decided I wanted to preserve this little bit of family history. So I removed that part of the pillow case and ironed the piece. As I ironed it to prepare it for proper storage (until I can make something wonderful of it), I fell in love with the design. So what did I do with it? Well, I used this piece of grandma's heart, as inspiration to craft up a new digi kit. Okay, actually it turned out to be a mini-kit at this point. But it will eventually be a full size kit. I'm just still playing around with ideas.

Since I have so many paper scrapping friends too. I went ahead and put together a new "Paints Printz" kit for them to download and print for their paper albums.

Then I gave these kits out as freebies for CHW members who joined me in a couple of chats this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing what they make with them.

Here's a few little goodies I created using the digi mini-kit:

Our grandaughter in her Trick-or-Treat outfit.
Font used: Pristina

A greeting card design that's now ready to print and send out
Font used: Palace Script

Vintage ATC - a Learning Experience!
Font used: Bradley Hand

Since I'm still new to the digi-art world, I'm always experimenting with my toys to see what I can do. When creating this last piece I was trying to teach myself how to distress and warp a photograph. I think the experiment went well. Even though it's different from what I intended, I still like the outcome.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

P.S. In case anyone is wondering -- NO! I did not trample on any copyright laws in designing these kits!

Out of a Rut... Maybe

2006-09-19T04:33:00.000-06:00

On my diet, I was stuck at 11 pounds down for almost 3 weeks. But I finally hit the 12 pound mark. Wahoo! Doing the happy dance and celebrating that I'm finally out of that rut. Now to keep those pounds moving downward. It hasn't been very easy. I sure do like my food and changing habits is not a strong suite for me, that's for sure. But every little bit helps and I'm feeling better about me. Especially that extra notch on the belt I was able to use this past week!

Hubby's foot is healing up okay, we think. At least he's not in as much pain any more. It's another two weeks before we go back for the next set of x-rays though. And that's what will really show us if things are webbing back together or not. The hot tub seems a bit lonely without his company. I sure enjoyed our quiet momemtns and easy conversations we share there. Seems when we are elsewhere in the house, there's always some other noise or activity that intrudes.

On the artful side of things, my freebies are just about ready and I hope to get them loaded this weekend. Actually I had hoped to get that accomplished before now. But as is usually the case, life seemed to get in the way. At CHW we have some new challenges going on. Creative Views, an ongoing photography challenge starts this Friday. If you like to see the world through the camera lense, come on over and join us. Tomorrow we are starting our Alphabet Soup challenge. This is one that flexes our muse no matter what medium one likes to play with. I'll be launching a new blog this month themed toward the artful journal artist. My target date is 30 Sept. So if your interests include creative journaling, be sure to check back in a couple of weeks to see what all the hubbub is about.

I best get myself off this computer and into the shower if I hope to get to work on time today. I'll catch you all later!

I'm Busy, Busy, Busy these Days!

2006-09-11T12:47:00.000-06:00

The weekend was far too short. I really think we should petition to have longer weekends and much shorter work weeks. I just need more time to play!

It's been so many years since I've had to plan and prepare meals on any sort of regular basis, that I had completely forgotten how time consuming that little chore can be. And taking hubby back and forth to work daily cuts out another hour of my time daily. During the week I do the taxi thing with the Boo. But now I have to do this over the weekends for a while too. Then there's the whole sleep thing. Gotta get myself the proper amount of sleep or we'll have headache issues. Laundry has to be done too. So you see, there are just too many little details that get in the way of my weekend time when I'd rather be doing my artsy stuff!

But I did manage to play a little. I'm getting ready to launch a new website (a blog really) to host some journaling retreats. If you like creative art journals or you've been interested in what the fuss is all about - be sure to check back here in a week or two and see what's cooking with that new blog.

I love art swaps and I've hosted my fair share of them. I participate in all sorts of creative swaps (ATCs, journals, cards, etc.) For the last couple of years I've limited my hosting to mostly my CHW website activities. However, I'm now considering hosting a few artful swaps that are not limited to CHW members only. But I just haven't had enough time open up to do so. Maybe this winter I'll have more opportunity for such things.

I'm also busy building a couple of digi-kits and printables to share. When I get these FREEBIES ready to go, I will be delivering them via my Craft Happy Website. Some products will be available to guests who visit our site. However, most will be for folks who are actively involved with CHW. At this time I don't sell any of my products online.

In addition to other goodies, I'll be sharing a paper pack I made to create this digi-LO:

All digi items by me except the fiber. That's from Amy Kneppers Diver Down kit.

But tonight my friends I'm taking time off from cooking, cleaning, and personal creations. Instead I'm going to the Civic Center to catch the musical "CATS". I'm sure looking forward to this evening out on the town with hubby. We will be sharing our monthly anniversary evening together - with Boo in tow this time. I suppose we still need a chaperone?! LOL

Ouch!

2006-09-08T09:37:00.000-06:00

Mr Greg fell and broke his foot this past week. Happened on Monday night. They put it in a boot cast on Tuesday. Poor fella. He was exhausted after work yesterday. His arm pits are sore from the crutches. Just layed around and watched TV last night. Not in much of a mood for anything else. But he caught a little football. So I suppose the day wasn't all bad.

I think I'll be pushing his buttons and patience limit much more than he will be mine. Because he doesn't like to be waited on nor can he stand being dependent on others to get things done. Plus he hates my driving. So he's really having to stretch emotionally as much as physically to get through this thing. He'll be in the boot for at least 6 weeks. Maybe longer. And as long as he doesn't put any weight on the foot and it doesn't slip out of place, surgery won't be necessary.

I think it's great that they did the boot. This way he can take it off for showering and just relaxing too. Makes it so much better than the days of those scratchy sweaty plaster casts!

Although he can be a bear of a patient, my sweety sent me roses at work this week. To say thanks for playing nurse and taxi driver while he's down and out.

The petals on these flowers are variegated in a way that I've not seen before. They are really very pretty. And boy are they potent. The smell was so strong that people in the hallway at work could smell them long before they even reached my office.

Boo's Photo Shoot

2006-09-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

We went to the botanical gardens at the park this week. Took a few pictures of the Boo before her photographer showed up for the actual photo shoot. I can hardly believe she's a Senior this year. The last little bird in the nest is about to fly. It seems like just a short while ago that she was in diapers and arguing about having to go down for a nap.

She's taking a much lighter class load this year. Only 5 classes and getting out arund noonish these days. So she's still able to get in a few hours at work (Subway Sandwich Shop) before going home to finish homework and get to bed at a decent hour. It's actually a much better schedule than in the past. She's really enjoying her job too. Especially the mad money she has in her pocket now.

So her proofs from the studio should be in next week for us to review. With over 70 poses and several outfits... I'm sure we'll have a heck of a difficult time choosing those ever-important senior photos.

Family and friends - you'll of course get your copy of them too. :-)

A small "Toot - Toot" for me

2006-08-28T13:16:00.000-06:00

I found out recently that I came in 3rd place with a paper scrapped LO I did for a local scrapbooking store contest. There were several entries that I thought were waaaay better than mine. So I was honored to be considered in the top three.

The store will display my LO for a few weeks, and I get a few store goodies and coupon too. Wahoo!

Sorry for the small photo. When I get the original back from the store I'll try to remember to re-scan for posting. The LO features our daughter, Chris when she was just a tiny tot. The theme for the contest was anything patriotic or red, white, and blue. I encorporated, inking, rubber stamping, paper punches, mini-brads, decorative staple, handmade paper ribbons, and fabric ribbon too, hand doodles and personally made rub-ons for the title and journaling.

Poundage Going D-o-w-n!

2006-08-11T07:31:00.000-06:00

Well I'm moving along with my diet. Faster than a speeding snail I've lost 9 pounds thus far. The first week was actually my best. I'm finding it hard to stick to the eating "rules." However, I'm still hanging in there on most days.

With the household cook (Dearest Hubby) not on the diet at the same time, it's really tough. For the most part he still prepares our meals pretty much the same. And I have limited willpower at saying no when that food is sitting right in front of me and smelling so delicious! It's easiest for me while I'm at work and away from the temptations.

I'm celebrating my 9 little pounds off though and continuing to work towards the rest.

Categories in the Works

2006-08-04T07:39:00.000-06:00

Well last night I managed to get the categories listing into my blog. It's been one of those many projects that I started ions ago and then set aside. I finally got back to it and added the listing to the right column (sorted alphabetically) and the cloud just under it (sorted by frequency). Now I'm in the process of linking all my posts to the list.

You can access everything I have listed under these various categories simply by clicking on the word link that you are interested in. This listing will include web pages on that subject that caught my eye - many of which are not ever mentioned on my blog.

As you can see I also updated the look of my blog. Not so sure I like it completely yet. I'm thinking it will grow on me though. The colors are pleasantly soft. But that may change again soon. Somehow I managed to lose the top blogger bar. The one that offers the search features and a quicklink to other blogs??? Anyone out there who can help me return this to my blog... I'd much appreciate it!

Thanks for hanging in there with me folks as I continue to learn how to work with blogger and the whole blogging concept. Eventually I'll figure this out. Maybe even write more often.... or maybe not.

A New Friend

2006-07-30T19:00:00.000-06:00

We've had this prong-horn antelope hanging out in the front yard for about a week now. He seems to think the bird bath is his personal watering hole. He's not as tame as the ones on base. This buck isn't used to having people too close. But he did let DH snap a couple of photos of him this morning. So I thought I'd share them with you.

Any new critters hanging out in your yard lately? I'd love to hear about the wildlife where you live!

CFD - Happenings

2006-07-24T10:14:00.000-06:00

Mom, Benny, and Chris came to town this past weekend and spent a few days enjoying the Cheyenne Frontier Days, Daddy of them All Rodeo.

While they were here we also stopped in the Indian Village to check out the trading booths and enjoy some excellent flute playing. I even bought me a new Lakota Love flute to play around with. The parade was a big hit with Mom and Benny and I added a few video clips to our ongoing CFD movies. Chris opted to sleep in that morning. Which is a popular choice after staying out late having a great time with friends she hadn't seen in a long while. Delayed wake-up calls are always welcomed while vacationing!

The Melodrama was a disappointment this year to say the least. Our local talent is usually better than what was on stage the night we attended. However, a couple of the charactors were really cute and the shared time with our company was fun just the same! A quick stop at the local ice cream shop on the corner helped to make the evening even more delicious.

We learned a new game called Hillbilly Golf -- A gift from Benny and Mom! :) There were good chats amongst loved ones and plenty of yummy fixins from the kitchen cooked up by Mr Greg. Boo spent most of the time at her new job (Subway Sandwich Shop), but she still joined us for the Martina McBride concert. She even stopped to pick up a new cowgirl hat that night. There was some sky viewing too. We had several clear nights when we could spot satilites and the beautiful stars that make up the milkyway too.

This visit from our Missouri family was too short as always. But we managed to squeeze in alot of fun while they were here. I miss them again already!

Dieting

2006-07-17T07:10:00.000-06:00

Well folks, I'm going on a diet. This is the first time in my life I've done this. I've seen/heard so many people yo-yo through diets and weight struggles but could never really relate. However, now I'm about 40 pounds over my personal comfort zone, so I thought I'd give it a whurl. I'm going with an all natural type eating plan discussed in the book Fit for Life.

On this my first day, I'm starting off at 157 lbs. I'd like to get down to the 110-120 lb area. If I lost anything more than that I think I'd be too skinny. Which is how I grew up and I don't care to go back to that again! I'd mostly just like to have more energy and fit into my cloths more comfortably again. I'm in no great hurry. But it would be nice if I could drop off those extra pounds before the end of the year and really feel like I was maintaining better eating habits and a more healthful routine in my life.

So that's the goal. Wish me luck. I may need it! LOL

Face Painting / Stamping Weekend

2006-07-10T10:44:00.000-06:00

I had a face painting gig this weekend at a company picnic. These are some pics of a few of the adorable children who visited my table. Boo helped me with some of the painting too. She was in high demand for flames. I was in high demand for butterflies and kamona dragons. You just never know what the kids are going to be asking for. The last gig I did, frogs were the big thing.

Estes Park Colorado

2006-06-14T18:53:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our anniversary this year up in the Rocky Mountains again. Here is a slide show with a few pics we thought you might enjoy seeing.

This was a quick weekend getaway trip. The mountain views were wonderful as usual and we sure had a great time in the fresh air and change of scenery. We enjoyed the wildlife and the cool rushing water of the stream. A nice hike left us feeling better than ever.

After Boo finally crawled out of bed, she and I ran up to the art center and shared a little creative time building mosaic projects. Dad and the fur babies stayed back at the cabin and enjoyed some reading and napping.

Then we headed over to the miniture-golf area and had a bit of fun critiqueing each others swings. Since none of us are golfers it was quit hallarious. But we had fun and in the end I had the best score. Yeah me! We played board games in the cabin, enjoying each others company and giggles. Boo showed us all up with her RACK-O rounds and Dad did some serious damage to me with Tri-ominoes. So we each had a go at winners bragging rights.

We drove down to the town and then into the forest to see if we could catch a glimpse of the big horn sheep. Everytime we are at Estes we miss this event. But not this year! We got to ooohhh and aaahhh while watching a small group of about 5 or 6 grazing and having a good time in the thick mud. My snapshots came out terrible as I couldn't seem to stand still long enough to capture a clear picture. But we got some awesome video clips! If you want to see it, you'll just have to make a trip to our house. :-)

We exchanged anniversary gifts before heading home and returning to work. This was a great weekend of fun and laughter!

Chronic Pain Update

2006-06-06T03:05:00.000-06:00

I feel tons better these days than in the past year. The BOTOX shots for my migraines have made a world of difference. I have so much excitement and hope for each new day now. The daily headaches have been not so daily anymore. Hip, hip, horray!

As some readers know, I track my headaches, triggers, and the variety of treatments they try on this little ginny pig very closely. I'm so happy to report -- my current charts indicate that over the course of the past 3 months I've had a 69% decrease in headaches! That's amazing. The best improvements I've had in chronic pain relief in years! I'm not niave enough to think that this will last forever. But I sure am going to take advantage of it for as long as the treatment is available to me and it works!

In March I had 11 pain-free days. In April it was 16 and in May I had 17 :) Wahoo! That was the results of my first round of injections and the studies show that many times additional treaments result in higher improvement rates. I had my second round done at the beginning of June and I'm looking forward to experiencing even more pain-free days! The goal remains at 10 or fewer headaches in a month and I'm so close to meeting the goal that I'm getting my hopes up and really starting to believe the goal, that used to seem so far away, now might honestly be achievable! You just wait and see... one of these days I'm going to have 4 days in a row without a headache and when I do, you'll be able to hear me shouting from the mountain tops... no matter where you live! :D

So what am I doing with all my wonderful time now? Well, I'm filling my days with actual productivity when I'm at work. (What a unique idea!) And I'm playing hard on my weekends and in the evenings, usually outside in my garden. I'm also enjoying the company of my family with going out to eat, having family outings, and talking IN THE LIGHT! Do you believe that? I'm not sleeping, puking, or crying in the dark near as many days now. Not being doped up on pain-killers and other drugs sure does a world of good for the emotions. My quality of life is so much better when I'm clear-headed, and able to think straight!

Even though it doesn't hurt to look at the computer screen quit as often -- I'm still not spending too much time around here. This time, because I'd rather be out and about, moving along, and really engaging in life!

Changes on the Horizon

2006-06-01T15:03:00.000-06:00

Just wandering in to tell you that I'm trying to set up some categories for my blog and a new template soon too.

Thinning out the Strawberry Patch

2006-05-25T09:01:00.000-06:00

I've been thinning out my strawberry patch. I cleaned out a ton of them over the weekend and some again this morning. Frankly I'm tired of playing in that particular plot of dirt. But all my neighbors and several co-workers are strawberry plant rich now too. I've given away 20+ plants to 10 people already. I have enough left for two or three more strawberry lovers.

I'm hoping folks will grab them up tomorrow. Because after this weekend, I'm finished messing around with these things! I hate to send the leftovers to the trash. But I've already started two new strawberry beds at my house and I simply don't want anymore. I think I'm starting to see strawberries in my sleep now.

Last year I purchased this little mouse stamp and made several cards from it. The photos here are examples of three of them. I think this little fella might just be berried out for a while too. Isn't he just the cutest?! If you click on the photo you can read about the methods used to create the cards.

Serendipity

2006-05-20T15:00:00.000-06:00

Last week I was at the Highschool giving a presentation in Boo's art class on ATC's. I made up a set of 35 to hand out and had a few left over. If you are interested in a trade, please PM me at Flickr or at CHW, or drop me an email (cindy at crafthappy dot com).

Some of these are set in landscape while others are in portrait direction and I have them in all different colors. I posted info about the techniques I used in the CHW gallery.

G Luv C

2006-05-18T14:16:00.000-06:00

Hey there Family and Friends,

I've been busy, busy, busy both at work and at home. So I haven't spent much time at the computer lately. Here's a little update from our corner of the world.

DH and I spent yesterday at home.
We got the cement poured for the hot tub pad. To the right of DH is the location of our deck. Just behind him, where the buckets are, is where we'll be adding a pavers-stone patio. We're planning on building a wall of lattice to help block the winds and add some climging flowers for color.

Hubby did not wear a hat and so his noggin got a tad bit red. After he spent all that time making sure the area where the gazebo door is going to be was nice and smooth, I just had to go and mess it up by writing in the cement with a nail.

Before I left the house this morning I made a crayon rub of the "G Luv C" that I carved into the concrete. I'm sure this little thing will go into a scrapbook or on a journal page someday.

So what have you been up to?
Hugs to you all from,
Paint Chip

Yoga Moment -Artistamp

2006-05-08T17:48:00.000-06:00

Well I'm at it again. Designing my first Artistamp in May. Did two last month. Not sure how many I'll get to this month. This one will be published with the last two (sometime in 2007). Here's the creative process I used for my "Yoga Moment" artistamp.

This one came about as a result of some synergy that was going on in my life during the last two weeks. I picked up a new yoga book a while back because it had a couple of poses in it I was interested in. It sat on my table for several days before I finally picked it up. One of the poses (not the one I used for this artistamp) looked extremely creative to me and I had a weird dream about using a similar clip in a collage project. Last week I thought again about using a yoga pose on an artistamp design sometime in the future and told myself to start looking for one that would be fun. Then I came across this advertisement that had a yoga pose on it that I liked. Then Carolyn? mentioned her new exercise goals in her blog and I mentioning yoga in my response. Finally I paid attention to the synergy that was flowing through the air, and my creative muse that had been smacking me up side the head saying, "Hey you... listen up!." I decided that I better make my self sit down and create before the ideas slipped from my mind, like so many others have in the past.

First I used the advertisement (that was crumpled up in the bottom of my purse) as my guide to draw the rough outline of this pose. The advertisement featured a male figure with a loose fitting shirt and pants on. I wanted a thinner figure of no particular gender, and unclothed. After scanning my sketch into the computer, I tweeked it a bit more, making the lines smoother and finalizing my shape.

Then I added splashes of colors to the inside of my line drawing, using one of the default paint brushes in a graphics program. I played around with the direction and size of the figure until I came up with what is pictured in the purple stamp frame below. See how easy it is to come up with fun art?!

Here's an ATC I made using my new design. It's one in a set of 10 I did for the monthly artistamp swap I participate in. I also made a couple of cards using my artistamps.

I have several left from the first print. Give me a shout if you'd like to have one of these extras. I'll offer them as freebies to the first 3 people who mention to me that they read this blog entry. Leave a message here or email me (cindy at crafthappy dot com) if you are interested in the freebie artistamps.

Recent Art Journal Pages

2006-04-29T14:48:00.000-06:00

If you've been around me for very long, you know that I create in an several different, on-going art journals. Usually accomplishing a new page spread once or twice a week. I don't share many of my pages online as much of my work (really it's more like play) is done on a personal note. But here's a couple of the creations I've done recently that I'm willing to throw out there for ya:

Chameleon Self: A dipiction of the many changes I make in my art... and in myself.
Techniques/Supplies Include: Rubber stamping, font and shape doodles, colored pencil layering

Spring is in the Air: An entry celebrating Spring
Techniques/Supplies Used: tissue papers, collaging, rubber stamping, acrylic paint washes, crinkle and layer technique, pen doodles

Tears of the Nation

2006-04-27T12:01:00.000-06:00

Piece Title: Tears of the Nation
Technique/Medium: Wood burning, watercolor, and color pencil

Mom: Can you tell me what this piece means to you?

Boo: Well, this piece was inspired by the tragic events that occurred on 9/11 and our nation dealing with the fear of threats from terrorists.

The bald eagle and the flag are both symbols of America. I added torn holes to the flag to represent the lives lost and the attacks that hit our Nation on that day. The eagle is crying because of the sadness our country has over the many deaths.

The words “Tears of the Nation” set behind the main images and have tear drops falling from the edges also to show the sadness I wanted to portray in this piece. But sadness and defeat isn’t all that I wanted to show here.

Although it’s hard to see, I added yellow and shapes of sparks inside the lettering to represent fireworks. Because as our nation is morning the deaths of many people, we are also finding ways to celebrate the lives that these people lived.

What up?

2006-04-26T13:20:00.000-06:00

Thought I'd pop in here with a quick update for family and friends.

I spent the last couple of days at home nursing a Flu Bug. Low energy, achy muscles, fever, and a horrible headache. When I got back to work today I was told that several others had the same thing. Hubby pulled away from the work horse, and went home early today feeling very much the same. So I guess this little bugger just gets around pretty good.

We recently found out we are going to be grandparents again. For the 8th time my friends! :) We are excited about another little one joining the family sometime in Novemeber. Baby number 3 for our youngest Montana daughter.

Our Missouri daughter has taken up belly dancing. I hear this is really great exercise! She hasn't the nerve to go public with her new artform. But she's working at it a little more each day. She's heavily involved with the AmtGard group "Shire of Cordis Medagar." She's the Prime Minister for the group and is having a blast with all her duties.

Husband bought a new table for our entry way yesterday. Anyone who's been to our house knows it's filled with light-stained oak. This piece is dark-stained. That was a surprise because he usually makes our tables. He said he just happened to see this one, liked it, and decided to purchase it rather than make it. It's in a shaker style.

I am now featuring our Wyoming daughter's artwork on the Prairie Art blog. Started her off with a short introduction and a couple of recent pieces she's accomplished. Boo has agreed to let me "interview" her about each item and then post her thoughts on the site. So if you'd like to see what this young artist is into these days, just jump on over the Prairie Art, and see what she's been up too.

I've got a couple new collaged pieces that I hope to get posted online soon too. But you know how slow I can be about getting my own things showing. So nag me a little if I haven't gotten to it in a month or so. LOL

"The Key" by Our Boo

2006-04-25T16:32:00.000-06:00

You've probably heard me refer to our youngest as "Boo" before. Boo is the nickname we attached to her at a very early age. My mom had the same nickname when she was young. She hated it. Thankfully, our Boo feels comfortable with it... for the most part that is. She really would prefer I not call her that in front of her friends. But sometimes I forget. She always forgives me later.

I tell you this weird factoid because as I display her art in my blog it will be linked to the "BooCreation" category. And if you were wondering what's a BooCreation, well now you'll know. It's art that our Boo has allowed me to show off on her behalf. :-)

Boo has asperations of using her art in a career at some point in her life. She has mentioned a couple of art colleges she's interested in. She's also dreamed out loud with me about several possible avenues to journey through with her creative self.

Currently her art interests lean toward pencil sketches. As has been the case for many years, she tends to create fantasy characters in most of her art pieces. They usually include dragons and people in suited armor, questionable creatures, or fairies. Winged beings sometimes show up in her art as well. The concept of or representations about life & death can be found in many of her creations also.

It seems that with every art piece she creates, Boo has a story to tell and a great deal of thought goes into this story of hers as she builds upon her art piece. Here's a piece of her art and a few insights into the heart and thoughts of this young creative soul.

Piece Title: The Key
Technique/Medium: Watercolor pencils and color pencils

Mom: Tell me about your thoughts when working on this piece?
Boo: The dragon I've drawn here is a protector of the keyhole – the one that leads to other lands. On the left I used watercolors, on the right I used colored pencils. These two sides are mirror images of the same world. The dragon protects the boundary between the two.

I apologize for the blurry and glared photos. Poor photography on my part.

Vintage Images for Your Artistic Endeavors

2006-04-23T01:57:00.000-06:00

Do you like the vintage look in your artwork? Always searching for new graphic sources to help fit your creative needs and that latest project you are working on?

Well then you may be interested in the Collage Images group over at Flick'r started by Chrysti where artists can share vintage, and copyright free photos, ephemera and more.. for use in our mixed media & collage artwork. For me, this is a fabulous resource, with many generous participants who are always willing to share their latest vintage find. I'd love to see some fellow art friends bonce over there and see what wonderful offerings there are in the photo pool.

Chrysti will eventually be making the group private, so be sure to actually join the group... or you may lose access.

There's over 1,000 copyright free graphics available for download! You just can't beat that kind of deal!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

2006-04-20T12:51:00.000-06:00

I'm taking a minute here today to wish my special nephew a very Happy Birthday wish this week. Wahoo!!! You are gettng to be such a big boy. I can hardly wait to see you again to compare our height. I'll bet you are almost up to my shoulders by now.

Are you enjoying your karate classes? Do you like your teacher at school this year? Are you doing anything special on your birthday to help celebrate the occassion?

We are all wishing you the best and hoping you have tons of giggles and smiles today, and on your birthday, and forever.

Kisses, Hugs, and Thoughts of Happiness headed your way,

... From your Wyoming Family!

My Altered Jump Drive

2006-04-20T01:16:00.000-06:00

Okay -- Don't laugh too loud! Yes I altered my jump drive. The idea struck me when I accidently busted off the ring that holds it on my ID clip. Since I tend to keep it in my purse or briefcase anyhow, I decided I didn't need a ring on it. So why not just add some pretty little fibers, beads, and ribbons?

After doing that I decided I might as well pretty up the boring outer cover. So I made a little template and cut out some pretty printed paper. After running it through my Zyron machine (using the super permanent sticky backing) - I put it on the cover and walah!

The altered jump drive was born. After seeing it, my co worker said "I'll be careful not to fall asleep at my desk. Seems you alter anything that sits still for too long."

Call me crazy if you want. But I am rather proud of my little alteration... even if it is silly. Because mine now looks completely different from anyone elses. And I'm sure no one will pick up mine by mistake now. It's obvious who this one belongs to. LOL

There's a photo of the flip side of it and a dipiction of the creative process in the CHW gallery if you are interested.

Safari - Artistamp

2006-04-14T12:46:00.000-06:00

Here's the creative process I went through for this stamp. It's very similar to the process I use for most of the artistamps I make. Basically I made the pencil sketch first.

Then I scanned the sketch. Did my digital thing of adding colors and textures. And came up with this final project:

Here's a sample of one of the ATC's I made using this stamp as the focus point:

This ATC will be included in a book with other talented Artistamp and ATC artists. I'll share with you the specifics when the book is published in 2007.

Thanks for looking. I welcome any comments or suggestions.

Boo's New Glasses

2006-04-14T12:41:00.000-06:00

What is it about a new shirt or a certain pair of jeans or that favorite shade of eye shadow, that makes a person feel just a little more special? More comfortable with themselves? Prettier? More confident maybe? I'm not sure what it is. But I can vouch for having those feelings myself sometimes. I have a navy blue dress jacket that I feel particularly smart in.

Our youngest daughter is sporting a new pair of glasses this week and you know what? I think she has a fresh new air of confidence about her when she's wearing them.

I decided to feature her in this little Triptych. FYI - a photo triptych is an artistic way of showing three photos together that tell a story or allow the viewer to make up a story of their own about the art piece.

This triptych shows a view of the photo slightly blurry, then one that's focused, followed by an over exposed one. Think about when the optomistrist says, "Is is clearer with A or B, 1 or 2?" while he's flipping through the lenses on his gizmo, trying to set the right prescription for you. Does the triptych open up a story for you now?

This is a fun photography art form that I enjoy every once in a great while. You can see more Triptychs at Flickr.

Headache Update

2006-04-10T08:34:00.000-06:00

Since I had my shots my headaches have been less chronic and less painful! They are much more managable. So far this month the number of pain-filled days have been cut by almost 50%. I've had none that spun out of control, and the others that I've had went away quicker after taking my triptans.

It's been super great. I'm so thrilled that we have found something that offers this much relief for me!

Cup-O-Luv Artistamp

2006-04-07T18:30:00.000-06:00

I've been working on a project that will end up with several of my artistamps being published later in the year. This is a short account of my creative proccess for the Artistamp that I finished today. I had the idea of a coffee or hot tea cup with a heart on it. First a few sketches to put my ideas on paper:

It took me a while practising my swirlies before I came up with a heart shape puff of steam. And getting the cup the right height was a challenge for me too. But I knew I wanted the final project to be very Hand-Sketched like so I just kept working on it.

After I came up with the ones I liked best, I scanned them into the computer and added the heart... texturing it with some options I have in my graphics program. DH decided on the stamp worth (3-cents). Here's the final design.

Here it is cut out:

I really like the way it came out. What do you think? I also made up a few ATC's I created using this same Artistamp design. These are for the monthly Artistamp swap hosted by Ria at the Renaissance Chameleon. Check out some of my other Artistamp creations in my Artistamp Set at Flickr.

Thanks for looking. I always welcome comments and creative advice!

Circle Journals

2006-03-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

A Circle Journal (CJ) is a long-term swap. It's a book that will circle between two or three people for a long time. Sometimes for years. Generally speaking when the last page is written in and signed – whoever the book is delivered to is then the owner of the precious gift shared between the friends. The journal may just contain letters between themselves or doodles and photos. It may contain stamped and sketched images or momentos from trips and special occasions too.

In this blog entry I feature some of the pages from a CJ I share with my friend Liz. I've blurred out the journaling part on purpose as these are sometimes rather private thoughts between us. But these examples show you what our doodles, stamping, scrapping, and scripples look like. By clicking on any of the pictures in this set, you can view a larger picture of the pages and get some tips on how to do a CJ for yourself.

I share such circle journals with several friends and one between my mom and myself, one with my sister, and one with several of my daughters too. They are precious journals that I hold close to my heart and they represent personal “diaries” to us.

Journals can be accomplished with rules or without. In the case of my journals, I share only one rule between me and any of my book partners. That is that at least some of the entries must be handwritten. I happen to be the worlds sloppiest writer. I also have extremely pour spelling and sentence structure skills. Nevertheless, the rule remains for the journals I share with others.

The books may stay with one party for several weeks or months even. They may have multiple entries in them by one person before they ever get passed to the other. The pages sometimes include creative artistry and other times it's just journaling. Sometimes poems, quotes, or just random thoughts about whatever happens to be on our mind when writing in them.

At times it's a chore to make myself work in a book. Other times it's easy. There have been occassions when either I or my circle friend won't get back to the post office with the book and forward it on until long after we recieved it. And that's okay with our books because we don't have any any pre-set rules about when they will exchange hands. You may prefer to designate a monthly exchange schedule with a book partner. Personally, I just like them to be an ongoing form of communication between each other.

I can guarantee you one thing though... no matter what pre-determined rules you come up with and share - The CJs are always fun to receive and usually full of surprises. Each time you get one back you'll re-visit previous entries again and again. Those that you've included as well as those your partner did. Soon you'll see yourself walking down memory lane and developing an even closer bond with the one you share this experience with!

BTW - this same guarantee holds true for any CJ you may share with someone living in the same household as you! Yes, I share one with my DD that still lives at home. It's actually a family CJ. Hubby includes entries from time to time as well. So we all get to see and experience the surprises in it each time we stop and open the CJ that sits in a special location on the kitchen shelf. There are so many "Hey you did a good job," and "I had fun doing that with you," type entries! Just think of the handwritten memories we'll be passing to our DD to keep when she flies from the nest.

I challenge you to start a circle journal with at least one member of your family or a friend sometime in 2006. These journals can reveal so much between family members. They can become pieces of history to be treasured between friends. A Circle Journal is such a fun and enduring way to share in the life of another person.

If you can't think of anyone to start a journal with - well just holler at me then. I'm open to sharing in another journaling experience. I encourage everyone to create and share in a CJ at least once in their lifetime!

Our Little House on the Prairie

2006-03-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

We live out on a prairie and get the thrill of seeing so many beautiful sights from our own yard. Here's just a few from last week. This quiet little corner of our backyard is where we sometimes build a bon fire and chat away the time during the non-snowy months. Many times we play fetch with the pups who really own this backyard. They are kind enough to let us share their space if we promise to throw something... anything to play with!

From our deck in the backyard we get some really terrific sky scenes. Several nights last week we had a wonderfully full moon to light up the night sky. On nights when the moon isn't so bright and the sky is pitch black, we see stars go on forever. Living out where there are no lights from the city affords us these twinkling little beauties almost everynight. I sure love it when we get to share the milkyway too.

There have been more than one evening of star viewing when we've layed out on the deck and counted the falling stars. Although I don't know much about the galaxies, I'm a real fan of sky viewing. I don't think I could ever happily live under city lights again, now that I've had the previlage of seeing what artful masterpieces our skies have to offer when we let it shine without human interuption.

Look out your windows or take an evening stroll and see what's available in your sky gallery tonight!

Sigh.... It's been such a long week!

2006-03-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

I know, I know! I haven’t been around to update my blog in a while. Life has been extremely busy. This past week we had to put our DD back in the hospital again and that threw our schedules off even further. Thankfully, she’s back home with us again and hopefully that will help us get back into the swing of things.

My thoughts today are: I hate clinical depression. I hate bi-polar disorder. I hate working away from home. I hate migraines. I love my best friend/husband. I love my children. I like the artistic creativity I’ve been experiencing during the last few months. I like me. I wish I felt the freedom to do more things for myself without the leftover guilt feelings. I wish I could spend more time on my arts. I wish I had a higher level of energy these days.

Now I put on my "Taxi-Mom" hat and off I go again. Maybe I'll have time for more frequent updates soon.

My Art Date { AW }

2006-03-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the first ever scrapbooking/stamping art faire to be held in my tiny little town. It was a blast. Lots of fun stuff to look through and spend money on. That’s what I did too! About 2 hours after I walked in the door, I walked out with a healthy dent in my checkbook, four bags of new toys to play with in my studio, a big smile on my face, an extra skip in my step, and several new ideas floating around in my head for creative adventures still to come! It was a great date!

Playing with ATC's and Art Journals

2006-03-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago I came across some great wrapping papers with garden fairies on it. So of course I bought multiple rolls! I've been working up several art projects using them. Here's a page spread done in a circle journal where the owner of the book asked each artist to create an artistic page using their favorite color. Click the picture to see a larger view of it or check it out in in my Flickr Gallery or in the gallery at CHW

Then I had to make up some ATC's using the little pretties also! Here's a couple of them. But I made 15 in all and more can be seen in my ATC/ACEO album at Flickr or CHW . A lot of them have already traded out. But if you are interested in trading for one of them, let me know. I'll check to see which one's are left.

An online acquaintance asked me to make dragonfly themed ATC to swap with her. So I made up several sets. Many of them are still available too. So let me know if you want one. I'm always open for a friendly art trade! Again, more of these mosaic style cards can be seen in my ATC/ACEO album at Flickr picture string or in the ATC gallery album at CHW.

The ones that don't trade out, I'll auction as ACEO's on E-Bay.

If you like to craft up a thing or two once in a while yourself, come join us at the Craft Happy Website (CHW)! We're a friendly and small group of crafters that hang out chattering together on the web. Showing examples of our art, sharing crafty ideas, and just being online pen pals too. Yes membership is free and NO, NO, NO - I don't do any spamming! Not even a scheduled newsletter of any kind. I just don't have the time, energy, or tolerance for that sort of stuff.

Check out our Art Studio forum for tutorials and visit the other furum links too. Jump into the discussions over at our Chat Lounge or join one of our swaps, or contests just for fun! And if you need to give your muse a little push towards creativity... mosey through the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope everyone is having a good day. Catch you later!

Migraine Shots Update

2006-03-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

The BOTOX came in at the pharmacy (no charge to me) Yippy! And I had the injections yesterday afternoon! (No news on insurance approval for that part yet.) Now, we wait again. But unlike most the other meds they have had me on over the years, I won't have to wait the usual 6-8 weeks before evaluating the success. We'll probably see results much earlier. Doc says I may see improvement in the very first week. It will be at it's peak by the 3rd week. So hopefully by my birthday I'll have more headache free days and much fewer moments in the darkness with tears. Wahoo!

Here's my current 12-month progress chart... I'm not so sure progress is the right word. I should say here are some YUCKY Headache charts.

You can click on the picture to get a larger view of the graphs. Red Star days are those without a headache. Rarely do they end up being one day after the next. As you can see our goal all along as been for my body to grant me with 10 or fewer migraines a month. So if the BOTOX does the trick -- I'll have my life given back to me!

But I'll take what I can get. No lie, I'll be happy if I can get even 5 days IN A ROW free of pain. I will gladly pay $1,500 to experience that! I haven't had more than 3 days in a row, pain free, in almost 2 years. Just to see what it's like again would be a most precious birthday gift! And a very welcomed repreave!

Art Dolls

2006-02-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with some new art dolls recently. Here they are thus far:

I'm still working on these projects. Neither of them have the body parts actually connected. I just layed them on the scanner bed as if they were. I do this sometimes in the designing phase to try on different embelishments, poses, faces, etc. before completing them.

I think the left side doll will eventually be holding an emblem or object. I haven't found the face I want yet.

The right side doll will have a bouguet of flowers and jewelry added to her. As well as an embellishment on her hairband.

These will eventually be put on stands or added to assemblage projects. I think I might have them done in a couple of weeks. I still need to get to know them a little better. :)

This art doll is finished all but her string of beads she'll be holding. I'm still not sure if I'm going to add her to an assemblage project or put her on a stand. Time will tell.

I tried to show up close textures and details with the inset photos. But the sparkle on her hair still doesn't show up well in this particular scan. You can click on the picture to see a larger view in my flickr gallery.

The tail fin has a meshy like ribbon on it that I recycled from a holiday package. More of the same make up her arm bands. The torso scales are disks with an arodesent shimmer when the light hits them. Same material for her breast plates. Her waist has mini beads and her hair has shiny embossing powder added.

Newest info on my Migraine shots

2006-02-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

I mentioned to you earlier in the month that we were trying to make arrangements for me to have Botox shots while I was in the D.C. area. Hoping this would help relieve a big portion of my headache pain. Well that didn't work out. So now we are trying to have the Botox ordered from base pharmacy and then me take it to my downtown doctor for the injections.

Still don't know if insurance will cover it this way or not. If pharmacy doesn't play along it will cost us $1,500 - $1,800 for the procedure. And if it works for me, then we'll repeat every 3 months or so. If pharmacy plays, it lowers the cost substantially.

Either way, we've decided to go forward with the procudure. Must know if this is going to help. If it doesn't we've taken another 1 step back. But if it does... that's two steps forward! We're sure hoping we'll move forward this time!!!!

I'll let you know more as we know it.

Valentines Day

2006-02-19T00:40:00.000-07:00

Since I was due to be out of town for Valentines Day we celebrated the weekend before. Saturday we went on a date. Then Sunday morning we exchanged gifts.

When I arrived in my hotel room on Monday there was a bouquet of beautiful red roses waiting for me! They made my room smelling terrific every day I returned from my conference.

Have I told you lately how much I appreciate my valentine? He's the best!

Go for It! {MMM}

2006-02-18T00:29:00.000-07:00

"If I peeled back the layers they would see..."

That was the prompt for this weeks art journal page at MMM. This collage represents the personal impressions I've been getting lately while traveling through "The Artist Way" experience. I'm finding I have more direction with my design styles and stronger feelings toward artistic freedom.

Behind the layers is an artist, finding herself, and becoming comfortable enough to run the open fields of self expression through art -- without a care in the world about how others see my art. Self exploration and fullfillment is what it's all about for me right now.

Hi-o!

2006-02-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

Updating my blog everyday just isn't on my priority list of things to do. So please excuse delays between postings.

For the most part, I had a good week though. I've been doing some special reading with DD a couple of nights a week and we are feeling pretty good about it. I got around to a bit of creativity in the art studio here and there too. Below are a few pics of altered CD's I accomplished for a swap I'm in:

You can see more of my artsy stuff by clicking on any of my photo clips in the side column of this page.

DH was supposed to get a new computer last weekend. But it just didn't happen. His friend who was rebuilding his old one, accidently busted a needed piece. So they are now re-ordering it and will hopefully get to redo the machine this next weekend.

DH's sister who's been dealing with cancer for a while, passed away last Friday. Services are schedule for next weekend. It's been a tough road for her to travel. It's a blessing that she was able to come home and fall asleep for the last time in her own bed. Hugs and Kisses go out to all who knew her. We will surely miss her in many ways.

We watched the Super Bowl on Sunday and yes DH was cheering on the Steelers. I organized my stamps a bit during the game and did some hand mending that I've been putting off for a while. DD went to the school's Turn-about dance over the weekend also. She had a fun/safe time with some friends.

That's about it for us. How about you all? Leave a post or drop me an email. Looking forward to hearing from you.

The Past That Lingers {MMM}

2006-01-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

"The Past That Lingers" was the theme this week at MMM. My art journal page is pictured here. If you click on the photo you'll get a larger, more detailed view of it. There's a lot of symbolism in this piece. Each element represents something that was lingering in my thoughts as I mindfully revisited my teen years.

The blue patterned papers and fabrics that make up the background represent the floral wallpapers in my room during that time in my life. The "Energy Arrows" show that there seemed to be an abundance of energy, while I was coming and going each day, spending less and less time at home with my family. I was always burning the candle at both ends.

The church and cross are about a religious upbringing and the control it had in my life. I was very involved with God-centered beliefs and the formal practices of Christianity. Much of the teachings/lessons I zeroed in on during my teens were those that involved "though shalt not" this that or the other. I remember thinking how it seemed I couldn't do any of the things many of my peers were doing without committing some sort of sin against God. Every once in a while I'd go against those teachings and commit a dreaded sin... only to drown in self-pity and sorrow later. These few rebellious moments were a source of internal confusion and concern that constantly pulled at my guilt complex.

I directed an active puppet ministry which consumed much of my time. I was very passionate about this area of my life. In addition to the church puppeteering , I was working in family theater at a Six Flags theme park. I was also attending beauty school and debating over a career in puppetry or one in Cosmetology. I had a strong interest in both. That's why the figure (me) is juggling the religious marionette-ed cross and a hair dryer. LOL Yeah, I know it's corny. But I was a corny teenager too. Now I'm a corny adult. So it fits the collage.

The teen years are a time of self discovery -- or maybe a better description would be total confusion about oneself. It's when we are trying to decide who we are and where we fit into the scheme of things. What's our purpose? What are we suppose to do? Where should we go? We have multiple personalities depending on who we are conversing with. Always trying to meet the expectations of the other person and at the same time, somehow be true to ourselves. The three distinctively different heads represent these memories to me. I also picked faces with big smiles and pearly white teeth because I had braces at the time, could hardly wait to have them off, and longed for this glamorous look.

It's also when the concept of love and romantic relationships was almost constantly on my mind. Going steady, breaking up, dating, dreaming, wondering, experimenting, yearning for that "someone perfect." A time when I doodled xx's and oo's, hearts, lips, and Cindy + (whoever the current Bo' was) = Love -- on every little piece of paper I could find and the bathroom stall doors too.

Now, as I think back on it, it seems like those years just whoooooshed by and escaped too quickly between my fingers. As I grew up and took on more responsibilities in life I came to realize that so many of the joys I experienced in my youth were simple in nature and easy to come by. Much easier than some of the joys I "work" to achieve now.

That's pretty much the whole of the symbols I collaged on this journal page-spread. Hope you enjoyed a little walk down YOUR memory lane as you experienced this little piece of mine. :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

So Many Talented Artists!

2006-01-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally set aside a chunk of time to pop into some of the AW artists blog sites. I have to tell you this is such a talented group of artists and I'm so glad to be a part of this AW gathering. If you haven't had a chance to visit these blogs yet, oh please make time!

I am inspired by these eclectic creative people and their many wonderful insights into art, objects, people, and everyday life! Thank you all very much for sharing yourselves with such openess so that others like myself can gain from your knowledge, experience, and expressed thoughts. You are truly grand and deserve pats on the back, standing ovations, praises from on high, and kuddos galore for all the great things you are doing!

A Challenging Week {MMM}

2006-01-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Last week was difficult to say the least. As some of you know I have migraine disease and experience debilitating headaches almost daily. For the most part I have accustomed myself to the grind this takes on my body and soul. But there are times when it really gets the best of me and drags me down. Last week seemed to be one of those times. So working through my AW exercises was challenging at best. Nevertheless I managed to accomplish some of the exercises and the mp's as well. I can not say a great deal of personal growth was gained throughout the week this go around. However, I do have high hopes for this coming week. Just doing the little bit of reading I've already accomplished in the chapter, I think week three will have a lot to offer me!

I managed to do a little bit of creative expression in the art studio. I made a new book for my mp's and other AW notes. It's a basic accordion style envelope book with individual pockets for each weeks work. I figured this little piece of art will encourage me to stay involved more so than the spiral bound flip book I'm currently using.

I also made a "personal" collage after reading and becoming involved in a fellow AW participants blog site. The Mixed Media Memoirs blog offers weekly challenges or suggestions for journal subjects and putting them into creative art form in coordination with ones writings. This weeks subject was "This is Me." I accomplished my collage on a day when I wasn't feeling particularly artful. I decided to create without expectations. It's outside my comfort zone to build an art piece when I'm not feeling good. To do so almost always ends in a display I do not like. This was no exception.

Although I don't find this page in my art journal particularly pleasing to look at, it does actually represent parts of me and the mood I was in at the time I created it. Some of the images and shapes I added to represent me included a blue jean ink backdrop with splashes of pink, and white lace to show the fabrics I like to wear the most and a simple house to represent the small town prairie lifestyle I've adapted to over the years. There are three nuggets of slightly different "textures" to show the evolving parts of my personal world too. A gold leafed lizard, plants, and butterfly shows other sides of me and an image of a delicate woman as well. Throughout the page I have doodled words that describe characteristics of my personality such as, confident, resourceful, unpredictable, adventurous, ever-changing, content, quiet, peaceful, artistic, etc. A few more words were added to indicate where I was in my mind at the time I was working on the project. They include "Forty Four," "At Peace," "Lucky", "In the Moment," "The Best at Being Me," "At Home," "In Love," and "Challenged."

Although I described myself well, the collage itself just doesn't appeal to my senses. The color blends are awful, the style is too messy. But then again, at times so is my life. So I guess even that part of the collage speaks well of me.

On this piece I allowed myself to be a child artist. The important thing is that I did complete the challenge I accepted. Which is what I set out to do at the start of the project. :) So yeah me anyway!

This that and the other

2006-01-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hey there folks. I've been busy working and staying healthy. Or at least trying. :)
We celebrated our youngest DD's birthday last night with a gift exchange and cake at the house. Tonight we'll be going out to eat dinner at a local Mexican place she's picked out. I believe one of her girlfriends is planning on joining us. It should be fun

DD has had a sore throat and a cough for a couple of days, but she has tomorrow off from school. So we are hoping that over the three day weekend she can get rid of that thing. I know there's been a bug going around work too. It's not a big deal. Just a bummer that she got it the week of celebrating her 17th.

For Christmas she got a new PS2, since the last one pooped out on us. And so for her B-day she got a new-fangled game chair that hooks into the PS2 player and/or her stereo. It's got this sub-woofer speaker system thing in it, so while she's playing her games or listening to music it's playing through the chair. Weird! But DH thoughts she'd love it. He was right! She thinks it's pretty cool.

I had a chance to talk with some Missouri dwellers this week. I yapped with DD for a little while last night. She's doing some personal introspective work and looking at job/career choices. Getting a little ansy to move forward and not work two jobs at once. I know that can be a tough thing to do. So many hours is rough on the body. I'll be glad when she can go back to just 40 hours again too. Hang in there my Bug!
DSS and I talked for a long time one night this week. That was the first time we'd done that in quit a spell. Yes - it was good to hear her voice and chatter for a bit. Sounds like her new car is really neat. And when she gets used to where all the new buttons are, I'm sure she'll enjoy it even more. LOL Congrats on the new ride, sis! Tell your DS that I'll try to remember to write in print next time I send something your way. :)

I have a TDY coming up soon that will put me in the Washington D.C. area. I'm hoping that while I'm up that way I can get a series of BOTOX shots that is supposed to help relieve me of my headaches. The logistics are not all ironed out though. So I'm not real sure that's going to happen. Because the treatment isn't covered by my insurance (yet), to have them locally at this point is cost prohibitive -- over $1K. We just aren't that financial fluid at this time. Especially because if they work (which would be a first for me) then the treatment is repeated about every 3 months. It's actually less expensive for me to pay for the plane fair to Washington D.C., stay at the base, and receive the free shots in the headache clinic there that the DoD runs -- than it is for me to have them locally. So that's the plan of action at this point.

Since the DoD is paying for my plane ticket up that way for the TDY anyway, it's a good time for me to give this treatment a test run. But first we have to arrange for a medical referral and hope that a doc at the clinic will accept me as a patient and then do the procedure during the time that I'm there. Ugh -- that may not be possible as we have only a short window of time before I leave for the TDY. Maybe this will help. Maybe it won't. But so far, nothing else has. So it's worth a try.
Speaking of migraines and daily headaches. If you are dealing with such things yourself or dealing with chronic pain of any type -- there's a couple of books I'd recommend you get your hands on and peruse your way through. Managing Pain Before it Manages You and The Chronic Pain Control Workbook are two good publications for learning how to cope with chronic pain and minimize it's impact on your daily living.

I've read approximately a kazillion books about chronic headaches and more specifically migraine disease. I found that Terri Robert's new book on the subject is an excellent read. If you live with migraines, or interact with anyone who does I highly recommend you go over this one cover to cover. It's called Living Well With Migraine Disease and Headaches -- What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You... That You Need to Know If you are interested in my thoughts on any of the headache books I've read, just drop me a line or leave a message here. I'd be happy to share my opinion.

As for me -- December was the best month I've had in over a year. I had 13 headache-free days. Wahoo!!!! A record has been set! :) Merry Christmas to me. Maybe a gift because I had been such a good little girl all year. (I will be accepting no comments from the peanut gallery at this time.) LOL
I still have hope that one of these days my doc and I can reach the goal of less than 10 headaches a month. Wouldn't that be just fab?! Oh Yeah!!!!
Have a super day everyone! Kisses and Hugs from Wyoming!

Delayed AW Update

2006-01-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I updated this blog. But it isn't because I haven't been working on my AW goals. I have been busy accomplishing several of the assignments.

I made up the "What I want to be" career list. One of the things on my list was a manicurist. So the little thing I did for myself was go get a manicure. That of course won't last long before I get paint or ink or some other goop all over my pretty nails. But I sure had fun spoiling myself with that one.

I also sat down one morning and wrote out an affirmation 10 times. And each time my censor blurted out something negitive, I wrote that down too. Then, of course the challenge was to counter each blurt with a new affirmation in it's place. That's was a real toughy on a couple of them. But I managed to stick with it until I had accomplished it. Now I've been referring back to those affirmations as I write my mps.

When developing my Monster Hall of Fame I found it somewhat difficult to "travel" to a specific time when the monster phrases were used. And this exercise was rather eye-opening as one of my monsters is a dear friend whom I never really suspected as falling into this category. And another thing that seemed strange to me was that I have been one of my worst monsters. Self doubt about the quality of my work has plaqued my inner thoughts and held me back far too long.

After this exercise I had another list of affirmations I could use. And they have truly been helping me let loose of some old thought patterns and I'm getting into the groove of more posative self-talk. :)

So I continue on my path and am enjoying the Artists Way thus far.

Playing with Ideas

2006-01-10T04:24:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post one of the ATC's I made back in December that seems to go along with my Artists Way morning pages thoughts this week. :)

This ATC is from a set of two. I love doing quick little projects like ATCs to get my creative juices flowing. If I'm in a slump for a particular project, sometimes I'll just whip up a few ATC's using whatever elements are nearest my work bench at the time. Before you know it - the creativity has kicked in and I'm out of my slump!

When I was looking to do a spread in a circle journal I was working on I knew I wanted to do something using earth tones. I was a bit stuck on using a raw finish or a more refined frilly one and if I wanted to go fantasy or natural. So I played around with some more ATCs.

After creating these two miniture works of art, I wound up using an earthy, ragged type theme in the book spread.

Sometimes I just need a little push to get myself going. You know what I mean?

Changing Perspectives

2006-01-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well when I started doing my morning pages it seemed they were serving as an ongoing to-do list. As my pen flowed across the page my scribblings were about all the things that needed to be accomplished in the day. (The load of laundry, writing a thank you note, picking up milk...) They also included ramblings of all the things that happened the day before. (I had a headache, I finished my database, called sue…) Honestly I didn't feel like the pages were moving me in a forward direction with my creative brain. It's more like they were simply keeping my logical side even more in order. No way were these pages doing anything positive for me except forcing me to write more bullet statements and lists.

But now they seem different. As each set of pages are started I feel a little bit of a change in my writings. I'm beginning to think and write more and more about my artistic wants and needs. I've been revisiting creativity thoughts that I had tucked away a long time ago. Tucked away because it wasn't a convenient time to "play" with my art interests. Or the ideas just seemed too silly or worthless to pursue at that time. Money was an issue. Not necessarily because it was one -- but because I seemed to make it one. Just another excuse to not act on my thoughts.

I'm still having to deal with the negative little voice in my head telling me I'm wasting my time, or just dreaming, and that I'm being unrealistic to even think about approaching my art in a serious way. I'm trying like crazy day after day to push that little critter out of my thoughts. And the morning pages are helping me to take notice of those thoughts. This critter or maybe it’s a big creature… had become such an engrained and controlling part of me, that I didn’t even noticed the impact it was having on me.

Although I don't really enjoy seeing this in front of me so boldly, or admit that I've been very harsh on myself... it's actually good for me. Good for me to recognize it, I mean.Taking the time to actively see/hear this voice in my head helps me to consciously re-address those thoughts from a more positive perspective. Taking notice of the personal put downs and excuses is encouraging me to umm... well, encourage me.

As I'm writing my morning papers I'm starting to recognize and see ways to get around those stumbling blocks or those brick walls I kept putting in my own way. When I notice that critter popping back in with another, "you can't do that!" -- I'm writing out an opposing, "Oh yes I can! And with more powerful force than you'll ever be able to manipulate!" It's like I'm debating away my excuses of the past as each one surfaces.

I'm guessing that when the day comes for me to take a peak back at the morning pages I've written, I will find myself a bit changed. I'm feeling like I'm going to like seeing the transformation that's taken place. I say that because I'm already starting to like the new artistic me that's emerging.

Short Lived Weekend

2006-01-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

The weekend was too short. I needed about 5 more days off. LOL Saturday morning I took DD into town for an all-day debate tournament. She didn't debate this time, because their school was hosting it. So her job was to help with all the details and coordination. Then I spent a long while wading through the dollar store looking for fun projects to alter. The afternoon wasn't as good because I spent the day with a migraine that spun out of control. That's the second one this month that I couldn't get a handle on. And I had a spinner last month too. Ugh! -- I hate when that happens. California Mom also called with an update on DH's sister. Seems the cancer is getting the best of her these days. She's in the hospital on oxygen again. Please send healing thoughts her way.

Sunday was much better. It was a red-star day as far as migraines go. An unusual, but VERY WELCOMED headache-free day! I was able to finally get all our holiday decorations put back in storage again. It seems such a big chore to get everything boxed up and tucked away. But it's fun too, to have the decorations out during the season. So it's always well worth the effort. How about you all? Did you get your decorations put away yet? I managed to get the laundry washed/dried/and put away too. I did some website updates and watched a few clips of home movies -- from way back when Lacy was a puppy. So all in all it was a rather productive day. :)

Next on my to-do list is to finish writing a ton of Thank You notes that I've just barely got started on. I'm hoping to finish those up tonight. I've got a couple of Circle Journals sitting on my work bench that I need to complete. I did get them started. But a few more finishing touches are in order before they get mailed back out. They are due to the postman by the 15th. I'd like to get them in the mail early if I can. I already signed up for several swaps this month and I want to make sure I don't over-tax myself with projects.

I'm having fun with my AW journey thus far.

When you get time, drop me a note and let me know what's happening on your side of the globe. Keep in touch.

Yesterday's Art Date

2006-01-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

I ran off to the "Dollar Tree" store yesterday. Looking for a few new things to alter. I was in search of some large-piece puzzles with 10-12 pieces to them. No luck with that. All they had were 100+ piece puzzles.

But I did find some other wonderful little goodies to play with. Of course I couldn't say no to some of the stickers and scrapbook papers. I especially like the puffy frame stickers I threw in the basket. I've already got ideas for them in one of my altered books and on some CD's I plan to alter this month too.

I picked up 4 rolls of wrapping paper with wonderful little fairie designs on them. They are perfect for so many of my collage projects! I have two circle journals sitting on my work bench now - both happen to have garden themes. So guess what's being used in them?!

I spotted a few other things like journals and tins too, and I even managed to pick up a few trinkets for valentine gifts in February.

Best of all, I only put a $35 dent in the checkbook! An unheard of, all time low for me when it comes to the dollar store. :) LOL I rarely get out of that store for less than $50. But with over 30 new finds, I have lots of new toys to play with in my art studio!

A Few of This Weeks Happenings

2006-01-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well I returned to work (with much regret) after a wonderful week of time away from the office. I enjoyed the holiday break with the family so much that I didn’t want to go back to the grinding stone. I have almost caught up on the work left behind in my absence. I still have several sets of slides I should prepare before briefings start again next week. But I just don’t seem to have the incentive to focus on slides today. I suppose that paycheck I get from time to time should be incentive enough. LOL

DD is at a debate tournament all day today and again tomorrow. So DH and I are hoping to sneak in a dinner date this evening. And since migraines kept me from taking down our Christmas tree before now, I’ll be doing that this weekend. I’m also hoping to get myself back into the art studio for a while. I’ve missed not being in my “play room” this week. I have a stack of Thank You cards to make and send out. So that will be my big project. Then I have a couple of Circle Journals that need to be accomplished as well. Maybe I can play in the pages – collaging a day or two of fun!

I received the neatest ATC Friendship Quilt from my friends at CHW for Christmas. You can see it in the Craft Happy Website (CHW) gallery.

The pages of the quilt are featured in the Swapped Gifts album. The cards in the Friendship Quilt are very special to me. It was such a surprise! There are so many talented artists at CHW and we have such fun playing online games, meeting creative challenges, and chattering with one another!

If all goes well I will type up another update soon.

And so it begins - The Artists Way

2006-01-05T05:22:00.000-07:00

Well I’ve begun working through my “The Artist Way” (AW) workbook. I started writing my morning papers about a week ago. I’m trying to get into the daily habit before our group actually gets going on the 7th.

I haven’t actually done a real “Art Date” yet. Although I have done a little bit of just-for-me fun stuff, there were others present too. So of course it doesn’t really count as a date.

New Years Day

2006-01-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well the first day of the new year really sucked! I spent it all day in pain. I had a migraine headache that spun out of control. So when I woke up this morning and the headache had finally gone away I decided to make this the first day of my new year instead of yesterday. If the Rose Bowl parade can be held off until the 2nd, I figured I could wait and start my new year a day late also. LOL

Today was much, much better! After we all watched the parade, DH and I spent the day reviewing home video as we transfered many of our VHS clips to DVD. DD joined us for much of the day. We all enjoyed the walk down memory lane! It was so much fun watching all the changes in our children as they celebrated each birthday, Easter, Christmas, and just watching them grow up through our video movies. As they grew up, I noticed I grew outward. Maybe a diet is in order.

It was fun too watching our house being built and all the work we did in finishing the basement. And of course watching our 4-legged critters from their puppy years gave us some giggles too.I did make a couple of resolutions for 2006. It's not like me to make New Year resolutions because I'm not very good at following through with them all the way. I mean - I have been known to give it a good start and even accomplish some of those goals. But after I fizzled out on a couple, I pretty much quit doing it.

This year I thought I'd give it another try. So I have two resolutions. One is to get more organized and symplify many areas of my life. The other is to complete "The Artists Way" workshop I mentioned in my last blog posting. It's a 12-week workshop that may take me longer than that to accomplish. But I'm determined to get all the way through it just the same.

I hope everyone's New Year celebration was cheerful and fun! I'll chat back at you soon.

What I'm up to...

2006-01-01T05:18:00.000-07:00

In December I decided to work through "The Artist's Way" workbook. I found an online cluster that was starting in January. Yippy! From time to time I'll post some info here about the experience. If you're interested in joining this same cluster visit: Kats Paws Blog .

FYI - I've never been a part of this particular group of artists before so I'm not real sure of their interests or personalities. We'll see as we go along.

Christmas was Wonderful!

2005-12-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

In case we haven't caught up with you by phone yet. I wanted to let you know that we had a terrific Christmas. Two of our grandchildren were with us this year so we really had fun with the whole "Santa is Coming" theme in our house!Emilia and Keaton had a good time wrestling, giggling, eating, and especially playing with the dogs!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2005-12-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Boo had me snap some photos of her out on the deck recently. The sun was so bright that her squiting caused her to look rather bored in the pictures. But she wasn't and she wishes you all a Very Merry Holiday Season... as do Hubby and I!