Randomly speaking

LOve

All you need is love....quite a true statement don't you think? I mean love doesn't pay the bills unfortunately(a lot of us would be very rich if it did) but it sure makes life sweet.

I made this refrigerator magnet this morning. I tried to photograph it in my kitchen but it was not working. the pictures turned out horribly washed out...so had to do the best with the natural light i have today. It is a really dark and dreary day...yuck.

The wings are made of chipboard and covered in a very coarse grain glass glitter...I love glass glitter! I have every color known to man...and then some!

The heart is actually made of wood. I painted several layers of acylic paint using the vaseline aging technique(makes it look like peeled paint). Collageed it with dictionary pages, added some pretties,even an epoxy from my Bliss Collection. These wood hearts are the same ones i collaged on to create the epoxies for this line...the flowers are fromPetaloo.

Packing

I am leaving on a short trip tomorrow to Omaha NE. I have never in my life been to Omaha...what is in Omaha or Nebraska for that matter. You never hear anything about that state good or bad. Not that i can remember anyway. I am pretty excited for two reasons....

1. I have never been...so a new place is always a good thing in my eyes. (Coffee cups and charms will surely be coming home with me...what is a good charm from NE? anyone know?)

2. I am going to the AccuCut headquarters....uhmmmm yeaaaaaaaaaaa! (in case you didn't know i love love love AccuCut....love the dies....love the machine! love what i have been able to create with their machines and dies) Good things are brewing between AccuCut and I. Shhhhhhhhh......mums the word! I am bringing my camera, hoping that they will let me take a bunch of pictures.

So back to packing...at least this is a short trip so i don't have to worry much, but i always seem to forget something. Always! I made a list. I am checking it twice...but i always seem to forget to put something on the list, and their in, lies the problem. 

10 things....

Ten things you might not know about me.

1. I don't like chocolate. (don't buy your way to my heart with chocolate it won't work)

2. I lived in a teepee.( my brother was born in one)

3.My parents were full fledged hippie's

4.I didn't have a tv until i was in 9th grade.

5.Did not eat a steak until Iwas 22( i got sooooo sick after eating it...didn't think i'd ever want one again)

6.I am 90% gray...(I obviously have a great relationship with my hairdresser....we see each other every two weeks for a touch-up)

7. I love indian food...

8. Everytime i go to the grocery store...i always seem to pick up sour cream. why i don't know. but we always have it on hand. (random)

9. When i travel i buy a coffee mug and silver charms  as  souveniers.

10. I am a true procrastinator....truly i am....and it stresses out my family!

Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings are my favorite.  The swap-meet awaits. Treasures galore....the hunt is on. We (Joe and I)usually get up long before the girls, head off to Starbucks for a dreamy cup of white chocolate mocha (my absolute fav drink in the world from Starbucks). It has become our time...two to three hours of conversation with out interruption from our kiddos.

Today there was not to much to be found...that's okay, because what i did find i LOVE!  Look at my lovely new teapot and saucer, made of wire mesh and heavy wire....is it cool or what. it stands about 12" tall and is about 18 inches wide. It cost a whopping $4....my kinda of price. It was really hard to get a good photo of it...i did the best i could. I found a few other things but they really aren't photo worthy....

Lilly Love doing what she does best....Biting my toes! Toes with out shoes are free game. Man oh man her little puppy teeth hurt!  Thank goodness i still think she is the cutest thing ever!

Digital

I have to say as an artist getting to know and love my computer has been a challenge. I mean I loved my computer before. Loved the emails, searching the web, finding Two Peas in a Bucket.

All of that was fun. I used to sell on ebay...that was fun too. But then somehow i started designing product, and in order to really do well, i had to start learning Adobe........Talk about a program that makes me feel dumber than a box of rocks! If it weren't for my awesome art director, Laura Webster. I would still be suffering(okay i am still suffering but now its curable) Laura spent hours sitting with me tutoring me. Teaching me parts of the program that would specifically help me in product development. (she wishes i would learn Illustrator, but i am allergic to that program) Anyway.....back in the day when I started with Creative Imaginations.(almost 3 years ago) I Did all of my artwork on plywood....can you imagine  Laura's face when I showed up with boxes of art on plywood, when everyone else is sending theirs in on disc.  She was so sweet,not once making me feel like i should have done it any different......fast forward to now...everything is on disc except for 4 collages on cardboard. That's progress!!! I feel like an old Virginia Slims ad....."you've come a long way baby"

So all that babble leads me to the fact that I  attempted to do a digi layout....not the greatest. Not quite the same therapeutic feeling creating it as i get from working with my hands, but it was good for my learning process. After all it is about the process....i will be back later today with another project or two.

A Collection Obsession

Hmmmmm. Did i mention i like to collect things....wanna see a few of the things i like to collect.?

Plastic flowers from the 60's by Miriam Haskel. Yummy! I love the shapes, the colors, the way they layer....the way they look in my rusted out muffin tin wall  tray thingy.

I also love, love , love old dice and old anagram game pieces...I don't have nearly enough of these. So the hunt continues

Watch parts anyone?....man I love watches, old watches specificly. These babies find there way into my art all the time. I am constantly having to add to the collection becuase i do *actually* use them.

Then there is the collection of any vintage rhinestone jewlery. I do have a hundred or so pieces that i could wear, my favorite are the broken pieces that i can work into my collages or funky jewlery. I could stare at these baubles for hours, and be hypnotized by there prettiful-ness(not a word, I know, but i like the way it sounds)

Then there's the vintage pearls....wow. I can't resist them in any fashion. I have bin loads of them. Shoe boxes full (no lie). and i buy more. My husband has given up. he no longer gives me a hard time....now he feeds into my need to collect and joins me on the hunt.....so much better when there are two sets of eyes!

I really do use what i collect, that way i don't feel so guilty always adding more. Each little tid bit will someday make it into a project, a collage, perhaps a piece of jewlery. Bracelets are my most favorite to make....not that i don't do everything else. I just have an affinity for bracelets.

I make these to feed my muse...it is such a change from paper collage and product design. Touching all my treasures, bending wire, playing with all the findings...is so soothing to me.

So there you a have it, a random tidbit about me.

Sooooo.....

Who loves a good find? Anyone who knows me knows i love shopping flea markets,estate sales, garage sales, swap-meets, ebay,thrift shops and antique stores. I love the hunt, the search....and the find!  I am always searching for something that strikes me in such a way. Something with a story,some history perhaps.

Usually I am drawn to anything paper related(trust me its not the only thing i am drawn to, just the first thing)....ephemera they call it. Treasure I call it.  I have boxes of old paper...it is often my muse, my ispiration, my *go to* for a project or product line. I buy old paper by the pound on ebay. I truly get a *rush* when i open the box and start searching through my new found goods...my husband thinks i am nuts....i think not! 

This weekend, like every other weekend i went on the hunt....for a treasure (the key is to keep an open mind and have sharp eyes) I went to a local thrift shop since the weather wasn't to condusive to garage sales and the like. I had some things in mind that i was looking for, old books, perhaps a dresser or old chair to alter.....and i came home with these instead! New never worn red  an black  leather cowboy boots....Mind you i would have never bought these at retail....because i have 2 things to wear these with....but for 5.00 how could i resist!?! What some of you might not realize is i collect vintage ranchwear shirts, and i have some awesome black ones with red embroidery....i will be sure to get pictures wearing my new boots.

On a slightly different note....having nothing to do with anything i wrote a few moments ago...I had to show you a new drink i am often found sipping during the day....I bought it because i thought the can itself was a hoot(oh and i love Arizona Ice Tea). I don't know that it gives me much of an energy burst...I don't know that it improves my performance(??????)but i love the taste...the slightly carbonated feel on my tongue. I don't like heavy carbonation. Mostly i love the caution label on the front, and the look on my kids faces when i am drinking it.

Ha!

I finally did it...I made a banner. I am so darn proud of myself. For a smart woman, computers sure do make me feel dumb sometimes. I know i am not alone on this one. Lately if it weren't for Cheryl I would never get these things figured out. (thanks Cheryl!)

Before I get to far on this blogging journey i have to write a disclaimer....I don't always write grammatically correct, nor do I always punctuate correctly. I write the way i talk... This is a journal for goodness sakes. So it doesn't have to be perfect....yeah hoooooo!

On that note....I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the family....Lilly Love Johnson. She is a 11 week old Yorkie. It is hard to believe dogs come that small. she is just over 2.5 pounds.  We have a 20lb cat that is not tooooooo happy at us for bringing her home...He is not sure what the heck Lilly is. He spends most of his days now avoiding her and ignoring us. He will get over it soon i am sure....how could you not fall in love with that little puppy dog face.

Trying this blogging thing once more

I am sure I will have to change things as I go along...I need to see what i am doing first.