Top Projects for April

1. Becoming an Aunt baby book for my niece and sister (a collection of emails my sister and i wrote back and forth while she was pregnant that start from me finding out to the birth and first meeting Noel. It will also include photos and thoughts.)

2. Make gift for s.i.l. that i've had for over a year (yikes!)

3. Print, hand color & frame birthday gift for older niece (very excited about this)

4. Read and do the exercises in my marketing books

5. Start a newsletter focusing on missions for my church

The first 3 are must-get-dones in April because i'm leaving for Texas May 6th (my birthday!) to visit my family that the gifts are for.


What're your plans for April?

Desire

I'm lusting after a vacant suite in the building I work in. One day couple of weeks ago I walked to another part of the building, to get to a balcony that has a wonderful view of hills that at the time were dusted with snow, perfect for a photo. The suites have an odd feature here of big windows cut into the walls that face the hallway, maybe psychologically it helps the rooms feel bigger. Anyway this particular suite is along the outside wall so it also has real windows that give it light and a view of trees and sky and if you look down a building.

That particular day it caught my attention with all it's light. "Oh, how nice!" i said to my self and then immediately started day dreaming about it becoming my space. A studio of my very own. The space is not very big 8x16 or 24 feet - it's long but narrow. I could image an over stuffed chair with an ottoman. Table for carving blocks on. Walls to hang inspiration on.

I haven't moved a muscle in finding out if it's even really available. There is a sign that says they rent studio space for artist, there are other artist and a variety of business in the building. The sign says they start at $200 a month and considering the size i can't image it being much more. Today I'll at least take the step to write down the contact's number but really i wish there was an email address, email seems easier.

There are some questions:
- Would i mind having my studio in the same building i work in?
- How do i balance time in the studio with time with my husband? Not that this isn't already a question just for every day living.
- There is the cost of running the net to the room {maybe i don't need it? i shudder at the thought...}
- It's currently annoyingly far enough away from home to make it inconvenient to come on the weekend. I hope this can be remedied by moving closer. Supposedly we have a goal of moving in March but frankly we haven't made a lot of strides in that direction.

But oh my, to just have a space where i can control the noise, how wonderful is that thought!

Art & Soul Update

I loved the class i took from Traci Bunkers! She was a great teacher and a nice person to meet.

The shocker was she was serious about using erasers. On the supply list it said 2-3 white/pink erasers. I thought shew as talking about the carving blocks that are kind of like erasers but not. No, she really was talking about the kind you can find at the end of a pencil but flat. I carved 2 in class that she included in a kit and it was fine but a little crumbly and not a fan of that. Think i'll like sticking with the speedball version of eraser blocks which are a little firmer.

She introduced me to modelable foam. I'm in love with it! A heat gun is going on my Christmas list. I'm also starting to appreciate stencils for using painting/collage. The best part was just all these things she showed us that can be used for printing - really helped open up my eyes to possibilities.

Looking forward to saving up for next year!

October

Yeah, for starting another month and it only being 10 days till i leave town.

Yesterday i was in the throws of self pity and did not document one thing for the Week in the Life project. Today i'm making up for it. I've already taken 3 pictures, lol. Others are A LOT more detailed then i ever thought of being. I was thinking one event per day would be a good goal.

The most eventful thing yesterday was picking little Miss. Z up from the vets/M. work. Turns out she had 2 hot spots, which they now think are allergic reactions to flea* bites, on her rump. Monday she had chewed her self 2 nice bald patches at the irritating spot. Tuesday went in and had those areas shaved... she looks a little funny. I'll be taking pictures tonight of it.

*they couldn't find fleas on her and they are not {thank God} in the house. We're pretty sure she picked it up a week or so ago at the in-laws place. There is this outdoor pin they stay in. Also the in-laws dog came down with the same thing last week.

Exciting bits about today:

- my freelance web project is live!!! OMG it has been a week of working with techs over something i thought was rather simple and should have taken only a few hours. Ah well, it's working now, thankfully. Only thing left is final invoice and one meeting to go over how to edit their lovely blogger based site.

- went and registered at Art & Soul! I got a little goodie bag filled with treats like a monthly calendar, an insulated lunch bag, coupons for local art stores and a few other things. They gave it to me in this rather nice canvass bag, that's uh, lime green. I got a little high on giddy feelings while perusing the art supply shop that was set up in the lobby of the hosting hotel. I could have easily walked out with about $300 dollars worth of stuff. I restrained my self and walked away with nothing but excited to know that it's all from a local store that i can visit at a moments notice.

How's your week going?

Life Update

I'm going to Texas in October!

I'm mostly excited but a little sad. This was our year to go down for Thanksgiving and i thought buying the tickets 2 months in advance would be enough and in the past leaving on T-day was the cheapest - well not this year! It would have cost us close to $1,000 dollars for me and my husband to go. Lets just say we didn't budget for that much. Plus, M. started a new job and has no time off except for thanksgiving day and that fri after which didn't help with the price of the tickets.

After a little hemming and hawing... the choice was made instead of breaking the bank I'd go to Texas by my self. Since i was going by my self it would make sense to go at the same time my mom & step-dad would be in town from New York. That's the exciting part, I get to see them! It's been 1.5yrs since my mom and 2yrs for my step-dad. The sad part is my husband is stuck at home and it puts some some plans on hold {like going to the Ft. Worth Zoo, the point was to take him}. Bonus to going in Oct. i get to go to the State Fair - sad part, i would love to take M. to it some year.

I have been really thankful though that M. has been very encouraging for me to go see my family. Sure, he likes my family but in the end they're mine and it's not exactly the same bond. I understand this, i feel the same about his - love them but i'd have him go alone if i couldn't make it. Sometimes it's the hardest thing living in different states!

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In other exciting news, i'm going to an art class hosted by Art & Soul while it's here in Portland. I'm only taking one class but it's on block printing which I LOVE {even though you can't tell because i never post any of my work, the little that i have}. There are so many classes i would have loved to take but again the money thing but maybe next year!

Who Does She Think She Is?

A documentary following 5 women who are artist, mothers and wives. The trailer is a must watch, it makes me giddy {it starts playing as part of the intro to the site}.

Here is the synopsis from the website:
"In a half-changed world, women often feel they need to choose: mother or working? Your children's will-being or your own? Who Does She Think She Is?, is a documentary by Academy Award winning filmmaker Pamela Tanner Boll, features five fierce women who refuse to choose. Through their lives, we explore some of the most problematic intersections of our time: othering and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art. The film invites us to consider both ancient legacies of women worshipped as cultural muses and more modern times where most people can't even name a handful of female artists"

This actually speaks to one of my fears about being a mother, will i lose my self by having a baby? I'm glad to say that i am continually meeting woman that art artist and mothers and have not lost them selves at all.

The other question i've struggled with is, why do creative people have doubts about if they have the right to make art? Why would a person not have the right to make art? I definitely know there is a part of our world that does not understand a truly creative spirit, one that feels fulfilled by painting, dancing, singing etc. but those people do not hold all the power to dictate what is and is not "right".

Have you watched the trailer yet?

Field Trip

Last Saturday i went on a field trip and took some photos of flowers among other things. It has taken me all week to get the photos from my camera to computer to editing to uploading. I thought i would try a new way to display several photos - i'm not real excited about how they look just uploaded to blogger. Enjoy!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

It is warm! sunny! on a Friday! I am having a hard hard time sitting in my office but thankful i have a window that looks out into the big office that has big windows that look out into the sky which is perfectly clear and blue today. My plans for lunch is Thai sitting outside on a picnic bench reading Ann of Green Gables {i know, it's a crime i've waited so long to read it but big fan of the movies}.

I had really ambitious plans last night and i completely gave them up for movies. I watched P.S. I Love You which was good, didn't make me cry and i laughed a little more than i expected. Then i watched Lars and the Real Girl really good story but it did make me teary. Here is the part i'm proud of, you know that new book i got, Doodle Stitches? Well, i actually pulled it out last night and used it! That's right, i practices stitches while watching my second movie. Months ago i had picked up these square swatches that are pre-cut for quilts or whatever. My original plan was to show M. "look these would make great curtains for our back door" - we went a different route that still isn't even up... anyway i digress... i took one of the pieces of fabric that has a large flower pattern and decided to follow the pattern to practice my stitches. It worked, it looks nice for my first try, I'll post proof as soon as I take a photo. Ta-da proof:




I'm also getting anxious about my sister delivering. Early this morning between my alarm going off and the snooze time i was dreaming that my dad had called to tell me my sister had gone into labor. When i woke fully and checked my phone, it wasn't true. Which really is good according to the calendar she has another week. The waiting is getting hard!

I hope the weather is amazing where you are!

Schedules

Found out Friday that my husband's work schedule is going to change in June. June marks the end of school for the summer. It also marks the leaving of 2 employees and 2 prego ladies. He'll be working swing shift - 2pm till 10pm tues - sat. I am not pleased. There is not anything that can be done to change it until school starts again in the fall. Basically this means he'll be getting home when i'm going to sleep. Unless i throw off my sleep schedule, which i'm not completely rejecting the idea of adjusting it a night or two, we won't really see each other tues - fri.

The only silver lining is he'll be available to go on Saturday mornings art adventures. I have a group of friends that do summer field trips on Saturday for artsy stuff. We'll be going to lots of gardens this summer for photography, painting, drawing and the like.

On happier news I went to The Dancer exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. They are show casing works by Degas, Forian, and Toulouse-Lautrec. It really made me want to buy color paper and pastels for sketching. They showed a number of sketches by all the artiest - i have to say i liked this best. While the paintings were great and to see a real poster from the time of Toulouse-Lautrec was great - there is something about seeing how they worked quickly in a sketch, or how with ink and water color wash they gave such strong impressions of placement. I almost wouldn't mind going back before the show closes on May 11th but i doubt i'll get there.

I went with 4 other people and I liked it when we were all going at about the same pace. We could wander from one piece to the next and bump into each other to give a though. But when one of the guys and i started talking about art and longevity and making a living out of it half way through the exhibit - the other people moved on and finished up before we did. I have to say i felt a pressure to hurry along on the second half of the exhibit because they were waiting. So, i'm not really sure museums are the best for group socializing. Or maybe we are all to socially polite and we should have said our goodbyes so the faster group wouldn't feel they had to stick around.

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Oh, yeah!! I have to share the new books i got:

Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith

Figured out pretty fast that I'm afraid to get this book wet. Now, I like the idea of dribbling my coffee on a page but to take it into the shower?! The pages will get all warped! So we'll see if i get over the fear of that. I've already added a piece of lent to one of the pages, it's from the drier the towels were in, it's this cool teal color - don't worry that's the color of our towels. Those that love texture will also love that the tape on the front of the books is embossed and glossy *drool*. I'm pretty excited about toting this thing around and beating it up, as long as it doesn't get too wet, lol.

Doodle Stitching: Fun and Fresh Embroidery for Beginners by Aimee Ray

That's right i'm going to learn how to embroider! I use to cross stitch when i was younger, so i at least know that one. The book has great pictures and clear instructions, now if only i'd start. I have an idea to incorporate embroidery into my art. I'm very excited that she also includes directions on how to incorporate beading. It'll be exciting to see what happens.

A cool thing is you can buy more patterns from Aimee's Etsy shop "Little Dears" as pdfs.

What?

I fell off the face of the earth but i'm back now!

The most important thing to remember when you take that kind of trip is to pack your good shampoo and conditioner. I picked up Herbal Essence as a back up because i ran out of the good stuff. I no longer like Herbal Essence, I even purchased the one labeled "conditioning" and my head has never been so dry and itchy!

While i was gone I also got my Oregon drivers license. I know, very exciting after 9ab4djf8 year(s). Now I only have to spend the next month converting my name every where I go. I hate dealing with the state or federal government on anything. They make me so nervous! Even though i know logically they can't do anything to me except require more paper work or more payment but still I never feel they are on my side wanting to help me and this causes high levels of anxiety. Except my experience at the dmv was really good, everyone was friendly and i got in and out (including a computer test) in an hour. So, maybe i can go through even more paper work to get my tags and license plates with less fear.

As shocking as this is the other thing that i did - i made art! I made one block print and two pages of digital collage. The collage is for a colaberative project that i get the results back in a couple of weeks. I'll upload some photos soon!

In other news: i'm a little addicted to Flixster.com - it's a social network of sorts having to do with movies! For the number of movies I watch(ed) this is awesome. You can rate movies, give reviews, make lists, make lists of favorite actors and more. So there is my pro-mo for that. Also, because of this account and because i'm obviously not posting to my movie blog, i'll be deleting my movie blog or renaming it for something else for like photos. I found yet another blog All Things Littleput, that started a group that shoots photos weekly based on a theme (honestly, i know of two but the first one is a little convoluted to participate in) and this group requires you have a sepearte photo only blog. We'll see if I actually get into it but i'm thinking about it.

OH, to also update you go check out Those Little Big Things - there is a new challenge up. I'm excited about it. I also really want to go back and do challenege 3 "collections" - I have SO MANY collections.

Nine (9) days till I leave for Texas!

Amazing!

Go go go - if you ever see that Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company is coming to your town you must buy tickets.

The performance was remarkable and a little mind blowing. I'll have more to say about it later. Explore the website for now. Pay attention to the music on the website it's part of what they use in their performances.

Cupcake-a-palooza

In excellent timing the ACEO I purchased from Jeannine arrived on Valentines day. Isn't it cute? Plus as a bonus she sent a magnetic button!

This ACEO and all the ones she's made and making for the month of February will be for sale at her Esty shop Boodzoo Studio. The cost of the card goes to the USO Operation Phone Home, they provide phone calling cards to those in the armed services so they can call their loved ones and families from anywhere in the world.

I highly recommend going to her blog Art Play Possibility to find out more about what she's up to for the month of February. Also, she's on a mission to make an Artist Trading Card every day until her husband comes back home from his duties as a marine in a year!

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A few weeks ago I run into my local craft store for a few things. Turns out they were having this craft fair inside the store. There were different projects set up in all the different areas of the store. After making a crafty paper frame for a photo I wondered into the fabric area. They happened to be making cloth cupcakes from felt as the cake part and fabric pulled into yoyos for the icing. They were promoting this little plastic circle that makes it way easy to make the yoyos. I didn't buy it, if I had I would have also purchased a tone of fabric. I love fabric I just don't sow...yet.

Goals 2008

What, it's mid January?! Good thing one of my goals this year is not about being punctual.

The list of my goals is actually very long and detailed and probably boring in its entirety to anyone else. So, a quick list will appear here to give you an idea of what you might be reading about this year.

Top goals in board wording:
- Complete more personal art
- Loose the weight gained in 2007 & reach a healthy style of living
- Become a better wife (better communicator, less negative, more trusting)
- Finances - more in savings, less fear

Words for 2008:
- Fit
- Positive
- Prolific

The fun stuff about art:

• I've joined Leah at Creative Every Day in her challenge to be creative in what ever way you want in all of 2008. I think this will be a great way to stay more "in the now" and recognize that i might not be completing art on paper daily but I can do something creative daily.
• A monthly goal for art is to complete one block print a month. Now, i set this goal last year and i completed zero a month. This is changing this year. There has been a building pressure to get busy with my own art and I'm going to pay attention to that.
• A new adventure will be collaging and making Artist Trading Cards. There is the ATCards and the Monday Artday ATC, these are social groups that trades and does swap for ATCs. Now, i just need to get busy creating.
• Today I found Overlooked which is a blog about documenting the little things that are big in our lives. The first subject is coffee mugs - how could I resist?! I love mugs and coffee. I'll be posting in about a week after I scrap the page. I've read several blogs with inspirational challenges but this one got me the most excited immediately, sometimes it is all about the first impressions, lol.
• I will continue to be part of a local art group. Attending Saturday mornings to get together and draw or paint. Although, if my husband's work schedule changes i'll only go the Saturdays he's working that way we can spend a little more time together. On a side note I'm still on the retreat committee for this group.
• There is a second art group that has formed from the first one but it's all about getting out and seeing art. It'll schedule things like going to art galleries, the symphony, a performance dance and the like. I'm not getting to involved as far as commitments for this group. It's more of if i'm available then I'll go. Except, I did agree to design a simple calendar but really things have to be decided before a calendar can be made...
• My final creative commitment is to work on a book illustration. The first Saturday of Jan was the first meeting on the goal/vision for the illustrations because it is a collaborative artist activity.
• Oh yeah... and i'm still wrapping up that freelance logo that I've been complaining over the past couple of months... yeah... I've been offered more work but a part of me just wants to run away. I still have time to make my decision.

How I'm going to do all of this in one year among the mundane things like taking care of a house and working 40 hours a week, I have no clue.

scared my self - i had updated the post date because this one was a draft. It didn't show up on my blog, it didn't show up as the last post in my "edit post" section... realized i'd typed 7 not 8!

My Arms Are Going To Fall Off

ARrrgghhh... Tonight the workout was all about the arms. The hardest one machine is the one where i have to push straight up - i felt like a total whimp! After 15 reps of just pushing the machine - no weight add - it was very hard to do the other 40 reps still left. The other machine that beat me was the chest pull thing - let me tell you i'm gonna have some good lookin' pecks if i keep that up ;-)

Then after the gym was the first night for Z's new agility class. I think it's going to be very good instruction especially for me. The class we went through this summer was good but I didn't feel like I got clear instructions on how I was supposed to run the course. Even though this is one more thing I have to do this month it will be nice. The ironic thing is I was going to take Obedience 3 with my husband and Nitro but I called back a little too late to pay for the class and they gave my spot away. So, instead of having an activity my hubs and I do together we're spending more time apart. Ah, well, at least starting Jan. he'll only be working 2 Saturdays a month and not every Saturday.

O.M.G.^ I was going to wait until Dec.1st to start a count down to Christmas Exit but I looked at the calender today. There are only THREE more weekend before the flight to Texas! THREE! I have to make some serious lists of projects and stop procrastinating on stuff.

Plus, I have a zine page deadline looming for Jan. 11th. I have the idea at least but I still have to make the layout and then carve the plates. I did have this more elaborate plan that involved embossed lettering but I won't have time to go get signed up, oriented and creative at this awesome place before the deadline. They have a press for lino block prints and such. They also have letter presses and something like 60 type faces *sigh*. I still want to do the elaborate plan just maybe on my own personal project. Did i mention the theme is Alphabets and I have been waiting for this thing to come around for over a year! I'm very excited about it.

^ I love the books by Christopher Moore. I picked up "You Suck" on CD and one of the characters was a teenage girl that kept a journal and she used omg, alot. The voice actor pronounced each letter with emphasis O.M.G. - i can no longer say/write it with out that audio running through my head.

Crafts

As part of heading up the art groups Christmas party I was thinking of party favors. On Martha's site I found these cute little paper stockings. Of course this is what I choose to do for the favors. However, I will not be sawing these things. No, no, the glue stick is going to be my best friend.

Here is the first stage:


I'm using left over wrapping paper from last year. This is causing the stockings to be curly right now and those were the only small paper weights i could find for the photo. I will be smashing them flat for a few days and then applying the backing and little decorate things for the "cuff" of the stocking. There will be about 30 when finished.

Today I also made a list of all the project I need to get done for Christmas. Many of them still have to do with wedding photos that I was suppose to get to people by last Christmas but we waited so long to order them that we didn't get them until Feb. of this year. So, this year it's wedding stuff. Plus, I'm making a new snowflake block print for everyone like I've done the past few years. My family seems to like them but if they didn't I don't think they'd tell me. They're much too polite - instead they'd just put it in a drawer somewhere and I'd forget to notice if they were out or not. Of course it helps that I'm not there every year for the holiday. So, point is, I'm gonna be busy!

I have to share this photo of my husband and his dog Nitro. Sure, I could say "our" dog but really Nitro doesn't listen to me very well and being a Heeler he can only be super obsessed loyal to one person but can be protective of a whole family. I thought the paw on his shoulder was really cute.

Cruises

Lets celebrate that its been a week of consecutive posts!Yea!

I stumbled upon the coolest thing today. Cruises with an artist bent! That's right, you can take a cruise and take art workshops. I think this is amazing. You get to go see beautiful places and create beautiful art.

I really want to go on this Alaska cruise: ScrapMap

This one going to the Caribbeans also sounds really relaxing: Arts de Mer

I think I'm going to have to seriously save my pennies and go on one of these soon.