This is my first finished page in an Art Journal. Wooohooo! I've finally accomplished one of my goals and I think I may be hooked now.

I'm playing in a card exchange over at CST on Yahoo Groups. The premise is that you must use Magenta Art Stamps on your cards. I'm enjoying myself - Magenta has such wonderful stamps to play with and since I have quite a collection of them, I have lots to choose from.

I'm taking a class with Pam Carriker over at Creative Workshops. It's called Visual Journalism and I'm really enjoying it. It's given me that little push I needed to actually start working in an art journal and I'm sooooo glad I signed up for this course.

Here are a couple of the backgrounds I created. I used cheap craft paint (not all that happy with it) and next time I do some backgrounds I'll use better quality acrylics. I really like the transluscent look you achieve with the better paints - although there may not be anything wrong with the cheap craft store acrylics I used - I may have just been too heavy handed. Anyway, this is what the initial backgrounds look like. Unfortunately, I didn't think to scan the blue one before starting to embellish it so you're seeing the first baby steps on that one!

A few more of my new designs. These 3 D punchouts are fabulous - the finished results are quite amazing! The background paper is from Clipper Street - they have the most beautiful paper and I always end up buying more. It's much like Costco in that you need to buy it when you see it as it probably won't be there the next time. I usually drop some serious coin there! But what's a girl to do?

Here are a couple of engagement cards I've made for the store. Not sure about the pink one - I'm thinking the colour of the cardstock might be wrong. Oh, well, trial and error. Sometimes lots of error!

I'm finally here to provide a little update on how things are going in my little corner of paradise. Since last I posted, I have made some headway on clearing the clutter and getting back on track. I'm gradually working through my "to do" list so I do have a sense of finally control of things that are long overdue in the "needing to be done" department.

My ensuite is 99 % finished and I'm so pleased with it. It turned out really well and it has the spa like feel that I was going for. The linen tower door has finally been installed (what a comedy of errors that was!) so that finishes it nicely. Now I'm just waiting for the tile man to come back and install a few more granite tiles as the trim and then we're good to go. I have new hardware to put up for the towels and toilet roll holder however have run into a little delay there - I found the actual hardware I bought but seem to have lost the mounting plate. I know it hasn't gone far, and suspect that it is somewhere in the pile of junk in the spare room, but at this point I'm not ready to tackle that mess yet so I'll just have to wait a little while longer. Will post pics some other time.

This weekend I had a 5 day weekend and I was able to accomplish a lot. The house finally got a good cleaning so now it actually looks like it's reasonably habitable. Still some clutter clearing to do but I did manage to go through a lot of the paper that had piled up so that's a good thing. Also - drum roll here please - I took my taxes to the accountant today. I'm filing for both DH and myself. I didn't file last year due to me just being overwhelmed after his sudden death, so I have 2 years to submit. Anyway I finally got everything together and it's now in the accountant's hands so that's one less thing to worry about.

On the art front, I'm taking an on-line course called Visual Journalism. I've just started but am running a little behind so don't have the first week's work completed yet - big surprise, that - but I'm really looking forward to being able to do some art for fun's sake. I've also managed to get a few cards made up for the store as well and am just waiting for approval to go ahead and make up.

My big project for this weekend was re-organizing the work room. I had toyed with all kinds of solutions, most of them expensive, and then opted for the very basic one that I always come back to and that seems to work the best. It's still a work in process as I'm trying to weed out the stuff I don't use, re-home some of it or donate to a school teacher I know. I have no idea how I got so much stuff - I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on my art supplies and rubber stamps. It's absolutely scary! Anyway, I'm pleased with the progress I've made in re-working my studio and I think I'll be able to keep it up (fingers crossed). Pics to be posted at a later date.

Gotta run as I have a few more things I want to do before getting into my jammies. As this post is a little long, I'll post some pictures of the cards separately. I hope you enjoy them.

Despite "best intentions" to the contrary, I have still not been able to get to any art :( I'm still fighting the cold/flu although I am gradually getting better. This weekend has been consumed with catching up and trying to deal with the clutter that has accumulated over the last several months. Where does all the paper come from?

I managed to wade through much of the stack that has taken over my kitchen table. While not exactly clean yet, there are clean spots on it and I've thrown a lot of stuff out. I seem to be spending a lot of time moving things from one pile to the other, but I did manage to send a fairly large bag to the recylcling bin. I was also successful in uncovering one of my counters which has not seen the light of day for several months. I would have liked to get more accomplished but Rome was definitely not built in a day and my clutter problem did not just develop overnight.

Still sick with this lousy cold. I haven't had a bad cold like this in years. I've spent most of the last two days in bed, dosing myself with hot toddies and Nyquil and I'm not seeing a whole lot of improvement. Looks like it's going to be a couple of more days before I'm feeling up to par.

Today I really wanted to stay in bed all day but I had an appointment at the bank so had to get up and get on the road. I'm not happy with the bank I'm presently dealing with (I've been a customer for almost 40 years) but since husband died, it just seems to be one problem after another. I have threatened to leave numerous times and finally have just had enough. So I've switched over to the Credit Union here in town and I'm impressed with them already. I have another appointment next Saturday and hopefully most everything will be done by then.

My next stop was at the see the optometrist about my new glasses. Unfortunately, the owner wasn't in today and her clerk was less than helpful. After she walked away and left me for another customer when I needed her help, I figured I'll just go back when the owner is there. Not sure I trust this twit to know what the heck she's doing.

I decided to treat myself to a "Big Shot". Three hundred dollars later, I'm good to go. So many new toys, so little time. I can't wait until I'm feeling better so I can play with this gadget. I think it will take my cards to a whole new level.

Well must go back to bed......boring! Thank God I have a TV in my room!

Later!

Well we're finally home and I've been back to work since Tuesday. By Wednesday I was coming down with a cold and had to leave work early on Thursday because I was sick, sick, sick! I'm home today and have spent most of the last 24 hours in bed trying to fight off this darn cold! Not nice!

I haven't even touched anything remotely close to art supplies and probably won't for several more days. However, I am looking forward to creating again. I find the month holiday is always good for me as it allows me to re-charge my creative batteries.

I'm off to bed again.....will post again soon.

Caio!

Well the clock is ticking down and we only have 3 1/2 days left here in sunny Palm Springs. The weather was good this trip - just not as good as last year. However, this last week has been fabulous - very hot and sunny - so we've enjoyed our last few days of pool time. I'm golfing Thursday and Saturday and then we'll be packing up and leaving for Vancouver on Sunday.

I've enjoyed this trip but may do it a little differently next year. There are leave restrictions where I work due to the 2010 Olympics and the Para Olympics being hosted in Whistler and the Vancouver area. I'm not really sure when I will be able to get time off - I just know there's a freeze for February and possibly into March so will have to play it by ear. This trip was a little more challenging since DH was not hear with us. We had some family challenges and my daughter had some health challenges due to the hot weather so we may need to make some changes next year.

I will be sorry to go home. However, as the trip winds down, I find myself thinking about work again so I guess that's as it should be. Will update the blog once I get back in town and things are back to normal.

Caio!

Just a very quick update. I'm enjoying my stay in Palm Springs but have very limited access to my laptop due to wifi issues. Not sure when I'll be able to post again. I'll definitely be back up and running the first week of March so please check back then for updates. I'm very disappointed that I can't post more but technology is not cooperating!

Cheerz

We arrived in Palm Springs safely last night and are settled into the hotel until tomorrow morning. We'll be checking out, going for breakfast and then over to the rental office to pick up the keys for the house. We're looking forward to getting settled in the house and enjoying a couple of days before the rellies arrive.

The trip through the border was slow and we were pulled in for a secondary screening. Not sure what they were looking for but they didn't seem to want to believe that we were who we were saying we were or that we were really coming down to Palm Springs for a month. I did ask why we'd been stopped but they never did tell us what the problem was. They even called my home to verify our story with the house sitter - then they sent us on our merry way. Very weird!

Our hotel room is freshly painted and decorated and the pool area is nice. I was able to have the pool to myself this afternoon. I spent a couple of hours out there by the pool catching the rays, did a little time in the hot tub and then back in the pool again. I don't know what the temperature was today but it was warm.....Heaven!

New Years Day was a lovely day and a fabulous start to the new year. We shared our first dinner of the year with some very good friends. I served my signature Prime Rib which, I must say was scrumptious ! Good food, good company and a fabulous day - what more could one ask for on the first day of the year?

We're having snow on the coast again today. The snow started sometime during the night and has continued for most of today. It's cold and everything looks so clean. This will be almost 2 weeks of snowfall and cold weather - very unusual here on the balmy coast. I took several pictures for posterity - I particularly like this one and I hope you enjoy it as well!

Happy New Year to one and all! I hope you had a wonderous New Year's Eve and that the coming year offers lots of new challenges and wonderful opportunities.

I'm not real big on New Year's resolutions, mainly because I don't usually keep them! However, in the interest of trying to form better habits and having some consistency, I will make a couple of resolutions. One of my goals is to post to my blog, at least once per week. I hope to post more frequently than that but will consider my resolution met if I can post weekly.

I also have a Live Journal for the personal minutae of my life and I post to this quite frequently. I'm hoping to transfer this habit to LAST WORDZ so posting here becomes part of my weekly routine as well. What will I post? I have no idea! Previously, I tried to restrict myself to art related things. I promise that I won't be doing any "overshares", however, I will probably be engaging in more non-related art posts with the occasional (or perhaps more than occasional? ) rant thrown in.

Another goal is to spend more time on my art. I seem to be caught in this routine of only doing the "work" of the art and not really the "joy" of the art. I'd really like to stretch my art muscles and plan to work at that in the coming year. One of the things I'd like to explore are more 30 minute collages. Last year my goal (which I did not even come close to meeting) was to complete one collage a week. For many reasons, some of them completely beyond my control, that did not happen! I also want to create, and work consistently in an art journal. Perhaps I can incorporate the 30 minute collages into the art journal?

Many years ago, I graduated from university with a degree in English and Sociology. I know, weird combination but it seemed like a good idea at the time!. Throughout the many years since, the theme of "words" has followed me. My vocabulary has grown immensely - I've always been really anal about spelling, syntax and flow in any written document. At one time I thought I would write a book - that never happened. However, lately I've had snippets of poetry floating in my brain. Often I'll get variations of the same verse or theme for several days and then "the muse " goes in a different direction. I want to follow " the muse" and actually put those words, phrases and verses to paper. I just need to get past the fear of the blank page - it does intimidate me !

This year has, in many ways, been MY "annus terriblus" - I think that was the term Queen Elizabeth used several years ago when referring to all the problems which had occurred during the previous year. My husband's death threw just about everything into chaos. We miss him terribly and after 9 months I can still say that there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him a hundred times or more. However, my daughter and I have survived this event and we're rebuilding our lives. It's been tough for both of us but we're both strong, far stronger than either of us knew, and we're moving forward. I still feel his calm presence and I know that he's very happy with how we're moving forward.

What lies ahead in this new year? No one knows. Life isn't a set script that is set in stone and never changes. It's what happens when we're making other plans. Life isn't for sissies - it can be tough, challenging and painful but also so very full and rewarding. My wish for all of you is that 2009 be fabulous! May you and yours have a healthy, happy and prosperous year. May your troubles be few and your rewards many. All the best in 2009!

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted so here goes......

Not much new going on in my little corner of paradise. Work is going very well - I'm very busy and deal with new challenges every day - but I feel that I'm growing into the position and making it my own. I've found the change in hours from 4 days on and 4 days off to a 5 day work week to be a challenge. It seems that I'm always tired and I'm usually in bed by 10 pm and fighting to keep awake. I know, I know - boooooorrrrring!

Christmas is 2 weeks away and I'm not even close to being ready! I have Christmas cards to make and shopping to do and parcels to send. Unbelievable. I am never ready for Christmas - I am clearly a slow learner. But then again I think that maybe this year I should cut myself some slack. I've had a lot of changes and I'm still adjusting to being a single person in a couples world. I guess I'm allowed to be a few steps behind in the race to Christmas.

We're hoping to have some friends over for Christmas dinner this year. This is something that we did most years and I think that now Kerry and I are alone, that it's even more important this year. I know it will be tough but the fact of the matter is that life does go on and we have to continue to re-build our lives. I know DH would want that for us. I don't think it would be a good thing for Kerry and I to be sitting there at the dinner table looking at each other, with just the two of us, hence the plan to have friends for dinner. If that falls through, we'll have to go to plan B. At this point I have no idea what plan B is, but if need be I'll come up with a plan B.

Art seems to have been put on the back burner. Not a lot of energy or creativity at this point and what little creativity I do have is consumed by making stock for the store. Some days, it's all I can do to put one foot in front of the other. I do, however, have lots of ideas percolating in my brain - the trick is to be able to transfer them to paper.

I'm hoping to be able to post some new art and I'm toying with doing the Soul Journal prompts in an effort to actually art journal. I also have lots of bits and pieces to convert to cards as well as 3 swaps to complete in the next 3 or 4 weeks. I don't really have a lot of time for swaps but it forces me to create stuff so that's why I join them. Some days I feel like I need to force myself to do this otherwise I'll just let it go completely.

Anyway, check back in a couple of weeks - I hope to have some new stuff by then.

I'm finally getting around to making some art for a couple of swaps. The atc's are for a purple theme swap that is due in the hostess's hands by the end of November. The card is for a monthly swap I play in - one card down and three more to go!

Here are a couple of my Christmas creations for your viewing pleasure.

I cannot believe that we are slightly more than 6 weeks away from Christmas! Who knew time would fly by so quickly?

Work has been keeping me very busy - I'm working a different shift now and have every second Monday off so my days are a little longer and I'm very tired when I get home at the end of the day. I have to say I'm not all that energetic most nights.

I have been busy creating cards for the Open House in Fort Langley. It was this past weekend and from all accounts the expectation is that it will be as good or better than last year. Will post some of my creations as soon as I find them. My studio is a disaster!

The weather is cool and blustery here on the coast. I guess the rainy season is on us now for a couple of months. It could be worse - it could be snow! I quite enjoy this time of year when there's a nice bite in the air on a clear night. And it's kind of a time of rejuvenation as well. Yes all the plants die off but you know that many have just gone to sleep, working at storing up their beauty for the coming spring.

We bought a new Christmas tree. I have hated the one we've had for years but DH would never let me get rid of it. Well, there's a new sheriff in town ! DD went out and bought one of those ones with all the lights already on them. I haven't actually opened the box yet and set it up - if this baby goes up now it is not coming down until January! With both of us working, we are trying to streamline and having a tree that goes up in 5 minutes as opposed to 2 hours spent arranging lights on spindly branches....what's not to like?

I delivered my cards for the Ridge Open House - I still have a few gift tags to make but all in all it's the first year that I've actually been on time. Who knew I could do that? Tonight I'm starting on the next set of cards for the Langley Open House. I have 2 weeks to do them but I want to try to get as much as I can done so it's not all left to the last minute.

I was off to Be Creative today to see a demo of alcohol inks and stickers. Very cool! Haroldine is a very baaaaaad influence on me! Every time I go to her shop, I spend a small fortune. Is there a 12 step plan for impulsive craft supply overspenders?

The past few weeks at work have been busy. I'm having more interaction with the clients and I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with how I'm doing the job. I learn several new things everyday; the downside is that I'm having to ask a lot of questions for which the answers are probably fairly obvious but that's the way it goes!

I'm in the process of working on the stock for the Open House at the store in a few weeks. I don't know why but I'm always amazed when this time of year comes around. August and September seem to have flown by at warp speed and here we are in October already! Maybe it has something to do with the great weather we've had here on the Coast !

I'm off to see Toby Keith at GM Place tomorrow night. I'm very excited about that. Can hardly wait to feast my eyes on him. I'm a big fan. I saw him several years ago just before he hit it really big so I know I won't be disappointed.

This past week has been an extremely busy one. I seem to have turned into somewhat of a social butterfly and have been out to lunch or dinner several times in the last week. It's making it pretty tough for me to stay on my diet but I guess that's to be expected.

Today I'm celebrating a birthday - yes I hate to admit it but I am actually 39 - yet again! I was out to dinner with some girlfriends Saturday and tonight I'm off to the Keg with DD and two other couples and then back to our house for birthday cake. Let's face it one "must" have birthday cake on one's birthday.

On the art front, I have been working on Christmas designs for the store. I've also managed to make a couple of 4 x 4 cards for a monthly swap. I don't know why these 4 x 4 beauties appeal to me so much but they do. I just love them!

I'm finally starting to feel more energetic - thank goodness for that!

Here's a little peak at 2 of my new designs.

Traditionally the store has an open house at the end of October. Another one is then held at the other location a week or so later. The gentleman who owns the store likes to have the product in at least a week prior to the Open House so he can price everything and work out his layout etc. So this week I'm working on a couple of more samples for him to approve. I have some popular designs from last year still in stock but I like to try to give him lots of new stuff each year.

I have a pretty good sense of what he likes. He always views them before I make them up and 99 % of the time he gives me the ok to make them up. I'm just about to send these 2 off to him so keep your fingers crossed!

It's the end of summer, the beginning of the season of harvest and only about 15 weeks til Christmas. Where does the time go?

I'm finally starting to come out of my lethargy of the last 6 months. I'm feeling more energized, more focused and more creative. I've let many of my artistic pursuits and interests fall by the wayside. Hopefully, I've turned a corner and will be re-energized artistically.

I am presently focusing on creating some new Christmas designs for the store and have also promised myself that I will create some new wedding designs. I have a couple of art journal pages which have been percolating in my brain for the last several days - I think I'm ready to commit them to paper.

This past week has not been a particularly good week in my neck of the computer world. I've been having issues with the compouter and it's many accessories sporadically now since March. It seems that I get one issue resolved only to be plagued with another. This week my monitor started giving me trouble. I contacted the manufacturer and he says he's pretty sure it's toast. And guess what? My warranty ran out at the end of July. Isn't that special!

Right now I'm working from the laptop but had to hook up my printer to the laptop so I could print off what I needed. Thank god for the laptop is all I can say! It makes me crazier than usual when I can't use my computer. I've wasted so much time during the last few weeks and I'm on a deadline which I'm not meeting and it's nobody's fault but my own. Arrrrgh!!!

I am not spending one more cent on the desktop I have now. I've decided that I'm going to purchase myself a good computer with supersonic speed, kick ass memory card and lots of storage. I'll wait til my darliing daughter returns from her holiday back east as I want her opinion on it and then I'm ordering it !! WOOOOOHOOOOO!

Did I say I was on a deadline? I know I haven't posted lately despite promises to the contrary. It will happen. Honest. I promise....

Here's one more! This one is really quite pretty - it has some sparkle

and it's elegance really appeals to me. The heart is fabric and beautiful.

One of my favourites so far, I think!

Looks like I haven't been doing much lately, but I've been very busy. I was in a contest which I had to pull out of because of work commitments. The first week was fun and I would have loved to continue but life got in the way. Maybe next time around!

I've started a walking program with a friend; we usually walk a minimum of 3 times a week for 45 minutes on our lunch hour. I need the exercise and I know I won't do it after work so this works out very well. I'm into my 4th week now, and while I haven't really seen any changes, I'm enjoying it and it's good for me so that's a "good thing".

I finally have some art to post to me blog. Woohoo!

I've been away from my blog for far too long - I'm back now and will focus on getting some new work up here.

My life has undergone a total change - I went from being happily married for 35 years to being a widow overnight. It's been a very difficult time for my DD and I but we're finally beginning to feel like we're coming out the other side. It will be 4 months on Wednesday, but we still feel his calm presence with us.

I've started a new job and it's wonderful. It is such a refreshing change from my previous position; I feel valued, supported and respected and I'm enjoying the challenge of learning new things and spreading my wings.

DD has resigned her position at her workplace as well and is searching for new employment. Her workplace environment was just too toxic and emotionally draining for her! She's done so well since her Dad died - she's also spread her wings. She has matured and blossomed and has been my rock and my support as well as a wonderful friend to me. I know her Dad would be so pleased!

I've cut back on my cards for the store and will be focusing on wedding cards and Christmas cards for this year. I don't have the time I had when I worked my other job but I quite enjoy the creative process of wedding cards and would like to keep that up. Hopefully, by limiting myself to 2 design lines, I will be more productive, less stressed and more focused. The last thing I want to do is to compromise the quality of the product I produce.

I've joined a new swap and am looking forward to creating some 30 minute collages. I hope to have some new art to show you soon.

Finally - some new art! Enjoy!

I've finally managed to work through most of the necessary paperwork and phone calls relating to my husband's death. I've been filling out forms and making phone calls until I'm blue in the face. It has been tedious and overwhelming, to say the least, but I think most of it is finally done. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to have theses tasks finally completed.

I finally ventured into my studio this evening. It has been 3 months since I have been down here. Since Garry's death, I have had zero desire to create but gradually my creative urges have come back. Earlier this afternoon I was surfing the net, looking for some of the challenge blogs. It's a bit intimidating to look at everything I have and not know where to start. I thought it might be helpful to begin with a small, relatively quick project.

I chose the 4 x 4 Friday challenge site. The theme for this Friday is floral so I figured I'd give that a try. It took awhile longer than I expected to complete my piece of art but it felt good to create again.

This is the piece I created. I recently purchased an HP all in one and I'm having trouble with the scanner - I'm not able to size the scans properly, which by the way, is making me want to poke my eyes out - so my apologies for the incorrect sizing. Hopefully I will master this thing soon.

It's hard to believe that it is 4 weeks since Garry died. It's surreal! My DD and I are managing - we returned from the service in Ottawa a week ago and have started to finally get some semblance of routine and order back into our lives. Since returning, I have been consumed by meetings and paperwork but gradually things are starting to fall into place.

I haven't had a lot of desire to do much and as a result have been doing a lot of sitting around - so much to do. I did, however, start to go through DH's clothes and have been able to pass some of his really nice clothing on to a close friend who is thrilled to have the suits, jackets and shoes. I am equally glad that I could give them to him as I know that Garry would have wanted that.

I haven't been near my studio since we came home from Palm Springs - I just didn't have the desire to go down there. However, gradually I am feeling the creative urge coming back so I hope to be able to go down there and do some art soon. When that time comes, I'll post it to the blog - it's been too long since I did that and I'm sure everyone is bored with the soap opera that seems to have become my life.

We completed DH's funeral arrangementgs in Palm Springs on Thursday afternoon. The gentleman at the funeral home was very kind and helpful so things went very smoothly. While we had originally planned to stay in PS until the creamation was completed, it was not going be done until Monday or Tuesday so we decided to come ahead home.

We arrived home yesterday and are happy to be back in our own house and sleeping in our own beds. While my daughter and I needed to spend those extra days in Palm Springs, waiting for the completion of paperwork etc, that time together also allowed us to start to come to terms with his passing. We are calm and accept what has happened but we also know that there will be times in the future when it will suddenly hit us how profoundly our lives have changed.

We know that eventually we will hit an emotional wall and that there will be difficult times ahead. However we are both strong and we have each other and an enormous amount of support and love from our friends here in BC. We'lll get through this, minute by minute and one day at a time. We feel his calm, loving presence with us still and accept that our lives have changed forever.

We were scheduled to leave Palm Springs on Saturday March 1st. The original plan was the we would take several days to drive back home to BC with us arriving home on March 4th.

Unfortunately, my husband became critically ill and was admitted to Desert Regional Medical Centre here in Palm Springs for emergency surgery on Friday February 29th. Despite heroic efforts to save him, he died at 10:16 am on Sunday March 2nd.

My daughter and I are devasted by his unexpected passing. However after discussing his case with the Medical Examiner's office, we are satisfied with their determination as to his cause of death. The manner and speed of his death was indeed a blessing to him and to us his loved ones. We are totally at peace with his passing.

We are still here in Palm Springs but are looking forward to returning home to BC very soon.

We've been having a fabulous time and then husband hurts himself. He was bringing in the garbage pail from curbside and stepped down funny and his knee gave out. He figured he'd blown his knee so he was surprised when he didn't have any pain. However his hip and down his rump and into his leg was extremely sore. It continued to give him so much pain that he finally went to the Emerg at the local hospital. Turns out he irritated his sciatic nerve. He hasn't been able to get much sleep and has been in constant pain since he injured it. The doctor at the emerg gave him 2 shots, 1 for pain, and gave him 3 persciptions, one being a major pain killer. He's still in quite a bit of pain but is feeling a little better. The Doc told him it would at least 10 days before he's recovered completely.

We leave on Saturday so I'm worried about him being in constant pain while we're on the road. It will be a minimum 8 hours in the vehicle on day one of our return trip. I foresee him suffeing big time. I went to the pharmacy today and found out that because there were no refills on the perscriptions he got, he will need to go back to the hospital to get a renewal or a new perscription. We figured as much and this is not a problem I just want to make sure that he has his pain pills before we start back - I don't think he is going to enjoy the trip home very much!

This has put a bit of a damper on our last week as he hasn't been able to enjoy it as much as he would have liked. We had plans to play a couple of more rounds of golf but I don't think he's going to be able to play. BIL and I will probably still go as the rounds are prepaid and DH will probably tag along to keep us company but he's disappointed and I feel bad for him. But...what can you do?

I think today was the nicest day we've had since we got here. The sky was clear and cloudless and the temperature hovered near 100. The pool was fabulous! The forecast for the remaining days is more of the same so I plan to live in the pool tomorrow - gotta work on my back!

Well we're starting into our last week here. We've had a wonderful time - no issues with work sharing which I was afraid we would have. Everything has run very smoothly and we've had a fabulous time. I will be sad to leave but now that we're into the home stretch I find myself starting to think about things at home....all the things I need to do once I get home :)

No news on the job front - I'm hoping they just have me on "ignore" because they know I'm away. I'm not going to worry about it - I'm just going to let it be and whatever is going to happen will happen. I have, however, heard of another opportunity that is coming up so who knows, maybe that will work out if this one doesn't.

I went on a shopping spree at Walmart yesterday. Not exactly high fashion but the prices were excellent and the selection for larger sizes was fabulous. I bought 3 pairs of shorts (had already bought 2 pairs on a previous trip), 2 pairs of dressy capris suitable for the office and 3 blouses. I was really pleased with my purchases and didn't have to float a loan to buy this stuff so it's all good. After I get offline, we're off to Foot Locker for some runners for DH and then to Target so I can check out their scrapbooking section. Someone on-line was talking about their grunge board and embellishments and since DH will be in the neighbourhood I will be tagging along.

Gotta Run

We're into week three and it seems that the time is just flying by. The weather has been fabulous and I've managed to get a very good tan (at least it's a good tan for me!) and have managed to avoid getting burned. Today is a little overcast and a bit cooler so the trip to the Outlets that we cancelled Friday is on for today. Husband wants to get some new runners and I'm hoping (not holding my breath, but hoping) that there's a Kohl's or Lane Bryant at the Outlets. I hear that Kohls has fabulous stuff and equally fabulous prices so I'm wanting to check them out. If they aren't at the Outlets I may have to take some time away from the pool to do a little shopping!

We golfed with a friend Monday - I had a terrible game. I think I played every stinking sand trap on the course and let me tell you there are a lot of them! I think the golf gods were just putting me in my place and letting me know that I was a little too full of myself after my landmark game on the weekend. I had 2 firsts - I had my best game ever and I broke 100 - came in with a 99. Wooohooo!

While the boys were golfing on Tuesday, I spent the day by the pool, floating on a recliner. Sheer heaven! Last night we went to the Casino again - I'm not even going to talk about it. Suffice it to say Sandy minus, casino plus and let's just leave it at that!

I'm getting tons of sleep - averaging at least 8 hours a night, sometimes 10 hours so I'm feeling rested and rejuvenated. Hopefully the rest and relaxation will jumpstart my creativity and I'll be able to get right back into the swing of things when I get home. Until then, I'm going to veg out and just soak up the rays!

Well, we are halfway through our time here in Palm Springs and are having a fabulous time. There have been 2 days that were not so great and the rest of the time the weather has been outstanding - averaging around 80 degrees every day.

Three of this years group are golfers so we've been splitting our time between golfing and lying around the pool. Other years, some of us have spent too much time on the golf course and not enough by the pool so that has been remedied this year. Yesterday we played at the Doral Course at Desert Princess. I had a wonderful round and celebrated a couple of golfing firsts - I had my best round ever and I broke 100 - I came in with 99 .....woooohooo! Now that I've done it once, I know I can do it again so I have a goal to work towards.

We've made numerous trips to the casino - so far we've only gone to the Spa Casino which is quite close to the house. I did manage to win a $500 jackpot on the nickle machines but other than that, the casino has come out ahead. Well you know what they say - it's not hard to win money at the casino, it's just hard to get out the casino with the money you've won.

Today is a pool day - I'm starting to get "owl eyes", those white circles around the eyes from the sunglasses. So today the plan is to try to lose the sunglasses for awhile and get a tan happening around the eyes. If all else fails, I'll have to purchase some of that sunless tanning cream to even out the tan. Lifes tough isn't it?

We are thoroughly enjoying our time here in Palm Springs. The weather, except for the storm that came through a week ago Sunday, has been absolutely fabulous....hot, hot, hot.

This morning we played some golf - we had an early tee time but we got our wires crossed and showed up today instead of tomorrow. We were able to play 9 holes and that was good and then we came home to lay around the pool. At 12:30 it was 86 in the shade - ya gotta like that!

Not sure what our plans are for this evening. We're doing burgers for supper and then who knows? The others might want to go to the casino but I will probably pass on that. The casino has not been good to me so I think I need a little time out. In any case, I'm quite happy to hit the sack early - I was in bed at 8:30 last night - I don't have a tv in the bedroom at home so it's a real treat to be able to lie in bed and watch tv. Just another little piece of paradise!

Well we started our annual vacation in Palm Springs. We left home in Pitt Meadows at 7 am on January 30th. We finally made it to PS - but it was quite the journey and we're not likely to forget it for awhile. It took us 2 hours to get from our house in PM to the Port Mann bridge, a trip that would usually take about 20 minutes! It was gridlock near the bridge and the roads were terrible. Garry says Mainroad must have been eating donuts all night as the roads were awful. The late start put us late into Canyonville but it all worked out and probably saved us a couple of bucks at the casino.

We normally make the trip in 2 1/2 days. We stop at Seven Feathers Casino in Oregon the first night, then on day 2 drive on as far as Buttonwillow, a little place outside of Bakersfield, and spend the night there. BTW - the Willow Barbecue there is fabulous, which is why we plan our trip to stop there every time! From there it's only about 4 hours into Palm Springs so it's a nice short relaxing drive through LA - well as relaxing as driving thru LA can be - and we don't have to fight a huge rush hour traffic jam.

Unfortunately, Day 2 was quite difficult. We only got about an hour away from our hotel when we discovered that they weren't letting anyone go further unless they had chains. We stopped in Medford but couldn't get chains because they didn't have low profile chains to fit our tires. We ended up purchasing something equivalent called the "spider" to the tune of $ 400, We got in line but lost one of the chains so had to go back to the shop to have it fixed. By the time we got back to the freeway, it was closed for 5 hours so we spent the afternoon sitting in a parking lot. When we finally got onto the freeway we had to go thru a chain checkpoint. Halfway to the checkpoint, we lost a chain so they turned us back, The first time we lost a chain we found it but the second time it was hopeless - just too many vehicles and they diverted us via a different road so we were SOL.

So back we go to Les Schwab in Ashland. By now it's 530 and we just squeaked in before they closed at 6 pm.! Very nice people there! They re-installed a new set - they said the first shop hadn't installed it properly and that was why we kept losing one. It was almost 7 pm before we got thru the chain checkpoint and on our way again. So at that point we were a full 10 hours behind schedule. The in-laws were arriving on Friday afternoon so we were worried we wouldn't arrive in time.

Long story short, we went thru 2 mountain passes requiring chains so had to chain up twice. The weather was good but the roads were really bad, especially through Shasta. The big transports were almost pushing us off the road and the second lane wasn't fully plowed in some areas. We could only go about 25 mph with the chains on so it was a little hairy to say the least!

We ended up driving all night and only stopped for gas and then for breakfast at 445 am. Unfortnately, we didn't get to stop in Buttonwill - phooee! We drove until 630 but just could not go any further so we grabbed an hour and a half sleep in one of the rest stops about 2 hours this side of Buttonwillow and then drove on to PS. We ended up here right on time, well actually probably an hour ahead of ourselves. What a trip!

The inlaws didn't get out of Ottawa on Friday anyway because of a huge storm, They had to re-book their flight and didn't get into PS til about 830 pm Sunday evening. They couldn't fly out of LA and had to be bussed from LA to PS because we had a huge storm here yesterday afternoon. The wind was incredible - trees down, sand blowing everywhere, power out for 12 hours - unbelievable! But they did get in safely so all is good.

Weather was nice here earlier this morning but has started to cloud over a little. Hopefully it will clear up - theyre saying it will get increasingly warmer as the week goes on so that's a good thing. However, did manage to get in the pool for a couple of hours yesterday so it's all good.

I finally finished the new cards for the shop and delivered them today. Because I was so disorganized, I had to make two deliveries instead of one but husband came with me to keep me company, so it was a nice drive and time well spent.

I'm so glad to have them done; they were weighing me down because I knew they needed to be delivered before I could move on to the other 20 things on my "to do list" before I leave for vacation. Anyway, that's all done now so I can focus on other projects.

I've been remiss in my posting - it's been extremely busy in my little corner of paradise. I've had some exciting stuff happening on the work front - more about that later - and I've been trying to get caught up on all the things I let slide in the pre-Christmas rush. Does one ever get caught up?

We're getting ready for our annual trip to Palm Springs. We leave on January 30th and will not back until March 5th. I'm sooooooo looking forward to lying around the pool and soaking up the rays - especially when I look out the window and see the snow coming down. I was just thinking yesterday that the trees were about to burst into leaf and now this cold snap comes through again so it will probably set that process back several days. It's been quite cold here which is unusual for the Coast. We usually get quite mild weather here at this time of year, well at least compared to back east it's mild! Where else can you run around in a light jacket in the middle of January?

I bought husband a laptop for Christmas so we'll be bringing it with us to Palm Springs. I'm pleased about that because it means I can access my e-mail from my groups and still post to my blog, even if it is just text.

Happy New Year to one and all. These wishes are a little late, but better late than never I always say!

I cannot believe that it's already almost 3 weeks since Christmas. Where has the time gone? I had a fabulous Christmas - my husband spoilt me rotten as did my daughter. I bought husband a laptop which surprised the heck out of him. He's very happy with it - so am I because now I have my computer back....woohoo!

I'm disappointed that I haven't posted as often lately. I plan to rectify that over the next few weeks. I'm getting ready to leave for Palm Springs at the end of the month so , while I will have a computer with me, I won't have any art to post. Plan is to get as much as I can done and posted before I go so I won't have a lot of time to waste during the next couple of weeks!

Some goals for 2008:

1 - to have at least on piece of art published
2 - to participate in more swaps
3 - to organize my rubber stamps and keep them organized
4 - to purge some of my supplies and pass them on to someone who can use them
5 - to grow both professionally and artistically

Hmmmmm - seems I will be a very busy girl in the coming months!

Well, Christmas is over for another year and Santa was very good to me again. I'm not sure whether that means I was a very good girl or a very bad girl. In any case, I've been spoilt yet again!

Our Christmas dinner went very well. We have no family here so the last few years it has just been the three of us, which I quite enjoy as it is such a busy time of year. This year we planned on having a couple of coworkers with us as they are orphans as well. At close to the last minute, we added another couple so we had morphed into seven from three. The turkey was big enough - just! - and I made enough food to feed a small army so it was all good. We ate dinner and then sat around the table and chatted for several hours,which is the part that I think I like the best.

It has been a wonderful holiday season !

It's been a busy couple of weeks but I think I'm just about there! As of Monday, I hadn't even started my Christmas cards and only had about a quarter of my Christmas shopping done. It's amazing how much work you can get done when your're on a tight deadline. I was able to come up with a design that worked for me; it met all the criteria, elegant (at least I think it is) with a little bit of wow factor. It made up fairly quickly and I managed to get 30 done and out in the mail Tuesday and Wednesday. I still have about 5 more to make but they will be hand delivered when I visit with them before Christmas. I'll use the same design but glitz it up a notch further because I have fewer to make and more time to do it.

I finished up the majority of my shopping today with just a few things to pick up locally in my normal running around prior to Christmas. I hit Chapters - a bad place for me to go when they have a sale on but I did manage to get one Christmas present - the rest of the goodies were for me. I just couldn't resist some of those titles and when you can purchase a hard cover book for half the price of a paperback, what's not to like?

Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

Since Friday we've had a dump of snow out here on the Coast. I'm not sure how much we got but it has stayed. It looks so nice and fresh - "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!". The weatherman tells us that it won't last - he says to expect the "pineapple express" to come through sometime later this evening or in the early hours of the morning. That will bring warmer weather and lots of rain which will keep up for a couple of days. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted! In the meantime, here are a couple more of my Christmas cards. Enjoy!

I've been busy making Christmas cards. I love making Christmas cards and it always puts me in a festive mood. I'm working on a special order so I can't hang out here too long today but I thought I'd post some of my Christmas art.

Finally finished all my 3 x 3's for the swap on Altered Designs. I really enjoyed doing this - I got a chance to play, something that doesn't happen all that much lately. I dug into the stash I've been collecting and it was really nice to be able to use my treasures on these little peices of art! And I'm so pleased with how they turned out - I hope the gals who receive them are happy with them!

There's been a lot going on so haven't posted much art lately. We've had the requisite number of crises and catatstrophes at work - lots of drama and noise - but things seem to have settled down now for the short term. I've been laid up sick with a lousy cold - I guess that's what happens when you brag about not falling victim to a bad cold for years....the cold god decides to pay you back!

I'm still working on some art to post - hopefully later this afternoon as I'm finishing up some projects that I've fallen behind in completing. Hopefully I'll be able to get thoses worked out and posted later this afternoon.

In the meantime, here's an ATC I did for the Stampington ATC swap over on CCSwaps. The background paper is a scrap of paper towel that was under my paper when I was making my painted acrylic backgrounds. I thought it was too nice to throw away so I kept it to use and luckily it came in handy here. It has bits of gold paint, which probably don't show up that well on the scan, but it's quite pretty when you view it in person. The down side is that because the paper was textured, the stamped imaged isn't as dark as I would have liked it .

Finally pretty well caught up with everything on the list. My project list has shrunk considerably - when will I learn that I cannot over-commit myself? My problem is that there is so much I want to do "artwise" but so little time to do it!

Here are two more pages from my Skinny Book swap. I'm not sure if they are finished yet so I've set them aside to germinate for a couple of days and then I'll re-evalute to see if I want to do more on them.

It's been a busy several weeks and my posting fell way behind. Hopefully I can get back into the groove again and bring my blog back up to date. I've mentioned the Skinny Book Swap being hosted over at the Altered Abbey and have finally finished my pages - well almost! I still have a bit of tweaking to do but it's 90% finished so so I thought I'd give you a little peak. I hope you enjoy them.

I'm in to the home stretch - only 1 more Open House to prepare for and then I'm on to some projects that have been put on the back burner.

I'm getting a little stressed about the skinny book - haven't done a darn thing on it and the deadline is less than a month away. I am committed to 26 pages of original artwork, which thank goodness does not have to be all the same. So the plan is to come up with designs for 5 pages. I'll make 5 pages of each of these designs, probably varying colours and embellishments so they are all original but a variation on a theme. I just can't see myself coming up with 26 designs - that's a little over the top for me!

Well, must get back to the grind stone. I haven't posted any art for ages so will try to get some of that on the blog soon.

Ciao!

I'm deep in the throes of a major production push - trying to get ready for the Open House at the store is keeping me very busy. Of course, things came up which prevented me from getting as much accomoplished as I would have like but I'm getting there. I have 1 set almost completed, a second set 75% completed and then 3 smaller sets to make up. Delivery is Monday the 15rh - no doubt I will deliver just before close but I am confident I will deliver so that is a good thing.

My shoulder has been killing me for the last week or so. I went back to work on Monday and my shoulder ached so bad on Sunday night that I only got about 2 hours sleep the whole night. I tossed and turned for an hour and a half until I finally got up and watched TV for a couple of hours. I was meeting myself coming and going to heat up my bean bag to put on the shoulder from hell, hoping to kill the pain but it just would not go away. I took a couple of pills before I went to bed - that would be in addition to the 2 valerian I took to help me sleep - and then took another 3 Ibuprofen at 230 because the shoulder was still throbbing like a rotten tooth ache. I got myself into the massage therapist this afternoon - it was wonderful - but by the time I got to work I had a nasty headache, probably from all the tension she forced out during the massage. I have another massage booked for Saturday afternoon so I'm really looking forward to that. Guess I'm back to my twice weekly therapeutic massages - they save my life - I don't think I need to suffer with the shoulder if the message can get rid of the pain.

I haven't posted any art for awhile - I'm working on a couple of ATCs for a season swap that was due on September 30th but which hasn't gone out yet. I was sooooo busy with the Music Deco and other things that I totally forgot about the ATCs so will try to remember to scan them before I send them off.

I'm starting to get a little stressed about the Skinny book I'm in - it's due in Kristy's hands by November 17th and I haven't even started it yet. I have to do 26 pages of original artwork. The good thing about it is that they don't all have to be the same so I plan to design 5 or 6 pages and then do variations on them for the original art. I'm looking forward to that but right now my plate seems pretty full. No one to blame for that but myself though!

Oh, and I treated myself to one of those fancy paper cutters - I think it's called a Dream Kutter (from Dream Kuts). It's designed for 12 x 12 paper - I use standard letter size cardstock - but I've played with the various cuts and I think this little gizmo will save me a ton of time and frustration. I cannot cut a straight line to save my life so I'm really looking forward to getting my hot little hands on this baby!

I celebrated a birthday on Friday. How did I get to be so old? Unbelievable. I feel 16 on the inside. We had a lovely dinner out with a couple of friends and then back to our place for dessert and coffee. Everyone was tired so it certainly wasn't a late night

I've been busy catching up on stock for the store. Ron needs some birthday and anniversary cards and I still need to produce the stock for the open house so I'm going to be busy for awhile.

I'm participating in a Music Deco Round Robin over on Altered Designs. This is my first Deco ever so I'm both a little overwhelmed and a little excited. I've kind of dropped the ball at the beginning - my book should have gone postal by now. It hasn't but I'm working on it!

I chose "Candle in the Wind" as the theme for my spread in Anne Atkinsons's Deco . Anne asked that everyone make an ATC for their sign-in - great idea. My contribution for sign-in is on the right.

I have a ton of work to do in this next few days. I signed up for a music deco just about 3 weeks ago, just got my first deco a couple of days ago and I'm already behind the eight ball. Good Grief! I also have to make up some new samples and stock for the shop. I hope to have some new art to show you in a couple of days but in the meantime here are a couple of more of my 4 x 4 collages.

Wow this month is flying by! I've been sooooooo busy with my 4 x 4 collages - I can't believe how many I've created. It's been a lot of fun! These little gems are addictive. Here are two more that I created for the swap.

I'm in catchup mode - I was working on new designs for the Open House for the store and a few things went by the wayside. Here are a couple of the 4 x 4 collages I made for the swap on Altered Designs. I hope to get the remaining few out in the mail in the next day or so.

I just came off night shift Monday morning. I had a good sleep - about 7 hours - but was falling asleep on the couch by 8pm. Finally woke up at about 930 pm and decided I had better toddle off to bed. I had a grand sleep but was then wide awake at 3 am .... so I've been down in the workroom for the last couple of hours working on art for swaps etc.

These two 4 x 4's are for a "Your theme" mingle being held over on the Altered Designs group hosted by Kelly Burton. I'm quite pleased with the end result and I hope the recipients will be as well. Two down and only eight more to go!

I'm playing in another swap over on CC swaps. Those gals sure run some great swaps! I've really been pretty active over there lately. I'm having fun and using up some of my gigantic stash of supplies. This particular "Doodle " swap was a stretch for me and I might do more of these types of ATCs in future.

I managed to get through the week and still hold on to the tiny shred of sanity I still have left. Husband was released from hospital on Thursday after having completed a battery of tests. He had an angiogram on Thursday and that came back clear. No blockages at all which was very good news. He came out of the hospital none the worse for wear except for an eye infection which was pretty gross looking.

The cardiologist is sending him for a couple of more tests just to make sure eveything is ok and then he's all done. He's back smoking for the next week or so as he has a boys weekend planned but has promised me he will start his smoking cessation meds when he comes back next weekend.I've made my feeling clear and that's the end of it.....I will not fight with him about this!

He is off work this block, and took next Friday off as well as he is up in Kamloops for a golf tournament. I've also booked some time off as I have several days to burn off thatI can't carry over to next year. I'm soooo looking forward to some down time that I can devote to art!

It has been a very hectic couple of days for me. Saturday night my husband was admitted to ERH. He was suffering from deep chest pains and was having trouble breathing. They kept him overnight and he saw the cardiologist on Sunday afternoon and was admitted to the MCU (Monitored Care Unit).

The cardiologist is fairly certain that he did not have a heart attack - yet! However, she believes that he has some kind of blockage in his artery. He was kept in and today he is being taken to another local hospital to have an angiogram. If they find a blockage and it's not too severe, they will also do an angioplasty. If the blockage is too severe, then he would be looking at a bypass of some kind. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they find a small blockage. If it comes back clear then that raises a whole host of questions as to what caused his pain?

My husband is a smoker - sorry, was, a smoker. The cardiologist read him the riot act about smoking and insisted, with my support, that he stop smoking immediately. She wouldn't even let him go outside for a last puff before sticking the patch on him. It was really quite humourous to see this big tough guy whining and coaxing, trying to get his way. The nurses were wonderful - he wasn't happy about not being able to smoke and he wasn't happy about being held in the hospital - one of them told him "suck it up, princess"! Hilarious.

Will keep you posted on his progress!

It's been a busy week but I did manage to get some 3 x 3 art done for a swap I'm in over on Altered Designs. These little guys are challenging but fun. I learnt the hard way that you need to plan your space a little better than you would on a larger piece - 3 inches square is not very big - otherwise you run out of room! I do think, however, that this is a case of where less is definitely more. I think I may have developed another addiction! And what a great way to use up all those little bits and piece of your precious papers and scraps. Bonus!