Ok, so I said I would post my "hated journal page" so here it is. Caio!
Friday, April 06, 2012
Hated Journal Page
It's unbelievable to me that I've been back from holidays for more than three weeks. Where the heck has the time gone?
Ok, so I said I would post my "hated journal page" so here it is. Caio!
Ok, so I said I would post my "hated journal page" so here it is. Caio!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Home sweet home
We've been home a week now and we're back in the swing of things. Work is busy and my to do list seems to grow daily.
Weather here has been cold - well cold compared to Palm Springs weather. I planted a bunch of crocuses and they were all up when we came home. I wasn't sure how many to plant in each spot so I planted in bunches of 5 & 7. They are all mixed colours - no rhyme or reason as to which colours went where. They really look nice and will multiply like crazy so next year I will have a great bunch of flowers.
This is my 3 day weekend and I haven't even left the house. Just hanging out and putzing around in my workroom. I've come to the conclusion that I have finally reached the point of "too much stuff"! My workroom is usually a mess after I make a bunch of stuff and this time was no exception. So when we returned from our trip my goal was to try to create some kind of order out of the chaos. For the most part I have succeeded. I just need to either use up some supplies or throw them out. Not sure that's going to happen, although I did throw out a partially full containe of ultra thick embossing powder. I haven't touched it for several years so it got tossed. Baby steps....
Weather here has been cold - well cold compared to Palm Springs weather. I planted a bunch of crocuses and they were all up when we came home. I wasn't sure how many to plant in each spot so I planted in bunches of 5 & 7. They are all mixed colours - no rhyme or reason as to which colours went where. They really look nice and will multiply like crazy so next year I will have a great bunch of flowers.
This is my 3 day weekend and I haven't even left the house. Just hanging out and putzing around in my workroom. I've come to the conclusion that I have finally reached the point of "too much stuff"! My workroom is usually a mess after I make a bunch of stuff and this time was no exception. So when we returned from our trip my goal was to try to create some kind of order out of the chaos. For the most part I have succeeded. I just need to either use up some supplies or throw them out. Not sure that's going to happen, although I did throw out a partially full containe of ultra thick embossing powder. I haven't touched it for several years so it got tossed. Baby steps....
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
I hate my journal page
I've completed my art journal page and I absolutely hate it ! It looks like a piece of garbage. I am so frustrated as I've spent a lot of time and effort on this thing and it stinks big time. I refuse to rip it out of my journal. I feel like I'm just wasting my time on something that is never going to get any better. I just finally said enough already. I journalled about how much I hate it and I'm calling it a day and moving on to something else.
I'm really frustrated with myself and my lack of inspiration. I follow Journal Artista religiously and I've seen all the pages she creates with circles and swirls. She makes it look so easy and her work is so vibrant. Mine ends up looking like a dog's breakfast. I don't know if I'm overworking it or overthinking it, or maybe I just don't have a friggin clue what I'm doing. What the hell is going on? Suffice it so say I AM FED UP !!
I've spent a lot of time on the computer during this vacation - surfing Youtube and watching journal videos. I feel like I've really learned a lot and that I have a better understanding of the process. Having said that, I can't seem to find my style and I can't seem to make what I've done work. Out of 2 pages, one is ok and the other? Not so much.
I'm hoping that part of the problem is that I have very limited supplies with me - just a few stamps, a little acrylic paint and some watercolour crayons. All my colour washes and other paints and tools are at home. I keep telling myself that the lack of supplies is what's causing the problem. I really hope that's the case! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I just needed to vent! Enough whining. I'll post by "hated " page when I get home. You can judge for yourselves.
Caio
I'm really frustrated with myself and my lack of inspiration. I follow Journal Artista religiously and I've seen all the pages she creates with circles and swirls. She makes it look so easy and her work is so vibrant. Mine ends up looking like a dog's breakfast. I don't know if I'm overworking it or overthinking it, or maybe I just don't have a friggin clue what I'm doing. What the hell is going on? Suffice it so say I AM FED UP !!
I've spent a lot of time on the computer during this vacation - surfing Youtube and watching journal videos. I feel like I've really learned a lot and that I have a better understanding of the process. Having said that, I can't seem to find my style and I can't seem to make what I've done work. Out of 2 pages, one is ok and the other? Not so much.
I'm hoping that part of the problem is that I have very limited supplies with me - just a few stamps, a little acrylic paint and some watercolour crayons. All my colour washes and other paints and tools are at home. I keep telling myself that the lack of supplies is what's causing the problem. I really hope that's the case! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I just needed to vent! Enough whining. I'll post by "hated " page when I get home. You can judge for yourselves.
Caio
All good things must come to an end
The trip is quickly winding down. Only 3 more days and then we're on a flight back to Vancouver. We've had a wonderful trip and have enjoyed ourselves immensly. We're golfing today and tomorrow and then plan to enjoy our last pool day on Friday. Friday night we're off to see Willie Nelson at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio. Then Saturday morning we're on the milk run back to Vancouver. We have a stopover in Edmonton for about 3 hours and then from there we fly into Vancouver. Why through Edmonton you ask? I checked with Airmiles to see if I could change our flight but unfornately there are no airmiles seats remaining on the flights direct into Vancouver or Abbotsford. It will be a long day but not much we can do about it. At least we have a flight so it is what it is.
Now that the trip is almost over we're looking forward to getting home to our own beds. We've really missed our 3 fur babies - Daisy, Kirby and yes, even nasty old Socks. Initially Socks will not be happy with us - she'll give us "the tail" and hiss. Then she'll be all over us. We're looking forward to some cat love.
Well gotta run.... I hear the golf course calling my name.
Caio
Now that the trip is almost over we're looking forward to getting home to our own beds. We've really missed our 3 fur babies - Daisy, Kirby and yes, even nasty old Socks. Initially Socks will not be happy with us - she'll give us "the tail" and hiss. Then she'll be all over us. We're looking forward to some cat love.
Well gotta run.... I hear the golf course calling my name.
Caio
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Coming to the end
We're coming to the end of our time here in paradise. We leave for home on Saturday March 10th. At this point in the trip I always start to think about home and everything that waits for me there. I'm always a little sad to leave and I'm already looking forward to coming back next year.
We've had a wonderful, relaxing time. The weather has been really great and we've played a ton of golfing and had lots of days around the pool. Both Kerry and I are tanned and she and I have gotten along famously.
I managed to complete 2 art journal pages - one for a travelling journal group I'm in and the second for one of my journals. Based on the limited supplies I have with me they turned out pretty well. I must admit though that I really had to work at them, they don't seem to come easy to me. However, I've been watching a ton of journalling technique videos - I love Journal Artista - and I think I've somewhat lost some of my apprehension about journalling. I think I may tend to 'overthink" the process and the fact that I'm a bit of a perfectionist does not help the situation!
Well gotta run - I can hear the pool calling my name.
Oh, BTW, today it's 85 in Palm Springs. Just saying......
Caio
We've had a wonderful, relaxing time. The weather has been really great and we've played a ton of golfing and had lots of days around the pool. Both Kerry and I are tanned and she and I have gotten along famously.
I managed to complete 2 art journal pages - one for a travelling journal group I'm in and the second for one of my journals. Based on the limited supplies I have with me they turned out pretty well. I must admit though that I really had to work at them, they don't seem to come easy to me. However, I've been watching a ton of journalling technique videos - I love Journal Artista - and I think I've somewhat lost some of my apprehension about journalling. I think I may tend to 'overthink" the process and the fact that I'm a bit of a perfectionist does not help the situation!
Well gotta run - I can hear the pool calling my name.
Oh, BTW, today it's 85 in Palm Springs. Just saying......
Caio
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Halfway point of our trip
We're at the halfway point in our trip and we're having a fabulous time. The weather has been outstanding and we've enjoyed 4 days of pool time. Yesterday it was close to 90 and it's supposed to be the same today. Tomorrow is also supposed to be warm but we've decided to golf anyway. Taqhitz has lots of trees so there will be shade for Kerry and since our tee time is around 130 the temperature will be dropping as we get later into the round.
Went to the casino on Thursday night.....bad idea! Suffice it to say I did not win any money.
Tuesday I did some craft supply shopping, I hit Big Lots, Joannes and TJ Maxx and scored some bargoons. At first I was disappointed with Big Lots. I watch all the fabulous craft hauls on You Tube and didn't really see a lot on first glance. Then I realized that you had to dig, dig, dig so I did and came up with some cool stuff. They didn't have a lot of stamp sets but I did score some individual stamps and lots of other stuff that I don't see at home.
The last time we were at Walmart I bought a pair of sneakers and I've done some walking down here. Nothing spectacular and certainly not marathon material, but it's a start. I'm very out of shape so I'm just taking my time and trying not to do too much. Twice in the last 3 days is pretty good progress for me so I'm pleased with myself. The goal is to get the habit in place so I can continue it at home.
Oh, I also bought myself an Ipod. I've been using my daughter's at work because she said she didn't use it unless travelling. However she's discovered a whole lot of neat apps she can use and so she's really stoked to use it. I gave her back her ipod and bought myself one - 8G with camera for $198 at Walmart. I think that's a pretty good price but not really sure. Anyway, I'm enjoying this little gadget. I supervise a team of 4 and the 5 of us work in a small office. I really don't like the radios on because the office is so small. I've always used an MP3 which is OK but not optimum. Now that I have my IPOD I'm looking forward to being able to use it at work. I think I have something like 1000 songs to choose from. I love that I can store so much on this little device. Who knew?
I've managed to finish the journal spread for the Travelling Journals project. I'm pleased with how it turned out. It wasn't very spontaneous, however, I did put a lot of work into it and considering the limited supplies I have with me, it turned out not too bad. I took some pictures on my IPOD so I'll upload later, if I can figure out how to do that !
The pool is calling my name so gotta run. Caio.
Went to the casino on Thursday night.....bad idea! Suffice it to say I did not win any money.
Tuesday I did some craft supply shopping, I hit Big Lots, Joannes and TJ Maxx and scored some bargoons. At first I was disappointed with Big Lots. I watch all the fabulous craft hauls on You Tube and didn't really see a lot on first glance. Then I realized that you had to dig, dig, dig so I did and came up with some cool stuff. They didn't have a lot of stamp sets but I did score some individual stamps and lots of other stuff that I don't see at home.
The last time we were at Walmart I bought a pair of sneakers and I've done some walking down here. Nothing spectacular and certainly not marathon material, but it's a start. I'm very out of shape so I'm just taking my time and trying not to do too much. Twice in the last 3 days is pretty good progress for me so I'm pleased with myself. The goal is to get the habit in place so I can continue it at home.
Oh, I also bought myself an Ipod. I've been using my daughter's at work because she said she didn't use it unless travelling. However she's discovered a whole lot of neat apps she can use and so she's really stoked to use it. I gave her back her ipod and bought myself one - 8G with camera for $198 at Walmart. I think that's a pretty good price but not really sure. Anyway, I'm enjoying this little gadget. I supervise a team of 4 and the 5 of us work in a small office. I really don't like the radios on because the office is so small. I've always used an MP3 which is OK but not optimum. Now that I have my IPOD I'm looking forward to being able to use it at work. I think I have something like 1000 songs to choose from. I love that I can store so much on this little device. Who knew?
I've managed to finish the journal spread for the Travelling Journals project. I'm pleased with how it turned out. It wasn't very spontaneous, however, I did put a lot of work into it and considering the limited supplies I have with me, it turned out not too bad. I took some pictures on my IPOD so I'll upload later, if I can figure out how to do that !
The pool is calling my name so gotta run. Caio.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Life is good!
The weather here in PS has been a little on the cool side. The last couple of days it's been windy and cool and last night we had a pretty good storm. They had snow in Joshua Tree and about 12 inches in the higher elevations over 3000 feet.
Yesterday we had a lazy day and just lay around until around 2 pm. I decided since it wasn't a particularly nice day that I'd do some errands. We hit Michaels for a bottle of craft paint and some decorative tape. I didn't plan to buy a lot, however there were bargoons to be had. Need I say more? I scored a "Doodle style" smash book (very cool) for $ 12.95, 3 smash pads @ $ 1.99 each, 3 KC company tag stacks @ 1.99 each and some very cute black and white polka dot tape. Very cute! I have no idea what these cost back in Vancouver but I suspect I would have paid considerably more. I'm in a travelling journal swap and I brought that journal with me to PS. I also brought one of my own journals with me to work in, hence the "need" for some white acrylic paint, which I also picked up at Michaels.
Next stop was ULTA where I purchased some Bare Minerals foundation and blush. I had an on-line coupon for 20% off one item, but who knew? It didn't apply to Prestige cosmetics. Big surprise there! No big deal not being able to use it - just seems that I can never take advantage of a coupon as I never buy the right product. Story of my life!
Last stop was dinner at Di Carlos Italian Restaurant in Rancho Mirage where my daughter treated me (treated...is that even a word?) to dinner. This restaurant is always on our "must do" list. The food is scrumptious, the staff and owner are really friendly and the service is great. His business is just a license to print money! Line-ups most of the time at night so you need to get there early or be prepared to wait. They have an early bird menu that runs from 3 (I think) until 6pm. On the special you get your choice of 3 or 4 selections which are a "smaller" size entree - yeah right, I can never eat all of it and I have a good appetite! - salad with homemade garlic dressing (to die for) and garlic bread for $ 9.95. What a deal! I highly recommend that you check them out if you're in the Coachella Valley.
We were home by 6:15 and just hung out in front of the fire for the rest of the evening. We watched the Canucks game - GO CANUCKS - and then some of the Property Brothers (love those guys). At around 1 am I gravitated to the computer where I surfed until after 3. Then off to bed, where you guessed it, I couldn't sleep. Oh well, guess I'll be in bed early tonight. That's what holidays are for, right? Life is good.
Caio !
Yesterday we had a lazy day and just lay around until around 2 pm. I decided since it wasn't a particularly nice day that I'd do some errands. We hit Michaels for a bottle of craft paint and some decorative tape. I didn't plan to buy a lot, however there were bargoons to be had. Need I say more? I scored a "Doodle style" smash book (very cool) for $ 12.95, 3 smash pads @ $ 1.99 each, 3 KC company tag stacks @ 1.99 each and some very cute black and white polka dot tape. Very cute! I have no idea what these cost back in Vancouver but I suspect I would have paid considerably more. I'm in a travelling journal swap and I brought that journal with me to PS. I also brought one of my own journals with me to work in, hence the "need" for some white acrylic paint, which I also picked up at Michaels.
Next stop was ULTA where I purchased some Bare Minerals foundation and blush. I had an on-line coupon for 20% off one item, but who knew? It didn't apply to Prestige cosmetics. Big surprise there! No big deal not being able to use it - just seems that I can never take advantage of a coupon as I never buy the right product. Story of my life!
Last stop was dinner at Di Carlos Italian Restaurant in Rancho Mirage where my daughter treated me (treated...is that even a word?) to dinner. This restaurant is always on our "must do" list. The food is scrumptious, the staff and owner are really friendly and the service is great. His business is just a license to print money! Line-ups most of the time at night so you need to get there early or be prepared to wait. They have an early bird menu that runs from 3 (I think) until 6pm. On the special you get your choice of 3 or 4 selections which are a "smaller" size entree - yeah right, I can never eat all of it and I have a good appetite! - salad with homemade garlic dressing (to die for) and garlic bread for $ 9.95. What a deal! I highly recommend that you check them out if you're in the Coachella Valley.
We were home by 6:15 and just hung out in front of the fire for the rest of the evening. We watched the Canucks game - GO CANUCKS - and then some of the Property Brothers (love those guys). At around 1 am I gravitated to the computer where I surfed until after 3. Then off to bed, where you guessed it, I couldn't sleep. Oh well, guess I'll be in bed early tonight. That's what holidays are for, right? Life is good.
Caio !
Monday, February 13, 2012
blogging from Paradise
We're ensconced in our rental house in Palm Springs. Heaven!
We were both up early on Friday and thank goodness for that! We usually fly out of either Bellingham or Abbotsford - last time it was Abbotsford - so we've been spoilt by the lack of lines and how fast we can get through customs. YVR is a far different story. Luckily for us, we were awake at 5 am so left for the airport earlier than we had originally planned. The trip through check in, even though we were already checked in, was slow and disorganized. Then we had to hike over to the international baggage area to drop off our luggage. Some little east indian baggage handler was yelling at us. No help provided, just yelling. Rude, Rude, Rude....can you say annoying? I just wanted to reach out and slap him.
We had planned to grab breakfast at the airport since we couldn't get breakfast at the hotel. Unfortunatly with all the lineups we never did get anything to eat. We also had to line up to go through the security check - the line had at least a 100 people in it! Going through security is always such a treat! From there we lined up to go through US customs. Thankfully that went very quickly. We just made it to our gate in time for the start of boarding. The flight was uneventful.
We arrived on in Palm Springs at around 11:30 on Friday to a fabulous, sunny and warm day - 84 degrees. We vehicle rental check in went well and we were able to get the HHR I requested....woohoo!! We were 2 hours early, however, the rental company had the house all ready for us so there was no waiting around. Don't you love it when a plan comes together? The rental house is lovely and is way up there on the cozy meter. It's a new rental in the rental pool and so is missing a few of the "it would be nice to have's" but other than that it's great. Huge yard, good sized pool, nice spa and lots of privacy.
I spent Saturday in the pool - sheer heaven ! Sunday was cooler and very windy - something like 65 mile per hour winds expected - so no pool time Sunday. Today we're golfing and then going out to dinner afterwards. Tomorrow we'll stay home and have a pool day and then barbecue some steaks We still haven't mastered how to get the spa to heat up properly but the pool guy comes today so hopefully that will be rectified. Kerry is chomping at the bit to get in the spa.
Stay tuned. Caio from paradise.
We were both up early on Friday and thank goodness for that! We usually fly out of either Bellingham or Abbotsford - last time it was Abbotsford - so we've been spoilt by the lack of lines and how fast we can get through customs. YVR is a far different story. Luckily for us, we were awake at 5 am so left for the airport earlier than we had originally planned. The trip through check in, even though we were already checked in, was slow and disorganized. Then we had to hike over to the international baggage area to drop off our luggage. Some little east indian baggage handler was yelling at us. No help provided, just yelling. Rude, Rude, Rude....can you say annoying? I just wanted to reach out and slap him.
We had planned to grab breakfast at the airport since we couldn't get breakfast at the hotel. Unfortunatly with all the lineups we never did get anything to eat. We also had to line up to go through the security check - the line had at least a 100 people in it! Going through security is always such a treat! From there we lined up to go through US customs. Thankfully that went very quickly. We just made it to our gate in time for the start of boarding. The flight was uneventful.
We arrived on in Palm Springs at around 11:30 on Friday to a fabulous, sunny and warm day - 84 degrees. We vehicle rental check in went well and we were able to get the HHR I requested....woohoo!! We were 2 hours early, however, the rental company had the house all ready for us so there was no waiting around. Don't you love it when a plan comes together? The rental house is lovely and is way up there on the cozy meter. It's a new rental in the rental pool and so is missing a few of the "it would be nice to have's" but other than that it's great. Huge yard, good sized pool, nice spa and lots of privacy.
I spent Saturday in the pool - sheer heaven ! Sunday was cooler and very windy - something like 65 mile per hour winds expected - so no pool time Sunday. Today we're golfing and then going out to dinner afterwards. Tomorrow we'll stay home and have a pool day and then barbecue some steaks We still haven't mastered how to get the spa to heat up properly but the pool guy comes today so hopefully that will be rectified. Kerry is chomping at the bit to get in the spa.
Stay tuned. Caio from paradise.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Retirement card
I'm reasonably pleased with it. If I were to make it again, I'd probably change the colors but everyone else seemed pleased with it.
BTW, in the scan the image looks crooked. On the actual card it was fine. I guess my card was a little crooked on the scanner bed when I scanned it.
Fell off the wagon
So ....
It appears that I fell off the wagon - I didn't meet my goal of twice a week and have little artwork to show for the past 2 weeks.
The studio is still a work in progress. It's about 2/3 finished and then I stopped. I need to finish this job otherwise I can't work in there. Having said that, I have been able to get a little work done in there.
Surprising enough, it's actually functioning pretty well. I'm very pleased with the layout - it feels comfortable and more spacious. I still have way too much "stuff" but it seems more in control now.
I'm exhausted. I'm getting ready to go south for a month and work has been crazy busy. I come home dead to the world and just don't have a lot of energy to do anything. I have several projects I want to finish up before leaving next week, just not sure how much will get done. I must do up some stock for the store, no ifs, ands or buts about that, otherwise I will be very unpopular. I also have some ATCs to finish, a journal page to do for a travelling journal page and I want to prep some journal pages for my own journal so I can take it with me. Last year I bought a bunch of stuff down there but didn't really do much journalling. I think this year it will work better if I have the pages prepped and ready to go. Hopefully, if I do that, then I can bring a bare minimum with me to work with. Who knows? Still struggling with putting anything to paper, however I'm hoping that I'll be more free, less blocked down there. Keeping my fingers crossed
Gotta run. Caio!
It appears that I fell off the wagon - I didn't meet my goal of twice a week and have little artwork to show for the past 2 weeks.
The studio is still a work in progress. It's about 2/3 finished and then I stopped. I need to finish this job otherwise I can't work in there. Having said that, I have been able to get a little work done in there.
Surprising enough, it's actually functioning pretty well. I'm very pleased with the layout - it feels comfortable and more spacious. I still have way too much "stuff" but it seems more in control now.
I'm exhausted. I'm getting ready to go south for a month and work has been crazy busy. I come home dead to the world and just don't have a lot of energy to do anything. I have several projects I want to finish up before leaving next week, just not sure how much will get done. I must do up some stock for the store, no ifs, ands or buts about that, otherwise I will be very unpopular. I also have some ATCs to finish, a journal page to do for a travelling journal page and I want to prep some journal pages for my own journal so I can take it with me. Last year I bought a bunch of stuff down there but didn't really do much journalling. I think this year it will work better if I have the pages prepped and ready to go. Hopefully, if I do that, then I can bring a bare minimum with me to work with. Who knows? Still struggling with putting anything to paper, however I'm hoping that I'll be more free, less blocked down there. Keeping my fingers crossed
Gotta run. Caio!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
My studio, my studio
My experiment with a journal page grid? Not so good. I don't like the way it's turning out. Appears, I need my space! So I guess I'll be reverting back to full size pages. I think I still like the pages unbound, again that is still under review.
I'm in the midst of a massive re-org of my studio. My daughter took the doors off my two armoires and took down the shelf in the closet. I emptied my armoires and moved them into the closet. Looks fabulous. The rest of the room? Looks like a bomb exploded! It's looked bad before but it is truly out of control now! Anyway they say that when you start to organise, that it gets way worse before it gets better. Still a work in progress. My daughter is going out to buy a new router tomorrow and then I'll be moving my desk, computer and printer upstairs. Will take pictures so you can see my progress.
Speaking of pictures, what's up with blogspot? I can't upload pictures. When I try it only gives me 3 choices for where I can get my images, and my computer is not one of them. It's just lately that I can't upload so I'm wondering if I modified one of my settings without realizing it. Will need to explore that.
Gotta' run as my studio is calling me .....help... save me..... I've fallen and I can't get up! Well, I think you get the picture.
Caio!
I'm in the midst of a massive re-org of my studio. My daughter took the doors off my two armoires and took down the shelf in the closet. I emptied my armoires and moved them into the closet. Looks fabulous. The rest of the room? Looks like a bomb exploded! It's looked bad before but it is truly out of control now! Anyway they say that when you start to organise, that it gets way worse before it gets better. Still a work in progress. My daughter is going out to buy a new router tomorrow and then I'll be moving my desk, computer and printer upstairs. Will take pictures so you can see my progress.
Speaking of pictures, what's up with blogspot? I can't upload pictures. When I try it only gives me 3 choices for where I can get my images, and my computer is not one of them. It's just lately that I can't upload so I'm wondering if I modified one of my settings without realizing it. Will need to explore that.
Gotta' run as my studio is calling me .....help... save me..... I've fallen and I can't get up! Well, I think you get the picture.
Caio!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Running behind
Today is Tuesday and I didn't post on the weekend so I guess that puts me one post behind. I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I'll just try to catch up sometime this week.
My week didn't start out all that well. I believe that I have the makings of an abcessed tooth. I have to make yet another trip to my dentist tomorrow morning, during rush hour no less, so he can take a look at it. It's not too painful, although I have had a tooth ache of varying degrees of pain for the last several days. Nothing that an Ibuprofen wouldn't help! I have another appointment next week so he can start rebuilding my teeth - long story, very long story - so I hoped he would just give me some antibiotics that would hold me til I see him next week. No such luck - he has to see me in order to give me the meds. What's up with that? :)
Not too much new on the art front. I've been working in my journal and I think I've decided that I prefer the larger, prebound pages. I'm finding that I tend to forget about the blank borders I need to leave for binding and that might cause some problems down the road. As well a 5 x 7 journal page is not very big, so I have come to discover. The page I mentioned dividing up into quadrants (so I wouldn't have to fill a large space with journalling) is really not working all that well. I've redone one portion of it 3 times. Good Lord what the heck is going on with that? Anyway, I'll keep plugging along on the page but I think that I'll probably be switching to a larger format.
Gotta run.....Caio!
My week didn't start out all that well. I believe that I have the makings of an abcessed tooth. I have to make yet another trip to my dentist tomorrow morning, during rush hour no less, so he can take a look at it. It's not too painful, although I have had a tooth ache of varying degrees of pain for the last several days. Nothing that an Ibuprofen wouldn't help! I have another appointment next week so he can start rebuilding my teeth - long story, very long story - so I hoped he would just give me some antibiotics that would hold me til I see him next week. No such luck - he has to see me in order to give me the meds. What's up with that? :)
Not too much new on the art front. I've been working in my journal and I think I've decided that I prefer the larger, prebound pages. I'm finding that I tend to forget about the blank borders I need to leave for binding and that might cause some problems down the road. As well a 5 x 7 journal page is not very big, so I have come to discover. The page I mentioned dividing up into quadrants (so I wouldn't have to fill a large space with journalling) is really not working all that well. I've redone one portion of it 3 times. Good Lord what the heck is going on with that? Anyway, I'll keep plugging along on the page but I think that I'll probably be switching to a larger format.
Gotta run.....Caio!
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Happy New Year !
Good morning and Happy New Year !
I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, mostly because I never seem to keep them. However, I am prepared to go out on a limb and share 2 of my resolutions with you.
Resolution #1 is to work in my art Journal , as in having an entry, for every day of the month of January. That's a huge commitment for me so I'm excited to see if I can really do it. I have a real problem with putting words to the page so while I've committed to journalling every day, the content will be short, sweet and not necessarily wordz. I've gone to a smaller journal for 2012 and I'm not binding the pages until after the work is complete. I'm liking that so far! I've also sectioned off my first page so there is very little space to fill in for each day. I'm hoping because I don't have to fill a full page, that this will help me get past the fear of the blank page. Definitely a work in progress!
Resolution # 2 is to post to the blog on a more regular basis. I know, I know, I've said that before.....so now I'm saying it again! I've pretty much opted out of Live Journal, just not enough hours in the day! My goal is to post a minimum of twice weekly (for a minimum of 104 posts for 2012). I think I'll make an appointment with myself twice a week to do this. Perhaps Thursday and Sunday? Or Wednesday and Saturday? Anyway you get the picture. I was gifted with a killer daytimer so these appointments will get entered in "the book" which is pretty much what I use to manage my life.
I have some art from 2011 that I'll post next time. I know, I know - you've heard that before too!
So far this is a baby step on the path to achieving one of my goals for 2012. 1 post down and only 103 to go! Stay tuned.
Caio!
I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, mostly because I never seem to keep them. However, I am prepared to go out on a limb and share 2 of my resolutions with you.
Resolution #1 is to work in my art Journal , as in having an entry, for every day of the month of January. That's a huge commitment for me so I'm excited to see if I can really do it. I have a real problem with putting words to the page so while I've committed to journalling every day, the content will be short, sweet and not necessarily wordz. I've gone to a smaller journal for 2012 and I'm not binding the pages until after the work is complete. I'm liking that so far! I've also sectioned off my first page so there is very little space to fill in for each day. I'm hoping because I don't have to fill a full page, that this will help me get past the fear of the blank page. Definitely a work in progress!
Resolution # 2 is to post to the blog on a more regular basis. I know, I know, I've said that before.....so now I'm saying it again! I've pretty much opted out of Live Journal, just not enough hours in the day! My goal is to post a minimum of twice weekly (for a minimum of 104 posts for 2012). I think I'll make an appointment with myself twice a week to do this. Perhaps Thursday and Sunday? Or Wednesday and Saturday? Anyway you get the picture. I was gifted with a killer daytimer so these appointments will get entered in "the book" which is pretty much what I use to manage my life.
I have some art from 2011 that I'll post next time. I know, I know - you've heard that before too!
So far this is a baby step on the path to achieving one of my goals for 2012. 1 post down and only 103 to go! Stay tuned.
Caio!
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Very quiet
Not much excitement going on in my little corner of paradise. Christmas is looming - why am I always so surprised at how quickly it comes around again? We expect Christmas to be very low key again this year. No family here, just the two of us, and of course our family of friends. It's such a busy time of year.
Store stock is pretty much all caught up and delivered. I have a couple of more designs to deliver this week and then that's done for another year. Today I need to get caught up on some ATC's that are late and then of course start my own Christmas cards to send out. I'm also in a swap so need to come up with a fairly simple, but equally stunning :) card design to send out for the swap.
My journalling has been almost non existent for the last several weeks. However, I did sign up this month at Art Journalling Every Day so I need to get my stuff in gear and journal! I have a hard time with journalling. I can't seem to separate the "art" part from the "journalling" part. I'm hung up on the idea that the art has to match or support the journalling I'm going to do. I seem to spend a heck of a lot of time surfing the net and checking out all the fabulous journal pages but don't ever seem to be able to actually do a page. Very frustrating. I think my new plan is that I'm not even going to think about the journalling part - just focus on trying to do cool art? Guess we'll have to see.
Gotta run. I've done lots of cards but forgot to post before I delivered them so don't have anything ready to post right now. Hope to have some new stuff in the next little while.
Caio!
Store stock is pretty much all caught up and delivered. I have a couple of more designs to deliver this week and then that's done for another year. Today I need to get caught up on some ATC's that are late and then of course start my own Christmas cards to send out. I'm also in a swap so need to come up with a fairly simple, but equally stunning :) card design to send out for the swap.
My journalling has been almost non existent for the last several weeks. However, I did sign up this month at Art Journalling Every Day so I need to get my stuff in gear and journal! I have a hard time with journalling. I can't seem to separate the "art" part from the "journalling" part. I'm hung up on the idea that the art has to match or support the journalling I'm going to do. I seem to spend a heck of a lot of time surfing the net and checking out all the fabulous journal pages but don't ever seem to be able to actually do a page. Very frustrating. I think my new plan is that I'm not even going to think about the journalling part - just focus on trying to do cool art? Guess we'll have to see.
Gotta run. I've done lots of cards but forgot to post before I delivered them so don't have anything ready to post right now. Hope to have some new stuff in the next little while.
Caio!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
I follow Art Journal Every Day by Julie Fei Fan Balzer. Yesterday, I think, she posted an interview that she had done with Tricia from Altered Schoolmarm. Tricia did a mini tutorial on how she creates a journal page. The link to her blog is http://www.alteredschoolmarm.blogspot.com/ . I would encourage you to swing by and check out her blog. Her journal pages, IMHO, are to die for!
I love floating around and looking at all the blogs belonging to the wonderful artists in our midst. The styles are so varied and diverse - everything from whimsical to dark. So much talent and so generous for these people to share their art with us.
I love floating around and looking at all the blogs belonging to the wonderful artists in our midst. The styles are so varied and diverse - everything from whimsical to dark. So much talent and so generous for these people to share their art with us.
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Organization ? Chaos!
I'm one of those people who can never keep her studio clean and tidy. No doubt about it - I'm a messy crafter. It isn't that I don't try, I have 2 long banquet tables that form a corner workstation in my studio as well as several rows of shelving on the wall above the work table. There should be ample room for storage, however my work table is always covered with stuff! I just always seem to be working in a space that is only 6 inches square. I move stuff from one pile to another and then stack the piles, and then rearrange the piles and then shuffle through the piles, and then sort the piles and then add to the piles and then knock the piles over onto the floor....well, you get the picture.
Some of the things I've done over the years have worked and I always seem to come back to them. Just recently, I thought I had finally found my organizational style. I spent hours re-arranging, re-packaging and re-labelling all my supplies. I moved things around and repurposed storage elements that I already had. At first it seemed to be working, but now? Not so much!
Part of the problem is that I have way toooo much "stuff". I have big stuff, little stuff, leftover stuff, coloured stuff, paper stuff, metal stuff. I really do love my "stuff" but it's taking over my life! I know I have some really great stuff, but I can't use it because I can't FIND my stuff!
I do have some stuff organized by drawers and that does seem to work well. I have loads of my rubber stamps organized by category in clear plastic shoeboxes. I have my punches stored in large plastic tray/baskets, granted not the best because it takes up a lot of flat storage room, but it works. My paper is held both some in sterilite drawers and in my cabinet. That works but again, paper in more than one place! That causes problems because my paper is then split in different locations and I don't know what I have.
This organizing and being organized is a quest for peace in a sea of chaos. I'm not sure I'm going to make it without capsizing!
Caio!
Some of the things I've done over the years have worked and I always seem to come back to them. Just recently, I thought I had finally found my organizational style. I spent hours re-arranging, re-packaging and re-labelling all my supplies. I moved things around and repurposed storage elements that I already had. At first it seemed to be working, but now? Not so much!
Part of the problem is that I have way toooo much "stuff". I have big stuff, little stuff, leftover stuff, coloured stuff, paper stuff, metal stuff. I really do love my "stuff" but it's taking over my life! I know I have some really great stuff, but I can't use it because I can't FIND my stuff!
I do have some stuff organized by drawers and that does seem to work well. I have loads of my rubber stamps organized by category in clear plastic shoeboxes. I have my punches stored in large plastic tray/baskets, granted not the best because it takes up a lot of flat storage room, but it works. My paper is held both some in sterilite drawers and in my cabinet. That works but again, paper in more than one place! That causes problems because my paper is then split in different locations and I don't know what I have.
This organizing and being organized is a quest for peace in a sea of chaos. I'm not sure I'm going to make it without capsizing!
Caio!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Christmas tag swap
I created this tag for a Christmas tag swap I've played in for the last few years. This tag was fun to make and I'm pleased with the results. I used 2 different colours of distress inks. The ink pads were smooshed - highly technical term "smooshed" - on a craft sheet. The smooshed ink was sprayed with water until the ink beaded. Tags were then moved around in one colour, dried and then smooshed in the second colour of ink and dried. Then tag was stamped with the various images and coloured. No two tags are exactly alike. Simple procedure with pretty nice results!Friday, October 21, 2011
Countdown
The countdown to Palm Springs has started! House has been rented and flight booked. All that remains is to rent a car which I'll arrange for much closer to the date. We've rented a different house this year, mostly because I dragged my feet and our first choice was already rented! That's not a bad thing though. This house has a bigger pool and a nicer pool area - should get sun most of the day so that's a definite bonus. Let's hope the house lives up to the pictures.
Can you believe that Christmas is just a little over 2 months away? The next couple of weeks are busy for me as I get my Christmas stock ready for the Fort Langley store. Then of course on to making up my personal Christmas cards and getting them ready to send.
Here's another christmas card.
Can you believe that Christmas is just a little over 2 months away? The next couple of weeks are busy for me as I get my Christmas stock ready for the Fort Langley store. Then of course on to making up my personal Christmas cards and getting them ready to send.
Here's another christmas card.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Just back from a quick trip to Ottawa to visit family. I was only there for 7 days, however, it was a good visit and very enjoyable. Returned on Thursday morning and back to work Friday. That was tough! I don't know where the time goes but it certainly does fly.
I have a birthday coming up so I treated myself to a facial and a massage on Saturday. It was heaven - sure wish I could do that more than two or three times a year ! Hmmm, I guess I'm never satisfied.
I was a very bad girl! I spent a bunch of money on craft supplies and new toys. That is not supposed to happen but I just could not help myself. I bought a Cricut Personal cutter. I've been eyeing the Cricut for months but just could not justify spending the money they wanted for it. I was in Michael's on Thursday and they had them on sale - regular $199, sale price $89. The price was so good I just couldn't help myself ! I haven't even taken it out of the box yet, but hope to do some playing this afternoon. I'm hoping that this is worthwhile - it appealed to me to be able to die cut sentiments for my cards and journals. Hopefully, I'll get lots of use out of it.
I also scored some good craft stuff - mostly regular priced but I'm happy with it regardless. I am now hooked on Youtube craft haul videos so I went out and bought a new memory card for my camera so that I can post some of my hauls. Also want to post some other videos - maybe some of the supplies I'm purging? Stay tuned!
I keep forgetting to post art before I send it off, so will make more of an effort to update the blog with some eye candy. Maybe some blog candy as well?
Gotta run. Caio!
I have a birthday coming up so I treated myself to a facial and a massage on Saturday. It was heaven - sure wish I could do that more than two or three times a year ! Hmmm, I guess I'm never satisfied.
I was a very bad girl! I spent a bunch of money on craft supplies and new toys. That is not supposed to happen but I just could not help myself. I bought a Cricut Personal cutter. I've been eyeing the Cricut for months but just could not justify spending the money they wanted for it. I was in Michael's on Thursday and they had them on sale - regular $199, sale price $89. The price was so good I just couldn't help myself ! I haven't even taken it out of the box yet, but hope to do some playing this afternoon. I'm hoping that this is worthwhile - it appealed to me to be able to die cut sentiments for my cards and journals. Hopefully, I'll get lots of use out of it.
I also scored some good craft stuff - mostly regular priced but I'm happy with it regardless. I am now hooked on Youtube craft haul videos so I went out and bought a new memory card for my camera so that I can post some of my hauls. Also want to post some other videos - maybe some of the supplies I'm purging? Stay tuned!
I keep forgetting to post art before I send it off, so will make more of an effort to update the blog with some eye candy. Maybe some blog candy as well?
Gotta run. Caio!
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