Happy Monday!

I spent the weekend cooking and cleaning the house. We had the whole clan over to celebrate two birthdays in the family. Gone are the days when we each would have our own separate day of celebration. As the kids get older and more involved in their own lives it gets harder and harder to find a day that fits in with everyone's schedules. I don't mind though. It makes the parties even more fun when you celebrate two or three occasions at once.

We have a busy week ahead. Will write more about it in a later post. Going to bed now as I have to get up very early in the morning.

Studio Friday {Autumn Inspiration}

Miscellaneous Stuff

We've been busy shopping for flooring, fireplace stone, light fixtures, etc. for the cottage. Got an email yesterday telling us that the walls have been plastered and will be ready for painting next week. This is where we have to kick into high-gear to do out part. We have opted to do all the painting ourselves as well as installing the floor coverings. It's called good old fashioned sweat equity. We did a great deal of rehab work on the house we currently live in, but we were 26 years younger than we are now. So I have a feeling we are going to need need to have mega doses of Advil on hand after next week. We ordered the bathroom tile last night...should be ready to be picked up in a couple days. Tonight is paint selection night. I hope I will be able to make a decision on colors.

Don't forget tonight is Project Runway's season finale. Also, Linda Woods and Karen Dinino, of VISUAL CHRONICLES fame are going to be on THE VIEW tomorrow (10/19). Click here for more details. Finally, I signed up for this class and I sent for this kit to use with it.

Do The (Red) Thing

Check this out. Good Stuff. Great Cause.

Forever Plaid

Last night my DH and I went to see a local production of Forever Plaid. I had heard of the musical but didn't really know anything about it. Well, it turned out to be a very delightful trip down memory lane - back when the music was upbeat and happy. I found myself tapping my toes and humming the songs all the way home! The actors in this particular production were very talented and their harmonizing was as smooth as silk. Click here to listen to some of the songs.

Morning Collage

I recently came across Keri Smith's website and was inspired by her "Morning Collage" exercise that she does daily. I thought it was a great way to train myself to do something artistic everyday...you know before the busy-ness of the day sets in and you find you have run out of time and/or energy to pick up a brush, paint, paper or glue. The pages are small...mine are only 4 x 6. It usually takes only 30 minutes or sometimes an hour if things are flowing as easily. I don't put much thought into it before I start. I just let the pages evolve as I go along. Very freeing! I work on these pages as soon as I get up, in my PJ's, before I do anything else. And I have noticed that my whole outlook on the day is improved since I started doing this. You can see Keri's morning pages here. Another artist who does something just as inspiring is Marieke Berghuis and you can see her work here.

More Morning Collage

Studio Friday - FEAR

Casey suggested FEAR for Studio Friday's topic this week. No doubt about it, this was really thought provoking. Here is what she wrote:
"I am filled with fear. Fear of what ifs,fear of the unknown, fear of the known ~ patterns I tend to fall into, bad patterns I have spent years trying to break free of. I think part of dealing with fears and breaking out our superhero capes to fight them, is naming them. Not tip-toeing around them, letting them linger in and out quietly, lurking in the shadows, giving them power, but to drag them out into the light, so the sunlight can shine through the holes that fill them, holes we otherwise can’t see. We doubt ourselves. How can we not? Regular jobs rely on managers and supervisors to tell you what to do, how to be, what to say, how to act. But as artists, we must rely on ourselves to find vision, truth, creativity. Talk about pressure. This is part of the struggle and the brilliance of so many artists, the thing that makes us insane with fear, but also the thing that makes us strive to do and be more ~ the thing that brings out our own unique creative genius, our own vision of art and story.We all have insecurities and fears, but that’s all they are. They are not fact, they are not truth, so let's drag them out for the world to see, and maybe, just maybe,we’ll realize some of them aren’t so scary."
If you want to see Casey's Studio Friday submission click here. And click here to see what others did.

Oh No!

Yikes! I woke up this morning to this. I don't know about you, but I am not quite ready to deal with snow, ice and slush yet.

UPDATE: What a difference a few hours make. Everything is back to being all sunshiny and bright and fall-like again.

Happy Bithday N!

Today is my daughter's 23rd birthday. Wow! Why is it that HER birthdays always make ME feel old? Anyway, I decided to do something a little different for her birthday cake. I was inspired by the Country Living Faire I attended over the weekend (see previous posts) and made the pumpkin-shaped cake that was featured on the cover of their October issue. I baked it in the Great Pumpkin Cake Pan from William Sonoma. The stem and leaf decorations are made from marzipan.

This is my 100th post! I can't believe I have written that many posts already. I didn't realize I had that much to share. You know television shows make a big "to-do" when they tape their 100th show. What a coincidence that we just happen to have cake to celebrate with!

More Pics From The Faire

And More Still...

Country Living contributing editors Ed McCann and Richard Kollath held demostrations on fall floral arranging and pumpkin carving doing something different each day of the 4-day event. These guys are so creative and super nice.

This is a pumpkin basket carved out the same way you make the fruit-fulled watermelon baskets in the summer.
Artichokes in an urn?...Why not! The white pumpkin behind it is made by drilling small holes with an electric drill and poking Christmas tree lights through each hole. Clever, huh?

More Fall...

We went to the Country Living Magazine Faire over the weekend at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It was the first year this event was held at the Gardens and we are hoping that they plan to make this into an Annual event. There were lots of room displays (by the way, those are pin cushion plants pictured below), demonstrations of floral arranging, soap making, cake decorating, pumpkin carving, as well as artisans and vendors selling antiques, fall decor, baskets, clothing, furniture, plants, food, etc. etc.
Quilts similar to those shown below were raffled off...alas, I was not one of the lucky winners, boo-hoo!

Happy Fall

Just a little teaser...more to come tomorrow. We're having the most beautiful weather this weekend here in the midwest. Gotta go back outside to enjoy more of it!

Just For Fun

Those of you who read my blog know that I am a huge Project Runway groupie. I discovered the program on Bravo midway through the first season and have watched it faithfully ever since. I think one of the reasons I like it so much is to see how the designers interpret each week's challenges. It is just like doing an Ali Edwards Challenge or Rhonna Farrer or Studio Friday, etc. etc. Anyway, if you watch Project Runway then you know who Tim Gunn is. Last season there was a designer named Santino who could imitate Tim Gunn flawlessly. Click here to watch Santino doing his "Tim voice." I think it is a riot.

Studio Friday

TOPIC: Toot Your Own Horn
"Studio Friday, for me, is a network of artists from all over the world. It's a fabulous way to communicate with and learn from artists of all backgrounds. With this being said, I would love to see a showcase of what YOUR art is. Are you a scrapbooker? A clay artist? Are you a collage artist or a photographer? Do you paint or work in the fibre arts or knitting, sewing or embroidery? Are you a gardener a botanist or an eclectic artist of many trades? I'd love to see a piece that you have created that you are most proud of. SHOW OFF YOUR STUFF!!" - posted by Gabi

So in response to this week's Studio Friday's challenge I am showing a montage of some of the things I do. Gabi's phrase, "eclectic artist" seems to be an accurate description of what I do. I love painting, card making, collage art, photography, crocheting, gardening, scrapbooking, altering books, knitting, creating artist's journals, etc. etc. Is there really such a thing as a "one note artist?" Most of my artistic friends dabble in multiple mediums - one is never enough seems to be our mantra. I am always curious about art in whatever form it is in. I suppose that is why I am drawn to mixed media art the most. Check out more artist's submissions here.

Five Fabulous Favorites

I completed this little mini book challenge from Ali's AEZine newsletter this week. Very fun. I love mini books because you can have a finished product in such a short time. The challenge was to create a mini book about your current Five Fabulous Favorites using wallet sized photographs. My current obsessions are anything having to do with birds & nests, listening to JT's Sexback CD, wearing my brown sneakers with the pink & brown lining (from Target), drinking Starbucks caffe lattes, and blogging. The neat thing about this book is that next week, next month, or next year you may have entirely different favorites, so this project is capturing your life at a certain moment in time...right here, right now. Cool. See other artists mini books here.

Supplies used - Clear Stamps (Technique Tuesday, Daisy Hill), Mini Folders (Basic Grey), Letter stickers (EK bookworks Mini ABC's), Chipboard Letters (unknown), Roller date stamp (Justrite), Paper clip (K & Company), Date prompt stickers (Melissa Frances)

Today is a special day for my DH and I since it was 31 years ago today we said our "I do's" to each other. We've shared so much together over the years - good and bad, happy and sad, for better or worse. Thirty-one years seems like a l-o-n-g time when you think about it, but in actuality the time has flown by so quickly that it is hard to believe we've been together all that time. So here's to another 31 years of marital bliss!

Decisions - Decisions

Since when is shopping so exhausting? Normally shopping is not something I would complain about, but when you HAVE to shop because you are being pressured to make decisions it suddenly turns into something that is not very much fun. I am the world's worst decision maker. Over the years I have discovered that I like a variety of decorating styles and that can add confusion to an already stressful situation. My DH and I spent the whole weekend running around from store to store trying to purchase all the fixtures for the cottage we are building. Faucets and medicine cabinets and sinks and flooring and lighting are all decisions that have to be made soon. We purchased a bunch of things over the weekend, but this morning I wasn't quite so enamored with many of our choices. So I will be returning many of them this week and starting again at square one. Ugh!

Love of Music

I completed another entry in my HeART Journal today. This entry began with the cello design on a gift enclosure card I picked up yesterday while on a lunch/shopping day with a friend. The rich colors just called out to me and I knew almost immediately what I was going to do with it. I had to laugh as it was the only item I bought in the store and the clerk had to hand-write a receipt on paper larger than the card itself. I was thinking the receipt probably cost more than the card! Anyway, I wanted to journal about my love of music. I like almost all types of music. Sometimes I like a song because of lyrics; other times it is the score that I am drawn to. Music is so inspirational, especially when I am working on my artwork. I love a song with a lot of bass and also a heavy beat. My DH does not like either of them. But we tolerate each other's taste in music - for the most part. Except for when we go on a long road trip in the car. I usually bring along my iPod with me then. The only trouble with that is I have a tendency to sing-a-long to the music and although I sound quite talented in my own head, reality is another thing altogether!

I *Heart* Patterned Paper

I worked on my HeART Journal today. It's been a while, but it felt good getting back to it. I got to use some of my new purchases (see previous post) which was fun. I have such a passion for patterned paper...well, it's almost an obsession. I find it difficult to resist a new design when I see it. My favorites are papers with text in the pattern and also vintage or distressed looking papers. I am attracted to all colors of paper...I am not too picky about the colors because I think they all are beautiful in their own way. Hey, isn't that a song lyric?

Another Shopping Trip

I went out again to feed my addiction. My "drugs" of choice are art supplies and embellishments, of course. It's funny how when I clean out and re-organize my work space I always seem to find more goodies to fill it up with. Oh well, I guess there are worse vices I could have. I finally found the book, Scrap City that I have been reading about. It is a book filled with edgy scrapbook and art journal pages. I like the diversity of seeing many styles of art instead of always just the same old mainstream, cookie-cutter types of work. It jump-starts my brain in new and different ways. I love the funky doodled tab stamps from Tia Bennett at Autumn Leaves. I am always a sucker for the tin boxes of stickers and labels from Cavallini & Co. This bird, nest and egg set is especially sweet. I finally found a store around here that carries Queen and Company brads. I had bought some ages ago when I was traveling and although I see them advertised in magazines, I could never find a shop locally that carried them. I love them because they are teeny-tiny and they have patterns on them (i.e. stripe, polka-dots, etc.) Very cool! I also picked up a couple bottles of the new Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers from Ranger. They come in a ton of colors, so it was difficult to choose between them all. Now I am off for a little playtime!

Good Things Come In Small Packages

I went to the Junk Warehouse sale today and found this little gem. It is a vintage cutting board, but the neat thing is that it is small.....only 8.5" square. The photo laying on top of it is the size of a postcard, just to give you some reference. The patina of the wood is fantastic and even better, it actually cuts! I just couldn't pass it up.

Sharing

Just thought I would share a little something I made my friend for her birthday. She is all into browns and creams and this little box I made had her name written all over it. This afternoon I am going to a "smoothie party" that some of the ladies I used to work with are putting together for my birthday. Sounds like a fun time to me. One of these ladies has a birthday next week also, so that is why I made this little box for her. Another one of the gals just had back surgery and is at a rehab facility recuperating, so we decided to hold the party right in her room to help cheer up her otherwise tedious recovery. We will have to try to keep our exuberance down so we don't disturb the other patients. But we do have a reputation of being live-wires when we all get together so hopefully we won't get kicked out of the place!

Suddenly There Is A Second Floor!

I can't believe how quickly the cottage has sprung a second floor! I have heard that the framing is the fast part of building a house and the finish work is what takes a long time. It is exciting to be able to walk through the entire house and see what it will be like to live in it....what the view from each window will be and imagine cottagey painted furniture in the rooms. The kitchen was all sketched out on the sub-floor so the cabinet maker can take measurements and build the cupboards. By the way, there will be a front porch across the entire front, which is something I have always dreamed of having. The dormers are another feature that I have loved, so it is nice to finally have a house with a couple of them. So far things are right on schedule. We had to decide on the kitchen appliances and flooring this past weekend. All of these decisions really make my head spin!

09.11.06

To those that lost their lives....We Remember!

Refreshed and Renewed!

It's been a while since I last posted. I have been busy working in my studio trying to reorganize it to make things more manageable and accessible. The first step was to clear a path just to be able to move around. Had to clear some floor space so I could spread out and sort through my stashes of goodies. The room is rather tiny and because I have a love affair with "stuff", it reached the point where something had to give. It felt good to go through and touch all the pretties I have collected over the years. Some things made me wonder what I was thinking when I purchased them. Other things made me say, "Ah-ha! That is where you've been hiding all this time!" This process reminded me that I am an avid collector. I can look at anything and decide that it can be turned into (or worked into) some fabulous piece of art....someday. The keyword here is SOMEDAY! If you ask my DH he would tell you that sometimes someday never comes. I suppose there is some truth in that statement, although I would never admit it to him. But it felt good to clean and purge and see what I have and what I want to keep and what I am ready to part with, etc. etc.

It is funny how inspiring cleaning and organizing can be. I can remember when I was a young girl and was sent to my room to clean it up. After I was finished, I couldn't wait to spend time in there doing things in my newly functional and reorganized room. I don't remember how long it stayed in that condition though. The same thing happens in "my room" as a grown-up. I can't wait to get in there and start a new project using some of my rediscovered treasures. However, once I start to create again, it doesn't take long before the mess starts to reaccumulate all over again. It's just the way I work. But this time when that happens I will have the photograph above to prove that once upon a time I did have a clean desk to work at, an organized shelf of art books, ribbons neatly sorted into jars, current projects stacked on the shelf in pretty paper boxes, magazines that have been weeded out and put into magazine files, ephemera sorted into gingham baskets, and a floor that I can see and walk on without it being a hazard to do so.

On another subject, we went to see Little Miss Sunshine the other day and I loved it! I haven't laughed out loud at a movie for quite a long time. It was quirky and fun....a real feel-good kind of movie.

Tonight is Project Runway...yes, I am a PR junkie. Right now I am pulling for Michael to win.