Gypsy Love

Today is lazy Saturday when it shouldn't be. Tsk tsk.

I made a pdf to share. Gypsy Love. You can print it out and color it in, do a packing tape or gel medium transfer or whatever your heart desires.  Check it out. 

February Giveaway

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

I love the idea that my subconscious mind can come up with creative ways to carry out tasks while I am sleeping.

break

Taking a break from decluttering the studio. There is so much I want to do.

I stumbled across Zentangles, which is essentially Zen doodling or meditative drawing. You can buy a fancy pants kit, or you can just go for it.  Example:

I'm going to be using up the paper scraps I find in the studio to make some of these bangles for an upcoming swap:

Instructions here.

Rain fall, hair falls

We are experiencing freezing rain this morning. All of the local schools are shut down and I won't be going anywhere today.

Last night I learned how to make simple yarn hair falls. I made two sets from my yarn stash, one a sandy beige and the other various mermaid shades.

Here is how to make them: 

And here is how to wear them:

not so manic monday

We have already established our first clutter-free zone and the boys are being great about it. They have reminded eachother to move stuff off of the bar. We also decided on our next three clutter- free zones. Yay!

Today was a good mail day. I received a lovely Whimsy Jar made from a green olive jar and it even had a surprise for Mr. Martini. The jar was full of buttons, fibers, cool paper clips, flowers, ribbon, wooden thread spools and more. 

I received a vial of Our Lady of Fatima water, and even my junk mail was good. I got an advertisement from a car dealership that had a key inside it. I get really excited about my junk mail these days because I am incorporating them into "junk art journals" that I will be making every month. 

This video is hilarious. Lots of belly dance moves--but lordy, lordy those outfits and hairdos!

      

And this is Rachel Brice. Wow. I mean, WOW.

getting zen

Wow. I feel like my mind is taking a nice, long stretch. I've been occupied with so much stuff that my brain hasn't had a chance to just relax.

The art journal workshop was nice. I think we are going to meet up monthly to make journals and work on them together.

I am going to refrain from doing a lot of art stuff for a week. A week! Ouch. And what I am going to do is declutter my house. I'm actually kinda psyched about this.

See, we never recovered from the holidays. You know how it is, guests coming over, tons of gifts that you have to find places for, so much food, on and on it goes. Our X-mas tree is still up, dammit.

I like www.zenhabits.com  and the ideas for decluttering. I especially like that these can be done in five minutes. When I am cleaning I like to set a timer for 5 or 15 minutes and do what I can. Anyway, here are some of my favorite tips:

Designate a spot for incoming papers. Papers often account for a lot of our clutter. This is because we put them in different spots — on the counter, on the table, on our desk, in a drawer, on top of our dresser, in our car. No wonder we can’t find anything! Designate an in-box tray or spot in your home (or at your office, for that matter) and don’t put down papers anywhere but that spot. Got mail? Put it in the inbox. Got school papers? Put it in the inbox. Receipts, warranties, manuals, notices, flyers? In the inbox! This one little change can really transform your paperwork.

Start clearing a starting zone. What you want to do is clear one area. This is your no-clutter zone. It can be a counter, or your kitchen table, or the three-foot perimeter around your couch. Wherever you start, make a rule: nothing can be placed there that’s not actually in use. Everything must be put away. Once you have that clutter-free zone, keep it that way! Now, each day, slowly expand your no-clutter zone until it envelopes the whole house! Unfortunately, the neighbors don’t seem to like it when you try to expand the no-clutter zone to their house, and start hauling away their unused exercise equipment and torn underwear when they’re not at home. Some people don’t appreciate simplicity, I guess.

(I am going to make my designated starting zone the bar diviiding the kitchen and living room.)  

free form crochet and other stuff

Nothing like a bad picture of yourself to make you realize that it is time to have the brows wax. Rest easy, everyone, I had that taken care of today.

I'm in LOVE with www.magnoliapearl.com

It is such a feast for the senses. She makes gorgeous bags and clothing. I want one of her bags desperately, but they are waaaay out of my budget at $600. I love the story of how she made and sold her first bag. Seriously, go check out the website. 

I think when things slow down (yeah, like that will EVER happen) I am going to try to make my own. The bags remind me of Freeform Crochet, which I got into for awhile. Basically, you make "scrumbles" using different colors and textures of yarn with various stitches and motifs. It is completely non-structured and fun.

Bang!

I got my bangs cut! Not a good picture. Who cares???

Busy, busy day. Bangs cut, nails done, therapy, post office, belly dance class, Mr. Martini is playing a gig, not to mention laundry and dishes. Aye aye. I love you.

FOOD

I'm trying to eat better these days. I made some yummy pasta and used the leftovers in a frittata for lunch. This is how you do it:

Coarsely chop up a pound of broccoli. Boil water and a punch of salt.  Throw in a pound of bow tie pasta. Steam broccoli. I like to use a bamboo steamer on top of my pasta for steaming veggies.

Now, throw 1/4 cup of olive oil and three cloves of garlic together and saute the garlic. Add pasta, broccoli, three pinches of red pepper flakes and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Heat through. Toss with 1/2 cup of your favorite Italian cheese and serve with bread.

To use the leftovers in a frittata, whip together three eggs and some milk. Coat a nonstick skillet with olive oil and pour in leftover pasta. Add egg mixture. Allow to very lightly on one side, then flip and lightly brown the other side. Serve with leftover toasted bread.

I like these eggs:

Vlog 6

today's art journal entry--click for larger image

red shoe diary

There were a lot of good things about yesterday, including getting these shoes on sale:

Vlog 5

waiting for youtube to process my new vlog....

here is Tokyo when he was a pup. he started shivering after his first haircut, so i made him this shirt. 

linksies

Vimby's Art Vids Lots of inspiration here.

Wordle Make your own collaged word backgrounds using your own text or text from a website. 

Mirkwood Design Templates Lots of cute templates to print off. I used the hinged paper doll template for the cover of my art journal.

Smartflix Kinda like Netflix, but full of how-to videos on every subject imaginable.

Vlog 4

todays art journal

La la la. What a good day. I am baking cupcakes and just finished a page in my art journal. It has way more depth and shimmer in person.

Now I am thinking nobody liked my video. No one has commented. How embarrassing.

Oh, tell me if you liked the vlog. Should I post more? Tell me these things, please!

Last night I went to belly dance class. I absolutely freakin love it! What a blast. 

I was really scared that the teacher would be some super blonde, super tan soccer mom that watched some DVDs. But the teacher is this adorable little chubby Renaissance faire kinda chick. <3<3<3>

Now I get to put together belly dance costumes. Fun!

Vlog 3

Dawn of the Dead

I feel kind of dead right now. I think I am coming down with something. Anyway, here is me in Day of the Dead makeup for some filming I did. It was really fun til I got an earache. 

I'm stilll working on video stuff--trying to figure it all out.

I've only been halfway keeping my new year's resolution to make something new every day and document it. I've made something every day, but I haven't been documenting things the way I had planned. I'll try to do better.

Send me chicken soup and puffs, please. 

I've been craving a new pair of cowboy boots. I had to throw out my first pair because they had become so battered. They were beautiful brown Italian leather and they served me well. The only footwear I took back country camping in New Mexico was my cowboy boots and I slept in them--like a true cowgirl would--even when my tent leaked and my feet were soaked to the bone.

I like these:

I was trying to find a Yoga class here in Almania--no such luck--but they do have belly dancing. Go figure. I think I will go.

...3 ...2 ...1 eruliaf

So I made a really cute little video for your birthday. I learned how to use imovie and everything. And then I deleted it. And emptied the trash. Shit!!!

Tomorrow is a new day, a fresh week. I'll see what else I can make for you.

Surprise! It's your birthday!

Well, it could be. 

I am working on a super special surprise just for YOU. 

You'll see!

Our president elect has product! I found these "Ba-

Rock-On"stickers at the Wal-Mart in Alma, Arkansas... the town with maybe 3 people of color. Amazing. And it was the last package on the rack.

I decorated the globe light I bought yesterday and hung it in the bedroom. It is so pretty in person.

Today will be another busy day. I have several projects going, cleaning to do, I need to go to the post office, the vet, take my son to an appointment, do some other running around in Fort Smith, and so on. I was absolutely pooped last night and I expect tonight will be the same. And my migraine is still lingering. It only hurts when there is light, sound or movement. Heh. Hopefully I won't be too tired to post later.

thrifty goodness, cupcakes in the mail and sweet sunshine

I apologize in advance for the blurry pictures. An unfortunate side effect of my medication is that my hands shake and some days are worse than others. I just didn't feel like dragging out the tripod today.  

It has been a lovely morning here in Almania. I'm wearing flip flops and a t-shirt! In January!

While out birthday shopping in Van Buren for Little Miss Sarah, I decided to hit up some thrift shops. I found this big globe lamp for 8 bucks. It was filled with moss, dried grass and fake birds. I already ripped that stuff out of it, and filling it back up is my project for the day. Pictures when I am finished. Check out the flooring in my Grandma's house! This is what we have in the studio and the 

kitchen. 

I also picked up this little gilded mirror, a nifty pink candle and this architectural detail shelf.

Today's mail: A survey from the hospital regarding my last visit, and the package from my partner in the Cupcake Swap on Swap-Bot.

I also have some art journal pics to upload later in the day, but for now I must get busy!

This was yesterday's lunch: A tasty bowl of Southwest Style Potato Soup and a big pile of tortilla chips. Yum.

Hopefully today will be as productive as yesterday. I did lots of arty things and went out on the town covered in glitter from head to toe. Really. It is amazing how glitter sticks to your scalp.

The date for my Art Journal Workshop at the Fort Smith Art Center has been set. March 18 it is. Be there or be square. Yeah, be a square without a pretty journal to call your own!

Art Supplies!

Maybe the worst thing about being sick is when you finally feel better, you have so much catching up to do. 

The only real creativity I've managed is keeping up with my art journal.  I finally put something on the cover. I figure I will finish it as I work on my journal. I have some ideas for other books I want to make, but I guess that will be an addition to my pending projects list for now.   

I'm super excited about teaching an art journal class this month (It's free! Contact me for details.) at the library. And knowing that friends will be there makes getting my feet wet a little less scary. It looks like the Fort Smith Arts Center wants to pick my class up for their March schedule. That class won't be free, so get in while you can! And man, oh man, it always feels good to get paid for doing what you love to do. 

I cleaned up and rearranged the studio so hopefully now it is more workable. I always end up with my art supplies all over the bed because I can't find any room to work in the studio. How silly.  

To the left is a really bad drawing I did in my journal. See, I'm not afraid to show you my bad stuff! I've been trying to stick to a few basic supplies and I think watercolor pencils are perfect for packing with you because you get all those colors in one compact little box. I'm just not very good at working with them yet. I did purchase a new set of paintbrushes, so that might help. I had like, two paintbrushes to my name. Not that there aren't a million paintbrushes in this house, but there was an incident when I "borrowed" one of Mr. Martini's bran spanking new fancy pants paintbrushes. Sheesh. 

You all should have have heard Kevin and Mr. Martini's fake podcast, aptly titled: Brush Talk.  I was complaining to Whitney that Mr. Martini takes all my Tupperware to use for palettes. Shame, shame. But the truth is, I am a far worse offender. There was the brush incident, and all of his wallpaper samples that I adopted as my own, not to mention the paint rags I swipe from him and the stack of rub-ons.... 

I'm sad and worried about a friend of mine. She is off her meds, in a bad state of mind and missing right now. Come home, little birdy.

This morning I did something I know I'm not supposed to do, but it was cold out and I know what it is like to be thumbing a ride. So I picked him up. We all have to take care of eachother. 

         

Happy New Year!

What a week! I ran out of my medication and had to go to the e.r. because I was feeling sick, sick, sick. And then I got a migraine! But I am feeling better now. Thank you for the phone calls and general well-wishing. I appreciate it so much.

We had a wonderful X-mas.  Gingerbread houses, The Nitemare Before Christmas, presents, lots of food. It was good all around.  

I have a lot of things to do today, one of which is installing the software for the camera Mr. Martini got me so I can upload pictures here. I will be back soon!