I"m so behind

I've had a couple of awful days dealing with a headache. It has finally lifted and I'm trying to come out of the fog and rejoin the living.

For anyone who was keeping up with my Every Day in May challenges, I did actually sketch for the entire month and have just uploaded the pages to my flickr site here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artvisionz/sets/72157604836985715/

My experience with this is that while I started off with enthusiasm, I ended with dread. I know that practice and daily discipline is good but gosh, by the end of the month, I just dreaded the thought of having to draw something. I find no joy in drawing just for the purpose of saying I did it. It had no meaning. If there is no meaning, there is no joy in it for me. So, I am not continuing in the daily drawing. I did enjoy my watercolor journaling while on vacation but I also had these daily things to do as well and it was hard to keep up. You can tell that with some of these, I was just slapping anything onto the page to say I did it... like anyone actually cares if I did or not. Anyway, I spent more time on some and almost none on others. It was a good learning experience for me and I did find that my vintage paper coated with gesso took watercolor washes nicely without buckling! Nice discovery!

Gosh, I REALLY need to update my Etsy store. I have several things to list and just haven't had time to do it. With Max in Vacation Bible School this week every morning and Sam gone, I had planned fun time for me but it's turned into survival mode of pain management. I had plans to create a small fabric book this week using my desert photos, transferring them, creating a leather spine, and my original binding method. There is an artists call out for an exhibit in CO. for books using fabric and I really wanted to submit this but I think the deadline is like next week... no wait, it's not until the 20th so if I get crankin', I can make it. Max and I are going over to Fran's tomorrow and I can't wait except that this is a hard project to do away from my own studio. I will try to take some time in the morning and think through what I want to do and pull some fabrics together. I have all the transfers to do as well so I know I can do those at her house. I stopped by a huge fabric place today and purchased my soft suede scraps that I will use for my spine. Anyway, the whole idea hasn't gelled yet... I hope my brain will clear really soon!

New cell phone case

I recently purchased the cutest little orange cell phone that I loved, with the exception of one very important thing... I couldn't hear it ring. Chuck even loaded different ring tones in it, etc... but the volume just wasn't loud enough for me to hear with my hearing loss. So, last night, we went back to the store and exchanged it for a different phone. I can now hear the phone ring and made a cell phone case today so that the phone can hang on the outside of my purse or backpack making it easier to grab... and no digging needed! So, here it is... not as cute as the little orange one but, oh well....

Chuck left with Sam this morning and headed out to Cleveland for a couple of weeks visiting Chuck's side of the family. He took Max last year. It's their "bonding time". Sam said it's really hot there, hotter than here, and it's night time! It's not actually hotter than here, temperature-wise, but my little guy is finding out what humidity is. UGH! Ya'll can keep it if you've got it... don't send any here. I like dry!

Max and I went to see Kung-Fu Panda today and it was really cute. I've done 4 haircuts today as well... and the guys in the family. I cut Chuck and Sam's before they flew out this morning and then my step-dad and Max this afternoon. THEN, I made my cell phone case.

I'm heading to started a new book with Max. We're starting a chapter book, the first he's ever chosen. Max is not one that enjoys books at all ... he likes to be in constant motion. Anyway, he's just beginning to enjoy stories and he picked out a Wishbone chapter book so I'm going to read to him before he goes to bed.

Amazing and Inspiring

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=909829629

I can't get the video to load properly but trust me, this is an amazing video about an inspiring artist with no arms. The rest of us have no excuse not to create. It's a must see...

Inspire me Thursday

This weeks theme for Inspire me Thursday ( http://www.inspiremethursday.com/) is Hummingbirds. I know these have been posted here before but I am posting them again. One is a photo I took at the Desert Botanical Garden, here in Phoenix. The other is a painting that I did.

Show me Wednesday

Hazelruthe's challenge this week for "Show me Wednesday" is sewing machines... so here is my sewing machine! I love it soooo much! It is a Viking and my favorite feature is being able to wind the bobbin without unthreading and rethreading the needle!

Double Dog dare

Well, on Hazelruthe's blog, she has posted a "Pit" challenge and has double dog dared us to show pictures of our messy studio. So, I'm being brave and showing what a total mess mine is right now. And geez, look at all the fabric underneath my table! Think it's time to clean up? YIKES! I did, however, clean off my art table in front of my window... enough to work a little bit! ;)

Here's a cute picture of Max making guacamole! It was yummy! He's taking after his daddy, although it was mommy that taught him how to make it!
I have been busy the past few days working on a summer schedule chart, chore chart, behavior/attitude chart, etc... for the boys. I need to photograph all these things I"ve worked on! It's been time consuming but the boys seem to be into it so I hope some changes are made around here this summer!

Chuck is taking Sam back to Cleveland for a couple of weeks leaving Saturday morning. He took Max last year so it's Sam's turn. Sam was upset he's going to miss Vacation Bible School next week but I think he'll have a great bonding time with daddy and he'll get to see Grandma and other relatives that haven't seen him in 4-1/2 years! Max will have VBS next week every morning so that will give me a little alone time. I'll do some fun things with Max while Chuck and Sam are gone.

One of my big projects to do in the next week is go through all the boys school papers to decide what should be kept and what to throw out. I'd like to do it before Sam leaves... like maybe tomorrow, so that he can make some decisions about what things are important for him to keep from 2nd grade. Then, while he's gone, I can get things put into a ring binder. I actually did a lot of weeding out as things were brought home throughout the school year but I still have huge amounts of papers saved! It's insane!

I've hardly seen Fran in the past month and it's been so depressing! I'm hoping to do some visiting next week. Gosh, we haven't done any art together in a few months, at least! That should be considered a sin, seriously. I miss her so much!

Well, boys are getting out of the bathtub so I have to make sure they get ready for bed.

Creative Catalyst

I am honored to be the guest artist for Creative Catalyst this week... check it out! And by the way, Sam, my 8 year-old, took the photograph of me! ;)
http://creativetherapy.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/catalyst-twelve/