What to do...

My boys are on fall break this week so things change a bit for me. I could not go to Bible study this morning because there's no one to watch the boys. I'm trying to figure out what I will do today. I look around and see unfinished things .... piles of papers that need to be organized and put in my new filing system, an art table the I need to finish cleaning off, a box of items to list in my etsy store, laundry to be done, things to prepare for my kid's art class I teach tomorrow which will require a run to the store, well... and the list goes on.

Here is altered composition notebook/ journal I just finished this week. It is a gift item ordered by a friend for a friend.
The recipient loves the desert and these colors so I used one of my photographs taken at the Botanical garden. I love this photograph! And I love these colors!

I'm thinking of driving my boys up to a lake in Prescott on Thursday. It's going to warm up here over the next couple of days and I think it would be nice to just hang out in cooler weather by a lake, romp through the woods, have a picnic, and it only takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to drive there. I haven't been in over a year and it's calling me. I can do some painting. ;)

Bob

Love Bob's "racing stripes". Bob is Sam's kitten who is now almost 6 months old. He's quite a character with the most expressive tail. He kinda' keeps craziness stirred up amongst the three furry boys. During the day, he finds the highest place in the house to sleep during the day, which is on top of a box in my shelving unit.. puts him about a foot from the ceiling! The past three nights, I have been able to sleep with my bedroom door closed since they have left me alone with no foot biting and Bob has become a bed buddy. I've nicknamed him 'MooBob' because he resembles a cow with his marking. But it's the white racing stripes up the back of his ears that I really love.

Guess where I went today....

Can you tell? I spent the morning at the Desert Botanical Gardens, one of my most favorite places! I took pictures (have 76 good ones), painted in my journal, ate lunch under a shady cottonwood tree, and had peaceful, quiet time to myself. It was heavenly! Here are some of my favorite shots of the day:
This was my first shot of the day upon my arrival around 8:45 yesterday morning.


I love finding little surprised.. a different variety of cacti growing in the crevices of a sajuaro!

A very rare sight here in the valley but, I understand there are two pair of Cardinals that live at the garden now!
I was very pleasantly surprised to find several cactus blooming this time of year!
And some that I photographed in spring now have fruit. I love the rich contrast of color against the pale green.
There were also several reptile out roaming about but only two that posed for me.
And then there's the evidence of a reptile... way cool. The shed skin feels like thin, fragile paper.
kinda' looks like bubble wrap! hehehe!
love this little guy... he was only a couple inches long sitting in the water. I was thrilled he didn't hop away.
Then, there's the trees. LOVE the tree bark! And it is evident that fall is hear beneath the cottonwood trees.




And then, there are the Monarchs. They were fluttering everywhere in the wild but the garden also had an exhibit where I got some good shots. Don't you love their polka dots?




I'm not sure what this plant is but I love the colors, shape, and textures.

And finally, here are the two journal pages I managed to get painted while I was there. I'm a slow painter, seriously. The one on the left took me a while but since I wasn't "on the clock", I didn't pay attention to time. I got lost in the process. The second one I did in about 20 minutes because it was almost time for me to leave to pick up my kids at school and I was determines to get in at least two paintings for the morning.


And that's a wrap! Hope you've enjoyed the show!
I'll be heading over there again a lot in the near future now that it's cooling off!

What a week!

Well, last Friday, Max woke with flu-like symptoms running fever. He did not get to back to school until Tuesday, when Sam then came down with the same virus! I have been trapped at home for a week now. However, I have used the time well, I think. I got a lot of things cleaned out an organized and have gotten a few projects done. I was commissioned to make a gift journal and finished it yesterday. Here it is:



The recipient loves the sea thus the scripture passage and color palette. On the inside, I added this little vinyl pocket of sand with her name and a single pearl buried in sand.

I also pulled out the art doll I started in Katie Kendrick's class over TWO years ago! YIKES! I finished her today and put her up for sale in my Etsy store. I hope she finds a happy, new home soon.


I also made two more special order dolls for the same buyer who ordered the last ones. I got those and the little tomato costume shipped off today.

Tomorrow, I'll finally have both boys back in school for the day then they'll be back out for not only the weekend, but all of next week! It is their fall break. This weekend, I'll be working on another special gift order and then have more projects I want to complete. I'm trying to get some things made to sell while still trying to reorganize and clean things out in my apartment. I still one one mess art table that needs my attention badly!

I look forward to a morning walk tomorrow after dropping the boys off. The temperatures have been so amazing, I can't wait to have some time out in the crisp morning air! I've been keeping windows open all day and it's been wonderful!

It's Official!

I will be teaching 4 classes in Texas in April 2010!!!! Here are the classes that were accepted:
One Page At A Time - Tab Bound Book
2. Translucent Liquid Sculpy Fused Collage (learned this from DJ Pettitt and have received her blessing to teach the class... but this will be an entire collage fused with TLS so a little different than how she taught it.)
3. Watercolor on Canvas
4. Mixed Media fabric postcard

Over the next couple of days, all classes will be listed on the blog to get ready for registration so check it out!!! (you'll find the link to the right) I'd love for you to join me deep in the heart of Texas! YeeHawwwww!

Too long

It has been way too long since I posted! I didn't realize! I've been so busy. My Wednesday art classes with the home school kids is going great. My best and most enthusiastic student is 3 years old and just an absolute delight! I can't wait to see her. This past week, I put plastic on the floor and we did shaving cream painting. There just isn't anything better about teaching than watching the shear joy of someone being who they were created to be... and this little one is an artist through and through. Before she left, I was kneeling down talking to her and she leaned over, put her arms around my neck and kissed me on the cheek. I melted. I wanted to bring her home with me! LOL!

This past week, I won a couple of bids on Etsy with the Alchemy section. It's where people have something they want made, they post it along with their ideal price and you can bid for the jobs. I won to jobs and just completed them both. One was for very simple cloth baby dolls (9 inches) along with blankets and diapers for them and the other for a tomato Halloween costume for a 2 year old! Remember I have to take pictures with my computer camera since mine was stolen and my husband took his camera back to his house so, these pictures are not so great but it's all I've got.
These things are a little more "crafty" but they've been fun to do. I did create the patterns and everything from scratch so they are sorta' art projects! LOL! I loved doing the costume. I've got bids in on a couple other jobs right now for costumes.

Some stuff going on in my personal life that I can't really talk about here but pray for my family, will ya'? I'd appreciate the prayers.

Two weeks ago, I started attending a very intense support group that will go for the next 6 months being led by my therapist. Homework this week took me hours to do. Got it all typed in my computer and tried printing only for my printer to die... I mean DEAD! Wahhhhh! On top of homework for this group each week, I have homework for my Bible Study class as well. I feel like I'm in school.

Well, it's been an exhausting day so I'm heading for bed. Tomorrow will be super busy with counseling in the morning and group tomorrow night and a ton of other stuff in between... physically and emotionally exhausting just thinking about my list. I'll try to do better about posting!

update

Well, here's my studio update...


Progress was made but the other art table is still in shambles....

The kitties had a pile up on my sewing table. They often sleep here but not often do I find all three of them hanging out here. It's Kenzy's normal spot with Bob or Marvin visiting occasionally. It's very hard to sew with cats piled behind your sewing machine.
Before I cleaned up all my fabric, I made 10 more heart tags. When my therapist saw photos of the original 20, she ordered 10 more! Now to put name labels on them. I was going to do it tonight but I'm just dead tired. My lower back has a knife stabbing in it and a headache came on this evening. I'm going to bed now. Still have lots to do tomorrow before Sam's big party! He's sooooo excited!