More Collaging in Miniature

I enjoyed a post from B today, who has been MIA from the blogosphere for a bit. And that's totally allowed, and understandable. We all need a blogging holiday from time to time. Been there, done that. It's necessary.

I liked reading about the many things that B's been up to this summer. I would love to see some of the tote bags, jewelry, and books she's been making. And embellished underwear? I really want to see that! I might be inspired to give it a go myself.

I was inspired today, though, by the collages that she shared. She left me wanting more, and I'm hoping that if I'm patient, I'll be rewarded with more. In the meantime, I got out my old magazines and my scissors and my glue stick. Thanks, B, for the inspiration.

It's Amazing What You Can Find . . .

. . . when you clean up your craft room.

Earlier this week, I did some rearranging and reorganizing in my office slash library slash craft room. I went through a couple of old cigar boxes I had shoved into the back of a shelf. I found a stash of photos that I had printed about a year ago for scrapbooking, and I found some ATC's I made at about the same time. I'd totally forgotten about them (and obviously they didn't get sent to wherever they were supposed to go. Oops!) But I remember how much fun I had making them, and I really like them.

Beach ATC's

Asian ATC's

Bugs ATC's

Asian Tag

I have a few others, but these are my favorites. I would love to share . . . anyone interested?

I Danced

I danced today.

I had the day off work today. My plan was to continue painting - the entry way and/or the living room, after doing my bedroom last weekend. But I let myself sleep in, and it was glorious. That first cup of coffee was wonderful, and when I peeked out the door to the back patio, the white cat (not mine, but one of many that seem to live in my yard) was curled up on the glider, enjoying the morning before the heat became unbearable. It was just too perfect a morning for anything that resembled work.

A couple of weeks ago, in my meandering through the blogosphere, I found a blog called A Fanciful Twist. Quite magical and a little ethereal, almost like a fairytale. This particular post had me at the "lace and paper flowers." And I instantly wanted to put on a twirly skirt and dance.

Since that night, I've had it on the mental list in the back of mind to look through my old CD's for one in particular. But, as it usually plays out, there was always something more important to do. Until today. And I found it - "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac. And so I danced. In my pajamas. And the day was good.

Photo Source

I hope you dance today!

Wishcasting Wednesday

It's Wishcasting Wednesday. You can be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes.

Jamie's prompt today:

For what do you wish to acknowledge yourself?

Okay, I'll give myself a pat on the back today.

I acknowledge myself for inspiring creativity in others.

When I did my first Full Moon Dreamboard several months ago, I really enjoyed it. It was fun, it was kind of relaxing, and it was rather fulfilling. And I still love it. It's still up on my bulletin board, and I still love the colors and the pictures and the message that I know is there for me. I really, really believe that one reason, a big reason, a lot of us are unhappy in our lives is because we have no creative outlet.

Every kid loves creating. In fact, it is pretty much a given that every child is a little artist. We give them crayons and paper and pencils and glue. It's almost automatic - it's like it's as much of a requirement for a healthy child as drinking their milk and eating their vegetables. And we place great importance on their creations. We stick them up on the refrigerator with magnets or frame them and hang them on the wall. And every mother has a box or an envelope someplace where she's saved these precious masterpieces.

So what happens as we get older? What changes? Nothing changes except for what we perceive to be priorities. But I have discovered over the last few years that I need to play. I am a much happier girl if I'm creating. It can be (and has been) beading, or sewing, or scrapbooking, or rubber stamping, or painting. Or it can be as simple as cutting up a magazine and gluing pictures and words onto a big piece of paper.

I liked the Full Moon Dreamboard idea so much that I invited friends over to join me. I have hosted two Dreamboard Circles so far, and am planning my third one. My friends love it. (In fact, last month a special friend traveled 250 miles to come play!)

When I hosted my first Circle, I was right in the middle of a wonderful experience called "Wreck This Journal." Of course I had to get it out and show it to everyone, and one of my friends, M, actually helped me with a page. Just a few days ago, M called me from the bookstore. She thought it was so cool that she was buying one too.

So there you have it. I am a creativity inspirer. Or conspirer. See? I even create new words! It's all good!

To your creativity,

P.S. Please be sure to follow the link above to Jamie's Studio to visit other Wishcasters.

It's Tuesday . . .

. . . and I feel like I'm still recovering from the weekend.

Well, let's see . . .

On Friday, I got hubby off on his fishing trip. Up north. Where it's cool. Lucky bastard*. Don't know what else I did that day, but I'm sure there was something. Some form of domestic chore, no doubt.

Saturday morning I was up early and off to the home improvement store for paint. Walked out of the store with four gallons of paint, some new roller covers, a couple of tray liners, a yardstick, and two ferns. (I can't resist the garden center. Ever!) Stopped at Starbucks on the way home for a cinnamon dolce latte, a lowfat raspberry muffin, and some sort of a chocolate, chocolate, chocolate cookie that was for my afternoon break. (It was heavenly! Can't remember what I did on Friday, but I remember every crumb of that cookie.) Got home, changed clothes, washed walls, and gathered my paint supplies/tools. I got 7/8ths of the room painted, but I can't move the bed by myself, so must wait for hubby to get home to finish. Moved furniture back, replaced switchplate and socket covers and cleaned up the mess. Including me. Had a short nap and ate some little Amy's organic tortilla casserole bowl thing for supper. Watched the mama cat and the kittens in the back yard. Named them all - Mama Cat, Kiko, and Zorro. (oh oh.) Walked in and out of the bedroom a number of times to get a "first impression." Decided I needed new curtains and made a trip to the store at about 9:00 p.m. Put new curtains up and went to bed. Didn't sleep well and finally got up at about 1:30 a.m. and turned on the computer. Ate a couple of crackers and played around on www.polyvore.com for about an hour or so, then went back to bed.

On Sunday morning I was up by 7. Started laundry, cleaned bathrooms, and made a trip to the craft store. Bought a hinged display frame to hang on the wall to hold some of my necklaces. And a new basket to hold magazines. (Oh yeah! I just remembered. On Friday I went to Pier One to buy baskets for spare toss pillows and throws and books.) Put up a mirror above my nightstand and moved some other things around so I have a little space similar to a dressing table. Kind of girly and kind of fun. More like playing dress up that way. ;) More laundry, including hand washables. Outside to take care of the birds and water the plants and sneak a treat to the kitty cats. (Oops! Did I just say that? No, hubby dear, I was just kidding. I would NEVER feed Mama Cat and Kiko and Zorro. I mean those darned cats that aren't even mine. And aren't cute at all.) Climbed through the kitchen window (that thankfully wasn't locked properly and I could force open) when I realized I'd locked myself out. (Remember, hubby is out of state fishing, theluckybastard, and the in-laws with the spare key are at my sister-in-law's house 5 hours away.) Prayed that the neighbors wouldn't see "someone" climbing into my house through the window and call the cops (where I work, by the way. would be totally embarrassing). Pulled a muscle that started in my right "cheek" and ran all the way down the back of my thigh to just behind my knee. And, oh yeah, it was about 110 degrees and 30 or 40 percent humidity. Nice day to be locked out of the house at noon. Recovered and cooled off and wrote myself a note to have a spare key made and hide it in the shed someplace. Finished laundry and took a (long) nap. Had soup for dinner and gave myself a pedicure. Slept better.

Monday morning, got to work at about 6:45 a.m. Home at five. Soup for dinner again, along with a wedge of romaine lettuce, some cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of blue cheese dressing. Blogged for a bit. Talked to my son on the phone for a while. Got to bed a little after ten. Slept like a rock.

Today, at work before 7 a.m. again. At lunch time, I had a duplicate key made, stopped at the health food store for more soup (which I didn't buy because I'm not going to pay almost $4 for a can of soup), stopped at the ATM, and went through the car wash (all in just an hour). Home at 5. Talked to a friend in El Paso (while yawning), had a bowl of cereal (while yawning), blogged and read blogs (while yawning and squinting). Now it's time to get ready for bed.

Tomorrow? We'll just have to wait and see. :)

*NOTE: In this blog, Are We There Yet, the terms "bastard" and "bitch" are (almost always) used as terms of endearment. Sometimes in a fit of jealousy.

The Colors of My World

The weekend, as usual, came and went too quickly. The good news is I got to spend a good chunk of it painting! The bad news is - alas! - it was not in my Moleskine watercolor journal, and not with my lovely watercolor pencils, and did not include dainty florals or any scenes from nature. It did, however, include a very pretty color called Urban Mist, even though it came in a gallon sized can.

I have been wanting to paint my bedroom for a long, long time, so I am very pleased that it is (mostly) done. The color is not exactly what I wanted, but is such a tremendous improvement that I'm happy with it. (Hubby is out of town and it'll be interesting to see how long it takes him to notice when he gets home next weekend.)

I also bought a couple gallons of paint to paint my living room and my entry way. I painted the dining room about a year ago - one of those not-quite-beige-not-quite-cream-not-quite-tan colors that seems to be different hues at different times of the day. I have an open floor plan and the dining room and living room flow one into the other, so I will continue that color into the living room. It's called Baked Scone. Mmm . . . yummy.

And that got me wondering - who gets to name all these colors? The other paint chips I picked up when trying to decide what color paint to buy are called Mesa Taupe, Silver Sage, Verdigris, Cafe Cream, Clear Pond, Sculptor Clay, and Ozone. I have a brochure/catalog from a few years ago from Anna Sova, a company that sells "healthy paint" as well as organic bedding. (They even, at one point, had what they called "Paint Aromatherapy." You could add a small container of "aroma" to your paint and it supposedly lasted from 6 months to a year. Aromas included Clean/Fresh Lemons, Hope/Vanilla, Exotica/Sandalwood, and Courage/Orange Clove. Are you getting this Fragrant Muse? ;) Don't know if they still sell them.)

Anna Sova's colors were outrageous! Elephants of Victory. Tibetan Turquoise. Fish Calligraphy. Flying Lizard. Stonehenge. Filipino Eggplant. I could go on and on.

And have you checked out a box of Crayola Crayons lately? The box of 96 still includes my old favorites from SO many years ago - Sky Blue, Apricot, Sea Green, and Burnt Sienna. Now there's also Timberwolf, Big Dip o' Ruby (metallic), Inchworm, Purple Mountain's Majesty, Tumbleweed, Macaroni and Cheese, and Wild Blue Yonder.

I want that job! I could come up with a few I think. How about Marilyn Monroe Lipstick Red, Caramelized Onion, Bird of Paradise, Egg Yolk. (I have a small eyeshadow compact with two shades of green. I put the lighter one on one day and instantly thought, "Oh no! It's that weird pearlescent green color that ham turns when it's getting a little old." Haven't ever worn that one!)

And I have some for the Grunge set - Four Day Old Bruise, Marilyn Manson Black, Dirty Dreadlocks.

What colors can you come up with?

More Than One Way to Skin a Cat (or to wear a necklace)

I recently started receiving Lucky magazine. I didn't subscribe to it; it replaced another magazine I had a subscription to that went out of business. And while I don't usually buy a lot of fashion magazines, I did enjoy flipping through the September issue.

One of the things that caught my eye was this outfit.

(photo)

I have a blouse very similar to the one shown, and I am especially fond of the layers of necklaces and beads and bracelets that seem to be popular this season. I also have several flower pins and I do where them from time to time on days when I'm feeling especially girly. It's the romantic in me. (Or perhaps the artiste, I'm not sure. Tee hee.)

I popped into a department store one day last week on my lunch hour and found some silk rose pins on a clearance rack. There was a navy blue one that had my name on it, and it came home with me.

I already had a string of beads that went with the blouse beautifully. It was really long and I loved it. The first day I wore it, however, I broke it. I saved it, sure that I could fix it. I have a stash of beads and findings from my "beading period" a few years ago, and I knew that I could dig out a crimp bead and put the chain back together.

I worked on it some this weekend, but it proved too difficult. My crimp beads were too small and the chain was too delicate. I was stumped to come up with another idea.

Until this morning. I was determined to wear that necklace. I mean I just had to wear that necklace. So I came up with a couple of other ideas.

Idea number one - duct tape. (Don't laugh.) The color wasn't right - it was way too bright - but I thought I could use a tiny piece to put the chain back together, then slide a bead over the top of it and nobody would even see it. Perhaps good in theory, but not in reality.

Idea number two - Elmer's glue. Fill the center of my one loose bead with glue, then slide both ends of the broken chain into the center and let it dry. I was hopeful, even confident, that this was going to work. Time was running short, though, and it wasn't drying quickly enough. Solution? The hair dryer. It seemed to be working! I picked the necklace up and it held together. But as soon as I put it around my neck, one end pulled loose again. Damn!

Was I to be beat by a string of beads that, apparently, wanted more desperately to stay broken apart than I wanted them to be put back together? Beads, you don't know me very well, do you? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Janet and I'm going to be wearing you today.

(color not great; rose is navy blue and blouse has lots of blue in it.)

I wore them as a lariat. And I gotta say that I like them much better that way. See beads? That wasn't so hard now was it?