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long time no blog

I really had hoped to update my poor neglected blog sooner but life has just been so crazy around here lately. This year has been quite a roller-coaster ride for my family and I. Lots of stressful and scary moments. The past 2 months in particular have been pretty intense to say the least. The good news is that the worst of it is over now. I guess you could say we've reached the light at the end of the tunnel. So finally things can start to get back to normal around here, or at least what is "normal" for my crazy family. LOL That also means that I should be updating my blog more often too :-)

Unfortunately for me, stress seems to interfere with my creativity. I have a lot of neglected projects in my craft room from the past several months. Even my art journals are starting to get a little dusty. I signed up for the LOAD (layout a day) scrapbook challenge last month knowing that I had some stressful weeks ahead. I knew it would make things even more challenging on myself but I thought it would be good for me as well. I figured scrapbooking every single day would help me get my mind off of the stressful stuff. I also hoped it would help me realize that I can't let life's little challenges and hurdles stop me from doing things I love, like creating. I'm happy to say "Mission Accomplished!".

Today is the 23rd day of the challenge and I have created 22 scrapbook pages this month, one for every day. (although I haven't done today's yet). I hope to post some of my layouts here next week. Honestly, I didn't really think I'd make it this far. It's been a challenge but it's also been a lot of fun. Not all of my pages are masterpieces, but that's ok. Completed pages are better that no pages at all! (that's my new motto, LOL). I've actually learned quite a few things during this challenge so far.

1. Pages don't have to be perfect - I will make bad pages, but that's ok. Don't dwell on it, just finish it, put it in the album and move onto the next one. Perfection is boring anyway!

2. If I really want to scrapbook, I will find the time. - I used to think I was too busy to scrapbook. Before this challenge I hadn't made a layout since May. But what I've learned is that I don't need to have hours of free time to scrapbook. A layout can be done in under 20 minutes. I just need to make it a priority. Even on the busiest of days I've managed to squeeze it in. It might mean missing a TV show or two, going to bed 20 minutes later, not browsing the web one evening, etc... but if it's important to me, I can make the time.

3. Photos don't need to be perfect either. - Goes along with the whole perfection being overrated thing. Sometimes I'd be disappointed if pictures didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. Then I would become unmotivated to scrapbook them. I realized that sometimes it's not about the photos themselves, it's about preserving that moment or that particular memory. My mom, for example, loves those disposable cameras. Whenever my girls go to visit my parents she takes a ton of photos. They're usually not the best photos as far as composition goes but I still love the photos because it's an important part of my girls childhood memories. I used to have a hard scrapbooking those photos and finding a way to make them look "good" on a page. I've finally managed to let go of that. The photo, whether it's good or bad, still captures a moment. Sometimes the photo may not be perfect, but the moment is and it deserves to be preserved.

4. Use up that stash! - Anyone who knows me, knows I love to shop, especially for art and scrapbook supplies! I've been lucky to have had jobs at two different scrapbook stores in the past. Anyone who has worked with me could tell you that I probably spent all my paychecks (if not more) in those stores. I've always gotten a little rush out of buying the newest scrapbooking supplies. Well, here's a little confession, I haven't set foot in a scrapbook store since April! Since then the only scrapbook supply I bought was a pack of paper last month (and it had been out for 6 months). So not only do I not have any of the "latest and greatest" stuff but I couldn't even tell you the names of some of the newer collections that have been released. That being said I've still finished over 20 pages this month just using what was in my stash. And let me tell you, I didn't even make a dent in my stash! Pages don't need to have brand new product on them to be nice pages. It really doesn't matter if you're using Halloween paper from 3 years ago or from 3 months ago. Really, 50 years from now my Grandkids aren't going to say "I can't believe Grandma didn't use Thickers for her title? What was she thinking?"

5. Simple is good - Don't get me wrong, I love my embellishments. In fact I can't get enough of them. But that doesn't mean I have to use them on every single page I do. It's perfectly OK to make a simple page with little or no embellishments. This can be a time-saver especially if I'm dealing with a lot of photos or if I'm short on time. The embellishments and all that pretty stuff is nice but scrapbooking is about the photos and memories after all!

I know that the challenge isn't over yet. There's still about a week left. I have no doubt that I'll finish the challenge, unless one of my arms suddenly fall off or something. It has definitely been an eye-opening experience for me and I suggest that if you're a scrapbooker that you sign up for this challenge the next time Lain hosts it. In the meantime, I've gotta run, I've got to get working on today's layout ;-)

a creative game plan...

One of the things about having so many different hobbies is trying to find time to do them all. I often find myself wishing I was an octopus with 8 arms so that I could knit, scrapbook, art journal, and make some jewelry or something all at the same time. So many times I find the urge to be creative but I can't seem to settle on what activity to do. It's hard because I enjoy every "hobby" I do. I think each one has its good qualities and serves its own purpose in my life. It's sort of a juggling act trying to find time to enjoy each one. The worst part of all this is that I have to control myself from starting even more hobbies. I'll wander through a craft store, see a class, or flip through a magazine and end up finding something else that looks interesting and I'll want to give it a try too. It's crazy and at times sort of feels like a sickness too. LOL!

Hopefully I'm not the only one who can relate to this craziness. I'm sure others share the same struggle. I know there are many creative people out there who have various interests and learn to juggle them all. I just think I'm still working on finding a way to balance them.

In an effort to find some of that balance I've decided to focus more on two of my favorite hobbies that have been rather neglected in recent months. First up is scrapbooking. I really enjoy this hobby. I've been doing it for over 12 years, but in the past year or so it's really become a rare thing for me. I recently heard about Lain Ehmann's "Layout A Day" challenge called "LOAD". Basically for the month of October each participant commits to creating a layout each and every day. I'll admit the idea seemed a little daunting at first. But after some thought I started to feel excited about the challenge of it. I think it will be the perfect way to jumpstart my scrapbooking again. I'm really hoping to meet the challenge and have started thinking about strategies I can do each day to make sure the layout gets done.

With October being my scrapbooking month, I've decided that November will be my knitting month. I've been working on the same sad little lace scarf for months now. I've actually started referring to it as my "forever scarf" because that's how long it seems to be taking to finish. ;-) I think the reason that it's taking so long is that the pattern is a little boring and it's a little tedious to knit. I'm thinking it's time for something new. For about a year now I've talked about wanting to learn how to knit socks. In fact last year I purchased several skeins of sock yarn (including the ever so elusive Wollmeise yarn). I've got the yarn, the teeny tiny (scary) double pointed needles, the how-to book but I've still never actually started to knit them. I've decided that after the LOAD challenge is over that I'm going to finally cast on my first pair and give it a try.

Hopefully this little "game-plan" of mine will help get me in the direction of finding some balance with all of my hobbies. And even though I might be focusing more on scrapbooking and knitting I don't plan to ignore my other creative interests. Art Journaling, for example, has become a regular ritual for me (especially with my life being so crazy at the moment, LOL). I'm just hoping to find a better creative balance :-)

is it March yet???

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail in the mail yesterday: my Artfest  confirmation! I didn't think Teesha would be sending them out for another week so it was quite a surprise to find it sitting in my mailbox. Thank goodness too, because the waiting was killing me! LOL

I ended up getting all three of my first choice classes! Woohoo! On day 1 I'm taking "Mystery Doodling" by Theo Ellsworth. I'm really excited about this class. When I was at Artfest this year I heard so many great things about his class so I really wanted to take a class from him this year. It's a little out of the box for me but I'm really excited about it since I really want to improve my doodling/drawing skills. I can't tell you how stressed I was about getting into this class. I wanted it more than another class this year. I'm so happy!

On day 2 I'm taking "Puzzling Ladies" from Sunny Carvalho. Another out of the box class for me since I've never done any portrait painting before. It's something I've always wanted to try so I'm really glad I got into this class. At Artfest vendor night this year I stumbled across her booth and ended up spending my kids college fund. Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I really loved her art and bought quite a few treasures from her. Then the next day I ended up sitting at the same table as her in Pam Garrison's class. We chatted throughout the day and she is such a sweet person. She talked about her artwork and the class she had taught the day before and I told myself that if she was teaching at Artfest next time that I would take a class from her. I'm so glad it all worked out. Really looking forward to her class.

And finally on day 3 I'm taking "Steampunk Lily" from Julie Haymaker-Thompson. I've been an admirer of Julie's work for a while now and I was really excited to see her name on the list of Artfest teachers. Her project for this class looks incredible. I can tell it will be a fun class and a perfect way to end my Artfest experience next year!

So glad that the stress of picking classes is all over with. Now the real fun can begin! I'm already anxious to get started on swaps. I can't wait for the ATC and Fatbook swaps to begin sign ups. My head is already swimming with ideas for them! March can't get here fast enough!

where does the time go???

Seriously, September already? How did that happen?

I can't believe that in less than 8 hours school will be starting again. I'm now the mom of a 7th grader and a 5th grader. Can't believe that tomorrow begins the last year of elementary school for my "baby". The other day at church I saw her pre-school teacher and it seemed like just yesterday I was taking her to her first day of pre-school. I often find myself wishing I could go back in time for a bit or at least freeze time for a little while. Kids just grow up way too fast!

I'm definitely going to miss the lazy days of summer. Now begins the fun of juggling school schedules, dance practices, and now Em is playing soccer for a few months, so we have that as well. Looks like "Mom's Taxi" service will be back in business as of tomorrow ;)

Hopefully with the kids in school during the day I'll be able to get some extra free time for creating. I've still been keeping up with the Art Journal Stimulus Project. I'm really enjoying it. The prompts are really terrific. In fact they've almost been a little therapeutic for me. Here's another page I created with one of the prompts. You probably can't tell but this page has a lot of layers and a lot of journaling underneath it all. The prompt for this page really hit home for me. I felt so great after finishing this page. Gotta love art journaling therapy!

I did want to mention that Dawn is going to be doing this online class again next month. You can find all the details here. Seriously this class is such a great deal at only $15. You won't want to miss it!

a different kind of creative project...

 

No, this isn't part of some satanic ritual and I'm not practicing any sort of dolly torture.  I actually decided to take the plunge into customizing some of my Blythe dolls. I'm always amazed by all the beautiful Blythes that are posted on Flickr. I can (and have!) spent hours and hours looking at all of them. I'm always fascinated by the way so many collectors "customize" their dolls. It's like nothing is off-limits. You can change their make-up, hair, eye colors, even their arms and legs. It's really amazing!

I don't know how much customizing I'll ever actually get into. I did re-paint the lips on one of my dolls last month and was really happy with how it turned out. One of the things I've really wanted to do was change out some of the "eye chips". The eyes are one of the most noticeable features on Blythe dolls and with each doll having four sets of eye chips it's a really fun part to customize and make each doll even more unique.

So after lots of nail-biting I went ahead and ordered a couple of pairs of eye chips and gave it a try. It actually was a whole lot easier than I thought. Although my girls thought I was "torturing" my dolls and the look on my husband's face was priceless when he opened the freezer and saw one of my dolls inside with a glue-stick sticking out of her eye socket. I will definitely be changing out more chips in the very near future, just as soon I can decide which colors to order (there are SO many choices available!).

  

Here are two of my Blythe dolls with their new eyes. I can't get over how pretty they look with their new colors. It's definitely a huge improvement over the scary orange and pink stock eye chips they came with.

it's not every day you see a "superhero" in person...

So a few weeks ago we were lucky enough to get tickets to another taping of the Big Brother live eviction show. We've been fortunate to be able to go three times in the last two seasons and let me tell you it is an absolute blast! I would go every week if they'd let me. LOL! I have to say that this season started off kind of boring but things definitely picked up after Jessie's sudden eviction a couple of weeks ago and Chima's meltdown and "expulsion" from the show.

I think the recent drama has made the show even more popular because starting a few weeks ago there have been many ticket holders who have been turned away at the last minute. Needless to say Chris and I were pretty nervous about getting in last week. As it turned out we were the LAST ones let into the studio. There were about a hundred or so people behind us that didn't get in. We felt really bad for them. Things have changed quite a bit since the first time we went last season when they didn't have enough people for the audience and they started grabbing interns and crew members to fill empty seats. LOL!

 

 

Anyway, as always it was an awesome experience. It was definitely interesting to see "Captain Unitard" (AKA Lydia) come walking out the front door. I can't believe how pink her hair is in person. It's actually kind of pretty. LOL! I kind of had mixed feelings about her eviction but it will be interesting to see what happens next inside the Big Brother house. Can't wait to see who comes walking through the front door next!

art journaling on the go...

For months now I've been wanting to create a little "on the go" art journal kit. I want to make it more convenient for me to be able work in my art journal wherever I'm at and also when I'm away from home. A few months ago I bought another one of these craft totes so that I could keep my art journaling supplies together and organized. It's working great. I use it mostly at home and I can take the tote from room to room, outside, to a class or wherever I want to work in my journals. It's great to have everything all in one place. But I've still wanted something smaller and more portable for everyday use.

I found this zipper bag at Paper Source last month. Right away I knew it would be perfect. I love the funky design and the texture of it (it's made from recycled plastic bottles too!) So I've spent some time this week filling it up with random journaling goodies. Inside I've put lots of sharpies (my favorite doodling pens), scissors, glue stick, random bits of paper and tags and of course, my mini moleskin art journal.

I'm so tickled with this little bag. It's just the perfect size. I love the idea that I can just toss it in my purse or in my car and that I can do some journaling whenever the mood strikes. With my girls going back to school very soon and with dance practices/competitions and now even soccer too, I know I'll have times when I'll be sitting somewhere waiting for someone. This art journal kit will be perfect for those times.

I decided to take my new little kit for a "test drive" the other night. Chris and I were up late (way too late) watching Big Brother After Dark and I was able to make a few journal pages using just what was in this little bag. I have a feeling this new kit will motivate me to journal even more.

In the meantime though I'm hoping to start another project this weekend. It involves another wooden birdhouse, vintage wallpaper and some beautiful pink mica flakes that arrived in the mail yesterday. Can't wait to get started on it!

a simple journal page...

Yesterday was the first day of Dawn Sokol's online art journaling class. I've been really looking forward to this class starting. We got our first journal prompt yesterday and I couldn't wait to get to work on it. It's definitely not one of my best journal pages. In fact I'm contemplating making another page for this prompt sometime this weekend. I've been plagued by some pain-in-the-butt migraines this week that seem to be interfering with my creativity. But the main thing is that I had fun making the page. After all, playing with paint is always a fun thing!

 

feeling crafty...

I've been feeling kind of crafty this week. So far no art journal or scrapbook pages, but I have managed to finish two projects that I'm pretty happy with. I apologize in advance for the photos. Both my cameras were dead when I went to take photos and ended up having to use my iphone camera. (that's what I get for being impatient, LOL)

First up is a little wall hanging that I made. I had a plain wooden plaque that my mom had given me. It was part of the dollar store wood treasures she gave me last month when I made that birdhouse. The other night I pulled out one of the pieces and created this collage. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Right now it's hanging near our kitchen. Not sure yet if that will be it's final place or not yet.

 

The other project I created was something I whipped up last night. For months now I've wanted a french style memo board in my craft room. I wanted to create an inspiration board where I could fill it with all sorts of photos, quotes, postcards and anything else that is inspiring me at that moment. I've looked in a few stores and I never did find one with fabric that I really liked. Finally after looking at the ones my daughters have in their room I realized that I just could make one myself.

I know that there are tutorials and instructions posted online. But I'm just not a person who deals with reading steps and following instructions. I'd rather just see it and wing it and so that's what I did. I picked up a blank canvas at the craft store along with some decorative nails and fabric. So with that and some fabric glue, ribbon and brads I ended up creating my little memo board. I can't believe how easy it was. I can see myself making more of these in different sizes in the future. I definitely learned a few things and made a few errors that I'll know better for next time. But I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to hang it in my craft room and start filling it up.

 

I'm hoping this crafting bug that I've got doesn't go away soon. Hopefully this weekend I can do some scrapbooking, painting and maybe even some knitting! (ok, so that's asking for a lot, but I'd be satisified with any one of those!) But in the meantime I plan on spending the evening curled up with my Where Women Create, Artful Blogging, and Romantic Homes. Magazine heaven!

sooo excited...

I can't believe it's August already! Before I know it summer will be over and my girls will be back in school. Where does the time go?

This month is already off to a terrific start. August 1st was the day that all of the classes and details for Artfest 2010 were finally revealed. I have been anxiously awaiting this for months now and was glued to the computer at midnight when it was all unveiled. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about Artfest. I had such an incredible time this year. I can see why so many artists have said that it's a life changing experience. It truly was the best event I've ever been to. There are no words to describe how inspiring my experience was. By the end of the first day I promised myself to do whatever I could to make this an annual tradition for myself. Within weeks of coming home from this year's event I had already made hotel reservations for the 2010 event!

I spent most of the weekend trying to decide what classes to take. OMG, there are soooo many great classes being offered this year. I can't tell you how many times I made a list of choices for each day and then turned around and changed them all to something else. I want to try to step out of my comfort zone this time around and try a drawing class and a portrait painting class. I've really wanted to learn how to do both. It was so hard to pick and choose and narrow down my choices. I know from this year's experience that there aren't any "bad" classes. All the classes are amazing. I decided not to stress too much about it and just sort of put it in the hands of fate and whatever classes I get are the ones I'm meant to take.

I'm also really excited about next year's theme. It's a fairytale theme. Teesha said she was inspired by Tim Burton's upcoming "Alice In Wonderland" movie. I'm so looking forward to that movie coming out myself so this was like the icing on the cake for me! My head is already swimming with all the fun fairytale creations I could make for swaps and trades.

Anyway, I mailed off my registration this morning and now begins the long (and sometimes agonizing) wait to see what classes I get into. We should know by the end of September so in the meantime I'm going to try not to think about it too much (yeah, right!) and just focus my energy on being creative and enjoying what's left of this summer that's going by so fast!