Andrew's Birthday Party

Good Morning everyone. I am wasted today, as we celebrated Andrew's 1rst birthday yesterday at Chuck & Cheese. I'm sure he had no idea what was going on...but everyone else had fun. I honestly thought he would be afraid of big ole Chuck but he surprised us all and looked at him in awe. Of course he could only take so much and finally fell asleep. We were all keeping him awake, at least til they sang Happy Birthday to him.
Today, in spite of my total exhaustion I will definitely put at least a sketch on wood. I will be back later in the day to post my progress and a few videos I found around the net. Here are some pics from yesterday's celebration....have a great day...Blessings..!!!!!!

Time Sure Does Fly.

Hey, haven't posted in a few days because I haven't been feeling very well. Living with Sarcoidosis is very difficult. I sure hope that they find a cure soon so all of us who suffer will suffer no more.

Well, enough of that. Today is my grandson's 1rst birthday. He is a preemie and he has done so well. I just can't believe that it's been a year already. I spent some time today preparing the little candy bags for his party tomorrow. You can be sure I will be taking lots of pictures and posting them sometime early week. He likes to watch Handy Manny so that will be his theme for his party. I took a pic of Handy Manny and put my little Andrew's face in it and created some decorations for the cake and table.
It truly was so much fun..he looks so cute. Check it out;

Does it get any better than that ???...lol

Will try and do some more painting this week and will keep you all posted. I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.....Blessings !!!!!!

WTH ....!!!!!!!

Well, this morning I was in my workshop and looked out my window to see that my two usually flowering bushes had practically no leaves on them..hmmm. !!! So, I decided to investigate. Lo and behold as I got closer to them I saw these orange slinky things all over , not only the scrubs, but most of my plants. I have no idea what the heck they are. They definitely look like caterpillars and they definitely weave some kind of cocoon ....soooo, am I going to have lots of butterflies...lol. Does anyone know what these are...please let me know. I have no clue...are they harmless or do I need to get rid of them...they're cute..:-).

OK, so if anyone has any info, please, please let me know.

Now, here is a pic of one of my newest journal pages. It's been a little tough for me to get painting these last few days. My joints are really hurting and it's not easy to get my arm in motion for too long....I'm hoping tomorrow will be a better day. Blessings to you all..!!

Yay, I WON...!!!!!

Hey guys, Happy Monday. I hope you all had a great long weekend, for those who didn't have to work today. I was so excited this morning when I was checking my email to find that I had actually won this;

PARTY GIFT #16 GOES TO:
YOLANDA (YHALOS) (#68)

YOU WIN...
Lisa Dieken of Wild Creative Heart is giving away a half hour
Partnering With Spirit session.

It was the Art Journal Love giveaway over at Dirty Footprints Studio. Thanks so much Connie, for doing this and for Lisa for donating the prize. I've never done anything like this before and I'm rather excited to see how it all unfolds. As soon as I get it all figured out with Lisa I will definitely get back to you all and tell you about my experience.

Didn't get much painting done this weekend, just a few journal pages which I will post at a later date. It's been kind of a laid back weekend for me. I'm hoping that tomorrow is a better day and my energy levels are higher than they've been. Well, I'm off to surf and check on my fav blogs....catch you all later..Blessings. !!!!

So Bummed...!

Yes, that's right I feel so bummed out right now. As some of you have heard Borders is closing some 200 of it's stores. Well, the one that is about 3 minutes from me is one of them....buwaaaaaaaaaaaah. Where will I go when I need to relax and browse my favorite books. I can't believe it. We went this morning because of course there is an "everything MUST go" and picked up a few goodies. There is still just one they are keeping open on the island but it's a little further away from where I live. Oh well, I guess I"ll have to resort to good old Amazon...:-).

I've got a few new pics to show you, been working on some stuff and it's really good for me. I feel sooooo me when I'm engrossed in one of my creative endeavors. I'm sure most of you all understand that.

Here are a few of my art journal pages. I usually do these at night in bed watching TV. I love to sketch a few and then I go back color them in as my muse hits. I find it's the best way I can manage to be constant in producing some pages.

Now, here is the painting in progress...it started like this;

Now it's like this..;

Stayed tuned , am working on it today. Hope you all have a wonderful President's Day Weekend...Blessings..!!!!!

Better Late Than Never

I just came across this giveaway and I thought I would post it just in case anyone can get in the drawing last minute. There are some really awesome prizes being given away. I hope some of you can make it. Check it out here..



Make sure you scroll down to the bottom to see the entry form...Good Luck. !!!

Happy Valentine's Day.

Hi, been MIA for a few days. I've been a little busy beaver making little gifts for Valentine's Day. I made some jewelry and was very happy with the way everyone liked them. Remember, Valentine's Day is just one day out of 365 where we express how much we love, care for, admire, cherish, etc. people in our lives. Let's not forget that it should happen every single day. Love is what makes the world go round and can make a huge difference in someone's life. Soooooo, LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!. Have a fantastic day.

On another note, I spoke a few posts back about my bout with a disease called Sarcoidosis. I know, when I first heard of it I had no clue what it was. It's been like a constant thief in my life. It's stolen so many things from me that I will never get back. I am learning day by day to live with this but let me tell you it's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I would like to create awareness of this disease to people who do not know what it is or to those who do and want to know more.
The FSR..Foundation Sarcoidosis Research has created a few videos to do just that. Please take a few minutes and check it out.



Here is the link to the Foundations site...http://www.stopsarcoidosis.org/videos/

The Artful Gathering

HI, I hope you all had a really great weekend. I was pretty much laid up with a HUGE I mean Huge headache. I think it's probably some new meds the Dr. gave me...so I guess I'll have to call him and see. I wanted to work on my paintings so badly but hey, you've got to try and go with the flow , right?

I came across this the other day and I promised I'd be back to post about it. It's an upcoming event that sounds like a dream for all creative souls. There are some wonderful teachers involved and I think you should all take a look and check it out. I am definitely going to be doing the same. All of the information can be found on the site..The Artful Gathering. Here is a small intro to this event.



I was also able to put a little color to the sketch I've been working on for my next painting. I try and test out some color palettes before I go to the canvas. I'm not real sure I like this yet but we'll see what else I can do with it. I'd love your opinion..what do you think?

Happy Saturday..!!!

Well, I've tried today to get some of my unfinished "stuff" finished.lol. !! I am in the process, can't say I'm done just yet. I was checking out some workshops and am really excited at some new ones that will soon be available to us all. I will post them as soon as I get all of the info. I have been making some jewelry pieces for Valentine's Day and I've taken a pic of just some of the pieces that are ready to be coated.

These are so much fun to make..you can hop over to Roses On My Table and take a small workshop and you'll be addicted to them too.

Now, these are some of the sketches I've been working on for my next paintings. I'm still deciding on color palettes and backgrounds...so many to choose from.

I'm open for any suggestions..would love to hear from you. Finally, this is on the canvas already. It is just in diapers right now...but she is my next Goddess..!!!!

Hope the rest of your weekend is awesome...Blessings.!!

Lord, let me not underestimate myself. Whenever I am tempted to do so, may I remember that you have made me after your own image, whole and sacred, beautiful and with infinite potentials!.....that was on my prayer for the day, how appropriate. I was kind of beating myself up because my day didn't really turn out the way I'd expected it to. I wanted to take some pics of the projects I'm working on and show you all what I've been up to. Well, things shifted in another direction. It's not a bad thing but I suppose we have to go with the flow sometimes. My grandson began his baseball season today. It was his official inauguration ceremony. I'm sharing with you some pics that I took at home before he life. He is holding his little brother in one of the pics and I LOVE that one in particular.
Oh, I wanted to share with you the book I'm reading right now, it's calle House Rules by Jodi Picoult. If you are looking for a good read I totally recommend it. She is truly an awesome writer and often writes about true life situations. This one in particular is about a boy who has Asperger's Syndrome. I am truly enjoying it.

Celebrations

Hey all, today is my DD's 15th wedding anniversary. Yes, 15 yrs. I can remember quite well when she saw that young man outside the window of our home and said to me "mom, it's him, he's the one". I said "yeah, OK"...and now she has 2 beautiful boys and he is still the one. We often overlook certain milestones in our lives and I believe that we should definitely celebrate every single one. Now, don't get me wrong I don't mean go out and party and go wild. I mean, take a few moments and remember , savor that day or moment all over again and tell the people whom you shared it with, "Thank You, I Love You, Glad you were there, Miss You, I'd do it again, Will always remember, etc. We only come through here once and it's definitely not enough but I believe that in a day there's plenty of time to make sure we share our love with all those we care about. Oh, I'm feeling mushy today...and it ain't the cold cause it's warm here where I live...lol. Enjoy Life guys, it's wonderful. Here is a little tribute to my DD and my SIL. I'll be back tomorrow with some crafty stuff.....Blessings...!!!!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

So Simple.

So simple is what I hear a lot when it comes to things artsy. It doesn't matter if it's a scrapbook page, a painting, a craft project. We are all our worst critics. Well, I am slowly getting over that hump and so should you. If you are one of these people who think you are not good enough, let it go. You know what???...it really is simple if you do what you love and let it come from your heart. Creativity is a way of expressing our feelings in a non-verbal way and it can also be via writing. The thing I've learned is that what makes me totally happy is the process. The end result may not be what I expected but it's something I can continue to work on and grow and get better as I go along. I feel so in sync with myself when I'm involved in something I love doing. To me it's very much a healing therapy and it took me quite some time and some wonderful teachers to take me to where I am today. If you haven't taken a class or given yourself the opportunity to let out that creative beast then do so. There are many wonderful classes out there and some very wonderful souls who want to share their gifts with us. I am taking a few classes myself right now and I've met sooooo many amazing artists and teachers and people. I am creating this heart which has been quite a challenge for me but it's been so much fun. Here is a picture of it , in process. I Will definitely post the finished piece when it's done....hop on over to Roses on My Table and check out the site . I'm sure you will find lots of things you'll love....take care and Blessings to you all...