In progress

January is half over, is that really possible?  It is cold and cloudy outside and suppose to rain most of the week, which I am kind of looking forward to because I love rain and we so desparately need it.    The drought has really made things look so dismal and now the water company says they're doubling the bills to compensate for the need for more water sources and to curb those people that over use.
One of my newest things to do is play a game called, "Where's Jake".  Sort of a combination where's waldo and hide and seek.  He's been going through another stage of exploring and now has gotten more into climbing so keeping him away from the stove has been a chore.  Most of the time this game consists of going around the house calling out "Jake" with no response then turning around to find him behind me looking at me like I'm some sort of idiot because he's been there all along.  Or I'll look in one of his "hiding" spots and not see him then later he pops out of it.

We received a basket of goodies for Christmas and I put the basket away in my craft room back in the back of some boxes next to my tool box.  One day I was looking everywhere for Jake and couldn't find him anywhere.  He's taken to going into the craft room to explore but hasn't really gotten into anything so I've left the door shut without latching so he can think he's getting away with something when he goes through these elaborate motions to open the door.  He will stick his paws under the door like he's picking a lock or something then headbutt the door open.  Born cat burglar if I ever saw one.  On one particular day I looked down behind my chair and saw this face looking back at me through the cellophane wrap that was still around the basket.  So I went around the other side and pulled the wrap aside a bit and sure enough he had fallen asleep inside the basket.  I've found him sleeping here a number of times now which might be the reason he's gone to finding new spots.

Like the bottom of the hutch I keep my photo albums in.  I was going through pictures a few months ago and then my back started giving me problems so I didn't get them all put back in so there is a bit of space in the middle.  I found him sleeping on top of John's old year book.

Yesterday I found him asleep on the bathroom counter.

Aside from that I have started to do a little crafting again.  I recently purchased an I-Top tool. 

It puts designs you want on the tops of brads.  I've played with a little but am still getting the hang of it.  I've since learned that they have a magnet backing that you can get to make magenetic buttons also. 

I'm still a little rough around the edges and I need to work at getting things centered.  I asked the Imaginesce people for help and they gave me some pointers.  So will be trying that next time.  I put a flower together with one of the brads I made to see how they would look finished on something.

You can't really see the green that was sprayed on the text sheet very well.  I guess I need to use darker sprays next time.  The picture I used was of my stamping sisters when we got together in Las Vegas a couple years ago.  I layered this flower with the vintage dictionary paper, a piece of denim, then a purple silk flower, a crochet purple flower that I made, another smaller floral cut piece of denim and finishing it off with the I-Top brad.  I really like the crochet and denim look added to my paper flowers.  Thank goodness for scrap yarns and old jeans.

I've also started working on another sign.  As usual, I have lots of "in progress" work going but nothing finished.  My tombstone will probably say something like, "I'm not done yet"

Note to anyone that is thinking of using grunge paper and glimmer mist.  Be prepared to use a lot of mist if you want to get a good colouring.  I probably should have known since the grunge paper has an absorbant texture.  It accepts paint so well that I didn't really think about the consistency factor when I started.  I really love the heart with wings and crown look so I'm doing a few more things with it.  Tim Holtz is coming out with a sizzix die cut line that is suppose to include wings so I am looking forward to that.  By then I'll be all winged out no doubt. 

Well I guess it's back to the drawing board for me......  I hope all is well with everyone and you will keep the people in Haiti in your prayers.  Always appreciate what you have as you never know when a disaster will strike.  Peace....

Tagged by itch2stitch

Well I guess this is one way to get me to post something.  I have been in a funk this month so am not getting much done, including blogging.  My sweet new friend from facebook and blogging has tagged me in the "10 things I enjoy doing that don't cost money" so I'm going to give it a whirl.  This was pretty hard to do because even things that I like doing that don't in themselves cost money, need money to get started somewhere down the line. 

1) People watching  ... I've always loved watching people and trying to guess what adventures they were on at that moment.  Seeing different styles they wore even though I am not style conscious in the least.  I love seeing what other people wear because in some ways dressing is an art form.  You can tell those that dress to suit themselves as opposed to those that dress to impress others or are following some sort of trend.

2) Music ...  This one does need money to some degree but I have things I bought when I was a kid that I still listen to so it's almost like free after awhile.  I still enjoy music from my teens and even before.  I remember my mother listening to Elvis when I was a kid and singing along.  I still have those albums too.

3) Reading ... I haven't done as much of it in the past years because of my health but I still love it.  It's wonderful to get wrapped up in a good book and bring the words to life in your mind.  Getting to the end and wondering what happened to those characters afterwards.   Something that probably goes along with ...

4) Daydreaming ...  I remember when I was younger kids would always get scolded for daydreaming and not getting their work done.  But I think it's a healthy thing in life to be able to daydream.  The imagination is a wonderful thing and has brought about many of lifes major technologies. 

5) Photography ... This doesn't cost me what it use to when film was involved so I think of taking pictures as free even though the camera was not.   I love capturing moments and expressions.  I've never been much of a photographer, even though I've been taking pictures most of my life.  I mainly do it for myself and my own memories.

6) Watching Jake play ... This has become a favourite thing to do since he's come into our lives.  He is just such a character and it's so funny to watch the things he does.  Last evening he saw some moths flying around outside the glass door.  It didn't matter that there was a barrier there, he was going to try and catch them.  He would jump up high into the air, paws extended and grab into the air where they should be.   I wish I had the energy and flexibility he does.  He's just fearless.  He can smack into things and keep going as if nothing happened whereas I sit there watching and hurt for him.  I know if it was me and I had done that I'd be too dazed and confused to go on. 

7) Looking at the stars ... One of the reasons I love the nights better is the stars and moon.  I love how beautiful they sparkle in the dark.  One night a few years ago we were driving home and there was this bright light on the other side of the mountain.  We thought maybe something had happend because there's nothing on the other side that would cause such brightness.  As we kept driving, slowly a shape started creeping up and after a little while the moon came into view.  It was so enormous it looked like it was coming in for a landing on the mountain.  I have never seen the moon so huge and close before.  It was just breath taking.  I've seen pictures of the moon where it's suppose to be close to earth so it gives this optical illussion of being in your face, but this was the first time I'd ever experienced it in real life.  I really hope to see it again because it's an amazing sight.  One of my earliest and most comforting memories as a child is of my dad holding me as we're driving home from my getting upteen stitches in and out of my mouth.  I was looking out the back window of the car, telling him that the moon was following us.

8) Nature ... I love everything about it.  Breathing it in, feeling it around me, hearing it.  The different smells in the air throughout the year are wonderful.  The bouquets of flowers in the springtime, fresh cut grass, water when it hits the dirt on a hot summer day,  fireplaces burning in the winter.  The cool, smooth, gritty feeling of sand and water against your barefeet while walking along the shore of a beach.   I love wandering around outside when it's early morning and there's fog.  The feel of mist against my skin and the way everything around you becomes a mystery because it's hidden behind the fog.  Even things you know are there might not be once the fog is lifted, like some horror movie.

9) Finding Hidden Treasures ...  I love going out and discovering new places.  Enjoying sights not to mention finding trinkets to possibly use in art.  I love to wander around places and just take in what is around me.  Seeing things I'd never seen before.  Finding stones or other pieces of nature that are unique that I can bring back with me.  Finding interesting flyers, things to take pictures of and use in art later.  Even before I was actually doing "art" I was collecting things that I found interesting, thinking I could use it for something later.  It feels funny for me to call what I do art because to me it's not.  It's just something I like doing but not good enough to be labeled as such.

10) Viewing other peoples artwork ... be it paintings, drawings, sewing, cooking, whatever.  I love seeing people's creative side.  One of the things I've enjoyed most about the internet is how much it's opened up for me as far as things I would never see otherwise.  There are some amazing artists out there, some who only do things for their families and friends yet create such amazing things it takes my breath away.   From the most elaborate to the simplest of creations I enjoy it all.  You can probably tell that from previous postings, I can get excited over anything from decorator donuts to classic pieces by Van Goh or Dali.  It's just whatever strikes my fancy and my fancy is quite vast.  I may not know a lot but I know what I like.

Now I have to tag some people to do this also, which should be easy since I don't have many people to choose from.

#1.  My buddy Mel at Melbie's Creative Space...Handmade Goodies and Recipes  If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be blogging and having to do this in the first place.  I met her when I first started exploring the internet after one of my back surgeries in 1998.  I decided I wanted to learn more about stamping and joined a few yahoo groups which she also belonged to.  She was so sweet and amazingly talented.  She helped me right off the bat and sent me a sample of what I was trying to learn so I had something I could actually touch and see to go by.  We've become great friends ever since.  Her blog is so full of fun everyday things as well as amazing art she creates.

#2.  Kristen at Kristen's Papercrafts.  I met Kristen through Mel and she is another sweetheart of a person.  She does some awesome cards and I really enjoy reading her posts about what she's done both artistically and in everyday life.

#3.  Geri at Alabaster Wings Fly .  She is a friend I've recently reconnected with on facebook from my highschool days and I'm really looking forward to seeing her responses.  She is a wonderful person and I'm so happy to be getting to know her again in this stage of our lives.

# 4 & 5.  I'd like to pick Suzie at itch2stitch but she is the one that tagged me and Ro at Bitchin' Witch so that leaves them out.

#6.  Linda @ Eclectic Visions of a Altered Journey who does not even know about my blog but I follow hers and love her work.  I discovered her through facebook and of all things Mafia Wars.  She's from down under and I think people should check her out so that is my main reason for listing her.  She is one of those people I would have never known about had it been for the internet. 

I can get annoyed with computers and the internet and how people abuse the priveledge of having access to others, but the majority of people listed are ones I'd never have found otherwise so I guess you have to take the bad with the good.

Happy 2010!!!

I decided I would start the new year with a blog post and at least wish anyone reading a very Happy New Year.  I hope that it's very prosperous for everyone.  Last year had a lot of hard times for people and I hope that 2010 will be a lot better or at least bring on the start of many good things.  Hard to believe another year has come and gone.  The holidays are a blur now.  A couple of days before Christmas John and I went to eat at our favourite Mexican restaurant in Palm Springs called Maracas.  They have a halibut with a mango, ginger, habanero sauce he just drools over.  The chef sort of gave us a run down on how he makes it but some of the things he said were not things that are in the title of the sauce so I am going to have to try and figure out how to make it.  This years cooking shall include some sauce class 101.  I welcome any and all recipes.
I have a thing for t-shirts with funny sayings and of places, etc.  I saw this in one of the western shops near the restaurant and it just made me smile.

Christmas day was very quiet for us.  We made a barbeque rib supper on Christmas eve. then a traditional ham supper for Christmas day with all the fixings.  After a bit of dinner jake got into one of my old balls of yarn and managed to wear himself out and eventually fell asleep in his little house.

While shopping for dinner goods I had come across a wine that I just had to have.  I am not a wine drinker but the bottle just called to me.  I went to try it after our Christmas dinner only to find I couldn't locate a cork screw.  A few days later I finally got to have a glass.  All I can say is it tastes like wine.  If you are a wine drinker please do not go by my review because, as I say, I'm not a wine drinker and have yet to find one that I like. I don't know why I thought this one would be any different, but you just never know till you try something, right?  Now as for the bottle and vinyard I highly recommend it.  They even have a cool website called Vampire.com .  It has all sorts of products under the vampire name such as coffee's, chocolates, wines, various books about vampires and even some videos.

The vinyard itself is called vampire vinyards.

John got me a bat necklace and another with a heart and cleaver that says heartbreaker on it.  I think they are pretty neat but that's probably just my weirdness coming out.

I also managed to make a sign for my cousin, Alison.  We were suppose to get together after Christmas but things just didn't work out.  She's more religious whereas I am more spiritual but like me has gone through various ordeals that get her down.  I made this sign as kind of a reminder that she is loved.

I layered the large flower with a crochet base then added a die cut piece of dictionary paper, then a die cut piece of jeans material then a prima flower to top it off.  The little dangly bits are charms that each have a word on them.  They say: Be ... Here ... Now ... I think that is something we tend to forget to do.  We worry so much about the past and future that many times we forget to be in the present.

In the upper left corner I added a peace charm along with an angel and some dangling charms off the peace.  One is a heart that says "Made with love"

The shiny coin is the serenity prayer.  The coin comes from a group she belongs to and I thought the prayer went well with the rest of the sign.
My 2010 wish for all is a healthy, happy and enriching year.  ~Peace