For once I'm glad summer is ending...

This hasn't been the greatest summer on record.

• My grandmother passed away.
• Daphne had emergency surgery for bloat.
• Daisy had surgery on her knee.
• Daphne had another surgery to remove cysts from her back.
• I had inflammation in my eye that has lasted most of the summer.
• Last weekend my basement filled with water.
• I tried to cut off the pad of my thumb while I was cutting up the basement carpet to throw it out.

I'm glad summer is almost over because I feel like I'm headed for a new start.

There have been some great positives this summer.

• I've stuck to my diet and done really well.
• I have more energy and feel better than I have in a long time.
• I've joined a health club and have been working out.
• I took a great workshop from Traci Bautista at Valley Ridge Art Studio.
• I'm taking another class at Valley Ridge next week from Robin Atkins called Acrylic Painting~Deluxe Decorative Papers.
• I'm going to Art and Soul in Portland (it counts even though it is in October because I've been looking forward to it all summer!). I'm taking classes from Misty Mawn, Claudine Hellmuth, Ann Baldwin and Leslie Rylie.
• Things at work are looking up.
• I'm back volunteering at the animal shelter after a few months haitus.
• Because of the flood in the basement I get to totally reorganize my "studio" and make it the way I want it.
• Because of the problem with my eye I finally got new glasses so I can actually see when I wear them.
• Because I've lost so much weight I get to buy a new wardrobe.

Isn't it great that the positives outnumber the negatives!

The Big 4-0

Pounds that is! At my weigh-in this week I hit 40 pounds lost (40.2 to be exact). It's going really well and I've gone down several sizes and none of my old clothes fit any more. I've given most of them away and sent some to the local consignment shop. I have some new clothes for now. I'll continue to need smaller clothes so I don't want to buy a lot until I get to my goal. People are going to have to get used to seeing me in the same outfits for a while.

A little "BIG DOG" fix

I was looking through some older pictures of the dogs and thought I'd post a few.

Daisy showing off her incision.

This is from her TPLO surgery in June 07.

A little togetherness at nap time.

This is an oldie but typical of Daisy always wanting to touch Daphne.

Daphne and her St. Paddy's Day Bandana

(I know it's the wrong time of year, I just like this picture. It was taken before her muzzle started getting grey.)

Tip-ins

I signed up for some swaps that are for tip-ins. I sent out the first ones which were for the theme Disjointed Figures (take pieces of figures and combine them together). Here are the pages I made.

Front side page 1

Back side page 1

Front side page 2

Back side page 2

Front side page 3

Back side page 3

Valley Ridge Art Studio ROCKS!!!

I took a workshop from Traci Bautista this past weekend at the Valley Ridge Art Studio in Wisconsin. It was my first time there and I will definitely be going back (in fact I've already signed up for another workshop). The setting is beautiful and peaceful. Kathy and Bill Malkasian are such gracious hosts and have created a wonderful environment for learning and making art. I highly recommend Valley Ridge to everyone.

Traci was everything I thought she'd be. She is super talented and very inspriational. The class was great and I learned so much. I'll never look at paper towels the same way again! The only regret I have is that the class wasn't longer. There was so much to learn and time went by so fast. I'm definitely going to take another workshop from her.

This is my journal.

Class photo

Traci, her dog Freedom & me

Inchies on ATCs

This were done for a swap in the ArtTechniquesATC group.

It's been waaaay too long....

I have been seriously neglecting the blog for a couple of months. I can't think of a good reason except that there is too much going on in my head lately.

My grandmother passed away in May a couple of weeks after my last post and so we went to Oregon for her burial and services. She's with my grandfather now. He passed away in 1978. I'm sure they're catching up on some fishing. Grandpa driving the boat and grandma hauling in the fish.

I've been working on various projects and swaps but haven't posted any pics. Hopefully I'll get that done this weekend.

I've also been doing some work on myself. I finally got in the right mind set to make some changes in my diet. I was getting really tired of not having any energy and struggling with the way I felt and looked. So, in May I started on the Jenny Craig plan. It works great for me and I've lost 27 pounds so far. I have a long way to go but I really feel like I'm going to get there. I've started getting up at the crack of dawn (literally) and walking almost every morning (weather permitting). I'm feeling a lot better and am none of my clothes fit very well. I'm looking forward to some serious shopping when the weather cools off. I'm trying to hold out until then. I don't want to buy a bunch of new stuff that won't fit me for very long. This takes up a lot of mental energy but is well worth it. I feel so much better already and have been really good at sticking to it. I'm actually proud of myself which doesn't happen very often (I'm working on that too).

For now, here is a great quote I saw today that I wanted to share.

“When I was a child, my mother said to me,
‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general.
If you become a monk, you’ll end up as the pope.’
Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”

—Pablo Picasso

I'll be back with pics to share and will try to post at least once per week.

In the meantime, I hope all my blog buddies are doing well and having a great summer!!!

It's been a rough week

It's been a pretty rough week. We came close to losing Daphne to bloat. She had emergency surgery and is doing great now. It was pretty scary. We're just happy that she's OK and she'll be back to normal in a couple of weeks.

It is really important to be aware of the signs of bloat and to get your dog to the vet right away.

Here are just a few links with more information:

Bloat - The Mother of All Emergencies "It is crucially important that owners of big dogs be aware of this condition and prepared for it. Know where to take your dog during overnight or Sunday hours for emergency care. Avoid exercising your dog after a large meal. Know what to watch for. Enjoy the special friendship a large dog provides but at the same time be aware of the large dog's special needs and concerns."

Bloat

Bloat in Dogs

Tagged

I’ve been tagged by Aimeslee to list seven random things about myself.

1. I was born on Mother’s Day and every few years my birthday falls on Mother’s Day. My poor mom has had to share her day every since I was born. When I was little we always went to the Purple Cow, a little ice cream joint, for Mother’s Day (guess who picked that). I bet mom's glad they aren’t there anymore. I miss the Purple Cow sundaes they had a cute little purple cow candy on top.
2. I work in the hospital I was born in. I haven’t spent my whole life here although some days it feels that way.
3. I talk to myself way too much and occasionally answer (don’t tell anyone). If I’m at home I talk to the cats. They actually answer me once in a while. I get this trait from my dad.
4. I don’t like most vegetables. This is a problem right now because I’m trying to eat better and apparently that means eating lots of veggies. Whose idea was that?
5. I’m addicted to Diet Coke. I try to drink decaf as much as I can but I’d still rather have Diet Coke than anything else. This is causing a problem right now (see #4) as I’m drinking tons of water every day and finding it hard to fit in my Diet Coke. Whose idea was it to not have Diet Coke count as water? Isn't it 99.9% water?
6. I make jewelry but hardly ever wear any. I have a huge (I mean HUGE) stash of beads and supplies. I sell jewelry at shows and through my website but I very rarely wear any.
7. I’m afraid of heights. I’m not too bad if I have a railing in front of me but put me next to a floor to ceiling window and my heartbeat skyrockets.

In Memory

MIA / AWOL

I've been missing in action for a while. I've been struggling with being creative and been busy at work, plus I've been sick. One reason after another for not posting or being creative. I decided I needed to jump back in with both feet so I started 10 canvases, 5 using techniques from Claudine Hellmuth's books and five using the background technique from my earlier canvases. I also bought some books to alter and have been putting gesso on the pages. I actually bought a 1/2 gallon tub of gesso yesterday. Does that make me an artist?

I do have some excitement in my life. I get to go to Art and Soul in Portland in October!!!! I'll be taking three classes.

Claudine Hellmuth's Magazine Alterology
Ann Baldwin's Telling Stories with Collage and Paint
Leslie Riley's Fabrications

I'm really psyched about this. I've taken workshops for quilting and jewelry but never one for art. I have DVDs by all three of these ladies. I also hope to meet up with some people from one of my Yahoo Groups that will be attending as well.

I also signed up for a 2-day Traci Bautista workshop at Valley Ridge Art Studio. I have Traci's DVD and book. Her style is so different than anything I've done. I'm looking forward to getting way outside my box. I think the 2-day format will really allow me to learn the techniques as well as apply them to a project. I really need to learn to have fun with art. I'm sure Traci is a great one to teach me to do that!

I dragged my mom to a Postcard, Paper & Collectibles Show this weekend. I'd never been to one before. I hoped to find some cabinet cards and images to use for art projects. I've never seen so many postcards in my life. I found a few with fun pictures that were from the early 1900's. I also found some cabinet cards. One vendor had some great cabinet cards but none of them were priced. When I asked him how much they were he couldn't tell me specifically so I decided to pass. Mom thinks he may have wanted to bargain. I think he may have wanted to convince me how wonderful they were and jack up the prices. He was busy gabbing with all the other vendors and not really wanting to sell anything. Mom wasn't too thrilled with the whole episode but did some reminiscing while we were there. She especially like the Life magazine with the picture of Howdy Doody on the cover. He drove through her hometown one time in a big convertible.

So I have quite a few swaps I'm working now and in the near future. Plus I want to get some things together for trading at Art and Soul as well (ATCs, charms, inchies).

Inchies
Art Technique ATCs
Fabric and Beads ATCs
Inchies on ATCs
Resist ATCs
Texture ATCs
Fat Book for Portland Art and Soul

That should keep me busy. Wish me luck in getting my creativity back.

Friday the 13th

New ATCs

I finally cut up one of my Paper Whimsy collage sheets. This one is from Sampler Pack 2. I wanted to do something quick and easy so I went to Lisa Vollrath's site Go Make Something and used her Faux Postage Technique.

Freebies from Lisa Vollrath (Ten Two Studios)

Lisa is doing a countdown to St. Pats with a new free image every day until March 17. Check it out:

http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/index.html

She also has great stuff for sale on her site. I have several of her image CDs as well as her How To CDs.

Also check out her other sites:

Go Make Something

Just Print Something

Google Reader ROCKS!!

You have to check Google Reader out. You can set it up to list updates on all your favorite blogs so you can read them from one place. How cool is that!!!