It's All About Me!....

As part of our identity searching, some of the people doing The Artist's Way have written one of the "I Am From" poems. You can learn about the poem here. This is mine....



I am from books, always books, and from embroidery thread gently sewed by my mom onto pillowcases, dresser scarves and tablecloths to brighten our home; and hand tools and farm implements.

I am from a house built by my dad, strong and square, filled with the smell of baking cookies.


(house before it was finished)

I am from fields of corn, and wheat and soybeans, tulips, and peonies in the yard, from musk melons and zinnias and weeping willow trees, and prairie grasses waving in the breeze.

I am from Saturday morning shopping trips and friends just stopping by for pie and coffee; from the Smith clan, the Millers, Castells, Briggs, and White clans.

I am from beer lovers and teetotalers; from non-church goers and the devoted. From being quiet and almost invisible to voices raised louder and louder to be heard over the others. From the extremes on both sides.

I am from a mother forced into a strict religion as a child who rebelled against all religions and I am from a church in Kansas where my grandparents attended, and the living rooms of people hosting my grandma's church.

I'm from the plains of central Illinois and a small village on the coast of England. I'm from the hills of Tennessee and Kentucky where I'm certain some moonshine might be involved. I'm from a cattle ranch in Kansas and a bungalow in town. I'm from cowboys and town folk.

I'm from ham and beans and cornbread, milk fresh from the cow, eggs laid that day, and homemade noodles and blackberry cobbler, and the best pecan pie ever. I'm from made from scratch cooking and hearty appetites and something always offered to a guest even if it was just a piece of toast and jelly.

I'm from men who rode the range and men who rode the rails and women who rode herd on their children.

I'm from old photo albums, and drawers and closets all stuffed with keepsakes and "the good stuff" being kept for a special day.

I am from plain, hard working ranchers, farmers, and railroaders. From a carpenter and a housewife who somehow lost their way.

*********************************************

The fire is still burning out of control and has now burned over 80,000 acres. Unfortunately some lives have been lost as well as some homes. They do not expect containment on this fire until Sept 8th. We are fine. Today there isn't much smoke near us....I can see it way off in the distance but nothing like over the weekend.

And here is my journal page for the last day of August....

Aug 31:


I have to admit I didn't put my "all" into this one. And in real life it's more lavender than it shows here. I tried to fix it in an editing program but it seems washed out. So take my word for it, it's very lavender!

So Far So Good....

Hi Everyone! Thanks for all your comments and concerned emails. We are ok, so far. But this morning the fire has started towards a town just south of here by maybe 6 - 8 miles as the crow flies. Yesterday HB and I had to go to the grocery store in the afternoon and this is the scene that awaited us when we came out....



It was about quarter 'til 4 when I snapped this in the parking lot.
I'm sure it would have been much hotter if the sun wasn't blocked by smoke!



When we got out in the open we could really see the smoke coming up over the mountains in the distance....



This was on the way home....not too far from our house....it looks worse than it was!



Today the smoke is beginning to increase again. Earlier this morning it seemed to be drifing away but just within the past few minutes it has changed drastically. Keep us all in your thoughts today.

********************************************

Here are my journal pages for the last two days.

Aug 29:


Aug 30:


That's all for now. I'm going to join HB outside as we watch the smoke coming this way. It would have to burn through a lot of houses to get to us but it could happen. I'll be back tomorrow if all goes well today!

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes....

It's about 1 PM and I just took these photos seconds ago!



You can see how the sun is hidden....this is smoke!



The smoke is from a fire burning near La Canada, CA which is about 25 - 30 miles (as the crow flies) from where we are. We have ash falling in our yard and the sky is eerie. I have a feeling of doom! The sky is a weird golden color but it's very dark. Right now I have to have a lamp on to see what I'm doing! And it's getting darker by the minute. I can only imagine what it must be like closer to the fire. I hope no homes are in danger and no lives are lost.

We switched over to our a/c yesterday to help keep out the smokey smell and it seems to be working pretty good. There's just a light whiff now and then. I haven't been able to concentrate on anything today. This is giving me such a strange feeling.

My journal page is only half done so I'll show that later....maybe tomorrow. For now I have a painting I did yesterday using some of my red rosin paper and black gesso.



I hope wherever you are that you have blue skies....

Arty Life vs Home Life....

First let me say a big Thank You for all your great suggestions from yesterday. I guess I was trying to make the artist date something different than the things I normally do and that's where I was getting hung up. Going to Barnes & Noble and reading art books is one of my favorite things to do....I just never thought of it as an artist date! So I'm loosening up and just going with whatever comes along.

I'm working on a vision board and will show that to you when I'm finished. I know many of you have made one and I'm finally getting around to doing it. I started one a year or so ago but just never finished it. I'm starting over with a new, fresh concept and I'm happy with what I have so far. Maybe a couple more days and it will be ready.

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about my life. It seems to be divided into two very distinct parts....the arty part, which includes blogging....and my home life. If I devote time to the arty life then I neglect the home life and vice versa. Do you also have this problem? How do you handle it? I'm finding that one area is always suffering while the other area is getting attention but I'm always feeling guilty about one or the other. I don't get pressure from HB, in fact he's very supportive and never complains about anything as long as he has clean clothes and food to eat!



But I seem to be constantly juggling things that need to be done and I always end up dropping several balls. It's starting to bug me! I think I need more organization but then that feels so confining....I hate schedules.

Ok, enough of my griping! Here's my page for today....

Aug 28:


Have a wonderful day....and laugh as often as possible!!

Getting Stuck on the Artist's Date....

This must be my week for learning about myself because this morning while writing my pages I realized why the artist date is something I dread. Part of it is where I live. I'm not surrounded by museums, art galleries, or even cool thrift shops and antique shops. We live in an area with a lot of chain stores and restaurants but nothing really unique. It's basically plain and not very culturally stimulating!

That's problem #1....and then the date is supposed to be special because you spend the time alone with yourself and don't depend on someone else to entertain you. So here comes problem #2! Everything I do, I do alone! I don't know anyone around here so when I want to do something, I do it alone. The only exception is the weekends when HB is home. So I'm having a little bit of trouble getting excited about an artist date with myself when I spend all my time with myself already! I have to work on this one. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

Today I got out and went to Michael's because I had a coupon for art supplies. I had previously looked at Michael's and Joann's (the only two places that carry anything resembling art supplies around here!) and neither one of them had black gesso. I had put it on the list of things to get from Dick Blick when I make my next order....but today I found a small bottle of it! I can't wait to try it out.

I used my coupon to get some paint, a few canvases, and the gesso. Now I just need to get busy and use them. August is almost over and I will not be doing the journal class with Kelly in September but I will continue to do my journal pages on my own. And I have some other things I've been working on that need to get finished up. I was hoping the weather would surprise me and cool off by then but I don't think so. We're expecting a high of 106º today! I feel like a limp dishrag!

Here is my page for today....

Aug 27:


Have a peaceful day....

Learning About Myself....

Today I'm going to 'fess up. I decided to try one more online book club and told Robyn that I would do The Artist's Way with her group. I told her upfront that I have a bad track record with this kind of thing. STOP! Right there! What did I just do? I set myself up to not participate. And guess what? Last week, week #1, I didn't! I came out of the box already prepared to fail.

I did morning pages a few days but then "something" always came up and I didn't do them. And since I didn't do the morning pages I had no reason to do any of the other things either. I did read the chapter....I almost always read the books when I join these book clubs. At least that's something!

So where is this going, you ask. Well, I have made a commitment to myself that this time I will participate. I will do the morning pages, and read the chapter, and do the other exercises, and even join in on a discussion now and then. I've already proved to myself that I can be disciplined because I've done a page in my journal every day since March 1st. It isn't that. So what is the reason I haven't participated in these book clubs? I love to read. Can't be that. Could it be that I don't think I'm as smart as all those other people and that if I open my mouth and discuss what I think of the book that they will all laugh at me?? YES! It all goes back to school....back in the dark ages. I was always terrified to answer a question for fear of being wrong and having the kids laugh at me.

So here we are with my first breakthrough from The Artist's Way. Not anything to do with art but something very important all the same. My lack of confidence in my mental capacity has held me back so many times and it's trying to do so again. But I won't let it. If I say something stupid in the book discussion what's going to happen?? The world won't come to an end. And if anyone is laughing I can't hear them anyway because we're all online! I guess they could put that little "LOL" thing on my entry but I could live with that. So there you have it. My huge "ah ha" moment from this morning's morning pages.

And here is my art journal page....

Aug 26:

I must say I was disappointed when I scanned this one. It looks so much better in real life than it shows here. I tried toning down the magenta color but then it washed out the black too much. This one just doesn't scan like it really looks. So use your imagination! In case you aren't able to make out what it says here it is: "Big crowds of people are not my favorite thing so if i could have NYC all to myself for 24 hours that would be great! I could go everywhere and see everything without having to be in a big crowd."

I hope whatever you do today it's fulfilling....

My Tree Today....Getting Arboreal

Several days ago Julie posted an idea about taking a picture of a tree three different times a year to see what changed. I liked the idea, made a note, and then promptly forgot until Lee posted her tree picture. So I grabbed my camera, ran out the back door and snapped a couple of pictures of one of the trees in our backyard....



And here it is again; this time taken from the patio....the tree is straight ahead from our back doors so I see it all the time. I think it's called a Raywood tree.



I will be posting pictures of the same tree again the week of Nov 8 and then again the week of April 4, 2010. Thanks, Julie, this is fun. And thanks, Lee, for reminding me!

And here is my journal page for today....

Aug 25:


I hope you're all having a nice, peaceful afternoon....

Questions About Art Journals....

Hi everyone! Did you have a fun weekend? I managed to get out of the house on Saturday but nothing too much and then yesterday HB was working in the garage so I went out to keep him company. I ended up doing a few things, nothing strenuous but by evening my back was not happy. So today I'm back to being quiet.

I have my two journal pages to show you but first I have some questions to answer about my art journal. These were asked on the previous post so I'll try to answer them here.

"What is it all about?"....my snappy answer would me "it's all about me!" and actually it is. Instead of writing each day I try to say something about myself in pictures and art. It's also a great way to experiment with different supplies. And since it's basically just for me I feel free to do whatever I want.

"What does it do for you?"....well, for one it gives me a sense of accomplishment that I make and finish a little piece of art each day. It keeps me in the habit of doing something in the studio every single day so that I don't get out of the habit. Writers are told to write every day, so I think artists should make art every day. It also chronicles my life, probably telling much more about me than if I were to keep a written journal.

"Do you make something else from it later?"....so far I haven't. My art journal is just that....a big, thick journal filled with art that I've done over the past almost six months. I know many people copy their pages and use them in other works and maybe at some point I'll do that but for now I'm just happy that I finally got the hang of doing an art journal and have all these pages to share with you.

Aug 23:


Aug 24:


I am not an authority on art journals! There is all kinds of information on the web if you just google the term art journal. There are people who make much more detailed and more artistic journals than I do. Basically I'm just a beginner. For quite awhile I wanted to do an art journal but I just couldn't get the gist of it. I'm a slow learner!

Then I took a class with Kelly Kilmer back in March and that was my turning point. From then on I've done a page every day and then in July and again this month I took her class again. I'm not sure I would even classify it as a class....it's more of a series of daily prompts to get you moving and thinking.

So if you're interested in getting started with an art journal there are many places you can learn about it. In fact, Julie over at The Land of Lost Luggage has a terrific offer going on right now. She's doing two classes about journaling....one where you learn to construct your own journals and another class teaching you everything you ever wanted to know about working in and creating your very own art journal. You can buy both classes at a reduced rate or just do one of them if that's your choice. Check it out....it's a great offer!

I hope some of you try it. I have such fun with my art journal and I discover new things about myself every day. Plus it keeps me focused.

Be sure to check out the classes I mentioned....you won't be sorry! Have a great day....

Paper Art....

We're having little sprinkles of rain today!!! That usually doesn't happen here in the summer. It's a little gray and overcast....a welcome relief from the heat.

And this morning my back is feeling much better. I'm thinking of having HB take my books back to the library for me. Most of them were only for reference/pictures and I've found what I need. I don't want to take a chance of hurting my back again when I return the books. I can only take so much of this being lazy stuff and then I begin climbing the walls.

This morning I stopped in to thank one of my recent commenters, Marlene, and she had a link that I found absolutely incredible so I want to share it with you. If you like paper art, then be sure to go here....you will be amazed!

Scroll down through this page as there are several artists showing their work. I especially like the ones called Book Autopsies and there are some face sculptures that are incredible.

After looking at that paper art my little journal page isn't too exciting but here it is....

Aug 22:


And on that note, I'm out of here....I hope your weekend is a good one. Have some fun, laugh, play....forget your troubles.

Movies, Journal Pages, and Being Lazy....

Thanks for all your comments and emails....I'm doing ok. Just taking it easy and not lifting anything right now. As much as I love being lazy, reading and eating bon bons....after a few hours it gets really old! I like being busy.

Today I watched some movies that I had taped earlier. I'm always taping something and then I never find time to watch it. Today seemed like the time. I watched a little TV movie called "Elvis and Annabelle"....definitely not Academy Award material but still a sweet movie.

I managed to do my journal page today, too. Paintbrushes aren't too heavy to lift!

Aug 21:


Today it's been hot and sticky so I guess it's a good thing I'm stuck in the house where it's cool. If I don't answer your comments and emails right now I hope you'll understand. Just getting this post ready meant I had to do it in sections. It isn't comfortable to sit in the office. That chair and my back aren't in agreement!

Hope you're having a fun day....

I Know Artists Are Supposed to Suffer....

Sometimes I wonder if I actually have a brain! Yesterday I had to return some books to the library so I decided to look for a few art books that might have some images I could use (not to sell!) in an altered book project I'm working on.

This was me heading up to check out with several very large, heavy art books plus other books for reading....


As I was juggling books, bags, and a purse I suddenly felt a pain in my back! Oops! Do ya think I might have been carrying too much again!! This was me for the rest of yesterday and so far today....



You'd think I'd learn! I'm not a kid anymore. Maybe I should get me one of those little hand cart thingies to take with me to the library. The good news is that I found some good images and will be able to work on my project as soon as I can straighten up again!

I did manage to do my journal page today....

Aug 20:


It's not one of my better attempts. I got carried away on the background and then it made it hard to write over the bumps of paint and it doesn't show up very good. Oh, well, you win some and you lose some. Even though it isn't very good I'm still letting you see it.

I also did my morning pages today and wrote some affirmations for The Artist's Way group I'm participating in.

Now I think I'll just have a quiet afternoon on the couch....no lifting required! Except for that big box of bon bons! Enjoy your day and remember to take care of yourself....

Learning From da Vinci

One of these days I might have some other art to show you other than just my daily art journal page....but maybe not right away. I work on things but nothing seems to get finished. And I know you get tired of me saying this but it's been HOT again. The next few days are back into triple digits and that means not much production coming from me.

I'm trying to keep up with the morning pages for Robyn's "The Artist's Way" group but I have to confess that I didn't do them this morning. I'll try to work them in tonight before I go to bed.

I just jumped out of bed this morning and headed to the studio. I started working on my journal page and forgot all about the morning pages. Here's what I did....

Aug 19:


I think having an early piece of work from any well-known artist would be great and a wonderful piece of encouragement. I could look at a childish drawing by da Vinci and not be so critical of my own work knowing that he eventually "got" it and became a talented artist. Sometimes it's easy to forget that everyone had to take that first step to learn their craft. Sure some people may have a predisposition for something but they aren't born knowing everything there is to know about it.

I'm still way too critical of my own work but I'm getting better. And you know that I show you things I'm not happy with....I show my goof ups, well, at least some of them. This blog would be a lot bigger if I showed them all!!

Ok, I'm off to the library and maybe a quick trip to Michael's or Joann's....I need some paint and a couple of other things. Have a great day....and do something fun!

The Philanthropist and Engelbert Humperdinck!!!

You know I don't watch a lot of TV and I seldom comment unless it's about "Lost" but recently I've been watching a program that I think is pretty interesting. It isn't perfect but I like the premise. It's called The Philanthropist and is on NBC. If you haven't seen it maybe give it a try. You can also watch it here. I like it because they bring many of the world's problems to the forefront and the website offers suggestions about how each of us can get involved and help make a difference.
********************************************

And now I'm here to show you my latest couple of pages....the one from yesterday (I finally finished it last night) and the one for today.

Aug 17:


Aug 18:

Unfortunately the number 30 doesn't show up too good. And if you aren't as old as dirt like me then you won't know who Englebert Humperdinck is....and yes, that's his name! I spelled it wrong on my page but that's ok. I don't think he'll ever see it!

It's back to being hot here and I think we might even have a little humidity today....yuk! So I'm outta here! I'm going to lounge about on the couch and eat bonbons and read a book. I hope where you are it's cool.

Monday's Are a Good Thing....

Monday's are good to get me back on track. I had a couple of days over the weekend of just being lazy and playing in the studio. I didn't post anything then....sorry. I did keep up with my journal pages and even managed to do some other art....well, I started some other art. It isn't finished yet.

I've decided to work through The Artist's Way again. I read this book the first time back in the 90's and it helped me a lot. For a long time I did morning pages almost religiously and I found that my mind was much clearer during that time. But then something happened to throw me off-course and I quit doing them.

Robyn is hosting a workshop using The Artist's Way. If you're interested she has a link on her blog where you can sign up and follow along. I don't have a very good track record when it comes to online book workshops. I usually think they look interesting, sign up, buy the book (and read it) but never follow through with any of the discussions. I don't know why but I have a difficult time discussing what I've read! It may go back to my school years when I would actually be physically sick when I had to give a book report.

Anyway, I signed up and told Robyn that I might not be a good participant but that I will cheer her on and also let everyone know about her workshop. So if you're interested please join in.

Now here are my latest journal pages....

Aug 14:


Aug 15:

I was trying to think of one word to describe myself and HB came up with "seeker"....it fit perfectly! I am a seeker. I wish I could know everything there is to know about everything! I don't mean I want to be a know-it-all! I just want to have the knowledge and wisdom from everything there is. I think that's why I'm so in love with online art classes. I'm seeking that little tidbit of information that will change how I do art.

Aug 16:


You will have to wait until tomorrow for today's page. I haven't done it yet! I usually get up early and head to the studio to work on it but now that I'm starting morning pages again I'm doing them first thing. We'll see how long that lasts! But even if I dump just a small portion of the garbage that has accumulated in my brain it will be a good thing.

Go out there and have a fantastic Monday....

Preggers!!

No, it's not some medical miracle! Don't alert the news reporters! I'm NOT pregnant!! But I am doing an ATC swap and the theme is pregnancy/babies/maternity. It's over at Willowing and Friends and the theme is because Tam is pregnant and due any day now.

So I was trying to get in the mood to make a baby-related ATC when I decided to play around on some more of my red rosin paper. And this is what I did....



This piece is about the same size as the woman I did on this paper earlier....I'm estimating it's about 8" square, more or less. The white circles and such aren't showing up very good on her tummy but in person they look good.

And just because I'm always feeling a bit nutty....



This is one of the jars of almonds I now have in the fridge. And Sharon, if you send Chester here to visit he will never want to leave!! For those of you who don't know, Chester is a squirrel. He might have to fight me for the almonds!! They are so yummy.

I don't have my journal page completed for today....yet! I have it painted but I'm having a brain meltdown over the prompt so I'm working through it. I should have it for you tomorrow.

Hope you're having a very creative day....

Art and Nuts!!

Just about the time I think I'm caught up stuff happens and I'm behind again! Maybe I'm just trying to do too many things at one time....do ya think!

Yesterday I didn't get much accomplished because I think I pulled a muscle in my right shoulder. Hurts like the dickens to move it very much so I mostly read all day. I managed to do my page early in the morning before I did whatever I did to my shoulder. I think it might have been while I was unloading groceries from the car. I always try to carry everything in one trip and sometimes there's just too much!

Anyway, I'll survive....it doesn't hurt as much today. So here's what I've done in my art journal over the past few days....

Aug 11:

My BFF Gail might remember this skillet since it was at her home party that I bought it. I loved that skillet and it was huge. Bigger than any I've seen since, and it was a rectangular shape, not square. It made it from Illinois to California but somewhere in one of the moves after that it disappeared. I sure wish I had it back.

Aug 12:

I like to draw but too often I leave things B&W. I need to use more color in my art. This fall I hope some classes will loosen me up and get me started doing just that.

Aug 13:

'Nuff said on this one!

As for my mention of the almond "harvest" the other day, we don't roast them. I don't know how! I just keep them in the fridge or freezer. I add them to my morning smoothie during the summer and in the winter they go good with my oatmeal. This year we seem to have quite a lot of them. We've only taken them from one tree....the other one is smaller and isn't quite ready yet but it is loaded with nuts. We should have plenty of almonds for awhile.

Hope whatever you're doing today that you're smiling and enjoying it!!!

Getting Caught Up....

I missed getting anything posted yesterday....mostly because I was just too busy! I was totally lazy on Sunday and never even got out of my jammies until late in the afternoon. I played in the studio most of the day. So yesterday I thought I better do something! I decided to pick almonds from our tree since the ground was covered with them. Then in the afternoon I had to get myself pulled together and down to pick up HB at the airport. He had a great time at the reunion, took lots of photos, and ate lots of good food.

I'm happy to have him home again. He took today off to recuperate! We picked more almonds this morning and then I went to the studio to do today's page.

Aug 10:


And here's the one from yesterday....

Aug 9:


I'm still playing with the red rosin paper....I love it! If you try it let me know what you think.

Red Rosin Paper....

I had a busy day today. We drove down to Burbank so HB could catch his flight then I came home, stopped at Lowe's and bought myself a roll of red rosin paper. If you don't know about it you can check out Zorana's blog. She has been using it lately and even made some journals from it. I got a huge roll....I think it's 36"x500' and it was about $12. That's a lot of paper!

Here's the first piece I did using it. I just whacked off a hunk....I didn't measure or anything. I used some gesso and then did a watercolor background and then added my gal. She looks much better in real life. The scanner seems to make her look weird and somewhat darker than she really is. I think she might be about 8"x8"....



And here's my journal page for today....

Aug 8:


Now I'm going back up to the studio and par-tay some more!! I hope you all had a great day. See ya tomorrow!

The Shorter the Better!

Hi everyone! The cooler weather has continued into today! Yea! The bad news is it will heat up again on the weekend. But at least I had a couple of good days and got to visit some of your blogs.

I might even have some time to do more visiting over the weekend as HB is going to be in the Pittsburgh, PA area. He flies out tomorrow and will return on Monday evening. He's going to a family reunion....his mother's side. He hasn't seen any of them since he was a very young man, and has not been in touch with them. Only since his mother died a few years ago has he been in contact with his last remaining aunt. So this will be a momentous occasion for him! Since it's such a short trip and he's flying, I won't be going. You know about me and flying!! But I think he needs to go and reconnect with some of his family. So I'll have a bachelorette weekend! Par-tay in the studio!!!

This morning I had a haircut and this time I had her do it really short. I love it....



What do you think? It's difficult to get a photo of myself!! Sorry it's kind of washed out. There was a lot of light coming from that one side but I think you can see me in my paint smeared tee shirt and my new SHORT hair!

And here's today's journal page....

Aug 7:


I hope you're having a great day....

Some Relief....and Some Bad Art....

Today we're expecting a high of 88º! For many of you that would be hot....for me that's a relief! I might have to break out my long johns!! And of course on the first decent temperature day we've had in over a month I have to do grocery shopping! But I still think you might see me visiting some blogs today.

I worked on my page this morning, and the more I did to it the more I don't like it. First of all, I think the green is way to bright. The picture of Yosemite doesn't scan very good and looks all washed out....and then my writing is a mess. I tried doing the page with white but it didn't show very much on the green so I went over it with black and now it just looks messy. But you know I always show you the good, the bad, and the ugly so here it is....

Aug 6:


Just not one of my better pages. I like the concept....just not the execution.

I hope your day is sunny and happy....

My Studio....Clean!!!

As you can see, I didn't get anything posted yesterday. The studio organizing took most of the day but I finally have a finished product to show you. The two new shelves help a lot! The only thing left to do is to hang some of my goodies on the wall but I didn't have anything to use for that so as soon as I accomplish that I'll show you again. Right now I sort of have some of my things hanging from the shelf supports but that's only temporary.

Here's what it looks like this morning....



And here's one side of the closet (the other side has my grandma's cabinet in it)....



When I took the first photo I was standing in front of the closet so you can see the room isn't very big....and it's crammed full of stuff!!

Just outside the studio door is a built-in unit that is probably intended to be used for linen storage but this is what I have in it....



There's a third shelf above but I haven't got much on it yet. The bottom shelf holds all my beads and beading stuff. The other shelf has glue and other products on the left side and my polymer clay stuff on the right.

I keep re-organizing this studio and sooner or later I'm going to hit on something that works! My biggest fault is I sometimes don't clean up as I go along. I drag out stuff I think I might use and then don't put it away. I'm trying to do better at that. We'll see!!

And since I didn't post yesterday I have two pages for you today.

Aug 4:

This one seems to go along with my theme of trying to organize!! Just too much stuff!

Aug 5:

And this one is my wish for a cooler temperature! 'Nuff said!

Have a fun-filled day and do something creative!!

Me and Gail and Elvis....

Did you have a good weekend? Mine was....HB put up two 8' shelves in my studio! I had to take a lot of stuff out so he could work in there so today I've been putting everything back and re-organizing (AGAIN!) the studio. Pictures in a couple of days. I hope the shelves make a difference. So far, they seem to be helping but it's only been one day. Let's see what my studio is like in another couple of weeks.

It was nice to be able to work on my journal page on a clean work table! I was able to lay everything out and still had room. Yea! I'm doing a happy dance!!!

Here's my page for today....

Aug 3:


This one really brought back some fun memories! It was cold the day my BFF Gail and I stood in line to see Love Me Tender and there was a loooong line around the block. Gail wasn't a huge Elvis fan but I was. He was the love of my life when the movie came out in 1956....I was 13 years old and I thought he was gorgeous.

Who was your "Elvis"???