Friday fill-ins 3/30/12

1. I can't believe I haven't had time to make art - ANY art - for at least two weeks!

2. _____ for everyone.  (I absolutely can't think of a single thing for this one. oy)

3. How can I learn to slow down and enjoy the moment?

4. Banana bread with craisins was the last thing I cooked. Email me for the recipe - it's mahhhvelous!

5. 'Six of one, a dozen of the other' was what my goofball old boss used to say. Made perfect sense to him.

6. It's supposed to rain tomorrow with gusts up to 50mph; nonono!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to some time in photoshop, tomorrow my plans include WORK and Sunday, I want to cook something wonderful with S!

This is from Halloween at the store a few years ago.
That's Amy the cowgirl on the left, Lynn the Tijuana Mexican with her box of Chiclets,
and me as a gypsy on the right.

Shannon at Musings On Reality is doing something cool. She made up a workshop on her bird art, which I love, and priced it at "pay what you want."

Say what?!? Not $50? Not $125? Nope. You pay her whatever you feel you can afford for what sounds like a pretty good workshop.

Finally, a fun workshop for a finished product that I like a lot, that I can afford LOL.

Go take a look and order yours today!

found poetry the Shakespeare way

Jo in NZ is having a cool 'found poetry' contest/giveaway. You download one of the pages she provided, find your poetry on it, and turn it back in. I chose a page from King Henry VI. It happens to be the page where the son comes in with his father's dead body and it's all grief and rage and lamenting.

Amidst all that misery, I managed to find a love poem...

Go download a page and find your own poem. It's quite fun and the possibilities are endless. And enjoy the huge zentangles she does on book pages. Very cool!

Friday Fill-Ins 3/22/12

Pic of my mantle using the watercolor filter in PS CS2.
Bowl and eggs from Julie, clock Steve made,
huge Ball jar (50 cents at yard sale!) of pink blossoms
I swiped from the tree next door to our old house. 

1. Spring isn't quite here yet despite all the blooming stuff cause I'm freezing today!


2. I'm having to be emotionally strong lately and it can be exhausting. 


3. I forgot to make banana bread the other night when I made cookies, so maybe tonite!


4. The smell of the old fashioned stock in one of my front porch pots is delicious! 


5. Heads, shoulders, knees and just about everything else aches when its cold.


6. Walking the dog is my favorite form of exercise when it's warm enough out not to wear a coat!


7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting my computer stuff all hooked up again, tomorrow my plans include (@*#&$%) work and Sunday, I want to try to fit in a little creative time!

Friday Fill-Ins

Friday Fill-Ins is sort of a no brainer way to get at least one blog post out a week. And it's a bit of a look at what I'm up to, so I thought I'd give it a try. You can play too!

Altho today it's all about our upcoming move on Monday so not real exciting for anyone but me LOL.

This was the view over my back fence a few nights ago.
The sunsets have been gorgeous lately.

1. Welcome new house - we only bought you 10 months ago!.
2. A vinyl kitchen floor, a solid surface counter top and a heater in the shower make me jump for joy. 
3. There's a lot of work ahead of me in the next however many months it takes me to get unpacked and settled into my new studio!
4. Flowers are the thing I love most about spring. 
5. Eyes on the prize, even tho my back has had it.
6. Our first weekend breakfast in our new (way bigger) kitchen is what I'm eagerly awaiting.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleeping in the La-Z-Boy after we finish packing my car, tomorrow my plans include a day at work and then more packing and Sunday, I want to bake cookies and banana bread before I finish packing up the kitchen!

Int'l Women's Day

 If you are not now or have never been a knitter, you may not be familiar with Stephanie, the Yarn Harlot.

She's an intelligent, thoughtful person with several great books to her credit, and she posted a very thoughtful commentary on International Women's Day.

It's worth a read.

The Ladder - a play in one act

The scene: an almost empty suburban garage. Cardboard boxes line one wall, paint cans sit on a shelf, an old wooden ladder leans against a post. A man and a woman are center stage, talking.

Man: Ok, let's clean up. The boxes and the ladder can go out to the trash.

Woman: I'll take the boxes out but I wanna keep the ladder.

Man, frowning: What for? It's too rickety to use and we have a perfectly good aluminum one.

Woman: I might put it in the studio.

Man, eyebrows shooting up into hairline: The studio? For what? You can't stand on it and it's all old and rusty.

Woman: I know, it's perfect.

Man, turning ladder this way and that as he points out its flaws: Perfect!?! For what?? What are you gonna do with it? We don't need any more junk in the house.

Woman: I might hang it from the ceiling.

Man, slight pause as he considers whether woman can possibly be serious: The ceiling? What the hell for?

Woman: Or maybe I'll mount it on the wall. It'd look great with some old linens folded over the steps and a pot of ivy on top.

Man, comprehension dawning: Ah... a display. Why didn't you just say so?

The end.

Green Paper March Challenge

Time once again for Mary's monthly challenge. You can see the original images here, as well as the other entrants. The post will be updated with entries thru the 8th of March, so stop by toward the end to see them all. It's amazing how inventive some folks are. These really make me work because one of the images is usually black and white while the other two are color and I always have a tough time integrating them, but I'm happy with this one.

I went digital again. I'm having a lot of fun with Photoshop lately, trying all kinds of things just to see what happens. It's so much more forgiving than working with paper and glue, and the effects you can achieve are almost infinite.

I started with the image of the woman. I colorized her into a reddish hue. Then added an overlay of a map from the basic Art Journal Caravan package of goodies and tweaked the color, contrast and (something I can't remember) quite a bit. I then extracted the column of numbers from the attendance card and placed them down one side, again playing with the color and filter. Also extracted two words from the music sheet to play up her languid, sexy persona. And finally I added a splash of glittery sequin waste for some bling. Too much fun. Thanks, Mary, for another fun challenge.