Recent Journal Pages

Things have been hectic here so I haven't been able to update as much as I'd like to. I've finished off my journal for February and am getting the last week's worth of pages scanned in.
These pages are from Feb. 20-23. Enjoy!!!!

Crazy Neighbor lady update: Yesterday she sent her 7 year old to school with walking pneumonia!!!! And she also told another child on the street not to tell me her daughter had walking pneumonia (WHY???????) Of course, the girl immediately came and said "So and So has walking ammonia but Crazy told me not to tell you." OK, so she didn't actually say So and So or Crazy, but the rest she did. Including calling pneumonia ammonia which all kids seem to do!!!!

Question: Who in their right mind would send a kid with walking pneumonia to school?????? And what the frig is the big deal if I know????? I guess that's so if my son comes down with walking pneumonia I can't blame her. I don't know. Who knows what goes on in the minds of crazy people? Certainly not I!!!!

New Journal

I've finally finished my new journal!!!! I bound this journal three different times, unbinding it each time because it just didn't "feel" right in my hands. I've learned from experience that if a journal doesn't feel right you'll never use it. It has to feel good in your hands. You have to want to hold it, touch it, flip through it or you'll never, ever work in it.

I was getting frustrated, not knowing what it was that made this journal feel off to me. I finally decided to forget restitching it for a fourth time and go with metal rings instead. I cut the cover and pages apart, hole punched them (what I wouldn't give for a 4-hole punch!!!!!) and put it back together again.

Then came the moment of truth: I held it in my hands. And it FELT good!!!!! Great in fact. It felt the way a good journal should feel. It felt like it wanted me to work in it, like it was waiting for me to fill it with my thoughts, emotions, ideas and inspirations. And, because it feels good in my hands, that's exactly what I'll do with it. All 40 pages of it will be lovingly worked on and all because I finally managed to make the journal I was suppose to have, not the one I thought I wanted.

Journal Page 2.23.09

Yesterday I was thinking how nice it would be to live in the Mediterranean. I don't know why I think it would be, other than everything I've ever seen or read about that area makes it sound as if life is simpler, slower, more family oriented and less materialistic. I know the weather would certainly be better than it is here in New England, something I would truly love!!!

We try to live a simple life here, but with all the outside influences it's difficult to keep things truly simple! Everywhere you go, every way you turn there's a barrage of media and materialism. Even a simple dinner out isn't simple because most restaurants have TV's blaring news and commercials all the time. Not my idea of a quiet dinner out with the family. This journal page reflects my thoughts on Mediterranean life.

Recent Journal Pages

My few days of being alone came to an end Sunday, which explains why I haven't managed to blog or play on-line since then! It was nice to have some time to myself but I love having my family back home where they belong.

The other big thing keeping me from getting on line is my freakin' period. Evey year it gets worse and worse. Now I'm to the point that the cramps are so bad I can't move. As my sister said when I told her (laughing hysterically) "WELCOME TO THE 40's!!!!!" You know, after 30 years of dealing with pads the size of life rafts, cramps and chocolate cravings that make me want to kill I have had enough!!!!!

Hubby learned about my adventures Saturday night by reading it on the blog! We didn't have a chance to talk so I told him to find out what I did all weekend by going to my blog. He was a bit shocked, to say the least!!!!!!

Here are some of my recent journal pages that I hadn't had a chance to post. ENJOY!!!!!!

This N That

Another day of total freedom!!!!! I slept late (again), walked the dogs, fed the cats, dogs, fish and hermit crab then sat myself down with a cup of coffee and my journals. After looking over what I'd done last night I finished up some pages that were half done then made a few phone calls.

After 2 hours on the phone to Raine (1 hour 56 minutes, but who's counting???) I decided I might as well go visit her instead of talking on the phone for another hour. I hopped in the shower, packed up an art bag, walked one of the dogs and went to get the other out of his pen (he's a Siberian husky and loves being out in the cold all day!!!!). As I was bringing him in he jerked the leash a bit hard and since I was standing on ice at the time I twisted a bit wrenching my back. OUCH!

Back in the house to call Raine and let her know I wouldn't be over after all. I settled myself on the couch with an ice pack, my journals and some pens and just chilled out.

Now, I honestly believe that everything happens for a reason. We might not always know what the reason is and we may not always like what the reason is, but there is a reason. Believe it, don't believe it, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I believe it and we're talking about me here, right?

Well, in the case of why I wrenched my back enough to make me want to stay home but not enough to put me in agonizing pain became pretty clear within a few hours of it happening.

I was in the kitchen when the dogs started barking like mad. Not so unusual for the Little Girl because she's half terrier, half chihuahua and has sonic hearing. Seriously, she does. You could be in your own house, two doors down and have your cat meow and she'd start barking. So, when she was barking it wasn't a big deal. What was a BIG deal is that the Siberian started barking and he doesn't generally bark. He'll do the husky howl on occasion, but otherwise is pretty quiet. I think it's a genetic survival thing seeing as they originally came from a place where polar bears would eat them for lunch if they were noisy enough to be found. But I digress.....

So, the dogs are barking, I look toward the front door and there are two punks out there who are obviously trying to get in. Even though there's a truck in the driveway I can see how someone would think no one is home. There has been a vehicle missing from here since late Thursday afternoon and I haven't been doing a whole lot of coming and going. Obviously these two decided we were all away and this would be the perfect time to break in. WRONG-O!

Me being me, I walked out of the kitchen onto the back porch, scooping up my cell phone and popping it in my pocket on the way. Once on the back porch I grabbed the crow bar that's laying around, and has been since I gutted the back hall a few months back, and marched out the back door. Up the driveway I go and around the corner to the front of the house. By the time I hit the front stairs I was already swinging. I managed to land a blow across the back of the knees on one punk and across the shoulder blades on the other. The one I hit on the shoulder blades took off running, obviously in pain, but running. The knee dude was doing more of a hobble so I came around the front of him and knee-capped him straight on. Which is when he hit the ground crying. It's also when I told him to stay there or I'd let the dogs out to finish the job.

A call to the police, a cruiser, an arrest, a lot of laughs from the police over my effectively taking these two punks on with a crowbar, a trip to the hospital for knee cap boy and my going back in the house were the end of the situation. The police were going to let the hospital know to look out for anyone in their early 20's coming in with shoulder injuries, but other than that it's done.

The moral of the story: Well, it's either everything happens for a reason or don't fuck with a woman who knows how to wield a crowbar. Maybe both!!!!!!!


Today's Music To Create By:
Robin Trower-Bridge of Sighs

Days of the New

Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon (THE BEST FLOYD EVER!!!!!!!!!!)

Tonight's Movie Choices:
Mrs. Doubtfire (Every night with him was like the Bay of Pigs....)

The Bird Cage

Rocky Horror-Not as good at home as in the theater, but still pretty damned awesome! And, yes, I will be doing the Time Warp again!!!!!

The Journaling Cat

Last night I was sitting in bed, watching movies & working in my art journals. The Toby Kitty was snuggled alongside me making sure my work was up to par and a reflection of who I am.

At one point I left the room and when I came back Toby was checking over the work I had done & adding his own personal touch to it. And I have the photo to prove it!!!!!


You gotta love a cat that gets right in there and expresses his creative self! He often adds his touch to my pages by walking on them while the paint is wet. But this is the first time he's taken an active interest in the rest of the creative process. From now on I'll have to get his opinion on everything I create.....

I've been enjoying my time alone. I stayed up until about 3 AM this morning watching movies that I love. I slept late, until 10:30, which I wish I could do every day. After walking the dogs in the biting cold I had a nice cup of coffee on the back porch. I was snuggled in my chair, watching the birds, petting the cats and warming my bones by the pellet stove.

After a second cup of coffee and I was ready to get creative!!!!! I spent the better part of the day painting journal pages and a few journal covers. The music was cranked up obscenely loud. So loud in fact that if someone had walked in they would've been right next to me before I would notice. Which of course would make me jump, throw my hand over my heart and scream. Lucky for me no one walked in because I hate it when I have to jump and scream.

I was totally in the painting groove and ended up doing 17 pages. Tonight I started adding focal images and text so I'll have a nice batch of pages to show off soon.

I'm having another movie night, Young Frankenstein followed by Monty Python & the Holy Grail. Can you tell I love the comic classics????

My choice of music today:
Yngwie Malmsteen

Led Zeppelin-Mothership

Michael Schenker

Kick Ass Country--A compilation CD I made from my i-pod. No laid back country tunes allowed!!!!

A Few More Books I want:
Revolucion!: Cuban Poster Art

Soviet Posters: The Sergo Grigorian Collection

Random Art Drop II

I had to go out late this afternoon so brought a painting along with me to do another random art drop. You'd think people would notice a woman getting out of her truck at the pharmacy with a BIG painting in her hands, but amazingly enough they don't. I suppose the key is to act like it's perfectly natural for you to be grabbing a painting out of your truck, carrying it a few feet and plunking it against a wall before going on your way.

The other thing I have going is that to me it is natural because I've been doing this sort of thing for so long. I've left over 300 books in public for people to find. I've left over 100 pieces of art too. My favorite is the curb drop. Drop it while you're walking and just keep on going. Very rarely does anyone notice what you've just done.

Tonight there's another free painting out there somewhere. Hopefully picked up and brought to a good home.

Book Lust

A few of the books I'm currently drooling over. I'm doing my drooling online so no need to worry about yucky, wet books in stores...

The Book as Art: Artists' Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Marc Chagall: The Lost Jewish World

Chagall: The Lithographs

Political Posters in Central and Eastern Europe 1945-1995: Signs of the Times

Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents

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"May Day! Why, that's the Russian New Year. We can have a parade and serve hot hors d'oeuvres... "

Another Journal Page

Since I'm still up and was looking for something to do I thought I'd make one more post. This journal page is one of my new, funky favorites!!!! Believe it or not, the image of the dog already had pink hair on it I just added some additional embellishment to make it totally funky!

Just looking at it makes me want to go dress up the dogs. Which reminds me, we use to have a cat that let us dress it up in old baby clothes and push it around the neighborhood in a baby carriage. He never jumped out and would lay there as long as we wanted him to. I wish I had photos of that!

Three Journals

I tend to work in more than one journal at once. At the moment, I'm working in three different ones. One is for the A Prompt A Day classes (right side in photo), one I pretty much take with me everywhere (middle in photo) and the other I use up the leftover paint that's on my palette to see what I can come up with (left side in photo). I've done some collaging and journaling in that one as well, but not as much as in the others.

Why do I work in more than one journal at a time? Because I can! Seriously, because it's nice to have a couple of journals out on the painting table when working. That way no paint goes to waste. It's great to have a couple of journals when collaging so you can work on one while the adhesive dries in the other. And, being left-handed, I often need to wait for glaze or soufflé pens to dry before I can continue to work on a page. Otherwise I end up with a very dirty hand and smudged writing!!!!



I was planning on doing another Art Drop tonight, but it's windy as all hell and bitter cold so I'm going to do it during daylight hours.

I have the next three days all to myself so can do whatever I want at any time day or night. Woo-Hoo!!!!!!!!!!! I've been watching old movies. First the Ghost and Mrs. Muir with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. Then Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Both classics and two of my favorite movies of all time.

I've done some window shopping on Amazon. Drooling over books I want but can't afford. I cooked up a nice shrimp, veggie and noodle stir fry for my dinner, then indulged in an ice cream sandwich. After walking the dogs I climbed back into bed to work on my journals, watch some more movies and just enjoy the peace and quiet!!!!
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"Jim never vomits at home...." (Kelly, I KNOW you'll laugh when you see that because you'll soooooo get the reference! BTW: It's on right this instant so run to the TV!!!!!!!)

Recent Journal Pages

It's been a while since I showed off any journal pages, so here's five from last week. The first two are my favorites. The colors pop and the image on the left side goes well with the image on the right even though I didn't plan it that way. Serendipity happens when you're in the groove!

Random Art Drop

Today I had to do a postal run, so decided to do a random art drop at the same time. I picked out one of my big paintings, attached a note to it that said "This painting is for YOU! I hope it brightens your day and brings a smile to your face" and put it in the car along with the stuff to mail.

After my postal stuff was done, my little guy grabbed the painting out of the car, plopped it down between the outdoor blue boxes then hopped back in the car. All before anyone saw what he was doing. that's a key point because an art drop should be anonymous. You don't do it for the recognition. You do it to make yourself, and hopefully someone else, feel good.

Before driving off I snapped a photo of the painting, bid it good luck and good-bye.

Why drop off a perfectly good painting in a public place? Well, why not? If someone comes along and takes it home then I've made someone's day. And if it ends up in the dumpster I'll never know, right? So either way it's good. I prefer to think that some stranger came along, saw it there and took it home. That's the hope and the wish behind the random art drop. Try it some time. Grab any piece of your art, attach a note to it and find somewhere to drop it. You'll be surprised how good it makes you feel.

Studio Revamp

Saturday morning around 10:00 AM, approximately 3 hours before I'm due at my niece's birthday party, I decided to take everything out of my studio closet. why that particular moment I have no idea, but it's something I'd been wanting to do for quite some time.

I hated the shelving unit I had in there and wanted shallower shelves along the entire length of the back wall. I also wanted to add peg board to the side wall so I could get a bunch of stuff off the shelves and hanging the way it should be.

Before leaving for the party the closet had been emptied, but there were massive, truly massive, amounts of art stuff in my bedroom. That was a problem. Especially since I hadn't sent hubby to get the supplies needed for the new shelves and there was no way I was putting all that stuff back on the shelves until I did have the supplies.

I ended up moving enough stuff back into the studio so we could at least make it to the bed without tripping and breaking our necks. hubby did go get what was needed for the new shelves, but by the time he got back it was too late to start working. The poor guy was over-tired as it was so really didn't need to start a project at 9:00 at night.

Sunday one shelf was put in place before the drill broke. We have two cordless ones, but of course neither was charged. So, as one was charging I started to sort. Piles and piles of art supplies were divided up into yet more piles. One that's the Must Have items, one for donating to the local art guild and one to donate to the school. Another one for recycle or trash depending on what it was. By the time I was done (it took a full two days to sort through the majority of the stuff) I had a lot less than when I started, but still too much. Now I have a pile of supplies to sell. All of it items that cost too much to just give away.

Monday the shelves and pegboard were finally in place and the task of organizing the supplies began in earnest. I've been at it off and on for over 24 hours and things are looking just great! I love the new set up and I think this may help me find things I want much easier than the old way. The old way consisted of shifting piles of stuff until you found what you were looking for because the shelves were so deep and spaced so far apart that you had to do a lot of stacking. It was maddening!!!

There's nothing like a long overdo session of sorting and revamping to bring new life into a place. And new life into your art!

And, no, the stuff in the photos is definitely not all of my supplies and things! I have 2 shelve units, a rolling cart and a desk full of the stuff in the studio itself and there's also a big pile left in my bedroom. Also, in the photos you can't see the small shelf unit full of pound blocks of clay, the bottom of the peg board where my spools of wire hang or the bins of supplies kept beneath the bottom shelf. What 's in the closet is a heck of a lot more organized than it use to be and that will make my creative endeavors a heck of a lot easier!

1001 Journals

Due to the popularity of the 1000 Journals Project, the 1001 Journals Project was started. This one is a bit different as many of the journals are ones to sign up for and have certain themes or geographic areas they have to stick with. but that's cool by me. You can even add your own journal if you want and make it a traveling one with sign ups or one you leave to chance in a public place, like a bookstore or coffee shop.

There are lots of journals with openings available!!! I'm signed up to receive two of them so far. I'll most likely be leaving some journals in public places as well. Just to see what happens. Woo-Hoo!!!

1000 Journals

This is one time I really wish I lived on the West coast! The SFMOMA has an exhibition from the 1000 Journals Project on display right now. They're even going to have journals and materials on hand for people to work in. what I wouldn't do to work in one of those journals!!!!

SFMOMA: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 151 Third Street (between Mission and Howard Streets) San Francisco, CA 94103

I'm Baaaaaack!

I've been away for a few days. Not away as in out having a great time on some tropical beach or as in on a business trip somewhere. Away as in away from my normal day to day activities and living totally in my head (it's crowded in there!). I guess my brain couldn't stand the cramped quarters any longer so it kicked me out on my butt last night. So here I am, back to my normal (well, maybe not normal...) self. Ready to create art again, ready to blog and live and have fun.

The away mode was caused by my crazy assed neighbor. The one who I've long suspected belongs in a well padded room being spoon fed gruel. The one who over the past 5 months has thoroughly proved to me that, yes, she DOES indeed need to be in a well padded room away from us "normal" folks.

Did you ever have someone verbally attack you when you're thanking them for something? When thanking them is the last thing in the world you want to do because they suck and have treated you horribly for months? But being "the better person" you decide "OK, it's polite to say thank you so I will even though I'd rather have root canal without Novocaine than do it." Well, if you ever, and I mean ever, have one of those moments forget the thank you and go for the root canal. Seriously.

A week or so ago I didn't make it down to the bus stop in time. One of my nice neighbors, who I just happened to grow up with and totally trust, is always there and my son always jumps in his truck for a ride whether I'm there or not. So, I wasn't worried when I didn't get there in time because chances were the little guy would just jump in the back of the truck as usual and I would've walked down to the bus stop for nothing. Plus, I've been told a gazillion times to just stay home and not bother walking down in the cold because he's just going to jump in the back of the truck anyway. Well, wouldn't you know it my nice neighbor wasn't there this particular day. Only the crazy assed neighbor was.

She did give my boy a ride, shocking me completely. But, when he came in he was ranting and raving that it was the WORST experience of his life, how he hated ever minute of it (Every second is more like it. The ride is all of 300 feet at most), but he didn't elaborate further so I figured he was just being overly dramatic. I was wrong.

Fast forward to Tuesday of this week. I'm at the bus stop. Crazy and Nice are at the bus stop and we're all just hanging, waiting for the kids. Crazy and I don't speak. Haven't for months, so the conversation is me & Nice, Crazy & Nice but never me & Crazy. It's kind of like a bizarre dance the way our daily conversations go. But that is just Fine by me, I don't want to talk to Crazy anyway.

The kids get off the bus and, as per the usual, jump in the back of Nice's truck. This is when I go for the Thank You instead of the root canal. The conversation, if you can call it that and really, you can't, goes like this:

Me: Thanks for giving him a ride home the other day.

Crazy (at top of lungs): I only did it because I made him promise not to pick on my daughter any more!!!!

ME (calmly): Excuse Me?

Crazy (at top of lungs): I only did it because I made him promise not to pick on my daughter any more!!!!

Me (still calm): They pick on each other.

Crazy (still at top of lungs): No! No! She NEVER picks on anyone, but he is NASTY, just Nasty! And YOU are evil!!! (jumps in car and drives off)

At this point I'm still stuck on her saying she made him make a promise to her before she even let him in the car. What kind of adult does that to a kid? You either give him a ride or you don't. You don't put conditions on it. A seven year old doesn't want to be left at the bus stop or walk home alone. Especially since we all have an unspoken rule that if one of us isn't at the bus stop we'll make sure the child of that person gets home safely. That's how it's been since the kids started school. A seven year old shouldn't have to play let's make a deal to get a ride with someone he's known for 4 years. An adult has NO BUSINESS acting out her issues with a child. You have a problem with a kid, call the parent. Don't terrorize the child.

Funny thing is, just two days before she gave him a ride all the other kids got off the bus telling me how her daughter, yes her PERFECT daughter, picks on my boy EVERY SINGLE DAY. And I believe it because I have seen with my own eyes how she deliberately provokes the other kids until they retaliate. She does it just so she can run home crying that so and so did this to me. Oh, boo hoo, hoo. We all know that. We've all seen it many times.

But she'll never see that because her kids never, ever do a damn thing wrong. She has the fortune of raising the only two perfect children in the world. Isn't that special......

Did I want to make rip her face off? Oh yeah. You have someone yell in your face that your kid is nasty, when in reality he isn't (You don't have to take my word for it. Just ask anyone who knows him. Anyone but crazy that is.) and you will turn into a Lioness. Feral, raging and wanting to rip something or someone apart. And knowing that same person scared your child, truly scared him, with her weird behavior will make you even more feral.

So that's why I've been "away" this week. Living in my head, totally stunned that someone would do that to a kid. Totally pissed off and wishing I could have my say. But it isn't worth it. Isn't worth my time or my energy. Because there is no talking to this woman. She yells and she runs. That's her M.O. She's done it to me before. And come to find out, to many others before too. There are lots of parents in this town who've seen the craziness, who've had their kids treated badly, had their kids cornered and yelled at, or taunted. All the while she proclaims the innocence of hers. Yeah, it's the rest of the town that's evil. Kind of like Salem's Lot but without the fangs I guess.

Recent Journal Pages

My journal is getting heavy! I made it at the end of December and it is a whopping 80 pages!!! I wanted something with a lot of pages for a change so I could have a couple of months of journaling in one book. After working in it for all of January and what we've had of February that sucker is getting heavy. I can only imagine how much heft it will have come the end of the month or mid-March which is when it will be full. This may be the first, last and only time I make a journal with so many pages in it.

A few of the pages I've done this month and felt like sharing. I don't share them all because some things are highly personal, emotional and private. Granted, all journal pages are personal, but some are more emotional and private too. So, I pick and choose what parts of ME to share and what parts to keep to myself. Not exactly a bad thing if you think about it. Some people give out WAY too much information about themselves. More than you ever want or care to know! Thankfully, I'm not now nor will I ever be one of those...........

Oh, the last pic is of my journal cover. The HEAVY journal that is, not one of the others I've been working in.

A Few Days Off

I took a few days of from blogging. Not entirely intentional, but that's how it worked out. The past few days have been FULL to capacity so I never seemed to get to booting up the computer.

Most of the week I've been in extreme pain. And you know what? It SUCKS!!!!! Not being able to sleep, no chance at getting comfortable at all and limping around the house are big time downers. The winter has been brutal pain wise so naturally I've been dreaming of warmer climates where my pain would diminish and I could feel ALIVE again. As happens every winter I ask myself what the heck I'm still living in New England for. There's a lot of reasons but the major one is it's home. Plain and simple. So I go along, trying to make the best of each day and waiting for that warm weather to come. And that's enough of my bitch fest. On to the creative stuff!

Our Cub Scouts Blue and Gold banquet is in another week and our den was given the task of making centerpieces for the tables. We have a whopping budget of $25 to make 25 centerpieces with. Hello, that's only a buck per table! What the heck are we suppose to do with that??? You can't even buy a bud vase and a flower for 25 tables for that money. So, we had to get creative.

The theme this year is 'The Magic of Scouting' and we managed to bag some plastic black top hats for less than the budgeted amount. Throw a can of blue and a can of yellow spray paint in and we've hit the budget mark. But, there's an abundance of dried grasses, grapevine, bittersweet and other plant life outside just waiting to be harvested and that's where the materials for filling the hats comes from. I had some Styrofoam balls that served as a base for the dried material, which we cut in half so they lay flat inside the hats.

I've been on the back porch for two days now playing with our goods trying to come up with something that the boys can help do and that doesn't look like total crap. After playing, arranging and rearranging I came up with something that looked halfway decent. Once it was spray painted half blue and half yellow it looked almost totally decent. They won't win any prizes and they certainly aren't fit for anything more formal that a Cub Scout banquet, but considering our budget and what we had to work with they came out alright.

Friday I spent the day working on some stencils for street art. Its been a while since I went out tagging and I've had the urge lately. But, walking around with stencils and paint or even posters and wheat paste in the cold weather is no fun at all. Art should be fun and street art should be double the fun because there's the risk element involved. After some brainstorming I decided to create stickers instead. Something heavy duty that can withstand the weather. A few test runs with the printer produced so-so results and blew through a ton of ink so I realized that wasn't an option. So it was off to google to see what help I could find and boy, did I find help. I found a company that will turn your art into vinyl stickers for very little money. I'm getting 250 of them to start and will order more if I find I'm going through them fast. Pretty soon the city will be plastered with my art and maybe, just maybe, what I've come up with will inspire someone else or make them stop and think. The design is based on the stenciled journal page I did, but will be in black and white only.


I finished a bunch of journal pages and will get those scanned in and posted later today or tomorrow. I love my journals, love working in them and love the fact that you can work in them absolutely anywhere!

OK, I'm impressed. I've been reading a lot of the speeches & interviews our new President has given and what he says is impressive. Is he truly what he seems to be? Hell, I don't know. But I do know that he's eloquent, incredibly charismatic, seems to speak from the heart and for the people. I can't help but be drawn to him and what he says. Something that completely amazes me.

This passage from a talk on capping executive salaries reflects what a whole bunch of us think:

This is America. We don’t disparage wealth. We don’t begrudge anybody for achieving success. And we believe that success should be rewarded. But what gets people upset – and rightfully so – are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers.

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I received a cool mail-art postcard today from my friend Raine. Which reminded me that it's been ages since I've sent out any cards through Post-Crossing. So tonight I went on their site and requested a few names & addresses of people to send to. In the morning I'll have cards going off to Japan, Finland, Germany & the UK. The gal from Japan doesn't want any homemade postcards so she'll be getting a store bought one instead. Too bad as I think the handmade ones are way cooler than any store bought one could ever be!

I've finished the journal page I started the other day. The inkling I had about what the writing would be about pretty much came across as I expected. Sometimes the writing portion of a page doesn't manifest the way you think it will. Once that pen is in your hand and you touch it to the paper your thoughts take over and the results are sometimes surprising. Obviously the phrase that had been running through my head (It's none of my business what you think of me) was strong enough that it ended up making its appearance on the page like I thought it might!




I love to create all different types of art. One of the things I do on occasion is wood-burning. The piece shown is one I burned free-hand, with no pattern at all. I started with a nicely sanded wood slab that still has the bark around the edges, burned my design into it then completed the piece by adding color with fluid acrylics. I like using fluid acrylics with wood because they add nice color while still allowing the natural wood grain to show through.

Once I get a hanger mounted on the back of this I'll be adding it to my new shop. I hope someone loves it as much as I do and decides to make it a part of their home.

99 Things

I saw this list here and decided to do it too. What you do is copy and paste it into your own blog then go back and bold anything you've done. Kind of interesting.

If you end up doing it leave a comment because I'd love to check your list out.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France--the museum workers were on strike so no Louvre visits when I was there!!!
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied --I didn't have a lot, but what I had was enough at the time.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke -I was very, very drunk at the time!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar --It was gross!!!!
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club-I started one!
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

I've done 57 out of the 99 things. Not bad at all!

2/1/09 Journal Page

I forgot to post this journal page, the first one for February, when I scanned it in yesterday. I need to get the ones from 2/2 and 2/3 scanned and posted too.



I've been looking at decorative tape for hours now. I absolutely drool over all the different kinds. We need a big American manufacturer to make more of it because I don't like sending any of my money to Japan, Korea and China. They get enough of our money already, thank you very much. It stinks that all the best decorative tapes come from those countries because I could buy a ton of it!!! HEY, American Manufacturers!!!!!!! We've got a HUGE market here, all ready to go and buy your American Made art/stationery products, so get off your duffs and start making some cool tape for us to use!!!!

(think they heard me????)
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UPDATE: Funny that I was going on about buying American. Seems our new government economic package is proposing the same thing. And, of course, other countries have a problem with it. Hellooooooo, we have a right to buy products made in our country and our Government definitely SHOULD do it!!!!

I received a nice, fat envelope full of paper ephemera in the mail yesterday. I can't wait to use some of this stuff in my art journals!!! There's this cool piece of Warhol-esque Jesus wrapping paper in there. I'd seen the decorative tape before, and wanted it, but hadn't seen the paper anywhere. I am totally psyched it was in that fat envelope!!!!



We're having another snow storm here and the winds are howling as well. I'm getting to the point where I want to jump on a plane and head to the tropics!

Someone left SPAM comments on some of my posts so I've switched things to moderated comments. It's a pain in the rear to have to moderate each and every comment, but it's better than having a bunch of crap left in the comments section!!! Go get a real job SPAMMER!!!!

I've added some half pound ephemera packs to my ArtFire shop. I'll be adding more as soon as I can and will also be adding more art work, decorative tape and other supplies. Slowly but surely I will get the shop built up with cool items for sale!!

The Final Four

These are the final four journal pages for January. I have a few pages I started during the last few days of the month, but haven't finished (like the one I showed yesterday) so those will have to count for the month of February!




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London came to a standstill because of "heavy snow". Yeah, right. If they want to see heavy snow they should come to New England or go to the North-West. I cannot believe an entire city came to a complete halt & pandemonium ensued because of a little snow. Crazy!!!!

Journal Page 1.31.09

I started this page last night, but haven't done the writing for it yet. It's in the journal I made for the A Prompt A Day on-line classes. It's an extra page I painted one day, not one that goes along with the collage or journal prompts. I'm not sure what the journal focus of this will be, but I'm sure it will come to me once I start writing. I have an inkling in the back of my head what the writing will be about but sometimes what you think you'll write and what you actually end up writing are two entirely different things!

Graffiti Stencils

I love the graffiti look and I also love working with stencils, so naturally I've come up with my own graffiti-like stencils to use in my art.

The one shown below was made by photocopying an image from a hairstyle book onto card-stock then using an x-acto knife to cut it out. A tedious process in itself, but well worth the results.

The page it's shown on was one I had heavily collaged, then decided I hated the way it looked. So I added layers of paint over it to cover most of the collaging. Then I applied the stencil to it using a round brush and light blue paint.




Yesterday my son and I spent the better part of the afternoon and evening making journals and painting pages. While we watched a movie in bed, jammies on and snacks by our side, we worked on adding images to them. He decided to work on his pages unbound and I decided to work on mine bound. Either way is fine, it's just a matter of preference.

With a big box of collage fodder between us, some UHU glue sticks, scissors and a couple of bed trays we spent hours pasting papers into our journals. It was great to see what images he choose and how he arranged them on the pages. There's nothing like working side by side with a seven year old to keep your art feeling loose and playful! Blessings come in all shapes and sizes and having art time with your child is definitely one of them.
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My favorite swimmer, Michael Phelps, caught smoking pot . As far as I'm concerned, the only regrettable thing is that he was foolish enough to be photographed while doing it. He is just a college kid after all and can't be expected to act "perfect" all the time. Not that I'm saying a top notch athlete and role model should be doing illegal drugs. Or that anyone should for that matter.I'm just saying that he did something that a lot of younger (an older) people do and it isn't the crime of the century.