Urban Urchins and Vestal Virgins

I always wonder how the weeks run away so quickly. My week was busy at the office and I did not get in as much tennis or cleaning as I wanted. But overall a fantastic week. Worked late one day after work but well worth the time in order to catch up. These three day weekends do play havoc with your plans.

First off, we will visit the U and V in the Alphabet ATC collection.  These were fun when created, I created the Vestal Virgin card early on and used a Hunt Tomato Paste food can wrapper as the background. Once I found the clip art the title jumped into my head.

With the U - this one was a more difficult one in being "birthed" - I chose the background first and have loved the charlie chaplin and clown kids clip art for a long time.

The boston terrier reminds me of my Poncho who grew up with me. The metal circle around the pup - not sure what it is but I had it in my collection of stuff.

On the holiday last week I did get dresser drawers cleaned and straighted.... felt good.  Today I was able to meet a fellow artist in my area. We first met on PaperWhimsy, then FaceBook when we friended each other. Later we realized we were not that far apart...... Me in Sterling, She in Arlington. We have had fun in the FaceBook community for the last 9 months.

Today she had an art opening. theresa mARTin is an inspiring artist.  She showed at the Glenview Mansion Art Gallery in Rockville, Maryland. For a peek, click on this link.  I ended up buying two of her works. The first was what I call "she had me at the rhinestones." What more can I say. I am a rhinestone kinda gal.......I also bought a smaller assemblage work call "3".....

 The inspiration was so exciting. I really can't wait until July when I will start creating again. Drove home from Maryland and guess what, the traffic here in this area can be a pain in the butt. A breezy easy Sunday traffic jam, you can only image the chaotic chaos it is during the week,

In the meantime I am cleaning, and cleaning, and cleaning....Two big meetings coming up, one on June 13 and one the last week in June.  In the meantime, I will be cleaning, working, playing tennis, and working out with my trainer. Sorry I am so boring right now - but that's the way it is in my world. I am still loving my new book,

So, for me, back to reading my book. Hugs to you and I am going to go blog hopping which I haven't done in like forever. I think of you all often, I really do.

Woodlands in Xanadu...oh my

Good Sunday evening my Honeysuckle Peeps. Yes, I've been gone two weeks working on my purging talent. Tonight I want to show you X and W.  You will note that W does not have too much layering on it. It was one of the first of the Alphabet ATC cards in the series and was made out of the cover of a Bas Bleu catalogue. I just couldn't help myself when I saw it and thought of the woodlands and all the mysterious things that on go on....

X however was a pretty difficult letter and all I had in my mind was Xanadu - I have no idea where "ancestral voices" came from, however, I believe it may be from the poem. I had several Asian images and decided to go that route.

What have I been doing for two weeks? OMG - yes - OMG - I have been cleaning out my closet. I had clothes from 1997 and 2000 through 2011. Now, I know I am not planning on getting back down to the size I was in my way younger days - and someone else should find some use in them. They were all in good shape. In fact I still have the 1998 dress I bought to wear to my mother's funeral and still wear it to this day. What can I say.... but purge purge purge.

Finally finished it in two weekends and took a good 5 bags to Goodwill.

In the meantime, construction still goes on here at the condos. Larcy and Oliver, pup. came over today to help me take down screens that were damaged and the construction company plans on "rescreening" - See these 9 upper windows - we took down 8 screens! The top four are my two bedrooms and the lower five are kitchen and dining room..... and of course the patio railing....

Me, I plan on playing tennis tomorrow, and, of course, been watching the French Open.....

And then clean and purge in the Chest of Drawers - 5 drawers.....and counting.....

In the meantime, I have just been hanging out, feeling good, and right now sipping my coffee.  Have a good evening! Hugs and all that kind of stuff to you.

Within and Without as the Breeze Blows

Yeti Lives within and without hiding in plain sight.

I remember when I started trying to figure out what I would do with the letter "Y" it was like a revelation and then Y was (huh?)..... Y not the Yeti. As I think back to last year I recall what a joy these 26 cards were to make.

It was finally a project I had decided to do (in my head) and stuck to it! So many times I have an idea in my mind but I never take that next step to start the creation and the idea floats away, sometimes, never to be recalled again.

These long ago forgotten creations are lost unless I make the move to write them down, and unhappily I don't most of the time. Maybe that should be a resolution for me.  Lord knows I make plenty of grocery box notebooks to have one to write it down in.

As the Yeti developed I was able to use a "tag" with a drawing of a garden "goyle" which I love and yes I bought the George Carruth creation. He is so wonderful and his creations, George not Yeti, are inspiration!

After layering my guy, I found the perfect eye wear - the rusty paper clip found in my trash area. The outside elements are wonderful on the metal clips.

When you venture into the forest deep, while fairies and gnomes flit about among the dew drops and dead leaves, remember, he has his eye on you.

And we have a whole 24 more to go.....OK, I can handle this "no creating" cleaning out period and so can you. Have a great evening. I am now getting ready - into my jammies - yes, early, but we have three hours of the Survivor Finale tonight.

This has been a red-letter day for my TV viewing. Two of my favorite tennis gals battled it out in the Rome finals and Maria Sharapova won the game. I really admire how she has battled back from her shoulder surgery and it is finally coming together for her. Her opponent was another great tennis player, Sam Stosur who battled back after dealing with a devastating case of  lime disease. She is a good player but Maria overpowered her at the Rome Masters. Yesterday in the semi-finals I noticed Sam's sunglasses, she is one of the very few players who wears them, however coming from Australia you can understand why she is in the habit, so to speak.

OK, I had to buy them.... a portion of the proceeds are going to the Young Survivor Coalition which is a non-profit organization focused on concerns and issues unique to young women fighting breast cancer. And on that note, my peep breezers, I am running upstairs to get in the jammies. Go Rob Go Rob - win Survivor.

Days can Run Away from Us

Have you lately been wondering where all  the days have gone? All of a sudden it is May 14 and you look back over your week and go "wow, when I turned around it was only Monday." Well, my week ran away from me. It seems the busier, with life, I am the quicker it scampers. The children at the condos had a chance for a beautiful day to chalk the sidewalks - it was a pleasant surprise early Monday morning. In a nutshell my week was:

5 full days of working at the job, Monday through Friday
1 business lunch with co-workers, Monday

2 tennis events, Monday and Thursday (sorry Barbara, I didn't tell you I was gonna use your photo)

1 cardio 45 minute stationary bike ride, Wednesday

2 workouts with trainers, Tuesday and Thursday

1 Virtual Board Meeting - preparing materials and taking minutes, Friday
And mindless TV (hello, Ghost Adventures, Survivor, Tennis Channel, Big Bang Theory)....

so far so good .... and then........  the siding to the condo was coming down and eventually going up.... some things falling off the walls while they hammered and  took old siding down and the Tyvec wrapping around

My once attractive patio, thank you very much, ended up in my dining and living room (remember I am trying to clean stuff out).... yes, photos say it better than anything.....

And finally, found out that a close co-worker was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer last week.  Good thing, they found it early in a mammogram, the lump is smaller than mine was, and it looks like her treatment will be exactly like mine. She contacted the same physician practice I used. I know she will be fine and I am trying to share with her all of my experiences and how absolutely (as shocking as this may sound but some of you were with me the whole time) easy it was to walk the path with friends, God, and family.

OK, I digressed but must have needed to share that with you. I don't like to do a blog post without showing you some of my art work, or a project I am working on, or something I have done in the past. So, while I am still trying to clean out the unnecessary in my life and condo, I am not creating art work. Last year I accomplished a feat I am proud of --26 ATC cards based on the alphabet. Those who have been long time followers of this blog, remember that venture from A to Z.

I will leave you tonight with my Z as my eyes are getting sleepy.... yawn....(and yes reruns of Ghost Adventures are on....)

das Zigeunerherz

Will be back soon, my honeysuckle peeps, thanks for hanging in there with me while I do my spring cleaning!

To the Women Who Went Before

Today is Mother's Day and I am missing my momma. She passed over October 1, 1998 while here brother and sister were visiting from California -- only my brother (Missouri) and me (Northern Virginia) had to fly in for the funeral.  She was an incredible woman who was in nurses training when my dad returned from WWII in 1946 and they ran off and eloped. They had only known each other through letters - which I still have. My mom had moved next door to my dad's mom (momo) who encouraged her to write her son in the war. Little did momo know that when he returned those two would run off together.

Such are stuff romance novels are written about. I came along a year later and 13 months later my brother came along.  Back to nurses training, back then young ladies could NOT be married and go to nurses schools. She had to drop out but she went back when she turned 40 and graduated from college as a Registered Nurse. That takes guts and she had it.  I admired her back then for going back to school. She was a special lady and there will not be another one like her in my universe.

This is a love letter to those special women who went before me.  All three make up the me I call me.

My German Grandmother, Grandma:

Strictly conservative and Lutheran as they come.

My Southern Grandmother, Momo,

As Southern as southern can be and Southern Baptist on top of all that... Living  next door to each other most of my life!

Happy Mother's Day to all three of you - I know you are looking down from Heaven smiling at the me I have become and I just want you to know I love you all so much and think of you often. Hugs to all my Honeysuckle Peeps as you celebrate this special day today.

Letting Go of the Unnecessary

Yes, I know I disappeared after the Royal Wedding. After such a feast of Britannia, I had to come back to reality and then it was May 1.  May is my month to let go of the unnecessary! I did not join in on a swap with my  PaperWhismy friends because I need to focus on the unnecessary in my life - all month. You can call it spring cleaning but we are putting our nose to the grind stone and doing it.

I don't think there will be much "creating" in my art world this month. However, there are different degrees of creating in one's life when faced with throwing out the stuff. As many of you know, cleaning can be a spiritual experience of letting go. And my trip on this road started last Sunday. Ran into some close friends while grocery shopping and he remembered I asked if he would take out my glass shower "door" which I stubbed my toe on the runner two weeks before, and boy oh me oh my, it hurt. I wanted to be done with that shower door for a long time. It was cool when I moved into the condo in 1994 but it was not easy to keep clean. Trust me shower curtains are easier. Got it out and to the trash. Found me some new shower stuff - Ah - take me back to Paris....

 But first you have to take everything out of the bathroom - OK, I left the new shower curtain in.....

The shower curtain is from Burlington and some of the accessories from Michaels.  I started out with a clean bathroom - all the sunflower stuff was removed and mirror, floor, and bath scrubbed down.

 Curtain hung and then went searching for my own stuff to also use in the my bathroom.

I have had this vase painted by Mrs. Sam Hewell in 1929 since the early 70s. Love it and bring it out every once in a while. It was loved by her and by me....

I also hung one of the items I created several years ago -- it was published in Somerset. Loved designing her and now she can reside in the royal bath for a while.

A little floral arrangement on the door...... So right now I am tuckered out. Started the day out with cardio tennis way too early in this morning. Got Ghost Adventures playing in the background.... tennis match scheduled tomorrow with a tennis bud, BJ. And another room on the list to begin letting go of the unnecessary. I hope your Saturday was everything you wanted it to be. See ya tomorrow!

Excuse me while I go visit my Paris! LOL