Crusades in the Breeze

Over at the Street Team Crusades, Michelle Ward has posted Crusade # 33 for the month of September. Many of us know and believe that there are no coincidences in life. Things happen for a reason, so how fortuitous is it that Michelle's crusade has to do with feeding your brain and trying something new..... (This is quirky - I say there are no coincidences and then use the word fortuitous, meaning "by chance," yes, girls and boys it is Sunday morning in the honeysuckles and I have probably breathed in too much of their scent and am running in circles....)


Here is a quote from Michelle's challenge: "This month's challenge is to feed your brain - in or out of the studio. Tell us on your blog what you have learned recently, what you plan to learn, or what you are currently learning. It does not have to relate to art. It can be anything. Tried a new recipe? Learned to knit? Took a yoga class? Refinished a piece of furniture or built a birdhouse? Joined a book club or learned ballroom dancing? Tell us."


Well, as many of my readers know, I was on a staycation for two weeks in August. I ended up trying something totally new -- creating business cards for two friends of mine. I have not worked with photoshop that much. I have been in awe of those who do, especially Michelle. So with a little trial and error using special effects I created my first one. This sample does NOT include logo and message since that file is too large to include in this blog but you can see how I photoshopped it with the "glowing edges." I am lovin' the glow... The cards came out nice. I like them and felt good and so did James.


Then, his business partner wanted some but did not like the photos my brother took several years back when she had "weight" on her.... So, I had to borrow a more sophisticated camera from a friend and we went out on a glorious day and took photos (a far cry from my little digital camera).


The one Mary and I really wanted to use did not work and so we went with this stylized one. I am still trying to work on the "glowing edge" one we love and will figure it out one of these days and we will get it printed somewhere




I feel good I ventured out of my comfort zone and worked on these business cards. Yes, I stressed on these. Yes, I was so pleased I tried them. I remember when they approached me on this proposition, I cringed. Will I do any more? I don't know. But I am pleased with the results and happy I tried it. I do plan on working in photoshop more and may even take a class on it! New camera? Not in the cards just yet. Thank y0u, Michelle, for letting me put these thoughts down and looking back on this experience in this way! See you soon in October!

Make it Your Own

On Michelle Ward's GPP Street Team, the Crusade for this month is "Make It Your Own." Michelle says in her post on this topic, "When you follow directions, as you would a recipe, or copy a project from a magazine - that is craft. Personalizing, interpreting, processing through your own filters, is art."


In the beginning, when I was starting this adventure in the art world, I would admire an artist's work and be so curious on how it was created, that I would start the process of copying the work to see if I could reproduce it in order to learn the techniques. I was not taking classes at that point. I would never finish these projects because they were not my own. I have to remind myself that by making it my own -- it is mine.

I remember when Where Women Create came out, I saw a notebook that Jenny Doh had created and it was for sale. I loved her design. It was simple, creative, and I wanted it. I kept going back to the web site and it wasn't up and running. Kept going back, and it wasn't up and running. DRAT. I did go back one day and guess what. It was sold out. Hmmmmmm. I never did figure that one out.

So, I decided I could use the basic design and make it my own. I quit pouting (I love pouting but no pays attention to me).... and made me my own using the basic idea. When it was done, it wasn't close to her design but I loved it. I am now using that notebook for cutouts from my Where Women Create magazines.



I know, not close but it is my own..... and I do love it. I worked on one other project from that issue. I saw a bowl that was a beautiful blue with tickets around it. I really think I was drawn to the color of the blue:



As you can see, I cut out the image and journaled underneath it. I then went into my kitchen and found a similar bowl and started to create. I have always liked this bowl because it reminds me of my grandmother's bowls - I have two of hers and this is not one of them *wink*.....





I had some tickets stamped with "hug" which I bought at a store in Rhode Island. Yes, I was hording them and bought them in 2007. OK, they worked. I glued them on with Tacky Glue.


It's fun and it holds a lot of stuff! So, thank you Michelle for reminding me of the importance to make it my own.

Street Team Crusade Challenge # 30

Yes, if it is the beginning of the month, it is time for a new crusade issued by Michelle Ward. This month the title is "Cat Got Your Tongue." Michelle states that this is a "prompt to get you to think about 'journaling,' the writing you add to a page." She then discusses how to "Use your WORDS" and "USE your Words." It is a fascinating topic for me and one I never shy away from. I kept a diary when I was 13 years old for one full year and have that diary to this day. I have always written and so journaling is nothing new to me. I also don't hate my handwriting which I hear a lot of us talk about as a reason for not using handwriting in our art work.

I have several examples already of my journaling that I have used in different notebooks and my "Painted Page" journal done at Michelle's workshop in May 2008. I had to show you a photo of Michelle at work - it is a wonder to behold when she is lost in the creation!

So, let's start with my Painted Page journal that I love working in and have used for a number of these challenges:

I call the left had side the "Druid Tree." These two pages were painted at the workshop and then worked on at home.

The story about the Druid Tree is one I made up, the title, "The Tree and the Druid," I found in an old murder mystery book.

The next page was also done at the workshop. Michelle gave us some really cool tags! When I got home, I was playing with the page and filled in specifics on the tag....

I am awed with artists who can write all over the page and in circles - yes I am awed and I know we have a number of artists in these crusades who can do this. I don't work that way. In other journals I just add images and then just start . . . These two pages are not close together but both deal with karma in one way or another. In the first page below I spelled out Karma using the Tim Holtz distressables doodads.

I travel with a dedicated small visual journal for trips - business or otherwise. While on the road, I gather stuff to put in it. Sometimes I work in the book while sitting in airports. I really enjoy abusing this little journal and sew in it a lot. This was a page that was done on my "Halloween" Madison WI trip. I had to work in Madison over Halloween and those of you who know me really know this is my favorite time of the year. The hotel had 6 TV channels dedicated to sports alone - no sci-fi channel, no travel channel, no food channel - it sucked. As you can tell from my journaling. (No, I really am not hanging the cat. Sewing was on the other page.) I called the cat "pumpkin head."

Thank you Michelle for this topic. I do it a lot but don't think about it. Oh yes, one way I "USED my words was on a page called Orleans! What a way to end with two ads - one from Netflix and one from Martha Stewart Living all leading to Orleans!

Scent of the Season

In Michelle Ward's Crusade No. 26 her challenge this month is "to select a scent for the holiday season, use it all month long, and document it in your journal." I ended up selecting some new bath scents from Bath and Body Works this month. One of my favorite traditions is having a bubble bath with candles glowing. I must have been doing this little tradition for a long time.....

Because, I have a former fiance (floating out there, every girl should have one) who reminded me, a number of years ago when our paths crossed, once again, that he use to call me Bubbles. I really don't think I look like a "Bubbles" but we won't go there. OK? Anyway, this half hour ritual indulged in with a warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate is truly relaxing and it lets me shed any negativity that might still be hanging on me from the outside world. It washes my soul.

Scents rouse the soul -- I remember an event or individual at strange times - the scent passes me in the mall and I sometimes float away with it to a time long past. That can be both bad and good. My grandmother's scent -- was Coco Channel and the original Jergens lotion, my other grandmother, pine (when I was very young she let me do a little bubble bath using her beautiful green oil that smelled like pine cones and I was taken away to the land of Oz). Who knows, maybe that is where my love of bubble baths began.

My mother is definitely Avon's Imari. Although she has been gone 10 years, that quick smell brings her right back to me and she is holding me assuringly as mother's do. I miss that. Nice smell.

So I give you my two journal pages on my soul scents. I used pages from the journal we created in Michelle's workshop, The Painted Page, this past May.

I love this journal and it is still a work in progress and so I have not bound it just yet -- easier to work on this way. Thank you Michelle, for reminding me how important it is to document our scents.

Final Wishes - Crusades # 24

In Michelle Ward's Street Team GPP Crusades this month, the topic is "final wishes" and comes about as a result of events that have surrounded Michelle within the last six months. Final wishes is an interesting topic and one many people do not want to think about and particularly, dwell on.... however, at some point we all will walk across that rainbow bridge and leave this existence behind. Yes, I have a number of pets waiting at the rainbow bridge for me..... Whatever you call it, it is inevitable.

Five years ago tomorrow (October 22) I was coming home from the hospital following open heart surgery for an aortic valve replacement. You certainly do think about the inevitable when facing this type of surgery. Right before surgery I did not have a will. When my brother arrived we had a will drawn up for me along with other medical instructions. I did get a chuckle when the cardiologist said, "Please, don't sign a 'do not resuscitate' order -- because we will have to restart your heart following the valve replacement." HUH - what is this "restart" nonsense - you're suppose to fix it not stop it.....HUH - who am i and why am i in this funny gown that opens in the back....

Anyway, back to reality, my mother more or less did a lot of planning for both her and father's funerals. She had everything picked out and paid for at the funeral home. We, the family did not have to do any casket shopping, etc., thank God! Plots were already bought - all in all it was much easier for us to deal with the grief of losing a parent than worry about the mundane. My brother knows a little of my final wishes. I have to admit after the initial scare of heart surgery and then full recovery, I didn't take that final step and add a few more items to the will -- which I certainly will do shortly. One thing is for sure however, listen carefully bro -- Cricket goes in the casket with me. I don't care if you open the little box and just drop the baggie in BUT he goes in with me. If you don't do it, baby brother, you will not have a moment of peace for the rest of your life. Yes, I will be right beside you for like forever, i.e., eternity. Bet that got his attention! Speaking of my brother, Jim, he wrote an incredible song (we had played at Mother's funeral) - I want it played at mine - God Knew Your Name. Go listen! It will move you.


While traveling through Estonia I was awe-struck by the photo below of silver crosses all indicating the nuns final resting place. It was a serene place of hope, calmness, and serenity. May all our final resting places be so....... beautiful. Death is not the end, it is a beginning of just another phase of growing up! May I strive to make mine a little easier for my family and friends by making sure I have all my final wishes in place for that eventual day.

To end this post I want to share with you a poem I wrote in my early 20s. (I have like a book of these ramblings written in the angst of youth.) If I remember right, my Dad and I, for some reason, had been talking about death and funerals. I asked him when the time came what he wanted and he told me all he wanted was one red rose. Nothing more, nothing less. It sparked in me this poem:

"When I depart, sing no sad songs for me.
And when I disappear, don't look back.
I will leave as silently as I came.
Only remember the interlude when you knew me best.
Think of the laughter, jokes, and sighs,
the occasional tears I shed.
Do not regret the days gone by,
.....and when I leave do only one last thing.
Plant a rose - one single rose -
So I can still bring joy to those who follow after."

Cleaning plates and clearing slates?

When I saw that message on Michelle's web site last weekend, I thought huh? I read it and then thought why not. As part of that crusade, I started this blog which I had been thinking about for the last three or four months. It was a big step since it also meant an obligation to it and to anyone reading it. I love reading a number of blogs and get bummed out when they are not updated for months on end - I worry about the blogger as part of my web family....and so these ramblings began.

With the creation of the blog I also had some other things to take care of around the nest here like a "sign" I had for two weeks and had not still hung. Do you wanna see my new sign I put in my kitchen? Sure you do. This is all thanks to Michelle Ward's Crusade # 23. Fall is a great time to change my attitude and get ready for colors and the holidays. I love the colors and I knew what I had to do.

TA DA: I began with finally putting up a sign that caught my eye on Claudine Hellmuth's web site. She had purchased it from Sundance for her new apartment in Washington, D.C. I originally thought about mounting it to the fridge - but that didn't seem to work - SO, I rearranged one wall and there it found it's spot. I just love it, I do.... I have no idea why that sign had such an appeal to me - maybe it is all the diners I have eaten in through out my life?

The next place I looked at in dismay was ALL the stuff on my dining room table. That was depressing. So I cleaned that up and started finding all the fall foliage (silk) I had stuck in different nooks and crannies and came up with this. Can't put those photos up tonight since they are in my camera and I am just too lazy to go downstairs and down load them. Maybe tomorrow. Like I said, I am frustrated with my blog at the moment and probably should not be writing at all... but I have to say that on Sunday morning when I wandered downstairs to make coffee - the dining room and kitchen made me feel happy just looking at it. The clean plate and slate was worth the effort.

Just one quick note about the new Survivor in Africa.... if you watched it you will get my drift. Dandy Randy looks like he should be running the Bates Motel- no kidding Sherlock! I am telling you when he had the white gauze around his head and then the red survivor bandanna over that - he looked down right scary! I certainly would not want to take a shower in his motel nor let him take photos of my wedding. Can you believe he is a wedding photographer. WOW. Thank you for stopping by listening to my rants tonight. Really - it is great in my honeysuckle breezin' world.... Please come back to visit.