be yourself: live with passion

you know you are relaxed when...

*you don't know what day of the week it is...

*you go to sleep and wake up whenever you feel like it...

*you haven't checked your emails since you left home...

*you go with the flow...enjoy the day...sit and read without guilt...

I am definitely relaxed.

Yesterday, we spent the day in Gettysburg.  Having grown up in Pennsylvania and having visited the battlefields on many previous occasions (and having lots of photos of said battlefields and monuments), I focused my picture taking on architecture- doorways, buildings, windows, etc.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a morning latte at a funky coffeehouse called The Ragged Edge, walking through some of the little shops in the square, having lunch at a great little bistro called The Blue Parrot and then following the signs to what was billed as the largest retail outlet for Boyd's Bears. 

When I saw the billboard for the bear store, I immediately thought that we would be going to a little gift store that specialized in Boyd's.  Ashley is a bear collector and I have a few that I bring out at Christmas time and we thought it would be fun to see what this store had.  Imagine our surprise when we pulled into the road leading to the store and saw this...

                        

This is a four level barn filled with teddy bears from one end to another...I have never seen anything quite like it.  There are approximately 66,000 bears in this building...can you imagine so many bears in one place?  Bears were arranged in little vignettes created for that specific category-gardening, patriotic, newborn baby...the vignettes were great...lots of antique pieces of furniture and accessories.  There were lots of smiles in that building.

Not to be left out, there was even a scrapbooking section...Vern couldn't resist taking a picture of me under the sign!

                        

Here are a few more:

                        

                        

Here's a flavor of Gettysburg:

                        

                        

I am working off of a dial-up connection and I've forgotten how incredibly slow this process is...how quickly high speed spoils one...it's taken almost 30 minutes to upload these photos so I think that's enough for now.

Tomorrow is family picnic day.  Wishing everyone a good Memorial Day with your families.

let the fun and games begin...

Vacation Day #1.

Last night, I put together a travel art journal and a little bag of stuff to use to add to the journal as I go...this is the first time that I am actually journaling and creating as I go.  Should be an interesting experience...especially since I always do my creating at home with ALL of my stuff around me!  A good challenge to see how well I create with just a few little bits and pieces.

Lots of gold Lumiere to tie in with our l'il rabbit going off to the games...

Plus, each of us-Vern, Ash and I-have a mini road trip writing journal, compliments of Friend Tena, who created the coolest covers for us.  Isn't she so incredibly thoughtful?  Thanks, T.  I'm going to include my little journal in this larger one.

More from the road...it's time to play!

little bits of home...

While I'm looking forward to our trip-seeing family, meeting new people. sightseeing, etc., I am really a homebody at heart and I always miss home and look forward to coming back.  So, today, I've got some little bits of home to take with me...

                   

                   

                   

By the way, the last picture is a sago palm with it's new growth...definitely unique looking!  OK, really strange looking...but it's a bit of home.

an organized mess...

                   

This weekend marks the completion of the last of four new classes formatted out for this summer- June's Day to Create at Scrapbooks, Etc. and Travel in Style class at Ink It! Inc., a summer online class for Blue Bazaar in Australia, and September's Creative Escape class in Phoenix.  I have to say that I am relieved...it's like this weight has lifted off my shoulders.   

I am a believer in the shoebox method of organizing...everything that belongs together goes into a shoebox and stays there until needed.  So, while it looks like a huge mess, all of the materials I used to make the projects are in one place, ready for me to shop for kits.  I have to say that I love looking at the boxes...so different in colors and styles...

The book signing was great on Friday night...it was good to see familiar faces and get to know some new ones.  Thanks again to Mary Ellen for creating a beautiful and sophisticated environment for us...right down to the classy new pens to do our signing...she is a gem!

Kelly Anderson was able to stop by for a bit with Baby Madelyn...she {Kelly, that is :)} was able to sign a few books while she was there.  Miss Maddy is a hoot...we had her so wound up by the end of the evening that she was actually shrieking...bet she slept well that night.

It's going to be a busy week...we are taking some {much needed} vacation time later this week...lots to do to get ready...business, pet sitter, book stuff, class stuff (oh yeah, that's done!!!)...I'm off...

making a big production...

When I was growing up, I can't tell you how many times my mom would say to me "You always make a big production out of nothing!"  Given the context in which it was said [screeching at big brother as his hand crossed the imaginary line separating the back seat of the car into two halves, yelling to Mom when said bro would poke me in the ribs as he passed me in the hallway, slamming my bedroom door in his face when his big toe would cross the doorway into forbidden territory-my room...you get the picture here] it was NOT a positive character trait in her book of what constitutes a perfect child!

Yesterday, as I was accomplishing the mundane (sweeping the house), I started thinking about making a big production out of little things and decided that it really is a good thing.  I mean, really, how many truly "big productions" are there in life?  Graduations, weddings, births, deaths, big purchases...really, when you tally them up over a lifetime, maybe several a year?  And, if we spend our time focusing on the big productions, how many little things go unnoticed, unmentioned, unphotographed, uncelebrated?  I'm all for celebrating the little things...the return of "Fat Boy", my favorite hummingbird who's lived in our backyard for the past 4 years and who disappeared for a couple of months, was the celebration of the day on Wednesday...even the dogs heard the excitement in our voices and started bouncing around...OK, maybe we don't have much of a life, but, you get my drift...

So, tonight's our book signing night...it's local and virtually unpublicized, but, around here, we're making a big production.  Yesterday, Ashley shopped for yummy finger foods and she and her best friend Elizabeth, my two girls, baked homemade cookies for our signing.  Yum...

                        

                        

Enough to make you drool, aren't they?  Chuckle...

OK, then, on this third Friday in May, find something to celebrate...take lots of pictures...make a big production!

a dog's life...

                               

Don't you ever wish that you could have just one day in the life of a dog?  No real responsibilities, someone feeds you and cleans up after you, you get to sleep whenever and wherever you want?  You get the picture...a day of bliss.

Yesterday, I wished for a dog's day... Messy kitchen counters loaded with project parts, dirty laundry piles waiting to be washed...a mile long grocery list...unpaid bills on the kitchen table...all cluttering my mind and vying for attention.  Where to start?

In the afternoon, Vern called me into his office...said I needed to hurry.  This picture is what he wanted to show me.  There was Thatcher, our almost 11 year old boy, sleeping in his favorite spot on the window seat in the office.  On the other side of the window was a teeny baby Inca dove, one of our newest pooplets, staring at Thatcher's twitching ears.  What a sight!  The ultimate in dog days!

Someday...someday soon...I'm going to pencil in a dog day...

our first official book signing...

...and we're so excited about it!

On Friday, May 19th, from 4:00-7:00 p.m., Tena and I will be signing copies of our book, Artful Memories, at Ink It, Inc!,   225 N. Gilbert Rd. in downtown Gilbert.  Huge thanks to Ink It's owner, Mary Ellen Fresquez, for the gracious invitation and for helping us coordinate this event. 

We would love to have you stop by the store, have a bite to eat, visit with us...and, we'd be delighted to sign a book for you.  Oh, by the way, Mary Ellen is offering a 10% discount on the book that evening...how cool is that?

sometimes...

YOU JUST GOTTA PLAY!

Today is one of those days when I desperately needed creative inspiration. 

Yesterday, I attended a memorial service for a friend who was killed in an accident earlier this week, and following the service, went to the hospital to visit another friend who was admitted on an ER basis...my prayers go out to these two families who are going through such tough times.  It was definitely an emotional day.

Inspiration was absent when I woke up this morning.

I decided to play...while I was in Cincinnati, I received an amazing box of goodies from Michelle at Matisse, an Australian company that produces wonderful artist paints, goodies like gessoes and varnishes, and intriguing items like Impasto Medium...wow, can't wait to try that one.  They have started distributing their goodies in the USA through Jerry's Artarama.  How cool is that?

I pulled out a framed canvas and went to town...here's the background for a little collage that I'm going to do.  Guess what I'm going to name it?  "Sometimes...you gotta PLAY!"  Original, huh?  Can I say that I just love how the paints FLOW?  Very aptly named...

Many thanks to Michelle for her generosity and to my friend, Em, for passing my name along to Michelle.

The other thing that I did was to create some inspiration for myself.  I pulled out all of the goodies I picked up at St. Theresa's Textile Trove and decided to put together a little vignette to help inspire me visually...the project I'm working on today uses some of the colors in this little grouping and it was just fun to display the items in this vintage Russian ammunition box.

These colors are just so beautiful together...they make me think of summer and the beach, and happiness and fun.

My little canvas collage is starting to come together...I love looking at this fun and breezy display...my AWOL muse IS BACK...I'm playing!

Day Three...Rain

I woke up this morning to lots (and lots) of clouds.  By 11:00 this morning, it was sprinkling a bit.  By noon, it was pouring and has been doing so off and on today.  Tena and I packed up all of our supplies at the publisher's office and together with our editor, Jessica, and photographer, Christine, went off to tour an amazing photo studio in downtown Cincinnati.  I could have stayed there for hours...a totally inspirational experience that made me want to hurry home and create.

After lunch at a Cajun restaurant called Redfish (a perfect day for jambalaya!), Jessica took us to St. Theresa's Textile Trove, a funky store in the Over the Rhine section of Cincinnati.  I just love going into stores like this...baskets of this and chests of that and hidden drawers of the other.  I picked up fat quarters of some very exotic imported fabrics...excited about using them in projects to come.  Fortunately, the rain stopped long enough for us to take a few pictures.

            

We got our flights changed and are heading home bright and early tomorrow morning.  It's been a great time...just like cheer camp!   

live from Cincinnati...

Day Two...a nice early start today after a great time relaxing at the mall last night...J. Jill, Chico's, Brighton's, and, the crown jewel of them all....Bare Escentuals.  Needless to say, the cute girl that was helping us had a huge grin on her face when we left.  How could we resist all of the stuff that's supposed to make us look beautiful and younger, with healthy, glowing, radiant skin?  Bring it on!  Maggiano's was great as usual...a wonderful dinner on the patio to celebrate Tena's birthday.

We worked several hours this morning on the photo shoot, had a quick meeting with our managing editor, then lunch at Jalapeno's, followed by a couple more hours of building projects in front of the camera.  Guess what?  We're done!  The studio was reserved for four days...we were done in record time.   Tomorrow, for the most part, we play!  We're heading into the downtown area to do a bit of sightseeing...that is if it isn't pouring rain out!  Arizona girls don't handle the rain very well...

This afternoon, our editor, Jessica, took us to Clifton, home of the University of Cincinnati.  It's a fun college town atmosphere...great shops and restaurants.  I had a great latte at the local coffee shop and then we had a fabulous dinner at a great cafe called Tinks (it sounds like all we do is eat, hmmm).  It was fun to be out and about in a new area...now we're back in our adjoining rooms...we're ready to party...just like cheer camp (see Tena's post yesterday)...so sure.

Here are a few pictures of the Clifton area...we took some shots of us "lurking" in doorways.  I love unusual doors and try to take pictures of cool portals when I'm traveling.   It was so cute...Tena was taking my picture leaning against a door post and this guy is standing there on the cell phone talking to someone about "these ladies" who are taking pictures by his front door.  When we told he we liked his door, he got a huge grin on his face...he said his girlfriend would really be happy since she painted it.

Until tomorrow...hope the storm they are predicting passes through!