be yourself: live with passion

this day, 21 years ago...

...Vern and I became brand new parents.

               

It was an evening that was both terrifying and exhilirating.

Five weeks before my due date, I went into premature labor.  After a brief hospital visit, I was sent home with instructions to stop working and begin bedrest.  One week later, on a Friday afternoon, my water broke.  I called Vern at work and he raced home to take me to the hospital.  I was admitted at 6:00 p.m.  The nurses settled me into a birthing room, told Vern to go get something to eat because it was going to be a loooong evening and suggested that I make one last potty stop before they hooked up the fetal monitor.  It was during that trip to the potty that I began bleeding...it was bad.  The nurses helped me back to the bed, called the doctor, and paged Vern back to the room.  Fortunately, the doc's office was just about a mile away, plus he drove a snazzy silver Porsche :) so he was pretty speedy.  Vern told me later that when he came into the room, the place was bedlam...blood on the floor, nurses scurrying around...he didn't know what was going on.

In walked the doctor...he started "barking" out orders to everyone, gave Vern a pair of scrubs and got the whole entourage moving into ER surgery.  There's not a whole lot more that I remember from this point...at first I was kind of numb with shock, moving robotically, doing what they told me to do, then I was totally silly with the morphene epidural they gave me.

I was awake and alert enough to know that at 6:20, after the longest 20 minutes of my life, little Ashley joined our family. 

She was small, but perfect.  Vern got to hold her and went with the nurse to bathe her and do the Apgar...they bonded right then and there.

Ashley, we are proud to say that you're our daughter.  We thank God that He included you in our family. 

I hope you have a great day today as we start the celebrating...judging by cards and gifts are already on the kitchen table, I guess I should say as we continue the celebration :)...enjoy your day with Elizabeth today.  We're looking forward  to dinner out this weekend and, of course, the family get together...a long celebration.

Happy 21st Birthday, Ashley!

amazing sweetness...

                        

Yesterday, I came across these teeny, tiny grapes at Costco.  I was totally intrigued by them...so small and yet so perfect.  They are actually champagne grapes and they are the sweetest fruit of the vine that I have ever eaten.

In the photo, they look like ordinary grapes.  Here's the thing, though.  They are photographed on a small saucer..these little guys are just a little larger then 1/4" in diameter.

Amazing...

dangling the carrot...

I went to the Bazzill office and warehouse today to pick up a few last minute things for Creative Escape.

There are palettes and palettes of kits and other various and sundry things [dangling the carrot here] just waiting to be delivered to the hotel.

Here are Emily Waters (of Heidi Swapp) and I standing by the palette of kits for my classes.  Seeing the boxes all packed up it making the event seem so much more real.

Emily has been supervising the kit building for the event.  It's a huge job...there will be over 9000 total kits.  Isn't that simply amazing? 

There are so many awesome things planned for this creative weekend...so many things that I want to share but can't...sometimes it's really hard to keep secrets.

Can't wait to meet all of those who are coming...can't wait to play together...can't wait to share the secrets...can't wait!

packing light?

That would not be me.

No, definitely not me.

Yesterday, as I was packing up my supplies for my class at Ink It I just had to laugh.

They covered a good part of my kitchen table.

I was taking more for this 3 hour class than my parents bring for a week long visit.

But, you never know what you will need...and when women come to play, they want toys!

It was a great class, with very creative women who rose to the challenge of working on their own, playing with the materials provided, trying new techniques for the first time.   Their tag books were awesome.

It was a pretty quiet class;  that is, until I walked a few doors down to Euro Cafe and brought back a bakery box with their freshly made pastries.

Nothing like some sugar and chocolate to liven up a class!

Packing heavy = lots of toys to play with + sugar and chocolate = a happy class.

um...is it bedtime yet?

It's 7:00 p.m....my eyes feel like they need lifts to keep them open..but I'm still smiling.

My alarm went off at about 7 minutes before 3:00, AM that is, this morning.  My online chat/online class with Blue Bazaar, was scheduled to start at 3:30 to accommodate the time difference between Australia and Arizona. 

I rarely set my alarm...don't usually need to.  I typically get up early and since I work out of home, don't have to be at work at a certain time.  I came awake during the night thinking I had overslept my alarm and was late for my own class.  I was ready to bolt out of bed, then looked at the clock.  Relief...only 1:00 a.m.  Back to sleep...a fast sleep.

Vern decided he was going to get up at the same time...he would be supportive and get lots of work done. (That was so sweet!)  He went off to make coffee for us and I decided I was going to sign in the chat room so that I would be ready.  The time was 3:05 and guess what...there were scrappers in the room and they were wired and ready to go!  Of course, once I signed in, I was committed!

What a fabulous time I had with those Aussie girls!  I don't think I've laughed so much that early in the morning...ever.  And, as I've been informed, I am no longer an online class virgin...whew...that's a relief.  LOL!

And, guess what?  I got to teach in my jammies, no makeup...um, I don't think I even brushed my hair.  Good thing we weren't doing web cams!

Vern kept me steadily supplied with coffee...we chatted, built books and laughed.  I have got to say that those girls were amazing...they were keeping right along and chatting most of the time...definitely good multi-taskers.

Can't wait for Part Two next Friday, at 3:30 a.m., of course!

meet Maxie...

...who became part of our fleet today.

She is Vern's dream truck...Maxie because she is a Duramax Diesel...4x4...3/4 ton...Allison tranny.  I've learned ALL the lingo.

She is my dream truck color...I've always wanted a red truck.

There is a story behind Maxie...a story which started 9 days ago with the order of the same truck in Silver Birch, the color we were actually wanting.  Our sales guy, Jim, (who by the way is awesome...this is the 3rd vehicle we've gotten from him) found one for us in Kingman.   When the driver got there to bring our truck back, he found out that the truck was in the body shop...uh oh!  No go on that one.

But...there was another truck in Kingman...same color, same everything except for no On-Star.  We gave the go ahead to bring it back.  We wanted large towing mirrors on the truck and they replaced them back at our dealership.  When Jim went out to check on the truck before we took delivery, he found that one of the mirrors had a crack in it and looked like someone had glued a piece back in.  New mirrors were ordered and would be in the next day.  The next day, we get another phone call...apparently, whoever ordered the mirrors didn't know the difference between right and left and so there were now two left mirrors!   The following day, the mirror was replaced and Jim's mechanic was going over it with a fine tooth comb...guess what, when he started the engine, white SMOKE came out of the exhaust...not good.  By that time, Jim was frustrated and we just had to laugh.

Back to the drawing board.  Trucks were selling pretty fast and the remaining inventory was small...a black truck, a couple of red ones...hmm, that's about it.  OK, let's go for the red with tan interior.  About an hour later...another phone call from Jim.  Apparently someone took the keys and the truck packet...no one knew where they were or if anyone had already written a deal on it.  Final offer from the dealership-red with grey interior and LOTS of good incentives to buy it because of the hassle.  It's a deal...a deal which we closed today when we went to pick her up.  She looks like a Maxie, doesn't she?  Great name, Ashley!

Anyway, we came up with some names for the other three that were not meant to be:

1.  Crash

2.  Smoke and Mirrors

3.  Phantom

But Maxie's a keeper.  I love her!  I'm used to big vehicles...I've been driving Suburbans for the last 9 years and like feeling like I'm in a tank.   Ashley is crazy about trucks, especially one that will so effortlessly haul a horse trailer!  I do have a feeling that we'll all be vying for a chance to drive Maxie!

Our salesman apologized for all of the hassle; I laughed and told him that all the stuff that happened gave me a great story for my blog!

Maxie's been well worth the wait!

*******EDITED TO ADD*****

Guess who just got home from ASU and is getting ready to take Maxie out for a spin?????  Ashley got her started and just sat there grinning, turned to me and said "SWEET!".  I think that smile says it all!

Go cowgirl!  Enjoy the ride!

                               

vibrant and awesome...

The book signing at Barnes & Noble was great.  Many thanks to Erica at Barney's for organizing the event...she was wonderful!  She set us up in the rotunda (we're pictured here at our table) and throughout the evening, made sure that we had everything we needed.  The lighting was confusing all of the cameras...sorry for the picture quality.

Thanks also to all who came out and supported us...we loved seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones.  There was a moment when I just sat there and took it all in, pinching myself to make sure it was real.  Who would have thought I'd be sitting at Barney's at a group signing?

I think there is definitely a case of the mixed up sisters going on...I took the liberty to play with the pics...who do you think are the REAL sisters?

                   

The real SEESTERS, who are always getting a hard time about not looking anything like sisters, are Karen and Linda, co-authors of Visual Chronicles.  Uncanny, eh?

This week, I'm doing the final prep for my online class with Blue Bazaar in Australia.  Thanks to all who signed up.  I'm totally looking forward to it.  The kitted classes sold out right away, but if you're sitting on the fence, you can still sign up for the online class without the kit.  There's a materials list that Luise will provide so that you can substitute what I used with what's in your personal stash at home.  I'll be online chatting with you at 3:30 a.m. on Friday...yeah, that's really early...even for me!  Bring on the coffee!

Last night, there was a vibrant, awesome sunset...

                              

Hope you have a vibrant and awesome week.

                   

you can't lose...

It's your lucky night and here's the winning combination:

1. FOUR current and trendy art books.

2.  SIX fun and talented author/artists under ONE roof.

3.  ZERO dollars out of your pocket...IT'S FREE!

4.  SIX autographing pens happy and excited to sign your new books.

Definitely some winning numbers!

Join us tonight @ 7:00 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Desert Ridge Marketplace on North Tatum Blvd.

See you there!

in search of the memory artist...

Have you ever had one of those weeks that has flown by so fast it feels like someone has taken away half of the hours in your day?  This week has been like that...lots of business and personal things to do...good things, but time consuming.  Yesterday, I needed to get started on some deadlines due in the next few days.  The memory artist was missing...

Girls in my classes often ask me about what they should do to stay inspired and motivated to create.  My response is always the same:  "Do something creative every day, even if it's something small."  This just isn't a trite response that I give...it's based on the reality in my life.  If I go several days without creating, it's so hard to get started on a new project.

What I decided to do to jump start my creativity yesterday was to create something for me...something I've been really wanting to do.  Once I pull out the supplies I need and lay down that colorful paper placemat, my brain seems to get into the mode and the creativity starts to happen.

I put together a little papier mache box with an accordion tucked inside...a wonderful little project starter from Melissa Frances, covered it with Basic Grey Color Me Silly paper and went to town.  I called it "Urban Graffiti" because it's all about the cities I've recently traveled to and the colorful buildings in some of the urban renewal areas I visited.  I used my blog pic for the cover cuz I think Tena did such a good job with it!

I'm definitely ready to get into gear today...the flow is there!

As I was writing this post about the "memory artist", it reminded me of a story that made me smile.  About two years ago, several friends from California and I were having dinner at a local restaurant.  Our server was a spry, energetic older woman who was probably well into her 70's.  She certainly knew how to endear herself to people...she had quite a way about her.  She asked us how we knew each other and my 3 friends told her that they had taken classes from me and that we became friends as a result.  She wanted to know what kind of classes I taught and I told her "memory art".  She promtly told me that she needed to sign up and take a class because she's always looking for some tips on how to jog her memory! :)))

Now that the memory artist in my house is found, I'm off to create...hope you do something creative today!

12 of 12 for August

Yesterday marked another 12th day of the month and another collage of what I did and where I was to add to my collection of 12 of 12's.  My sister-in-law, Carmen, flew down from Idaho yesterday and we had a great day of shopping and eating.  I started my collage with our house number and chronicled our day from there.  After a great lunch at Joe's Real Barbeque, we were fortified for some power shopping.  Our stops included Ink It, Country Manor, The Fiber Factory, Mystic Paper and the antique Peddler store next door.  We flat ran out of time to hit the other stores on our list.  After stopping at home to pick up Vern and Ashley, we headed out to Euro Cafe for dinner.  The last picture is of some of the treasures I brought home.  I have to say that my favorite buy was a shabby black and white shutter I found on the wall at Mystic Paper.  I asked Kim if it was for sale and she said if it had a price tag, it was for sale.  It was totally my lucky day!  There was a price tag and it was a great buy...a SERIOUSLY great buy.  That piece definitely came home with me...a super addition to my shabby black and white studio area.  It was a fun, relaxing day.