515!!

I have been procrastinating posting this 515th post because I do not have a prize ready and I wanted to have a fun give away. BUT something prompted me to post today despite not being quite ready... read on....

Today I learned that my pal Bernie Berlin is in the running for a $50,000 dollar grant through Network for Good and Parade magazine. To win she has to place in the top 4 in generating the most donations to her charity (A Place to Bark) through the 31st of January. As of today she is #3 BUT there are still 2 weeks to go and the competition is getting fierce. We want to keep her in the top 3. The minimum donation is $10 which is not much to so many of us. Think about $10... its just a couple of Starbuck's drinks, a trip through a drive- thru or a single movie ticket.

So, on this, my 515th post I am issuing a challenge to make a small donation and help Bernie get the dollars she so desperately needs to continue her animal rescue and build the facility she and her husband and planning for. The bonus (in addition to feeling good for helping out) is that if you make a donation, I will enter you an extra time into my 515th post drawing. Just post the reference # for your donation in the comments section and you are entered.

OK, now for the prizes... I will be giving away three prizes as follows:
1- Prize Pack (not yet assembled) full of goodies that I like to use to create art.. vintage wallpapers, book pages, millinery bits, flowers, jewelry, glitter, who knows what else will end up in it. It will be fun and full of inspiration and goodies though!
1- Joli Paquet HOME Banner Kit.. I have 2 left. They are lots of fun and have gotten good reviews from those who got them back at our first Joli Paquet event.
1- "WISH" Banner... this cute banner was made by me out of canvas paper and various papers, ribbons and embellishments a la Pam Garrison's class.

THREE ways to win...
1. leave a comment
2. make a donation to A Place to Bark and reference the transaction # for a 2nd chance to win.
3. BLOG about Bernie and this contest on your own blog and leave me a comment with a link for yet another chance.

As always, be sure you leave me a way to contact you provided you win. I will draw names on in one week on January 23rd. Good luck!!

favorite things...

Hey all, I am back amongst the semi living. Today my head is less stuffy but the bad news is it is moving down to my lungs which is bad. If you have been tuned in since last year you might remember that I had a semi serious lung infection last November. My doctor has had concerns with my bronchial health since then as I have also been known to suffer bouts of asthma. Anyway, I guess you can see where this is going.. chest cold = not good. I'm hanging in there though and will keep ya'll posted.

On a GOOD note though.. today I found out that my little space here in blog land was chosen as Scrapbooking.com's "Blog of the Week"! Woot woot for me!! I have my friend Debbie to thank for that. Thanks for passing my name along sweetie. Its kind of fun to be a featured blog. Inspired by this honor, I figured I'd better do a new scrapbook layout since it IS a scrappy site... so I played with my dad's camera ( I am SO not giving it back) and some of my FAVORITE things and well, here ya go:

I think I am a touch behind in a few other areas of my blogging too. Here is a banner I finished up for sweet gal Kim who wanted to jazz up her blog for Halloween.

I had so much fun doing it and working outside my usual style and palette and I am actually playing with a few other Halloweenie designs that I might be able to offer up for adoption if I can finish them up SOON!

Also, I bet some of you are awaiting the results in my drawing for the paper dresses from the Bloglandia Ball. I know this because someone emailed me today ;) So, I just plugged in my numbers to a random number generator and it picked 22 and 31!! That means... da da dum....
Kari/ artsymama & Craftyhala are the winners! Kari already called dibs on the first dress so I will be sending that off to her and will have to see which one is chosen by Crafty. Congrats girls. I hope you enjoy steppin' out in your new gowns.

Now in the spirit of "favorite things" share a few of your favorite things here and on Friday when I announce some MORE exciting news I will draw a name to win a packet of vintage wallpaper with a few of my other favorite things tucked in.

Bits n pieces

Not a whole lot to report here other than summer has OFFICIALLY arrived and by officially I mean HEAT. We're expecting 100+ degree weather over the next couple of days to be followed by lots of noise in the form of the 60th Annual Hollister Biker Rally. Ugh.. We'll try to escape town as much as possible through Sunday.

Today was a fun mail day as I received a copy of The Foof-a-life from my pal Marilyn. Its a fun little publication with some cute projects in it. I LOVE Marilyn's birdie banner of course! I am not sure where to get it, I imagine it is available online somewhere but a quick search didn't lead me anywhere easy. Anyway, Thank You Marilyn! I will look forward to having this book in my library for inspiration!

Also, on a whim I added a few things to my Etsy shop today. It wasn't the grand update I was planning on but the way my life is going right now I feel lucky to have time to post six items for now. I know I have to ship a couple of things and I plan to get that done this week. I felt I was doing good but now I feel like I am running way way behind. If I ever get caught up I seriously need to have a studio flea market.. its a mess.. again.

OH, I realized after posting my give away in the last post I failed to set a deadline. oops, so I will draw names on the night of Friday, July 6th and contact the lucky winners. Good luck!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

ArtFest bound

Its the 11th hour.. I have most of my art supplies packed (MUCH lighter list than my AF trip last year) and I have my suitcase out and I have clothes piled in it along with a very small stuffed dog and a wind up dolphin.. who knows, maybe I will need it??!! I imagine my suitcase will hold many other unusual things by the time I am ready to leave.

I have finally thrown in the towel in my quest to make some "special" trades for my gal pals at ArtFest. I figure I can always MAIL stuff when I get home. I spent this evening sticking labels on the back of the ATCs I did finish and I packed the few I didn't to work on in Art Asylum.

I have done nearly all my laundry and am happy to hear that the forecast for the week is sun in Port Townsend. I know it won't be nearly as hot as it got at AFF but it will be nice to not FREEZE!!!

Overall, I am excited and nervous and anxious to be there and explore and learn and meet my blog friends and see old friends. I will take lots of pictures and give a recap when I get back. Until then, be good and leave a comment because I will be giving away some goodies when I get home!!

Spring Fling

Happy First Day of Spring everyone. I woke up and checked my emails to learn that I had won some goodies in the One World, One HeART giveaway. What a great way to meet the day. Thank goodness for those bloggers in other time zones who get up early! LOL

I just had my dear hubby choose 3 names from the whopping 104 entrants I had and I am please to announce the winners of my give away for a set of 10 of my birdie postcards and some other little goodies.

They are :

Chelise

Michelle

&

Tammy Gilley

Congratulations girls! I will be contacting you shortly to gather up your email addresses and get your goodies off to you before I head off to the land of art.. ArtFest in Washington!! I am so excited!!

Thanks to Lisa for getting the ball rolling on this new blog wide give away. It was so fun and I wish I could give a prize to everyone who entered. Please do check back though as I often post contests on my blog for no apparent reason other than it really IS better to give than receive. ( I AM happy to win sometimes too though.. heehee ) And finally if you are super disappointed to not get a birdie postcard, they have been restocked in my shop.

queasy...

Ugh, I am still experiencing a little queasiness from all things Portals right now. We hit a snag with the production of Eye Candy and it is supposed to be in WA by FRIDAY! Shit! I am shipping all that I have so far today and will hopefully be able to get the rest out tomorrow via expedited delivery.

Thank you to ALL who have so generously offered their support and help in getting back on track. I KNOW I can do this if I can just calm down enough to sort it all out. I am not above accepting help and here is what I specifically need help on.

- Processes.. I need a better way to manage the orders. I am using PayPal but I need a way to get the info OUT of PayPal and into a spreadsheet or a better shopping cart (cheap) that can handle my orders. It is taking me far too long to to do the data entry thing. Maybe I don't need to. I need help sorting this out.

- InDesign.. This is a new animal to me. I am not "getting" it. I could use some help with setting up a template for the regular issues of Portals. I need someone who can explain how and why this can work better for me.

- Photoshop.. We have been designing all layouts in Photoshop and dropping them into the templates. I have stacks of stuff that need to be made pretty.

- Girl Friday.. I need someone who can sort though all my email crap and organize it for me. Advertisers, who gets comp issues, record the random addresses I have laying around (in email) all that piddley business crap that I haven't been able to keep up with.

- Art.. as always, need art submissions for the Gallery section. Details on this are on the Portals website.

Basically I need someone who can help me GET ORGANIZED and focused. I have found that I have really lost my ability to focus well since having the wee B. I love her but sometimes I feel like I am going crazy!! If any of this sounds interesting to you and you want to help, please email me. I can offer Zines in trade and my undying gratitude but thats about it until I get caught up on the bills! Which brings me to needing more advertisers!! Who wants to tackle that job?? LOL

Finally, just a reminder that today is the last day to enter my One World, One HeART giveaway. Scroll down to the giveaway post and leave a comment to enter. The drawing will be held tomorrow. Good luck!!!

One World, One HeART..... finally.

Ok, I am FINALLY getting around to blogging that I am indeed participating in the One HeART give-away started by Lisa who was inspired by Sandy. Please visit Lisa's blog to get the complete list of fabulous blog-artists hosting drawings to give away their amazing handmade goods!

Anyway, I fretted and fiddled and couldn't decide or finish what I wanted to give way, so I decided to give away THREE sets of 10 of my vintage birdie postcards:
and in addition I will throw in extra goodies of which I do not have any pictures. I love to add treats and extras to my orders and swaps so I guarantee that if you win you will get a package of fun!! As with all the others, I will be drawing names on March 21 and mailing off before I leave to ArtFest. To enter you must comment on THIS POST and you MUST include a valid email address so I can get a hold of you! I will draw three names and contact the winners who must contact me ASAP with their mailing addresses or else they will have to wait!!!
Good luck!

I suck...

Ok, I suck. I am sorry, my blogging has been erratic at best lately. I am OK... the depression/ SAD has not caused me to go off and do anything rash.
Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to write me off list and share your stories and offer words of encouragement and support. Sometimes when you are feeling at your lowest it helps to have folks, even strangers, offer small bits of light. Its these little flickers that can lead you out of the cave.
I have been told, often, by my counselor, that the years when our children are young are amongst the most challenging in a woman's (couple's) life. Even though they truly are the wonder years, and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to be home and experience each day, it HAS been a difficult change in my life. Moms have to undergo a transformation of self and rediscovery of the new person they are in the role of mommy.
I try to be the best mommy I can but it has been a struggle to give up who I was before, the freedoms I had and make that transformation. I feel so guilty, so often about my struggle, my feelings and for being depressed when I have so much going for me and I am so lucky. Rationally, I KNOW these things... I have a home, a supportive husband who has a thriving business which enables me to be home full time with our beautiful, funny and bright daughter. I have family and friends and we are healthy (mostly, lol). But the thing about depression is that it is an illness, a chemical imbalance in the brain that ignores the heart and the logical part of the mind. These are the things I must remember and I am going to try to adopt a page from my friend Kim's book in saying my word for this week.. or month... maybe the year is ACCEPTANCE!!

Anyway, that was a long digression from what I meant to post. I have taken pictures of various things but have not loaded them from my camera. I have downloaded content for both upcoming issues of Portals but have not done a single layout. I have addressed address labels but not mailed anything the last couple of days. I SUCK! LOL I am just filling everyone in on the fact that I am working on it, I will follow through ( I always do) and I am just running behind. Especially on Portals.. (does anyone want a job doing digital layouts.. the pay sucks but its fun! LOL ) and getting ready for ArtFest. Why do I think I can do all this stuff???!! Sheesh...
I'll do the best I can and I can ACCEPT that.

Oh, one final thing. My friend Lisa ( Ocean Dreamer) is starting a wonderful new giveaway project inspired by Sandy/ ArtTeaLife's heARTs giveaway. I am participating and I hope you will too. Check the detail here!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Congratulations to my new bloggy friend Karin of Creative Chaos. She is the winner of the goodies from my last post. I am thrilled that these goodies will go to a fellow artisty type person and I hope she loves them. Go check out Karin's blog and see the awesome paper crowns she has been making!! FUN!

Not much else to report from here. We finally got some sun today which was a nice break and a bit of that vitamin D that I have been craving.

I have been working on ATCs like a mad woman. I need to make 3o for the ArtFest ATC fatbook project and like the lunatic that I am I decided to make originals. I am no good at assembly line work so they are all different except the centerpiece is a photo of a doll head that I love so much. I have ended up making more than 30 pieces which is ok since I can use them as trades. They are various stages of completion but I need to buckle down and get 3o DONE and mailed off.


My next big project is the ArtFest issue of Portals entitled Eye Candy. We are still looking for art to feature so sent yours in for consideration. It is going to over 500 ArtFest attendees!!

back on track

Ok, thanks everyone for your patience. I am back from my run up to San Francisco to help my aunt. She is an electrical contractor and on Monday she had an accident while using her hole saw. It torqued and shattered her forearm causing her to need surgery to put it back together with steel plates and a screw in her wrist. Amazingly, they were able to do it as an out patient procedure but it still caused us to have to be at the hospital ALL day with NO INTERNET (c'mon people.. what century do we live in with no Internet at the hospital?)
Anyway, the first night was pretty rough and she was in a lot of pain. There is a very awkward cast on it causing her to have difficulty finding a comfortable position to sleep. We managed to get her set on a good routine of pain meds and propped her up with a bunch of pillows. I stayed the following day and night and headed home late yesterday afternoon in quite the rainstorm. Thank goodness I was driving the truck with has good tires and 4WD. Anyway, thanks to those of you who have sent well wishes to us. She had a great surgeon and I imagine she will be up and at 'em in no time.

In other news.. I FINALLY got this new banner posted to my new friend Heather's blog. I have been working on it for some time but it took me awhile to actually get it posted since I had to go out of town.

Heather is super talented and sweet. Check out her blog (which I just added to my links) and be sure to scroll down tot he AMAZING bridal shower she threw for her daughter!

I was delighted to return home to open up my banner from the Heart to Heart swap. I was very excited to open up the package and see a very fun box created by Tracie Lyn and in it was this whimsical banner from Syd! I love it and already put it up. I will try to get some pix tomorrow.

Finally, this piece in the heART swap was never claimed despite a couple of emails to the winner so I am going to re-draw for it AND this fabric ornament. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get it to a new home in time for Valentine's Day I guess that is ok.

If you would like a second chance to win this tag and the ornament and some other goodies from me, please leave a comment to this post and I will draw a name on Valentine's day to win. You MUST leave contact information if I cannot contact you thru your Blog profile to be eligible. I'm sorry to be this way but I'd like to be able to easily contact the winner.

Cheers!

heART winners...

Well the BIG day has finally arrived and all over blog land people are anxiously visiting drawings to see if their name is posted to receive the lovely works of art offered up by so many talented and generous souls. I have to admit that I am a teensy bit disappointed that I have yet to see my name on any of said blogs. (sniff) BUT I know the fun will last throughout the weekend and I still have a few chances at some glorious art work. Provided I never do see my name, I feel I have made so many new friends and have discovered a wealth of inspiration and goodness. I plan to ask some of these talented gals about doing some one on one art swaps when this all ties up.

Anyway, I drew the two names of my winners earlier this evening but am just now getting around to posting since the little has gone to bed. I decided, spur of the moment, to draw a third name for a yet to be disclosed prize and that lucky winner is "Joan", who did not leave any contact info. So I will give her until Monday to contact me for her prize or draw another name for the third goodie.

Congratulations also to Pretty Lady and Christiane who won my angel tag and home ornament respectively. Please ladies, email me with your mailing addresses so I can mail these treats out to you.

Thanks to all of the new folks who have visited my blog and taken the time to comment. I hope I will see you here again. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

sharing my heART

Inspired by Sandy of ArtTeaLife, I have decided to GIVE AWAY two pieces of my heART for Valentine's Day! These were originally slated for my Etsy shop but I thought it was a much better idea to SHARE them with those of you who visit me and support me day to day!

I have a pretty pink altered tag with a cute little angel and some sparkley rhinestones to offer as well as a little wooden house ornament with fun chenille ball fringe! I love chenille ball fringe. I haven't "finished" the house ornament so if you win you can decide if you would like it to have a magnetic back or a wire hanger.

To toss your name into the hat all you have to do is leave a comment. On Feb 2 I will draw 2 names and mail off these treasures in time for Valentine's Day!!

And the winner is...

Congrats to Lisa- Oceandreamer for she was lucky number 9 from the random number generator and wins the fun ATC book! Lisa, if you will email me with your address I will mail it off right away!!

It was a hectic day but I tackled my studio and I can actually see the floor. I finished up some things for my Etsy shop but didn't get around to taking any pictures yet because by the time I finally FOUND my charger in said studio is was dark. Its now rainy out and I have been bumming around the computer even though I have a pile ( literal and figurative) of work things to do.

I am in need of a picture for a chubby book page that is soon due. It is for a collaborative page I am doing with Sharon for the Cinquain/ Haiku book. Sharon wrote a lovely haiku about tea and I am in charge of the art. If anyone has any cool vintagey images of tea cups, pots or people having tea that they would not mind sharing, please let me know! I will make an extra page to send to you in thanks! I would ask Sharon to try out another haiku or two, on subjects such as fashionable ladies or birds or cute kids because I have lots of that kind of image stock but her Mum had heart surgery today and I think her thoughts are on other things.

Anyhoo, its late and I am rambling. We are still very much in need of art for both upcoming Portals and Eye Candy issues. Joleen has a nasty UTI and is down for the count and I am trying to handle things as best I can while she gets better. Bottom line is.. PLEASE send art and tell a friend too!!

350

Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to have a contest on my blog to give away yet another book BUT I couldn't really think of anything good or clever. So, let's just celebrate my 350th post on this here blog. Just leave a comment and on Friday I will draw a name to get this fun ATC book! Have a great week.

Happy Holidays

Wishing my fellow bloggers and friends the happiest of holidays and much love in the coming year!

(please click to see these images full size. you will be glad you did.)

PS.. and the winner is... LORI S-C!!
Lori, please email me with your address and I will mail off this book to you. Happy Holidays!!

20 questions- Holiday Edition- the contest

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate-with whipped cream and a shot of kahlua. Yum
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Everthing is wrapped.
3. Colored lights or white on tree/house ? White everywhere and lots
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
5. When do you put your decorations up? Generally about 3 weeks before X-mas.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? kahlua candied yams
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? blue 2 wheeled bicycle with streamers and a sparkly banana seat!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth?
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?We open lots with friends and family to be followed by more the next day
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Lots of lights, then garland, then ornaments
11. Snow… love it or dread it? I live in CA.. it doesnt snow here but it would be fun if it did one day
12. Do you know how to ice skate? not since the incident
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Last year's favorite gift was a vintage diamond and sapphire "mother's ring" I adore it!!
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Spending time with my family
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? YES!!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? having fun with my friends and fsamily on Christmas Eve
17. What tops your tree? a beautiful porcelain starfish with shell dangles
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving - I love the feeling I get when I see someone I love open something I found or made that is "just perfect"
19. Favorite Christmas Song? My niece's new version of Jingle Bells.. "Tinker Bells, tinker bells, tinker all the way..."
20. Favorite Flavor of Candy Canes? ick I like chocolate!

I tag whoever feels up to doing this. It doesnt take long, its only 20 questions. Leave a comment if you do it on your blog and on Friday I will draw a name of those who participated to get this book (new!) (Be sure I can contact you thru your comment!)

oopsie

Yes, I know I said I'd upload my accordian book, but I lied. I just didn't get around to plugging camera into computer and all that. I will do it this weekend.. really!

Another thing that I have been meaning to do but have forgotten to do is post this meme type thingie that I picked up from my friend Lora's blog.

"The first five people to respond to this post (via the comments section) will get some form of art made by me. The only catch, of course: as with most memes, if you sign up, you have to put this in your own blog as well."

I was fortunate to be one of Lora's 5 people so I am excited to receive soem little treat from her. Please only comment if you are going to follow though and do this on YOUR BLOG as well. Have fun. Oh, and be sure I can reach you through your comment so I can get you mailing address if you are one of my lucky 5.

FFA revisted

I know several of you have been eagerly awaiting the outcome of my Faux Family Reunion project and the contest I posted, and I have to admit that even with all the great stories about my "ancestor" I was still stuck. So, last week I just decided to sit down and go for it, not worrying about the outcome. I got a little carried away when I actually glued it down to the ONE piece of vintage black photo album paper I had but I think it turned out ok, even if it is a bit different than most of my stuff. I was lost as to a jumping off point so I took a little inspiration from Marilyn with her amazing sploshed on paint and ink.

In addition, I didn't take ONE story but pieced together pieces from a couple so KIM and JENNIFER will both be receiving a copy of the finished piece once I take the final photo and print them out. Jennifer, will you please email me with your address so I can mail you one??

So, without further ado:

"This is great aunt Monique at age 2. She was born in Paris but immigrated to the US as an infant. Her parents opened a small button factory upon moving here. In addition to the factory her grandmother had a small sewing business where she sewed beautiful gowns and suits in a suite within the factory. Monique grew up surrounded by beautiful fabrics, lace and hand crafted buttons. She was fascinated by these free play things and created dolls and other whimsical creations which transported her to imaginary places and relationships which helped to amuse her, as she was an only child. Her artistic flair must certainly have been string as her ancestors have been equally drawn to beautiful fabrics and notions."

-------------------------*
In other news, thanks to those of you who have sent pats on the back and inquired about my health. I did go to see my doctor today which is a good thing because I was well on my way to pneumonia. As it stands I have a condition like asthma and an infection in my lungs. I returned home armed with 2 inhalers, a cough medicine with codeine and orders to REST and drink ALOT of water. Yes ma'am!! I am looking forward to some relaxing days at home, hot tea and hopefully some art squeezed in for I have many things "almost done" for Etsy and a long holiday To Do list.

Happy Thanksgiving!

HELP!- a contest!

OK, I was suckered into participating in Laura's FFA (Faux Family Album) project. (Yeah, I know its going to be cool and I will be glad I did it, I am just at that paralyzed starting point because I have to write a story!-ack!) Anyway, she sent each of us participants a vintage cabinet card to alter and return to be part of a faux family album. I can do that but the other part of the project is to provide a family story/history about said relative. I always get stuck on this part of this kind of project.. so much so that last time I had to do such a project I paid my friends daughter to write the story part for me. BUT this time I am appealing to you, dear readers for a little assistance.

This is my new "ancestor".. isn't she cute??? But she needs a name.. and a story... If you have ideas, please leave them in the comments section. Next weekend I will choose the name and story (not neccesarily from the same person) and use them in my project. To the folks that provide the "winning" entries I will send a copy of my finished piece and some other little goodie to thank you for your help!