I don't feel like writing.

I had this scarp of watercolor paper and I didn't like the colors I had put on it, sorry I don't have a before picture. Anyways I added some red blue and white and then stamped in white and denim on it and came up with a nice background and tried a female figure again. She is kind of sour looking like some others I have done. I am determined to do one where the person does not looked depressed.


















I really should be writing I haven't felt like doing it all day. I had an appointment with a chiropractor today. It was my first time. and it went well. The Dr. I went to has the most wonderful bedside manner. I am a little sore right now. I may just skip the writing and catch up tomorrow.

Time for a little art

I just had to do some Art its been driving me nuts. These three pages have been in limbo for awhile. I am not sure if they are all finished yet but its all I have to show.

Norah's Art

I found this woman's site the other day and I just love it. Its called All Norah's Art Its funny in a way when I found this site it was the name Norah that made me look. I have a wonderful cousin named Norah and I also have used that name for a character in my novel. So when I found the site was really done by Sharon I was intrigued so I wrote her and she told me that Norah is what she calls her muse. When you go look make sure to look at the flesh journal pages they are incredible. Her work is incredible.

I am still plugging away at Nanowrimo, the icon on my sidebar will tell you where I am with my word count.
I had one of those days, I am in this reading club at the library and I needed to finish a book for tonights discussion. I was only on page 75 out of 238, so I spent the day reading the book instead of writing only to find out the library is closed today so I must have the date of the discussion wrong. Grrr. So I ended up staying home tonight but Heroes was well worth it. I love it when they have these episodes where they explain everything.

I really loved the Note from the Universe today:

Do you know how to give folks what they most, most, most want from you, Kate, without even asking them what it is?
In all regards, just be yourself.
That's what they were after when they manifested you into their lives.

Whoa!
The Universe

I need to remember that when I am feeling inadequate, just be yourself, in fact its hard to be anything else but knowing that its enough is great.
Here is a link to get the notes. emailed to you daily.

Have a great day everyone

eagle and crows

I tried to do a little film today but I can't get blogger to upload it. So I guess I will have to put it on YouTube. Pam there are sections here just for you. Sorry about the background noise. I could not do much about that.

Sheep and a Crow

That is Gabrielle peeking around the corner. I was out with Flynn taking a walk and saw her. Thats how I feel about my blogging this week. Its like I take a peek from my writing and then wonder what I used to do with all my time. I was trying to make a video on our walk but it wasn't to successful so I will try another day. I don't know why I kept getting pictures of the ground. I am sure I was pointing at the mountains.

I have been having some health issues reoccur and I am sort of angry about it and angry at myself for not taking the changes necessary to help alleviate the problems. I don't understand why we know what will be good for us to do but then fail to do it. I guess there are many levels to any issue and its not as simple as it seems.

Drawing














Here is my latest attempt at drawing a crow. Done in pencil in a moleskine sketchbook. My husband thinks it looks like a Raven but what does he know. I told him tail feathers and beak are different. I think each one gets a little bit better.

Great Video

I saw this on Violette's message board and it was so cute I had to pass it on. Check out Hippily bunny.

All the drawings reminded me of drawings Sarah did when she was young. Yes I am feeling nostalgic.

I've been trying to up the word count today but its amazing how things get in the way. My friend Kay is taking this hypnosis course and needed someone to practice on. I was so relaxed when she left that I did not manage to do anything for a couple hours. I am shooting for 10,000 words today and I have 8845. That is only 1155 to go and I can do it if I can focus. It would be nice to get a day ahead so I could take a day off. Well back to the writing.

Being Green

I turned on the TV this morning to the weather channel since I wanted to know what the temp is. They were doing the world so I flipped over to network TV and ended up on the Today show. They were doing a segment on things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Something for every day of the week. Well I already do some of these but there is always more that you can do. Here is the list.


Day 1: Turn down the heat (just 2 degrees)
Day 2: Unplug gadgets (unplug toasters,coffeemakers etc when not using them.
Day 3: Wash clothes efficiently ( in cold or warm water)
Day 4: Eat less meat (go meatless once a week)
Day 5: Put the brakes on driving (once a week)
Day 6: Go green in the home( replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescent ones)
Day 7: Write a letter (to those who are doing great, or one to encourage other to do so)
There is a lot of detail on these choices here

Art Journal Pages














This first one is in my small Van Gogh moleskine. A Van Gogh moleskine is just the small sketchbook but the covers are silk fabric. You don't find them everywhere.


















This one is all about Joy a result of working with the Abraham-Hicks Well Being Cards. I love the look of joy on her face. I will be adding additional word later.


















This is page I did on fear at the start of Nanowrimo. I am showing this because if you look at the background you see a riot of color. I took the piece of freezer paper that I use to work on and made a copy of it and used it as background paper. It was covered with paint and stamping ink and whatever else I spilled on the paper that day. Sometime the protective paper you are working on looks better than what you made. I used to just throw it out. I learned this from Elise at the Artnest retreat. I think its a great idea.

Fantastic Day

I had the most fantastic afternoon. I had scheduled a write in with my Nanowrimo group. This morning I got a note that another person was not coming. So I was hoping for at least one two people to show up. I was so surprised when 10 peoples showed up. I even remembered to take pictures. We have a 12 year old boy, 3 men, 6 women, 2 English teachers and a whole lot of enthusiasm. We were all a buzz about our novels and sharing favorite websites, techniques and books. All I could think of that the group was so great that I hope they will want to continue after Nanowrimo is over with.














Maggie, Jason, Ryan, Amber and Paul














Stephen Amber Meghan Erin Maggie.

Don't we all look like such a lovely group. I was so enthused about writing after we left. It can be so exciting. I had better get back to the book.

Nanowrimo

Nanowrimo otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month started yesterday. After a confidence crisis in the beginning I am on my way. I have kept up with my word count for the first 2 days so that feels good. I have a write-in to go to tomorrow so I will have time to write then too.

This does take up a lot of time. I am still involved in the 100 day challenge and decided not to post the videos here any more. I figure those who are interested can find me on YouTube and that way I don't bore the rest of you to death.

I have been working on some journal pages but none are quite finished enough to share yet.

I think I discovered something about acrylic painting that I should have known. I took a class in in quite awhile ago but I seemed to have forgotten everything. I was using paint right out of the tube and I think adding water of gel medium will definetly make the paint flow better. Every time I have tried a face I end up with this caked blotchy mess so maybe thinning the paint down a little will help. I can only try and see what happens.

Being Brave Synopsis

It seems that others are listing things that they accomplished for the Be Brave challenge so I thought I would share what I did last month too.



Be Brave list

1. Fixed my scanner
2. Asked my brother about family pictures
3. Started and finished an acrylic painting
4. Started drawing in my moleskine
5. Put a banner on my blog
6 Learned how to link a file on my blog
7. Learned how to make a video with my webcam
8. Joined the 100 day reality challenge
9. Wrote every day .
10. Sent a letter to an author
11. Wrote companies for Art supplies
12. Drew a picture from a photograph
13. Drew a self portrait in my journal
14. Found our who Linda Darnell was.
15. Called hospital to volunteer
16. Eat breakfast daily for 2 weeks straight
17. Joined the Self Portrait challenge
18. Learned more about my camera's features and used them.
19. Learned how to make a video with camera
20 Uploaded videos to You Tube
21. wrote my cousin
22. Did a watercolor drawing in my watercolor moleskine
23 Started a watercolor painting
24. Talk to Dave about a difficult subject
25. Spend time journaling about what I think a relationship is.
26. Learned to make those paper beads dipped and embellished
27. Explored drawings and collages in my journal
28. Started doing research for book on Grandparents
29. Standing up for my rights at Barnes & Noble when they over charged me.
30. Sending food back at a restaurant when it is wrong.
31. Telling the truth on a video for the 100 day challengehopn
32. Doing my first Art type video and asking for opinions about it.

Wow I really did a lot last month.

Self Portrait Challenge

My be brave challenge for today is to take a self portrait. I bought this camera so I could do some portraits like others do for the self portrait challenge. I have the same camera as Misty Mawn and she takes wonderful pictures. I think its time to start exploring what I can do with it. This weeks theme is clothing. I decided to take a shot of myself in my new pajamas. It is very foggy out so I tried to capture some of that. The pj's are a very soft cozy type of flannel. When I touch the fabric I am given instant comfort. I like it when clothes can do that. It looks like I got more of my head than the pajamas but thats the way it goes. To see more self portraits go here














This will be my last Be brave challenge. I did it for the whole month of October and really learned a lot. I accomplished so many things that are really amazing. I won't stop doing scary things but my focus will be elsewhere. The 100 day reality challenge is bravery enough for quite awhile. Plus I am doing NaNoWriMo again and that starts tomorrow. This was a great experience, I really suggest you all try it

Happy Halloween

Believe it or not I do know its Halloween, Everyone else does such a good job with things on their blog today than me. I have been so busy that I have not gotten around to it. So I hope you can get around to other blogs to see all the fun. I did manage to doodle this little witch last night. She has her broom and is ready to travel. Have a great night.

A shrine for my Dad

For my Be Brave item yesterday I tackled the printer scanner copier that we bought some time ago. I have never been able to get the scanner to work. It would copy and print fine but scanning to a file was non-existent. Part of the problem was Vista but that seemed fixed when I downloaded a new driver. Still my only option was to scan to wordpad and when I tried that I got garbage. I wanted to be able to scan to a pdf like my old scanner had. I have half of my grandparents letters scanned that way so to start over would be daunting. I spent many hours on the help files at Hewlett Packard and still no luck and then tonight I thought I would try again. It works fantastic now, when I look back on this their documentation is horrendous. The only way I got this to work is by my persistence. I am so happy to have figured this out.














After going to the Day of the Dead service and adding my mom's shrine to the altar it occurred to me that I should make one for my dad too. This is the front, it is the oldest picture I could find.














On the inside I have 2 pics from later in life and words representing things he liked like making cheesecake, having a garden, playing cards etc. These little shrines are fun to make. For some reason the paint keeps coming off this one and I don't know why as I made it the same way I did the other one. Oh well thats the way it works sometimes.

Art Backgrounds

Here is a little art video, I hope you like it.

A favorite quote

This has always been a favorite of mine. I studied the Course in Miracles for years and always loved Marianne Williamson's work. The The Bold Soul had it on her blog this morning so I felt inclined to share. Today she has a wonderful post about being in love.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marianne Williamson

Look What I Got in the Mail

My Be brave challenge for yesterday was to make this video for the 100 day reality challenge. It is very personal and I really had to tell the truth about some issues in my life. It was scary to say it on tape but even more scary to upload it and now to see what kind of reaction I will get. Here is the link if you are at all interested. Excuse the bad hair day, I swear I did my hair and makeup but I look like a ghost or something. Maybe its a Halloween trick.


















Here is my latest pencil drawing. I did this while watching Heroes.


















Mahala sent me this piece of Art for my book that JudiRedhead sent me awhile ago, some of the glitter sisters have been making pages for it.


















and this one too! I now have pages from Judi and Pam and Ninnie, now how cool is that!














Here is an ATC she did of me, what a cool idea.

Monday Ramblings

I made this little drawing yesterday. The second crow in a series. I think I will keep doing these until I end up with something I really like. I think when I have a whole bunch of
drawings done and then place them side by side I will actually be able to see some
progress. I did not reduce the bird enough to really fit on this page, either that or I should use larger paper.

My Be brave challenge for yesterday was a simple one I just needed to send an email and ask for something. Not much of a fear but I have been avoiding so I believe it counts just as well. This morning I got a return email with a positive response. I do not know why I waited this long. Fear is such a silly thing.

Last night I tried drawing a person again. I am not happy with this one but its all a process. My friend Julie says that we all draw people who look like us. When I started thinking about this and looking at other artists I find that its true. Misty's paintings are all flowy and wispy and that is what she is like. Violette are fun and funky and that is what she is too. I think Suziblue's girls look like her too. Lisa O, your new girls have a round face like you and a cute outlook on life. Its looks like we are really putting what is in our soul on the page. I guess mine has been angry a lot lately. She looks a little stern.

I am in this round robin book swap and its due Nov 1 but I wanted to have it done before NaNoWriMo starts. I took the 2 covers which are chipboard and put gesso on them and then I put them in a safe place, you guessed I can not find them anywhere. I feel like I have looked everywhere in my studio but still can't find them. I hate when I do things like this.

A Sunday in October

We are continuing to have a beautiful Indian Summer. I took Flynn down to the river this afternoon and it really was nice. One of the things that I like to do is walk on crunchy leaves. I love the sound them make. The water looked just like glass, it was so serene, I was really glad we went.















Church service covered Samhain, Halloween and Day of the Dead. Here is the altar that was set up. It was huge, I put the shrine I had made for my mom on it. It was a really fun service with lots of shenanigans pulled off my our minister Lyn.














Look at these flowers, they were some of the most gorgeous roses I have ever seen, The pictures do not do them justice.














I made up goody bags for my Nanowrimo write ins. I hope this makes attendance a little better. I have assorted things inside like word count sheets, a paper thermometer to track progress, stickers, candy. I included crayons in some to color their way out of any blocks and little composition notebooks to used to write down ideas when you are away from your computer. The candy I chose is significant, dots (otherwise known as periods), butterfingers(you don't want real butterfingers or you won't be able to type), and snickers (hopefully you won't be snickering to yourself about how your writing is going). I know this are silly and speaking of silly I have silly putty and a candle to help burn that midnight oil in novel writing. I know what you are thinking but a girl does have to have a little fun.

A little drawing at 3 am

Forgot to mention my Be brave project for yesterday. It was facing a fear by bringing up a subject with Dave that I didn't want to. The conversation did not go well so which is probably why I did not want to do it. I am glad I did though because it is forcing me to look at things differently. My friend Julie really had some great advice which was basically it isn't all or nothing, there are a lot of steps in between. I think todays project is going to be to look deeper at this and decide what it is I really want from a relationship. What are the non-negotiable things and what are the things that I can get somewhere else. I hadn't thought of it in those terms before so it'll be one of those soul searching weekends coming up. I wish I had a cabin somewhere where I could just go to be alone.

I drew this about 3 am last night. The picture I was drawing was all black so I was just guessing on where the feathers should be and so forth. What can I say it was 3 am after all. I do want to draw some crows so I need to look for some better pictures to work from.

My Nanowrimo meeting was a bust as no one showed up. This being an ML is not what I thought it would be. I thought I would just set up some write ins and some people would come and some couldn't. I didn't know I would end up with a group of complainers. One wants it a kids playland another wants it in their town, another complains about the time, cripes. I did this because I thought it would be fun but I was sure wrong. I am thinking of going back to my original plan of just pick of few times at a coffee house and if people come fine, if they don't fine. I don't need the stress.

How can it be Friday already

Somehow it is Friday already, I wonder how that happened. I am a movie making machine today. I have recorded 3 movies. All related to the 100 day challenge. One is a video response and the others are part of my process for the 100 day reality challenge. I have made major changes to my intentions.

Here is a link to the first one. I'll add the others later today as soon as they are posted. Sometimes it takes forever to upload videos.

Changing my Intentions Part 1

Changing my Intentions part 2


I am the municipal liaison or ML for the Nanowrimo group in Idaho Falls. This means I plan the parties and organize write ins. We are having a kickoff party tonight. Its a small group but I am hoping someone will end up coming. This is turning out to be harder then I imagined but a good learning experience for me.

For those of you on the Write the Novel blog, don't forget to come by and introduce yourself.

Insomnia strikes again

I have been having insomnia really bad so I slept most of yesterday to catch up. My insurance company refused to pay for my acid reflux meds so I have been doing with out it. That just means I have not been feeling too well. I finally got the insurance company to pay for it. So now it may take another few days to feel good but at least that is a start. I am going to try meditating and doing some reiki on myself before I go to sleep. I am hoping that will help.

A little bit of Art


















I did these pages the last couple nights when I couldn't sleep. This first one I hat painted a face and disliked it so that I threw gesso over it and made a collage.


















This one I just played with papers and decided to journal on the rest of the page. I really like the shade of green in the paper. It is so soothing.

For my Be Brave challenge I started a little watercolor painting yesterday. It needs more work so I will post that another day. Today I had a healing with my friend Kay and we worked on body issues. I faced those fears and was able to talk to Kay about some deeply buried things from my childhood. I think that will qualify for todays bravery.

Dave and I signed up to take a Swing Dancing class. Our first class was last night. We took a class 20n years ago and unfortunately we don not remember a thing. The problem is he does not know how to lead. I danced with the instructor and its amazing how different it is when your partner know what they are doing.

Signs of Life

I walked outside this afternoon and amidst all the leaves I found these. They don't want winter to come. What a nice surprise to still see some signs of life in the garden.














For the Be Brave challenge I tried to make a video with my digital camera. I put it on a little tripod and then just talk away. It seems to be working ok. These videos are challenging to make and then so scary to post them. To think that 50 people have watched my first video is amazing to me. I made a new video for the 100 day challenge, but I have been trying to upload it for hours. Either my computer times out or Utube hangs or something. I am getting a little frustrated with it.















I got this in the mail today. I ordered it last week when Violette told me about it. At first I tried putting everything in ziploc bags but the bags are too wide and it limits the amount you can store. Then I tried cutting down the bags and taping the ends shut. I did a few of those but thought I'd see how they held up before I did more. I had some cellophane bags but they tend to rip easily. Then I came across a better idea. Sheet Protectors. I even had some so I have been filling them up and they work great. I am going to love this gizmo as soon as I get it all organized. Its is actually called the Clip It and is available here

Here is my next video in the 100 day challenge.

Learning about blogger features

My be brave challenge yesterday was to figure some things out on my digital camera. Mainly how to film a movie and play it back. I managed that just fine. Today I tackled the blog once more. I decided that I need to update my template and tackle he arduous chore of adding everything back in. It took awhile but I think it was worth it. Then I tried adding a banner picture, this is just a view of the Tetons. I will come up with something artsy later. I seem to have lost the automatic save function by changing templates. Does anyone know how to get it back?















I had to pick up Amy at the airport and she brought this home for me. Beautiful yarn, she said the store had made it into gloves and they were gorgeous. I don't know what I will make but it is nice yarn and a pleasant surprise.

I have been cleaning up the studio...again so I have not gotten any Art done. I need to get back to some journal pages or something. I miss it.

100 Day Challenge

My be brave challenge is to figure out how to make movies. I found out I have a movie editing program on my computer. So I have made several short things with my webcam and then put them together. I managed to finish the video and upload it to utube, you can see it here if you like.

100 Day Challenge.

I am joining the 100 day challenge. This challenge takes the principles of the Secret and Law of attraction and says, lets put these to work and see what happens. I'll be taking this 100 day challenge and doing a video blog on Utube. This idea is the brainchild of three amazing women. Their site Co Creating Reality is the place to start.

I know a lot of us have used some of the principles of the secret but here is an opportunity to take it one step further and see some results. If you think you'd like to take this challenge I recommend looking at their site and some of the videos from the group These are just regular people like you and me trying to create better lives. This link will give you information on getting started.

I Did It

I did it! I am so excited to finally get it to work. I have this link on my sidebar to find out more information on the book I am writing about my Grandparents. I have worked hours trying to get it to work and have been extremely frustrated. I finally figured out what to do and it was so easy that I am amazed. Now I can try the banner and video and see if I can get them working. I have confidence now and that is just so exciting to me.

Winning Prizes

Today I stopped at Roberts a craft store they had 50% off coupons and specials all day and I won this. The top red item is a 6 x6 Scrapbook and the bottom is basically a box or storage item. They had this drawing every 1/2 hours you had to go stand on a square and then they picked 3 numbers and if they called your number you won a prize. I was right near where the prizes were so I got to pick what I wanted and this was the nicest gift. I figure if I decide not to use I have a nice gift for someone else.



















Then I went to B&N and bought this today. Everyone has been saying what a good book this is. I am need of something to get lost in.


















I also found this it is such a fun funky set of writing prompts I am really going to enjoy doing them.

My be brave challenge for today was to start doing some research on the net concerning the book about my grandparents. So i began that by looking for some sites in the locations I need to travel to and Historical Societies where I hope get some funding or a grant. This is a really long process and I have been avoiding it, so now at least I have taken the first steps. I am on day 18 if this challenge and a=have slowly been going through my list. Unfortunetly some of these task take much longer than a day so I need to revisit them.

Beads

I decided to put the beads away for awhile. I want to try dipping them in a melting pot but I think I better have a heat proof craft sheet first. Michaels carries them but they are out of stock. If they don't get them soon I will just have to mail order one. That always means I spend more money than I intend to so I am putting that off for now. I did learn one thing to pass on. In Kelli's article she mentioned using Top Boss to coat the bead before putting in the UTEE, I thought an embossing pad might be easier and it was. I just rolled it on the pad to coat it good and then put it in the embossing powder and added heat. It worked great.

Writing Laini

My Be brave challenge for today was to write Laini Taylor, many of you know her from Sunday Scribblings or her blog Grow Wings or have a Laini's Ladies. One thing I have a problem is keeping focus on both writing and art. I have been wanting to write her and ask her how she manages to do both. Not only does she do Laini's ladies but she just had a book published and is writing another. i don't know why I was scared to write her but I was, but now it is done... Yippee. Its great to have that done, I have been meaning to do it for months.














I painted a few more sheets of Tyvek to do some paper beads. They actually look better than the picture shows. I found the problem with using tyvek, you can melt the paper if you are not careful. Plus you need to be careful or you will blow embossing powder everywhere. I find the Pearl x hard to use, I need to come up with a better way top add it. I used some foil on one of the beads and that turned out great.














I have a tool that is for holding things basically it a clip on a paintbrush, this made it easy to dip the beads in all the powders and to hold while I added the heat. I can see I have a lot more experimenting to do, but tomorrow is another day.

A Drawing

For my Be brave challenge today I tried to draw a face from a photograph. This is a picture of Manami, she was our Japanese exchange student back in 2005, so I affectionately call her my Japanese daughter. I know you can't really tell she is Japanese by my drawing but I am working on it. The drawing has some problems but its a first try and I am bound to get better so I am happy with it




















I sat this afternoon and made Halloween cards, they were really fun. Now I need to find my envelopes and get them addressed and mailed out. I didn't do anything else artistically. I had cleaned up my studio last night and now its a mess again. I can not believe how that happens so quickly.

I want to make some of these crows from Kelli Perkins I went out and got some felt today, I also want to do some of the fancy techniques she used on beads so I got some of the clear Ultra Thick Embossing powder. It took me 2 stores to find it, Hopefully I will get to do that tomorrow.