Almost Isn't Good Enough

Can you believe it is ALMOST 2014! That is just wrong. The old question that pops up every year is where did the time go?

My time was fairly constructive this year. Some of the things that happened in our family:

1.  I began scrapbooking, (thank you Mary Helen!) well making cards and mixed media art pieces is more like it. I did start a scrapbook of sorts and gave it to Dane. It was a Steampunk Halloween Album filled with pictures from his party. Working on a Christmas album and will be creating a Valentines album in January. Getting my sister into this art form, too.

2.  With the above mentioned hobby, I now own a die cutting machine and an embossing machine.

3.  I have been playing with watercolors more by using watercolor crayons, pencils, and pens. Watercolors still kicks my behind however my teacher said it kicks everybody's behind. At least I am in great company.

4.  Baby sitting.  I assist my mom with her great grandchildren (my great niece and nephew) Trinity and Shane about 3 -4 times a month while their mom works. Trinity loves to visit my home and heads straight for the studio so we can work. The next budding artist in the family. Shane prefers music and will one day be a great musician. He has a favorite song "Oh Glorious Day" by Casting Crowns. He can almost sing it and for being two  months shy of 2, he does pretty good!

5.  Our youngest, Dane, moved out in February and in June took his dog, Buddy, to live with him. I miss Buddy, well, I miss Dane, too. I do not miss the dog hair everywhere. We still had Arrow until he died in August. We buried him next to his lifelong girlfriend, Namee. Arrow was 16 years old and had some health problems. He is missed and thought of often. I still expect to see him waiting for me to drop something on the floor so he can run over and eat it before I can pick it up. No more pets for us.

6.  I am still working on my Zentangles. I took the plunge and will become certified next October. I will be traveling to Rhode Island! The CC Art Center wants me to start teaching now so I will put something together and see how it goes. I am proud to say that I have introduced this art form to several friends who are now tangling and doing a mighty fine job. My sister does pretty good, too.

7.  Reorganized my studio to make it more user friendly. Put a whole wall of shelves in (I love IKEA!) and can actually find things for a change. This inspired Mary Helen to redo her studio, too. Can't wait to see how it turns out. And Marty is almost ready to update her space.

8.  I let my husband purchase a new truck. I am so nice to him. This is something we have discussed and one day he found the deal so he jumped on it. Now we are looking at travel trailers. Planning for his retirement in 3 years and hope to hit the road and see America!

9.  We had family home for Thanksgiving. Trevor and Angela stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. My mother in law was here for about 4 days so that was a nice visit. We had a big traditional meal, everyone brought just 1 dish and it was perfect. Not tons of leftovers to sit around until they were tossed in the trash.

10.  Christmas day was rather quiet this year. My sister and husband, my niece and husband and 2 kids, Dane, my mom, Ray and me. Ray grilled everyone's steak to perfection and mom's chicken was tender and juicy. Kids were able to play outside and get some fresh air. The only thing I didn't do was take pictures. Oh well...the memory lives on. My nephew, his wife and son are visiting right now. They are expecting a baby boy in March. Keep them in your prayers please.

That's about all my brain can think of now. This sounds more like the Christmas letter so I guess that is what it is.

I hope you all had a great year and have a wonderful 2014.

Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry.

The Day After

Here it is...the day after Christmas and I'm playing on my new Surface keyboard trying to figure out Windows 8. Now I thought I would see if I can blog on it. This is just a test of my skills at this point.

Looks like it worked. I still like using my desktop computer for this.

Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry

Here She Comes Again...

I've been amiss in posting for the past 2 months. I guess daily life just gets in my way. That is just an excuse anyone can use so I'm just going to tell you the real truth.

I just haven't posted.

That's it. I have been lazy in this aspect of my life. Now I am going to post something for you.

I have been creating Zentangle Isspired Art (ZIA) for over a year. I found this artform by accident and liked it.

I have joined a group online that focuses on this art form.We have swaps based on colors, themes, artists, heritage, organic and just about anything you can think of.

These 3 photos are for the Organic ATC Swap.

ATC is short for Artist Trading Card. Most ATC cards are 2.5" x 3.5". ATC are never sold, they are always traded. On the back is the name of the artwork, name of swap, date, name of artist and name of group swapping.

If you are interested in learning to tangle and create ZIA, there are sites you can visit to learn pen strokes. The best site is Tangle Patterns

I refer to this site when my brain freezes on me or I would like to do something different and work out of my comfort zone.

There are classes you can take if you are lucky enough to have a teacher near you. Zentangle  will show the teachers listed for your country and state.

I hope to attend a training session next year and become a CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher) to I can teach with real knowledge in the South Texas area. (donations to my worthy cause are now being accepted!) LOL

I stopped by a garage sale Friday while out running errands and found 4 nice frames. I think I have a weakness for picture frames.

One of the frames really spoke to me so I had to rush home and create a tangle to place inside. Here are my results. The final picture is a little blurry but you get the idea.

A picture frame picked up at a garage sale for 50 cents

ZIA drawn on Bristol Paper

Add frame and ZIA and this is what you get. It looks better in real life so you will have to visit my home to see it.

That's all for now folks. I am going to visit with my mom and sister.

Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry

Monday Monday

Sunday afternoon it thundered but no rain.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

It finally rained today.

And I saw a snail on the front steps at my sisters home.

There are two rose-breasted grosbeaks eating at my bird feeders. They are so pretty.


Friday I took Dane to have the nerves in his leg tested. While he was getting little shocks, I sat in the waiting room and had fun. There must have been 25 of these magazines in the waiting room. Nothing else to read just Neurology Now Magazine. This guy on the front just screamed that he needed some attention so I got my trusty micron pen and started on him. This si what I ended up with.

I decided to just leave it in the chair when we left. Somebody probably found it and thought it was really on his head.

Moral of this story: Always be prepared and take a Micron pen with you where ever you go. You never know when somebody may need a laugh.

I signed up to make tote bag favors for a NAME Houseparty. NAME is short for National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts.

The committee need 500 to fill the conference attendees tote bags and asked for volunteers to make 10 sets each. So I made 10 sets.

They set the pages to print. They gave the dimensions for the book covers.Each one of the 3 books is different inside, too. I didn't make a set to keep but I still have the template.

10 sets of 3 books all packaged in little baggies.

So here it is 3 days before it is due in the committee's hands and I am just getting started.

But I made them. All 10 sets. It took me most of the afternoon to cut and put them all together but I did it. I mailed them first thing this morning.

I hope they like them.


Sunday I was cleaning my studio. I have a 10 drawer cart on wheels where I store misc tools, supplies, papers, etc. It wobbles.
I wandered into the living room and asked my husband if he thought he could help secure the cart.
We took it outside and he placed a piece of laminate board on the back side. It is 99% better now!

Lastly, I want to introduce you to Arrow.
He is 15 years old and getting slow. His joint bother him when he gets up. He can't see very well due to cateracts and his hearing is becoming selective.

He is still active and can bark extremely loud. He will be heard!

Some mornings he just doesn't want to get out of bed though. He sleeps a lot during the day but that's ok. He's earned it.

He also has Addison's disease and takes pills each morning and gets a shot once a month to keep him hydrated.

Then Sunday and Monday he peed on my floor.

 

DOGS! We'll keep him and keep him comfortable as long as possible. He just better quit peeing on my floors.

Off to create something in my cleaned up studio.
Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry

What's In Your Wallet?

I just like to say that...

It's been a busy week for me. We had some friends and family here on Sunday. Ray put some chicken on the grill and it was good! Had all the fixin's to go along with it - beans, potato salad, cool sliced vegetables, and my sister made a birthday cake for me! It was delicious! I love homemade cakes! No store bought cakes! This was the first birthday cake I have had in several years. Thank you Honie!

Monday afternoon our friends from San Antonio came down. Ray and Glenn went fishing down the intercoastal and spent the night at the cabin. Glenn caught a 7 pound drum and a 6 pound trout. They caught several 2 and 3 pound trout so their fishing trip was a success.

The Saturday before Ray caught a 5.something pound trout and I do have a picture.

Ray Baby and the 5.something pound trout

 Pam and I went junking Monday afternoon. I found a head vase to add to my collection and some used dental tools to use in when working with clay. Tuesday morning I took Dane to his pain management consultation - the shot comes next Monday. Then Pam and I visited Hobby Lobby, Michael's and Joann's. Around 5:30 the guys came home and had to clean up from their fishing trip. Then Pam and Glenn had to drive home.

This is SAM

Wednesday was awful for me. My sinus decided to act up and I felt horrible. I got up at 4:15 am, fixed some coffee and drove my sister and her husband to the airport to catch a 6:00am flight. Got them there safely, came home and laid around for a while. I worked on the Passport most of the day when I was up to it. The Passport is the twice a year publication for the Society of American Miniaturists. I am the editor. I finally finished it today. Now to make the corrections from my proof readers.

Before, it was just stained.

Oh yeah. Last Friday I did some painting again. I had Ray Baby add a little more support to our old bookcase (his dad made it years and years ago). Then I sprayed it white, moved it into the guest room
and filled it with books.

After painting it white

I did complete another tangle in my newest journal. What do you think?

Well, that's about all I can think of for now. I'm about ready to hit the pillow cause tomorrow is another day in which to excel!

Have a great week and go create something!

Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry

Starting Off With A Laugh

Today I want to start off with giving you a good laugh. I am a firm believer that laughter heals the soul and we should find something to laugh at every day, even if we have to laugh at ourselves.

Sometimes the biggest he-men are can be the biggest babies. This video brought tears to my eyes. Just watch it and you will see why. Be sure to have a tissue handy.




And if you like cartoons, you must check out Eric, the circle. Each cartoon is created by different people. I've even created a few. Here is the link to follow. You can join and create your Eric cartoon to share with the world. http://www.ericthecircle.com

Now for an update in my world.

Sunday was quite productive for both my husband and myself. Ray changed the light fixtures from my old studio to my new studio. The lighting is so much brighter now and I can see what I am working on again. Ray worked in the yard and I did miscellaneous things around the house. Can't remember what they were cause that was a whole 24 hours ago.

Today I can tell you about. After doing my weekly trip to the grocers and a couple of misc stops, I wandered thru Barnes and Noble for about 30 minutes. And I didn't buy anything. Just thumbed thru some books and magazines to get inspiration. Then I got busy at home.

The round bird feeder.

The rectangular bird feeder

The cup and saucer bird feeder

I took down the 2 bird feeders, cleaned them up and grabbed my newest favoritist toy - a can of spray paint. I sprayed both feeders lightly, then filled them with bird seed and rehung them. Since my paint was handy, I grabbed the 2 tins cans sitting on the kitchen counter, cut them into petal shapes and sprayed them white.

I cut these into petal shapes, spread them open and sprayed them.

I took the painted cans into my studio and painted the leaves a metallic purple and metallic pink with a little green around the stem. Next I got out my trusty soldering gun and soldered a nail into the middle of the cans and now I have 2 bird feeders made from cans that look like flowers.

The finished tin can flowers. I used the end of a paint brush to get the black dots in the centers.

Still need to put them on some sort of post but I will do that later. I have to get my watercolor supplies together since we are meeting in the morning. Update on that tomorrow.

Now I'm off to fix fresh trout for supper. Yum Yum!

Til next time, go create something
Terri

Gardening Finds

I spent the weekend in San Antonio at my first ever scrap book weekend. What an enjoyable time I had. Those scrap book fanatics carry more equipment with them than a miniaturist! I leaned so much and got to play with all the die cut machines. I even made envelopes for my ATC's (Artist Trading Cards). Everyone was helpful and generous with their time, tools and supplies. So now I have another project since I have about way too many pictures to go through and organize. Then again, I am retired now...LOL!

This morning I stopped by the nursery and picked up a couple of plants. I bought 6 little Dusty Millers (Ray always said he liked these), a sweet potato vine ( I love the bright green color) and a red geranium (one of my favorites). When I got home I was going to plant these and then work on a scrapbook page or two and the Passport for SAM (Society of American Miniaturists).

But that's not what happened. I started planting 2 of the dusty millers. I noticed the hollywood junipers on the right side of the house needed to be trimmed. So I went to the garage to get the saw and decided to find a container for the geranium. I found one and potted that plant. I returned to the front of the house, planted 2 more dusty millers and pulled some grass that had grown over into my flower beds. I planted the rest of the plants and the sweet potato vine. I started pulling more weeds and grass and thinning out the airplane plants and snapping their runners off. Then I started on the left side of the house. I trimmed the hollywood junipers then started cleaning those flower beds.

One thing always leads to another and I am not too organized at times My legs are tired tonight. I finally got everything cleaned up and watered and went inside. It's a good thing, too, because a cold front came in and I was wearing shorts.
 

I did find a couple of things in my flower beds that I want to share with you.

When I was trimming the juniper I discovered an old abandoned wasp nest. I thought it was kind of neat and I might have to use it in an arrangement.

When I was pulling weeds I pulled something long out and tossed it on the ground thinking it was a lizard. I looked closer and noticed it was just the tail. So I kept this to show Ray Baby when he got home. Around lunch time, Dane and Aaron stopped by on their way back to work so I showed them my finds. After they both looked at the tail, it was decided, are you ready for this, it is the tail end of a snake!

oooooo snake farm, sure sounds nasty, snake farm, probably is...(Ray Wylie Hubbard)

So there you have it. My beautiful flowers are all planted, a wast is flying around searching for his nest and some slimy snake is slithering through life without his tail.

I was able to start working on the Passport but I'll save that for another day.

What's hiding in your garden?

Terri

Project Complete and Another Started

I finished my frame painting project. I still have a few more frames to paint but they are in storage and I'm not quite ready to hang them. I did learn something though.

I had purchased the wrong paint and had to use a primer, let it dry for what seemed like hours, then paint the frame again and let it dry for more hours. I was in my studio and looking in the supply closet when I found a can of the paint I needed. And it was white satin. I grabbed the can and ran to the garage where my frames were waiting for me to spray them.

The paint I found is Krylon Fusion for Plastic. Also works on wood, metal, wicker, and more. I sprayed all my frames and they were dry within 15 minutes of being sprayed.

I love this paint!

Now as promised, here is a picture of my wall with the newly painted frames. I really need to rearrange the pictures so if anyone is good at this, come on over!

My Wall of French Fashion Plates

I had 1 picture that was also trimmed in material. When I painted over it the fuzzy still showed. So I took a measurement of the width and visited my favorite store, Hobby Lobby, when I purchased some lovely white lace trim. I glued the trim around the frame and it looks great. (I did have a minor incident and broke the glass in the upper right-hand corner.

Lace trim up close and personal

The whole picture with broken glass. This picture is in the middle of the wall.

I'm happy with the results.

And my current project?

I belong to several on-line groups, one being a Zentangle Inspired Art Yahoo Group. Each month we have swaps and challenges. One of the April Swaps for ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) is a Georgia O'Keef picture. We print a picture then add our tangles to it. I am making 4 of these to swap with other artists. Here are the first 2 I have completed.

2 1/2" x 3 1/2" ATC #1 on Georgia O'Keef painting

ATC Swap #2 on Georgia O'Keef painting

 I have 2 more to complete and I have an idea to make a couple more just in case anyone wants to swap one on one with me.

I'm off to look through pictures so my scrapbooking weekend with my friend Mary Helen. THis will be a first for me since I've not done much scrapbooking...yet.

Have a great week and go create something!

Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry

Busy project

I love to collect things. One of the things I collect are French fashion plates from the 1800's called La Mode Illustre. These are ladies dressed in the fashion of the day. I have quite a collection of these that people had framed and hung as artwork. And that is what I do with them. Duh!

I do not like the frames since they are brown and ick and ugly. I wanted to unify my collection so I am spray painting the frames. I thought about black but that seemed so drastic for these pictures so I settled on bright white satin.

I purchased the spray paint only to get home and realize I needed primer. So another trip to Lowe's to get primer. 3 cans!

If you haven't done this yourself please realize that this is a several day process since there are other obligations in my life like cooking, laundry, grocery, errands, etc.



First I had to select the pictures I wanted to paint. (I did this in small groups so I wouldn't overwhelm myself with a big project). When I purchase these they are usually in pairs so I painted like frames together. I also have several duplicates of the prints but they are in different frames and different sizes.
 


Next I took a whole piece of cardstock and placed it in the center of the picture to protect the glass. Then I taped this down with Frogtape or Painters tape. I very carefully used my exacto knife and trimmed the paint to expose the wood that was to be painted.


 Once I primed each frame, I had to let it dry for about an hour. Since it was a little humid (lol, a little humid in Corpus Christi, that's a laugh) I waited about 2 hours.
Then I sprayed each frame with my satin white spray paint. Again I let them dry for a while.



While the paint is drying I returned to my studio and started preparing another group of pictures. For this group I sprayed them with primer and let them sit overnight. This really worked great. I got up and sprayed the paint early the next morning and they are drying now.

 
 Once back in the studio I carefully remove the cardstock and painted tape. If there is any paint on the glass it is easily scrapped off with a razor blade.

And finally this is what the finished product looks like. I think it is a great improvement.

I still have 1 more group of small pictures to work on and I'll post the wall of fashion once I have them all painted and rehung.

Til then, I hope y'all had a nice Easter and remember why we celebrate it.  Now go create something!


Terri
Waiting for the glue to dry

Frustrations

I think we have all been there and will go there again. Frustration.

Tuesday morning I sat in line at Starbucks on Staples and SPID for a special treat, a venti caramel macchaito with no foam. I deserved this one. The line was long for 8:30 am and wrapped around 2 sides of the building and almost to the street entrance. We don't have a little guy with headgear on to take our order while we wait in line like they do in Austin so I sat and enjoyed the wait. I wasn't in a hurry since my watercolor class didn't start until 9:00 am. I braided my hair. I played a game of Farkle and slowly moved up in line. When I got to the back of the building a car pulling a little utility trailer pulled in the back parking lot.

First let me say that people who do not know how to pull a trailer should not be allowed to pull into parking lots. Backing up with trailers should be taught in drivers ed. This poor girl thought she was going to be able to turn around by making a large circle and heading back to the exit. WRONG! There wasn't enough room with all the cars in line. So she tried to back up. Let the games begin!

The car moved slowly backward and the trailer started coming toward the cars waiting in line. Then the car pulled forward. Then backward. This time she pulled closer to the empty parking spaces by the dumpster and tried to back up into the line of cars again. Give me break! Finally she pulled up and was between the dumpster and another car. She got out of the car and walked around to see what she could see. She looked at the line of cars still on the far side of the building, then walked  back when she realized there was only 1 way out. The way she came in. She got back in her car and tried backing up again and again. I considered getting out to help her, but decided not to. She was young and flirty and would probably get some young guy to help her out.

I finally made it to the window to pay for my drink. As far as I know she is still in the parking lot. I hope somebody came to her rescue.

Watercolor class was educational as usual. I even have a new pen to play with. It is a water soluable Tombow. So I can draw with it then use a paint brush with water and it turns into a watercolor effect. Fun, fun, fun!

And then my visit to the dentist went well. The shots they gave me at 3pm didn't wear off until 8pm. My nose was cold, my whole upper mouth was numb, I wouldn't even kiss my husband. If this is what botox is like I know I don't want any of that! Only the right side of my mouth is a little sore this morning so that's a good thing.

My frustration for the day is trying to get my Silhouette Cameo to line up and cut something I printed on the computer. Anyone know how to work this machine is welcome to come over and show me a couple of things.

I'm off to wash the outside of my Jeep, get some dog food for Arrow and back home to play in the studio.

Honie and Kassie. The horse is something I found.

Dane at age 3 and Ray Baby around age 10

And Trinity, Erin and Jeremy's daughter

Have a great day and go create something!

Terri

Watercolor and the Dentist

This morning I am finally getting back into my watercolor classes. We took a fall break since everyone had personal commitments, vacations, illnesses and who knows what else. So I am off to paint this morning. I think our topic today is Picasso and abstract. This should be a learning event for me since I'm not a big fan of either, however, you never know what you will come away with so bring it on!

This afternoon I will visit my favorite doctor: my dentist. I say that with irony because I HATE to go to the dentist. When I was younger, one of the dentist's had pictures on his waiting room walls that scared me. They were all of Roman surgeries and showed walls of left arms, right arms, left legs, right legs, hands and who knows what else. Then sitting in the chair and hearing the sounds of those dentist tools in my mouth just freaked me out! Up until about 6 years ago I had to have laughing gas just to have my teeth cleaned. But the staff is so great and gentle with me I don't need it any more. I didn't say I don't want it, I just don't have to have it.

This afternoon they will deaden my whole upper mouth to fix 2 little bitty cavities. I dread the needle already. But I will have my pain pill at the ready just in case.

Monday was laundry day, just like the saying goes. I finished season 2 of Rosemary and Thyme on Netflix. I will start season 3 next. I also finished season 2 of The Killing on Saturday. I wish Durham County would add some seasons. I like dark dramas.

I finished the wrapper for my coffee cup. Did I mention that I sold one of these last month. A mini friend was insistent that she purchase one from me. So I drew one and sold it to her. Here is my wrapper.

So I'm off to play with my watercolor friends and try to relax before my dentist appointment.
Have a great day and go create something!

Terri

Saturday Junkin'

Today my sister, Honie and I, went junkin'. That is to say shopping the garage sales around town.

Every year there are 2 garage sale events held in Corpus Christi. One is the Jr. Leaguers Garage Sale.  There is a charge to enter this event: $5. We paid and went in. This year it was not so good and we got there about 2 hours after they opened and left with empty hands. oh well. Here I ran into a former co-worker from the Port of CC, Lillian, who is now a city councilman.

The sale other is the Morning Side Addition Neighborhood Garage Sale. There are about 10 blocks in this neighborhood and the residents are encouraged to hold a garage sale at their home. Some just have a table with a few items and others had garages full of items. We did make a few purchases but nothing to write about. I did see several friends who were selling things. Carol and Don (my miniature club buds), Mike and Gina and their 3 boys (I took classical guitar lessons from Mike), Steve, a former neighbor who moved to this neighborhood. I also ran into Joe ( I worked with him at Driscoll) and his son at a garage sale.

People I did not see were Chuck's World, the mayor, old school chums, my dentist, or any fighter jet pilots.

And that was my excitement for the day. I dropped Honie off at her home then drove to my home to let my little Arrow in for a while. Arrow is 15 years old and still kicking. A little slower but still kicking just the same.

The rest of my day was spent watching an episode of "The Killing" on Netflix, working on a couple of designs in my studio, reading my email and even took a little nap for about 30 minutes.

I hope to start a new section on my miniatures to share with you. This blog thing is new to me so bear with me as I learn my way around.

Todays pictures are happy faces of friends and family.

Let me know if you see any typos in my blog so I can correct it.
Create something
Teri

Thursday Already!

Lately it seems like the weeks are just flying by. Guess that's what happens when you are having fun.

Discovered this site and am having fun making 3-D tangles. I've printed out a couple of the shapes and will be drawing different tangles in each one. Then cut, fold and glue it together. Next time I need an idea of what tangle to draw, I'll just roll the Icosahedron.
http://www.mathsisfun.com/platonic_solids.html

I was finally able to clean my cabinet yesterday. Of course things got in the way slightly. I forgot I was going to help my husband launch the boat so he could work on the trailer. That took about an hour. Then I remembered I had to pick up the dog's medicine from the vet. Of course they wanted to charge me double and getting that straightened out took about 20 minutes. On the way home I stopped by the drug store and made a couple of small purchases. Back at home there was lunch to fix. Finally in my studio I started cleaning the extra work table when my son stopped by so I fixed him lunch. After visiting with Dane I returned to the studio.

Aw, the quietness was deafening so the radio was turned on. Now to work.

I emptied all the shelves, sorted paper, cards, software, books and miscellaneous items. The top shelf was sightly warped and the brackets holding it up are plastic. Needless to say, they stretched out of shape thus not being able to hold up the shelf. So a trip to Lowe's was in order. Ray Baby decides he hasn't eaten anything and wants a hamburger fix. Montana Mike's took about an hour then finally to Lowe's to get new clips. By the time we returned home it was 6:00-ish. I fixed the shelf, restocked the cabinet and decided it was time to chill.

I took my little journal and just drew last night. Haven't quite finished so I thought you might like to see some previously art work of mine.

 Enjoy and go create something today!

Terri

Windy Wednesday

My hubby is on vacation this week and can't go fishing because the wind is blowing so hard. This is nothing unusual for March. Not sure what is on his agenda, however I have an agenda today It should prove productive.

Today I am going to clean off the extra work table and recover it with the contents of my overhead paper storage cabinet. I have the usual paper products, copy paper, photo paper, construction paper, books, software and who knows what else is residing up there. I might even throw, no, donate some of it to Goodwill this week. Once all this is finished I will have a clean and orderly cabinet and a clean work table to start a watercolor project on.

Speaking of watercolors, last night I gathered watercolor pencils, a water brush and my small 3.5" x 5.5" journal and worked on some flowers. I painted them yellow outlined in a darker shade, added some green to the leaves and put in a light pink background.


I like playing with my watercolors and zen-tangle inspired art.

I started on the next page, it is peeking from behind, and will post that when finished.

I'm off to read my email and then pick up medicine for my little dog, Arrow. Once all that is behind me I shall tackle the paper cabinet.

Really.

I will do that today.

Til next time, Create something today!

Teri

I need organization in my life

Yup! I have some many things going on and so many things that I want to do and here I sit in front of the computer screen telling you all about it.

Blasted Pinterest anyway! I love that site! I am so addicted to it. I am not alone though. I meet all sorts of people who share my addiction and we all love it!

So from Pinterest I have begun zen-tangle inspired art, purchased a digital die cutting machine, made all sorts of jams, jellies and canned items, scoured garage sales for glass bowls and plates to make whimsical flowers for my garden, bird feeders, decorated rooms in my house with re-purposed items and so much more.

Now I am creating little journal books, swapping ACT cards, participating in a mystery muse exchange and taking painting classes on line. Where does it end? It doesn't!

I just need to work out a schedule for each of these crafts. Did I mention I also build miniatures dollhouse scenes? That one has been going on for about 26 years.

And in between all these little sessions I will work in housework, grocery shopping and the occasional trip to the local craft shops, which can cause me to discover another new project.

So I'm off to start cleaning my studio so I can work on that schedule. I hope to have it done this week as my watercolor class starts next Tuesday morning.

Have a great life and create something!

Teri