Circle of Friends

Circle of Life

May your circle of friends

surround you,

may the circle be

never-ending too.

And as the morning

drops of dew

embrace the petals

so may your

cirlce of family

embrace you.

For it's from the love

and laughter of others

that we create our

circle of life.

And it's this

never-ending circle

that I wish

for me and for you.

Teresa Mahieu

copyright, 2-16-2009

Bobbie's surgery is tomorrow at 10AM. Please continue to pray for her and for the surgeon's.

Pray that we are able to accept God's plan faithfully.

I want to thank you all for your kind words, thoughts and prayers during this time. You have all shown me what a wonderfyul world we live in. Bobbie thanks you all too.

Tess

A Basket of Hearts Valentine

My newest journal page drawn and written with colored pencils.
Valentines Day shouldn't be just about romance. Celebrate the day showing your love for family, friends and neighbors. Listen to a child's excitement about reconnecting with a BFFL. And if you get to spend the day, or just part of the day, with your one true love all the better. Spread hearts around on Valentines Day and everyday and you will help make the world a better place.

BFFL = Best Friends For Life

I added a few of my families BFFL's at the bottom of the page.

A Heartfelt Happy Valentines Day wish to my dear friends here in blogland.

Hugs,
Tess

A new journal page done with colored pencils by flashlight. I didn't want to turn the overhead light on in the middle of the night. I had indigestion last night so had to sit up a while.

There is a new update on Bobbie at my AC site. Just click on her name to go there. And thank you for all of your uplifting messages and prayers.

Have a great day,

Tess

Healing Rays of Sunshine

This drawing from a past post .............

Became this painting. It is acrylic paint, glitter gel pens and Pilot Ball Ink Pen on a 9" X 12" artists canvas board. I am pretty happy with how it has turned out. I need to seal it still and maybe tweak the tree trunks a bit but other than that I think it is done. This will go to Bobbie.
I am now doing the same on water color paper with watercolor pencils. I forgot to do the background first so it's going to be interesting to see how it turns out. I refuse to start over as it is almost completely drawn in and I've already started adding some water. It's the sky part that I forgot to do. The sun and grassy hill is done and most of the flowers and I started the trees already when I realized the background is still white. Maybe I'll just add a bit of blue here and there and it will look a bit like clouds. Hmmm!

Bobbie had a good day today. She woke energetic and talkative and my son-in-law needed to study for a test so after a bit of visiting with her he took her to visit a friend and I picked her up and took her home when I got off work. She was still doing good so I took her with me to run an errand and then home to see her little one (the sitter was with her doing homework). It's nice to have a good day, I hope she has more of them between now and the surgery date. It is still Feb. 24th. Robert is at work and the sitter is going to fix supper and feed her before she completely tires out. She'll call Robert at work if she needs to go to sleep before he gets home from work to say goodnight.

"Always kiss me goodnight or at the least tell me you love me." I have no idea who said that but it's a great quote.

Remember to hug your loved ones real tight before you say goodnight,

Tess

Tag, Your It!

I was tagged by Martha Lever of ArtduJour last week. My instructions are to post the 4th photo from my 4th folder so here it is. I acquired some license plate tags for recycling and came up with altering some by painting and adding some collage elements. It was lots of fun. I gave my mom one that says Honey and I gave it a design with her being the Queen Bee. She loved it and has it on her back porch which is her main entrance. This one is still for sale in my etsy shop as well as a few others. I thought it would be great in a kids room. (I just noticed the etsy posts expire in a few days, eek.) I found I have a few more altered tags I should post in my etsy shop too.

So now to tag four more. I think it will be these fine ladies:

Delila of Robin and the Sage

She creates such wonderful things of and with nature. I love how soothing a visit to her blog is. I bought a lovely necklace from her for myself this past Christmas at her etsy shop.

Jessica over at vol.25
Jessi is a stay at home mom of 2 adorable children and she is very creative. I love her designs and she is always coming up with fresh items for her etsy shop. She even has free downloads on her site. Do check out her blog.

Katie of joyously becoming

I love Katie's mixed media art. I enjoy reading about the art retreats she gives and dreaming of one day attending one myself.

Linda over at 13th street studio

Linda is a wonderful textile artist. She has several of the biggest and prettiest birds and loves sharing about them. I love seeing her quilts and reading about how she is developing ideas. If you love all things textile you'll love her 13th street studio blog.

Ok, so that is it. I hope I did this right and I hope you will visit these fun blogs.

Tess

I'm using my new fabric journal.

Praise God the washing machine is fixed and drain problem has been solved for now so that I can wash laundry at home. It's hard to double task at the laundromat when there are so many other things needing to be done at home.

I've been working on the healing rays of sunshine painting now and then. No picture yet though.

Anne at Gaale Creative posted about wordles and I found them interesting. I made one for Bobbie. Link is below....

title="Wordle: Bobbie wordle"> src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/520447/Bobbie_wordle"
alt="Wordle: Bobbie wordle"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

I found that Wordle site a fun distraction.

Bobbie has fallen twice so far this weekend. She seems to get weaker every day. The 24th seems like an eternity away. And of course now there are Non-insurance issues my son-in-law is dealing with. Ugh!!

Thank you all for praying for Bobbie, please continue.

Tess

A Quick Update on Bobbie

February 3rd, 2009

Greetings all,

First, thank you for the many prayers for Bobbie. Please keep them going/coming.

Yesterday was a long and tiring day. We made it safely to Topeka for the MRI and a friend of Bobbies in the medical field that knows his way around St. Francis arrived shortly after we did and before the MRI. Which turned out to be a blessing as the double Valium dose pretty much made her limp. The MRI people were "little" and would not have been able to handle lifting her. Tracy and Robert were able to assist with getting her into position. She did move some during the MRI but the neurosurgeon said with her tremors he could not fault her that. The images were clear enough for their purposes and he went forward with his evaluation, findings and suggestions. During his check-up with her he detected a weakness in her left side. The tumor is on the right frontal lobe just past the forehead to mid top of the head and from the hair part to the right about half way towards the ear. She thought her brain looked like lasagna. The nurse had to give her coffee to wake her up, and it did, so that the doctor was certain she understood everything. The mass is about the size of a golf ball and has no tentacles. One core area at the bottom of the mass otherwise it looks smooth. This is a good thing from what the surgeon indicated. She has been put on dilaudid and he thinks she is having mini seizures and plus seizures are a possible result of any type of brain surgery. She will stay on it until at the least six months after the surgery.


The soonest date available for both doctors was Feb. 24th. Dr. Eberling will be her attending surgeon and Dr. Fritz will be the assisting surgeon. Dr. Fritz operated on my husband in Dec. of 2007. This seemed to make Bobbie happy and I have to admit I was glad to hear he will be with her too as a trust has already formed with him as he helped Chuck. The surgery is scheduled for February 24th. They are going to try for sooner but we are to assume at this point that is the date. The kids have no medical insurance and thus far the type of treatment they have received I have been ashamed of. We are told the hospital here never should have let her leave the E.R. when the ct scan showed a tumor. No one seems to understand why she was continually given meds and more meds, psychotropics and pain pills, without further tests ordered before now. (That is all said and done and we must move forward.) At St. Francis they were treated with kindness, respect and told that "the non-insurance situation can be dealt with at a later date, first we've got to concentrate on getting Bobbie better". I highly recommend this hospital as twice now I've had a loved one there for evaluation and received exemplary care both times.


Bobbie is barely able to write her name let alone keep a journal, however I did purchase her a small notebook and decorated it up a bit. I added some quotes, stamped flowers and stickers throughout and we used it yesterday to write notes in and dates, meds, etc. Robert and I will continue this for her throughout this ordeal so that she will have something to look through in later years and see what all she went through that she may not remember. She was going to show Raven all the things in the notebook today. I expressed to my granddaughter last night that it is mommies journal, not hers. She is a scared little girl as they have now told her what is happening with her mommy. I guess the journal was more for me in a way as it was a distraction on Sunday night and Monday morning while waiting for the time to pick her up and head to Topeka.

Please continue to pray for Bobbie and pray that God will be guiding the surgeons hands....

Many Hugs,
Tess

January's Journal Challenge - Days 30 & 31

This has been a wonderful, exciting and creative month that has ended with a not wonderful whirlwind of a week. My thoughts now are where did January go? I miss the calm and the fun of having time and energy and focused thoughts to work on Misty's Challenge, on her prompts, and on browsing and viewing others wonderful creations. I've so enjoyed her enthusiasm for art and creating. She's hoping we will all continue and have a show and tell about it once a week on Wednesdays. Read her thoughts on this here.

The washer drain leak might be fixed except now it seems to back up through the hose drain sooooo we think it's clogged under the house. But, no matter because now the washer makes a weird noise and won't agitate. Funny thing is, I really don't care. Didn't get upset or nothing. Just loaded up the van and off I went after picking up Bobbie's laundry also to the the nice, clean, laundromat I found. The cost was $22.75 to wash 7 loads of laundry. I used 5 double loaders, a triple loader and a mega loader. This time I got smart and brought all those wet clothes home and am drying them here. That will save on cash out of pocket. I wish I had a clothes line as the temps in the 60's here and windy. A great day for drying on the line as my momma says. An usual great day. tomorrow and Monday/Tuesday the weatherman is saying clear and in the 40's. I hope the forecast is right so we'll have good travel weather.

Bobbie is at home surrounded by friends while Robert is working. Raven is in heaven with "cousins" to play with and "Aunts and Uncles" to give her attention. She's received calls and cards from some relatives and is often in awe as to why people are calling her and sending her cards. Then she remembers. She is tired today so I told them to let her nap.

There is a short update on my AC site here with a couple altered pictures of Bobbie about another MRI series she is to have.

And this is the most recent journal page. I did this in the middle of the night last night. I couldn't sleep.

I think I like this drawing so much it will soon become a painting. I'll probably do one in watercolor and then one in mixed media acrylic, maybe collage a bit on it too. It's similar to something I seen in a magazine and then I had the idea of adding the words of healing. They may change. And I may not find the time to paint it but I intend too and I want to.

I must be off, gotta check that dryer, duty calls. What is it John Lennon said,

"Life is what happens when you're making other plans". Isn't that the truth......

Continue praying for Bobbie and thank you,

I believe she is in HIS hands,

Tess

January's Journal - Day 28 and 29

I can't express enough how very much I appreciate all of the messages and words of encouragement and prayers that I have received here. Bobbie appreciates them too. It has been a whirl wind of activity these past days. My son-in-law is exhausted. My daughter has memories of some of it and none of others. She forgets a morning event by the afternoon yet remembers it the next day. I feel like I'm walking through a fog, a cloudy veil over my head. I can only imagine how she must feel, the fear, the uncertainty, the wonder. Family has been called, e-mailed, notified. Friends have been called. Her sister....she called her sister and actually got her on the first try. My youngest has trials in her own life. She and my son-in=law are laid off from work as of Jan. 31st with severance pay until March 15th. She called me yesterday to tell me she spoke to sis and got her to laugh. That's my little one, always looking to the positive, to the bright side of things. I had forgotten that Bobbie fell from a 3 story window when she was 17 and survived that. Her sister told her "hey if you can live through a 3 story fall you can live through this. I knew it was best for her to call her sister herself. I'm glad I insisted on it.
So far the meds have been switched again to alleviate vomiting, a prescription reaction to a pain med, and they added prednisone to alleviate inflammation from the bump on her noggin. They still have not told my grand daughter what all is going on. I don't know if they just can't bring themselves to tell her or if they feel it is best to not tell her yet. The Dr. office called and told them the MRI confirms what the E.R. doctor found. So now we wait until the neurosurgeon appointment on Feb. 19th. It seems like a lifetime away, that date. So far off. I want it to be now, they want it to be now, but we must wait. The neurosurgeons are booked we are told. So we wait and pray and hug a lot..............

Please continue to keep Bobbie in your prayers and thank you all so very much for the words of encouragement. They mean so much to me, to us.

This journal page is a collage of how I feel, in a daze, in a fog, a cloudy veil over me. It will lift, it must lift. I do not know what name this emotion I am feeling would have, what label. It took three tries at finishing this collage.

She is in HIS hands, I'm sure of this. The fall was a blessing.........., there is a reason for her madness. She's not faking, she's not being lazy, or ridiculous, she's changing, her personality is so different from what it was a week ago, amonth ago, 3 months ago and I want my daughter back. He wants his wife back. She'll be ok, she has to be, we need more time to finish and do and love. She'll be ok...........

Tess

January's Journal Day 26

Hello-Hello,

I have so much to tell you about tonight. First off Misty's challenge prompts for this week i emotions. Make art around am emotion you are feeling. My journal entry for today is this post and the emotion I am feeling is blessed.

First off the mailman delivered a special package to me today. I won this wonderful fabric journal from elvie studio and it came today of all days. It is fabulous, nicer than I ever could have imagined.

I just received an emergency phone call, more tomorrow......

It's the 27th in the AM. I thought I had hit publish last night, guess not. My phone call was my son-in-law. My oldest daughter fell in the bathroom and hit her head on the toilet. EMT's were there and he needed me to come stay with my granddaughter. The head injury turned out to be the back of the neck just beyond the ear, she has a big knot there. The ER doctor ordered a CT scan of her head and neck. No broken neck or skull fracture though. That was the good news. The bad news is they found a brain tumor on the right front side of her head. Bobbie was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic recently due to her behavior over the past year. She has been suffering from severe migraines for about 6 months now, maybe more. We all thought it was the psych meds causing it. She also has developed problems with motor skills and falling down a lot. Again the doctors told her it's the meds, you have to be more careful. They let him take her home last night. She has a doctors order for an MRI to be done the 27th or 28th. The stressed to my son-in-law that he is to make the appt.'s and make sure she is there. Her discharge follow up paper says to call her regular doctor in the AM to schedule a same day appt. The E.R. doctor called him last night. He told my son-in-law and doctor that her regular doctor will be expecting the call. Needless to say my blessed feeling yesterday rapidly dwindled to fear. A dark cloud has been over her for so long and it seems to be only getting darker. I hate this sense of dread, fear, uselessness. Please pray for her, she really is a good kid. When they came in the door last night she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Mom will you take care of Raven when I die." I lost my breathe for a moment. I did finally say, Raven's daddy will take care of her and I will help, now don't say that again..........................

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did do the giveaway drawing with Chuck last night. It was fun having him help me. There were 5 comments on that post so 5 names went into the sugar bowl.

Chuck drew the name for me.............................................................................

And the winner is..........

January's Journal Challenge - Day 25

!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEREK !!
Happy Sunday to you all,

Howdy folks and have I had an adventure today! I didn't get my laundry done yesterday with the blogging and painting and play and up and down the steps and well, I really don't have an adequate excuse. So today after morning rituals it was back to the laundry. I only had one last load of my daughters in the dryer and was able to start on mine. I got one load washed and into the dryer and another load started when I decided to do some rearranging in the laundry room. And it was a good thing I did. I heard a strange sound, water, and not a good water sound. As I looked over toward the washer the floor was wet beside it. Further investigation found the pipe leading to the outside that the washing machine drains into had sprung a leak. I quickly shut off the washer and removed the hose and made a mad dash to the floor drain. Barely enough length to get it there but I did. I let that load finish draining (it was getting ready for the rinse cycle) and figured I'd just leave the hose there and finish up. So I turned the machine back on. No deal. With the hose down like that all the washer did was drain as it was filling. Sooooooo........ Off to the laundromat. I have not set foot inside a coin-op laundry in over 10 years. I called my daughter and she suggested the best one to try for being open on a Sunday. I loaded up their clean laundry, and my dirty and still wet, and off I went. The laundromat was really nice but gees, the cost. I had no idea. No wonder the kids were coming to me. I was impressed with the machines though and I did remember to grab my journal.

Today's journal challenge prompt is shapes so i looked around and realized there were shapes everywhere. Square machines with circle shape doors. Rectangular folding tables and an octagon children's table. Tile floors that looked square or diamond shaped depending on how you were standing. And lights hanging from chains hung from the ceiling, forming a triangle. So here is my sketch with lots of shapes. The page is dirty as the painting from yesterday was on top of it and I over drew and over brushed now and then. The laundromat, called Wash Tyme, had a very clean floor.

I hope you all had a good and restful Sunday. Peace be with you and yours this day that HE hath made.

Till tomorrow,

Tess

January's Journal Challenge Days 23 and 24

Greetings all, We woke to a light dusting of snow and colder temperatures this morning. I was so glad to be home when I got off work yesterday and to know that we could actually have a decent meal for supper. Chuck grilled steaks even though it was cold outside and I baked us a potato. We usually have a salad or vegetable too but decided not this time. Then after supper we played dominoes until bedtime. No crafting or journaling or painting happened yesterday I sadly admit. But, sometimes our spouses need our attention and our creativity needs a break. I woke feeling refreshed today and even though I have a mound or two or three of laundry to do as I am doing my daughter and her families laundry also this weekend I felt great and like it would be a nice slow day. So far I've started a pot of soup, washed and dried several loads of the laundry and I made this:

I revisited the earlier watercolor drawing I had done on regular paper and decided to try it on watercolor paper and to change it up a bit. In honor of Valentines Day I decided to paint blossoms of "Hearts and Soul". I used watercolor pencils and drew on watercolor paper this time. I found a small brush works good for me to wet the colors with. The butterflies are stamps painted with water and then rubbed with the watercolor pencils. The stamp design is from a set of stamps I bought from the Unity Stamp Co. 's August Kit of the Month called "remember happiness". All of the designs from this set were created by JessiLynn of Vol.25. She is a wonderful artist and designer and has a great blog and etsy shop. Check her out.

Yesterdays challenge from Misty was to create something inspired by your favorite artists. I kept this in mind when creating the painting above. Two artists came to mind, Jodi Ohl of sweet repeats and Jessi Lynn of vol25. Jodi loves hearts as does Jessi. I wanted to use one of the stamps I had bought that Jessi created . I chose the title "Hearts and Soul" because I truly believe that both Jodi and Jessi pour their hearts and souls into everything they create. OMG, I could say this about every one of the wonderful artists I have found here in blog land. Here are some links to some of my other favorite artists that seem to inspire me everyday:

Misty Mawn

Nina Bagley at Ornamental

Jude at Spirit Cloth

Red Velvet Art (Four of the loveliest and most talented young ladies I've ever come across.)

Sweet Repeats

Art du Jour

elvie studio

and so, so, so many more.

Of course there are those other artists, the ones long gone that inspire us all. Such as da Vinci , Picasso, Renoir and Monet. And I can't leave out Andy Warhol.

Today's challenge from Mist is to create a piece of art and give it away. I'm not sure how to do this but I do know what I want to do. I would like to give this watercolor painting away to someone here that continually comments and encourages me. I will gather some surprises; papers, artist trading card, cloth and maybe even some upholstery fabric swatches to send with this little painting to this person. The painting is rather smallish. It measures approx. 5 1/2" X 9" and is Staedtler Karat Aquarell Watercolor Pencils on Canso 90 lb. watercolor paper. I used Sobo Premium Craft & Fabric Glue to attach the dictionary word. I will put all commenters (to this post) names in a bowl and have my husband pick a winner on this coming Monday evening, 6PM CST. The winner will then just need to send me an address and wait for their surprise to arrive. Good Luck!

(I must admit I feel foolish as I am thinking right now, "Who will want this?" But I worked hard on it and giving of oneself is a good and postive thing so here goes....)

Tess

January's Journal Day 22

Note: I tried to publish this yesterday and I couldn't. Computer, fingers, mind working better this morning.

Hi All, I am tired this week. It's suppose to be a shorter work week when you have Monday off. I am feeling like this week will never end. BooHoo, poor me! Get over it, right. LOL :-)

I did something for myself and my loved ones today. I went in for an early AM appointment and had my yearly mammogram. If your the age to have a yearly exam and can't remember the last one you had promise you'll call and find out. Make that appointment. It's important for early detection. I had a lump removed several years ago. It was ok, I was ok. I promised myself and family then that I would have this exam yearly so if something develops we'll hopefully catch it early. Lay this promise upon your heart and follow through...you are worth it.

Misty's challenge today was to create with crayons only. As I whined about earlier I'm tired so I decided I felt like scribbling. This is on the back of my tic tac toe page thus the thread lines. It was fun scribbling and doodling and then I decided to add some words here and that, then to add this and that. It's not really a picture of anything. It's just color and it was fun and playful and quick. I may do that again whenever I am needing to be creative but just too tired.

Tomorrows theme: create a work of art inspired by your favorite artist.

This will be a hard one for me!

Tess

JAnuary's Journal Day 21

This sweet little Angel Princess just had a birthday. In this she is about 6 but now she is 9. Today's journal challenge from Misty is to alter any photo. I chose to play with my Photo Shop Elements and alter a digital photo. Since my little angel niece has been on my mind I decided to alter this photo in celebration of her recent birthday. I found applying filters easy and quick. Playing with all of the add-on things was a lot of fun and to be honest I'm not even sure how I found them. I am tired as the past two days have been very busy. I'm pleased to announce the online recharter process for both the pack and the troop is validated, submitted and printed. Tomorrow I will deliver the papers to be signed and hopefully we will be able to meet our deadline of the 31st. Phew!
I plan to play with this Photo Shop stuff more and I am so pleased with the altered photo I am going to print it and paste it into my journal to remember this years birthday and my fun journals with Misty.
Tomorrows challenge is with crayons only Yippee! I love crayons, I keep them around for my little angel and her sibling and cousins. Nah, not really, they are for me, me, me. LOL
Good Night All,
Tess

January's Journal Challenge - Day 20

It's been such a busy day, so much happening. A co-workers father-in-law passed away yesterday so our work load was heavier minus one. He had cancer and it was so sudden and quick. She was helping with arrangements for a nursing home stay and then a return home. Now he is gone. It is best not to suffer long but it still is hard to say good-bye to a loved one, given over to cancer. He had taken the chemo like they said to and it grew instead of shrinking. These things happen, we lost my mother-in-law to cancer, I still hate that word......

Then I was reminded of my commitment to rechartering the Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop paperwork. So many calls but alas with just a few minor glitches it is almost done.

I missed the inauguration standing in line at the post office today. They are so slow sometimes, our branch is anyway.

I did take time to make a few ATC's just to clear my mind. These are my journal entries for Misty's challenge. I do love being creative everyday.

The first ATC posted here is being sent tomorrow to a new friend on Associated Content. Lorelei wanted me to send her a Valentine in response to my Send A Valentine - Just Because post on AC. This is a grown up valentine of sorts.

So if you haven't guessed by now my word for today is friend. Do something nice for your friends today, tomorrow, everyday. Be sure to remind them of how very important they are to you.

Have a great evening,

Tess

January's Journal Challenge - Day 19

I had such fun having my granddaughter over. We made tacos and burritos for supper and then we all played a board game. We all being her, me and grandpa. She chose the Game of Life. It is only the second time she has played it as we taught her how last time we had her over. She did really well and was getting pretty good with her strategy. She only lost to grandpa by 235,000.00. In the Game of Life that is not much. If she had gotten just a few more Life tiles she would have beaten him. She thought that was so cool and challenged him that she would win next time. She was a Doctor and grandpa a teacher and grandma, ta da, an artist. LOL. It was fun, if you've never played the game and you enjoy board games you really should get it. ~~~
Today was my youngest niece's birthday. She turned 9 today, they are all growing so fast. Anywho, we made her birthday cards with stickers and rub-on words and put made with love on the backs of them. Awwww!! Wasn't that a sweet idea from one cousin to another. I made sure they got to play together for a couple hours when we took the gifts over. I finished up today's page after lunch at McDonald's and taking the granddaughter home.

Misty Mawns January Journal Challenge has completely different themes this week. I enjoyed today's. This is the first time I have sewn on paper, by hand. I haven't had the courage to put paper through my sewing machine yet. Today's theme was "add buttons, thread and fabric to your journal page". Here's what I came up with.....

The overall theme is about being different. Notice how the tic tac toe seems to be the red squares and yet the buttons are going the other direction. And also notive two of the buttons are 4 hole and the center one is a two hole. being different can be a good thing.

Here is the list for this weeks Journal Challenge as suggested by Misty Mawn:

Monday - embellishments. buttons, beads, fabric added to the page.
Tuesday - word art. focus on one word... create a page around that word.
Wednesday - altered photo. take one photo of your own, alter it any way you wish
Thursday - crayons only day... nothing else. explore your inner child. ;-)
Friday - create a work of art /journal page inspired by your favorite artist.
Saturday- share your art... make a piece of art as a gift today, give it away.
Sunday - shapes. pick one shape and go from there.

I would think tomorrow would be easy but I haven't come up with a single idea yet. Hmmmmm! Guess I'll have to sleep on it.

Tess

January's Journal Challenge Day 18 - Pink

Happy, Happy Sunday,

It's warmer outside again today and I was thinking how much I am ready for Spring to come and then realized it's still only January. That brought about a boo hoo gasp.

I'm putting away some things, craft items and such, getting ready to have my granddaughter come over to spend the night. Schools here had a four day weekend. Must be nice! Anyway I like to take advantage of the occasional three day weekends I get to have my granddaughter spend the night. She can be a handful and as we never know what temperament she will have we must not have to work the next day. I've seen 2AM before with her as she just would not go to sleep. She's 9 now and doing so much better. Mom and dad limit her sweets now and her TV. She no longer has a TV in her room either. Trust me if you have a somewhat hyper child get rid of some of the electronic stuff and sugary things. It really does help. My granddaughter was experiencing anxiety over too much to do and what to play with next and can I have more candy, more candy please, cartoons now, more cartoons, I have to play with my barbies, where is my unicorn, I want to draw now, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm sad, tuck me in, you forgot to tuck me in, kissy my dolly......Get the picture?!! Putting here on a morning and bedtime routine and eliminating the TV and VCR from her room and convincing grandma (yes me) not to buy her every little thing has helped her a lot. Yes, I admit to being part of the problem. She's doing much better at home and in school now.

~~~

For today's journal page I did a watercolor. I learned if you are going to use watercolor pencils you really should use watercolor paper. Obvious conclusion! So now I get to try it again on watercolor paper and then I have a question. Can watercolor be used on canvas if I make a collage background? I don't know if I could do this with acrylic paint as I really have no idea how to blend. I'm not sure if the watercolors blended right either. Besides, I found I have one color of pink acrylic paint and it is bright. I guess I could have used pink shades from magazine clippings and collage the flowers. Now that's a thought, I must write that down. Ok, I'm back. BTW, I am sure I've seen this flower configuration before but can't remember where, in a book or online. So I'm hoping I'm not hurting anyone by posting this picture.

~~~

I've really enjoyed this week and am ready to get to doing a few more ATC's and to read what Misty has in store for us for next week. Oh, and I can't wait to see who her winners are for the original artwork. I know my chances are slim as she has so many flowers and participants but you can't blame me for hoping with fingers crossed. I'd cross my toes too but that might hurt. I won't be too disappointed if I'm not picked as a winner because I have, and am, learning so much and that makes for a great start of a new year, don't you think?

If you haven;t seen it yest and have some time to browse go to Misty's Flickr group Art Everyday page and see all of the fun and wonderful journal pages being created all over the world. I've uploaded mine there too.

Enjoy!

Tess

January's Journal Day 17 - Yellow

I've been having so much fun with today's color for the January Journal Challenge. I live in Kansas so I wanted to do something with a sunflower. Of course, sunshine came to mind too. A first has happened for me today. I actually painted on a canvas. I purchased a pack of canvas boards several months ago and even got some for Christmas from my dear hubby. (Isn't it nice when our other halves encourage our creativity?) I once helped my granddaughter paint a birthday picture for my daughter. She did most of the painting and applying stickers, it had to be from her I encouraged. I did help with a flower I think. It was so easy to encourage her to mess up that white pristine canvas and yet I had not been able to do it myself, until now. I wanted my painting to have texture like Misty's and to have some words like Jodi Ohl's and I wanted to include paint and stamps. I even tried stamping in gesso, I have never done that before. I was too afraid of ruining what few stamps I have. I guess I wanted it to look like someone else's..........

But you know what? It didn't turn out like Misty's or anyone else's, because it is mine. I am not completely finished with it as I need to add a sealer to it. I do have some on hand but wanted to give the paint and gel medium time to dry.

I think it is pretty good for a first attempt, and again Misty's challenge has helped me to grow and learn. For me that is what this month is all about......

Tomorrow's color is Pink and my niece is crazy about pink and I have no idea what to do yet. How about you?

Have a wonderful Sunday and if you are still in Brrrrr temps (Ours have gone up to the 40's, much better.) feel free to soak up some of my sunny picture. :-)

Tess

January's Journal day 16 - Red

Greetings, Today's color is red. I love red, red is romantic, red is Mars, red is the color of the blood moon. Red is fiery and vibrant and sensual. I had no idea what to do with this color. So I thought and I thought and I thought and of course hearts came to mind. I thought many would be using hearts. Red hearts on Valentines, red hearts with inspirational words, red poppy's, red roses. And then this came to me. "Red Hot Momma" OMG, this phrase is such a joke between me and my daughter. This journal page will help remind me of that joke. So I went looking for red items from magazines and found a red and white pot and a red apron and then this voluptuous red hot momma with her "nerd" looking over at her, and he's not in the mood for dancing. He wants what is not in the pot yet.

"Hey Red Hot Momma, put your apron on".

He's even trying to seduce her to cook with a pretty bracelet of hearts but no dice, she just wants to dance. Hee Hee I have two colors of red paint and didn't use either one. I had too much fun with the mod podge and red papers and pens and magazine finds.

In a comment someone asked who Misty Mawn is. How do I answer that? I have never met Misty but would love too. I found her through another blog I think. I don't even remember now. I loved her paintings, her photographs and her honesty in her blog entries. Then I started reading about how she teaches Art several times a year. Reading about her travels is so much fun. She takes me places I doubt I will ever go. Maybe someday, maybe, I will get to take a class with her. An artists retreat would be so much fun. She's been published too in Somerset Studios magazine. Read about Misty in her own words. She makes books, wonderful journals, and she makes wonderful mixed media paintings. She dreams big and she accomplishes inspiring others. I like to think of her as my friend and my personal teacher. And for now she is just that as this January Journal Challenge is keeping me busy thinking, creating and finding my abilities that I didn't even know or remember that I had. I'm also being connected to many other artists in this great big world. Other people like me that have always felt the need to doodle or write or draw or paint or cut favorite things from magazines and paste them into other magazines. I did a lot of that as a teenager and am doing it again. Sometimes when I write poetry or cut and paste I am working out a personal problem or dilemma and Misty, well She helps me with these things and she doesn't even know it. I'm glad you all are reading and following along with Misty and me this month. I hope you liked my red page and for tomorrow, we shall see lots of yellows.

Good Night,

Tess

January's Journal Day 15 - White

Wow, Misty really made me stretch my brain muscle today. I had no idea what to do with white. As the idea formed I had problems with how to bring it about. I wanted to use some gesso or white paint but I had no time for that today. I found a small piece of white upholstery material and a piece of tulle. Winter whites came to mind. And then a dress formed and I found a piece of white fiber paper. It looks dreamy to me when torn. "She Dreams of Winter Whites" came to mind and then all sorts of little words that go with white. Creamy White, milky white, snowy white, white magic. I even had my husband in on it coming up with whites. I found writing with white on white was not as easy a task as I had first thought it would be. I found I liked the color silver with the white. I grew during this task no doubt today. I didn't get to making an ATC. I would like to try a white ATC though.

I wish this page would scan better. I tried photographing it and that was not possible with my skills or equipment. So here is my White page for all to see:

I'd like to thank everyone for their wonderful comments. It means a lot to me. The feedback and the knowing that others are looking. Thank You. I've enjoyed viewing many new and artistic blogger, some I'd seen before and some I hadn't. It's a big world out there but I love how the internet and blogging makes it feel a bit smaller. Thank You, Thank You!!

It's 9degrees here right now, I think I'll go have a cup of hot cocoa. Try to stay warm and to those in warmer climates, soak up some sun for me. Baby it's cold outside!!!!!!! Tomorrow's color for Misty Mawn's Journal Challenge is red. She didn't include the color purple in her color theme choices so I just may be adding some purple to my red page. We'll see...........

Tess

January's Journal - Day 14 - Green

I'm still working on Misty Mawn's Journaling Challenge. I've visited so many wonderful artists blogs and seen such wonderful stuff. There are a lot of people participating in Misty's Challenge. So much inspiration out there. I hope to make many new online artists friends with this challenge also.
When I seen the color for today was green I knew I had to use some of the many green tea bag wrappers I have been saving. I think this is a great start, a background of sorts:I didn't know what to do with it so I sat it aside and started a collage. I was thinking of green tea 4 two in a big green field sitting on a blanket. I am not completely happy with the outcome but it is what I had planned. Clouds are harder than I thought, at least for me anyway. I wanted to use some of the tea bag wrappers to make more clouds and I used some of the green fiber paper. I covered some of it over with tissue paper as it was awful. Lessons learned, I have Misty to thank for that. Her challenge and me attempting that challenge. I wanted to make a few ATC's also and came up with these:

I hope you've enjoyed my bit of green. Tomorrow's color for the challenge is white. Today I've been thinking white on white, snow white. Hmm! I really have no idea how I'm going to attempt this one. It will be interesting to see what others come up with. It's very cold here in the land of Oz. We have a cold front coming in. I am grateful though as it isn't nearly as cold as it is in Minnesota. Brrrrr!

You all have a good evening and please try to stay warm.

Tess

January's Journal Day 13 - Orange

I started this page this morning, added more during the lunch hour and finished up just a few minutes ago. I used water colors, acrylic paint, glitter gel pens and crayons. I suppose some will think it needs more. I may even think so and add to it some but for now this is my Orange Journal page. I love doing leaf rubbings and leaf transfers. I do them with my Cub Scouts. They get a kick out of it. I love the colors of the changing leaves in the fall. I have one tree that turns from green to a vibrant red almost overnight, then a orange/brown color before falling. I love how leaves can float and seemingly sail the winds while falling. It's very hard to find leaves this time of year. I found the ones I used for this in a cub scout box left over from a crafting project, dry and brittle. They weren't the best for leaf printing but hey I made do anyway.

All I could think of today was about this silly knock, knock joke a Tiger Cub Scout loved years ago. He's a Boy Scout now. He loved this joke and told it over and over one year. I'm sure he'd be embarrased about it now. I love the age of Tigers (7) because little things tickle them soo. They have such a strange sense of humor and yet can be so hilarious. They love riddles and jokes and rhyming. Need to occupy a 7 year olds mind for awhile? Play a rhyming word game. Hilarious! I'm sure you've all heard this joke many times but here it is anyway:

Tiger: Knock Knock

Leader: Who's there?

Tiger: Banana

Leader: Banana Who?

Tiger: Knock Knock

Leader: Who's there?

Tiger: Banana

Leader: Banana Who?

Tiger: Knock Knock (there is an end to this)

Leader: Who's there?

Tiger: Orange

Leader: Orange Who?

Tiger: Orange you glad I didn't say banana.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAh

This kid came up with many variations of the joke and cracked himself and others up everytime. I didn't remember this until after I started the orange leaves or I could have done a knock knock joke journal page to honor that silly Tiger Cub. Maybe I will anyway.

So tomorrow's color is green. Green, I love green and this one is easy, got my page all planned out in my head already. How about you, have you planned out your green journal page?

Enjoy your evening,

Tess

January's Journal Day 12 -Blue

Misty Mawn's January Challenge is still going on. This weeks theme is color. Monday is blue ~~~

My idea of a blue day, flying kit's near a lake.....

I just had to make this ATC.......isn't this blue shoe divine? I didn't like that it's a bit crooked and then realized that is perfect. The shoe is dancing......

See Misty's blue page and the color choices she'll be working with each day. She is also doing a contest. 3 lucky winners will win an original piece of art by Misty all they need to do to enter is complete a journal page and post each day for 7 days. Some may think, "easy", but for others it's not so. I hope to accomplish this. Oh how I'd love an original painting by Misty. But even if I don't win, she's inspiring me to create and that makes it all worth the try. Tomorrow's color is orange. Hmmmm, orange, I can't wait to see what she does with orange.

What will I do?

Have a great evening and dance a bit, blue shoes or not.

Tess

January's Journal - Day 11 a day late

Celebrate whatever your heart desires................................

Misty's Journal Challenge theme for the week is color.

Have a great week everyone,

Tess

January's Journal - Days 8, 9 and 10

Wow, Where does the time go? I really did intend to post daily. I have been somewhat creative each day though. On the 8th I created another ATC.

I really like this fiber paper scrap I found, which I found yesterday I have a whole pack of. I like the swirls on this scrapbook paper too. I need to work on lining things up better I think. And I want to get back to the junk mail ATC's as I had originally started out with. Oh and I found a small box of different stamps too and a dried up ink pad. I should have bought the art dresser a lot sooner as I'm finding all kinds of neat stuff, some I don't even remember buying. (That's not good, impulsive shopper!!) ~~~~

On the 9th I was writing ideas down and drew out a few ideas for more ATC's. Here is the start of the page:

I'll add to this page as I think of things. I imagine I really will have fun with these as they are like mini breaks or mini vacations for me. I have to keep my hands (and mind) busy, I know I should probably see a shrink about this but crafting is a wee bit cheaper. I have always been the creative type, doodling, sewing, crocheting, doing something. My husband says I don't relax enough. What he is finally understanding is that this is relaxing to me. I found a box of 52 ATC blanks in a paper bag in my back room. Neat huh! My intention was to make them a long time ago when I first started reading about ATC's in Somerset Studio, or was it Cloth Paper Scissors, I forget. Anyway I thought they were neat and wanted to make some so I bought these ATC card blanks and little plastic sleeves to put them in and a stamp for on the back of them. Then I forgot about or misplaced the supplies, a little of both I think. So now with the junk mail idea and my scrapbook paper sheets that I've been using up and the stamps and stickers and whatever else I manage to find or think of I should be able to make ATC's for a long time. (And hopefully get enough done to get up the courage to join an online ATC swap sometime.) ~~~~~

On another subject I loved Misty Mawn's collage self portrait. I admit to feeling intimidated by the idea of a self portrait. I can't draw worth a darn and definitely can't paint portraits. I thought about grabbing the camera but...., well I never did. Then I seen her collage portrait and thought, "WOW, i can do that". So I grabbed my journal and I did it as my creative outlet today and here it is. (It's by no means as good as Misty's or many of the other participants in Misty's January fun but I was pleased with my results.)

I didn't quite follow Misty's instructions but pretty close. I need to purchase or find a gardening book as I need more floral pictures in my magazine stash. And I need more inspirational words too. That will be another thing to do one day when I'm bored or not feeling well and need something to do with my hands. I can usually find free magazines with interesting pages to tear out at the local library. Most of the elements here I already had torn out of old magazines. I have a large manila envelope I keep them in. I once sat cutting eyes out of magazines for like a week every evening. Drove my husband nuts. I had a mission though, I was creating some artwork to go along with a poem I wrote, Beauty of a Woman. Maybe I'll cut it up and make it into ATC's?

So I hope you all have a fun and relaxing weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing what Misty and others have to show us with the theme for next week, color.

Tess

January's Journal - Day 7 (More ATC's)

I created two more ATC cards today and I wrote a short article about them on my Associated Contnet page. I invite you to view the pictures and the article.

Making ATC's From Scrap

I hope you had a creative day also.

Tess

Note: The link is fixed. Thanks for the comment Lori. I enjoy making collages.

January's Journal Challenge - Day 6

I missed posting yesterday but I did do something artistic on Jan. 5th. I made my first ATC card. I love ATC's and I have 3 from other artists. I first found them in the pages of Somerset Studio. I even went out and bought one of those stamps that you use on the back of the card with the lines for artist name, card name, number and such. Of course I can't find the stamp now. I'm sure I'll find it as I'm putting things away in my new art dresser. Recently a new friend on AC gave me some links to ATC related sites on the web and I even found a tutorial at gomakesomething.com. That was a neat site to find, thanks Barbara. ~~~~

This is a recycled ATC of sorts as I used recycled items mostly. The base is junk mail and I covered it with bits of upholstery samples for stability. Then a torn page from an old dictionary I found and a canceled stamp. I cut a heart out of a magazine page for one of the heart balloons and used a sticker for another. Then I drew one with a glitter pen and a few squiggles too. I stamped words and attached a word cut from a magazine also. It looked too clean so I inked the edges with the stamp pad. I wanted to cover it with tissue paper to better pull it all together but but that attempt failed (I didn't like the look) and I ended up pulling the tissue off. I painted on a coat of modpodge and used torn envelopes on the back to cover some of the junk mail words. I'll call it celebrate 1. I have already picked out some mini cardstock papers to make another and I think I have another canceled celebrate stamp. Of course I'll call the next one celebrate 2.
Celebrate family, traditions and generations this year people. It will be well worth it.~~~

Thank you to all that have commented, I appreciate the attention. You lift my spirits and make me smile with each comment.
Happy Day,
Tess

January's Journal Challenge Day 4

Heart Art -

I just want to be........

ME!

I did this with paper and glitter pens. I think it would make a nice valentine card and I'd also like to paint it on a canvas and hang it as a reminder. This year I just want to be...............

January's Journal Challenge Day 3

January 3rd, 2009
I am a Boy Scout Volunteer and also a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow within Scouting. Today was the OA Winter Banquet. Since the OA is boy lead with adult advisers they chose to have activities geared more for the youth this time around. Instead of going for the whole day we opted to drive over just for dinner. It was a nice 2 hour country drive and we got to see a lot of scouting friends we only see once or twice a year or at big camping events so it was well worth it.

Before the drive I was contemplating an art project I wanted to work on and could not find a key element. I know it is here in one of the many bags or boxes hidden here and there around the house. I needed to go to the post office and offered to gas up the car while I was at it. I made an impromptu trip to Wal-Mart and am I ever glad I did. Look what I found for only $32.00.

I'm sorry the picture isn't better. It's a 7 drawer dresser with 4 small drawers and 3 deeper drawers. I've already placed some art supplies I got for Christmas into it and emptied out 3 plastic bags. There is still plenty of room. I like the top 4 drawers as they are wide enough for scrapbook papers to lay flat. Once I have more of my supplies into it I should be able to rearrange the sewing/storage room to sit this dresser right next to my sewing machine stand. Neat huh!!

Have you found a nifty art supply storage bargain lately?

Tess

January's Journal Challenge Day 2

Milton J. "Mick" Holman


Starting the new year off with a funeral could be considered a bad omen, but then maybe not. When someone struggles just to breath an ending can be a new beginning for all involved. My step dad's funeral was today. Well he "was" my step dad. Mom and Mick were married for 10 years. They helped each other finish raising their youngest children. Mick was a widower with a handicapped child and mom a divorcee with three children at home. My youngest brother and sister never really knew their father, which was good but that's another story. Mick became their dad, he earned their respect and loyalty. He was there for them through their preteen and teen years when they needed him most I think. My mother needed him too, they needed each other. Then one day mom just left. He helped her and they remained friends. We all kept in touch. Just because they divorced didn't mean our feelings changed, he was still "dad" to my siblings. Over the years life got more complicated, more involved, for all of us. There were graduations and marriages and more children born into the families. Sometimes in divorce the "steps" are no longer considered family by some. Mick wasn't like that. He attended weddings and graduations and sent or called with well wishes. He was always willing to lend an ear or a hand to mom, me or my siblings. I loved seeing him and his youngest son at the store or out on the lawn when I drove by. He may have been handicapped and at times unruly, but Kevin was also a sweetheart and quick to give a mighty hug and a great big smile.



The obituary made no mention of a second wife or stepchildren. It hurt...I was surprised at how much it hurt. Not being acknowledged, them, my mom and siblings, not being acknowledged at all. As if those ten years and time since had never happened. When you've known someone for so long and come to grow to call him "dad" and proudly, well sometimes steps can become more than just friends. I sat with a group of my family (mom, brothers, aunts) at the funeral. We all knew Mick would want us to come and say goodbye. I only got to know him the last couple years of their marriage before they divorced. This kind and generous man took me and my girls into his home at a time when we were distraught. I must admit it, I had a breakdown, so many nightmares, those girls were so scared even of their mommy. He knew there were hurts to heal and a lot of adjustments to be made. He knew and he said welcome home. He called my youngest, the shy scared one, Peanut. He teased her and comforted her and showered her with love. He made her feel at ease with family she'd never known before, he made her feel at home.

And now he's gone home....As Kevin said, "He's with mommy now." Goodbye "DAD" - Till we meet again and just incase I hadn't said it often enough, thank you for everything. You will be missed.................

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Today was also my youngest daughter's birthday, Happy Birthday Honey, I Love You!

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And one last thing. I challenge you this year to reconnect with those loved ones that you've not had time for lately. The "steps" and the distant relatives, the greats and the great-greats. The nieces and nephews that grew up knowing you as an Aunt or Uncle. If divorce has separated the family remember you divorced your spouse, not necessarily the whole family. Call them and tell them how much they mean to you, hug them, love them, NOW, before it is too late!

Happy New Year

Misty Mawn has delivered a journaling challenge and I am going to attempt it. Of course mine will be nothing like hers as she is such a wonderfully talented artist. I need more creativity in my life so maybe this will prompt me to do more. I hope to write poems or sketch art ideas and include quotes that inspire me. Do check out Misty's blog.

I wish you all a wonderfully Happy New Year. May 2009 be a healthy and prosperous year for all of us.
Blessings,

Tess