What a time...

So I had this idea, create a blog and share 'klips' of my world.  Started out strong then sort of fizzled.  I'm not trying to rejuvenate the plan.  I problem, TIME, suddenly it seems I don't have enough time to all the things I want to do in any given day.

The only way I can think to carve out more time is to no longer work outside the home.  Problem with that, it feeds the things I enjoy doing.  grrrr.  Well, I'll just have to figure a few things out and just carve out my time each day and make the most of it.

Let's see what 'klips' from Kim would you be interested in:

Would it be, me stepping out and using something for other than it's exact intended purpose.

Then there are the up coming endless scrapbook layouts.

 

Of course there is the art journal, this is some work in the first one.

And now I've started a new online workshop so that means a new art journal.

We did a little treasure hunting this weekend in Port Orchard.  Does that interest you?

This weekend I also experimented with some modeling paste and self made stencils.

Now, the trick is going to be how I put it all together.  It occurred to me this evening to apply one of these lovely mermaids to a container for my Mom, I think she'd appreciate it. 

I guess the point of this post, is to post.  Quite a while back an English Professor told us when blocked just write eventually it will happen.  So, write I will.

Hugs of love.



I'm back

Oh wow!  I knew I hadn't been on the blog for quite awhile just didn't realize it has been since October.  I kept meaning to come back and share but it just never seemed to happen.  Life seems to have settled down a little for me, so I think now's the time.

In addition to a life settling, I am starting a new workshop called Your Living Canvas, check it out:  http://christytomlinson.typepad.com/christytomlinson/my-living-canvas-workshop.html .  

Part of the class is journaling to learn more about yourself (that's my take on it) then the next part is creativity.  I have to be honest though I haven't even begun the pre-work.  It's not that's hard, other it requires reflection, I just haven't sat down and done it.  I had promised myself today is the day, that was days ago.  Well, hopefully soon.  The good news, I have all year to work through the workshop!

I also became involved with a group of nice folks on facebook (thanks again Jeff) which is encouraging me to get back to my treasure hunting creativity.  I realized a few weeks ago, the weather plays a big role in my treasure hunting, in that up here there just really aren't any garage or rummage sales to venture out to once the rains start again in September/October.  Seriously, who wants to run around outside in the chilly wetness of the world?! 

Now with that all said, I haven't just been sitting on my tush eating bonbons.  I've been doing the job thing, kind of have to do that.  Courtesy of the hubs I had a terrific Christmas vacation with my lovely daughter, grandson, sister in law and niece at Disney World.  Then I worked some more doing some art to find some joy, shared that with a young lady who discovered Hobby Lobby for the first time and I've worked some more.

I've been posting a lot of the creative stuff on facebook to share with friends and family.  I'll pull a few over here over time to share and to give a little background on a few things I have in the works now.

Let's start with this one.

This glass bottle is a $1 find at the Goodwill.  I then covered it with modeling paste and applied some faces.  The faces I molded myself with Fimo air dry clay with a store bought mold.  Let it out to dry over night.

My next step was to paint the entire project.  I used burnt umber as my base coat then applied a few highlights with a couple of other browns to give some depth.

I then highlighted the faces with some jewel tone green perfect pearls.

Those who see this think at first it looks like milk chocolate, then the next impression is tree bark.  Tree bark was what I was going for.  I'm thinking on the next project I'll need to vary the brown a bit more to give it more texture.  It's a puzzle but fun.

The next project I'm planning is very similar to this one, only not with the faces and I haven't decided on the background texture yet.  It'll be something for Mom, if it turns out.

Well, its about that time, I need to start getting ready, we are going to a concert tonight, gonna go see Van Halen woo-hoo!

hugs of love.



Weekend Creativity

Hi there peeps!  We've been a little busy here at the home base.  My hubby seems to have this thing to find it more productive to schedule seasonal projects. 

For instance, last summer he worked on redoing or back deck. 

Then in the winter he bought a little boat, stripped it down and built it back. 

This recent summer he did phase two of the deck (ya it's big), sorry no pictures of this phase.  Now the man has it in his mind this winter's project is to work on the inside of the house, starting with paint!  I'm for that one!

Although we have similar taste they are sometimes just far enough apart that we end up with nothing.  It sort of works for us.  Our color choices have always been in the warm neutral tones, soft blues and greens, except for the kitchen which may be extremely bold in comparison  (black & red). 

This weekend hubs took down an old light fixture and installed the new!  We both love it.

He then go busy painting in the hardest yet smallest room of the house.  The infamous pink bathroom.  We choose a neutral brown in hopes of toning down the pink.  New light fixture and towel bars complete the process.  Some day we hope to have an entirely new bathroom but until then we are just trying to make do with the original owner's lovely color choice in fixtures.

I also had a chance to get some of my own creative mojo flowing.  It was so fun simply because it felt like forever since I had sat down to ink and paint, cut and paste.  I know a little boy who's going to get an unusual Halloween 'card' soon.

That's about all folks.  And not as an after thought but...I am so proud of my husband and the hard work he puts forth on making our house our home.  Other than that, I really want to spend more time creating, my problem now, time and the mojo.  Until then,

hugs of love.

A Fallish kind of week and weekend

Well, well, well!  It's that time of year when things begin to cool off, chill down and get wet.  Here in the Pacific Northwest I don't really mind the cooling off part but I am not at all thrilled about the getting wet.  I know it rains here a lot, actually not anymore on average than it did in Texas.  Key words: on average.  The thing that gets me, or at least did this past winter, was the longevity of it.  I swear I didn't think Spring was ever going to get sprung around here.

The good news is I have a new adventure to keep me distracted from the weather.  It's now been just slightly over 30 days at the new job and all seems to being going well.  I work with some very nice people and have the opportunity to do well for myself there, I intend to make the most of it.

I'm still not finding creative time for myself though.  I keep promising myself time to play and create but it's just not happening.  For instance, I wanted to create Saturday yet the husband and I spent the better part of the day shopping for home improvement project supplies. The we get home and I have to put my part in play before the rains come.  I was so exhausted afterwards that sitting or standing in my creative space just was not in the cards.

We made an impulse buy Saturday at Lowes.  This Chocolate Mimosa Tree, it was regularly $50 but on sale for $20.  Bill and I both grew up with these similar trees in our childhood, so we just had to have one.  For me it was sort of like having a little bit of home here too, which makes me crave a crepe myrtle but I don't want to pay shipping to get one here.

Anyway, the tree was so tall it wouldn't fit in the back of the truck.  We had to prop it with the soil we had purchased elsewhere then leave the tailgate down.  We were worried the wind would beat it to death, so I had an "ah ha" moment and we bundled our hoodies around it and used the soil bags to keep them from flying away.  It worked too!  Everything got home safe and sound.

Sunday was a little less intense but still pretty busy.  We both actually slept in or at least for us it was sleeping in.  I got the laundry going then made the decision to get a hair cut.  I wanted something more styled.  My hair has grown out quite a bit but it's just sort of hanging there with no great style or shape.  I finally decided to go shorter again, not chopped like I've been known to do but brushing my shoulders kind of short.  If you saw my Vegas wedding pictures, that's the way I had it cut today.

We then had to go back to town because the Ott-Lite bulbs we got yesterday weren't the right ones, so they needed to be exchanged (these puppies are too expensive to just toss).  Bill had to get some black wood stain for his homemade keyboard tray, this also required a trip to Costco for a new office chair for the man.  Again, no creative time.

Sure I could've stayed home and let him run the errands.  The only thing wrong with that is, the weekends seem to be the only time we really do anything together and I enjoy the company of my husband.  I do wish however I could convince him to join my in my art, on a regular basis but alas that's my thing not his.

So, what did you do this weekend?  Write me a note and let me know.  Until then,

hugs of love.

A Charmed Kind of Day.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned I would go treasure hunting recently.  I have yet really go.  Sorry.  Our weather here has returned to the typical wetness for the region, it does not entice me to get out and about.  I just can't get motivated to get out and about.  Maybe if someone was with me to share the adventure but on my own, I'm just simply not motivated.

I did do some shopping this weekend for work clothes but that wasn't exactly fun.  I'm finding more and more often I really didn't appreciate my physic 20 years ago, or even less than 10 years ago.  We'll just leave it at that for now.

I did wanted to spend the weekend creating though not shopping ( I know shocking isn't it!).  Again, I just couldn't get motivated Saturday.  I tried to trick myself by making a promise to myself if I got all my housework done I could then work with my art.  It seems though that by the time I got the house work done, went to town for some work clothes then started dinner, I was just not wanting to do anything else.

This morning I started out again with a strong purpose to create.  I sat on the sofa with my coffee and before I knew it I was hooked on watching TV with the hubs for a while; DIY Disasters.  I think of this show as a 'how not to' kind of program.  We then spent a lot of time discussing paint color choices and decorating ideas for his home office space a.k.a. the previous dining room.  We are planning to begin painting the interior in the next month or so.  Although we know we have a general idea of design/color scheme, it has yet to be nailed down.  This concerns me because as hard as we try to communicate our ideas we often don't quite get it over to the other person.  ah well!  We did find Sherwin Williams HGTV color schemes very helpful, you should check it too.  If you'd like to see more of what we are planning you can check out my Home Board on Pinterest.

His plan is to start in the pink bathroom and work his way toward his home office.  I think of it as the start small and end large plan.  And yes, pink bathroom, see it has walls that are tiled half way up in pink ceramic tiles, a pink tub & pink ceramic tile surround, pink toilet and pink sink.  We are going to use brown on the white walls to tone down the pink until we can afford the major renovation maybe in a year or two.  There's nothing wrong with the fixtures other than the color pink, which would be terrific I think if it was just a girly girl bathroom but in this house, it's the ONLY bathroom, so the pink has to go.

I did finally start to get creative though.  I pulled out my care package from a few months ago and went through it looking to become inspired.  I created one trinket so far from that stash.  It did the trick though.  I then pulled out an old costume piece that belonged to my Grandmother.  I just now, as I type this post, realize what a dummy I can be!  Grrr!  I didn't take a picture of her necklace before I took it apart!  Gosh Darn it!  I have to remember that next time, why?  I don't know other than I think it's the right thing to do. 

I made a few little baubles and started on a few others.  Take a look.  You probably can't tell very well but the upper pieces are beads that are primarily yellow with a stream of pink and gold.  The lower unfinished pieces are yellow.   The original necklace was a three strand piece with the shortest strand riding a choker length, very 60's.

I also cooked a pretty awesome beef stew while I worked on these things so my creative mojo was good today!  Well that's all I have today.  Still enjoying the new job! Woo-hoo!  I hope you all have a wonderfully creative and fulfilling week.  Until next time,

Hugs of love.

Have you ever...

had just one of the most perfect days ever?  I'm sure you have.  I have been blessed to have had several but this past weekend was just so totally awesome.  I can't think about it without smiling.

We budgeted out expenses then went for it!  Neither one of us had been to a State Fair since we were young parents, somewhere back in time when our children were little and didn't cry to ride every ride or to play every game and we could afford to go if we didn't have to pay for them!  Yah!  That far back!  We're emptinesters now and we get to go play now! Na-na-na-bo-boo!

So we head out to The Puyallup Fair, where you may ask is that?  Well it's in Washington but of course.  It's not as near as large as the Texas State Fair but it had the atomsphere of a fair from our memories.  That memory was just what we were looking for this day. 

We planned to arrive around lunch time so we could begin our day with a fair staple, a corn dog!  Honestly, this was the only fried food we ate that day, although the plan was to try a fried candy bar or ice cream or even both.

We wove our way in and out of the exhibit buildings, because what's a state fair with out looking at the produce, various crafts and hobbies, canning, art work, animals....!  Then it was time for food again.  See, our plan for the day:  eat what we want, when we want, as much as we want, as well as, ride the rides we wanted, as often as we wanted, for as long as we could stand it! (we took it to 10pm)

This was the best day I've had in a very long time and I'm setting aside all the food and rides.  It was simply the best day for me because I shared it with the man I love.  We teased, cuddled and laughed all day long.  We shared a joy for a beautiful bright day.  It was just simply wonderful to be that day. 

I hope you all have a chance to experience such a day yourselves.  It really did my heart good.
Hugs of love.

Treasure Hunting and the ER

Yeppers!  I've neglected posting again.  Seriously, I want to post.  I think about what I want to say all the time, even with the pictures I'd use to help tell the story.  However, for some dang reason these last 6-8 weeks I just don't seem to have the umph needed to sit down and actually write out the darn post.  Sorry dude.

I had started to play catch up and was doing pretty good, I thought.  Then I stopped again.  So instead of just being anal about order etc... I'm going to dump what I've been wanting to share and maybe this will get us past this hic-up.

My day had started out pretty good yesterday.  I was going treasure hunting!  Woo-Hoo!  It's been starting to feel like forever since I get out and do some hunting.  I hit up a few garage sales that were still going on a beautiful sunny Sunday.  Some were fairly picked over but that was to be expected.  I went to a few Estate Sales, which always unnerves me but didn't really find anything at any of them.  My final point of destination was an Antique Store that was going out of business.  lately too many businesses are closing and this always makes me sad.  All I could do was try to support them and buy a few things now.  This was my view upon arrival at the store!

Beautiful isn't it and I'm standing in the parking lot!  You are looking at the Hood Canal with the Olympic Mountains in the background.  Lots of kayaks, a few sail boats and even a bow rider or two out on the water.

Of course I grabbed a few little treasures here.  I wanted more but I just changed jobs so...  I got 11 of these huge National Geographic maps from the late 40's - early 50's.  I love them.  What will I do with them, collage maybe?  I thought about framing a few sections of them, we'll see.  The other goodies I grabbed at a garage sale.  I'm not sure why I've been sort of collecting Hob Nail glassware but there are some pieces I just can't seem to walk away from.  I'm not really caring if it's a knock-off or not, if I like it and the price is right, I get it.  Of course, a $1 kitchen clock I'll deconstruct.  The little ceramic cocker will go somewhere special, anything cocker seems hard to find!  The wooden pedestal plate will sit somewhere in Bill's office space and hold beach treasures and this glass buoy I picked on this trip.

I had posted on Facebook mid-day yesterday about where I was on a holiday weekend and if you knew my husband you'd know.  Nobody said a word.  I was shocked, I half expected some family to at least post or maybe call, oh well.  I love my hubs but he's a bit of klutz sometimes.  We had a trip to the Emergency Room.  He thought he re-broke his foot, more specifically the long bone on the outer top edge.  A quick x-ray and a few minutes later we learn it's not broken but again we get this line "as we age...."  apparently there are some kind of growths that can occur between those bones on the top of your foot that can really cause some pain.  Oh Joy!

I just wanted to share this etched glass piece with you.  It's in the Emergency waiting room.  There is another section to the right which continues the scene of the salmon stream.  It's seriously all about the Salmon here in the Pacific Northwest!

Anyway, so off to Olympia to the closest Walgreen's to get some pain medication filled, remember it's Sunday.  It's all good.  He's better and I think we are both relieved that his foot isn't broken again.  While we waited on the prescription to be filled we stopped in the Barnes and Noble across the street.  You just can't go wrong going into that store!

Well, that was my Sunday.  Saturday wasn't all the eventful (laundry day) and today I cleaned physically and electronically.  I'll check back in with you soon.  Until then...

Hugs of love to all.