Ready or Not a New Year is Here

Hey folks,

Hope everyone survived Christmas, and you got great new arty stuffs. I did get some stuff.

I got a cool bluetooth keyboard case for my Ipad. I love it. It is so much easier to do emails, etc.

I also got gift cards from:

Hobby Lobby (already gone)

Starbux (now on my Iphone, so cool to use)

Barnes & Noble

Stampers Corner (LSS)

Target

So I did OK in the gift card dept! And I also bought myself a used Canon Selphy Photo Printer! Woot! I haven't connected it up yet to my computer, because it is bluetooth and I want to print from my phone, so I need to get a bluetooth adapter for it so I can. Here it is, the box anyway, and a little help of the cat!

 

This next pic is a happy surprise. A few weeks ago, Seth Apter posted on Facebook that for one day his 2 new DVD's could be downloaded from North Light Books for $5.00 each. Well I ran there and found out that his were the only DVD's not listed for the $5.00 downloads that day. So I told him and he sent me both hard copies!! OMG!! I about died. Seth Apter is a genius and his backgrounds are fabulous. If you don't know about his art, run now to his blog and check his work out!!!

 

 

This past Thursday, I got to go up to Niles to my friend's studio and have an art day. I took my new friend Bev with me and I practiced working with the Gelli Plate. This is what I did:

I did a few more pieces over scrapbook paper, but these turned out the best on the old book pages.  I then talked to my sister from another Mother in Washington last night about printing stuff on scrapbook paper in your printer, so this morning I tried it and this is what I got:

This was a piece of 12 X 12 paper that I had on my art table that I would doodle on occasionally and so I cut it to 8.5 X 11 and put it in my printer and printed a journal page over it. Kinda cool. Of course I didn't take a before shot! Boo!

So yesterday I cleaned all day in my art cave and:

A cleaned off art table is a happy art table ready for new and exciting artsy adventures in the new year!

Happy New Year folks. Play it safe tonight!

Merry Ho Ho's

Hi,

I am off the radar at the moment.

But I will be attending 3 EXCITING ART DAYS in the near future I will want to share with you, so until then:


Happy Holidays!!

Be safe, hug your kids, your spouses, your partners, a stranger and laugh too much.

And since it is the 21st and I made it out of bed and am writing this, we survived!

I will be back in 2013 with a continuance of my chaotic life!! Until then:

Happy Holidays to all!

New Toys and New Friends

I have been bad again.....

I went shopping online recently and acquired new arty stuffs as you can see here.

 

I cannot pass up tape OR stencils and I really needed these. Yep!

 

 

I also needed new stickers for my journal that Sami was selling in her Etsy shop.

 

I am very excited as I met another new Art Friend this week, and I did NOT stalk her either. Cause now I have other folks doing my stalking for me. Hee! Her name is Bev and we met at the fancy new huge Starbux that is here the other evening so we could get aquainted and she checked out my journals. So now I have a bunch of close by arty friends. YAY!! So the secret to this is to find the time to have art days together. Hope that will take place soon.

 

This next week should be the last week I will have to actually travel for work for the remainder of the year. I asked for the last 2 weeks of the year off for vacation, and got it approved with a couple of conditions, but hopefully it will be OK! I want to do some clutter cleaning in my art cave! Or I should say, I must do some cleaning in here before my stuff completely takes over!!

 

OK I'm out!

Arty Curiosities & Other Stuffs

 

OK, so I came home from LA on Tuesday night and stayed home the rest of the week because of the Holiday and in doing so I have been experimenting with my Gelli Plate. Here is a pic of some practice prints I did with stencils:

I want to do a bunch more and add more layers to show very faint backgrounds as the very first layer and then add more layers. I need way more practice to make better backgrounds and find better colors that work together.

My friend Cheryl that lives in Washington and belongs to a great AJ Community there posted some home made tin type pics she made on her blog. She explained how to do it with transparancies and sharpie's. Cool! I am definately trying this.

AND in Tim Holtz' 2nd book, A Compendium of Curiosities Vol II on page 55 he shows a technique called Reflective Imagery. He shows how to take an antique looking paper photo, put packing tape over it, put in water, rub off the paper on the back to make it a transparency and tape it down on a piece of metal tape and then stick it to a clear fragment with Glossy Accents. Makes it a charm! COOL! I love new arty stuffs!

Yesterday my day was planned to go see "Hitchcock" at the theatre, but alas, it was not playing in Modesto yet, so no movies for me. Instead a person I used to work with asked me to go with her to Bingo.

So I did and had a blast, but alas, I did not win. I have not played Bingo in a very long time. It was fun to remember exactly how to keep up. And they sure play some confusing games now a days. Whew! I am going back soon, as it is cheap fun and I will win! Grrr! I am determined! LOL!

Do you all watch The Big Bang Theory?? It is my new sitcom love! I watch it as often as I can.

This week I was saddened when I heard that Larry Hagman had died. I loved him in I Dream of Jeannie and Dallas in the 70's as evil JR Ewing. I began watching the new Dallas that began this year also. He was as good as ever again as JR. Hope they continue it because it is now centered on JR's and Bobby's sons.

RIP

Well, that is it for another week. I must return to evil work tomorrow! Grrr!

Stay safe!

Easy Days Ahead....(I Hope)

Hey folks,

Just a short post to say Hey and to let some folks that care and read this blog that I am still alive and kicking.

As usual I have been busier than a cat in a room full of rocking, rocking chairs. But hopefully things will slow down a little soon.

 

Yesterday I wernt with a friend to the movies to see the new Lincoln movie. Since I am and have always been a Lincoln nut, I really enjoyed this. And since I never go to the movies and haven't since I went with my old Boss and the Ops Manager when we played hookey on a work day, a very long time ago, LOL, to see Nannie McPhee, it was a fun time.

 

This is the new fun arty thing I am jumping into next week. This is an amazing toy to use for making great prints. Check out Samantha Kira Harding Video tutorial that is now a separate blog post under this one. WOW! I need You Tube / Blogger Lessons STAT!. LOL

Anyway I will now go so you can watch it. Remember it is the next post down!

 

And in closing, this means that I have to fly to LA tomorrow for a class on Tuesday and will be home late Tuesday night. But I will be home the rest of the week! And then I will play with my Gel Plate! BYE

 

Learn the Basics with the Gelli Arts Gel Plate!

Through the Windshield

 

This is pretty much what I see these days. I travel back and forth to San Francisco each week for work and stay a couple of days and then travel back to my home office. That's about it.

This past week, a number of happenings have really slowed me down.

First I had my debit card hacked and purchases were made to my acct. Luckily B of A contacted me immediately to inquire to the purchases. They were made from a Gaming Company in Europe. Since I am not into gaming, it was easy to figure out, but I had to cancel my debit card. So now I am waiting on a new one to arrive, so until then, unless I write checks or go to the bank for cash, I have no immediate fundage. Interesting! I have to change some other stuff also. I have had a paypal acct with my debit card for at least 15 years that I use to buy tons of stuff online. Now I can't until I get a new card and number. This just plain SUX!

Also my beloved Ipod Touch quit charging this week. So I left it plugged in one night and the next morning it had a full charge?!? No lightening bolt when it is plugged in but it charges. I guess the battery is going. Ugh! Yes, my music is on my phone, but it burns up the battery quick, and I kinda need it for work.

In the course of these weeks I have let my Art Journaling go to the wayside. Yes, I hang my head in shame. But I am looking at stepping back into it full on again, soon.

And nowwe just found out the Hubs has been diagnosed with high blood pressure, Diabetes and high C! Yep he says I gave it to him! LOL

I wanted to give a quick update to the happenings in my world.

Have a safe weekend and I will catch up with ya later.

Arty Weekends

Hey, hey folks!

I have had a couple of exciting weekends lately. Both dealing with art!! YAY!!

I really needed something to bounce me out of my creative block. And so last weekend I attended a Junk Journal Class here in Modesto, taught by a great instructor Aileen Roberts at the Nasco store here. Aileen is an Altered Book Artist and lives just 3 blocks from me in a great big old house that is painted bright yellow and egg plant! So cool. It is a landmark.

Anyway, we started out with a Trader Joe's advertising booklet. This is a great resourse for a junky funky art journal. Then we scraped some paint and threw other stuff down.

This is the front cover.

The back cover.

 

And one inside spread. It was a blast and hope Part 2 will around the corner soon. Please go check out Aileen's blog and website, Outside the Margins, and make sure you check out her own creation of spray watercolors called, Color Mists. They are lovely and add a great finishing touch to collage, paint, ink, etc!

Yesterday, I traveled to Fremont to the Niles District back to my friend Maria's Studio for a day of whatever type of art we wanted to work on. Maria carved 100 rubber stamps this summer and WOW they are cool. (no, I did not take pictures) Dang!) Anyway, I asked her to show me the real basics. I still have a way to go, but these are what I carved yesterday on little Dollar Store erasers:

It was fun just trying to unwind, relax and wrap my busy brain around this very tedious task. I have a long way to go, but this was fun and I know soon I will going to another class that will stretch my carving senses even more. Oh, Lotus?????

Anyway, with that and my recent falling escapades, I have been busy, but moving slow. So onto the falling drama:

First I went "mud wrestling" in San Francisco when I slipped in a muddy flower bed, did the splits and went straight down on my left knee. Not fun. I was muddy from head to toe. My knee bruised and was a little sore, but not bad. Then last Saturday I fell down 3 stairs and really screwed myself up. Nothing broken, again just bruised and very very sore that had me walking with a cane for a few days. So have actully been lucky.

So my new goal is to keep upright. I saw this quote a few days ago, and decided this is me exactly:

LOL!

Well that's about all of the happenings for me, except for this:

Since the St Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants are in the playoffs this week and my son, when he was growing up here was a diehard Giants baseball fan, that now lives in Missouri and is now a diehard Cards fan:

Go Giants!!

Fun New Toy's

Hey folks,

Just a short post for this weekend, that is traveling at lightening speed to end!! It SUX, but that is life!

I went on a small shopping trip yesterday, since I heard that Dyan Reaveley had created her own art journal. So I ran to my local LSS 60 miles away and picked it up. OMG!! It is huge, like 9 X 12 but the journal inside the cover is 11.5 X 8.5. And it has beautiful card stock in it that takes any wet media; paint, inks, water, etc that you can throw at it. She has a video about it on the Ranger blog. Click away on her name above and WOW yourselves! I love this chick!

 

And Dyan also created this little book where she demonstrates her techniques. Love it!

And, onto the finale. Everyone knows by now, I think, that I jumped on the bandwagon for the new Iphone 5 as soon as it was released since I have held off ever getting one. And I also know that some will judge me, because I had to have the next BIG thing....BUT some others will understand when it comes to geekier stuffs, I have no resistance of any kind! I am a total nerd! LOL! So I am simply amazed at what this small wonderment can do.

I have discovered that I can actually work from this phone. I can look at spreadsheets and reports that are attached to emails, and that I can open an attachment at all and see ALL of it, is amazing. All of my email files are on it, for work and personal.

I am also learning about many new fun apps, like SoundHound, that, much like Shazam, listens to the song playing, names it and THEN puts the lyrics right on the phone and runs them in time to the music!!! WOW! since I am a have to know the lyrics to every song person, this is an assest. And it gives me an itunes button if I want to purchase it right then to add it to my itunes library. And it says that it will pick up a song even if you just hum the tune into the phone! Amazing!

But this week, I found out about The Motherload of apps, called TurboCollage. Roben Marie Smith, one of my fave art journalers and teacher's made a video about it and so I downloaded the app and tried it with shots of my journal pages. WOW WOW!!

 

Check this out!  It is an amazing app. I know I am going to have a ton of fun with this. And there is a version for Android phones also, so run, don't walk to this wonderful toy and have a ball. It also gives you options on posting them to Facebook, Twitter, email, etc!

I know now that this alone will have me taking waaay more pics of EVERYTHING in my life, which I don't normally do.

And please notice that I made the background pink?!? Can you even believe that? Lots of changes for me recently.

Anyway, Go click on Roben's name above and check out the great video tutorial that she created so you can create great masterpiece photo collages. And the best part?? The app is free!!! Woot!!!!!!!

Till next time. Bye!! Have a safe week, folks

Gone in the Name of Business

 

 

I began my Transportation career in 1985 driving a School Bus like the above, a 1972 Gillig. Very interesting to say the least. I was OK with the kids but it was not great with the other drivers. Attitudes and so much hatred, I had to leave and find another job. So I ended up in Modesto driving City Buses in 1990 like this one below for a small family company called T.R.I.P.S which stood for Tuolumne River Intercity Passenger Service:

 

Now these were fun. This is a 1963 GMC Transit Coach, (Think The Honeymooners). You could see the roadway through the floorboards. And smoked so much black smoke, you could not see who was following you. And no such thing as AC! Yikes! But baby they would fly! And they had no power steering so you would have to start turning the steering wheel a block from your turn. Whee! Anyway that started my career in Modesto 22 years ago. Of course now days the drivers drive updated equipment like this coach:

Since I have always worked for Contractors, I have worked for 3 different company's in the same  Modesto facility. And now this past weekend we had to remove everything out of the facility that belonged to MV Transportation and leave because another Contractor has acquired the contract and I am not employed by them, nor do I want to be at this time. My husband will be driving there for the new company and I will still be on the road responsible for one less division now.

22 years of my life, Gone in the name of Business just like that!

But WOW what a ride!

 

 

Home Again

 

Back again. I had a crazy week beginning with Monday, as they canceled my flight in Sacramento and then I had to scramble to get another, so I eventually ended up with a flight out of Oakland getting me into Dallas at midnight! What a crazy Monday! The rest of the week was not too bad and there was no drama with my return flight on Thursday except that my car was in Oakland and we flew back into Sacramento. So the GM from Modesto gave me a ride home from the airport and the Hubs took me to Oakland to get my car Friday afternoon.  I am now tired but I get to stay home for the next couple of weeks. At least home every night. That will be better.

 

I got to go tour the Dallas Cowboy's Football Stadium this time. OMG!! That place is amazing and if you ever get the chance, please check it out. We got to go into locker rooms for the players and the cheerleaders. And they let us walk out on the field. So cool! Of course they did not tell us we were going anywhere special so I did not take my camera, which sux, but oh well. I am not much of a football fan but maybe I am a stadium fan. It was a very awesome experience.

 

I have been very busy with work, but I actually did something for myself. I wrote a How to Drive Safe zine.

 

 

This is one sheet of 8.5 X 11 copy paper cut and folded into an 8 page, 4 inch booklet/zine. I made it to prove to myself I could. So the top pic is how it looks ready to be read and here it is unfolded for copying:

 

I just typed up each page with an 8 point font and kept it in the size I wanted. So then I printed and cut out each little page to fit between the folds and stuck them down with removeable adhesive, and then took it to Office Max and got them copied. Very fun and cool. After it is cut and folded correctly it becomes the little zine in the top pic. There is no printing on the other side. I have always wanted to create one, but didn't know what to put in one. So since teaching folks how to drive correctly is my career, I figured I knew more about that than anything else. So, if you are intersted in writing one for yourself,  you can Google 8 page zine to see how one is created. There are tons of You Tube Videos on the subject. And everyone is a master at a number of subjects that others would like to know about and this is a great way to get people to read your writing on the cheap. Oh and if you are interested in wanting this one, let me know, and I will send you one.

I have an art friend that lives in Modesto and she gave me a brand new Kodak Printer today that she won at a scrapbook expo and never used. So we hooked it up today and it prints the pictures like negatives. Freeky, but great for journal fodder. Anyway I am hoping to talk to Kodak Customer Service tomorrow to get it to print correctly. It is very nice and wireless.

I actually went to Michael's yesterday for the first time since May. I found a $25.00 gift card in my console that I had forgot about and used it. I got a mini label maker for the Smashbooks. $11.00, not bad. I love those punched labels for journaling.

And the big news this week is I have pre ordered the new IPhone 5!! Ta Da! It should be here next Friday. My HTC Thunderbolt is so hard to keep charged now and with the broken screen, it is bugging me to death. So by this time next week I will be a complete Apple Junkie sans Mac Book. That will not be happening any time soon.

So that is the new this week. have fun and stay safe.

 

Another $42.00 Crack

I cracked again. Just a little. Just $42.00 worth.

Well, it ain't my fault. Blame my friend Eva. She just had to tell me that Stockton had a new Hobby Lobby store that opened a month ago. So now you know why I cracked. But I got a few cool things.

 

 I guess since I have been out of touch, they have created 2 packs of Tim Holtz Distress Markers. And since Black and White are the 2 I use the most, I grabbed them. Also I got a Derwent Spritzer Bottle. It is larger than the TH one's I have. And above  these is a new waterbrush that has a plunger that  you pull the water up into it with. Cool!

 

 These 2 little packs of canvas banners, I could not resist. I need to get texture into my journal more and these might just do the trick.

 This was a great find. I love carpenter pencils, always have. My Grandpa always had one in his overall's pencil pocket. I thought it was great and because it was hard to sharpen because of it's shape even made it more cool. I will have to sharpen this one with the sharpener that came with it and let ya know.

 

This is just 2 pieces of 8.5 X 11" felt. Could not resist the peace signs and houndstooth.

 

Yep, you guessed it. I am flying on Monday back to Dallas again for more meetings and will return on Thursday night. I should be very smart with all of this knowledge I am getting lately.

 

So with that said, I will leave you now, as I must go and partake of a Sherlock Holmes Netflix episode as is now my nightly ritual. Hee!

Have a great week!

Hey, I Am Famous!

Erin Perry whom I spoke of meeting last week in Morro Bay featured me on her blog today. Cool! I am famous. Go to her blog, Altered by the Sea!

Back Again

 

Yep, I skipped posting for a couple of weeks. I made it back from Texas but getting ready to go back to Texas on the 10th again! Grrr!

Last week I was in beautiful Morro Bay for work and to cool off, and to meet the wonderful and very talented Erin Perry. She is super nice and creates beautiful journals. She is featured in the latest Somerset Studio with a piece inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Her piece is great!!

 

 Also, while I was in Morro Bay, the GM that works for us there told me that her son was at Burning Man this last week in Nevada and then showed me his 2 Steampunk Car Fins that he created 10 years ago when he was like 15. WOW!! They are amazing.

 

Yesterday I went on a road trip. I drove to the BART Station in Dublin-Pleasanton with my room mate and he helped me ride Bart, which was new to me and also ride the Muni Train to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for a Zine Fest!!!!! OMG!! I had a blast. I have always wanted to write my own zines and books, etc. I met a ton of great artist and writers. I grabbed a lot of stuff and only spent about $100 bux, including travel and lunch! See the pics below of my stash. Click on the pics to make them larger.

 

Zines, Stickers and Cards, Oh My! Plus 2 collage packs for my journal, I was not expecting. 2 large rooms were set up with vendors. And free admission. Most folks did not understand art journaling. Funny, that I had to actually explain it so much. Most of these folks are really into protesting something with their products. 2012 Hippies! Love it! There is another one in Berkeley in December. I am planning to go!

So now I am in the process of writing a small 8 page zine to teach fools how to drive correctly. I know the material inside and out and can't wait to get started. Oh, and I am learning how to draw bamboo right now. Sounds simple, but it had me stumped for awhile.

I am also going to get in line for the new IPhone 5 or whatever they are goinng to call this one when it comes out sometime this month. I broke the screen on my Android phone months ago and it is time for the best I can get since my job pays for about 50%  of my bill each month anyway. So soon I will post about another new baby. Woot!

Well I think that just about does it for this time. Stay safe, folks! I mean it!

Trying to Out Run the Heat!

I am so busy running crazy for the day job, that I forgot to post last week. Yikes!

One day last week,  I actually took a break right in the middle of work. We have a division that drives shuttle buses from May to September in Sequoia National Park. So since I have never been up there, I thought it was time to make the 2 hour trip out of Visalia. So 8000 feet later, I got there. WOW!! I actually worked, then went on a tour with the Road Supervisor.

 Here I am in front of a GIANT tree root! Wow!

 And another of me standing in front of this tree called the General Sherman. Yikes! Below is the history of it. Click on it to enlarge it to read. Very cool stuff.

This is the Valley seen from Morro Rock. That white spot on the bottom is a river. Weird, how I have 2 divisions in 2 different locations that have tourist attractions called Morro Rock!

This is called Tunnel Log, and I made the Rd Supe go drive through it for me! Hee! This whole place makes you feel really small!

And just so you would believe me that I was working, here is a pic of one of the very large buses we drive up there on very narrow roads with crazy looky loo tourists on edges of cliffs! Yikes! Very scary looking out of the window straight down 8000 feet, half of the time with no guard rails!

And you know what this means. I am flying out to Dallas tomorow morning for a week of meetings and will fly home Friday night. More heat AND humidity! WOW! Last week in Visalia it was 107 and 108 everyday! It was, to say the least, very uncomfortable. That ain't good on me body!

I have not worked in my journal for quite sometime. Just too exhausted most of the time. But next week I am heading to cooler weather. I am going to Morro Bay and  again I have stalked another arty person that lives there. I am so thrilled to be able to meet Erin Perry. We are meeting at the only, (I think) Starbux in Morro Bay for a meet and greet and to check out journals!! Whee!! Can't wait.

Have a safe, cool week!

PS: See up at the top of my blog, on the right that says I gave the gift of time to an artist? Well there is suppose to be a button up there also for Less Herger of Comfortable Shoes Studio. But I am so blogger gadget challenged, I could not get it up there, but anyway, I donated some fundage to help her out so she can stay home from work one day and use that one day strictly for making art. Please check it out.