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One of these days....

It has been so long....

Hello...(echo...hello hello hello) is anyone out there ( out there out there out there) ? lol Truth is....my life is so darn busy....and so much has been going on I kinda just didn't even know where to start but when you enjoy writing and blogging artfully....there is a nagging sense of oh man my blog.....I really gotta get back to my blog...I haven't blogged forever!!! It's driven me to the brink of madness...ok I was already there but let's go with it.....

So...some things really haven't changed very much. I am working lots of hours, still taking care of my dad on the weekends and working hard to sell my SHE dolls. I also have been working on dolls as part of an online doll making class I have been taking. Danita Arts "A Doll Story" course to be exact. I just love Danita she is a hoot and such a joy to learn from. I really admire her unique dolls and what goes into them. They are hard work but they are so incredibly cool and worth it...each doll takes on a life of its own and personality as it goes from a simple pattern into a beautiful doll.

I got very sick with Bronchitis and acute Sinusitis. Missed nearly a week of work...was sick with it for a month and just as I started getting better...I got it back. Two months later I am happy to say ( and knock on wood) I am feeling much better. I was probably more sick with this than I have ever been in my adult life. This has been the first time that I actually considered getting a flu shot or was angry with myself for not getting one. Everyone in my life gives me a hard time about not getting a flu shot and not a one of them skipped a beat when I got this sick however.....let me point out that ...this years flu shots have been revealed to be entirely POINTLESS. The flu that is going around has mutated and a new shot wont be available for another 3-4 months. Basically Spring so lots of good it would have done right? I once got a flu shot and it was the last time I got one. I got so sick from the shot I felt like I honestly really had the flu...it was not mild and just symptoms...I got very sick and from then forward have not wanted one. I do believe that the elderly should get one every year...it's just too hard on them to bounce back from. And so.....the holidays are right around the corner...that too has been keeping me rather busy. Thanksgiving....Happy belated Thanksgiving to you all..... however many of you are actually still reading my  posts when I show up twice a blue moon :)

Been working with some paper clay....very interesting stuff and the possibilities are endless. Paper mache has come a long long way from third grade when we cut newspaper in strips and dipped them into cold sticky flour and water mixture....anyone else remember doing it that way?

Artistically I find myself a bit frustrated. Frustrated with how many directions my interest go in. It keeps me from ever really being 110% in with any one medium or genre of art. My interest is not just photography and not just mixed media art or journaling...I love sculpting and blogging artfully....writing...painting...mixed media art...some graphic design, digital art, sewing, doll making, image transferring....it just doesn't stop and the problem with this is that my list of things I'd like to do or try is ever growing and each day I wake....there are no more hours added to the day. my interest I guess are scattered and I have been thinking about 2015 and where I'd like to go with it.....I think it would behoove me....ha...love that word behoove....it would behoove me...to narrow a few interest down until I am either no longer interested, or have more hours added to the day. And that is whats been going on ....and then some but nothing note worthy for this here blog. 

Yes...frequency is on the list for 2015. Keep an eye out. 

Fall Morning

Raise of my coffee cup to you....good day palz....hope this finds you all well. So sorry for my lack of posting but I was rather sick and yes...as always very busy. I am still getting over the last bits of a severe case of Bronchitis...feeling much better but this cough just lingers...Also been rather busy with sewing my SHE dolls, running the art group I have and all of its swaps......yawn.....and work of course...taking care of my dad on Sundays...you get the picture. Finally got out for a bit with my camera to enjoy a beautiful Fall day of Friday..had a vacation day and utilized it for a nice ride in the country to some of our favorite towns..as well as Blake's Cider Mill and one of my favorite locations The Lambs Tail. Here are a few photos from my ride in the country.

 Beyond that worked on an October Zine...

Really loved how my Edgar Aleen Poe page in my zine came out so I made that page into some Halloween post cards! Will be sending those out to friends and loved ones this week so they get them by next week. 

Some Gelli Plate playing last night ..catching up on swaps

 In love with Dina Wakley line of stamps. Attended a stamp and scrapping convention yesterday with my sister Vickie, Don and Chris ...had a great time and fell in love with all the great products Dina is coming out with...wish I knew how to get a company to create my stamp designs...

 Boo buckets for my girls...we had a fun night last weekend watching Bettlejuice, making mummy wieners and swapping booo buckets! 

And...well you can see I've been busy...I've made and sent out close to 60 SHE Dolls in rhe last two months as well. Where do I find the time? I beg for it bargain for it ....I really don't know there is NEVER enough time in the day for me. Today? Heading down to take care of my dad...going to go check into a car I might buy and then to my sisters to swap boo buckets and have chilli!! Yum! You all have a great Sunday night and hope you enjoyed this visit! xx

Top Five Fav's

Hello Cherrios!

Good day indeed....hot but a good day. I think I missed a Sunday post forgive me...life has been a bit busy.

I do hope this week's Sunday night blogging finds you well and in good spirits..

I was talking with an art friend of mine and we were discussing how sometimes as an artist we both tend to go through phases...phases with colors...phases with mediums...sometimes I will get an itch to sew...and I will dew like its no ones business for weeks....get tired of it and something will get my attention...a new rubber stamp or anything really...glad I'm not alone in that...thought it was a nutty Deb thing :) This weeks top five favorite things for me happen to be sewing...been making and selling my SHE dolls like crazy lately..I cant seem to keep up with all the people who want one but luckily they all understand that I do work...and my art friends are the most patient people...shipped off about 12 of them this past weekend! Yay! Right? I've also been working on some wooden houses...I had Don cut the wood for me weeks ago but the edges were a bit rough...sanded them down and smoothed the wood out and now they are perfect!

My third of top five fav tings this week is happy material.

..I have been sifting through various fabric stores and scraps i have from all sorts of projects and have some of the cutest fabrics for my dolls...stoked about happy material!!! Fourth in top five fav is my favorite coffee cup..its one thing to be  happy to have a great cup of coffee but i have a few favorite coffee cups that are meaningful to me for one reason or another....this particular coffee cup was from an ex supervisor who was a mentor to me in many ways...we got along very well neither of us were happy in the jobs we were in and when i told her that I found another job and would be putting in my two week notice she was so happy for me and supportive and she threw a party for me...she bought me this mug and knowing how scarred I was to take a leap of faith and leave a job I had been at for over 8 years...the cup meant a lot to me and severed as a reminder! Now it serves as a reminder of her and what a cool person she was to work for and with. Miss you Wendy! Hope you are well! :)

and...

trinkets and buttons....all things I am using on many different projects...they make me happy!! :)

Hope you have had a great holiday weekend this far..looking forward to having a Monday off tomorrow for art!~Be blessed friends....xx

Taking Time For Pause

I guess that when you get older you realize that some cliche's have been established and long standing well known because there just really is something to them. Cliche's are highly under rated honestly...it seemed to be the cool thing to dismiss anything that remotely sounded "cliche"

I read that line earlier and its been stuck in my head ever since..."Take time to pause" on the publication Bella Grace....which I'm currently having a love affair with....

Incredible publication.....but that line..."Take Time To Pause"...been feeling a bit unhappy in general lately..nothing I could really place my finger on...and I'm so full of gratitude in my life for all that is well..my children are safe and sound..I love my job, I love my art group which is going very well, I am content in matters of the heart....but this line..."Take Time To Pause"  I've not done this in some time. My life is always go. Go to work, Go take care of my father, go help my mom out, go here go there get up tomorrow and go again. My art sessions of late have been rushed and never long enough and it dawned on me ..I do not get a chance to pause....to really pause. To sit alone and listen to water by the lake with wind in my hair and my eyes closed..that's always soothed me....to curl up with book or my nook and have nothing to do for anyone for an entire 24 hours. I sometimes like to recharge in the sun...especially the morning sun with prayer and thanks for the day. I honestly try to never miss that...it usually takes place before the sun even comes up in the mornings before work..or on my way depending on the day...even if I know the day has potential to stink I still always thank the Lord for each and every one of them....

Our camping trip a few weeks ago offered a little time to pause...but we only camped over night so it was not very long lived or enough by any means....I feel Fall coming..that could have something to do with this as well. I love Fall and all that it has to offer..it would be my favorite season of them all if I did not know what follows it and Winter is not my friend. Knowing that football season is almost here and that the winter will follow it kinda puts me in a mood of desperation to enjoy what is left of summer...but I never time....

During the week I leave the house at 7:40-8:00 depending on the morning...it takes me close to an hour to get there and settled by the time my shift begins....I get off work at 5:30 however...my ride home from work is horrible...hour and a half at least...in rush hour bumper to bumper no one will let you in or over kinda traffic....and by the time I get home and change my closes...have a bite to eat...I'm either A. so exhausted and just want bed or have b. very little energy...when the weekend comes Friday is usually my pay bills day balance the check book, run errands for the household day...we never end up sitting down for a quiet evening until 10-11 pm on Fridays...Saturdays are sort of my only day off to relax or go to places i am interested in or take photos...and Sunday consist of taking care of my dad who isn't doing well and seeking my mom who isn't doing so great either....father lives an hour away downriver and we clean, do his shopping, pick up his prescriptions and such...and there you have it ..that is usually my week....

I need time to pause. To re-group..to breath fresh air and let worries vacate my soul...flee from me TIME has not been my friend there are so many artful projectors I want to get to so many ideas i have locked in my head for when I "have the time" ...I'm getting desperate for some "time". Taking time to pause to me is not so much about relaxing....I find time to do that watching a movie or hanging out with the kids...surfing pinterest in bed at night on my nook....taking time to pause for me is more a spiritual thing...a time with nothing to reflect...plan for what you really want to do...give thanks...take notice...

I'm going to make a way for more time to pause...to plan better the time I do have to accomplish things I've been wanting to do for a very long time...like get published, write more, get to some art projects that have been looming in the back of my mind....usually my artful time consist of me saying to myself..."ok Deb you have two hours tonight before you have to be in bed and you have this this and this to get in the mail this week for swaps and don't forget to send this person a card in the mail.....it is more rushed than I would prefer and that is not good for creativity....it does not allow me explore...or stumble upon new things...and so....am I just rambling? Possibly so...I am tired....very tired. Deep in thought....the phrase "Take time to pause" haunting my brain a bit...making me aware of the fact that it is ...in fact..what I need more of right now. 

Time.

To pause. 

Sunday Evening

Hi friends....
In trying to keep my word to get better about keeping up on my blog I'm trying to at least commit to Sunday evenings...during the week its rough working so many hours doesn't leave a great deal of time in the evenings for art, art groups, family, relationship...and sanity/ sleep...lol So ...here we are ...Sunday evening. It's been a rather relaxing weekend finally...something I really needed was feeling major burnout from weeks prior being constantly on the go and busy...this weekend I stayed home aside from some small errands and of course on Sunday's I go down river and help take care of my dad....I worked on some art which was nice made four little mixed media dolls...here is an image of three of them..have another but haven't taken a photo of it yet that is decent just my sorry camera on my cell its horrible...I call these dolls "She Dolls" each one has a story...some funny some serious....like.."SHE should have been a ginger" HA that orange hair cracks me up!!

 Sorry about the watermark this is the only one I have to share at the time...but really having fun with these they are not meant to be perfect they are meant to be FUN!! And that they are...sloppy little messes of JOY! Funny and cute! Did these on canvas material with the image transfer technique for the faces...some of these dolls are painted and sewn and some are sew with material on top of canvas and stuffed...not stuffed tightly but slightly... so fun! That orange hair...just kills me...lol That was not the idea when doing it but I sat it down and when I came back to it and saw the hair i laughed so hard and thought...Mona Lisa gone Carrot Top...had to run with it lol

Not much else is new in my life right now...just been working and working and working lol This is a good thing it aids in surviving this life....news all over the world getting me down making me sad and frustrated with the worlds lack of need for peace and rather a need for territorial ownership....its none of yours....if its not all of yours. God made it..who are you to claim it....unrealistic I know...naive I know...OR...maybe..that is how it is...that simple.  Onward....it sickens me.

Keep an eye out for Sunday's and if time permits I will certainly post through the week...and thanks for stopping by beautiful friends....be kind where ever you go....<I read that somewhere once..or something like it....xx

Debs

Sunday Blogging

Hey there friends....how are ya huh? Hope thew world is being good to you...coming to you in a summer thunderstorm kinda evening...hey did you know if you are not into the music on my page or it distracts you from reading the player is located all the way at the top up there ^ you can mute it or stop the player...I love my playlist right now cant bring myself to change it...In fact I have my blog open in another tab so I can listen lol

Life has been fairly busy for me. LOVING my new job and all the people there...its a fun place to work and a great deal of information to learn but its a completely different environment than the last two jobs I had that made me miserable...the dynamics in a work place mean everything really. They mean the difference between total depression and happiness in my world...I have to actually like the people I spend every single day with and the group of folks at my new place of employment are really cool people..I'm very happy just hate the long rides to and from work its quite the drive..but it gives me time to wake up...listen to some good music or Dave and Chuck the Freak...those guys have me cracking up every morning....

What else is going on in life? Well we just got back yesterday from a couple of days of camping up in the thumb (Michigan) beautiful area and we just love it there...camping can be a bit rough if you are not prepared well..getting better at that part....lol Although I did get a splinter and had nothing to dig it out with....kind camping neighbors gave me alcohol swabs and a safety pin and I did the surgery fairly quick...cried like a big baby ;) Splinters those little bastards hurt....

Here are a few photos from the weekend....

our view

White Rock

beautiful sunsets up there...despite some clouds it was a great night in Port Austin

my favorite place to watch sunsets up there....love this place so much..

photo compliments of google

So we usually camp in Port Austin...this time we camped in Harbor Beach, MI and we used the Saturday to drive up around the tip of the thumb through Port Austin and Caseville...had a bite to eat and drove back watched the sun go down in our favorite spot up there...was a nice getaway that went by too fast! 

What else....just did a graphics side job for Don's ex wife's company...had fun with that project and here is a photo she sent me...my work is the large 8 foot banner to the far left in the image...really cool to see my work go to print and not bad side job loot either! grateful for the opportunity! 

Artistically just been working with carving my own stamps...its a process much harder to do than most people think ...by hand that is...but I've been loving it only cut myself bad once so far but you learn after doing it what NOT to do here are a few images of my practicing that...

not bad for first ever tries at this carving thing...started going bonkers its kinda relaxing and stressful at the same time...lol

tools...used the stylus and it worked nice for tiny pokes and holes

just trying them out with some color to see how I did...some are great some are okay and some suck real bad lol

 And so...aside from working that is what I have been up to...hope you are enjoying the summer where ever in this world you are tonight...that could be just about anywhere right? :) Work week just a few hours away and the clock is tickin....good night friends xx

Two Months Later....

Hello...its been awhile...yes I know. Been a busy life for the last two months...let's see what has gone on in the last two months since my last post?

Started a new job that I love! Working for a great company, in a great location, with a great team...can't beat a job where Nerf guns are mandatory and 100% encouraged! Where looking forward from my desk..there are floor to ceiling windows with forest life outside of them...I'm very happy where I am...:)

Saw The Goo Goo Dolls for my ninth time! Woohoo right?! Girls bought me two tickets for my birthday and that was awesome but as the concert got closer thought I wouldn't be able to make it...started the new job and the timing was horrible...but glad we went it was a GREAT show....

Been taking care of my dad on the weekends...he needs a hip and knee replacement....well into his 70's he is having a hard time getting around so on the weekend Don and I go down to his place and do his laundry, grocery shopping cleaning and pick up his prescriptions...will be a major surgery and he will need a great deal of help once that is done...

Art group The Enchanted Imaginarium is alive and kicking! Thriving! Grown in numbers like crazy in the last couple of months and feeling really proud of what it has become...as of this morning there are nearly 300 members from all over the world. Group has grown to mean a great deal to me!

Been enjoying summer as much as possible while working full time and even outside of work...love my flowers as always..playing with some photography....have done a few photo shoots this summer so far...loving it! And well thats about it in the last two months...really loving my gelli plates and having fun with those...been making some B Books...(bitty books)

Enjoying the secret garden....

Happy Belated forth of July....

 As you can see....I've been pretty busy all of this and working and dad and wow right? indeed...

trying to enjoy life a little...the summer...nature...kids...art...

Talk to you again soon pals! 

xx