Camping trip is on!

Was tentatively planning on it starting tomorrow through Monday, but I had forgotten Kerry's Dad's knee surgery is on Monday. So, we are pulling out with the camper today, so that I can get some time away to rest, relax, and reflect. This is the first time we will have camped this year, besides the trip earlier to the races in Bristol, TN. Poor hubby won't get to stay all the time as he has jobs that have to be done here on the farm but he hopes to be up there the evenings and most of the weekend. We'll be coming back on Sunday.

I just got off from my work week, so I'm busily working on getting the camper packed up when I thought I might better post on here in case I don't get time to find some internet. I'm taking my computer, thinking that I might go catch a Wi-Fi connection somewhere or perhaps the park might have it by now. If not, I'll be back online come Sunday evening to respond to any messages.

I'm packing up some art supplies, books, movies, & magazines. I always take too much STUFF, but a girl needs to have options! I may not go anywhere but where we are camping I also could visit some shops or thrift stores if the mood strikes me. The doggies are going, of course, so I'll have company when Kerry is not there.

Still not received my shipment from Amazon with the book. I'm impatiently waiting! Wish it would get here before we leave. I'll be posting pics of my project when I get back.

Notes from the Universe

I signed up for these inspirational emails from here after seeing it mentioned on someone's blog. Sorry, I don't remember whose because it was one of those times where I clicked here and then there and then here and ... well, you know how it goes if you read many blogs, lol. I wanted to share one that I love:

"Some things should be done just for the fun of it. Not because they're inexpensive, practical, organic, logical, fashionable, modest, brilliant, green, expected, proper, spiritual, thinning, fattening, prudent, or allergen-smoke-chemical free."

Isn't that a great reminder!?! Children have no trouble with this. How do we lose this ability to do something "just because"? So, sometime this week, at least, do something just for fun.

BTW, when you sign up for the emails, the program asks you for some information about your dreams so that when the emails come they are somewhat personalized. I've enjoyed receiving them. Very often they bring a smile to my face just from the content of the message or from the funny way "the Universe" signs off such as the signature for the above message which was "please supersize me, The Universe".

Posting update, pics added

I've not had time to get pics uploaded which is one of the reasons I've not posted lately even though there is much going on right now. After being berated by Holly about no new posts, I'd thought I would go ahead and get one up here even without a photo, which I may try to add later.(ok, I've added a couple of Maggie so you can see her)

Holly and Chris are now in Waco, Texas. I helped them get packed up Wednesday,13th, along with my 2 nephews, and Emily's hubby, Craig. Holly and Chris left out early Thursday morning with one of the twins, Tad. Kerry was not able to get away from the farm until Thursday evening due to water leaks, etc, etc. which put us on the road ALL NIGHT, not arriving in Waco until 7 am on Friday morning. My other nephew, Ty, came along with Kerry and me to also help. We took a short nap and then were up to get their stuff unloaded. Don't know what we all would have done without the help of Ty and Tad(and my son-in-law, Craig, in getting the van loaded). We were fortunate as well that Chris has a cousin who will be living a couple of miles from them and he brought his foster sons over Friday afternoon to assist in unloading the Uhaul. We woke up Saturday to a day of rain, so if the truck had not already been unloaded it would have been a mess. So thanks go out to several young men!

Holly and Chris were allowed to repaint. They decided to do so and also to strip wallpaper from the 2 bathrooms which were sadly dated(we are talking faded blue and mauve floral print). Of course, this had to be done before stuff could be moved in. They stayed up most of the night Thursday after they got there and then we all worked together Friday and Saturday to get everything done and most of their stuff unpacked. Sunday we finished the unpacking and then got pictures hung and knick-knacks out. It was a marathon of DIY, unpacking, and decorating. We fell into bed exhausted Sunday evening and then got up Monday morning for a tearful goodbye to head back to Alabama. We drove to Tuscaloosa to leave the boys at their apartment and to pick up our doggies, Max and Maggie, from Emily's house.

Emily and Craig were really glad to see us! Maggie and their dog, Coal, had bonded and being very active dogs had played themselves silly. Poor Max thought they were fighting, so he kept trying to intervene and would try to get between Maggie and Coal creating a 3 ring circus, lol!

Still need to get some pics up here of Maggie. She is a mess! Sweet, but into everything! It's like having a manic 2 year old in the house. I found a chewed plug end the other day and have yet to figure out what it went to. Hopefully nothing vital. I've lost several house shoes, multiple pens, some book covers, magazines, etc. She will even chew on aluminum cans!

I've been having to hold back on some news on the art front for some time. I was involved in an art project that was submitted for publication in LK Ludwig's newest book, Collaborative Art Journals and Shared Visions in Mixed Media. This was months ago and while we had been told the project was included in the book, I wasn't sure if my part would be. The book is now out and evidently my work is mentioned. I'll be posting more about this later on. I've ordered the book from Amazon and will be able to tell you more for sure after I receive it. I do have scans of the art I made for this that I did before I sent them off but, of course, couldn't share them until the book was published. For now you can read what Deb Lewis, the group coordinator has posted about on her blog, Vintage Moon Studio.

This is the first time anything I've done has been published, so I'm excited to say the least. I've been too cowardly to submit anything or just not taken the time to do so. Deb was very instrumental in getting the group to get their projects ready for submission, so really I've her to thank for this.

Other things I've not really blogged about include gifts for Mother's Day from the girls which were a painting done by Holly and some pretty potted flowers from Emily and graduation pics from 2 weeks ago. Will try to get some of these posted soon. Also, I've not forgotten that I promised to do a one year anniversary giveaway, I just keep putting it on the back burner. I'll have to come up with another name for it when I do get around to doing it.

Oriental tags

Here are the tags I made for our recent tag swap on the atc_yahoo group. The scans weren't the greatest. I still had some tags leftover from a previous art project that had been aged with coffee, so that's how these started out. Above is the front and back of one of them and below the same for the other. We were supposed to decorate both sides. For the one with the woman on it, I collaged a piece of a pretty soap wrapper and then a stamped image which was hand-colored with pencils and pens. Also, some layers of color around the image with more stamping with extra color on the tag itself from several stamp pads just dabbed here and there before and after the collaging was done. Embellishments are flower brads, handcut and folded paper leaves, Oriental coin at the top with the fibers. For the back, I collaged some torn papers for the hills below the temple charm glued over a paper scrap and added a strip of ribbon to finish it off.

The butterfly tag below was a prettier color than shows up here, especially the orangey fabric strip in the fibers on top. I tried to color-correct it,but couldn't seem to get it right, maybe because it was a silk-type fabric with a little bit of a sheen. The front and back central images are from some stamps I have also colored with markers and pencils to enhance them some more. Again, overall used several different stamp pads to add more color. The butterfly was a printed image. I used some of the Sakura gel pens for extra color on the butterfly and the moon and bamboo and then decided some stippling with a black fine-tipped marker would add some depth around the back image.

Not sure if I'll have computer time or access until next week. I work one more night and then will be going down tomorrow, Wednesday, to help get the Uhaul packed up for Holly and Chris. Then we'll be leaving out on Thursday headed to Waco, Texas to get them settled in there. Kerry is coming down to Tuscaloosa on Thursday to pick me up so I can ride with him, after he gets some work down in the chicken houses that he needs to get done before leaving the farm with his Dad. The plan is for us to stay until Monday. I"m going to take my laptop, I think, in case there is come wireless internet available somewhere that I can use to check in here and to check email, but you never know if there will be time to do so and if I'll be able to find it.

Another beautiful tag

This one I received a few days ago, but I've not had time to blog about it. It was made by Jane Widman, from New York, who is another friend from the atc-group on yahoo. She was also one of the first people I swapped art with and is a very talented artist. The first atc's I received from her were all individually hand-drawn. Jane has since branched out to try collage. This tag is a lovely example of Jane's gorgeous work. Above are scans of the front and back of the main tag and then below is the sweet little tag tucked into the pocket, which is a little work of art all on it's own. I was a very lucky recipient in this tag swap! Thanks, Jane!

I've not heard yet if the tags I sent out were received. I hope so. I did scan them before mailing, but the scans turned out kind of dark. After showing the beautiful ones I received, I'm kind of hesitant about showing mine, but I will when I get time to post about it. They were Oriental in theme.

Life has been kind of crazy this past week, so that my time off just flew by, not allowing much time at home, much less time to be on the computer. The kids were home this weekend for a little while. My in-laws wanted to have a going away/graduation party for Holly and Chris. Then I went down Sunday evening and stayed until Monday evening to help Holly pack. Emily was off and my MIL went down, too, so the 4 of us were able to get a good bit done. Also, I volunteered to help out with a costume/drama committee at church and we've gotten together a couple of times during this past week. I let them know up front that I don't really sew. I was thinking I'd work on props or do handwork, but I'm proud to say I did sit down at a sewing machine and sew the edges down on a couple of belts. Maybe that will be enough to help me get over my fear of failure and enable me to get my machine out and attempt some art quilting when time allows.

Oh, yes, we also got another doggy during this week. Sorry, no pics yet as my camera batteries were dead and I just got some more yesterday. I had time to take a few pics, but not to get them uploaded to the computer or to post. I wasn't really ready for another pet at this time, but Kerry was. He insisted we go by Pet Depot Saturday to see the pups they had there from the shelter and we drove to the shelter to see the ones there. We ended up going back to the pet store and bringing home Miss Maggie, who posed her way into our hearts and our home. She is a one year old Jack Russell terrier mix who looks like a black/white border collie that started growing and then quit. Her hair is not slick short, but then not as long as a collie's either. Maggie is really sweet, but also a stinker. It's kind of like having a 2 year old in the house again. As soon as you turn your back, she's sneaking around and getting into something. I joked with Holly that this is one way to declutter. So far she's chewed the handle off of a shabby chic basket I had lotions stored in the bedroom and somehow managed to get a beeswax candle off the piano(? how this happened) and chew part of it up. So far no shoes have bit the dust, but a couple of magazines and a bottle of powder have. She is an attention hog so that we are having to really work to make sure Max gets some love, too. I'll be sure to get some pics of her on here when I have time. It is going to be hard to get a good shot of her since she hardly ever stops moving.

Not sure how much posting I'll get done here over the next week. I'm taking off work the next couple of evenings for Chris and Holly's graduation on Saturday. Holly is graduating Magna Cum Laude from the College of Education at the University of Alabama and Chris is getting his degree in Business. We are very proud of both of them! Then after I work off on Wednesday morning, we'll be going back to Tuscaloosa, loading a Uhaul with their stuff, and then leaving early on Thursday headed for Waco, Texas. Chris will be attending seminary there and Holly will hopefully begin her teaching career. They have found an apartment which Holly wants us to help her paint some of the rooms in before we get their stuff moved in. After helping them get settled in as much as possible, we'll be on our way back to Alabama, either on Sunday or Monday. I keep telling them I'm getting to old for this moving business, but they don't seem to be listening!

Lots of momentous events in our lives recently and to look forward to in our future. I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. Most of the time I'm ok, just taking one day at a time, but then sometimes it will feel overwhelming and I'll give in to a little cry. But that's all right, I'm gonna laugh and enjoy the fun parts of the ride, too!