THE PAPER PLACE GIVE AWAY

Just stumbled across this treat and potential opportunity to all paper artists today:




















Gotta love a give away of that much sexy paper!
Hit the photo above for a link to what I am jabbering about.

SLOW DOWN

Today I was forced to slow down and chill out due to a cold/flu thing coming on...well, it's already here. I fought it hard because my proverbial "to-do" list is always 10 times as long as it ever is this time of year.

In the end it has been a good day of kicking it on the couch with plenty of OJ, green tea & honey, my big bottle of Wellness Formula, cat sitting at my feet keeping them warm, lap top on lap keeping it warm, Pandora.com streaming my favorite music and all sorts of good reading. I received an order from Amazon several weeks ago that I've had no time to even crack. Now I am getting down and dirty burying my head in some crafting books gleaning ideas for holiday gifts. It's going to be a crafty Christmas with the current state of the economy kicking my pocket book's butt. And "makin' stuff" is my therapy from my crazy life. Cheaper than Prozac or Xanax...hee.

I am usually quite anxious when I am "forced" to slow down due to unforeseen causes because getting sick is never something I am very good at working into my schedule. I gave in today and decided to go with the flow, listen to my body and take care of myself first instead of driving myself to a place of potentially more discomfort by go-go-going.....

....and I survived with little to no anxiety attacks today. I feel better already and I have even done some writing which I have been neglecting or simply NOT prioritizing.

As Martha would say, "It's a good thing." And it has been.

Getting quiet and hanging out with my own thoughts and the cat (super good example of the zen of chillin') has helped clear my head of so much clutter that builds up this time of year. Over the past 10 years, this time of year has been extraordinarily frantic for me and rarely a joy until December 25th when I can hide from my regular work world which often expects more of me than I can give. It is that part of my life that is "closed for business" on the 25th and I can just breath if only for a day.

I remember when I was a kid, living with my father, how holidays such as Christmas often ended up being a day we did a top-to-bottom cleaning of the house. Odd, I know, but his life as a single father working full time as an attorney left him little free time so we would hunker down together, bleach out the toilets, fill the dishwasher, vacuum the carpets and then head over to someone's house for holiday dinner that evening. Can you believe I actually enjoyed this? Could be because I was hanging out with my father and even though I was not a kid who enjoyed house work, I obliged him on the 25th (and Easter) maybe as a small gift to him. I now have a Pavlovian desire to clean house on major religious holidays.

So, here I am chilling, writing a blog entry which I have not done in ages but crave to do so every day but there just are never enough hours in the regular work day. I may be physically sick today but I feel so good right now.

BIG PICTURE STUFF: I am at a crossroads in my life where my priorities are shifting away from that which creates chaos in my life and I want...NEED... to take the road where I can glean more joy from what I spend my time doing. And have faith that I am doing right by those that I share space with on this Earth. Critters and people alike.

It's a risky time to take a leap of faith with the economy in the crapper but I have faith that as soon as I commit to the major life change I have been contemplating for a long while that good things will come. As Mahatma Ghandi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." It starts right here, right now, with lil' ole' me.

I am a creative person by nature and I have stifled that for so many years just to keep putting food in my mouth and have health insurance but if there is no joy, no passion, no growth...then, what? I may as well forgo the insurance and lay down and die. SO, for me, it is time to turn a corner, breathe deep and LEAP!

Wish me luck...

SCRAPPY BOOK mentioned on cool blog...thank you!

I've been a bad blogger because I have been in a creative phase and have been taking pics and notes and plan to share, I promise but in the mean time I was delighted to find my lil' article on my Scrappy Book article for Quilting Arts mentioned on this super cool blog called THREADBANGER. I am trying to create some more "GREEN" projects as I move along on some other projects I am currently working on. As my ideas come to fruition I promise to share.

In the mean time thank your ThreadBanger!

STUDIOS A SPA FOR THE CREATIVE SOUL review

Okay….big old thumbs up to Cloth Paper Scissors new publication, STUDIOS: A Spa for the Creative Soul. I am in the midst of putting together my first “studio”. The last few years as my personal “creative soul” has expanded, my creative tools have moved from dining room table, to kitchen to bathroom, to shelves ALL OVER THE HOUSE….now, for the first time I will have one room dedicated to what I love to do which is CREATE. It is in the shelf-with-stuff-in-disarray point as I figure out the best storage solutions for all that I need for what I do and I DO A LOT! I dye, I paint, I tear, I glue, I rip, I stitch, I stain, I emboss, I bead, I repair, I …well, I just about do it all if it has to do with fabric or paper.

I have to admit that I have yet to READ it cover to cover but I have looked over all the photos of all the studios meticulously cover to cover and there are some great creative ideas for getting your creative world organized. The number one cool thing is that not all of the studios are SUPER PERFECT studios like in most publications where your mouth drools at the completely impossible especially if one is on a budget. Don’t get me wrong, there are shots of magical studios that one can only dream of but some of these rooms look much like my own and look like someone really works there. In fact there are 2 publications advertised in this publication that though I love them, I KNOW the studios pictured just can’t possibly look that perfect except for the photo shoot for the book. To clarify, I am not talking about the “before” pictures, either in a “before and after” feature in STUDIOS. A good example is the article, “fun & functional” by Jane Wynn. I don’t have a space as big as hers but her studio looks like a real studio and she utilizes many similar storage solutions that I do. I am at a place where I can’t spend a lot of money but it needs to be done and plastic storage is economical which is a plus. She uses it a lot in her studio.

I really love this publication and am referring to it quite a bit as I begin to get my mess organized and culled down.

Thank you, Cloth Paper Scissors! I love your publications! All of them!

Here is a link to order your own copy of STUDIOS A SPA FOR THE CREATIVE SOUL:

STUDIOS A SPA FOR THE CREATIVE SOUL

Here is a link to an on-line newsletter “how to” article I did for Quilting Arts, from the publishers of Cloth Paper Scissors:

Quilting Arts Embellishments newlsetter #50

THE JOURNEY BEGINS…or have I used that corny subject header already?

So, I admit to someone at work yesterday that I am someone who visualizes herself putting on those new tennies and comfy clothes and taking long walks and going for a jog or working out after work and every night I fail miserably and find myself wrapped up in computer work sitting on my growing behind, designing art or just being a couch potato watching American Idol (cuz that cute guy with the dreads is a friend of a friend of mine) despite the best of intentions of doing something physical. I have found that being a creative person to move forward and open the mind, ya just gotta go hang on a jungle gym, jump up and down, chase butterflies, do yoga….whatever it takes to get the heart rate up and come back to your creative space and you will be amazed at how you not only feel those endorphins flying through your body on a natural high but your mind opens up.

I took my first long solo walk last night IN A LONG TIME and will be putting my tennies on again in a few to do it again….last night I took my camera along to take pics of my journey but tonight will be all about “the burn”….hee….so no pics this time but maybe tomorrow when I do it while the sun it up, I’ll shoot some flowers. It is such a high to walk at night here because the jasmine is in bloom and something else that has a spicy sweet scent that I am clueless as to what it is but will find out from a California native. It intoxicates me. I will go a woodsier walk tonight but last night was down a major thoroughfare, safe but well, walked so I learned that I can get a Thai massage until 10pm for 35 bucks just walking distance from the homestead…good to know.

It was heaven.

A photo on the way.....

I made a restaurant for some "to-go" organic food my destination (I am such a Virgo that I have to get something crossed off my “to-do” list when I am doing something else whimsical like “working out”….I am sooooo lame!) and then back home but the organic place was closed so I backtracked to this great coffee shop where I used to do comedy...my first early sets. They have insanely great sandwiches and salads, so white albacore tuna on rosemary bread it was. As I waited, there was a free LA yoga publication on the table and I flip through it and unexpectedly find a friend of mine has this article in it that I was meant to come across last night. I think you will like it, too.

Here is a link to an on-line version:

MY OTHER CAR IS A YOGA MAT

Enjoy....I must send her a note because I loved this as I had no idea that she and I have such similar issues. In fact, I chipped a tooth with the same plight she suffers from.....once ya read, you will understand!

Martha Stewart and John Patrick Shanley

I am in the midst of finishing up reading, The Martha Rules, the book that Stewart worked on while she was in prison. Do you know how hard that was for me to write: “while she was in prison.” In retrospect it is so odd that MARTHA STEWART served time but I guess it “served” her well since her company is doing GREAT!

In Chapter 7 there is a quote that spoke to me at this time in my life:

“If you are resistant to change or if you refuse to change, you may as well call it a day. In other words, when you are through changing, you’re through.”

She repeats the 2^nd part of this thought a second time at the end of the chapter just to drive it home for me.

My life is at a fork in the road and is full of change whether I ordered it up myself, or not. It has been one of those cosmic things where I so desperately begged for and desired change but did not have the courage or strength to do it myself. Well, the cosmic universe ripped the carpet right out from underneath me and gave me a full platter of CHANGE and it tastes oh so good. Oh, it put a sour taste in my mouth initially, I won’t lie. In fact, I nearly choked on the suddenness of it all. But like ripping a band aid off a wound as quick as you can, it had to be done at some point or like Martha says above, you may as well have stuck me 6 feet under in a wooden box.

My life has been full of bouts of SUDDEN change over the past few years starting with the sudden passing of my father January 14^th 2006. I lost my very best friend and advisor so wise. I now talk to him late at night and wake up with his voice in my head and he guides me from far away.

I am a work in progress working hard at becoming a courageous person who is facilitating her own change instead of having it dumped on her lap unexpectedly.

There is a quote that appears in a forward to the play, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, written by John Patrick Shanley that came to mind after reading Martha’s chapter lucky number 7 that has always been a favorite quote and one that I used to strive to live by but had given up as fear built up inside of me through the years of living in a rut. Now that I am feeling more courageous in this great thing called LIFE, I am dusting this favorite quote off and giving it another chance.

“I am not a courageous person by nature. I have simply discovered that, at certain key moments in this life, you must find courage in your self, in order to move forward and live. It is like a muscle and it must be exercised, first a little, and then more and more. All the really exciting things possible during the course of a lifetime require a little more courage than we currently have. A deep breath and a leap.”

-John Patrick Shanley-

There is plenty of “leaping” left for me to do so I better start working out….a little and then more and more….."it's a good thing"...or "thang" when my Texas accent comes out to play.

PEGGY LEE

IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
Peggy Lee

SPOKEN:
I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up
in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.
And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire"

SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

SPOKEN:
And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears.
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle.
I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don't know what, but when it was over,
I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus?

SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

SPOKEN:
Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.
We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes.
We were so very much in love.
Then one day he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't,
and when I didn't I said to myself, "is that all there is to love?"

SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

SPOKEN:
I know what you must be saying to yourselves,
if that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?
Oh, no, not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment,
for I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you,
when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my lst breath, I'll be saying to myself

SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

I will always remember my grandmother's affection for this song. Any time she was in a different state of mind other than the ho-hum of a normal day, she would put this on the turntable and it was something that moved her. If she was in a good place, she put on disco records. I loved that this grey haired lady loved the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and Alicia Bridges', I LOVE THE NIGHT LIFE. I had the hippest grandmother in town! But if she was feeling down, tired or nostalgic, it was 100% Peggy Lee. And what a great song IS THAT ALL THERE IS is.



It got me to thinking about how when my mother tied one on, she would put on Neil Diamond, my father, big band music or maybe some Ink Spots.

There seems to be that special music that is precious enough to listen to only when we are in an altered state of mind, whether it be a glass of wine....or 4, a creative state or simply feelin' a lil' blue.

I have adopted the taste of my various family members and play a little of all of the above on occasion when I am feeling just a little off. Nick Drake is a favorite, too. I discovered his complete collection of music here later in life but it seems to suit me just as well as the current day David Gray to push me through a blue or "off" mood or even enhance a creative mood. Or I can go for a lil' Amy Winehouse or Scissor Sisters when I am feeling a lil' sassy. When I am in a regular old state of mind, it's KCRW public radio for me. Give me Morning Become's Eclectic or Chocolate City or give me death!