remember...

flashback friday -corsage

ok two things happened to bring you the serendipity that is this post. The first is this...I have for some time been interested in doing a theme day like self-portrait tuesday ( it is tuesday right?) and corners of my home on thursday, five senses friday you get the idea. well upon reading this blog I found something I really liked...flashback friday. so i am borrowing the idea and hoping the originator will take it as a compliment.

the second piece is the other day I was looking in the dictionary. (don't laugh, proper spelling is important to me) I came upon the word corsage and I remembered something I thought you all would find funny.

It was 1987. The picture here is of me and my first real boyfriend, one that drives and you actually go on dates with, he takes you to school dances etc. Well lucky for me his grandmother liked to make corsages. NO, not really lucky at all. Reason being she made them ridiculously HUGE. Please check out how it almost covers my whole forearm. I remember being sooo embarrassed but couldn't really say anything. This picture was our Winter Formal. My prom corsage was even bigger but by that time I had realized what a jerk my boyfriend was and had gotten really skinny. So much so that I don't want to show the photo here. Well, I am happy to report that at the next year's Winter formal I was back to my healthy self with a new boyfriend, a much smaller corsage and much bigger hair. Hey it was the 80's after all! By the way, my new boyfriend was a delivery boy for a florist. Hmmm...

productivity

* wing * copyright jennifer buckley 2005

I took the day off of work today. I had to take my daughter to her school orientation this afternoon so I had the whole morning to myself to get "stuff" done. What a productive morning! I can't tell you how good it feels to peek out of the proverbial rock I have placed myself under. I admit that most of my stress is self-imposed That is how I am built. I like to take on several projects eg: art trades, swaps and custom work at once. I am also a semi-procrastinator. I say semi because if you met me 10 years ago you would agree that I have improved. Children have a way of doing that.
So here I am feeling less bogged down and thinking I should take the day off work more often.
Next Thursday? It's a date.

anastasia your vintage swap is on the way
robyn your summer swap is on the way
toni your wallpaper is on the way
kristin your three things artwork is on the way

I even started a new collage ( I know ellia, I am
suppose to be finishing what I have) but I had a great idea and didn't want it to get away :)

therapy

There is nothing like letting yourself do what you want to do when the whole world is pulling at you. This has been hanging from my bookcase for weeks as I waited for the right inspiration to finish it.

My bird swap was all I needed.

Pretty Birds

Heather sent me this, as well as many other lovely things in the pretty bird swap. I am so excited, I had such high hopes for this swap. Heather has a shop on ebay check out her stuff here.

Has anyone read Little Birds post from yesterday? I am feeling the same exact way. Overwhelmed. There is nothing major or new going on in my life. Work is really busy and I just have lots of things to do. Little things that add up. I should write a list, that might make me feel better.

Thanks to everyone who commented about being on my mom blog list. I love this bloggy community and all the support doled out on a daily bases.

Lastly, thanks to a special aunt that comments every time I write. Love you A. Sharon

Happy Mother's Day

Since most people take a break from blogging over the weekend, I just wanted to give a shout out to all the blogger moms out there. You are all a constant inspiration and a sounding board when I think I am the only one stuggling with being a creative person, having two kids, a full time job and a husband. Your grace and ability to talk about how you deal with all of these things makes me realize I am not alone or crazy. Both of which make me feel better. Have a great Mother's Day.

A few great mom blogs: (in no particular order)

wise craft
soulemama
greenbeanbaby
simplesparrow
littlebirds
professormaryann
kleas
pamgarrison
life in the lyons den
mollychicken
while she naps

one last hoorah!

ok you know it is time to stop celebrating your b-day when people at work start asking you when you will be taking the decorations down from your desk. This is it I promise. I just have to give props to Kristin. I talk about Kristen quite a bit here. She is my cyber buddy. I met her doing a swap-bot swap. (ok so something good has happened at swap-bot) She emailed me to tell me she liked what I had sent. Something about her email made me smile so I wrote her back and we've been friends ever since. This cyber friendship thing was new and a little strange to us both at first, but after a couple of emails we decided this was a good thing.

So on my birthday she sent the above goodies. A super cute pouch from her favorite etsy shop, keyka lou , a great book called all mixed up (it's like paper dolls collage style), some really cute buttons and some yummy chocolate turtles. Which my daughter and I just sampled today because I have been wanting to take a picture. holy good chocolate batman!

Thanks again friend, I'll talk to you soon.

fun with beards

Water + Soap = So much fun!

pretty birds

I just got this off the swap-bot site from Delila. She is the gracious host of the pretty birds swap. My only hope is that 1.) I actually get a swap package this time and 2.) It isn't full of crap like most of my previous swaps at swap-bot. I know, I can hear you all now, why do I keep signing up, well i finished out my last swap a month ago and then I saw this and couldn't resist. Here's to hoping! I'll let you know what I get :)

my favorite #1

This is one of my favorite pieces I have ever made.

This picture doesn't do the colors justice

It has been a while since I have done any artwork. I've done some fun, crafty things, but I haven't busted out the canvas and gel medium in quite some time. The last thing I worked on was a trade project I did with Kristin. I can't show those here yet because Kristin hasn't seen them. She is a loyal blog reader (my only one??) and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

I think it is time to work.

confessions

So it is May 4th and use what you have month is officially over. I am here to report how I did.
Drumroll please............... I did extremely well until April 20th. That is when I bought the above stamp set.
I couldn't help myself, it was calling my name. Then it was my birthday and it went downhill from there, I went to an antique shop. Cash for birthday = hard not to shop. I can say this about my attempt at using what I have, I honestly did very well. Each purchase I made was thought about and mulled over. I questioned whether this was an impulse buy or could I really use it for something. I now know that if I truly want to succeed in a challenge like this I cannot enter, even one foot, into my favorite stores or antique shops. So ultimately, I am very proud of myself. I will continue to try to use what I have because I have so much.
That's all the confessing I want to do for now. We don't need to talk about the 4 pairs of shoes I bought at Nordstrom's rack on Tuesday :)