I've been busy with taking care of myself. Which is kinda a new thing to me. I'm one to give my time, my energy, my creative talents, my ideas, my photo skills, my card making and paper crafts to the point I'm left with nothing for myself. Don't get me wrong I love giving and I'm honored when asked. What I've found is I put others in front of me and I end up tired, not sleeping, not eating right, not walking, not not not. I also know the creative process is time consuming. So my challenge these past few months is to focus on me. The challenge of not breaking my personal commitments. Sleeping has been my biggest challenge. I've never been one for sleep and I love the when the sun sets and the stars shine. But in order for me to have a healthier day I need to get more sleep but believe me I fight it on a nightly basis! I really do feel better when I get the right amount of sleep, so I'm learning. As a result of my personal journey, I've set aside my blog, my Facebook site, my business, my jewelry, my studio time, and I found a few new things .... sitting in my courtyard on my swing listening to the wind chimes and baby birds, I found drinking tea is a nice relaxing thing to do anytime of the day or night, I found walking clears my mind, I found I love fruit smoothies, I found sewing is still my first love, I found I still can get fun things completed and I found I need to put my personal commitments first and in turn I found I'm better at all the other things that come along.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Monday thoughts on Sunday afternoon
I was on Skype with my sister and she mentioned how I haven't been posting on this here blog. She's right and no question about it, I'm struggling. I have lots of things going on and posting is on the bottom of my list these days. As I've explained there are steps in blogging for me and I just can't seem to fit time in to do all the steps. My sister gave me a great suggestion, which I'm going to try out this week. She said to leave my house and go somewhere to write my articles and edit the photos. This way there are none of the distractions I have going on in the office, studio and house.
One thing I've been wondering about is lack of comments. I don't know if anyone has tried to leave a comment and hasn't been able to or I have readers who are not comment leaver types. One reason I ask is I would like to do some giveaways and without knowing the problem I'm hesitant to offer the giveaway. Can you take a moment and give me some feedback? I'm on Facebook if you find you can't comment due to a setting issue here. Facebook.com/the.brokenwing. Thanks so much!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Blog, I'm sorry I've been ignoring you....
Honestly, I have at least 18 pending blog posts I'm working on. I always strive to post often for my friends and readers of my blog. I like having a photo(s) to be included in each post and that's the time consuming part. I sort, edit, size and watermark photos all the time and then write the articles. Then there are the other times I wing it. I'm also lagging on my Facebook JOBI page, I have to sort through my jewelry inventory and get more photos on my FB page. You would think I have plenty of time for all this fun stuff, but there's all this other fun stuff getting in my way...ha ha. I finally got a big desk calendar like the one I used when I had my job and that's been a great organizational tool to add to my never ending search to stay on top of things.
In the meantime, let's dance!
Okay, so not ready for this
The weather around here has been beautiful in the 70's & sunny, sunny and more sunny. But, wait a minute...
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Sewing, that's some of what's going on around here.
I walked into a great deal.... A good friend called me to meet her at her storage unit because she had more fabric and goodies to get rid of. Boy, did she. Fabric, soldering stuff, and more fabric! As she was packing up her vehicle she mentioned how this person cancelled meeting about buying her sewing machine. I asked what kind she had...well it was a Bernina quilt edition. I have been considering a Bernina the past several years and then I would talk myself out of it... don't sew that much anymore, rather buy a new this or that, etc. She's like go ahead take it home and test it out. Well, she had me! I read the manual that night and was sold. It's an amazing machine. I have a machine that is old old, it's basic and some of the stitches don't work, but like I said I haven't sewn sewn in years. I got some fabric and made a baby blanket. I was hooked...the machine is mine and she was so happy to have sold it so quickly. As you can see it's right at home in my studio!
Like I said before my friend also gave me fabric. In the pile was some red flannel and I had already made a flannel baby blanket, simple simple design to make. I was out doing my regular shopping and came across some red design flannel for $.86 per yard!!! I bought the bolt, about 8 1/2 yards. I was able to get 8 baby blankets cut. Here's the pile of fabric all cut and ready to pin together.
Isn't she lovely?
Lots of sewing but this machine is so smooth and fun to use. I'm telling ya, it's giving me the sewing bug, I mean I'm sewing crazy crazy....I'm looking at patterns and planning projects. Wait...I have jewelry on the other side of the studio waiting for me, I have a wedding invitation order sitting on my printer, I have senior photos to sort, and oh did I tell ya I'm taking an art e-course!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Monday thoughts...posted on Tuesday late night.
My recent thoughts about planning/organizing time. Well not really organized, I'm pretty organized with my projects and most of my things have a place. I think what I'm doing is fine tuning things. As I write this I can't even find the words to explain what I'm doing, ha ha. Since I've retired I don't have a schedule like I did when I was working. I find I can do whatever I need to do or want to do any day of the week. This is almost too flexible, yet, I'm not willing to commit to anything in particular. So, what I'm doing is setting space in my time to work on photos, to write, to research, to work on inspiration board, project time/deadlines, etc. Right now it seems like I'm all over the place. So I'm working on a planner where Mondays will be take care of business day, Tuesday will be all about photos, Wednesdays can be in the studio only days, Thursday can be blog article writing day, Friday will be free day to do what needs to be done. Now, doesn't all this sound so easy to master..... well not on "jobi time" . Because I'm so flexible = change my mind of what I want to do on a Monday! So then that falls into that lack of commitment thing I got going on....see my problem? With a job, job I was committed to getting my job, job done. Here in my world it's not like that. Plus I also now have this other part of my daily routine called "housework".... a bad word in my vocabulary. Oh yeah, add the great weather we have going on around here...who wants to be inside??? Then there's friends to visit with and places to go. What's the point to a having a day planner if I'm not gonna follow it?
This would probably explain why my blog has been neglected. It's not for the lack of things going on around here. Have been doing lots of fun projects one after another and I have photos to prove it...but then when am I schedule to deal with photos? Tuesdays, oh dang didn't get to it today, now it's Wednesday, which means I need to be in the studio. Actually, I need to get to shut down the laptop and go to bed.... Thanks for listening....
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Funny when that happens.....
The other day I was not feeling so so so, you know when you can't find anything to wear because nothing fits right, when your makeup looks like war paint, you smudge your nail polish because you're in a hurry, can't find your keys & eyeglasses and they're in you other hand & on top of your head, and you have no gas in Miss MINI Lula. You take a deep breathe and head to the gas station. Of course gas station was busy and I finally find an open pump. I decided it was best to pay attention getting my gas, didn't want to make my day more complicated. Back in Miss Lula and I check my mirror to make sure the gas nozzle is not in my car. At this point a man at the opposite pump asks me if I'm enjoying the beautiful day...btw it was sunny and 70 degrees out. I said yeah I guess it was a nice day out. He continued to ask me a variety of questions and at the end of the conversation he said something about me looking great and I look like a woman who knows that. I drove away but really wanted to go back and let him know how much his words meant to me at that moment. All the doubt I had of myself that morning disappeared. Just so weird how this happened so randomly, but then again, in my world random is never really random.
Taking an E-course!
The name of the class is "Studying Under The Masters, (becoming an apprentice)". The class is offered by Jeanne Oliver. I was intrigue by it since one of my favorite artist, Stephanie Lee was part of the class. It's a nine week class with a different artist each week. The artists choose a master artist to study under. I really wasn't sure what that meant. It's been the first week and I love it. I've never taken an art class thus I know nothing about art in the since of theory or the history of art. What Jeanne says in her introduction to the class was exactly what I needed to hear. It's about becoming an apprentice, practicing, copying, learning and finally, finding my own way in my art. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!! I love feeding my creative soul!
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| jeanneoliverdesigns.com |
Friday, January 10, 2014
Cupcakes, that's what's going on around here
I'm co-hosting a baby shower and one of my duties is to make the cupcakes. I know I could of just bought a couple of box cake mixes but I really don't like box cakes and I've used them in the past and added stuff to make them taste homemade. This time I decided to make them from scratch. But to keep is simple, I'm doing chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. I'm using a cake recipe I've used for years and it's moist and not over chocolate. I haven't ever used it for cupcakes, though. I think the thing is baking time, so while I write this blog post I'm also watching the time they're in the oven. Cross your fingers they come out nice. Otherwise, I told Tom he'll be eating cupcakes all weekend. I wanted to make a simple vanilla cupcake and searched the internet to find a recipe. Boy are there ton's of them. I'm impressed with all the baking bloggers who do such a great job sharing recipes and photos. I picked a recipe from www.bakehappy.net, it's called Perfectly Moist Vanilla Cupcake. I'll let you know how the cupcakes turn out. My plan is to top them off with the chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream...simple flavors is the theme.
I have to make some crescent moons out of white chocolate to top them off .... the timer is going off..brb. Oh my, they came out perfect looking. I'll be posting photos once I get them all finished... wish me luck. I will also be posting about all the cute "love you to the moon and back" stuff made for the shower. I'm not big on baby showers and this is the first one I've been involved with but all I can say it's a lot of things to think about and do starting from the invite to the food, from the mailing list to the decorations, from number of table & chairs to the theme, from table cloths to paper products, etc. All & all I think it's going to be adorable and fun for the new momma, Kerry. By the way, it's a boy!
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Goodbye to 2013
Saying goodbye to 2013, what all did I do?
First thing I did in 2013 was walk a 5K and finished last
Walked several more 5K’s and didn’t finish last
Treadmill did not become my best friend!
Got an iPhone and iPad – staying connected
Enjoying Facebook
Travelled to Chicago
Got my picture taken at the “bean”
Stood on a glass floor 113 stories high
Went to the Mexican American art museum in Chicago
Visited Washington DC
Lincoln memorial and stood at the
same spot Martin Luther King stood.
Was moved by the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon
Traveled to Boston
Sightseeing all of Boston.
The Freedom Trail was awesome.
Went to Salem and learned about witches.
Gathered rocks along the beach in Marshfield
Had fun at the Buckley family reunion and took a photo of
everyone who attended.
Fenway and Red Sox game….world series champs, again.
Attended a wedding
in Lubbock with the Arens family
Went to Abilene Texas and walked wello’s lot on Bois D’arc with my Alvarez
family
Sold my jewelry on every
trip!
Traveled to Nebraska & Colorado, twice.
Found the neatest flag backdrop in McCook, Nebraska
Watched and enjoyed a lot of football
Learned how to paint a house.
Went my second Kansas football game
Enjoyed my visit to the Little Monastery of the Lamb in Kansas City, KS
Didn’t see some friends as much as I wanted
Checked out Guru Honey shop in Lincoln, Nebraska…very cool
stuff
Swam in my pool daily…but never jumped in
Met new creative friends
Used my camera a lot and I mean a lot I probably have a photo for each of these things
Learned to knit!
Soldered, sewed, painted
Bedtime is way after midnight
Killed most of my plants over the summer! Only two survived.
Didn’t dance enough
Continued to get great advice from Cathy
My Wednesdays with my brother turned into any weekday with
my brother
Watched cooking shows and learned me some new skills
Still have a long to-do list
Love my time with family and friends this year
Feeling great and ready to swag my way into 2014
Christmas cookie decorating
I continued with our new tradition of decorating cookies with the twins Olivia & Addison, their brother Owen, sister Kailey and cousin Eli. I put the frosting in squeeze tubes and boy this was a great idea. All the kids shared so nicely and did a great job on their cookies!
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| Olivia having a blast. |
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| Eli did a great job! He didn't mind taste testing either. |
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| Kailey using a butter knife to spread out her frosting. |
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| Olivia had no trouble decorating all her cookies |
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| Owen loved using the red frosting on his cookies. |
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| Addison waiting for the green frosting. Mom's giving decorating tips. |
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| I loved hanging out with my favorite twins! |
Cookie exchange 2013
This year's cookie exchange was fun and we all got some great cookies. The weather has been cool and wet so my sugar cookie dough wasn't gonna be easy to roll and cut into shapes. I used a medium size ice cream scoop to make all the same size cookie balls and then flattened them with a glass dipped in sugar. Nice even size round cookies. I mixed up some icing and piped on trees. 90 cookies total!
I found the cutest candle holders at Ikea and knew I had to use them. The round cookies fit perfectly. But using the candle holders seemed to boring so I added some embellishments.
I include two candles with my cookies. By the way, my sugar cookies tasted so yummie!
Chalkboard inspired gift wrap!
I got this idea from Pinterest. It was recommended to use black butcher paper, which I found at Hobby Lobby, but it had a shine to it, not really sure how much I like that. I experimented with white chalk, white paint pens, white lead pencils and white oil pastel stick. Each gave it's own finish.
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| black butcher paper with oil pastel stick |
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| I found black drawing paper at Dick Blicks and really liked using the chalk pencils on it. Probably my favorite. I made some holiday sign artwork to frame using this application. |
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| I used the black butcher paper with the oil pastel stick for my gift wrap. It was fun and I will use it, again and again for gift wrap! The gift "getters" loved it. |
Merry + Happy 2014!
Merry + Happy 2014 was this year's season greeting on my card. Years ago I helped with a photo project for my husband's family reunion. I has a collection of slides that needed to be converted to .jpeg files. I remembered seeing on very cool photo of a house in a very winter setting. It was Grandpa John's farmhouse. I printed it on a large 11"x13" format. I stared at it for several days trying to figure out how I could use it in my card. I started painting on it. I used acrylic tube paint with a medium clear glade to allow the paint to stay wet longer. It worked perfectly.
I used my camera to take a photo of the painting so I could download it on my laptop.
I decided to make the photo look like one from the 60's with the white border and date
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I printed our greeting and a little something about the original photo on the back of the card. Cut, scored and folded about 100 cards.
I added glitter to the green glitter to the tree, white glitter to the roof on the house and black glittler on the snowman's hat. I printed on a canvas photo paper which gave a really nice finish.
I attached the photo to the card stock with double stick tape and some decorative tapes on two of the corners. I loved the way they turned out!
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