Collage pictures.

Close-up shot. I love how cheerful this lady looks! The text paper pieces besides the main picture say randomly " The moon was out", "her brown eyes bright", and "happy".

Here is the collage I just finished. Everything except for the blue paper with circles, is vintage material. The music sheets were so old, they practically fell apart before I even ripped them! The texture of the background is unusual in that I mixed clear glitter with the paint, plus sanded the edges off to give it an antique-ish sort of look. I had such fun making this!

Thursday thoughts

I really have nothing profound to write. More than anything, I'm just sitting here writing because I'm too tired to move. You should see how hunched over I am in my chair, tapping away at the keys. I'm afraid good posture went to the same place my energy did. Wherever that may be. Today was the Thursday-3-story house cleaning day for me, and I'm just wiped out from that. One nice thing though, I really appreciate the fact that the owners of this house provide me with natural cleaning products. I have done other residential cleaning before ( plus apartment complex cleaning )....and it can be very brutal on the lungs to use those nasty chemical filled cleaners!! Especially the strong, industrial strength types they had at the apartment job. One whiff of that bathroom tile cleaner and you could almost feel it physically burning places in your lungs and nasal passages. Ugh...that was something I was glad to get away from!!!!

I just noticed I have 8 tabs pulled up on my computer......AOL, Facebook, Youtube, Amazon, Key bank, Blogger, Ebay, and Bonanzle!! Good grief....I must be crazy!

I'm starting a new endeavor. I have been thinking of doing this for some time, and now I'm just going to take the plunge no matter what. I have decided to go full speed ahead and try selling some of my artwork on either Etsy or Bonanzle.com. I think I'm going to go with Bonanzle, though. They don't charge listing fees, and the final offer fee is quite reasonable. It's also an easier AND shorter listing procedure than on Etsy or Ebay, for that matter.

I have always been fascinated by mixed media collages, and recently have been taking a stab at making one myself. It's amazing what you can come up with!
I think they can look fabulous, given they have the right color combination & pictures. The collage I'm working on now, is on a 11 x 4 piece of canvas, and has what I call a French " Joi de Vivre" theme to it. I'm hoping it will sell! I have had so much fun making it, and have put a lot of thought into it. I love the old world, vintage sort of look that it has! I hope it makes the person who buys it.....smile!

I hope with all my heart, this new adventure will work out.....that God will bless my efforts! I'm just not getting enough hours with my current job, so I have to do something else. I've always been the artsy type, so this it right up my alley!

Day of the attacking dog.

I'm tired today, in spite of coffee. I was up earlier than usual, because I had to take my sister to work at 7:30. Unfortunately, she didn't realize her license tabs had expired on her RAV, and was driving around all this time in blissful ignorance. The DMV never sent her any notice to remind her, like they usually do. Last night she got stopped by a policeman, who sternly informed her that she needed new tabs. So, I took her to work in my car until she can get them.

After I returned home, I had the bright idea of taking a walk. I thought it would be a great way to start the day. And it would have been, too if that dumb, ugly dog hadn't attacked my sister's dog, Annika..... who I had with me. It was very scary & annoying!! It somehow got out of its yard and came hurtling towards us. It just kept coming at her over & over, and I don't know what made it finally stop. I guess me yelling, stamping my feet, and hitting it with a stick helped. I just hoped it wouldn't turn on me. Annika was pulling so hard on her leash, and I had the stick in my other hand, so I didn't have as much control as I would have liked to have had. I tripped horribly on Annika & it's a wonder I didn't fall into the frantic mass of growling, squirming dog fur. But, somehow it all ended and we walked away, unscathed. My legs were so shaky after that, I didn't know if I could make it the 1/2 mile back home! But, I did. Now I'm going to have to get their address and call Animal Control, because I refuse to go through that again!! Shame on its owner, to let it do that. It should be tied up or in the house, if it bites other dogs.

I discovered a great way to get myself to drink more water. I put a couple of slices of lemon into my water bottle, add a packet of Stevia which makes a nice drink! It tastes like lemonade. It's very good! I would also like to try it with limes.

Odds and ends

I can't seem to figure out how to add the pictures where you want them, or how to delete the ones you don't want! The second picture is of Lucy, and the first is Lucy, too! She's the dog I took care of over the weekend. LOL. :0)

Just thought I'd jot down a few words for my blog, instead of intentionally waiting to write when I have the time. If I don't do it this way, when I can....I never will!

It was a very gorgeous day here today. I can't believe how sunny it was, and pretty warm, too! We haven't seen much sunshine since I don't know when. It really lifted my spirits immensely. Lately, I have felt rather depressed and unmotivated. I know it's partly because I just lost my precious kitty, something that still hurts greatly......and then it has to be because of all the gloomy weather. I usually don't mind cloudy days that much, and think they're great days to be in, reading a book or for puttering around the house. But, the sun has been a wee bit TOO scarce of late, and it was HIGH time it shone so brightly today! We Washingtonians DESERVED it!!!!!!!!!!!!

I even went for a walk, something that I greatly enjoyed!! There's nothing like a good walk to get your head cleared and make you feel alive. It was a long one, too. I just couldn't seem to quit walking, it was so nice. But, now I'm feeling pretty tired from it. Even Annika was pooped afterwards, and it takes a lot of exercise to wear out a Alaskan Malamute, let me tell you. When I was walking..... the birds were singing so sweetly in the woods, I couldn't help but smile to myself a lot. The people in the cars that passed me must have thought I looked sappy....but I couldn't help it!

I did some house-sitting over the weekend. It was nice to get away, and it was a lovely place to be. You can see the Olympic mountains from the deck, something I could stare at endlessly. I love those mountains so much! I don't know why, really. They're just terribly stunning and majestic. They remind me of the Swiss alps in Switzerland, a place I would dearly love to visit someday. Sigh.

I got to take take of 2 cats and a HUGE black Newfoundland dog while I was there. Lucy is a very sweet dog, but a very -in-your-face sort of dog. And when you have that much dog in your face, it's sort of hard not to feel overwhelmed....mainly because of her breath! But, she was so good, if a bit restless and the cats were so fun to be around. They're both big, bushy cats that are fun to hug,.....though Brulee wouldn't let me, being the shy, paranoid calico mix that she is.

I see it's almost time to start supper, so I better skedaddle if I know what's good for me!

Two thousand ten.

Well, 2010 is here at last! It's rather scary how time seems to speed up the older you get. If it zips by now, what will it do for me at age 65?


Somehow, I like how 2010 sounds & looks. Besides, it's much easier to write than 2009 was, or 2008 for that matter.
I haven't really officially made any resolutions for this new year. I have goals, hopes and wishes, but I try to stay away from the word resolution because it just sounds un-doable. That word is just totally over-rated anyway. We all know most people don't even keep their resolutions, me being one of them.
So, I guess I'm just going to go with the word " goal". And I do have a great many goals for this year. Some are tiny and others quite overwhelmingly large. These ones I'm simply going to have to trust God to give me the strength to achieve, otherwise I'll be sure to fall flat on my face!


Here are a few that I would like to share.

1) Laying aside weights. The ones that do so easily beset me ( and how!)

I was watching the new Pilgrim's Progress movie that was put out not too long ago, and it inspired me to try even harder to make it to Heaven. Everywhere I turn ( and sometimes they sort of just hit you in the face) there are weights everywhere to be dealt with. Bad attitudes/toxic people, shopping, time mis-management, clutter, etc.

And then there are the endless distractions spring up in my life daily! Those are really giant weights in disguise. You know what they are.....mostly the silly, inane daily stuff. Those crazy time eater-upper games on Facebook, movies, reading, and just about anything that keeps you from spending quality time with God. Oh, how harmless those distractions sound and look, too! At the time, it seems sooo important to write that email, do that load of laundry or clean the house. I know some of those things do have a necessary place in our lives, yet spending time with God should be at the top on our list of priorities. The most important thing to do of the day. I often skimp on time with Him or put it off before I go to sleep. I always feel so ashamed and guilty, yet I do it over & over again. How God must long to spend time with me, yet so unfeelingly I just brush Him off to do some mundane task.

Sometimes I long to run away from weights and distractions by heading towards the nearest desert island, but alas, that will never be.......

When I do take the time to spend time with Him, I feel better. I have more clarity of mind, I'm more peaceful, and I seem to get so much more done. If this isn't an incentive to spend more time alone with Him, then I don't know what is.
How I long to be closer to Jesus!! It's the only thing that really matters in life.

2) Lose weight.

This is going to be a huge effort if there ever was one, because I love...no....ADORE food! I intend to lose at least 20 pounds, and I'm hoping to lose at least half of that this year. People say I carry my weight well since I'm tall, and I suppose I do.....up to a point. But it's getting to the place where I can no longer hide the fact that I've had too many pastries & lattes.
I'm just planning on eating lots of veggies and fruit, whole grains, beans and other sources of protein on a regular basis. I made some pancakes the other day, and I added some flax meal to the batter. It must have been a bit too much, because they turned out to be like an inch thick when they were done. O well, at least they tasted good even if they did cause a significant amount of intestional problems for my family.......

3) Get rid of all clutter.

I'm just so tired of having too much around me. I'm really not a packrat, but I do have a lot of books! There are also some other things I could do without and not even miss.

4) Read some of the classics.
I would like to try again to read Jane Eyre, and perhaps some Dickens.


5) Take a class in photography.
This would be right up my alley, and hopefully I'll be able to do it.


6) Go on a trip to California.
My mom, sister and I are hoping to take a week long ( or more) road trip down the coast into California, stopping whenever and wherever we like to see the sights. It would be pretty amazing to see the Redwoods in Yosemite, the Golden Gate bridge, and everything else. I'm sure I would be snapping pictures like your typical tourist on this trip........

So, those are some of my goals & plans for this new year. Hopefully all of them will be achieved! :0)