Opinions and feelings......

A lot of art marketing workshops and books I have read; stressed the importance of not mixing business with personal life on your blog.  But my life and art are so tightly entwined I can't help it.  It's just the way it is.  I don't know why I wanted to make a note of that here.  Maybe it's because my balance has been off lately.  Where there is no time for business and no time for family.  There seems to be a missing part of the equation and I think procrastination and defeat have to do with it.  There are so many things on my to do list I get inundated just looking at it.  I have been getting some things done, but they are just menial little things.  Not the big life dreams I have been carrying around for so long.  Scheduling has always been difficult for me.  I feel so defeated when things get in the way of it.  So now I have a why bother mentality.

How do you balance your personal life with business to make it all happen?  Any secrets you would be willing to share?  How do you feel about having a blog for business and family?  Should people keep separate blogs?

Hope you all have a magnificent weekend!!!

I am sorry.......

It has been very hard for me to get back in the swing of back to school things.  Kiah has been having trouble staying focused.  This caused a lot of problems last year.  I thought we had it pretty much controlled by the end of the school year.  The doctor said if he did have ADD it was a slight case and he didn't need medication.  The school said he didn't qualify for any support because his IQ was too high.  Well here we are this year and the teacher is already hinting at putting him on medication.  Not those exact words but I am not dumb.  He is always trying to get me to let him stay home, saying he hates school.  He has a lot of friends and does well on his work.  We just got some of the standardized testing scores home and he is basically in-between basic and advanced.   In math he is so close to being advanced; so what the heck!  We have started him on a vitamin regime and I am in close contact with his teacher.

Besides that things are picking up at work.  Which is good I was really starting to worry.

Here are a couple of crafting things I have done to stay sane along the way. 

A soldering class with my friend Raquel.  It was a fun technique to learn but will take a little more practice and a new higher powered soldering gun.  Oh my God when I typed that I heard the Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunting sound.   Yeah baby more power.

My Orange mixed media canvas

And some cards I made for a challenge at Stampington & Co.

I wasn't sure about the top picture at first but now I really like it.  She is the Goddess of Our Burning Desires.  The butterfly and image of the woman came from The Graphics Fairy.

These photos are from my camera phone that's why they look so washed out.

Hope all is well in your land

Ha! Who was I kidding......

when I thought I was going to have extra time because school was starting.  Time has been moving at warp speed it seems.  Even with me not really working, time has been evading me. 

Still, my hope always springs eternal around this time of year.  Fall is like a New Year's second coming for me.  I get so inspired when I see all the new organizers secretly promising a more scheduled and balanced life; making me believe I have a second chance at my resolutions that went out the window three weeks into January.  Even the Wii Fit Mi's are telling Kiah they haven't seen me in a while.  And that's putting it nicely.

Thankfully though, I have been able to do something creative everyday. Which has helped me keep my mojo going.  I got a chance to use some the new Embossing Creme by Viva, and I don't know if I like that product.  I bought two different colors and the bronze color was so dry I couldn't even get it to smear properly.  I exchanged it for one that seemed better, but when I was smearing it on the stencil it dried up too quick and ended up getting clumpy.  After you smooth it over the stencil and have removed your stencil, heat it with your heat gun.  It will raise to a bubbled surface, which is neat but not really practical for scrapbooks or cards that will be mailed.  On the other hand, their Pearl Pen is the neatest.  The bronze color makes dots that look like raised studs.  I still have a lot of playing around to do.  The new Radiant Rain is very pretty but my bottle leaks and leaked all over one of my favorite skirts.  Glitter Glam is glamorous and now I need it in every color.  The only con that I had with the Glimmer Glam is it is hard to get the glitter evenly dispersed.. 

Besides all that, my son has now grown up and on the first day of schooled exclaimed I couldn't kiss him, call him Baby, or pretty much acknowledge he was mine.  Talk about heart breaking.  And to top it off I forgot my camera.  He tried to make it better by exclaiming, "I wouldn't have let you take my picture anyways." 

The last few days have been exhausting~

My sister was having a hard time over-coming an infection and had to be hospitalized.  So I helped watch over my mom's house.  It was like grand central station with all the dang phone calls.  I am so glad we decided to take her in though.  She got so much better better in the 4 days she was there and came home last night.

In the last few days I have come to terms with my emotional eating.  I am totally fine with it because everybody loves cookies and pie.  I can make people feel great under the guise of me licking the beaters.  It's really a win-win situation.  I made cookies from a mix that came from The Dollar Store.  My son and the daycare kids said they were the best cookies ever and they kept telling me all day about how I made the best cookies.  I felt like I had cheated and got all these kudos over something I added two ingredients too.

So I decided to make more cookies.  This time "healthy" 5 grain granola whole wheat flour chocolate chip cookies.  Well I swear kids can smell whole wheat from a mile away.  Kiah wouldn't even try them and even his diabetic grandfather said they tasted too healthy.  Granted they were a bit thick I liked them.

I then felt compelled to make a I am Still Stressed So I need More Chocolate But Also Some Vanilla Pie ~

sorry for the crumby camera phone pic - heehee get it crumby

It consisted of a bottom layer of Nutella, then melted chocolate chips, topped with french vanilla pudding and graham cracker crumbs.  I didn't like it much, way too sweet.  My brother liked it though so hey.

I took a class today with Marah Johnson.  I love her classes because I know I will get my moneys worth.  She teaches you how to get more out of your scrapbooking products and everyday products like paper towels.  Totally eco a girl after my own heart.  I know if I take one of her classes I will come home with my hands stained with all sorts of colors.  Just how I like them.  Plus she always has so many fun products to play with.  This is a scrapbook page I made from the left overs from a class of her's I took a couple of months ago.

I don't usually scrapbook pics of myself, but she signed my paper "Dare to Follow Your Dreams" I figured it would be appropriate.

Well I hope you all have a nice Sunday, I can't wait to sleep in for once.

Sorry this is a rambler~McDonald's Coffee High

 Wow, it's been almost a week since I last posted.  It shouldn't seem so busy. Especially since we only have a couple kids in the daycare.  It has been really hard on my mom and I for the last couple months.   We will have parents come to look at the daycare, but we never get a call back.  I think it is for various reasons: old dog, wanting educational based care, cheaper care.  Whatever it is, we're hurting and wondering if we should even still do daycare.  My mom has been doing daycare for 20 years and I have helped her for at least 13.  I love being able to work with her because it enables me to also care for my son and also my dad's mom.  And who doesn't love working from home (or mom's home).

I have hope that my little online shop will flourish so I can really do what I love and not have to worry about not having very many kids.  And that in lies a bunch of stuff I not sure I can handle. 

I should be jumping up for joy because I finally made another sale.  But instead I felt discouraged, frustrated, and to tell you the truth plain stupid. 

I have been doing a lot of reading on entrepreneurship, Kelly's workshop, Deepak Chopra. There has been a lot of questions like, "If you could do anything, what would it be?", "What is the one main thing that's calling to you?" Or implying it's better to pick one thing to specialize in.  But thinking of just one thing makes me feel like I have Crafter's ADD. My mind jumps from one photo, scrapbook page, vintage item, sewing pattern, clay brick, paint bottle.........I could go on and on.  I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

So as far as etsy goes.  I would like my shop to be like a gift shop of sorts.  Some vintage items here, natural body products over there,  with my other crafty whatevers interspersed.

I became enamored at the possibility of making collaged canvases with the ton of ephemera I have collected over the years.  Some being images that I have cut out of various calendars/books/magazines.  But then came the issue of copyright, since I have no way of remembering who the images are from.  Granted I can just make them for myself but what fun is that.  Copyright laws are so obscure and hard to figure out anyways.  Anyone have any advise or a link to some that are easy to understand?

Lately I have been posting my business-type stuff to-do list here on Mondays as a form of accountability.

1. Practice driving!  (I know I am almost 30)
2. Change shipping on etsy.
3. Fix up shop page- policies, bio, what-nots
4. Work on website
5. Finish up tutorials

 I feel like I can babble on for days but I'll spare ya.

Hope you all have a good week!

This picture above in my take on the Echo challenge - Stripes.  You can visit the group here.

All that glitters is not gold......

This is the little precious that almost cost my granny her life.  I fell in love with this clip when I saw it.  Out of the whole estate sale this was the only thing that caught my eye.  I asked how much it was knowing that I didn't have enough; I only had $2.00 on me.  So when the gentleman said $3.00 I figured it was meant to be.  Chris and Granny were standing right next to me,  I looked at Granny and said, "Stay right here!" I ran to the car to scour the seat cushions.  I looked everywhere for change.  Why is it when you don't need it's there, and when you do it's not.  I did manage to find $.50.  When I resurfaced Granny and Chris were by the car.  I ran passed Granny and told her, "Go ahead and get in on this side" (the side away from the street) and ran off in hopes the man would take $2.50 instead.

The next thing I know Chris is yelling all the way across the yard," That piece of garbage is worth more than your grandma's life!"  What, is he talking about?  The man just looked at me and was like "Yeah, just take it."  I felt so bad.  I am still not absolutely sure of what all happened.  But from what I gather is that when I walked away instead of getting in on the side she was already on, she walked into the street without looking while a car was coming and Chris couldn't get out of the car fast enough to stop her.  It caused major drama. Since Granny has dementia we have to watch her carefully. Somehow Chris thought it was all my fault, and I was pissed because going to a couple garage sales is my only time out in the week and he was right there.  And I did say, "Stay Here!" in the first place.  Needless to say she wasn't hit and I still got a treasure and $.50 cheaper the original price. 

Does any one know what it is?  Or seen something similar?  It has sharp hooks on the clip so I don't think it could be a scarf or blouse pin.  I was thinking maybe a money clip but then again the hooks are so sharp.

 I am leaving you all with a quick and easy recipe you can use with a variety of summer fruits.

Cut plum, peach, nectarine, etc. in half taking the seed out.  Put halves in a baking dish, sprinkle with brown sugar and place a little dab of butter in each center.  Place under the broiler and let the sugar brown and caramelize.  Making sure not to let them burn.  Once done place a dollop of ice cream on the top with another little sprinkle of brown sugar.

Yeah, it's almost the weekend.

Linking up to:

 

  

  I absolutely adore this picture of Kiah.  I want to get it printed out huge on a canvas.  He looks so serene and peaceful.  We all went out to the Campbell perk ponds for the kids fishing day.  I even dragged my mom out there.  Kiah and Chris caught 4 fish, and were so proud of themselves.  Since they were freshly stocked we were able to eat them, which we can't usually do in San Jose.  I think Kiah enjoyed spending time with his dad.  He has been on his best behavior the last few days.  At first I thought it was because Halo Reach was coming out.  You can always tell when a new game is going to come out, 'cause Kiah will start being demonstrably good and whisper sweet nothings in my ear.  But no, Halo is not coming out till September- Thank God, and he is still being good.  Knock on wood.

  This weekend I also finished my poetry quote bag and journal.  I must have been disillusioned when I thought the tote bag was going to be easy.  Ha!  Maybe it was because I haven't sewn anything since I was a teenager and even then I didn't actually sew.  I just cut out the pattern, forgetting to cut out the darts, then cried to my grandma, "can you fix my mistake".  Besides the fact, that is was hard to make and almost had me breaking down in tears.  I love the way it came out.  It is too cute.  I haven't had the chance to take any photos of them yet, but will try to post tomorrow.

My brother came over on Sunday and fixed my photoshop.  I couldn't be more happy, I was getting so frustrated with it.  All he had to was uninstall and reinstall, I knew that would probably fix the problem, but I was scared I would mess it up even more if I started to screw with it. 

I found this picture while cleaning out my closet today.  It was probably taken in San Diego.  A couple of times when I was a child my dad took me down there to visit my grandma and grandpa.  I don't have a lot of childhood memories.  But I do remember some crazy times in San Diego......

1.)  Being chased down by a flock of geese.
2.)  Losing my favorite necklace in the sand... you know those ones from the 80's where you can link them together by pushing then into each other... it was a major tragedy back then.
3.)  Riding in the back of a taxi cab, when there wasn't any seatbelts.  The driver was driving so crazy and I kept flying everywhere as my dad was yelling profanities at the driver.
4.)  My grandma and grandpa lived on a boat and for some reason didn't have a toilet, so we had to use a bucket.  Another tragic event, I was so scared I was going to fall in.
5.)  Waking up alone on the boat while my dad and grandma went grocery shopping.  But we didn't want to wake you.   Yeah right
6.)  Picking up a bird because I didn't know it was dead.  My dad scared the hell out of me by smacking it out of my hand, spanking me, and yelling  "You're going to get diseases!" over and over again.  
7.)  Driving my grandma and grandpa's old toyota truck home to San Jose in the pouring rain with no wind shield wipers.  He was totally freaking out saying, "We're not going to make it" and I just kept saying, "it's going to be okay daddy."  and it was. 

That ride home made a major impact on my father's life.  After my parent's got a divorce when I was six, we saw each other on and off.  When I got pregnant at 19 he stopped talking to me and we would only see each other maybe once a year.  He would always tell me the story of us driving home in the rain.  My father passed away three years ago.  We had finally started talking only a couple of months before he passed.  While he was in the hospital I stayed there everyday telling him the same thing I told him on that ride home,  "it's going to be okay daddy".  Until it wasn't okay anymore.  I cherish every single memory I have with my father, as crazy as they are because they are all I have now.

My treasures from yesterday

 

This is a pic of  all the goodies I found at the flea market yesterday.  My favorite Peter Pan and Wendy from 1925, two sets of vintage buttons, a vintage flower frog and the cutest little hor d' oeuvre picks. 

I love vintage goodies

Found some really cool goodies today at the flea market.  They were all from the cutest elderly lady.  I got some vintage buttons, a large flower frog, a 1925 copy of Peter Pan and Wendy, and some little vintage hor d'oeuvre picks with abalone and polished stones.  I'll post pics of the other items tomorrow. 

We took Kiah and his friend to the creek by our house.  There were these beautiful yellow flowers and tons of gnats.  But the kids had fun and I got some good pics.

My photoshop elements actually worked long enough for to me to mess with a pic.  I swear it only worked because we were going to be walking out the door in a couple of minutes.  But I was able to quickly do this.

We will see how my computer will work this coming week.  I want to upload photos but am scared it will just up and die on me.  The Geek Squad guy said it can go at any time.  So I have been using my phone for most of my internet posting.  I apologize  in advance for the spelling and spacing errors.

Till next time

Well actually.....

Made this headband for sister today. Totally rocking the cheapness with this one.  The whole thing cost under $0.75 cents to make and is so damn cute.  I can't really get the pic to look right since I am still using the camera phone.  The flower is the one I made out of pages ripped from a Boho magazine.  The headband was a 4 pack from the dollar store, and the leaves were ones I had lying around for crafting.  Glued it all together with E-600 from Eclectic Products.  This glue is great for pretty much everything and is even safe for photographs.

This week Kiah has the week off for spring break.  It has been busy with all the older daycare kids home from school.  But I have had extra time in the evening, to make more background papers for the Artistic Mothers Group.  This is so addicting and has been so fun.  I have a huge drawer filled with stamps that I never use because I always mess up.  For some reason when I was stamping my background paper I was able to stamp the whole dang thing without messing up.  I think I was just so engrossed in the art aspect of it.  I was able to just let go and create.  It felt so good and I absolutely love my papers.  It didn't even matter to me that I got paint on 2 of my favorite skirts.  I will post pics of them tomorrow.

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever lead a life with all the pieces in the right place....

It has been one of those months.  You know the ones where no one listens, everything goes wrong, and when you finally get a smile on your face you start your period.  We have had a lot of problems this month with my Grandma's social services and social security.  Which is really stressful because we had her work in on time and they are still giving us troubles.  I am so grateful for the assistance we do receive for her, if we didn't have it we would have to pay for everything on our very limited income.  That on top of everything else has made it a hard month.

One of the hardest problems this month has been my computer problems.  My photoshop elements isn't working and I can't upload pictures.  So I have been having to use my camera phone.  This picture is the one I am going to use for the Echo group and this was supposed to be my echo but all that other stuff just came out. If that is what the picture prompted out of me I guess I will go with it.  Next week I am going to team up with Becky Dorcsh for the Dim Challenge.  I hope I have my computer working better by then.  My camera phone takes okay pics but is not the same.

Art by Chrysti

Ilka's Attic

A Saturday Drive

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Go for a drive to Gilroy and look around, maybe make it to San Juan Batista to go see the mission.  Who would we take Kiah, Granny, or (gasp!) Kiah and Granny.  Kiah whined and complained, "But mom I don't want to go!  Why do you always make me go to different cities!"  Okay.  I guess he wouldn't like it anyways.  The last time we went antique shopping he kept bugging me for vintage comics, so much so I couldn't even hear myself think and Grandma would enjoy it, she used to help out at an antique store back in the day.

As we started on our way I remembered that my favorite thrift store was having a $1.00 sale.  I convinced Chris to stop for a quick second. I found some really cute embroidered linens.  A tatted table runner that was $15 marked down to $1.  The find that I got really excited about was a Dennison Centennial Rose napkin set that has never been opened.  It would be perfect for someone who is throwing a vintage themed party.  Or a party for someone who was born or married in 1964.  It seemed to be the start of a perfect day.

The drive to Gilroy was gorgeous, everything was so green.  I wanted to pull over somewhere so I could take some pics, but no such luck.We waited and waited while Chris got some arrows for his bow.  That took forever it seemed.  Finally we able to take a stroll and find some antique shops.  I love looking at the old masonry buildings in the downtown area.  They have so much character.  Unfortunately a lot of the buildings here are falling apart and some even have "Enter at your own risk!" posted. 

We walked into the first store and the trouble began.  First Granny nearly sat down in a 200 year old chair, the seat was barely threads.  Thankfully I caught her in time.  I spot this really cool painting which I notice has a Whistler signature.  I'm thinking to myself, Dang! I think I heard that name on Antiques Roadshow. Then hear glass being jumbled around........Grandma!  No!  She's picking up and messing around with everything.  Where the heck is Chris, I mean, come-on, I watched Grandma while you were getting your arrows, now it's my turn.  But no, he is no where to be found.  By this time I think she wanted to punish me for telling her what to do.  So she started farting.  Not just one or two, it was over and over again.  "Grandma do you need to go to the bathroom?"  "No"  "Are you sure?"  "Yes, I will tell you when I need to go."  I find this pile of really cool illustrations and get all excited because they are on sale.  " I need to go to the bathroom" ; "Okay, let's go."  We make our way to the front of the store and I start to ask the clerk if she has a bathroom.  Then Grandma chimes in, "I don't have to go anymore"  What the heck!  I start my way to the back of the store again and Chris starts to hurry me.  "I am hungry, let's go!'  You have got to be kidding me.  I mean, come on, when is it going to my turn to have some fun and be able to look around?  I guess I am shit out of luck.  I mention to Chris that I like the painting in the front of the store, the lady at the front who must have had super sonic hearing ( I wonder how many of Grandma's farts she heard ) says, " Oh you mean the one painting with the lady in the wooden frame?"  "Yes." "I'll let you have it for 50% off."  "Okay!"  When I got to the counter she already had it wrapped and everything.  Which kinda bugged because I wanted to have a closer look at it, but oh well it was only $7.50 and I didn't have to pay sales tax because I paid cash.  When I got out of the store I opened it up and it was a print covered in a bunch of shellac to look like paint strokes.  If I wanted to return it I probably could have, but she didn't give me a receipt. I am sure she just wanted of get rid of the eyesore, and I was distracted enough to want to purchase it. 

Chris, trying to lift my spirits, stopped by another antique store, but as soon as we walked in Grandma started her farting again, so I just gave up on the whole idea.  We ate dinner as I sulked and then we made our way home.  I just love family outings.

No vitamins for you......

I recently found out my family is too crazy to shop at Whole Foods. Last week I tried to make it there to get new vitamins. That idea was dashed when Kiah decided to throw a major fit inside of Game Crazy complete with a dramatic bloody nose (he gets those when he really works himself up). I couldn't mingle with the Los Gatos yuppies with Kiah all bloody. You would think that with all the bloody noses he has gotten he would remember to put his head back, not downward so it gushes all over his good clothes. But of course that would not have won him an Oscar.

I don't know what possessed me to try to go there again this weekend with Kiah and Granny. It all started out fine. We would eat first, then shop. It took us forever to get our order and we had to pay before we ate. So Chris goes off to get us a cart and I am walking backwards, my arms full of food trying to make sure Kiah and Granny were keeping up. At the same time I got to the checkout, Grandma got side tracked by the salad bar. I couldn't have lost sight of her for that long. But it was long enough for Chris to find her grabbing handfuls of kidney beans, sampling and making nummy noises. Yes, with lots of Los Gatos people looking on in disbelief. Chris comes up, "You can never take your eyes off of her!!" Me: "What are you talking about?" ...Okay, we won't be looking at vitamins this week either. We managed to sneak out of there without further embarrassment. When we scolded Granny all she could say was, "But I love those bally things!" Seriously, I am going to have to put her on one of those kiddie leashes next time.

"One of the things that men don't understand is that if a guy spends the afternoon with his partner, and they stop and get a sandwich, they joke and kid around, they laugh, they hug - to a woman, that's foreplay"

" Men want to know, what's the right technique for foreplay? Well, part of it is to go for a walk with her, spend some time with her, do things that are sensitive and kind." excerpted from The Sex Encyclopedia by Stefan Bechtel

I like that. I think us women or maybe just me would feel a lot more passionate if we felt more appreciated. The sensitive and kind thing can go a long way.