Hello!!! I am still here, alive and happy, but soooooooooo busy, as I'm sure you all are as well this time of year! Just wanted to pop in quickly to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope you all have a very wonderful 2009! :)

Had a little bit of time today to make something while my 2-year-old was making stuff too! We had a lot of fun :)

These are two ornaments I made for the Zetti Holiday Ornament Swap I am hosting in the Zetti Zoo Yahoo Group. The ornaments are not necessarily supposed to be 'Christmas' ornaments since not everyone participating in the swap celebrates Christmas. Everyone was open to interpret what their version of a 'Zetti Holiday Ornament' is and go from there. It is my first time hosting ever in any group. Participants only needed to make 1-3 ornaments (they get the same number back as they sent in), which isn't such a huge and stressful commitment as some of the other swaps around are. I know that I can't participate in anything that I have to make more than just a few things in because I don't have the time and I get very stressed out! Both started as plain paper mache ornaments that I obviously altered A LOT!!! They both measure about 7-1/2 to 8 inches in length (including the hanger pictured). Please feel free to leave me a comment letting me know what you think of them. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season so far! :)

Been super busy lately, as I'm sure you all are too! Here are a few pictures of my girls from a big party for my 13-year-old

nephew last weekend at this beautiful Hyatt hotel (http://valencia.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp. We had a blast! We all love to dance, so it was a lot of fun! Hope you all have a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving! :)

This is a 5 x 7 collage called 'Do You Really See?' This piece is a bit darker than the others I've been making recently. Someone I love very much is suffering from major depression right now. It hit her like a brick wall and she's never gone through anything like this before. It is very hard for me to see her like this, but she is getting help so hopefully we will see a positive change soon. I made this piece as I was thinking about her.

We went here (http://www.davincilb.com/) after the CPR class for some awesome desserts too! I must go to bed now. I have to get up really, really early tomorrow! :(

I'm going here for dinner tonight http://www.originalfishcompany.com/home/default.html with a co-worker and our boss. I will probably have my usual...the Mesquite Broiled Shrimp on a Skewer. It comes with so much extra stuff too and it is all soooo good! Then we will be off to meet another co-worker and take a CPR re-certification class that we have to do every two years. Gotta go finish getting the house picked up! Bye :)

I was lucky enough to have time to make some art yesterday. This is a 5 x 5 piece on a gallery-wrapped canvas called 'The Gift that is Thee'. Did you get a chance to make anything this weekend? :)

Here is a Zetti-ish gift tag I made to put on Sandee's (http://www.sandees-sanity.blogspot.com/) birthday gift box that I mailed to her last month :)

I've been tagged Megan http://peachesandpeonies.blogspot.com/ and Angie http://angiehallhaviland.typepad.com/angiesartfulllife/and now I must to say 7 random things about myself. Here they are:


1. In college, I sold my saliva for $ (it was for dental research).

2. I am really good at playing 'Wheel of Fortune' when it's on TV and I happen to see it. My husband wants me to go on the show!

3. I love to wear fun/funky socks (if it isn't flip-flop weather!). I have some fun ones on right now as I write this :)

4. I am addicted to Diet Coke. I do not drink any coffee, tea or alcohol.

5. I am in quite a few football pools (for NFL).

6. I cannot resist warm, right out of the oven cookies, brownies, cakes, etc.

7. I wear my hair in a ponytail about 99.9% of the time because I get hot so darn easily (and I haven't even hit menopause yet)!



Here are the 7 people I am now tagging to tell us 7 random things about themselves:


Christy - http://www.artchickadee.typepad.com/
Theresa - http://tmartinjournal.blogspot.com/
Heather - http://speckled-egg.blogspot.com/
Patti - http://pattis-creations.blogspot.com/
Marilyn - http://wwwmarilyninmyroom.blogspot.com/
Tracey - http://www.sunshinefactory.net/blog/
Joanne - http://joannethiemehuffman.typepad.com/

Bye for now! :)

Believe it or not, I actually made some art! This is a 5 in. x 7 in. gallery wrapped canvas called 'Wander'. It says 'it made her feel wonderful about life itself.' I know it looks very busy. For some reason I always think I have to put 'more' on. It sure felt good to make something! Enjoy :)

I still have not had any time for making art, but I've been having fun making some edible 'art' with my 2-year-old. One of our neighbor's gave us some Fun Doe (http://www.nwfundraising.com/catalogs/fundoe/fundoe.html and we have been making all kinds of silly cookies. Now that Halloween and all the festivities leading up to it are over I may actually have some time this weekend to play with my art stuff! :)

I have been so darn busy and I'm so tired, but I wanted to post a few pictures of our fun time at this cool Pumpkin Patch near us. Hope you are all doing well! :)

Hubby took me on a surprise date yesterday and the surprise was 'Wicked'! We have both been wanting to see it and it's leaving LA soon. I am so glad we got to see it because it really is a fabulous show!!! If it's anywhere near you anytime, I highly recommend that you see it!!! Have you seen it yet? :)

Just a quick post tonight...I have to go to bed right after this! We got back last night from a 5-day trip to Reno to hang out with some good friends. I did get to make some art while I was there and I will post more about the trip very soon! For now, I will leave you with a picture of one of the two desserts I made for a bunch of people while we were there. It was SOOOOOOOOO yummy!!! :)

How could I forget to add this picture?!?! Here we all are! Back row is Sera, me, Jen (http://www.artisticallydesigneddiversions.blogspot.com/), Audra and Tally (http://www.tallyoliveau.blogspot.com/). Front row is Kelly(http://www.soulhumming.typepad.com/, Ruth (http://ruthrae.blogspot.com/, Julie (http://julbie.blogspot.com/, Pegster (http://wwwpeggysamusement.blogspot.com/) and Mary.

FUN! FUN! FUN!

I was so happy to be able to play with a bunch of my art friends last Saturday at Julie's (http://julbie.blogspot.com/ fabulous house. She is such a generous and wonderful hostess! I didn't get very much art done, but it was so fun to just play, socialize and be silly with everyone :)

How do I get the writing to not be all weird next to the image? This happens on my posts a lot and I don't know how to fix it! In the last post I did use some bold and different text, but that I meant to do. Also, for whatever reason, I cannot figure out how to title my posts! I'm sure that both of these things are easy to do, but for some reason I'm having major brain farts when it comes to figuring them out! Argh!

THE WINNER OF THE COLLAGE CALENDAR GIVEAWAY IS...

Miscellanea!!!

I will be e-mailing you shortly to get your snail mail address. A lot of you were interested in buying one of these if you didn't win, so here is the link for that...http://www.amazon.com/Collage-Artplay-Creative-Spirit-Calendar/dp/1602370605/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223475983&sr=8-1. Thanks so much for playing and have a WONDERFUL day! :)

This is a mixed-media collage I made for a very wonderful family in our lives using a picture taken on a very special day. The top picture is of the 8 x 10 canvas completed and the bottom picture is how it looks matted and framed. I believe the dimensions of the completed piece are 16 x 20. For the record, I do not make my own mats and frames as some of you have thought in previous posts. I do pick out the mats and frames and put it together myself, but I do not make them myself. Have a great day! :)

My girls, mom and I went to IHOP today for a very late breakfast/very early lunch. My mom has been craving liver and onions (YUCK!!!) and couldn't really think of anywhere else near that has it. She has been pretty couped up lately since she broke her ankle 2 weeks ago. She and my 24-year-old nephew were in New York and she fell down the stairs to the subway on their last day there. It was already a bad day for her that day since it was the one year anniversary of my dad's death. She has a cast and crutches and will probably have it on at least 2 months. Her ankle starts hurting a lot if she doesn't have it propped up, so she really can't do much right now. This is really frustrating for her because she is someone who is always on the go. The cute pancake pictured is what my 2-year-old and I shared. My 1-year-old was sleeping, so she didn't get any. It was very tasty, but of course did not look quite like this one! :)

I am sick! It hit me like a ton of bricks Thursday night. Thank goodness for the drugs that stop the runny nose, help with the aches and pains and help you sleep and for the antibiotics that will hopefully get rid of this infection ASAP! Hope you all stay well because this sucks! :(

I had been thinking about making a Halloween/Fall themed art doll for awhile now, but wasn't inspired to do so until my bud Sandee (http://www.sandees-sanity.blogspot.com/) made her adorable 'Boo' doll! Thanks for the inspiration, my friend! :) Her name is 'Queen of the Night' and she stands about 6-1/2 inches tall. She is all hand-sewn.

Here is a new art doll called 'From the Heart'. She is all hand-sewn and stands about 7-1/2 tall.

If you haven't already, please see my giveaway below for a chance to win an awesome calendar for 2009!

MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!! All you need to do is post a comment after this post and you will be eligible to win this new and sealed amazing calendar for 2009! The 'Wish' piece below is a piece I made and it is the 'June' page. Please remember to leave a contact e-mail in case you win! I will pick the winning name the morning of October 8th. Good luck to all!!! :)

Here are a few pictures of our day trip to Port Townsend last month. It was our first time there and we loved it. I can't wait to go there for an Artfest someday!

I was able to make this piece today and continue work on two other pieces as well. It is a 4 x 4 collage called 'Dream Girl'. I sure hope I can get this green paint off my hands! :)

Here are a few more pics from our trip to Whidbey Island. The top two are of my daughters at Doublebluff Beach. My older had a blast, but the younger one fell asleep right after we got there, so she didn't get to enjoy it at all :( The other pics are some of the spectacular views and sunsets we were lucky enough to see. I do have an art project in the works and I'm hoping to finish it this weekend. It is a gift, so I won't be able to post a pic of it until after it gets to it's new home. I am hoping to make some other smaller pieces this weekend too. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Here is a piece I made in the past when I was going through a very heartbreaking time. On the top you'll see the piece by itself and on the bottom you'll see how it looks after being matted and framed. I thought of this piece today because I am very, very sad. Tomorrow will be the anniversary of the last time I saw my dad alive and well (or so we thought) when he dropped us off at the airport. Thank goodness I hugged him and told him that I loved him that day. The next time I saw him he was in a coma and died 3 days later. Today would have been my parents 42nd wedding anniversary. Lots of emotions going on right now and the next few weeks are going to be really hard too. Thank goodness for chocolate...

This is a 5-1/4 in. x 6 in. mixed media collage I made called 'A Creative Soul is Born'. I'm so happy that I found some art time! :) Hope you had a wonderful weekend and that the week ahead will be a great one!

Here are a few pictures from a beach down below Deception Pass of the bridge the pictures below were taken from and one of each of my girls by the water :)

Here are a few pictures from a bridge at Deception Pass on Whidbey Island. What a breathtaking sight it was! The skies were such a gorgeous blue and it was all so incredibly beautiful!