'Time' Altered Book & Kids

(Clemie eating her stuffed puppy.)

Your Personality Is Very Rare

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant.

Only about 4% of all people have your personality,
including 2% of all women and 6% of all men.

You are Introverted,
Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.
How Rare Is Your Personality?

Apparently, I'm a rare (does that equal odd?) bird. I completed this lovely quiz above. It was fun, although the last question was touch and go for me 'do you identify more with real people or fictional characters.' I've always wanted to be Jessica Rabbit, 'I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way!' Simper, wimper, sexy leg showing. It's nice to know I'm brilliant though. lol Didn't know that, I'll be sure to tell my DH.

Okay, art sharing time (I feel like its show-n-tell! lol) I completed another card, but am stuck on the 4th (& last) card of this bird series that I wanted to make. It just won't work for me. Hoping tomorrow is better.

Worked on a 'TIME' altered book this evening for a friend from Altered Gypsy. It's been sitting here for awhile awaiting inspiration and tonight I just thought, gotta work on it whether inspiration lands in my hair or not. I finished 2 spreads I'm happy with. First is Vintage Time style, 2nd is 1920's but bright!

Today we were back to a full day of homeschool, hallelujah. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy (crossing fingers.) DD chose to do her science reading in her 'boat'. She said she is 'the candlestick maker' and at one point the puppy was in there as the 'baker.' I told her there was no way I was climbing in there as the butcher. Just wouldn't fit. lol I love children and they're imagination.

Tag You're It!

(dd and her bunny.)

Apparently I've been tagged by the lovely Cheryl, to list weird things about myself. Like you all need to know anymore weird things about me. I'm an open book! lol I know I've done this before, so here is my list, it hasn't changed much. I'm still weird. In a loveable way of course.

(I'll be back tomorrow with new art! Remember, until Saturday, all items not new in my Etsy are on sale!)

Here's the rules:

1. link to the person that tagged you

2. post the rules on your blog

3. share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself

4. tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs

5. let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their site.

1 - I have a thing about hotels. It doesn't matter if we're staying 1 or 20 days, I have to unpack. My DH says 'I'll just get out of your way, I know how you like the room to be.' I have to line things up in rows, in drawers, in the closet, on the bathroom sink. But I don't do that at home. It's chaos here. I'm sure a psychologist would have a hey-day with that info! lol

2 - I pick my lip. Seriously. Down to the next layer. Until it is brittle and dry. DH says he always knows when I'm thinking or planning because I'm picking my lip. Maybe that's not such a weird thing and other people pick like people bite their nails?

3 - If I could get away with it, I'd never wear a bra. It's the first thing I take off when I come home. If my family sees me with one on, their first question is 'where are we going?' lol I'm sure I would have fit in SO WELL in the 60's. Burn Baby Burn!

4 - I have a thing about edges. My cheese has to be to the edge of my pizza, my spreads to the edge of my bread, the cream cheese filling my entire length of celery. I think I have a thing about completeness. Haven't figured that one out yet...

5 - I have a problem with movie quoting. It's pretty bad. I do it all the time. It's so bad, I'll quote a line and ask 'do you know what that comes from?' and DH or DD will say 'such and such a movie' and they've never even seen it! lol Favorite Movies to Quote: Steel Magnolias, French Kiss, The Money Pit.

6 - I'm not really a girly girly. I hate clothes shopping. I only own one pair of shoes at a time and I wear them until they die. Birkenstock clogs or their knockoffs ONLY. I don't wear much makeup or jewelry. Except, I'm a stickler for lipstick, it keeps me from picking. (see #2.)

7 - I usually have 100-120 library books out at a time. This isn't really a weird thing for homeschoolers, but for normal people, yeah. And we read most of them too!

Okay, I threw in a 7th one, so sue me. I had added weirdness to share.

I'm tagging the following, feel free to throw virtual tomatoes a me...

Trish

Kersten

Barb

Kelly

That's all I can think of, I swear, I can't think of anymore that wouldn't throw REAL tomatoes at me for sending them this!

Oscars, Food & Art

So, did you watch the Oscars? I did. I mean, I had to. I ate my weight in italian food this afternoon while out with family and could do nothing other than lay around all evening like a slug! I think I even slipped off to sleep sometime in the afternoon too. See? Slug! Anyway, nothing huge happened at the Oscars, everyone that I saw looked beautiful. No streakers across the stage, no one fell despite 3 different people slipping on that little patch by the podium. I was horrified that one of the prego presenters (Cate Blanchett, Jessica Alba and Nicole Kidman) would slip! I'm very glad they let Marketa Irglova, the co-writer/winner of Best Song, come back and give her speech. It was fabulous. I loved seeing the montagues of past winners in different categories over the last 80 years. DH and I were like 'I've seen that movie, no, not that one, not that one...' So we've decided to find a list online of the 'Best Picture' winning movies and start watching them (* update: found it! *) Wouldn't that be a walk down history lane! I was surprised to see My Fair Lady and The Sound Of Music back to back in winning. I didn't know they were made one year after the other.

So after that I watched the previously taped show of Ellen where Josiah Leming was on. He is so good! I hope someone picks him up soon so I can buy his record. Okay, you know what I mean, CD. How old am I? 80? Might as well said 8-track or phonograph! My 8 year old asked me the other day what a record was. Even though her sister has a record player stuffed somewhere in her room. Ahhhh, the times, they are-a-changin'...

Today I found out Funky Finds has a $500 giveaway going on. Go see and enter! It ends Friday I think. If you win something, you gotta share a piece of it with me since I told ya about it, k?! lol Just kidding!

Finally, since I found out at dinner that my Sister In Law (HI KELLY!!! & tell that rotten brother of mine to quit laughing at my AeroGarden! lol I know yours is beautiful and stuff. BLECK!) stalks my blog too (not just my dd's) I'm posting family pics of our dinner today in the pope room at Buca Di Beppos. We had a wonderful time. The only drawback for me was, they've taken their Tortelloni off the menu! I think that is tantamount to a sin! If anyone has Buca's Tortelloni recipe, email me! They have fabulous decor. It's what we based out kitchen around. See all the fabulous wall art? (P.S. Kelly - if Maggie - I think I had Maggie with me and not Megan, starts talking about 'ole blue eyes', she's just referring to Frank Sinatra. I was taking pics of the domed ceiling in the back by the bathrooms with the posters on it and I said 'oh! Ole' blue eyes!' and she asked me what I said. So I told her all about him and how he sang beautifully and had blue eyes. I don't think she noticed the lady in the white bikini, don't worry. *wink* Oh! And the funniest thing! She saw the big pic of the ladies eating spaghetti and went 'EWWWWW, GROSS!' I explained that they were eating spaghetti and she said 'oh, I thought they were throwing up or sumtin' !' lol)

Family pics. The one in the pope's chair is my beautiful mother. Doesn't she look so young?!



My youngest dd is on the right (girls are enjoying their gifts. We always give gifts at this annual event).



My sick dd in the middle, poor thing.



I love these and want to use them in art.

These posters are gorgeous! (Taken on a curved/domed ceiling)

I thought this was a great pic and statue until I noticed her, ummm, unmentionable! And right next to the pope's cross even!

And because my SIL decided to stalk me, here's a pic of her eating! hehe (evil laugh ensues.)

Good night all. Homeschooling comes early. It's the start of another week. Have a lovely one!

Saturday Art

(Used image by Altered Pages.)
* Meets requirements for Mixed Media Monday's theme: Texture. *

My Saturday was productive. How was yours? I wore a smile on my face the whole day. In fact at one point I asked my husband, gesturing to my face;

"Do you see this smile?!"
DH said, "Yeah, what is it for?"
"I'm smiling because I've been doing art all day! See how happy it makes me?!"
"Oh, that's great (in that I'm-smiling-for-you-but-don't-really-care-one-way-or-the-other' way)."
"See my hands, covered in paint! Isn't it wonderful!"
"Yeah, great. You're not going to get all that off of your hands." (Always the practical one.)

Yeah, not a riveting conversation, but you get the idea.

I woke up and promptly sat down at my art desk. Oh, I made insincere comments about needing to fold clothes and do more laundry but never even attempted those chores. Maybe tomorrow.

Just a run-down on what I started today:
1 - a textured box
2 - Little containers to sell bits & baubles in
3 - 2 cards
4 - Crown (finished!)
5 - Large Canvas (finished!)
6 - Halloween item for a Somerset Studio Call
7 - Keyboard cleaned (finished!!)

The crown pics will come soon, I have an idea to take its pic out in the snow but haven't figured out how to do that without killing it! ha The canvas is below. On Altered Gypsy we started a monthly Somerset Studio Challenge thread. January was crowns (orginal idea in mag by Lori Oles at VintageFlair.) February was Paper Scrap Girls (idea in mag by Vanessa Valencia of A Fanciful Twist.) My piece is an 18"x24" canvas for my teenager's red hot room. Do you think its girlie enough?! lol





In the evening I sat down at my desk to blogsurf while I ate some soup (a common occurance.) I stood up to do something and SWOOSH, lovely hot clam chowder all in my nice wireless keyboard. Called for DH and we frantically started taking it apart to mop it out. Thankfully the keyboard has a built in layer of rubber that protects all the mechanics. But I spent several hours, after I had popped the keys out, cleaning the keyboard. The keys were soaked in soapy water, dried and were gleamingly new. Although I lost the artful hours I was going to have, I'm so thankful the keyboard didn't quit on me. I LOVE my wireless keyboard and mouse!

So,that's my Saturday in a nutshell. Kids were still sick, cough cough hack hack. It snowed out. But I was ecstatic that I've met 1/3 of Goal #2 on my list of yearly goals.

I'm off to slumberland, church tomorrow and dinner with extended family for a belated Valentine's celebration at Buca di Beppos.

Final thought.
I asked my DH this today. "What is an artist's favorite paintbrush?" All artists should know... *wink*
Good night!

Realizations...

SO I realized a few things today.

1 - Computers are a mesmerizer. I swear I've been on here on and off all day. I took a shower but that's about it.

2 - Blogs are a time loser. Do you know how long I got lost in blogland today, reading everyone's lovely blogs, adding them to my new FEED & sidebar AND commenting up a storm? ALL DAY!

3 - Flickr is a hot bed of creativity and potential friends of like interests. If you have not visited Flickr, go now. NOW! Okay, after you read this post but then go. Search by whatever topic you like; collage, elephants, Johnny Depp... there will be someone or some group that shares your interest! SO fascinating!

4 - It's okay to paint your keyboard green. If it gets in the way while you're painting, it becomes whatever color was on your brush at the time. Lime green.

5 - You CAN lose your mouse. Do you lose your mouse? Yes, I mean the computer mouse, not the rodent kind. Oh, you don't lose your mouse? Well, get a wireless mouse, start doing art and see if YOU can find your darn mouse! I dare ya!

6 - Children are always sicker at night. My child laid around in bed all day, vegging in front of the TV, coloring, reading, making ATCs, fighting with her sister, occasionally getting up to chase a dog. I didn't hear but maybe 5 coughs. Then she heads to bed and BLAM! She can not stop coughing. Is this a phenomenon I don't know about or is it just a coincidence?

7 - If its cold out, the puppy is going to relieve herself in the house. Yes, this is true, stupid but true nonetheless. I put the puppy outside many a time and all she spent her time doing was scratching at the door and whining, when you KNOW she has to go (I saw the potty dance!) You think enough time has gone by, you let her in. She promptly goes into the living room and pees! WHY WHY WHY! Where's the 409 dang it?! Get me the mop!

8 - Pizza delivery is the BOMB! You can go online, order anything you like, pay with the credit card (even your tip), send the teenager or DH to the door for the pizza so you don't have to get out of your pajamas, and dinner is SERVED! Hallelujah! Back to blogland!

9 - No matter how many times I organize, put things in labeled jars, drawers, bins and shelves, I will never, NEVER be organized! It doesn't matter what you say, don't tell me it is doable! Permanent organization is for people who waste time cleaning up after each project! How will you find anything if you put it away? You want tape? Oh, its on the table. Scissors? Table. Paint? Table still. No need to put it away, its right there in front of you (and if you run out of room on the table, its helpful to just stack it on the floor. You'll still find it.)

and finally...

10 - You feel so much more alive and whole when you have paint in your hair, modeling paste under your nails, dictionary paper stuck to your cheek and pen marks all over your palms. Ahhh, the life of an artist!

Do you have any realizations to share?

(Pic taken by my teenager, I stole it from her blog. Why does my child have more comments on her blog than me? *sigh*)

P.S. Can someone tell me why my Flickr thingies that stream my art (the new ones in the right column down at the bottom) are all extra long with the added white area? The top one isn't like that! I'm too tired to figure it out. If someone has a suggestion on how to fix them. Holler!

Handmade Monday

Just a quick post with pics of the cards I made for Handmade Monday's theme of 'BIRDS'. I love birds! I don't know what it is about them. My great grandma used to feed the birds, talk to them and watch them out her beautiful paned window. She had a little sign on the window sill with a feeder that said 'Squirrel Crossing.' I loved that sign, the squirrels really liked to sit up next to the window and eat out of that feeder! The birds filled her yard, feeders and birdhouses nestled among the rosebushes.She could name every bird.

Plant Killer, Kits & Wednesday Stamper

I'm a plant killer. From way back. For some reason I just can't keep plants alive. I've been known to kill a cactus or two. Even when we lived in the desert! How sad is that?! I'm sure you're all lovely plant growers and have massive jungles growing from all the love you give them. But I think I forget, or under/overwater or something. UGH! However, my parents graciously gave us a wonderful toy for Christmas. The AeroGarden. I thought, YES! I can finally grow plants and they won't die! Wishful thinking. We followed the rules, the instructions, the plan. We have 2 out of 7 that are growing profusely. Isn't it sad?! I moved the plants around today (after I took the pics), roots and all to put all the puny plants in the middle. They seem to be standing up straighter, like they now have the courage to grow or something. I'll keep you updated on my plant killing status... (I did hack away at the 2 plants that were growing so profusely, the basils, and hung them up to dry in the window. Won't they be yum for cooking!) The plants are supposed to look like the first pic:

I see a couple of the items I've designed for Altered Pages have made it into kits! I'm so excited! So if you were dying to make something similiar to my Beauty Matchbox or maybe the Altered Book Tags, now you can! If I'm not mistaken, a necklace kit is coming out soon. I'll post a link when it's available. If you create something with these kits, let me know. I wanna see pics!

Today's creations are for Wednesday Stamper's 'BOOKMARKS' theme:



** NOTE: Until March 1st, everything not new in my Etsy store is 20% off. Go look, you might find something you can't live without! lol **

Ramblings, Theme Thursday & ArtyGirls

2-08keychain, originally uploaded by Collage Contessa.

* This keychain meets the requirements for today's Theme Thursday challenge of Warm Colors. I just love orange! * Honestly, I had this new keychain slated to head to Etsy, but I'm not sure I can part with it. It sure came out purty in my opinion. It might be headed to my keys instead! Used collage images from AlteredPages. A couple other items headed to Etsy for sale though, so go see!

Busy busy day. Woke up with a sick child, almost fainted on me. Oh my word, how scary is that?! She was very weak and seems to have the normal cold/flu. So, fun day for her. Soups, tea and lots of movies. Watched classics such as Pollyanna, Escape to Witch Mountain (and its sequel) and the ever favorite Spongebob (*cough* Yuck *cough*).

When I wasn't helping the oldest do her homeschooling, I played in the art room. Made a few things that I'm happy with (the keychain above) and this necklace. This lovely green creation also qualifies for this week's ArtyGirls challenge of GREEN! I'm so happy to finally be participating in ANY challenges again!

For those waited with baited breath (HA!) for the crown... I worked on it too. Not ready to post it yet, but I'm 'almost' there! YAY!

They're predicting snow again tomorrow (pics are from Sunday's snowstorm). What's up in your part of the world?!

American Idol's Biggest Mistake Yet...

I'm so perturbed! I wasn't even going to watch American Idol this year. I mean, if it doesn't have Taylor Hicks on it jumping around stealing my heart then it's not worth it. But my DVR thingie mistakenly taped a couple episodes of American Idol, I was bored and you know how it goes. I watched the cut from 160 people to 50. I fell in love with one boy. So talented. Watched tonight's episode where they cut down to 12 girls and 12 boys. At the last minute, they cut him. It was heartbreaking. They made one of the biggest mistakes that I can see. My opinion of course. What do you think?

(Here's his Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/josiahleming)
He's going to be on The Ellen Degeneres show tomorrow apparently. Set your DVRs!