Art in Progress

Oh nooooes!!!

2012-02-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

Soooo....

I didn't stop posting because of lack of motivation. At the beginning of last week, this happened:

I tried running a fsck in single-user mode first when I couldn't even get a login screen or boot in safe mode (I know just enough about Macs to troubleshoot beyond unplugging all my peripherals rebooting). I was getting the little chime and a happy Apple logo, it was just hanging at the blue screen, never giving the white login box.

I used the original install disc that came with my iMac. I got the same error through Disk Utility (invalid index key). So I got a copy of Disk Warrior's boot DVD to try and repair it that way. It could look at all the data on the drive, but said the drive had sustained physical damage and could not rebuild the directory. It couldn't even let me get to the files on the drive so I could scoop them up and put what would fit on the external drive.

Then this happened:

If you're not sure what that is, it's an unhappy Mac. No chime at start up, no nothing. It couldn't find the hard drive. Like it wasn't even in the machine.

When you don't have an external hard drive big enough to handle backing up your computer, you lose a lot. Unfortunately, I lost a lot.

I only post about 1/4 of Ian's baby photos on Facebook. I don't like to inundate everyone with hundreds of photos of the same thing every day, so I was downloading them all to the computer, but only posting the best ones. I still have the "best of the best," but there were a few I hadn't edited and posted yet.

I lost all my Etsy shop photos and photos I was going to edit to list new items.

My software was all for Mac. I'm not paying $800 for PC versions of them now. I can't, really. Starving artist in this town means what I make has to go feed the baby first, then goes back into the business. Some might say that's stupid or irresponsible, but if I 'invest' in a bigger external drive or another software key to install on my PC, then I'm left with a hungry baby. I can find other ways to replace my software, but not at the expense of my baby. So it looks like I'm not going to be a graphic designer much in the near (or far) future.

Half my music collection (including most of my eMusic files) were on the computer, not the tiny external I was using for music and old portfolio files. And eMusic wants me to pay for files I've already paid for to download them to another computer.

My brother-in-law is going to see if he can recover any of the date on the hard drive. It could be one of the 'swelling/leaking capacitors' the G5 iMacs that came out at that time were famous for. That could mimic a hard drive failure. Or something more simple like a connector (I've read a lot about my model iMac and apparently it had a lot of physical issues that mimicked hard drive failure -- I'm praying it's one of those things and not that my HD took a total piss on my livelihood). While I can do software tricks, I'm terrible at taking machines apart and putting them back together and have them still work, so I'm having to learn how to let go of a major project and trust someone else. It's easier to do that when I know I'm letting a genius work on my Mac. I wouldn't trust anyone else right now.

I am lucky enough to have a second computer, a nice PC, but I do miss my Mac. It was just more... intuitive. Artistic. Quieter. Sleeker. More... me.

Ultimate Craft Throwdown

2012-01-24T17:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I've done it.
I submitted an application for a casting call for the Ultimate Craft Throwdown.

I'm only hoping I get picked to be on the show. I don't even have to win -- I'd love to just go and try my hand at doing something I'm actually good at in front of millions of viewers. Every time I watch those competition reality shows, I think "Oh, I could do that... if it involved hot glue guns and spray paint and fabric."

Wish me luck!

So much for exercise...

2012-01-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

Well, after another week of working out and eating right, I've gained 8 pounds.

WHAT?!

It seems I'm one of those women who doesn't lose weight while breastfeeding. In fact, as a nursing mom, my body thinks it's under stress so it holds onto as much fat as it can. It seems that many women of heavy Scottish and Irish backgrounds have this problem, with the body pretty much preparing itself for famine.

And now with the exercising, my body has gone into starvation defense mode, meaning that not only is holding onto everything it has, it's converting MORE food into fat instead of energy. It thinks that all this healthy eating (2000 calories of healthy foods) plus 30 minutes of brisk walking/slow jogging 4-6 days a week means I'm under more stress, and that apparently we're living in the end times of food.

Damn all those famines in my ancestors' time! They've primed my genetics to switch from a steady metabolism (I never really gained or lost much, and never had to diet as long as I maintained even a minimum level of exercise) to a metabolism that thinks I'm wasting away to nothing.

In other words, my body's going 'EVERYBODY PANIC!!!!!'

While my appearance (not to mention my morale, self-esteem and motivation) is going down the toilet.

So now I have to work doubly hard by working out pretty much 5-6 days a week (mostly cardio, with ab and lower back work), and cut out as many processed/refined foods as I can. Meaning no whites (sugar, flour, starches), no sodas, no high fructose anything. And no bread, which makes me very sad.

But I can eat lots of fruit (I do love fruit), I have to eat way more green veggies than I am now (I despise most green veggies -- only spinach seems to taste like anything at all), and I can have all the protein from meat, fish and eggs I want.

I have to calm my body's starvation defense down, but that can take anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks. In the meantime, I'll be toning muscle (and adding to my weight), while working out and not losing any fat. In fact, I may gain even more fat over the next two months due to my metabolism's little shit fit. But eventually I'll start losing the fat, and the muscle will help it burn faster, and then hopefully I'll see some progress.

But that means I may very well gain much more than I lose, making my initial goal pointless.

I guess I'm just exercising now to look better in my clothes. All new clothes that I bought 3 weeks ago that looked fabulous on the figure I had then and that I thought would look even more fabulous as I lost weight and inches. But instead they look horrible, I look dumpy and worse -- I've had four people ask me if I'm expecting again, or when I'm due.

People, let me put this to you in a way you can understand: unless you actually SEE a baby coming out of a woman's hoo-hoo, don't you EVER ask her when she is due, or if she's expecting again.

Never assume a woman is pregnant -- never ASK her if she is, either. Do you really want to make her self-esteem drop a little bit more than it does already every time she looks in the mirror? In other wrods, do you really want to be punched in the face? Because that's probably what I'm going to do to the next asshat who has the nerve to ask me if I'm pregnant.

In fact, I think I'm going to take up kickboxing as a form of cardio so I can beat the snot out of the next insensitive lout who asks when I'm due.

Solidity

2012-01-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

Ian had his first taste of solids on Saturday.

As you can see, he was less than thrilled -- at first.

He was curious about it, but still didn't gobble it up. He took about 5 spoonfuls, then decided to tight-lip and make raspberry noises.

He's also sitting up like a boss when he has something to support him.

For a 4 month old, he's pretty large, weighing in at 18.9 pounds and 26.5 inches tall. He's bigger than a lot of nine-month-olds I've seen lately. I used to call him "Little Man" but lately I've been calling him "Gigantor" (and yes, I sing the theme song... "Gi-GANNNNNNN-tor! Gi-GANNNNN-tor!"). He giggles and just pulls himself up to standing in my lap, leaning against my ample boobage, and putting his forehead against mine.

It won't be long before he's walking, then running, away from his nerdy mama and then I'll be so sad that my little baby is no longer a baby. He'll be a toddler. Even now, I look at him and am amazed at how fast he went from being the tiny little scrunched-face squeaky burrito that would fall asleep on my chest regularly to being this big bouncy baby with the toddler face already.

Rez-O-Matic check-in

2012-01-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

Well, today is the check-in for my rez-o-matic goals. How did I do, you're wondering. OK, maybe you're not wondering, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

I actually did everything on my list, and then some!

Instead of 10 minutes of exercise 5 days this past week, I did 4 days of 25-30 minutes of brisk walking in the comfort of my own home (Leslie Sansome, I <3 you!) and 15 minutes of weights on one day. I lost 1 pound! And since I propped Ian up on a pillow, he thought I was dancing around to entertain him. Win-win for the exercise!

I did 1 tangled alphabet letter a day, plus did two pages in my Rez-o-Matic encouragement/progress journal.

I also sorted through almost 20 boxes of old junk from the storage shed and either tossed or marked "giveaway" on at least half, and the other half went into the attic to be rummaged through again when I need it. THAT wasn't on the list!

My blog goals for January are one post per week at this time, so this is my requisite one post, but I have a few more in the works (Ian's development, presents I made for Christmas, and pages from the sketchbook).

So first week down and everything's great! Let's hope this trend continues for the whole year.

Rez-O-matic!

2012-01-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

New year, new blog (post).

This year, instead of New Year's 'resolutions' that are vague and general and easily forgotten, I've decided to do a Rez-O-Matic, where I set a few specific goals, and then for each month take easy baby steps to make each thing happen during the year.

This year, I plan to (key word: plan):

blog regularly
lose 45 pounds
organize my craft room
finish painting Ian's room
re-open the Etsy store and make it work
make more arts & crafts
make all my Christmas presents before October 31

The key to all of this is planning. And breaking down each bigger goal into bite-sized actionable steps. I've also planned a reward system. For each major goal I accomplish, I have set aside nice little gifts to myself in the form of playdates, new books and music, and even a sweet tattoo. I'm not working out just to lose weight, I'm working out so I can get Starbuck's wing tattoo on my left arm! And if I don't accomplish something on my list, I plan right now to not beat myself up about it. We shouldn't be motivated or discouraged by guilt or feelings of failure.

I didn't set vague goals because I didn't want to give up on them like I usually do. I don't want to "get in shape" or even drop specific pant sizes. After Ian was born, I sadly discovered I went up not one, but two whole pant sizes and one shoe size. 4 months later, and none of my rings fit, and only about half of my shoes fit (all my Chuck Taylors, thankfully). My entire body changed and I may never be a size 12 again because my hips seemed to have shifted slightly. Maybe they'll go back, maybe they won't, but my goal is to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight by the end of the year.

None of my pants fit, so I had to go buy a few at Goodwill (I refuse to pay full price for pants I will hopefully only be wearing for a year or maybe less). None of my shirts were long enough -- suddenly it was like every shirt I owned became a midriff-baring top, and believe me, none of you want to see my midriff right now. Between Helga and Olga doubling in size (bra size, that is) and my midsection expanded and no longer toned, the fabric of my shirts just didn't go as far.

So rather than say I want to get back into my skinny size 12 jeans (I'm really tall, so size 12 is skinny for me), I'd rather lose poundage by exercising more and eating better. I set an amount of weekly exercise goals, not monthly weight loss because I know women plateau during dieting. As long as I meet my minimum set goals of exercise each week, I won't worry about the amount I lose. Indeed, if I actually do everything I have planned, I will probably lose about 60 pounds. But I'll be happy with 45 because that puts me back at my pre-pregger weight.

For blogging, well, I'm having to juggle a baby (between sides) and keeping the house up. The holi-daze are over, so I have more time to write, and when I do have time to write, I plan to stash extra posts and schedule them over time.

I will be checking in every week with my progress, so this blog will be my way of holding myself accountable. And it's a way to meet my first month's blogging goal of one post per week. I still have a few posts showing off all the Christmas presents I made for everyone this past season, so I will hopefully have at least 2 posts per week, maybe more with mommy blog posts and foodie posts. We'll see. But the important thing is to meet the smaller goal first, and ease into accomplishment.

So what New Year's goals did you set for yourself?

LT “Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done.” Presents Curbside Chaos!

2011-11-15T00:02:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done. for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Having just moved into a new house back in August, our garden is... well, let's just say most of it's a bit skimpy. My parents were wonderful enough to make a long bed across the front of our porch and fill it with mums and pansies, but the rest of the yard is looking a bit sad. It still needs sod, and the trees need cutting and pruning, and it could really use some color in the spring.

My favorite flowers of all time are hyacinths and irises. What I love most about these bulb flowers is how easy and fast they are to plant and take care of. I guess I could say that I have a black thumb instead of a green thumb (I once killed a white wisteria bush I was trying to grow). But I can grow bulbs! My longest-living flower to date is a beautiful red amaryllis. Bulbs: DigDropDone has the most beautiful bulbs of all kinds, and is my new favorite gardening supply website.

Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done. is an educational effort designed to excite women about the surprisingly simple beauty of flower bulbs. What I love most about the site are the ladies -- Marcy, Juliana and Evelyn. With the new baby and taking care of the household, the lady I liked most was Marcy, the Super Mom. She's super busy with three kids, and still finds time to garden and decorate the house with bulbs like tulips and hyacinths.

Right now, Bulbs: Dig, Drop, Done is giving away a $5,000 yard makeover! All you need to do to enter is submit a photo of your yard at CurbsideChaos.com.

The lucky winner will not only receive a $5,000 yard makeover, but they will also receive a visit from Taniya Nayak (@TaniyaNayak on Twitter). Taniya will go through and give you tips on the best way to update your yard! She will give you creative ideas for incorporating flower bulbs into your landscape.

For every mention of the contest on Twitter, Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done. will donate $1.00 to Rebuilding Together - the nation’s leading nonprofit, working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities.

CurbsideChaos also has a great Garden Guru feature -- just tell it where you live, when you want your bulbs to bloom, and it presents you with the perfect arrangement of colorful flowers. And yay! I got hyacinths!

Step 1 – Pick your Country
Step 2 – Pick your location within that Country
Step 3 – Choose the type of bulb you want to grow
Step 4 – Check out the Planting Guide that shows you how to plant your bulbs.

Bulbs are not just for gardeners, or just for gardens. I myself keep my lucky amaryllis in a pot on my coffee table, and I love using dwarf irises in window boxes -- inside! Since they come in so many colors, you can use bulbs as part of interior and exterior design. They also easy to grow and tend, making them great projects for children's educational activities. I love giving bulbs and pots as gifts in the fall so my friends and family can enjoy the beauty of a gift that lasts and keeps on giving.

If you want a beautiful garden in the spring, or just a few pretty potted plants for your windowsill, try planting some bulbs this year -- visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more . And be sure to enter the contest over at Curbside Chaos for a yard makeover -- all you have to do is upload a photo of your yard!

Zentangle challenge -- Punzel

2011-10-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T17:06:00.001-07:00

Recent art swaps

2011-10-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

Art swaps are fabulous and the only way I can come up with ideas these days.

Well, ideas that don't take weeks to complete (and with a baby, weeks = months when it comes to getting anything done these days -- I get no "me time" to work on major projects, so I'm almost to the point of wanting to throw all my art supplies away. It's frustrating...)

All of these were done while nursing, holding a small Moleskine as a desk, in the air, over my son while he curls up on a pillow, while carefully drawing and probably looking like a T-Rex holding a sketchbook.

These are all for the ZIA group on Yahoo!

ATCs for a leaf swap

Zendalas

Matchbook pages

StampXpress -- Free Shipping offer

2011-10-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of StampXpress for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Right now StampXpress, a provider of date stamps, number stamps, and more is offering free shipping on $10+ orders.

You can also create your own custom stamps for all your needs -- surveyor stamps, land, real estate, finance, business and personal stamps!

Check them out today, and let them know I sent you.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T18:13:00.001-07:00

Swapoween Goodies!

2011-10-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Beth and Angie, I got to participate in Swapoween! I'm addicted to swaps now (thanks, Mamarazzi).

I got my package yesterday in the mail. Or rather, my mom picked it up off the porch for me while I was feeding Ian and left it on my coffee table so I didn't even have to go outside to get it. I got to open it up all cozy and happy in front of the TV while watching John Carpenter's The Thing (the original -- I'm not so sure the new one is going to be any good since it looks like a rehash, not the prequel it was billed as).

My swap partner, Miss Angie from My So-Called Chaos (one of the hosts for this swap!), sent the most wonderful goodies to keep me in scary-movie-watching, bump-in-the-night, Halloween heaven for the rest of the month and on into the Day of All Souls (November 1).

Look at all the orange Halloween-y goodness!

Let's begin, shall we? Here is everything unwrapped:

Miss Angie made these cute cards and pumpkin hair clip!

She also made the cool bracelet I'm wearing in this photo:

I've got my eye on you!

I love the little charms on it.

She sent just the right amount and right kinds of candies -- chocolate peanut butter eyeballs, candy corn and REESES PEICES!!! (I love anything Reeses).

How about popcorn, cookies and coffee (or tea, in my case) for the monster movie marathons?

I learned this trick from my 20-month-old nephew:

Bowls make wonderful hats once they're empty.

I just love this nail polish. It's bright green and it GLOWS IN THE DARK! I <3 glowy things -- I've still got glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to my ceiling; I'll be staring at my fingertips every night after I go to bed now.

Cute stickers, plates and napkins to add to that movie marathon, a wall plaque to welcome my real life friends (all two of them) to the party, and some heavenly scented body lotion (Wicked Spiced Pumpkin by Bath & Body Works). I <3 anything spiced or pumpkin scented -- this is both!

I love it all! Thank you so much, Miss Angie! I hope you enjoy your package as much as I enjoyed mine.

MyMemories Winner!

2011-10-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

Today is the day!

Random.org picked a winner for me this morning and it's Mom KQ! Congratulations!

For all my other readers, you can still get $10 off the My Memories Suite 2 digital scrapbooking software, PLUS a $10 coupon for anything in the MyMemories.com store! Just enter coupon code STMMMS79066 (my affiliate code) when you check out. It's that simple!

And be sure to check back here often because I'm starting a monthly giveaway. In November, I'm giving away a big ol' craft pack with rubber stamps, scrapbook papers, and much more!

Last Day for Giveaway

2011-10-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Don't forget, everyone. Today is the LAST DAY to enter my giveaway!

You can win a copy of the MyMemories Suite v2 Digital Scrapbooking software. Look at the super cuteness you can create all on your computer, without having embellishments and papers cluttering up the house.

If you already have this wonderful scrapbooking program, you can get $10 off the My Memories Suite 2 digital scrapbooking software, PLUS a $10 coupon for anything in the MyMemories.com store! Just enter coupon code STMMMS79066 (my affiliate code) when you check out. It's that simple!

Enter today!

Weekly Zentangle Challenge

2011-10-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

This week's ZIA challenge from the Diva is to use a sunflower theme to honor the Sunflower Fund.

Feel Richer with Android

2011-10-13T17:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

My husband and I are increasingly unhappy with our current cell phone carrier (a major player) who keeps adding on surprise charges, makes us pay for a data plan in addition to our regular phone bill if we want to access the web at all, and charges us outrageous amounts for texts and picture messages. We're also locked into phones we can't stand because of our contract. Every time I use my phone, I usually end my dealings with it saying "I hate this thing."

So we're looking into switching to Straight Talk by Android. Soon we'll be carrying our little mini-daschunds around with us and trying to buy the Hope Diamond next time we're at the Smithsonian.

The getting richer effect has expanded... by LittleBard95

I love the idea that we can cut our cell phone bill in half, and ditch our contracts (which locked us into phones we can't stand for the last two years with our current carrier). You have to be crazy to be on a contract these days when you can get everything you need without one. And if you're like me, I'm sure you're tired of the "required" data plans for many phones out there in order to access web and email with certain carriers (adding another $40+ per month to your already sky-high bill).

What would you buy with the extra money you could save with Straight Talk? I know a number of things we could start saving up for and paying off with that extra money. Feel Richer with Android

Plus, there are no contracts, no surprise bills and no credit checks. They have great nationwide coverage and excellent reception/connectivity. Finally, Straight Talk only uses trusted phone manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Samsung.

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• A smart phone with a smart plan, and as always, no contract.

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• The power of Android

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• Unlimited Monthly service is only $45, and includes calls, text, picture messaging, and web.

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• 411 calls are included at no extra charge.

• Free from activation, reactivation, or termination fees

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Phone Selection:

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• Amazing smart phones; touch screen phones, and app capable phones with features like voice navigation, camera, video recorder, music player, instant messaging, and Bluetooth®

This week's Happy List

2011-10-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

My biggest happy thing right now is this:

I got it at an estate auction last weekend for $35! A huge camphor wood chest with dragons carved in it. Dragons! Look at all that dragon-y awesomeness.

And it matches a set of smaller wooden boxes I've had for 16 years (that oddly enough, I also got at an auction). It's holding about 1/4 of my fabric collection at the moment and lives under a dining table turned craft/gaming table, but I hope one day to bring it out into the living room as a coffee table because it's freakin' awesome.

I'm also really happy about MyMemories digital scrapbooking software. I've been making more little quick pages for baby Ian:

I can print these out and hand-letter them, then slide them into protectors and bind them all together (when I get a chance!). You can win a copy of this same software by clicking that link on my right sidebar (that one that talks about entering my giveaway, eh?).

I'm thankful for zentangles.
Right now I'm really thankful for the Diva's weekly challenge and the Yahoo groups ZIA swaps I'm in. They're the only way I can make any art these days. I stack pillows in my lap and let Ian nurse while I draw on these 3.5 x 3.5 inch cards. It takes me a few days just to do one entire tile, but they do help relax me and keep my artistic motor skills honed.

Don't forget to post your Happy List and link it up with Mamarazzi. Every time you link up, you get entered to win monthly prizes!

WWTK Wednesday

2011-10-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

Hosted by Mamarazzi and Alicia aka Queso!

This week's questions come from Queso:
{1} If you had an extra hour to do ANYTHING for yourself each day what would you do?
{2} Are you a morning person or a night owl?
{3} How much sleep do you get on an average night?
{4} When do you find the time to blog/surf the ol' interweb?
{5} What is the ONE thing you're never too busy for?

{1} If you had an extra hour to do ANYTHING for yourself each day what would you do?
Exercise. Or unpack a few boxes in my studio. It's hard to do anything these days with a baby plugged in almost constantly.

{2} Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Oh, I used to be such a night owl. But these days, I have to get up before dawn to plug in the baby, so I've gradually become a morning person. I hate it (the morning part, not the reason behind it). Morning is just so unnatural and weird after 35 years of being a night owl.

{3} How much sleep do you get on an average night?
Ian sleeps a good long stretch at night, so if he's in a good mood, we'll get 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. If he's fussy or just really hungry, maybe 4 if we're lucky.

{4} When do you find the time to blog/surf the ol' interweb?
In the mornings while nursing. I stack pillows up in my lap to cuddle the little one and I can type like a T-Rex, with just my hands sticking out to the keyboard. But I do most of my blog reading through my iPod's RSS reader, so I can't comment very often and I feel bad about that. :( I'm still reading, I just have a hard time leaving comments.

{5} What is the ONE thing you're never too busy for?
Going to the bathroom. I'm too busy to eat many days, but the one exception I'll make is putting Ian in his crib while I go pee. I feel bad when he cries the entire time (a whole minute or two), but hey, it's that or we'd have had to replace the couch long before now.

My Happy List for the week

2011-10-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'd rather be happy than rich. Being happy means I'm grateful for things, even if they appear small or unusual to others. Doing the Happy List like this makes me sit and think about the good things I have in life, even if some days all I can think of is television, or that Ian didn't spit up straight down the middle of my shirt that morning. So here it is, this week's Happy List!

The wonderful Mamarazzi is giving away a prize for people who post their happy lists and link up. So go and post already!

I'm happy it's finally Autumn.
I was seriously tired of 100+ temperatures. I know the dogs were tired of it too. Bishop is so happy it's cooled off outside, we can't even get him to come inside most nights unless it's raining, and even then he whines and screams (if you've ever seen this dog, you know what I mean) to be let outside. I'm happy I can sit on my front porch without melting now.

I'm happy my baby is cooing and smiling at me now.
That little smile was just a reflex until last week. Now he does it whenever he gets worked up, during diaper changes (he can't stand a dirty diaper), clothing changes, and when I sing to him. He almost had a full out-loud giggle today too, not just his happy "Aaaaahhhh!" that he's been doing this last week. Also it makes me feel good, like he doesn't see me as simply an all-he-can-eat dairy bar.

I'm happy Doctor Who is over for the season.
I'm getting tired of Eleven's habit of wallowing in self-pity and self-loathing, but I liked Amy, Rory and River's story arc. I'm happy that I figured it all out in "Let's Kill Hitler" because hey... a time-traveling, shape-changing robot. Everyone saw that coming, they just didn't think it would be that simple. And the question that must never be answered? Who out there didn't immediately remember Jackie Tyler's irritating voice asking "Doctor who?" Everyone thought that, and again no one wanted to think it could be that simple. I'm glad I'm that simple. I'm happy it's all over until next year. And I'm happy that maybe they've hinted at Eleven's end soon because he's not my favorite Doctor. He's right behind Colin Baker as one of my least-favorite Doctors, but at least Pertwee is ahead of both of them. Sorry, fellow Whovians, but Nine and Ten will always jostle for postion as the best of the new series, while Four reigns supreme for the original series.

I'm happy Dexter is back on.
Really I'm just happy to see Edward James Olmos getting a paycheck again. But it's weird seeing him as anything other than Admiral Adama now.

I'm happy I can write blogs while feeding Ian.
I've stacked up pillows in my lap and can hold him here in the crook of my elbows while I type. Now if I can just get him to settle down in a sling or wrap long enough for me to paint or sew something cool...

I'm happy we have such a happy baby (for the most part)
I'm also happy he hasn't been very sick or fussy. I'm know I'm probably jinxing it, but Ian's such a perfect angel 95% of the time. Yes, he demands to be constantly plugged in most of the day (I checked the little log on my iPod and was shocked to see that I spend between 5 and 9 hours nursing throughout the day, depending on if he's going through a growth spurt, tanking up for the night, or just feeling lonely or insecure). But other than the constant feeding, he's pretty much a mellow baby.

Weekly Zentangle Challenge - Duo Tangle

2011-09-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

This week's Zentangle challenge from The Diva just reinforced my dislike of most grid patterns. I can't draw a straight line most of the time, and Jonqal is just a bunch of straight lines (for the most part). Other people can make it look so flowing and beautiful; mine just looks blah.

But I did like playing with Opus. It reminds me of a few of my other favorite patterns, and I'll be adding this one to my go-to list.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a copy of My Memories Suite v.2 digital scrapbooking software!

My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway

2011-09-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Contest is closed. Thank you to everyone who entered. I'll be announcing the winner on Sunday night!

I love paper crafts of all kind, but lately my paper stash and embellishments have sort of exploded all over the place. I'm still trying to unpack and organize my craft studio, and right now it looks like Martha Stewart ransacked my house looking for government secrets and then crapped craft supplies and glitter all over the place. My husband has put a moratorium on buying any new papers or supplies until I either get my stuff put away or I use up everything I already have.

Neither are about to happen in the near future, for the same reason -- I have my arms full of baby most of the time. But I still want to do scrapbooks of my Little Man. What's a girl to do?

Why, make DIGITAL scrapbook pages, of course!

With My Memories Suite v2, I'm able to make so many adorable digital scrapbook pages celebrating everything from Ian's coming home to Christmas, from stupid pet tricks (because my pets are really stupid) to our vacations and loved ones. All without taking up any space in the studio.

A very fast page I did while holding Ian in my arms. Beautiful papers, elements, ease of placement and a load of options make My Memories my digital scrapbooking software of choice.

With My Memories simple interface it's so easy to make digital scrapbook pages. But don't let the interface fool you -- it's packed full of features that, once you get into using them, you'll be amazed at how beautiful and professional your pages look in no time.

The user interface

Don't worry if you're not very computer-savvy (I'll admit, as a graphic designer, I found the interface very intuitive and reminiscent of Photoshop in many ways, so I love using it). MyMemories.com has loads of tutorials and user guides so you'll be whipping out projects like a pro.

The software comes pre-loaded with numerous digital papers, embellishments, word art, photo layouts, quick page templates, and fonts. My Memories.com also offers tons of free paper packs, samplers and quick pages to add to your collection.

One of the many freebie quick pages offered by My Memories.

And it's not just scrapbook pages either. You can make calendars, gift tags, holiday cards, photo books and more with My Memories software and templates.

Are you hooked yet? I know you are.

Here's the fun part -- MyMemories.com is giving away a copy of their awesome digital scrapbooking software to one of my lucky readers! In order to win, all you have to do is visit www.MyMemories.com, then come back here and leave me a comment ON THIS blog telling me what your favorite digital scrapbooking kit is. That's it!

For extra entries, you can do the following:

Follow My Memories blog
Like My Memories on Facebook
Follow My Memories on Twitter
Follow my blog here with Google Friend Connect or the RSS feed.
Like Eccentric Lilithine on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter

For each thing on that list that you do, you MUST come back here and leave a separate comment for each thing you did.

But wait, there's more!

Right now, My Memories is giving all my readers $10 off the My Memories Suite 2 digital scrapbooking software, PLUS a $10 coupon for anything in the MyMemories.com store! Just enter coupon code STMMMS79066 when you check out. It's that simple!

They have so many great digital scrapbooking packs, it's impossible for me to choose just one as a favorite. My wishlist on the website is a mile long, but I've already bought a couple packs and intend to get a few more as I get all my photos of my Little Man downloaded from the camera!

Winner will be chosen through Random.org. The winner must reply to my email within 48 hours of notification, or else I reserve the right to choose another winner with Random.org.

Swapoween!

2011-09-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

It's almost time for my favorite holiday, and in celebration, Angie @ My So Called Chaos and Beth @ Living a Goddess Life are hosting a Halloween themed swap!

You should join in the fun and meet some wonderful new bloggers while your at it!

I am off to the beach for a few days, even if it is supposed to rain the entire time. Our first road trip with the Little Man. We'll see how he does and I'll be sure to take loads of photos.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Weekly Tangle Challenge #40

2011-09-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge is for Pinwheels for Peace. If you get a chance, pop over to I am the Diva's website, do the challenge, then enter to win a set of Pocket Pages for your Zentangle tiles.

2011-09-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Our interwebs went crazy last week.

Seems that when CenturyLink installed our DSL, they installed a "temporary" line running from the pole to the house. There's this thin orange cable running down the road (through the ditch and trees), across our driveway, around the back of our house and to the box on the side of the house. They were supposed to come out and bury this cable a few days after installation.

That was on August 12.
It has not been buried yet.

We've had road crews repaving our street and adding gravel and doing shoulder work the last two weeks. And last week, they broke the cable. Oh, they didn't tell us or anything. They just tried to twist it back together, then throw it up under some trees like it wasn't their fault. So every time the exposed wires would touch, the internet connection would go out.

A tech came out and fixed it last Saturday, so we finally have internet again.

As of yet, NO ONE has come out to bury that cable, despite us calling and bitching and CenturyLink claiming they've put a ticket in and someone should be out within 24 hours to bury it.

And we STILL have road crews working on this street almost every day. Who knows how much longer we'll have internet, if the crew cuts the cable again.

I have a few posts I'm trying to write, but it's been so difficult with the Little Man deciding not to take naps during the day EVER, and nursing CONSTANTLY. I'm pretty much tied to the couch feeding him, since he eats every hour, on the hour, all day, every day. It takes 30 minutes to feed him, he gurgles and kicks and squeaks for 30 minutes, then he wants food again. Not a pacifier, not formula... no he wants me, the all-he-can-eat walking dairy bar.

And don't tell me he's just going through a growth spurt. He's been doing this routine for the last three weeks. It was actually worse when he was going through a growth spurt -- he'd nurse for 10 minutes, doze for 5 minutes, then nurse again for 10, allllll day for about 3 days. Then he went back to the hourly feedings.

Supplementing with formula does no good. He can eat a good 6 ounces of formula, and STILL want Mom within 30 minutes.

I'm doing my best to give him what he needs, but there are days when I don't get to shower. Days when I feel guilty just for putting him down so I can go pee. Days when I don't eat until dinner because I can't disturb him or put him down long enough to fix something to eat, let alone eat it.

I hope it will get better soon. Mainly because I'm tired of smelling like a hillbilly from lack of bathing. And because I want to make a sammich and eat it all without dropping crumbs all over my baby.

And because I want to get back to blogging and photography and making MORE art. I still make some art because I can draw Zentangles while I'm nursing the Little Man, but I want to be able to make the scrapbook pages for him, and draw his nameplate for his room.

Favorite Colors Swap -- the Goodies edition!

2011-09-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

As part of Mamarazzi's Favorite Colors swap, I've made a new awesome bloggy friend: Myya over at Myya Says... She's just the coolest chick ever and has the most adorable little girls.

I got my swap package yesterday evening and did it ever cheer me up (the last couple of days have been kind of crummy). All the purple-y goodness made me smile. I totally forgot to take a pic of everything all wrapped up, but it was wrapped in yummy cupcake printed tissue paper.

Excuse the slight blur on some of these photos; I couldn't use the flash last night because it's the one thing that startles Ian. Loud, sudden noises don't faze this kid, but camera flashes startle him and make him cry (or wake him up, then make him cry).

Look at all these wonderful pretties! Myya is so sweet and generous. I love everything!

Awesome onesie, adorable Looney Tunes shirt and a teether/rattle for the Squeaky Burrito.

Yummy scrapbooking papers, pens, notebook, bling stapler, embellishments and stamp pad.

Soft velvety gloves, hair flowers, purple nail polish (one's a glitter!) and cozy socks.

STICKERS!!! Pirate stickers! I <3 stickers!

Lavender & chamomile stress relieving lotion (which I desperately needed!), anti-bacterial soap and hand sanitizer (again desperately needed), shower scrubbie, water bottle and grape flavored Propel packets (also needed because all I've have time to drink lately is Dr. Pepper, which can't be good for building my milk supply).

Thank you for such a thoughful array of gifts, Myya! You're the best!

House... I mean Porch Guest

2011-09-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is really pretty.

In an "OH MY GOD, IT'S A SPIDER, KILL IT! KILL IT!
KILL IT!"
sort of way.

Yeah, I'm not sitting out on my porch until it snows now.

A Pair of Ducks (Tangle Challenge)

2011-09-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

Whew! My little Squeaky Burrito has decided to space out his feedings to every 2 hours today, and take naps in between. I can write another post! Woohoo!

This is my attempt at the Diva's Weekly Tangle Challenge. This week it's a monotangle of Paradox, suggested by Maria (one of the creators of Zentangle). At first Paradox made me angry because I could never get it to look as awesome as everyone else's tangles. After practicing with it many times, I'm finally getting the hang of it and starting to love it. Reminds me of Betweed, and in some areas, Sanabel.

I used one of my 'bleed-through' papers that I cut into tangle tiles a few months back. I love the colors of bleed-throughs, especially this one.

This is one of my first attempts (but I like it less, so I'm showing it second). There's no shading, but I may go back and shade it later.

Coloring contest

2011-09-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

I read that babies are supposed to sleep 12-20 hours a day. Yeah, my baby didn't read that manual. Nor did he read the part about eating every 2-3 hours. Instead, he eats every hour to hour-and-a-half. He does sleep for a good 4 hour stretch at night, then a 3 hour stretch, but once he wakes up during the day, that's it. He's awake until bedtime and he's eating every single hour on the hour some days.

This coloring contest from Letraset and the Diva's weekly tangle challenges are the only way I can do any art these days, and even the coloring pattern took me a full week to color. But it's for a chance to win a set of Letraset markers. Everyone knows I'm a marker junkie -- and not just for the smell! And if you want something to just mindlessly color or meditate with (it is a mandala, after all) enter the contest here!

I used my Tombow marker set, along with an aqua brush to fade out some of the colors. Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner anymore, so I have to photograph everything and crop it down in Preview, that's why you can still see the wrinkly paper from the watercoloring.

WWTK Wednesday - (early) Holiday edition

2011-09-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Today's blog entry is brought to you with a baby on my shoulder -- meaning I typed it allll up with JUST ONE HAND. That's how much I like WWTKW!

Join up with Mamarazzi and Queso to avoid housework (but don't put your baby down). This week's questions are by Queso, and she's got the right idea about getting to holiday stuff now. Maybe I should follow suit and start shopping around a bit. :)

1. What is your favorite holiday?
2. Do you have any fun holiday traditions? What are they?
3. When do you start Christmas shopping?
4. What is your favorite holiday food?
5. Share a favorite childhood holiday memory
6. Have you ever actually tried fruitcake??

1. What is your favorite holiday?
A toss up between Halloween and Christmas. I love both so much, for the same reasons -- decorations! But Halloween is all ooky-spooky, and Christmas is all ethereal and beautiful. Such different holidays, but both so much fun.

2. Do you have any fun holiday traditions? What are they?
Not really. Does hiding in my house on Black Friday count? And out of respect for all retail workers the world over, I refuse to shop on Christmas Eve unless it's for something important like medicine that's needed NOW (not the day after Christmas).

3. When do you start Christmas shopping?
This sounds bad, but usually around Dec. 10. unless there's a damn good deal on Black Friday. I tend to avoid shopping during regular business hours, too. This year may involve everything being purchased online just so I don't have to leave the house with a squirmy baby.

4. What is your favorite holiday food?
The Red Velvet Bingle. It's basically a red velvet twinkie with cream cheese filling. It's worth the effort to find even one package. They're usually only available in this area during Valentine's Day, but I've seen them packaged in twin packs under the Mrs. Freshley's label in gas stations in the western part of the state.

5. Share a favorite childhood holiday memory
The Christmas I got my guinea pig when I was eight. I came downstairs and opened all my presents, then my mom presented me with one more -- Miss Piggy, a squealing, long-haired guinea pig that ended up living for almost 9 years.

6. Have you ever actually tried fruitcake??
Yes, I'll try just about any food. I've made fruitcake, and if you get a good recipe, it's actually VERY good. But those store-bought bricks are pretty nasty.

WWTKW - cellphone edition

2011-08-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

These answers will be short and sweet, like I am when I'm on the phone because I hate talking on the phone to begin with. :D

Time to avoid housework (and unpacking) for a Q&A from Mamarazzi and Queso!

{1}Do you prefer to text or call?
{2}What is the last text message in your phone and who is it from?
{3}What are your favorite phone apps?
{4}At what age do you think kids are ready for a cell phone?
{5}Share a current pic or video taken with your phone.

{1}Do you prefer to text or call?
Text. I hate talking on the phone. Something about a disembodied voice really bothers me sometimes.

{2}What is the last text message in your phone and who is it from?
"Sure" from Gavin. I asked him to pick up some Diaper Genie refills. Our baby poops. A LOT.

{3}What are your favorite phone apps?
Instagram, Baby Tracker, Tap Zoo, and the calculator since I can't do math to save my life.

{4}At what age do you think kids are ready for a cell phone?
Depends on the kid, but somewhere around puberty, when they start running wild and you need a way to lo-jack them without them realizing it.

{5}Share a current pic or video taken with your phone.
Taken just this afternoon after feeding the little man:

My Happy List for Today

2011-08-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

Join Mamarazzi and add your Happy List! Such a wonderful way to count your blessings for the week.

Internet at the house
FINALLY. I can keep up with all my imaginary internet friends (all those people who I follow online but haven't been lucky enough to meet in person due to distance/time/money/etc.). I can also look up info on baby care and connect with other new moms on Babycenter since I don't have many real life friends in the area that I see regularly who have kids.

Ian
My little Timelord makes me extremely happy. Some days he's the only thing that makes me happy. Even when he's fussing and crying, the moment he settles down and looks at me with a contented little sigh after I've comforted him -- THAT moment makes me happy.

New Doctor Who
New episode tonight after a month-and-a-half long hiatus. I'm just starting to warm up to the new series after hating it last season. I gave my heart to Ten, and then they killed him off and brought on some new guy who, let's face it, is a bit too young and angry to be MY Doctor. I grew up on Four (Tom Baker) and Five (Peter Davison), so Nine and Ten are more my style Doctors. The only reason I've really started liking the new series is because of River Song, and Rory being killed off seemingly every episode, but they always find a way to rewind and reset everything back to normal. I've even started saying "Oh my god, they killed Rory! You bastards!" when that happens.

FlyLady
I'm getting back into her little routine. Such easy baby steps to gaining control over your household's CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). It makes me happy to have a clean sink every night before I go to bed for some reason.

Being part of the ZIA Matchbook swap
They're small and quick and easy to decorate now that I got the little pages in the mail. I just have to get more inspired and work on them when (if) Ian sleeps during the day.

Being part of Mamarazzi's Favorite Colors swap
I really can't wait to start shopping for my partner, I'm so excited! And I can't wait to see what goodies I'll get in return. I love fun swag boxes with little constraints -- there's no telling what I'll find to send or what I'll get, and that's the biggest fun of all.

Stouffer's casseroles
Oh, my god, these are the best things in my freezer! I used to not like frozen foods because they never quite tasted right. They never tasted "real" to me. But Stouffer's has vastly improved their quality and selection. My favorites are the Grandma's Chicken and Rice Bake and the Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas. Mmmmm... enchiladas.

Finding books and sketchbooks as I (slowly) unpack
It's like Christmas every day here lately. I just wish I had more room to put things!

Favorite Colors Swap!

2011-08-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

I've been out of the internet loop for a couple of weeks now, first with moving, then with not having internet at the new house, then giving birth and adjusting to life with a newborn. Whew, it's been a busy month and a half for me!

What's funny is that we got the phone and 'net set up on Friday. We had internet access for exactly 6 hours before I went into labor at 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

Since I've been out of the loop for so long, I thought I'd jump back in with both feet (one's nudging the little rocker my son is playing in) and join up with Mamarazzi's Favorite Color Swap! I've never gotten a chance to do one of her swaps before, but I love the WWTKW and Friday Confessionals so much. I'm really glad she let me join up, being a n00b and all. :)

This is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to start putting together all sorts of goodies and treats for a new friend.

Things I know for certain about my son

2011-08-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome Ian Alexander, born August 14, 2011.

Here are the things I'm certain of today:

He squeaks. Like a mouse. Usually when feeding, although sometimes while asleep. Just a random, loud "SQUEAK!" then silence. It's adorable.
He doesn't like to be cold.
Or naked.
He doesn't cry or fuss much.
He's sort of a night owl, like me.
He's also a long sleeper, like me.
He could fart Dueling Banjos if he knew the melody -- he's that flatulent and that loud.
He's the most valuable thing I've ever had in my life.

I never knew I could love something so much, this tiny little fragile life, and he's mine. I'm sure when he hits puberty, he'll hate me and I'll hate him, but for right now, I can't get over how much (and how differently from everything else) I love him. I didn't think I had any maternal instinct at all, but seeing his big eyes and his Doctor Who hair triggered it, and I won't let him out of my sight most of the time. I'm just now getting to where I let Gavin change his diaper without hovering to make sure he doesn't smoosh the baby or something silly like that -- ridiculous fears that I'm sure will go away. Eventually I'll be only too happy to hand Ian over to his father and say "I'm gonna take a nap. Enjoy his 'Diaper Change of One Thousand Poops' trick." Today is the first day I've trusted the baby monitor to let me know if he's unhappy while I'm in the studio writing this entry.

But I do keep running to the other end of the house every 10 minutes to look in on him myself. Just to be sure.

I miss having him all to myself; now that I'm not pregnant, I have to share his tiny movements and delicate little body with everyone. And it's oddly lonely, not having him so close (literally) to my heart. My body may have hated being pregnant, but I did like carrying the little guy this whole time. My only real issue was all the fluid retention, which caused pretty much every single physical problem I had. I still can't feel my fingertips and none of my rings fit anymore (and probably won't ever again), but the rest of me is mostly back to normal.

Mostly.

Seriously, do doctors really need to tell women not to have sex or use tampons for at least 6 weeks after delivery? Really? I don't plan on letting anything near my hoo-hoo for six months, not even the doctor. Not that it hurts much, but damn... after what it just went through, it deserves a nice vacation in the Bahamas or something.

But it was all worth it. Just for those random contented squeaks he makes, or that wide-eyed "Oooooo" look he gets when he sees or hears something new. And those little sideburns.

And yes, I've already decided that IF his hair doesn't fall out (I'm praying it won't), I'll make him a little blue pinstriped suit and long brown overcoat, muss up the boy's hair a bit (it doesn't take much to get the look), and he'll go as Ten for Halloween.

I knew he was a little Timelord. :)

WWTK Wednesday - Shortie answers today

2011-07-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

We Want to Know Wednesdays has a new co-host! Alicia aka Queso from It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy. So let's all avoid housework together with a great Q&A today!

Hosted by Mamarazzi and Queso

{1} What would you do with an extra $1000 a month?
{2} What category of blogger do you think you best fall under?
{3} What is your go to solution when you are having a bad hair day?
{4} If you were a Crayon, what color would you be?
{5} They say love is in the little things. What is a little thing someone does to show you love?

{1} What would you do with an extra $1000 a month?
Everything. Landscape the new yards, fence in the entire backyard to keep the dogs in, build a deck, build a patio, pay off debts, buy new jeans since NONE of mine fit me anymore and probably never will, take a full-on honeymoon to Italy with my husband, save for Ian's college fund because if he takes after either Gavin or I, he's not going to be getting any sports scholarships or military financial aid.

{2} What category of blogger do you think you best fall under?
Sort of artsy-fartsy? I throw in some foodie posts and weird life experiences now and then, but mostly it's about arts and crafts and sewing, not just mine but others' work as well.

{3} What is your go to solution when you are having a bad hair day?
Ponytail and a headband (because my bangs are long, but not long enough to be grabbed up by a ponytail).

{4} If you were a Crayon, what color would you be?
Dark red. Like rich, jewel-tone blood-red. Brick red. It shows up best on paper, too.

{5} They say love is in the little things. What is a little thing someone does to show you love?
Whenever we're driving somewhere, my husband always reaches over to hold my hand. And he brings me food whenever I say "I'm really craving a hamburger right now." Even if it's 11 p.m., he'll go get me a hamburger without me saying "Go get me a hamburger."

Weekly Zentangle Challenge - Faeryland

2011-07-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

After two loads of laundry and packing up all the foodstuff in the kitchen (leaving us enough food for the rest of the week), I decided to take a break. Just chill out. What better way to chill for awhile than by doing the weekly tangle challenge. This week's guest post was from Carol Bailey Floyd. She had us create a Zentangle environment where fairies would feel at home.

I'm hoping to do another one later tonight while catching up on episodes of Battlestar Galactica, but not sure when I'll be able to post them. Hopefully we'll be in the new house by the end of this week, and we may or may not have internet hooked up yet.

I'm just hoping that we get into the house before Ian arrives. All of his stuff (crib, changing table, clothes, food, diapers) is all set up in the nursery, while all of our junk is still over here! My baby's got a nicer pad than we do at the moment (and less dusty/piled with boxes).

Why is it that moving always kicks up the most dust and fur and dirt? We have hardwoods, and apparently, cat hair and dust just collects in the strangest places you wouldn't think to look, so when you start moving things, all that dust and hair comes poofing out.

CCH3 Shop Round Up - Week 2

2011-07-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

1. Constructivelyrandom
Kiery's Whimsy - Fantasy paintings of everything from Harry Potter to Doctor Who!

2. 21stcenturywoman
Original handmade fashion statement jewelry with unique design, lot of color & style.

3. Lilithine
Oh, that's me! Unique handmade Tree of Life pendants, slide glass pendants, reversible purses and fine art prints.

4. BeMyBee
Handmade whimsical cards and wearable art. Just look at this adorable owl sculpture!

5. Samsstuff
An eco friendly gift boutique filled with vintage, handcrafted, individualistic & upcycled jewelry, accessories & clothing.

Weekly Zentangle Challenge - Initialize

2011-07-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

I've been good at doing the weekly zentangle challenges put forth by the Diva. I have not been good about photographing or uploading or blogging my tangles, though. When you're moving slowly, both to a new house and physically (I move like a turtle and am about as useful as one, too), photos of new art falls by the wayside.

But I was good and photographed this week's challenge, a guest post from Christina Vandervlist. We were to draw our first and last initials, overlapping, and use this as the string for a tangle (or two).

I also photographed the last two weeks' worth of challenge tangles I did:

Week 29: String Theory Creative Genius
"Find a string around the house. Find a weight that has a hole in it. Tie your string to the weight. Set the weight on your tile and let the string slowly drop down onto your tile."

Week 28: "Trip to Tripoli"
Using the new tangle, Tripoli, a variation of a grid pattern (and I'm not fond of grids to begin with). This one was wonky and ugly no matter what I did. Straight lines and I just don't get along. These are the best of the ones I could come up with, and I'm still not liking how the tripoli parts turned out.

Mischief Managed!

2011-07-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

In honor of the new Harry Potter movie coming out this weekend, I've brought together some of the finest wizards on Etsy to showcase their wares. Enjoy!

WWTK Wednesday - Chaos... get used to it!

2011-07-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Ugh. Wednesdays are becoming a chaotic day for me lately. I'm starting my weekly doctor appointments since I'm only 4-5 weeks away from my due date. I have to do laundry on Wednesdays. We're still in the middle of moving. And it's a googazillion degrees outside right now, so really I don't want to do a darned thing.

So I'm going to take Mamarazzi's advice and avoid the laundry with a Q & A!

Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn present We Want to Know Wednesday!

{1} Which activities make you lose track of time?
{2} Is there such a thing as perfect?
{3} When do you feel most like yourself?
{4} Describe your life in a 6 word sentence.
{5} Share one of your most beloved childhood memory.

Which activities make you lose track of time?
Facebook, Etsy, catching up on my favorite blogs. Non-computer related things would be drawing and painting, and doing Zentangles. Which reminds me, I need to get started on this week's challenge put forth by the Diva!

Is there such a thing as perfect?
I think perfection is subjective. What's perfect for me might appear silly or stupid to someone else. My perfect studio setup probably confuses others, and my perfect man is a darling geek who dresses up in medieval armor and hits his friends with sticks. Another woman might find my man to be a total weirdo, and think someone like a wife-beater-wearing thug is her perfect man.

So yeah, there's such a thing as perfect for me, or perfect for you, but no real thing as perfection all across the board. Besides, when God separated the Heavens and the Earth, he saw that it was good. "Good." Not "perfect." What arrogance to think there is something beyond what God thinks is "good."

When do you feel most like yourself?
When I'm drawing or painting. Everything feels right, like the order of the Universe is put right again.

I feel least like myself when I have to be around people for any extended period of time. Fish and friends/family -- both start to stink after three days. Trust me on this one.

Describe your life in a 6 word sentence.
Chaos reigns supreme; enjoy the ride.

Share one of your most beloved childhood memory.
Picking out my first kitten when I was five. A little grey tabby girl I named Katy Kat. I think every beloved childhood memory of mine involves a cat. I just realized that I've never been without a cat in my entire life, even from the time I was born.

Curious Goods Treasury

2011-07-10T06:18:00.000-07:00

For this week's Statteam Treasury Challenge!

CCH3 Weekly Roundup!

2011-07-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

Here are the wonderful shops I've been promoting all week through the CCH3 thread on the Etsy teams.

1. MaisonMaudie

Maison Maudie offers great vintage treasures from ephemera, advertising, metal work, ceramic, jewelry and fabric. All sorts of kitschy items for your home, office or anywhere you think needs a little pizzaz!

2. Sorks

Sorks has the most beautiful natural wood hairsticks I've ever seen. I love the elmwood and pearwood sticks, and there are some really beautiful stained hairsticks too. She also has some of the cutest little felt flower earings!

3. Customphotopics

Customphotopics offers photo greeting cards for any occasion, as well as boxed sets and giclee prints.

4. Katrina Alana

Based in Singapore, Katrina Alana is a family-run gem that offers custom wax seals, monogram or initial wax seals, sealing wax sticks and beads, invitations and save the dates.

WWTK Wednesday - Quick post as I'm running out the door

2011-07-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to We Want to Know Wednesday Q&A hosted by:

Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn

{1}Name five of your favorite new blogs that you're reading.
Hrmm... they're not all new, but my five favorites that I check every day (or almost every day) are The Sketchbook Challenge, Green Isle Crafts, The Goddess Guidebook, Simply Me and my favorites on LiveJournal (who I won't name simply out of respect for their privacy).

{2} When you were a young child or teenager, did you have an idea of how many children you wanted and what their names would be? Did you follow through on your ideas?
I really didn't want kids when I was younger, and as I got older, I still wasn't crazy about the idea. Maybe because I'm too much of a kid myself and figured that I am in no way responsible enough to raise a child. My husband, of course, wanted at least two -- and he's getting part of his wish this August. We'll see if I end up warping this poor child by making him watch Doctor Who and Futurama and play with action figures and swords.

{3} "What is the silliest thing you fight with someone about? Could be your spouse, sibling, parents, co-worker etc."
My husband and I bicker over arranging our furniture and landscaping our new yard. It's stupid. He doesn't listen to a thing I say half the time, he just puts crap where he wants it and I have to deal with it. But then I do the same thing with stuff I really want in a particular place.

{4} What is your favorite scent that other's may not find very nice? ie: gasoline, sweat from your sweetie, etc.
The air right before a big storm. There's some sort of electrical charge in the air that I can smell and I like it the same way I do wood smoke and wet forests after a storm.

{5} Thoughts on Plastic Surgery? (had it? want it? regrets?)
Never had it, don't really want it. I wouldn't mind getting this weird little birthmark under my eye lightened because if I don't put a really good concealer over it, people ask me how I got a black eye (it's that shaded and that obvious). But I don't consider that plastic surgery, just skin re-surfacing. I'm not one for getting rid of lines out of fear of aging.

Tree of Life Winner

2011-07-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

So this morning I went over to Random.org and punched in the numbers for our comments.

And the winner is...
Da-da-da! (Trumpet sound)

Shayla Gainous!

Thank you all for entering this giveaway, and stay tuned for more giveaways including my purses, art and craft supply packs, original prints and so much more!

WWTK Wednesday

2011-06-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

This is the last weekto enter my giveaway!
Click HERE to enter.

{1} What was the last thing you searched for online?
{2} If we visit your home state, what is one MUST we should do before leaving?
{3} What do you think pharmaceutical companies should invent a pill for that isn't on the market yet?
{4} When was your first kiss? Was it good or bad?
{5} What is your guilty pleasure tv show that you can not miss?

{1} What was the last thing you searched for online?
Where to buy the best concealer in the world, My Spots are ConSealed. It's been discontinued (or that's what they said at Sally's Beauty Supply), so now I'm on a mission to stock up on as much as I can like I'm stocking up for the make-up apocalypse or something. Seriously, it's the best. I have this little brown birthmark under my left eye that, if I don't cover it, it looks like I have a black eye. This is the ONLY product that I found that covers it all day, doesn't cake, and it only costs like $9 for a little tube that lasts for a good year or so. I found that it also hides tattoos well enough for stage acting.

{2} If we visit your home state, what is one MUST we should do before leaving?
Go visit the Outer Banks. North Carolina beaches are something of a jewel, unlike West Coast or even Virginia beaches. But watch out for those stupid, evil, bad jellyfish.

{3} What do you think pharmaceutical companies should invent a pill for that isn't on the market yet?
I honestly have no clue. I'd say stupidity, but that makes me sound mean and intolerant. I'd say 'meanness' or 'unkindness' or 'being an asshole' but people who are assholes aren't going to be inclined to take a pill because usually they think they're justified in being assholes (or they don't think they are an asshole, even if multiple people say differently). I could say "being an annoying, pretentious twat who thinks their opinion on politics, movies, music, or _insert_topic_here_" but then almost everyone posting online would be guilty of that (myself included). And I'd probably lose a few friends over that choice because I have a few people online I really want to punch in the face because I don't give a crap about their political views or their (incorrectly) self-assessed witticisms about the latest episode of that TV show no one else watches. Admit it, you know someone like that too.

Maybe I should just ask for Big Pharma to invent a medicine that makes me not want to punch people in the face all the time.

Oh, wait.
That's called 'pot'.
Damn.

{4} When was your first kiss? Was it good or bad?
Freshman year in high school. It was... nice. Dude has since moved to Australia. I wanna go to Australia -- but not for him. I wanna go because it's freakin' Australia.

{5} What is your guilty pleasure tv show that you can not miss?
RuPaul's Drag Race, and by extension, RuPaul's DragU. Drag queens are walking, talking, shade-throwing works of art. Any man who can look that good in a dress deserves my respect and admiration. And RuPaul is made of awesome.

Ginger Pear Pie Recipe

2011-06-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to enter my giveaway
on this post right here

This week I'm digging out an old recipe we made last September. It got lost along with the Feta Stuffed Chicken recipe, but I was able to find this one pretty easily.

Ingredients

2 lbs of pears, sliced/diced
1/3 c. maple syrup
1 tbs. lemon juice
2 tbs. grated ginger
pinch of salt

Topping
1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
6 tbs. unsalted butter, melted

These pears came off my mother's pear trees on the farm. There are two kinds of trees next to each other, what looks like an Asian pear and a simple Bosc pear. They must have cross-pollinated because they have physical and taste aspects of both varieties.

Preheat oven to 350º.
Butter a baking dish

1. Combine pears, lemon juice, maple syrup, grated ginger and pinch of salt. Set aside.

2. Mix oats, brown sugar, flour, spices and Kosher salt. Slowly drizzle in butter, stirring with a fork until mix is crumbly. Break up larger crumbs.

2a. Totally optional step: I had a lot of fresh ginger juice after grating the ginger root. So, being the ginger junkie that I am, I mixed it with enough brown sugar to make a thick syrup and poured it over the pears in the baking dish.

3. Spoon fruit into baking dish. Sprinkle crumble on top. Bake until fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown, about 50 minutes.

Mmmmm... pie.

This is delicious with a simple vanilla ice cream on top,

with a ginger syrup poured over the whole thing.

Weekly Tangle Challenge - 'Duo Tangle'

2011-06-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

This week's Zentangle® challenge from The Diva prompted us to use 2 specific tangles and ONLY those two tangles -- Dex and Verdigogh. I read a lot of other bloggers who didn't find this challenge very fun, and I have to confess, I had a bit of trouble with it myself.

Not the using only two tangles, but because I have never, ever used either tangle ever before. I hadn't even drawn them in my sampler pages for reference for future use. I was lost.

After adding them to my sampler section, I practiced a few bits, then jumped right in with my newest little sketchbook I bought from World Market. (the camera lost the photo of the outside of the sketchbook, but it's bright fuschia with a gorgeous gold embossed paisley pattern that reminded me of tangles).

Here's my actual attempt at combining Dex and Verdigogh.

Once I started working with Verdigogh, I really liked it. Erin Koetz Olson called it 'Hollibaugh on steroids,' which is an accurate description. Being that Hollibaugh is one of my favorites to fall back on when I have no special plans for a space, I can see Verdigogh coming in when I want to finish out an edge with a nice flourish.

I wasn't too crazy about Dex because I don't really dig grid patterns. For me, boxes just seem anti-Zen because somewhere in there, I don't like being confined to a little box. I don't even like the original boxy version of Cadent, but I love the circular, swirly version.

But aside from a dislike of grid patterns, I had fun with this challenge and I discovered a new favorite pattern that I should have tried out long before now!

My two favorite creativity-inspiring blogs

2011-06-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Between The Sketchbook Challenge and Tee's wonderful prompts and tutorials over at Green Isle Crafts, I'm always finding inspiration for my sketchbooks and journals.

Well, Tee is giving away a copy of The Artist's Journal Workshop on her blog! Pop over there to enter and try out some of those prompts. Your sketchbook will be more juicy and beautiful for it!

WWTK Wednesday Week 10

2011-06-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to We Want to Know Wednesday Q&A hosted by:

Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn

This week's questions are from Seriously Shawn

{1} What is the best or worst pick up line you have ever been given?

{2} What is your most and least favorite day of the week?

{3} How many hours of sleep do you require each night?

{4} Is there a song that takes you back in time? What song is it & what's the memory attached?

{5} What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

What is the best or worst pick up line you have ever been given?
Honestly, no one's every really tried a pick-up line on me. Either I'm too intimidating, or maybe people realize that I'd see right through them if they were being hokey or contrived.

What is your most and least favorite day of the week?
Most favorite is Saturday because of Doctor Who (currently on hiatus... boooooo) and now Battlestar Galactica on BBCA. Least favorite lately is Friday because that's shopping day and I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant, it's consistently 95º or higher every Friday, and I hate being around people when I have to waddle around with huge swollen ankles and can't curl my fingers around the stupid shopping cart handle most of the time.

How many hours of sleep do you require each night?
Normally 8-9. Since about February, it's been broken up into 1-2 hour naps in between getting up to go pee. Yes, I pee every hour or hour and a half... all day and all night. It's annoying as hell.

Is there a song that takes you back in time? What song is it & what's the memory attached?
The A-Team theme song. It takes me back to a time when the world (for my generation) was simpler, safer and more innocent. Then it makes me miss all the good shows when I was a kid, like V (the original series with Marc Singer), old school Doctor Who and MacGuyver. And Reading Rainbow. I LOVED that show as a kid and even as an adult. Yes, Sesame Street helped teach me how to read, but it was Reading Rainbow that taught me WHY to read.

What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
World of Warcraft. I don't get a chance to play much right now because my hands fall asleep while moving the mouse, but I do so love a good dungeon or raid. I'm a geek, I know. I <3 my huntard.

WWTK Wednesday - Inspiration, Pets, and Inconveniences

2011-06-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Looking for this month's
fabulous giveaway? Go here!

Welcome to We Want to Know Wednesday Q&A hosted by:

Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn

{1} You have been asked to give a 10 minute speech to teenage girls. What is it about?

{2} Do you have a pet? Tell us about them. No pets? Why?

{3} What is the biggest inconvenience about the place you’re currently living?

{4} What do you think is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

{5} What are the THREE "nevers" of your life? (things you would never do or have never done)

You have been asked to give a 10 minute speech to teenage girls. What is it about?

Most likely it would be about anti-bullying and treating others and oneself with kindness. I was bullied mercilessly in grade school and high school, so I am appalled at A) the way children and teens can justify treating another human being with such cruelty, and B) how easy it was for me to believe all their lies about how worthless I was and that I didn't deserve friendship or kindness from them.

From about 6th grade on up, I was told on a daily basis (yes, DAILY) that I was "too ugly to live" and that I should kill myself because no one would ever want to be friends with a dog-faced loser like me. This all came from a few girls who banded together and either the other kids were too afraid of them, or they just wanted to be "popular" and not have the bully gun pointed at them, so almost everyone in our small school joined in.

I grew to where I hated school, I hated the teachers, I hated my classmates and I hated myself when I was there. It's still hard for me to be around crowds of people -- strangers or familiar faces -- because there's still some small scared part of me that thinks that none of them will be nice to me or want to be friends with me. I've come a long way since my school days, but I still have that fear of reaching out and a general mistrust of people considered to be my "peers".

Do you have a pet? Tell us about them. No pets? Why?

Fiery Fame the Magnificent Orange thinks my art supplies are really his.
We have cats, so we're technically the pets to them. Fiery sees my husband as a giant pillow and he sees me as the food dispenser. Feta sees my husband as the food dispenser and she sees me as That Bitch Interloper Who Steals Gavin's Attention.

Bishop
The dogs are much more "pet-like" in that at least 50% of them do what we tell them to do. Bishop is terrified of thunderstorms. And new people. And bees. And moths. And shadows, tree branches, Christmas wreathes (seriously!), new furniture, hats, flags and rugs. I'm sure I'm forgetting something in that list. He's scared of a lot of things, but if someone were trying to break into our house, that dog would put himself between me and anything or anyone coming after me.

Red and Fiery, best friends.
Red is a decrepit Lab we found on the highway in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm one night. No one claimed him and after 6 months, I gave up and said "OK, so he's our dog after all." He recently had a stroke and was in such bad shape for a few weeks, we had scheduled a visit to have him put down. What little doggie therapy I was doing with him must have made it easier on him, because even though he still toddles around and sometimes forgets where the house is or who we are, he's still a generally happy dog who loves rolling in the grass. I still feel bad when he sneezes and falls down because he can't balance very well.

Geordie LaForge
Geordie LaForge and Lt. Bark-ley are the mini-dachshund brothers we adopted last summer. Geordie is completely deaf and 95% blind -- we think he can see bright light and shadow out of one eye. Except for his odd circular walk (he spins in circles as he's walking/running), you wouldn't really know he's blind by watching him. He can follow his nose pretty well, and tends to follow Bishop around in the yard since Bishop is huge and white and light reflects off him enough for Geordie to see him from about 5-10 feet away. His only real issue is that he doesn't care where he is when it comes to potty training. He knows the difference between outside and inside, but he just doesn't care. He'll cop a squat no matter where he is.

Lt. Barkley
Barkley, is mostly well-mannered and acts as Geordie's seeing eye dog. He's also extremely smart and I've taught him so many tricks and he knows his obedience. Unfortunately, he's also stubborn and takes a cue from Bishop where he has selective hearing. Some days he totally ignores me, staring blankly at me as if to say "What's in it for me?" when I call for him. While Bishop may get that same look from time to time, he knows I mean business. Barkley does not and will often give me the equivalent of the doggy middle finger as he trots off in the opposite direction of where I want him to go.

What is the biggest inconvenience about the place you’re currently living?

It's a very old house, so it's got a lot of 'old house' problems (stuff breaks constantly due to age -- everything under the house is 15-20 years or more, and everything inside the house is at least 10 years old), but the biggest issue is the well water -- it's nasty. Full of rust, iron, magnesium and sulfides that no filter can get rid of, I refuse to drink it. I feel bad making my animals drink it, but I've seen the dogs drink nasty, stagnant pond water by choice, so they must not mind too much. The water turns our clothes orangish brown and smells kind of like rotten eggs. We're moving by the end of July, so that will all change.

What do you think is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

Deciding to meet Gavin in person. I'd been a member of Plenty of Fish for a couple of weeks, and had been on eHarmony for six months (big super fat fail, btw), and I was matched with a crapton of freaks and geeks (and not the cool sexy kind of geek, either). I got over 200 messages in the first two weeks being on POF, I responded to maybe half of them, talked to 3 of them online semi-regularly, and of all of them, Gavin is the only one I decided to meet in person for a real, honest-to-goodness date. Yes, it was a coffee date in the middle of the afternoon, and I had an emergency "save me" plan from a coworker in place should he have turned out as unbearable as all the whackos I had met on eHarmony, but it turned beautifully. So beautifully that we've been married for 2 1/2 years now, and are expecting our first little rugrat in August.

What are the THREE "nevers" of your life? (things you would never do or have never done)

I have never traveled outside of the U.S. This is something I want to do, badly. I don't care if it's going across the border into Canada, I want to travel outside the country one day. My ideal is to tour Italy, France, Spain, England, Scotland and Ireland. I'd also like to go to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Tibet, Russia, and maybe India.

I've never completed my college degree. I've come close, only a few credits shy. This is something I desperately want to do, but every time I reach for it, my dream gets yanked out from under me, either by extreme illness, extreme lack of money, or extreme "boss-being-a-dick-and-won't-let-me-leave-an-hour-early-to-get-to-class-on-time-so-I-fail-because-I'm-tardy-every-week." Yeah, I'm so glad I don't work there anymore. But I really would like to finish my degree. Not that it would help in the job search because it means I'll want more money than $8/hour, but it will make me feel... official.

I never eat at Taco Hell. If I've fallen down a well opening and am trapped for days and days, and your only options of getting food to me is either lowering Taco Hell food down to me, or dropping grubs, earthworms, roots and berries down the hole, I'll take the bugs and berries. Thank you.

I've never had major surgery. This is something I hope to never have, too.

Tangle of the Week challenge

2011-06-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

Looking for this month's
fabulous giveaway? Go here!

For this week's Tangle Weekly Challenge, we had an awesome string to fill -- a Zendela (the fusion of a mandala and Zentangle).

Here's my smaller one (3.5"x 3.5"):

I'm still working on the larger one on 8x11 paper, but can only do one little section at a time since my hands fall asleep after holding a pen for 15-20 minutes. I probably won't get it finished by tonight. :(

I did last week's challenge too, where we had to make a string of stripes and tangle those in, but I didn't get around to photographing and posting in time, so here they are:

Tree of Life Giveaway!

2011-06-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for entering my giveaway. This contest is now closed. Good luck to all who entered. I will pick a winner via Random.org and announce it here tomorrow!

In celebration of reaching my 100th fan on Facebook (and surpassing it!), I'm giving away a custom Tree of Life necklace! This will be made specifically for the winner, in the colors they choose, or they may choose the necklace pictured here!

Made with copper artisan wire and genuine peridot, it measures 1.5 inches across (think the size of a silver dollar), and comes with a beige suede corded necklace.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog (no anonymous posters, please -- I can't reply or get back to you if you win) telling me what your favorite color and gemstone are. That's it!

For EXTRA entries, you can do the following:

1. Become a fan of Eccentric Lilithine on Facebook and tell me who you are in a wall post (so I can verify screen names and become your fan too if you have a page) and come back here to leave a comment stating so.

2. Follow my blog and leave another comment. (If you follow me privately, there's no way to verify who you are, so I'm afraid private follows cannot be counted.)

Be sure to leave a comment for each separate thing you do!

On or about June 30th, I will use random.org to select a winner from all the comments and announce the winner here on the blog on (or about) July 1st. I will then make a custom necklace specifically for them, or they can choose the necklace pictured above.

Sale Item of the Week - Sunny Yellow Purse

2011-06-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

Every Friday, I'm going to mark one random item from my shop 50% off. From Friday to the following Thursday, that items stays 50% off until it sells, or until I pick another item the next Friday. Every week will be something different (I'll try not to mark down two of the same category in a row) so check back often!

This week, from Friday, June 10 until Thursday, June 16, this little beauty is on sale, marked down from $10 originally to $5!

That's a steal! That's at cost! You'd be silly not to take advantage of this! Go here to purchase this purse.

Note: If this item sells at 50% off on the first day, I'll pick another random item to mark down to 50% off.

Greek Stuffed Chicken Breast

2011-06-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

I made this recipe last September, then promptly forgot where I put the original written copy, so I couldn't post it here. I searched high and low and tried everything to find this particular recipe online, but Google kept telling me that unless I put spinach and bread crumbs in my ingredient list, this version didn't exist.

Finally after months of specific searching, I found it on Easy Food & Wine Pairing. This wasn't where the original recipe came from, but it's close enough for me!

Greek Stuffed Chicken Breast

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar of marinated roasted red peppers
6 oz feta cheese
2 1/4 cups light cream
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives (optional -- I hate olives, so we didn't use them)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh oregano
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

This was when our herb garden was still flourishing. Oregano and basil galore! The only thing that didn't survive the hot summer was the parsley, so I had to buy that.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove feta cheese from refrigerator 1 hour in advance so it can come to room temperature.
Roughly chop olives, basil, oregano and parsley.
Put the feta and cream in a small bowl.

No?

Mix feta and 1/4 cup of cream until smooth. Mix in olives, parsley, oregano and basil, and add salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Place chicken breasts in between sheets of plastic wrap, and use a meat mallet to pound to even, 1/4" cutlets.

Spread feta mixture over each cutlet, then top with roasted pepper fillet and roll up cutlet with stuffing inside. Sprinkle outside of cutlets with salt and fresh pepper.

OK, so I overfilled them. Shut up.

Heat 1 tbsp butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add chicken breasts. Sear for 2 minutes on each side, then move to an oven-safe container. Cook in oven for 10 minutes.
To make sauce, heat remaining butter and flour in a pan over medium-high heat. Stir frequently and let cook to a light golden color, about 3 minutes.
Slowly whisk 2 cups of light cream into pan, mixing vigorously. Add parsley, remaining basil, and season with salt and fresh pepper to taste.
Serve stuffed chicken breast with a drizzle of sauce.

See the toothpicks still sticking out? Yeah, otherwise they would have spilled out all that yummy feta cheese goodness and not looked so good. Next time I won't overstuff them.

We made a nice couscous as a side dish, and Gavin made tzatziki sauce to go with pita bread (it made a nice dipping sauce for the chicken, too).

I've added this to an Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange linky to make it easier to find side dishes and desserts to complete your meal.

Freak Like Me - A Sideshow treasury

2011-06-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

I just love, love, LOVE a good carnival or circus. What do I love most? Well, first off, those funnel cakes are to die for. Heart attack on a plate, but man they're delish!

But the main attraction, the thing that will entice me to drop a few bucks for admission, has always been and will always be the sideshow tent.

Call me a freak.
I don't mind.
I'm in good company when I go in that tent. :)

So in keeping with the Treasury Promotion Team's treasury challenge for this month, I decided to *ahem* showcase a few of my favorite carnie-related items.

WWTK Wednesday!

2011-06-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

Again with another meme to keep me on track.
This one comes from Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn

{1}Everyone seems to have a quirky family situation-- what is something unique about your family dynamic?
I can't think of anything unique about our family dynamic, really. Maybe that in itself is unique?

{2}What is the most stressful aspect to blogging (aside from the network going down)?
Not having enough topics to blog regularly yet. Or maybe just feeling uninspired. Or pressed for time with renovating a house and trying to pack up this house and move, and getting ready for a baby (all three happening before or by August).

{3}We all end up on a blog at some point in our day, but name your top 3 favorite websites you flock to daily (non blog)!
1. Facebook
2. The Sketchbook Challenge
3. My shop on Etsy

{4}What’s your sign? Believe in it or not, does any part ring true to you?
I'm a semi-typical Scorpio. I'm drawn to the darker side of things, but I also appreciate the happier, lighter side of things too. I guess I can see the beauty of the dark side, without letting go of the good things. Other than that, I'm not so sure what applies to me. Guess it depends on the day and the hormones right now. :D

{5} IceCream!! ICECREAM!! We all scream for icecream! Name your favorite flavor/brand!
Hmmm... for straight up ice cream, anything that's real ice cream (none of this low-fat/non-fat stuff) in a chocolatey flavor or a caramel swirl. But for real decadence, I love love LOVE the new Magnum bars in Double Dark Chocolate.

Bonus Questions:

A. Name the blog you credit for linking up with us today?
Dandelion Wishes/Mamarazzi

B. Suggest a question you want to see in future WWTK’s
You're only allowed to listen to one band/musician for the rest of your life -- on the radio, whenever you put a CD in the player, on your iPod -- just one band, forever and ever. What band is it?

New Section in the shop, and Blog Hop

2011-06-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

I've finally added a Fine Art section to the shop. Four different prints are available at the moment, with smaller sizes being added this week (but don't be afraid to ask for them before I list them -- I love custom orders!). Here's the Dreaming Tree, available as a signed and numbered 8x10 print, limited to 50 prints, for only $8.50!

I've joined up for Money Mondays blog hop.

Play along, visit the shops, follow new blogs and add your own blog or shop!

Friday Confessional - a new start!

2011-06-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

Starting a new way of blogging to (hopefully) keep me on a regular schedule! Today it's the Friday Confessional, hosted by Mamarazzi.

I confess that I'm gaining weight ridiculously fast over the last 3 weeks. I leveled off 7 weeks ago, didn't gain anything for a month, then bam! put on 13 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks. The doctor told me to lay off the milk and juice (me with a very sad face) and only one really delicious piece of junk food a day as a treat. Everything else had to go. There are no other signs of preeclampsia; apparently I'm just a fatass who drank entirely too much milk (we're talking at least 4 pint glasses a day). What can I say? I love milk.

I confess that I have fallen way behind on housework. Sweeping up Bishop's fur every day is a huge task in itself, not only because it flies around while I'm sweeping, but because I can't bend over easily to pick it up anymore. Then the next day, it looks like someone took all that dog hair I swept up the day before and dumped it all over the place again. I swear, I could knit another dog out of Bishop fur every single day.

I confess that I hate the useless part of being pregnant. Between carpal tunnel, sciatica and carrying this alien chest burster so low that I can't bend over without doing a sumo squat, I can't do a lot of things that I used to do. Like pick stuff up off the floor. Or wash all the dishes at once (my hands either lock up from pain or go numb and fall asleep). Or draw for more than 15-20 minutes at a time (the whole hands falling asleep thing).

I confess that I trained my blind and deaf mini-dachshund, Geordie, into a very bad habit lately. I have to be able to pick him up, so instead of bending all the way over to lift him, I trained him to jump up on me when he wants to be picked up to go outside.

I confess that I laugh at Geordie when he jumps up against the wall or a tree instead of me because he can't quite tell where I am sometimes.

I confess that I also call for him to come to me, knowing full well he can't hear me. Yet I do it every time.

I confess that I love taking my vitamins. They're gummies and taste like candy. Now if I could only find a good gummy fiber supplement and a good gummy iron supplement. I hate swallowing iron pills. :(

New Purses!

2011-05-31T10:48:00.001-07:00

I finally got around to finishing my latest batch of batik reversible purses, and will be listing them this week on Etsy!

Here's a sneak preview:

Why Syfy = SyFail

2011-05-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

OK, I was mad when they cancelled Caprica last year -- it had just started to get good, despite being really slow. It almost had to be slow, considering it had to explain how the Cylons actually came into existence and the belief structures concerning resurrection and the One True God.

I was even more pissed when they showed all the unaired episodes back-to-back on a Tuesday evening (not the regular time slot) with no warning at all. We weren't even able to DVR them. And they haven't shown them since.

Now that Syfy has cancelled Stargate Universe when it finally started getting really good, I am boycotting the entire channel.

See, SG:U got a bad rap in the beginning. For starters, it was slow and the characters were not as interesting -- for all of ten minutes. After five episodes, the only characters I gave a crap about were Eli, Dr. Rush and Greer (because he was a badass, but a likeable badass). After the entire first season, they were still the only ones I liked, but I was warming up to the development of the rest of the cast. It wasn't like the other Stargate shows -- there were no Ancients, very few aliens who knew anything about the Ancients, nothing. It was like Voyager and Lost in Space, but finally done right this time (because let's face it, Voyager was super-lame, and Lost in Space was way too ahead of its time in concept).

Then it was put on Friday night. In the middle of the regular network season. It didn't do too well up against Smallville. They moved it to Tuesdays. Up against new episodes of stuff like NCIS and Criminal Minds. They moved it to Mondays after Being Human... at 10 p.m. when no one was awake to watch it. Then they blamed the cancellation on poor ratings (1.9 million at the low point), citing shows like Eureka and Warehouse 13 that did so well on Fridays and Tuesdays, they just didn't understand why SG:U didn't survive on those nights except that the fans just weren't interested so why shouldn't they cancel it, right? It's all the fans fault for not watching.

Which is bullshit.

They pointed out two hit shows that run in the summer season. Shows with no competition except from re-runs and crappy made-for-TV movies. Of course more people will watch a new show in the summertime. But a brand new show up against new episodes of established shows on bigger networks? Networks, I might add, that stay true to their programming. I'd venture that the original Stargate would have failed if put head to head with Fringe or Smallville had those shows been established at that time. SG-1 didn't do so hot against Buffy the Vampire Slayer, remember?

2 million viewers at it's lowest point -- especially against Smallville -- is NOT a drop in the bucket, SyFail.

Bjorn thinks that SG:U cost more to produce (the production quality was excellent) and pay Robert Carlysle's salary than Syfy wanted to afford. Crap like Ghost Hunters costs next to nothing to produce -- I can fake a ghost sighting with silly string and a point-and-shoot thermometer and have some asshole chase me with a JVC camcorder screaming "What the hell was that?!" for around $25. Less if I pay that asshole with pizza and beer. And WWE is almost entirely self-sustaining and very profitable. So rather than just say "We want more money in our pockets, so screw quality programming!", Syfy is trying to blame the fan base for "not being there" to support SG:U.

So I guess I won't "be there" to support Syfy's other shows at all.
I will not watch Eureka this summer.
I will not watch Warehouse 13 either.
I will not watch Being Human when it comes back, no matter how good Sam Huntington is as an awkward werewolf or how hot Sam Wittwer is as a vampire (who still shouldn't be able to go out in the sunlight, no matter what because he's a freakin' vampire...).

I haven't even turned to SyFail since the last episode of SG:U last Monday. They were showing 'Dawn of the Dead' and I was bored last night... but rather than have the cable company report our box as tuned into Syfy, I watched the Golden Girls.

I mean, hey... both are about zombies, right?

Grand (re)Opening!

2011-05-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

I've been away from the Etsy shop for a very long time, and it's time to re-open it! As a special gift to my loyal readers and fans on Facebook, I'm offering 20% off everything in the shop until May 17th.

Coupon code: REOPEN2011

Looking forward to filling all those orders and selling out of merchandise!

Wild Art!

2011-05-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a weird approach to my doodles lately -- I want to release them into the wild! So for the next month, I'm taking a lot of my experiments and small doodles (4 x 5.5 inches or smaller) and just leaving them around town wherever I go. If I get a cup of chai, I'll drop a hand-drawn postcard on the table when I leave. When I go out to lunch on Fridays with my family, I'll leave an ATC where someone can find it.

I want to GIVE art to the world. I have to start with my little town first!

If you've been lucky enough to find one of my art pices so far, congratulations! It's not fabulous like winning the lottery or anything, but I do hope it at least brought a smile to your face. That alone is the price I want for my little doodles -- knowing that somewhere out there, someone's day got a tiny bit brighter because of something I did.

If you would like, leave a comment or email me a "happy found art" picture of yourself so I can add it to the gallery!

Also, click here to sign up for my newsletter, chock full of goodies like giveaways, art tutorials and get advanced notice of the next time I'm going to release art into the wild!

Click here for the gallery of art in the wild and to find out when and where I've released art.

Learning 'How to Be A Business Goddess'

2011-05-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

Today I am starting out on a grand adventure!

I am working on Goddess Leonie's How to be a Business Goddess e-course. So far, it's fabulous, and I'm only 10 pages into the e-book! Already I am inspired and motivated to do MORE with my art; I can't wait to really be able to dive in and be surrounded by all the love and creativity.

Come join me on this magical journey and discover the business goddess within you!

2011-04-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt at collage in my visual journal. Inspired by the Sketchbook Challenge's theme for this month, Branching Out (Out on a Limb), I decided to try two new things: Citri-Solv backgrounds using National Geographic magazines, and then collaging them into the 'messy' book (i.e., my visual journal where I use up art supplies and sketch out things I find randomly on the ground).

I ended up with two finished spreads and one I'm going to use for a "New Maps" page, and add some journaling to it once I get the lettering finished. I'm not sure about the first spread -- they weren't intended to go together or match, so they don't. They were just first attempts trying out various materials and techniques. But I like the map background. I'm almost afraid to do anything more to it for fear of ruining it, but I have to get over that fear and forge ahead.

Reusing painted pallets

2011-04-25T10:17:00.001-07:00

This is what I like to do with pages in the my sketchbook that have been used as pallets. I blend out the pools of paint and practice sketching with dip pens!

This piece was my first time using a dip pen -- ever. I love the technique and flow of ink.

Love Life! (music video from Tim Booth)

2011-04-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

Tim Booth released his new solo album, Love Life, on April 4. Here's a great video for 'All About Time'.

15 minutes away turned into 15 weeks!

2011-04-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Or rather, 22 weeks. :) Only 18(+/-) more weeks to go, and Ian Alexander will make his debut appearance!

This week is my first week doing the Diva's weekly Zentangle challenges. This week was perfect for me since lately (and in the coming months) I haven't had much more than 10-15 minutes to myself to work on art.

This week's challenge is 15 Minutes of Fame, where you set 15 minutes on a timer and do an entire Zentangle tile. Since most of my work is so huge, I admittedly freaked out, thinking there's no way I can do a tangle in 15 minutes! But then I read that a tile is supposed to be 3.5 inches square, so I relaxed a bit, drew some 3.5 inch squares in my sketchbook, and started tangling!

Excuse the horrible lighting/picture quality this time. We're in for some major storms tonight/tomrrow, and I can't get outside to take better ones right now.

One

Two

Three
I didn't get a chance to finish this one. I never realized how time-intensive my favorite pattern really is!

Free Shipping!

2010-10-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Many items in my shop are expiring at the end of October! If they don't sell, I'm not re-listing some of them (all those summery skirts). So if anyone buys one of my skirts or one of the soon-to-expire items, I'll give them free shipping!

The Morning After

2010-09-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

After an extended vacation...

My faithful Sidekick/Hero (depends on the adventure, who plays the Sidekick) and I have returned from Florida. We visited his mom and other mom, we played around in the Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios, and then we saw James, the best band on the entire planet, live at the House of Blues.

I love it when people say "Oh, James? I've never heard of him, what's his music like?" and I have to say "No, there are seven of them. It's a group of pretty British men with disarmingly gentle voices despite how sinister they might look in many of their photos."

But I hate it when people say "Oh, yeah, I love James Blunt."

There's more to music than what your Payola-era inspired radio station spits out at you, you know.

I ended up with Jim Glennie's guitar pick after the show. Jim is the one the band is named for (in the beginning, their choices were Gavan, Tim and James... Gavan sounded too metal, Tim sounded too effeminate, so they went with James). So I can actually say I have THE James' guitar pick.

A magical evening with Tim Booth standing/dancing 8 feet away from me most of the night. Saul, Mark and David all playing drums on "Stutter," a song from the rarest album that no one remembers until they play it. And through it all, Tim dancing like mad; apparently the man cannot stand still for even a second unless he's singing. I simply adore the way he dances like a leaf on the winds. And Saul always watches at least one of the others intently during every song, if not Tim, then Larry or Jim when Tim wanders out into the audience (which he did on numerous occasions)... unless he's sawing away on violin, then he's lost in his own world.

Maybe it's because they're musicians who make music because they have something to say, not because they want to get paid. Sure, getting paid is a perk, but those who do it to get paid first say the same things over and over and echo all the others who have nothing to say.

James is the kind of band that always has something to say, and more often than not -- no matter where you are in your life -- it makes sense.

More on my triumphant return to blogging tomorrow!

Beautyberries

2010-08-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

Until today, I've never heard of a beautyberry bush. We have one growing near Bishop's dig spot under a large cedar tree. It's small, and looks relatively new, so I'm guessing birds must have seeded this thing.

At first I was afraid that poison sumac had developed a beautiful new look, but after looking it up online, I'm pleased that the wilderness has given us such a pretty little plant and I'm looking into transplanting it into a pot so we can cultivate it and take it with us whenever we move.

2010-08-26T01:10:00.001-07:00

After wondering what to do with all the wonderful music I have available (most of it podsafe; the rest is iffy, and by that I mean it's not on any big-name label, but it's also not listed as part of the Creative Commons effort), I've decided on a podcast.

Stay tuned, dear readers.
All two of you. :)

Manchester Passion

2010-08-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

This was done a few years ago in Manchester. It's the story of Jesus Christ's last few hours told through the meaning of music by Manchester musicians.

Tim Booth (front man for James) is Judas, and his version of "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" by the Smiths is heartwrenching.

I'm not crazy...

2010-07-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

...I'm just laughing at myself.
—James, 'Crazy'

I just found out my favorite band in the world is touring the U.S. in the fall. Check out James here. They're like U2 if U2 were actually good. But every time I see Tim Booth without hair, I giggle just a bit. He looks so sinister, when he's anything but sinister in reality.

I'm hoping I can convince my husband that we really do need to go see them in September.

There's a Starman Waiting in the Sky

2010-07-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

"He'd like to come and meet us,
but he thinks he'll blow our minds."
--David Bowie, 'Starman'

Maybe I'm just old and cynical, or maybe I don't like crappy writing, but the television show Roswell irritated me to no end. It was terrible. It was lame. It was terribly lame. It wasn't even filmed in New Mexico. That means a lot to people who live in a town that actually exists in real life -- at least Surface was filmed in Wilmington, NC.

But my dislike of the show is not a reflection of my feelings about space aliens in general. So let us indulge a little today with some starmen who want to meet you. In no particular order, here are my 5 favorite alien movies of all time.

1. District 9
"I didn't say anything about getting out. I said I'd get us in. We're in!"
--Wikkus van der Merwe

The premise: 20 years ago, an alien mothership arrived at Earth and stops over Johannesburg, South Africa. The aliens wind up being stranded on Earth and treated as third-class citizens, forced to live in military-controlled slums designated as District 9, or D9. The movie is more a social commentary on the apartheid era (Blomkamp is a native of Johanneburg) and xenophobia. A clueless MNU bureaucrat, Wikkus van der Merwe, is infected with an alien fuel-type fluid while serving eviction notices to the aliens of D9, and becomes the target of not only his own employers, who wants his ability to operate alien weaponry, but Nigerian gangsters for the same reason. He hides in the one place he knows no one is looking for him -- with the aliens. Wikkus becomes more humane toward the aliens as he loses his own humanity, and in the end... well, there are so many ways this movie can go, I don't want to spoil it all for you.

With no actors you've even heard of, District 9 invaded movie theaters like... well, the aliens they were. Before this movie, Sharlto Copley had never really acted professionally (he was a producer/writer/director for a few indie shorts, and a visual effects producer for What the Bleep Do We Know). And this was Neill Blomkamp's first feature film as well. And the FX company hired to do the CGI aliens and spaceships had never done anything on the scale of a feature film. This film was Peter Jackson taking a wild leap of faith in Blomkamp, and it paid off HUGE.

2. K-PAX
"I had forgotten, but I mean... wow. Your planet is really bright."
--Prot

The premise: A man claims to be an alien and gets shipped off to a psychiatric ward where he teaches the other patients and the doctors themselves a few things about being human. This is one of those touchy-feely, mostly-sweet movies that makes me happy every time I see it, and not just because of the way Kevin Spacey eats a banana (it's one of the funniest fruit moments in the history of cinema, I think). I can't really say too much about it for fear of giving it all away. Not to get too woo-woo and not to spoil it for you, but Prot is what I'd term a walk-in Starman/wanderer. (A walk-in is thought to be a person whose original soul has departed his or her body and been replaced with a new soul.)

3. Galaxy Quest
"I have one job on this ship, it's stupid, but I'm going to do it!"
--Tawny Madison

The premise: A group of aging, forgotten actors of an old science fiction TV show relive their glory days at sci-fi conventions signing autographs and hosting panels about their space traveling show -- until real aliens show up and and beg them for help, thinking they really are the space-faring action heroes depicted in the TV show. This is a classic Star Trek parody that made me want Sigourney Weaver to do comedy more often because she's fantastic at it. There are points where I find I'm laughing at myself because I'm a big Star Trek nerd and I know exactly what aspects of the show they're ridiculing. When I need to laugh out loud, this is the one I put in the DVD player.

4. Men in Black / Men in Black II
"You did not see a room full of weapons, you did not see four alien nightcrawlers. You will love and cherish each other for the rest of your lives."

The premise: the Men in Black really do exist and they protect the planet from all sorts of alien threats, as well as policing and organizing the aliens who live peacefully among us. Hilarity ensues.

5. Independence Day
"Now that's what I call a close encounter!"

The premise: Aliens come to Earth... and try to destroy it. Apparently the alien ship that crashed in Roswell was a scouting party to see if our planet had enough resources for their race to strip mine the planet and move on, destroying humanity in its wake. This is just a good shoot-'em-up space flick. Bill Pullman does a better job playing the President than most politicians do. And Brent Spiner's role was entirely too short in this movie; he's a far better actor than to only be remembered as Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Roswell That Ends Well

2010-07-05T16:00:00.001-07:00

Starting the week off with a little alien love because I've been watching District 9 and because the anniversary of the ~~alien crash landing~~ weather balloon crashing at Roswell, NM is July 8.

Check out the treasury for our alien friends who DID NOT crash land.
You DID NOT see anything.
Move along.

Mulberry Muffins (recipe)

2010-07-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

So after a bit of trial and error (and many batches -- I ate so many mulberries and mulberry muffins that I could probably seed another tree if I were to go camping right now... erm, never mind), I bring you the recipe for fresh mulberry muffins. Hopefully you're lucky enough to have a mulberry tree in your backyard, or have a friend who has one. If not, you'll have to go mulberry poaching in some stranger's yard. Or buy them at a local market. But don't blame me if you get caught doing the former. :)

Mulberry Muffin Recipe
(makes 12 regular or 6 jumbo muffins)

•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•3/4 cup sugar
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•1/2 tsp. baking powder
•pinch of salt
•1/2 cup sour cream
•1/2 cup milk
•2 tbsp applesauce
•1 egg
•1/2 tsp almond or vanilla extract
between 1/2 - 3/4 cups fresh mulberries, rinsed and drained (use as many as you want, up to 3/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 400º F (200º C). Grease 12 muffin cups or 6 jumbo muffin cups. If you use paper liners, give them a spray of cooking oil or non-stick oil like Pam. These things come out a bit dense, so they stick to ungreased paper.

Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt). In a medium bowl, mix wet ingredients (sour cream, egg, milk, applesauce and extract). Stir in flour mixture until batter is smooth. Fold in mulberries (they tend to break easily, so be gentle with them). Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack (or a paper plate like I did because I'm ghetto like that). Coat liberally with butter while still warm and enjoy the gooey, dense, cake-like goodness.

No water and no AC make Homer something something...

2010-07-02T09:10:00.001-07:00

Our water went out yesterday when part of an old line ruptured from the well to the house. Last year, a part of the same line split underneath the house, flooding the basement and shorting out the old oil furnace. Yikes! At least this time, the plumber didn't have to crawl under the house with all the creepy crawlies.

Today, the AC unit wasn't working. The repair man came out and found the culprit -- ants. They had somehow destroyed the contact on the unit, so our task this weekend will be to remove ALL leaf debris in a wide radius around the unit, jack it up off the ground using some bricks and dust the whole area with Sevin 5.

Ideally, I'd like to find some Sevin 10 because we have ticks and fleas like crazy (we live in the pine tree-covered Sandhills of NC -- there's no avoiding ticks and fleas here). My husband is a natural magnet for ticks (he finds one on him every time he walks outside), while I have some sort of natural tick repellant. Plus, I'm sick of little squash bugs eating up my squash.

On a brighter note, there are a couple of new things in the shop. First, my newest attempt at something different, the Bird's Nest pendant:

Next are some fun purses and a new Tree of Life pendant:

Happy Garden!

2010-06-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

We started a garden a few weeks ago and it is growing like crazy (along with the weeds... *sigh*). Ignore the half-weeded state it's in; I got bored/tired and decided to take pictures instead of weeding the rest. Don't worry, I went back and finished it... the next day.

Here it is so far: two rows of corn (half a row each of sweet white and sweet red), peas and zucchini squash (the onions didn't make it), a row of all different kinds of peppers (three NM green chili, three sweet peppers and three jalapeno seedlings survived -- they were burned by the fertilizer because they were so delicate), a row of herbs (basil and chives survived, oregano didn't even come up) and a row of Australian grey pumpkins, prize-winning giant pumpkins and watermelons.

At the end you can see the Topsy Turvy strawberry planter that A) fell over when we first hung it, B) is made of cheap plastic, and C) strawberry plants don't like. Some of them have decided to grow, but it's way past berry season now. :(

We planted wild flowers all around the garden on the raised dirt we had to remove before we planted. Apparently if you have a dog that has pooped in the area, you're not supposed to plant food gardens in the same soil for at least two years because the bacteria in dog poo can live and cultivate inside the vegetables. Who knew? So we dug up all the topsoil, mounded it outside, and replaced it with a mixture of gardening soil and cow poop.

Here are the tomatoes in our homemade upside down planters. They're much cheaper and much sturdier than the flimsy ones you get on TV (or from the 'As Seen on TV' aisle in some stores). Dirt, root balls and flourishing tomato plants are extremely heavy; add water to that and a Topsy Turvy is likely to collapse. The one we put up for the strawberries was so heavy we had to zip tie the metal hanger pole to the fence post at the other end of the garden. Also, there's not much room for roots to spread out in those commercial ones, so most plants aren't going to be happy in them.

Easy way to make a tomato hanger: a 2x4, four plant hangers, four cheap plastic buckets (that haven't been used for anything else) and coffee filters. Cut a two-inch hole in the bottom of the bucket, line it with a coffee filter (to keep the dirt and root ball from coming out). Cut a slit in the coffee filter large enough to gently pass your tomato seeding through, fill the bucket with a good gardening soil and cow poop mixture, fertilize and water.

These guys were just tiny seedlings when we bought them; this is two weeks of growth, and some already have blooms on them! We've got an heirloom beefsteak, an heirloom German Queen, an heirloom Mr. Stripey, and an Early Girl variety that is very far behind the German Queen in production so far.

Underneath the tomatoes is the rest of the herb garden (I planted these in pots because I want to be able to take them with us whenever we move). I've got stevia and lavender in one pot, basil, rosemary and oregano in another, then mint, catnip, bee balm, and citronella in separate pots. They're all growing so fast, I may need to get really large pots for each of them.

Here are the garbage bin potatoes. I started the sweet potatoes in here to get them happy and leafy, I'm going to transplant them this weekend to the other end of the garden where they can vine out and start producing. Then we'll plant red potatoes to see if they'll come up this late in the season.

And last, but not least, is the mulberry tree, heavy with fruit. I can't take credit for growing this beauty; from the size of it, it's about 60 years old and there are no other mulberry trees nearby that I've seen. I'm just lucky it's there! Last year it got hit by the late frost and didn't have much of a crop, but this year it's been fruiting constantly since late April. I've already made one batch of mulberry muffins, but I'm going to make another batch and alter the recipe a bit to make them less dense.

How you can help wildlife impacted by the BP oil spill

2010-06-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

For the months of June and July, 20% of all profits from sales in my Etsy store will be donated to the National Wildlife Foundation's efforts to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife affected by the oil spill in the Gulf.

So start shopping (and donating) today.

Never Use RoundUp on Your Garden or Lawn

2010-06-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

Why?

Well, first... RoundUp is produced by the Monsanto corporation (they're the ones who made Agent Orange and to this day still deny any harmful effects on humans besides a slight skin rash and refuse to aid tens of thousands of people who suffer from birth defects, disabilities and other health problems due to exposure to Agent Orange).

Monsanto also likes to sue small farmers who want to provide milk free of rBGH, a growth hormone that has been banned for health reasons in every other industrialized nation except the United States. Monsanto, the no. 1 producer of this growth hormone, decided that these dairies should not have the right to tell us that their products are rBGH-free... and they actually got away with it.

There are many more reasons why not to use RoundUp because it's a Monsanto product, but the main reason I have for you today is that it will kill everything on your lawn... and the grass dies first.

My husband and I had bought two bottles of Ortho Weed B Gone (not knowing that Monsanto had recently bought them out too). We ran out, he went back to the store to get two more bottles to finish the other half of the backyard. They were out of Ortho, but he got RoundUp because it was on sale.... mmmhmm.

And this is what the part of the yard that had RoundUp sprayed on it looks like now. The soil is high acidic on that side of the yard to begin with, but last summer I was just starting to get some of the centipede grass to send runners and it wasn't looking too bad.

Now... we just have a brown spotty field with lots of clover and freakin' cactii growing up out of nowhere.

So this, my dear readers, is a warning to anyone who is getting ready to spray some RoundUp on your garden or lawn... plus, you don't want to be supporting Monsanto anymore than we already do by default just eating mean (think of all the animals that are fed RoundUp's GMO corn products).

New Purses in the shop!

2010-05-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the two newest items, part of my reversible purses shop section!

A fun blue and purple batik tote:

A greenish-yellow swirly and blueish-purple polka-dotted print purse:

2010-05-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

I've added a new section to the shop with two new items: Reversible Purses!

Red Asian reversible purse

Red and Purple batik reversible purse

The White Tree of Gondor

2010-05-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

We all know that the White Tree of Gondor stood dead in the courtyard until the King's return, but unless you've read the books, you won't know this bit of the story:

When Aragorn became king he discovered (with Gandalf's help) a sapling of the White Tree upon the slopes of Mindolluin, high above the city, which he reverently planted in the Court of the Fountain. The dead tree was removed from the court but was placed in the Tombs of the Kings with all the honour that would normally be accorded a fallen monarch.

To represent this fourth White Tree of Gondor, I've created this lovely necklace, available for sale in my Etsy shop.

Fizzle You, Skittles!

2010-05-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

Skittles has a new "flavor". It seems they couldn't be content with screwing up ice cream and chocolate (most artificially chocolate flavored things never turn out right, just like most chocolate scented things never turn out smelling like chocolate).

No, they went and made something called "Fizzl'd Fruits".
This could be construed many ways in this day and age.

My husband picked them up from a gas station, curious about what a Fizzl'd Fruit really was. But from the wrapper's description, I thought "Oh, cool, maybe it's like Skittles and Pop Rocks got mixed together." I couldn't wait to try them, with flavors listed on the back like Melon Berry, Berry Punch, Strawberry, Raspberry and Wild Cherry.

I opened the package and found some white sand-covered Skittles. I thought "Uh oh, sugary sour sand..." and feared they would be like Sour Patch kids. Not terrible, but not new or something I'd eat by any means. Unless I was really, really craving candy.

My husband and I both tried them. His reaction needed bleeping: "They tastes like s***!"

My first reaction was:

When I could talk again, I said, "Oh my god, it tastes like baking soda! What the hell?"

So then I flip the package over. AND IT IS BAKING SODA!!!!!

The Wrigley Jr. Company just coated Skittles with frakkin' baking soda and called it candy. That's cheating!

They do not fizz. They taste like nasty salted Skittles. Salty, sandy, brine-encrusted Skittles. If salty candy is your thing, go for it. They're just regular Skittles once you get past the baking soda coating. But unless you actually like letting a coating of crusty baking soda sand dissolve on your tongue just to get to some Skittles, I'd say just buy the red bagged Skittles.

Leave these to people with no taste buds.

Shrimp Salad

2010-05-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

Sadly, I am violently, deathly allergic to shrimp. But I am not allergic to ShrimpSalad's blog. In fact, I love it. It's not the same as delectable seafood, but it fills me with happiness to read her blog.

Today she's giving away a Misikko Hana professional flat iron on her blog. After her review of the flat iron, I want one for myself. She describes her hair texture very similar to my own, and with the summer humidity building up, my hair is anything but shiny or sleek these days. I'm dying to try a flat iron that actually does something for my hair.

So hop on over to her blog and enter today. Don't forget to become a follower of her blog too because she's got great reviews, entries and awesome vintage wares in her Etsy shop!

This....

2010-05-14T15:19:00.001-07:00

...could only be better if Simon Pegg were riding a unicorn instead of a girl's bike.

I really can't come up with anything else to explain it. This really is what I think of when I think of a badass.

A hardcore British nerd on a pink girly bike.
Without training wheels.
Rawr.

Mid-May Weekend Sale

2010-05-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

I'm having a sale on all skirts in my Etsy shop this weekend only (May 14-May 16). All skirts are now marked down $10 off!

Sale ends 11 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 16, so buy them now!

'I'll be back'

2010-05-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

Famous last words....
Never, ever post those with the intention of coming back immediately. Things get in the way (and by 'things,' I mean 'life').

But that being said, I've laid out some very specific goals and intentions for this month, working with time management related to crafting and art. I've actually followed through with making at least one creative or artistic thing per day last month, and have continued it into this month.

A bit of show-and-tell:

May's calendar for the 365 Calendar Challenge from TheKathrynWheel.

My first Zendoodle, inspired by Millande:

Annnnnnnd... two new pendants in the Etsy shop!

He's just so GLEE-ful!

2010-04-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

This is another voting entry, but not for me. My friend Rickie has a shot at being on the hit TV show 'Glee' and I would love to see him fulfill one of his many dreams (being an actor/singer, he has more dreams than there are stars in the sky).

He has a lovely singing voice and would a perfect addition to the cast of Glee. Plus he's so cute when he can't get the video to stop recording. :)

You can vote once a day, so keep those votes going. He's promised to throw a pizza party for everyone who votes for him if he wins, too. So yanno... pizza, singing, artsy theatre nerds... you know you want this.

Happiness is a warm duck

2010-04-05T08:09:00.001-07:00

What is Easter without ducks? My mom's moscovy ducks are so personable. She has a flock of four (five?) that wander around her farm and get curious when I bring my 'art studio in a box' over to draw/paint in the garden. One little female is fascinated by my cell phone and tries to grab at it whenever she sees it. She also has a fondness for paintbrushes, I've discovered.

In other news, VOTE FOR ME! :)

Linda B's Jewelry Designs has her top 5 Etsy finds from last week, and I'm on the list! All I'm asking is for you to head on over to her blog and leave a comment for my floral cream skirt. While you're there, also check out her shop on Etsy. (This is one of my favorites.)

Ahhhhhh.... yeah.

2010-04-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Ah, a relaxing moment. So few and far between. But the moments 'inbetween' don't seem any more hurried than this right moment right here. Making art, being crafty, doesn't seem like real "work" to me. It's never hurried, it's never hard, and I don't have some untalented hack standing over me saying "I thought you were going to come up with something good."

(Yeah, I heard that a lot at my last job.)

So this crafty life, it's a lot of work to make pretty things, and there's the promoting and networking and art shows, but the actual act of making anything at all... that's all that matters. None of it seems like "work" so I kinda feel like maybe I'm cheating by not having a "real job" that makes me miserable, and calls me in at weird hours on my days off, or gives me crap benefits, or makes me work a 10-hour register shift, or any of the other things I've done in the name of Corporate Sellouts before to get by in this world.

I could get used to this.

April Journal Calendar

2010-04-01T20:26:00.001-07:00

I finished my art journal calendar for April as part of the Art Calendar 2010 365 challenge!

It's been awhile since I've done any mixed media collage, so I'm a little bit rusty. But the goal I've set for myself is to make at least 1 bit of art every day for the next 30 days. This counts as 2 since I worked on it over two days in two different directions.

You can't see it in the pictures, but the right-hand page has glitter ALL over it.

Click here for more art journal calendar goodness!

Penciling in

2010-04-01T13:53:00.001-07:00

I just realized how sad it is that I actually write down "ICC 10-man" on my physical calendar to remind me that yes, I have commitments outside of art and family. It's a freakin' video game, but I write it on the day planner.

And yes, I have a portrait of my avatar.
She's pretty hawt, actually.
Rawr.

I see why guys like to play the female toons on World of Warcraft.

I just noticed the WoW Armory is doing their own little April Fool's joke: instead of a Draenei hunter, today I'm a Tuskarr hunter! Oh, those jokers.

Goodwill Find of the Week

2010-03-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, first, I love birds. I envy them because they can fly and I cannot (without use of some dangerous man-made device, that is).

So while shopping at Goodwill for fabric to make my next batch of skirts out of, I found this adorable dress. With birds on it! And with a train down the back! The down side is that it is a size 6. With a zipper. Which makes it incredibly hard for me to make a skirt out of, even if I just hacked it off under the ribcage band. Plus, that would ruin the effect of the train.

I'm having a difficult time trying to cut into this little dress, even if it would make a cute skirt. I think it's just fine as a dress, but as it is, it does not and will not ever fit me. The last time I could wear a size 6, I was 6 (I was a very tall child). So it's doing me no good hanging on my dressform, mocking me, whispering to me at night "Ha ha, I'm so cute and you can't wear me!"

Any suggestions?

First to Buy special treat!

2010-03-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

I love geocaching and when the weather is nice like this, I love to find all the newly posted caches in the area and try to be the first to find (FTF) because there's usually some nifty little present in there for you to say "Hey, thanks for finding this!" I love this concept, but in honesty, I've only ever been a FTF once -- a local cacher and friend here usually beats me to finding every single one (maybe I should partner with him in these mad hunts for Tupperware hidden in the woods?).

I am one sale away from my very first sale in my Etsy shop. So as a treat to the very first buyer, they will get a special handmade glass bead stretch bracelet (a $10 value) that matches whichever item they purchase. If they buy more than one item in that first sale, I'll throw in a bracelet for every item!

kittyhead

2010-03-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

Blargh!

How do cats know exactly where you are going to step and when? And then, why do they look at you like you're the complete jerk for stepping on them when they run up under your foot, no matter how wide you step to avoid stepping on them in the first place?

Resolution for March: I'm going to stop feeling bad for stepping on my cat when it's his fault.

In other news, it's almost April. That means I need to finish and post my art journal calendar for the month of April, as part of the Art Calendar 365 challenge, from thekathyrnwheel.

I stumbled across her blog a couple of weeks ago, and bookmarked it, fully intending to get right on making an art calendar for March, but with birthdays and setting up my new Etsy shop , things kinda got away from me. But this time, for sure! I'm already halfway finished with April's calendar, and hope to have it done tonight or tomorrow.

I promise...
...no, really.

Altered book pages

2009-10-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I posted, yes, but only because I've been feeling creatively blocked... stuck... blah.

I started doing SARK's Journal and Play!book exercises and started doodling, then signed up for a few groups on Ning! (www.ning.com), mostly art journal communities and mixed media/abstract groups. I did it for inspiration, support and networking because the only way I'm going to make a living off my art is to get out there and show what art I have right now to the world.

Sadly, these aren't for sale (not like anyone would buy sword swallowing art journal pages anyway), only because they're in a permanent altered book that's still a work-in-progress (isn't everything I do?).

a list of injuries commonly sustained by sword-swallowers

fire eater!

"HUMBUG" is from an episode of X-Files (the only good episode, really), starring members of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, and other circus sideshow performers.

Happiness and The Mountain

2009-08-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

Double Happiness

I made this for my bedroom wall, which just happens to correspond to the Love gua corner of the room. It's also quite beneficial that my bedroom IS the Love Gua of the house. It took less than three months of it hanging on this wall in this room for me to meet my fiance. The power of belief, the power of feng shui, or the power of art? Who can say?

Mt. Kill-a-Moon

This one's just a fiery rendition of Mount Kilimanjaro. I was tired of seeing only blue versions out there. I wanted a red version.

New Paintings!

2009-08-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

These are the 5" x 7" mini-paintings I donated for the Art Anonymous project in June.

The first one, 'Wild Sisters,' was one of those "happy accidents," as Bob Ross calls them. It started as a palette knife painting, but I had a CD on in the background (I don't even remember which one) and an accidental synaesthetic image dropped onto the canvas. The first crow was unmistakable, so I added the red and the gold crows on either side.

The second one, 'Luminary - Synaesthetic 1', was a result of working while watching my favorite show in the world, 'Millennium.' It was the episode 'Luminary,' the one where the kid disappears into the wilds of Alaska and Frank has to go off and search for him without the Group's help. The music alone to the episode was probably one of the best scores Mark Snow composed for the entire series, and this little mini-painting shows part of the visuals I get from the music. You can't tell in the small/medium sizes on Flickr, but the large image shows the metallic golds and copper much better. It's unusual for music to produce a metallic color with my synaesthesia, but violins and cellos usually cause a sheen to seep through.

Close Encounters of the Jellied Kind

2009-08-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I went to Ft. Fisher for a day with The Man and some friends for a little surf and fun in the sun. There was fun, lots of sun, and surf, but those three things really didn't go together or happen at the same time.

I spent about 20 minutes playing in the water until I got tired of the weird itchy/stingy feeling I kept having on my arms and legs. The best way I can describe the feeling is that it was like the whole ocean was mildly electrified. I came out of the water with tiny little pinprick marks on one leg, along with a couple of very small, flatish, yellow globules with a little barb-like thing sticking out of one end.

Sea-lice? Baby jellyfish? Ocean boogers? I had no idea.

A friend spoke with the lifeguard and learned that 26 people had been stung by jellyfish the day before. So far, no one had been stung today.

Oh, but I was there now!

While sunbathing, the wind picked up and it wasn't the nice sea breeze one would normally associate with the beach. No, it was a harsh, land-hugging gale that ran along the shoreline, parallel to the crashing waves. The wind picked up sand and shoved it in the face of everyone facing south, or it scoured the flesh from those of us facing any other direction.

I know women in Europe pay hundreds of dollars at fancy spas to have some sort of sandblasting microdermabrasion, but this was more like a macrodermabrasion involving layers of the epidermis slowly being stripped away.

So of course my solution to that was another dip in salt water. It was nice and cooling, and it was fun to float along over the waves just as they started to crest. Until Gavin went underwater and snuck up on me "accidentally on purpose." I mistook the gentle nudging of a smooth-skinned being for a small shark, and when it kept bumping me, I kicked it violently and screamed "Oh shit!" and a few other choice words once he finally surfaced.

I felt bad about kicking him in the head and calling him bad names, but shark attacks are not uncommon off the coast in N.C. in recent years. There haven't been any this summer, but I have this sort of strange luck where if something frakkin' weird can happen, it's gonna happen to me.

10 minutes later, we're all cresting over little waves, laughing and talking about... well, I don't really remember what we were talking about at that point because that was when the ocean threw a jellyfish at me.

If jellyfish had heads, I ended up with this one in the equivalent of a headlock. It and most of its tentacles got sandwiched between my right arm and my ribcage. It felt like someone had given me 1,000 paper cuts, poured lemon juice and tabasco sauce all over them, then set the entire area on fire.

One tentacle wrapped around my arm, a couple splayed across my stomach, and one got under my bathing suit top.

I shot up four feet out of the water and screamed like a little girl, then started swearing like a sailor. Now I know why sailors swear -- jellyfish stings. I was wearing a bandeau top, so as I was coming out of the water, I was also lifting the bottom hem of it to get the tentacle away from the Girls. Gavin thought I was having a wardrobe malfunction and kept trying to pull my top back down.

I screamed "NOOOOO! TENTACLES!" and I lifted the hem again to scrape the tentacle out. At that point, my reputation with a bunch of beachcombers I'd never see again didn't mean squat to me. When choosing between saving "the Girls" from more pain and having to flash a bunch of strangers, or try to walk out of the ocean to the lifeguards so they could remove the tentacles themselves (and still having to flash a bunch of strangers), I chose the former.

I can say that this is probably ties for Most Painful experience of my life, the other being when I broke my foot in three places when I was 12. I didn't tell anyone I broke my foot for two days because I didn't want to get in trouble for how I broke my foot (one of those "sneaking out of the house" maneuvers), and it still didn't hurt as much as that initial 2-second sting.

I've spent the last 33 years playing in the ocean without incident (other than the near-drowning when I was 8, and the time I got hit by a wave and lost my glasses when I was 9 and couldn't see past arm's reach the entire weekend). I'd never been stung by a jellyfish before, and now that I have, I can honestly say I probably won't be going out in the ocean ever again.

Ever.