Creative Chaos

Farewell my friends.........

I'm taking my sassy new haircut and boys up to Los Angeles for the next four days. We're leaving tomorrow morning.  And, once I get there, it will be a flurry of sitting on the couch, eating and talking.   I'm so looking forward to it.   Watching four kids wears you out! 

Before I leave I wanted to show you the crown that I did to go along with the birthday gift for the one year old.  We went to the party today.  When I walked in I was blown away....everything was in bright pink and green decorations.  Of course, I acted like I planned the match the entire time........

And Helen if you're reading this it's on it's way!!!!!

See you when I get back!   Karin

Pink Saturday.......

 So, of course, earlier this week I was thinking what incredibly cute, creative and fun things I would do for my contribution to Pink Saturday.  And, of course, it's Saturday and if anyone has visited so far, there has been no pink.   I have no cute, creative or fun.....but I do have a boatload of pink!   So enjoy! 

 

From the Desk of Creative Chaos......

MEMO

 

July 17, 2008

 

To:      All Project Runway Designers this Season

 

From:  Creativity

 

Re:      Your Lack of

 

********************************************************************

So far, I am very disappointed in all of you this season.  Yes, I'm fully aware it's only the first challenge.  However, if that plastic tablecloth debacle is any indication of things to come we are all going to be in big trouble.   I suggest you put more effort into coming up with an idea for your clothing designs, rather than being the next quirky, memorable personality of the show.  And, yes Blayne, I am talking to you.  And, you too, rocker chick. And, you too...."Suede".  But, not you, boring girl with the glasses.  Anyway, don't make me come down there. 

 

Also, the company picnic scheduled for this Saturday has been cancelled.

 

So, I made this for a friend's daughter's 1st Birthday.  The little frame is for a picture of her on her birthday.  I'm really thrilled with how this turned out considering I had absolutely no idea where I was going with it when I sat down to begin working on it.  It's funny how things evolve and grow when you give it time.   I'm learning to be much more patient with my art and I'm finding that it's paying off.  I'm thinking of making some of these for my Etsy Shop and then personalize for the customer.......What do you think? 

 

 

 

I made this little patchwork can out of vintage wallpaper scraps and then wrapped some tulle around it.   This poor little can had been sitting on my desk all primed and ready for embellishmet for the longest time.   Fun project that can't go wrong.  Now it holds my scissors.   It's a happy little can these days.

 

 

 

I got these cute little German die cuts from Paper Tales.   See.....I'm already looking ahead to Valentine's Day........

 

And, last but not least, another picture of work in progress on my desk.  Just wanted to show that the desk has gotten a bit messier, yet it is nowhere near the disaster area it could be.  I think that my new little organization system is working.  That, and the fact that I am really trying to be good about throwing things and putting things away. 

 

 

That's it for now.  It was a busy day today and I need to get all the beauty sleep I can manage......Talk to you soon!  Karin

 

E TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY......Project Runway: The Early Years

My tribute to tonight's season premier of Project Runway....with some help from the Los Angeles based Chaos Crew....... 

Clearly, the models never stood a chance of a contract for a spread in Elle magazine. However, there were whispers that gave them hope for a page in "The Recycler".

The judges, while cute, were problematic in that young Nina Garcia refused to wear shoes and did Suduko behind her tally sheet....... and, the other two couldn't read or write.

 

Tim Gunn observes a designer working on a challenge while pondering how she can possibly make it work.

 

 

 

Project Runway Rocks!!!!  Eleven more hours to the premier..........See you there!

Oh my gosh......it's been a whirlwind tour.......

the press, the autographs, the photo shoots..... People magazine actually called begging me to come work for them. I said forget it......you had your chance. They said they would bump Denise Richards off next week's cover.  I said I'm all yours...... Truth be told, I'm exhausted.....

Ok, ok, OK...truth be told, I did laundry all day and repeated the phrase "well, if you can't get along then, don't play with each other" 43 times.  But, I'm still exhausted.  I'm glad everyone liked the magazine cover. I had such a blast putting it together.  I'll let you know when the next "issue" comes out.

 

So guess who bought some new Play Doh?  Everyone here loves Play Doh.....I mean who doesn't?  I have a thrifty friend who once told me "you can make play doh!  Why would you buy it?!?"  Well, beside the fact that relatively speaking it's still a pretty good bargain at less than .50 cents a can, you can't make that smell.  The undeniable, bring you back to your childhood, glorious smell of Play Doh.  Nothing like it.  Except for maybe fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.   Don't they look so pretty and pristine brand spanking new right out of the can? As we all know, all good things must come to an end.......

After that and all the kids playing with it today the beautiful colors above have now been combined into a shade that, frankly, I don't even think exists on the color chart.  But, two hours of fun was had at the kitchen table turning play doh into pizza, pasta and all sorts of "food" type items.  So I let them squish colors all they wanted.... 

Say Hi to the Michelle and Helle at Paper Tales!!!  I finally got to meet Helle and she as sweet as can be..... 

Here's the table set for their A Muse A Palooza event........

And here is a sign for Helle's Vintage Collage Class......

She did this class last week but I believe she is doing it again on July 26th.  Check their blog for details and more classes.

I wanted to show you my newly reconfigured and reorganized desktop.  I totally rearranged it for maximum usage. Since the beginning, I set it up for how I "thought" I should use it.......instead of the way I "actually" use it.  I kept thinking that I would work farther down the desk towards the corner. And, with that mindset, I placed all my "working" tools down there.

But it never worked out that way.  I always plopped myself down towards the other end...nowhere near the supplies I needed....creating a huge mess of supplies that I would have to drag down near me.  Plus, all my stamps and inkpads were completely inaccessible. For instance, I would bring all my stamp pads down from the other end and just leave them on the table next to me when I was finished.  Now, I have them in a drawer next to me so I can put it away when I'm done resulting in less desktop clutter.  I worked half the day to get it to a usable & productive space.  I think achieved my goal.

 

I've been working on some different projects; and as you can see below my desk is gradually getting messier. But I feel I have more of a handle on it with my new system.

I have some more pictures of my new organized system. But I'm too tired to post any more......If you have any great organizing tips or pictures send them my way and I'll put them up on my next post.  I'm always looking for great ideas to use in my room.  Talk to you soon!  Karin

Just having some fun........

Well, since People never called......I thought I would strike out on my own.........

I made this from flickr toys at http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/. Tons of fun....tons of time wasted!

Learning something new everyday.........

 

How do you like my new banner? Yes, I know, it's no Bluhm Studio banner but it will have to do for now until I can weasel my way up her ever growing waiting list.  I'm sending candy and flowers to her today hoping I can get bumped up to maybe 45 or possibly 39 on the list.....we'll see.  

So, anyway, because I have nothing better to do as I watch four kids during the day, I decided to work on a new banner.  Let me backtrack a bit......the other night I figured out that I could change my theme around on my Etsy Cottage page....well, that turned into all sorts of time wasting fun....THEN in my pursuit of trying to do some sort of design thing on my lame "picture it" photo editor, I figured out how to mix pictures around.....So, that of course resulted in many more hours of time wasting which then produced my new banner. 

 

So in between pretending I'm some sort of digital designer extraordanaire, I managed to work on another page in my journal.  Actually I did about four pages but this is the only one I finished.  I actually did some writing on it.....

And then I added some words to the bottom of my first page......

What do I do with all the kids you ask while I'm fooling around with my art?  Well let me show you...........

I take the screen out of the kitchen window and turn it into a fast food drive thru.......keeps them entertained forever.......

Here's a complicated customer in his pajamas and underwear who is unsure of his choices holding up the entire line while he decides between chocolate milk and a juice box........

 

He finally decided on chocolate milk..........

The other secret.....three words......dirt patch, water, mud......well actually that's four.  But what it equals is ingredients for a secret potion that keeps them entertained endlessly.....well at least until I can get a journal page done.....

We're off to the playground today and to buy some playdough.....Talk to you soon!   Karin

It's Journal Madness......

 
Seriously......it is.    That's all I've been working on lately.  I'm so excited about my Summer Journal.  It's going better than I ever expected.  And I'm really not talking about the art I've been producing within in it. 

I'm mainly excited about the process. 

It's been this feeling of freedom to experiment with different techniques and experiments that normally I would be afraid to do....."wouldn't want to waste a perfectly good canvas now would I....nope...let's just play it safe..." 

 But between the prompts from Teresa and all the new things I've been learning with Corey's book (Raise your hand if you went out and bought it!) The other big thing is the promise that I made to myself to use my favorite vintage wallpaper........even if it means it's the only one I have.  It's been this incredible artistic growth spurt.  So, now the trick is to take what I've learned (and am still learning) from Corey and turn it into my own. 

Here are a few more pages that are a work in progress. 

Now, I know what you are thinking...."hmmmm, you say it's a journal. Yet, there is no journaling...."  The reason for that is I'm waiting until I'm ready to do it. For some reason, I'm not feeling the pull to actually write anything just yet. 

So I have a few hours to myself today as Papa and the boys are off to the Children's Museum and the playground.  I'm hoping to finish a few more pages and then clean my work table.  Because, once again, I've managed to work my way into a little teeny tiny space that only a mouse could work in. Even then, I think the mouse would complain.  Don't believe me?

Well, there you go..... Hope everyone had a great 4th of July and I will talk to you soon!   Karin

Hi Everyone!

You should have actually had this post in your sights last Monday.  However, after rambling on about being tired...blah, blah, blah...recovering from back to back vacations...blah, blah, blah...and posting a few pictures, my computer crashes.  I was just too tired to start over again until now.  And, because, if it wasn't enough, I have also started watching my best friend's kids for the summer.  They are both Carlos' age and they are really like cousins.  I've been too busy this week going to the playground and Seaworld, breaking up "who started what" & "he's being mean to me" arguments, making endless amounts of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and having Jengi Olympics to be able to catch up with everyone.

Here's a picture of Team Demark, Team Mexico and Team Animal posing with the precariously balanced Jengi tower minutes before Team Godzilla sent it crashing......

 

At which point the "Olymic Committee" *aka* Mom had to intevene and subdue the screams and shouts of ANDREEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!! Team Godzilla was banned from further Jengi competion.

I did have a few moment to work on another few pages of my Summer Journal.   The theme for these pages is Ode to Summer......

The pages are still a work in progress.  This page was really a challenge for me for some reason.  At first I loved the direction in which it was taking....then, I did some things to it that I didn't like. I then tried to fix it.  I' not sure how I feel about this page.  The July 24th is from a little vintage calendar page that was in one of the packs I got from Jen.  It's my wedding anniversary.....

Here's the next page......

hee, hee....like that vintage picture circa 1983?  That's me and my best friend at the lake (and, no, that's not a dead person floating in the water next to us......at least I think it isn't).  I used this picture because my grandparent's cottage holds so many great memories for me.  Lot's of summer fun was had there.  I'm really happy with this page so far.  It's still is a work in progress, but I'm going to try to work on it later today.

I also wanted to show you something I won over at Sarah's blog Joy for the Journey.......

It's this huge Nancy Drew journal....I just love it Sarah!  Thank you!!!

Ok, I am off to try to catch up on all my emails and everyone's blogs!  Talk to you soon!!!  Karin

It's been a non stop tour.......

This is what I've been doing since my sister and niece arrived last Thursday........San Diego Fair.....swimming at my friend's house....Sea World - twice....hitting the beach......and last but not least........

 

Heading out to Legoland today....See you later!   Karin

 

I finally did it........

I finally started an Art Journal.  I have been talking about doing it for so long. Maybe not here....but I know I've been muttering it to myself for a while anyway.  I decided to sign up for Teresa's Write Time Write Place E-zine.   I knew I would do it if I signed up for the class.  Otherwise, it would be a long talked about pipe dream.  The first picture is the Title Page.  Once again Teresa stressed simplicity and less is more.....and once again,  I disregarded her sage advice and recklessly kept piling more on......but I like it.  And, most importantly, I had so much fun doing it.  "Careless abandon" fun. "Let me try this. What the Heck" fun. "Hmmmm wonder what would happen if I do that" fun.   The kind of fun that stretched me to step out of my carefully constructed comfort zone and stumble across some work within myself that I would have never otherwise discovered.

Now, if it looks like I'm channeling someone in my work....you're right.  It's this artist.......Corey Moortgat.  I had come across this book The Art of Personal Imagery  a while back and I finally purchased it.  I love it. Her work is so fabulous....her journals are so beautiful.  I am inspired by just holding this book. 

Between the journal class and this book, it's really pushing me to try new things and experiment with my style.  The page below is still a work in progress.  I need to add some journaling and maybe a few things here and there........

The next page is my favorite.  I had so much fun working on this one.......I'm really trying to be comfortable with the term "artist".  When do you know you're an artist? Or, more importantly, for me, when am I ready to call myself one?  I think that's what I'm going to explore with this journal........

In funny unrelated non art news....... Conversation between Carlos and his friend in the backseat of the van on the way home from school:

Carlos:  Mommy....me and Christian decided that we weren't going to fight any more about things and we weren't going to yell at each other that way we can be better friends.

Me: Wow...I'm pretty impressed with you two. (thinking to myself: The West Bank has a better chance of peace treaty than these two)

Carlos: Yeah we made an agreement.  Right, Christian.

Christian: Whaaat.  What. No, I didn't.....

Carlos: (voice rising) Christian!  Yes we did!! We're not going to yell!!  (he said....yelling)

Christian: (yelling)  Carloooos! I'm just saying I didn't agree!!! I'll do it.....but I didn't agree!!!!

Carlos: Mooooommmmyyyy!!!! He's not agreeing!!!!

Christian: (very loudly) Yes I am!!!!

Carlos:  Ok!  Then let's shake on it. (they do very intricate and complicated handshake that apparently prohibits them from yelling at each other ever again.....)

Carlos: Isn't that a great idea we came up with mommy? 

Me: Yes, honey.......(I give it another 5 minutes....handshake or no handshake) 

   

Where to begin........

Phew....... I'm back.  First things first.  So excited to tell you that I was right on target with my prediction.   Heather was not a "Jed"....... not even close.  The minute I met her it was like meeting up with an old friend.  We met up at a Chuck E Cheese so the kids wouldn't be bored out of their minds while giving us a chance to chat.   We threw some pizza and tokens at them and then let them loose....Carlos and Hannah sped off to play Jungle Rama and the helicopter ride while Andres was content to talk on the Chuck E. phone making all sorts of demands on upgrades to the restaurant and the eventual removal of the scary rat statue.   So, in between the dispensing of tokens, buying cotton candy, and rescuing little people out of jungle gym tubes that were not meant for 40 year-old bodies to fit, Heather and I got to talk, laugh and chat.  It was so great to get to meet her after almost two years of emails, blog posts and swaps. She is as nice and funny in person as she is on-line.  And, best of all, she shares my love of being snarky.  It was a great day and I'm so glad we got a chance to meet. 

Ok, your still not convinced that it wasn't Jed   Here, I have proof for all you naysayers......

There.......Jed wouldn't have such cute legs, not to mention, wear snappy little red sandals like that......... 

Oh, all right....here you go...... Here's where she was ready to smack me because I kept calling her Jed......

But then we made up.........and, she said she wouldn't put the restraining order back on me...... 

 Yeah..... Cheese....whatever.....

Carlos is showing Hannah the finer points of motorcycle racing while trying to convince her that his "Lego Driver's License" is valid on California streets.......

 

While driving as fast as he can, Andres glances back to see if the big scary rat is chasing him.  In the meantime, it's obvious his passengers are clueless of their certain demise from large furry creatures........

The CEO of Tomfoolery takes on Hannah in a "sit on the edge of your seat" skeeball competition. Unfortunately, all his skee balls were thrown haphazardly into the lanes next to him, behind him and in the kitchen, resulting in a negative 54,000 point loss for him.  Undeterred, he challenged her to another game next year where he said he would come better prepared.......

 

Like I said, it was a ton of fun and I can't wait to do it again! 

Our one hour flight up to my niece's graduation took 4 hours due to delays.  Between mechanical problems and overdue flight, they finally just said "what the heck" let's let the kid fly the plane........

"Oh yeah, baby.....Let's put this Lego Driver's License to work........"

So, just before I left, I receive this from Jen Duncan........

 

I didn't even have time to look all the way through it prior to departure.

Well....let me tell you what was in it........This big huge piece of my favorite wallpaper.......aaaaaccccckkkkk.....  Not to mention all of this.......

She thinks I'm a nutball.....a fun kind of nutball.....but a nutball nonetheless, for ordering all this wallpaper.  But, there is a method behind the madness believe it or not.   The more I have, the less inhibited I am when I create.  Now, I've come a long way from becoming frozen with fear in cutting up my meager collection of wallpaper. But, I'm still at the point where if I feel like I don't have enough of the paper I love, I won't be as inclined to use it.  I want to "save" it.  For what, I have no idea.....but I guess that's the point.  The paper should be used and not saved.  So goes the conundrum and the buying of more paper.  Check out Jen's shop .   Although, she doesn't have any more wallpaper packs left, She has a bunch of ephemera and other paper that is perfect to use in your work.  If you are looking specifically for wallpaper, check out Donna or Heather.  They both have some beautiful paper packs.

Ok.....I now have to get ready for my sister and niece who are coming into town.  Busy week of Legoland, San Diego Fair, Seaworld and beach ahead of me.  I think I need a nap.

Talk to you soon!   Karin

Leaving for a bit.....

{Check out all of these at my Flickr page}

I'm heading up to San Jose for my niece's graduation.  (I'm still trying to figure out how she was just 5 years old and now she's graduating from high school.......)  I'll be back in a few days.  Hopefully, if everything works out I will be meeting up with this blogging friend!!!  I just have to get the non-blogging community on board....... i.e., my mom.   It's funny when you meet up with people that not only don't blog, but, (shiver) have no clue what blogging is.  Once I was at a gathering of friends and was trying to explain to them about blogs and swaps and art friends.......My one friend said "you give this person your address? what if it's some crazy guy that's going to stalk you?!?"  I tried to explain about how you get to know a person through their blog, blah, blah, blah...... She responded with a blank face.  That's when I knew there were two types of distinct people in this world........Bloggers and non bloggers.   Now I suppose Heather can be some big burly guy named Jed living in a cabin in the woods somewhere in Montana crazily sitting at a computer looking for crafty type woman who loves vintage wallpaper, glitter and complains about her lack of crafting time because of her kids.   However, lets just take a look at exactly what "Jed" would have to do in order to make his "cover story"......Develop a blog and a talent in art. Come up with a online computer graphics business in which "he" would have to have an incredible talent and actually produce art for said business that was good enough in which other people paid.  Coordinate complicated 12 day swaps in which "he" would have to organize a multitude of people and postage........... My guess is that if there is a "Jed" out there he's trolling My Space for a cute 20 year old......not craft blogs where he gets me....a mom of two who is in desperate need of a dye job.   But how do you explain that to a non blogger?  You don't. They'll never get it.  You just nod your head and realize that they are missing out on a whole other slice of life.  

See you when I get back....... Karin

Ok.....I'm back........

As much I would love to do a tirade on how this is all Typepad's fault, and, if only they had babysitting and home chef services, none of this would have ever happened,  I really can't.  Because,frankly, I don't think it's their fault.  I'm pretty sure it had something to do with my windows program.  Just as I was downloading my last picture, I received this huge warning/error pop up box.  My heart stopped for a second as a realized I hadn't saved anything in the draft mode. So, I immediately clicked "save as draft" hoping to beat out the error report.  My screen went straight to home page of my typepad.  I clicked on the "list post" button, sure  that it would be waiting there for me to finish the last picture download and then head out to Target.  It wasn't there. Damn.  My next suggestion to Typepad, after an on-site, on-call childcare for bloggers, is a auto save mode.  I'll bet Denise Richards never had to deal with this.......

 

So, now armed with an attitude adjustment, cup of coffee and and a deep breath I will try to write this before I have to go pick up Carlos from school.  The title of my last post was "Hmmmmmm......I could have sworn she had kids....."    The reason for that title is because once you see all the projects that I, not only have been working on, but actually completed, you will wonder to yourself if you had somehow remembered wrong.  "How," you will ask yourself, "could she possibly do all of this with two kids?  Maybe they are her neighbor's children? Did she put them up for adoption?"   

Nope.....I managed to do it all by ignoring them for a day.  Oh, don't worry. They were kept very happy with endless Thomas the Train videos, snacks on demand and extra computer time.  I even let Carlos make himself a "crazy hamburger sandwich of which marshmallows was an ingredient. (don't ask).  Grandma was here to answer any questions after they got sick of hearing "just a minute" and "hold on" from mommy.  I was on that kind of creative roll.  Of course, there is always a price to pay in the end though.  I went to bed with the songs "Boo Boo Choo....Don't be afraid of the Dark, and, Oh, It's Great to be an Engine You Know...Yes, It's Great to be an Engine Ho Ho...." bouncing around in in my brain like a buzzsaw.  However, I do have to say I have a better appreciation for Sir Tompam Hat and all the problems he has with those troublesome trucks. He was actually looking a little attractive to me. Then I remembered he was married to Lady Hat and knew she could take me down like that in a second.........   

  

But, overall, the day was so productive.  Not only did I start projects....but I completed them too.  Which is very rare event in my little creative world.  Typically, I start about 10 different project......can't make a decision on the direction of any of them.......contemplate starting something new....and, by the time I finally get back to them I'm sick of it and move on......does that ever happen to you?  Well it happens to me all the time.  But yesterday for some reason, I was into not only creating....but completing.  I finished the tray pictured above and went on a mosaic kick finishing two little notebooks for my Etsy shop, while starting (and almost completing) some more, along with a couple boxes.  I love this paper mosaic project.  I learned it from Teresa McFayden in one of here e-zine classes and have been hooked on it ever since.

 

Here's another book in progress as well as my slowly diminishing work space.  I even measured it out for you........ 6" x 11".  It's totally ridiculous.  But it happens everytime.  It's like that movie where the person is trapped in a room and then the walls start moving in.  Just like that.....except instead of walls....it's craft and art supplies.  It's as if the ribbons and paper crawl out of their boxes and start descending on me and my space.......   

So in the wake of my creative mode, I worked on another "Cake".....Vanilla Cream this time........

I love that cream on white wall paper.  I got it in a wallpaper pack from Jen Duncan......LOVE it.  As a matter of fact I think I need to go get some more........

 

Here's another shot of my lovely desk.......

So I had to share this picture with you.............

Just to show you that when I'm not ignoring my children to fit in some creative time, I am totally indulging them.  Little did you know, that after bath time over here our house transforms into La Chaos Day Spa.   Once the CEO gets out of the bath, I have to "wrap" him in towels and blankets after which he lays on the bed for about five minutes.....when he's ready he gives me a call and he gets dressed in his jammies.  Although there have been a couple times he has just fallen asleep, for the most part he just needs some "alone time" to ponder life and trains.......

Talk to you soon!  Karin

This Post is Titled....... I just lost the entire post I was working on for the past hour and I could cry.......no really, I could cry......

I am in shock looking for my post.....one hour of typing and downloading pics and then poof....it's gone.  And now I have to leave to go do errands.  I will be back later to post.  Hopefully, I can remember all the super funny things I said.....I doubt it though.  Well, at least it will have tons of pictures.....See you later........