Creative Chaos

Studio Friday......

Need I Say More........

I wish I could be what I imagine I am.......

Got that?..... Anyway, my best friend Gail has been getting up at 5:00 every morning in order to write for 2 hours for this "Writers Boot Camp" she is attending.  Just as an aside, I am so proud of her for finally getting the gumption to take this class that she has been coveting.  On her first day, as every one introduced themselves...."Hi. my name is John and I'm currently writing for a sitcom"; "Hi. my name is Mary and I teach literature at such and such college."; "Hi. my name is Tom. I'm currently writing for a reality show but am hoping to write a screen play.",  she bravely sat up a bit straighter and proudly proclaimed "Hi. my is Gail........I'm currently one year behind in writing in my kids journal and I blog about American idol and Project Runway with my friends.  I'm here because I just love to write."........Everyone smiled and was like....that's cool.   

So, anyway, what this has to do with me is that I thought - if SHE can get up early in the morning to get things accomplished, so can I.  Now, I know myself well enough to know that 5:00 am was nothing more than a foolish pipe dream.  The ONLY things getting me out of my down comforter that early were the words "FIRE"  and Ed McMahon standing at my door stating "you've won the publisher's clearinghouse money".  So then I thought 6:00 am.  Yeah.  6:00 am is realistic.  I can do that.   Ok.  This is going to be great!! The more I thought about it, the more excited I got.  I would be able to accomplish so much before the kids got up at 7:20.  It was like an eternity. 

So the plan is.....Get up.  Cup of coffee.  Do yoga tape that has been sitting in its original package since its purchase in 2002. Then, either work on inspiration book that has been sitting on the table since January or start to tackle bothersome chores like downloading pictures to cd's and working on quicken updates.   Yes.  I am going to conquer the world. I will become incredibly organized, get in shape via calming yoga,  inspire myself through creative and productive journaling, maybe even learn a new language and quite possibly paint the kitchen.   I thought to myself "why didn't I do this sooner?"

So. Two weeks later, this is what I have learned. That in order for this ambitious, yet brillant, plan to work, I have to actually get up at 6:00 am.   Snoozing the alarm in 10 minute intervals was not going to get me any closer to getting my bank statements downloading to quicken.  Not to mention, falling asleep then waking up every 10 minutes for an hour makes a person very cranky and irritated.   It also makes for an impatient husband who eventually turns off alarm, whereby leaving a wife to her own devices for waking up......which was usually in a panic at 7:35 am barking orders like a drill sergant to child who had to be ready for school........

So, as of right now alarm is set back for 7:00 am.  And, I am going back to the drawing board to work out the kinks in this flawed plan.   

Don't Hate Me Because My Husband's a Carpenter......

Actually, you can hate me.  I would.  Seriously, I would.  But, despite all the hate, I'm sooooo excited I had to share this.   My "remodel" to my dining room, turned office, turned studio has been pretty much at a stand still since I wrote this post.    The pictures below illustrate the two main reasons.....

I had so much stuff on that little table that I created a 2" x 2" space with which to work.  All my papers would end up spread all over the floor and half the time I couldn't find what I needed because it was under a 6 inch pile of stuff.   So as much as I liked the look of my little round antique table I knew that it had to go.   

And, as far as the other reason goes, I think this picture just about explains itself.   

So, this last week, after hauling in the folding banquet table from outside.  Washing off all dirt, leaves and spiders.  Hauling it into the house. Completely rearranging everything to my liking.  Getting all my supplies organized and ready to create..... my husband comes home from work and says:  "why don't I just make you a table this weekend."  I look it him with a bit of genuine disbelief (and annoyance in that I just rearranged everything), and say "reeaalllly.".......... to which he replies..."yeah.  just draw up some dimensions."   

Well plans were drawn.  Supplies were purchased. And laminate was cut..............

Yay!!!!!  Here it it as of Sunday night.  Hopefully, this week I will have the skirt sewn and attached to the table.   Speaking of which, check out that fabric for the skirt. TOTAL SCORE!!!  I went to JoAnn Fabrics and got this fabric for 50% off because it had a few stains throughout the bolt.  I made this big deal how I couldn't cut it as it was a continuous skirt for a table..... $3.50 a yard!!!!!  I got all 10 yards.  So now it can be all poufy and floufy on the table.   

So for those of you who are waiting for swap items and your Spring Fling Giveaway items, I am getting them out the door within the next few days!!!! I promise!!!!!   

   

Maybe I don't shave my legs enough....

to know the true story behind this personal hygiene regiment. But, honestly,, when I read this in one of my many magazines to which I subscribe, I actually laughed out loud.  Really. I did.    Here is the picture and quote in question..........

Now, I am here to say that I do not claim to be any expert in hair removal or proper shaving techniques.  But, come on......"cuts my shaving time in half"  OMG....I thought I was going to bust a gut while laying in bed reading this.  I think it's the whole "in half" part that keeps getting to me.    As if we are back to the beginning of the 20th century where you made your own soap and used a straight edged razor while bathing in a tub in the middle of the living room.   For the love of modern conveniences, just how long is it taking women to shave!?!  I mean, really. EVEN with lathering up, it takes me 5 minutes tops....7 if I'm really taking my time around the corners.   Are we really so pressed for time nowadays that 2.5 - 3.5 minutes makes that much of a difference?  Am I so haphazard with my shaving that if I were to do it properly AND cut it in half, I would save so much time that I could get the rest of my to do list done by the end of the day?  Oh well........ Then again I AM the one who takes a whole day to recover from Chuckee E Cheese.....so what do I know?

Anyway.....since I'm on a roll here, can I complain one more time about a certain nationwide arts and crafts store, again?  Please?    Now, if you read this post, you pretty much know how I feel about this certain store.   Since I don't want to get embroiled in any nasty slander & libel lawsuit that would drag on for years hindering my work as a crafter and blogger, we will call this store.......I don't know...how about......."Michelle's" Arts & Crafts.  Hmmm. That sounds good.  My little tale of complaint is actually just an open letter of suggestion to an employee named "Anita" (maybe the name has been changed....maybe it hasn't)  Anyhow.......  "Anita" when the manager calls you on the loudspeaker citing a code 3 (which I am to assume would be the equivilent of a "code red" given in a hospital. Translation: get your butt moving.)  do not, and, I repeat, DO NOT stand at the end of your aisle while there are 6 people in line and argue with "Sam" (not his real name) over who is to work the register.  You see, "Sam" is actually gathering information from the said manager, who just called your name to the other register, for a customer looking for a dry erase board.   See, when the manager calls "Anita, code 3", what he means is "Anita".  Not "Sam".   And, when when you finally realize that there is no getting out of working the register, and you finally start to slooowwwllyyy walk toward the weary and near infuriated customers, do not stop to converse with a customer who just walked in the door and is in need of a complicated and multi leveled explanation of something or other......ok.  Could you please take this advice?  Because, you and I both know this is NOT the first time this has happened........

Ok. That's it for my complaining.......for today anyway  :)

The Spring Fling Day After......

 

I want to send a big thank you out to everyone who stopped by and participated in the Spring Fling Giveaway.  Between that and Artsymama's Tea Party, it was quite the day.  I want to especially thank everyone for their super kind comments and emails.  I have met so many wonderful blogging friends that it really makes me so thankful that I had the gumption to start blogging.  I remember thinking that if my blog was nothing more than a place for friends and family to hear me complaining about something or to show off my latest creation, I would be happy.  But it has been a thrill and a privilege to step into the blog home of so many wonderfully talented women.  And speaking of the tea party......Did you all see Mary's home at Oh Merci   Oh my!  So beautiful.  The only thing that made me mad were those darn cupcakes.  I am NOT KIDDING when I say that I craved those things all day long.....Thanks a lot Mary!!   

Anyway, the Spring Giveaway was a huge success and a big THANK YOU goes out to Lisa at Heart of the Nest for organizing it.  It was amazing how she kept that list up to date.  And did you see how she put "winner" next to the names?!?  I was going to ask her to start highlighting each blog name and then put the names of the winners in a subcategory sorted by theme......... but, then, I thought that it just might be asking a bit too much.  So, I left well enough alone.   THANKS LISA!!!!!

Now, I, personally, didn't win anything in the giveaway.  But, that's ok.  No.  Really, it is.  Really.  I'm not bitter or anything.  Even though, I went to every blog I signed up at with eager and hopeful anticipation.  "Maybe this time.  Maybe it will be me." ........."aahhhh..... nothing."   Oh, well.  I just figured my luck is accumulating for the BIG WIN. You know, like the million dollar powerball lottery or something along those lines.  So, anyway, I took my empty hands and plodded slowly to the mail box. And, as I was glumly sorting through it, look what I see........A little easter egg and postcard from my blog friend Heather at Blum Studios!  Yay....I won! I won!  Look how cute is!  And considering it's my only Easter decoration so far as I'm still working on Valentine's Day Hearts, I'm even more excited.  THANK YOU HEATHER!  You made my day!   

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!!!!

Actually make that WINNERS!  Because I got such a great response I decided to pull out 3 more names! I haven't decided what I am going to send....but I promise it will be good!

Anyway, I have to say the wheels of progress have been churning away over here in preparation for the big giveaway.  The excitement has been palpable!  I called the Temp Agency again to get a few people over here to help me with the gift giveaway selection process, as it can be very time consuming and complicated.   

Well, of ALL the people they could have sent, look who shows up at my door.

Now, for those of you who were here for the Valentine's Day drawing, you know well and good what kind of mayhem he caused over here at gift giving central.  Of course, this time around, he was filled with all kinds of promises and assurances that he wouldn't play with the blocks or the Thomas the Train tracks again.  And, he all but guaranteed that he wouldn't eat the slips of paper.  But I wasn't completely sold. 

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LIAR!

So in light of the fact  that I didn't have much of a choice, as he was the only one who showed up to help......We went on with the drawing!   So here goes.......

GETTING READY!

THE FIRST NAME AND WINNER OF THE BOX IS BEVERLY!!

  THE 2nd NAME AND WINNER OF THE EARRINGS IS MELISSA LOBDELL!!

The 3rd winner is ART TEA LIFE!!!!!

BEING A SMARTY PANTS TROUBLEMAKER IN THE 10th DEGREE.....REFUSES TO PICK THE LAST TWO NAMES.  RESORTED TO BRIBERY USING M & M'S

FINALLY BACK TO BUSINESS......THE 4th & 5th WINNERS ARE HEATHER G and BETTY JO

I will be emailing everyone with the good news!   As usual this was TONS of fun!  And thank you to all of you who stopped by to read my crazy little blog!  I am so thrilled to have met so many wonderful new folks! 

What a weekend........

Man, oh man, oh man.....I woke up on Saturday morning thinking to myself that I have to stop this wild partying....and WHY did I have to have that last drink.  Was I crazy?!?!........But, then, just as the post-party fog started to lift and I managed to crawl out of bed,  I thought to myself....wait a minute. Just wait a darn pickin' minute here.    Not only did I NOT have a last drink.  I wasn't drinking at all.  What did I do again last night?? ......oh, yes.  That's right.  We went to Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday party for one of Carlos's classmates.   Man....I haven't felt this way since I went to a Duran Duran concert in '87.  I'm so old.   

But, I have to say, after I came to terms with the fact that I had a hangover from a children's pizza place, I had a most creatively productive weekend.  I took the boys swimming all day at my best friend's house where they just put in a beautiful new pool. (and, just for the record we have been best friends for the past 35 years...not just because she has a pool.  Although, I think I will now start describing her as my bestest' friend in the whole wide world to everyone......) 

Anyway, let me just give you an equation that equals pure happiness for Karin.......   2 exhausted kids + 1 not feeling well husband  -divided by- everyone in bed AND ASLEEP by 8:00pm = One happy momma! You have to understand that on most nights the kids aren't in bed until 8:30....and, then, of course, we have the usual 10 minutes of "somebody's breathing under my bed"......"I'm still hungry"......."mommy, can you get to Lego island by bus?"...... and, then, once both are finally down, I usually get the kitchen clean and things ready for the next day of school.  After that, it's usually well past 9:00pm and I'm pretty much done for the day. At that point, I either want to plop on the couch and watch a mind numbing episode of Supernanny or read a stack of magazines.  But not Saturday night.  No siree!!!  I was on a roll.....So I sat myself down and just started creating.   

First, I did these two cards and was ready to call it quits right then and there.  Have you ever created something you were so unhapppy about that it sucked all the excitement out of you?  Well, these two cards did it for me.  I don't know why.  Maybe because they are so dark?  Or, I just felt like I was using the paper to use it.  Or it was the design?  I don't know..... Somehow, someway, it just didn't work for me.  Whatever the case was, I knew I was heading down the wrong path.  So, I tossed them aside and continued to work like a crazy professor of craft in my lab....paper flying everywhere......glue sticks working overtime.....glitter cover the floor.  And I came up with these.....I'm happy now.

Studio Friday....What gives you hope?

When I saw the question this week, I knew without a doubt what gives me hope..........

It's these three guys.......

But especially these two...my babies.   It's funny....because, long before I had kids, I really never pictured myself as a parent.  I would always think, how can I take care of kids when I barely remembered to feed my cat.   I'm a person who has a bowl of cereal with bananas and strawberries and calls that a three course dinner.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I adore all my nieces.  And, I must say, that I was known as "Aunt Karin Good Times".  You know the type....the aunt that would do things with the kids whereby sending the mom's eyes to the back of the head.......For instance..... having ice cream for dinner........ Pulling out ALL the arts and crafts supplies and making a huge mess........Going boogie boarding all afternoon........Looking at my sisters completely perplexed when they brought up the idea of "bedtime".  However, as much fun as I had with those girls, when the week was up and it was time for them to go home, I would retire to my bed with a sigh of relief and a bowl of cereal for dinner and think......."THAT was ALOT of work.  Phew."   So, I knew I had absolutely no business having my own babies that I would actually be responsible for.....And had to feed real meals.....And make sure they were dressed appropriately.....  No business at all.......Then, I got pregnant.  Then, I had my baby.  Then, my entire world as I knew it changed. Changed forever.......  They are my hope.  They are my life.  They are my inspiration...... And if you must know, we DO sometimes have cereal for dinner.  And I discovered, that's OK.  If you put fruit in it, it can be indeed considered, at the very least, a two course meal!

 

You never know where paper will lead you....

Meaning.....you just never know what you are going to create with it.   I got some new Basic Grey paper.  Some of the really, hot off the presses, new...Stella Ruby.  And some of the Lilly Kate.   It's just been hanging out with me.  I've been trying to get a feeling for what I would like to do with it.  But every time I looked at the designs on the paper, it reminded me of fabric. As if it just lent itself to some kind of garment like a dress or a summer outfit. 

So, I decided to play "Project Runway" and design a dress out of paper.   Now, I don't know if you know Project Runway.   But I LOVE that show. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.  My friends and I blogged extensively about it.  As a matter of fact, I still dream about it.  It's on Bravo; and the premise is for designers to create a garment out of some sort of challenge.  For instance, last season the first episode they had to use only the items in their room - bedspreads, coffee filters, curtains.   Now, I know there are about 456 reasons why I would not be chosen for the show - the first being that I can't sew and the second that I can't design.  But let's just say somehow I slipped through the cracks and they got my profile mixed up with a 20 something, hip and funky designer who doesn't need a dye job to color her gray roots.  Let's just say.....I would never make it through the pressure of the first challenge.    Omg......the first challenge would have found me frozen in sheer panic, standing in the middle of the kitchenette with a can opener, two rolls of paper towel and a can of sardines trying desparately to figure out how I can sew metal.   I would have been hunched over the work table attempting to attach small wet fish to paper while Tim Gunn cranes his neck around my dressform telling me to "make it work."

So, luckily, in MY Project Runway studio I'm not faced with that kind of pressure.   It was just me and my papers.  I used the sketch above as my model.  It was actually drawn for the Project Runway blog when I tried to convince all my friends I was the next big thing!   I like the way it turned out.  I played fast and loose with the original design.  I didn't include the bow because I felt the the dress stood alone without it in an understated way.  Also, because I couldn't figure out how to do it.   The other dress is made from the lily kate paper.

Ahhhh....my night of Project Runway is over....back to reality!

 

You gotta have friends..........

Especially old friends!  Not old in age friends; but, old as in we've known each other forever friends.   I just got back last night from a super fun trip to Los Angeles.  (In the picture I'm 3rd from the left holding Andres) We have all known each other since high school and have lived our teens (circa: flashdance, punk rock, bad hair perms, even worse clothing choices, tons of laughter & fun, and teenage insecurities and angst)......into our 20's (circa: still bad hair perms, still bad clothing choices, laughter & fun and 20's angst and insecurities).......into our 30's (circa: much better hair choices, much better clothing choices, marriages, babies,careers, laughter, and not so much angst and insecurity) to the beginnings of our 40's.....wow.  It's amazing that we have been through close to 30 years of life together.  I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.   In addition, I have the three best sisters a person could ask for; another best friend that I have known since I was 5 years old ( we moved out to california together).  And three other friends I met while in college that have turned into twenty year friendships.  Life is good.

The other fun thing was that I finally made a commitment to go up in the next couple weeks and have a "me" day without the kids.  My best friend's husband has worked for Judge Judy for the last 8 years and even though I have had every opportunity to go to the taping, I have yet to take advantage of it.  Before kids, whenever I went up it was because I was usually working and had to be at the showrooms or market.  Then after kids, I just became lazy and wanted to just hang out with my friend.  But now, I am going to go up, sans kids, and go to work with Jeff and hang out on the set and get to sit in on the taping.  THEN we are all going to meet up and watch a taping of American Idol. One of my friends works on the show and is going to gets us tickets to the friends and family night.  Woo hoo....I'm so excited.  I love living vicariuosly through my friend's far more exciting lives!    I can't wait to see Baliff Byrd in person.   I got to talk with him on the phone; but it will be so much fun to meet him in real life!.........Ok that's it for me now......back to my regularly scheduled boring life!