A little more action, please!

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...it is 67 degrees at 9:00 am and we are expecting a high of 90. In April. In NH. Weird stuff !

Maple buds bursting..

I am thinking... mornings go way to fast and that the computer sucks so much time but that I love blogging !

I am thankful... that I am feeling a little better today. Stomach issues suck the energy out of you !

In the kitchen...looking for dairy free goodies for me and animal product free stuff (short term) for David as we make some big changes to how we are eating and try to be really mindful about what we put into our bodies.

I am wearing...my blue t-shirt cotton night shirt and eggplant-colored El Naturalista clogs. Oh, and very bad bed head !

I am creating...little bits of art again and it feels so good.

I am going...to the Health Food store, the grocery store and the post office. Woo hoo !

I am reading... information about being lactose intolerant and Probiotics. A life without cheese ?!?! Kind of depressing  but it may just be the ticket!

I am hoping... that making some good changes in my diet will help me feel better and give me more energy.

I am looking forward to...my visit with Colleen this week. We have a secret creative project that I am excited about ! More later…

Around the house... windows are open, the birdies are serenading us and the furry pets are having their morning sunbeam naps.

Boo in a studio sunbeam.

One of my favorite things...the carwash ! The Rogue-y is back to its sexy, shiny self !

A few plans for the rest of the week: meditation class tonight, creative time with Colleen, a haircut and hopefully some more art time !

Some pictures to share with you : I made art ! Yay !

First up was adding my piece to my Creative Sister Eva’s book for the Creative Sisters Travelling Sketchbook project. We had gotten way behind due to life’s little challenges and that meant that I was creating a spread for the month of January in the month of April.

But since January is usually my least favorite month of the year, I was still inspired !

Eva’s book will be on its way to Jennifer today and hopefully, we can now keep up with the new flow, right, Sistahs ?

I also got to work on a 12 X 12 canvas I had started a while back.

The background was done, and these bits got added to it in two separate sessions.

The first session of Friday afternoon was actually very frustrating.

My girl’s face was soft blues and Payne’s grey but just wouldn’t work for me.

I ended up painting over the whole thing with black ink, and leaving it aside for the night.

I am still not sure I love it all.

But there are definite sweet spots in it that feel so good to my Artist Eye.

 

I am so pleased that I finally had some time to mess around and just create.

The rusty bits will soon smooth out with the creative oils being applied as needed !

So that’s the scoop around here on this fine Monday.

I hope that your week has some moments where you can do exactly what you love !

Light and love, Beautiful Ones !

Determine Your Living…

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
Khalil Gibran

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

So I have finally finished my November entry for Nicola’s book in our Sistahhood of the Traveling Sketchbook project.

Life happened while we were all making plans. But now, we are all trying hard to get our swap back on track.

Thinking back to November from January was harder than it should have been,

but there was a lot of living in between, I think.

This piece does represent how I felt in November when the last of the brilliant Fall leaves were gone and the bare branches I would be looking at for the next 6 months were exposed.

The crow is bringing her the message that winter is on its way and the time for nesting is here.

It also shows how I am still feeling as we live in January; that desire to bundle up against the barren elements is still very present.

I imagine that under her cloak is all the color needed to fill her up and keep her well until Spring.

The second spread includes the photo that inspired the pages,

taken back in November, when the branches went bare…

I have to say I am a little sad that these pages are in Nicola’s book, and not in my own journal.

It will be hard to bundle them up and send them on their way.

***********

This week is going to be all about friends and being there for one another, in the good and the bad.

Tomorrow, I head up north again. One of my dear friend’s lost her Dad last week and I am heading up to be there at the visitation and the funeral, and to give her some extra big loving as she faces this sad, sad loss.

I called some other friends when I found out I would be making an unexpected trip to Montreal. Now, I will be sleeping in 4 different places between Tuesday and Saturday, and seeing quite a few of my favorite non-family peeps back home. Of course, I will squeeze in a big hugging session with my Mom, as well. Putting out love and getting some of that rich medicine back as well.

David will keep the home fires burning and the furry kids well while the Rogue-y and I head out on the highway.

Life is a bittersweet journey, isn’t it, Beautiful Ones ?

But I am grateful everyday to be traveling it…

Big Love !

Catching up…

I am a few days late in getting my October sketchbook out to my other Creative Sistahs this month.

I somehow forgot that after Halloween, it is November ! Ooops !

But it is going out into the mail today.

The pages for Kathy’s book were inspired by the lovely red tutu adventure I had for my birthday earlier in October and this photo.

I am happy with it.

I especially love how cute the rocks in my hand look.

The red tutu is out on its was to its next secret Red Tutu Chickie.

I am sure we will hear all about it when she gets it!!!

I am busy in the studio, painting rocks and doing crafty stuff for an upcoming local high school craft fair in December, as well as making 40 or so gifties for the staff at my Mom’s office which I do every year.

I am working on keeping the blahs about the winter season away. It feels like it is approaching very rapidly here in New Hampshire.

Today is not so bad. Though there is still some packed snow around, there is a lot of melting happening with the temps nearing 50 degrees.

I can handle that.

Off to the Post Office !

Happy Wednesday, Beautiful Ones !

For today, Monday, October 3rd.

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...it is grey, and probably about to rain. The leaves on our maples are still green for the most part and have just started falling…

I am thinking...about next weekend, Canadian Thanksgiving and my BIRTHDAY !!! Mostly I am thinking about the logistics about travel, dog kenneling, where we are sleeping when we get there, where the turkey will be cooked, etc…

I am thankful...that my cruddy cold that lingered all weekend is easing off today and that I have a bit more energy to get some stuff done !

In the kitchen... Mother Mailhot’s kitchen is bare but I am dreaming of chili with tons of veggies in it, topped with sour cream, cilantro and lime.

I am wearing...a blue cotton nightshirt & flip flops.

I am creating...samples of “car jewelry” that I am making for my annual crafty gifts for the staff at my mom’s office, pages in my Creative Sistah Lori’s sketchbook, and a huge mess on my studio table ! Creating is messy in my world !

I am going...to the post office, to the grocery store (chili ingredients !!!), and then to meditation class tonight.

I am wondering...why the days seem to be flying so very, very quickly…it is almost scary…

I am reading...very little these days, other than Facebook and blogs. I am listening to “Something Borrowed” by Emily Giffin in audiobook format before bed.

I am hoping...I can work through is very achy neck and shoulder to keep up with production needed for crafts fairs, Christmas gifts and Rock Fairy demands.

I am looking forward to... doing a photo shoot of myself this week with a very special prop !

I am hearing...the hum of the computer and the distant roar of the garbage trucks. Quiet Monday morning.

Around the house...it is actually pretty tidy, other than my studio table, as David and I tag-teamed it yesterday and captured all dust kangas in the vacuum cleaner.

I am pondering...how it got to be 10:00am and I am still glued to the computer…again…

One of my favorite things...putting clean sheets on the bed and plugging in the twinkle lights in the bedroom last night. Cozy and romantic. Fall nesting, I think.

A few plans for the rest of the week: lots of stuff in the studio, lunch with Lois on Tuesday, a trip to the beach at low tide for some rock gathering and finally, a drive up to Montreal and La Conception for the long (my birthday!!!) weekend.

Here are some pictures I am sharing...

My two pages in Lori’s sketchbook for the month of September. Man, how that month flew !!! It is off into the mail today to you, Jennifer !

Okay, off of the computer and back to the studio table !

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !!

Tend Your Own Garden

In spite of the cicada singing this morning, and the fact that

my geraniums,

mandevilla,

and hibiscus are blooming in joy

(thanks to me protecting them from Irene)

this morning had that feeling.

You know the one…

where it is just a little cooler in the morning than summer usually is,

and where the light has changed the position it shines through the windows.

All things pointing to the next season coming along.

It has been a glorious summer here in NH.

No complaints at all about that.

But how I wish it was just a little longer…

Oh well, I will try and focus on the marvels of the new season as they arrive.

Fall is kind of wonderful.

This Arty Queen was born in the season after all !

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

Here is a bit of art that I managed to do in spite of feeling pretty crappy physically the last little while…

I finished my August pieces in Jaime’s Creative Sistah Sketchbook

I am happy with how they turned out – sharing little bits of myself and my August 2011 experiences with the lovely hostess of our Sketchbook project.

It will go off into the mail today.

Art Journal page – The Gardener, August 2011

As for the physical stuff, the why’s of it are kind of besides the point – maybe allergies, maybe poor eating habits and not enough physical movement, maybe anxiety of the state of the world…whatever…

The main message I got from the physical discomfort was that I am in desperate need of some self-nurturing and “mothering” care.

I tend to give a lot more care and love to the people who mean so much to me

than I do to myself, and have for all my life, really.

I am learning the importance of being my own gardener.

Pulling the weeds, offering good nourishment,

and marveling the beauty of growth.

I still have a long way to go to get that thumb to green,

but at least, I have heard the message loud and clear.

Now, it is time to start listening to it…

“Kimbo, what do you need ?”

and begin providing it for my Self.

On that note, I am enjoying my low fat, low sugar Greek style yogurt with a handful of All Bran cereal in it, that will be followed by a walk with the sweet Chica-dog.

‘Cause that is what I need today.

Sending big love to you, Beautiful Ones.

Happy Tuesday !

Bringing the Color Back…

I woke up feeling unlike my usual colorful self.

I even had some company in my “paint it black” mood.

A big, noisy black crow cawing away outside the studio window.

It took me a minute or two to figure out what he was cawing at…

Little Black Boo was hanging in the window, having a staring contest with the big black bird.

Or perhaps the Crow had a message for me.

That’s the significance of the Crow paying you a visit, you know.

Maybe the message was get out of your black mood by turning to what you love and to the color in your world.

That’s how I interpreted it, anyway.

Here’s what I did :

I took a few minutes to be creative and packaged up Lisa’s Creative Sistahs Swap Sketchbook for Jennifer. It was the first time I had gluey fingers in a few weeks !

Then I packaged up some Rock My World orders to bring to the post office today.

I also filled my new Rock Fairy pouch that I bought on my sweet outing with my friend the Bodhi Chicklet a few weeks ago.

It came from a store called Ten Thousand Villages in Pointe Claire, Quebec. They sell free trade items and help international artisans make money from their artwork.

This beautiful embroidered pouch was only $5.00 and is perfect to keep a supply of rocks in my purse for anytime use !

This afternoon, I am headed to my friend Patti’s poolside paradise for some girl friend time.

That is sure to bring my color back, right ?

This song was playing in my head all morning after the visit from Messenger Crow.

I love this version.

I hope you have a colorful Tuesday, Beautiful Ones!

Big Love !

What blooming ?

This is my piece for my Sisterhood of the Traveling Sketchbook project for the month of June.

I was lucky enough to contribute something for the gorgeous book that Lisa from Priti Studio created.

I was inspired by what is going on in my very own garden this month.

My piece didn’t do it justice at all but look at this :

Isn’t she magnificent ?

I think that this Seashell Peony is the most beautiful flower in my whole garden.

Those soft pink petals with the frayed edges…

and that center with a riot of chaotic pistels in bright yellow…

and that mysterious bit of red, deep down in the heart of the flower…

So beautiful.

So June is Peony Month for me.

And a celebration of this beautiful bloom…

What blooms are you celebrating, Beautiful Ones ?

Big Love to you !