Hot Tramp, I Love You So !!!

Today is Play Day at The Queen of Arts Studio ! Woohoo !

Started off by decking the hall a little - finishing up the tree, hanging the mistletoe, putting bows on some stuff, etc...

Then I needed a break from Christmas so I headed to the studio to do a journal page. Looking for inspiration, I picked out one of my "Trust Cards" I just bought from Jen Lemen. The card said :

"You can be Brave in the dark."

Ooooo... I can ???

Can I ???

I can be brave in the dark if I know I will eventually be back in the light.

This made me think of a butterfly, growing from its caterpillar stage, deep in the darkness of its coccoon. The caterpillar is brave in the dark because it knows that when the light comes, it will be ready to spread its wings and fly...

"A Butterfly to Be" - Art Journal Page

The background for this page has that glorious black Golden gesso sponged on with a makeup sponge to make the block pattern in the back. Then I used Portfolio Water Soluable Oil Pastels in black and teal scribbled in between the blocks. A wet brush to smear the whole thing around and I had a gorgeous wash of color on top of the gesso resist. One thing you should know about these pastels, is that though they have magnificent bright color, they contatin oil that is very difficult to write with anything on top of, even when dry. I have killed quite a few Sharpies, paint pens, gel pens, etc. trying this out. You can paint over them with acrylic which is what I did around my butterfly's red "coccoon" cocktail gown. I did manage to use a paint pen for the quote at the top but I am not sure if I will be able to use it for anything else in the future ! (If anyone knows of anything else that works, please let me know !)

After my journal page, I decided it was time to play with ......

REBEL REBEL !!!!

Yes the Baby has arrived ! And since Hubby is at work today, I get to play with Baby all by myself !!!

You got your Mother in a Whirl is right !!! Man, this baby can shoot !

Check these out (I had to shrink them big time to get them onto Blogger but still !) :

Azzy Cat

The Chica-Girl

Some Hall Decking taken on the deck outside

Close-up - How Festive, n'est pas ?

A window shot of my Decked Branches in the Livingroom

Imagine what the photos will look like when I actually figure out how the Canon Rebel Xsi really works !!!!!

Now it's time for some Rockin' Around That Christmas Tree, Baby !!! Listen to this and boogie for me !!!!

Hot Tramp, I love you so !!!

The Queen's Got Her Groove Back ! - Joys of the Season

So the Queen has her groove back. I am not dancing to a crazy, rocking beat or anything ! But I am gently swaying, enjoying the mood... Think Johnny Mathis singing "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." more than Brenda Lee or Hall and Oates "Rockin' around the Christmas tree.." but at least I am getting there.

Getting there in Kim time...the only way to go for me, it would seem, this year...

I think this is a good thing. You know, it seems like the world puts expectations of the Perfect Christmas on us, but really it is the expectations I have for myself that can be a real killer !!! This year, I lowered them waaaaaaaay down - almost to nothing and I think it will be a Christmas to remember just because of that fact.

The only expectation I kept was that I give some extra loving to those I love and to let them know how much I care. That can be in a word, a card, a gift, a hug, a shared song, whatever... I could never find a gift that would equal their significance in my world anyway so I have left that "perfectionist" attitude behind in favor of the really perfect gift ... Love !

Along the way, I have been learning some more about that never-ending lesson - Loving Myself ! I have been focusing only on what brings me joy and not on what fulfills my screwed up notion of what the perfect Christmas would be ! Now that is loving yourself !!! And I have discovered what I really love about the holiday in the process - the colors, the smells, the old traditions (only if they still work !!!) , the new traditions (finding ways to make it work in the Moment) and the time spent loving one another. Ah, the Gifts of the Season !

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I have been so luck lately in terms of receiving gifts ! Gifts from the universe keep landing in my lap and I am so very grateful for that ! It feels like that thing about when you give a little extra, give consciously, you will receive the rewards. I feel so rewarded !!!! Here are a couple of gifts that came my way recently:

1) I won a huge and very generous giveaway from Inka at Inkastamps about a month ago. Inka hosts blog candy giveaways of her magnificently arty unmounted rubber stamps on her blog each week, but I was fortunate enough to win the mother load of stamps from the BLOG Candy Party that Inka and several of her designers hosted ! Check out my extremely generous prize !!!(Thanks again, Inka !)

(There are over 20 gorgeous stamps here but they are difficult to photograph well - I promise to play with them a a lot soon and show you better pictures )

(This is one of my favorites - a fabulous new alphabet for the Queen's Art Journal !)

2) I also won the prize for the GPP Street Team Crusade #25 - Properties of Gesso for November. Michelle Ward is always a source of amazing inspiration for me - whether it is for creating art that is a true expression of self or living a creative life. I feel so lucky to have won a gift from her. She also takes the time and puts such care into making her gifts feel like a party in a package ! (Thanks again, so much , Michelle !!) Check this out phenomenal "Black and White and Red All Over" Prize as I like to call it :

(All of this was in my cardboard box !!!)

(Lots of little packages wrapped up added to the opening fun ! Love PopRocks - candy of my childhood!)

(Gorgeous hand written note from the Wonderful Michelle herself !!!)

(All the gifts displayed - included a "HIM" CD, the coolest goth tattoo scissors, and designer tissues with black and white flourishes !)

3) Another gift I received lately actually comes from myself ! A gift for me from me !!! Don't you just love that ?! The great thing is that I always know exactly what I want !!!;-)


I purchased these fantastic little tools from Jen Lemen's Etsy shop - Trust Cards. Not only are they gorgeous (love the toes !) but they hold little loving messages on each and every one - talk about gifts from the Universe ! And you can choose one from the cute envelope whenever you need one ! Jen's is one of those blogs that always brings me sighs and peaceful hums of understanding. Check her out here.

And finally I have to acknowledge the gifts I receive everyday from my Blogland Sisters - the arty ones, the deep seeker ones, the perfectly crazy ones, the questioning ones, and the "let's get real" ones. The gifts you give me are support, acknowledgement, hugs, laughter, eye-candy, food for thought, and above all, incredible inspiration to live my true creative life to the fullest.

To all of you, I am