Vintage Paper Necklace

This is probably a little much for some people to wear as a necklace, but I was told it's a "statement piece".  What do YOU think?  

I created this necklace using pages from a couple of vintage books and some vintage sheet music by using a circle punch to make the discs and my Crop-a-Dile to punch the center holes.

I added some shellac to give the necklace an even more vintage look as well as giving the paper discs some "body".


After I dried the discs in the sun, I strung them on one of Susan Lenart Kazmer's industrial CHIC necklace blanks.


Probably don't need a fancy outfit to wear THIS necklace with huh? *smiles*

Turn Your Printers On!

Aaron Brothers is having a sale, and through August 19th they've got some good coupons that can be used as well.  HERE THEY ARE.

So why Aaron Brothers you ask?  Well, I have found that Aaron Brothers has the most comprehensive selection of Tim Holtz products at any of the chain stores around - at least in MY neck of the woods. 

All mixed media art stuff is on sale at 25% off - that includes Tim's products!

Yes, Michael's and JoAnn's carry a few of his products, but it's hit or miss.  AND, check THIS out.  I found these Idea-ology Word Keys at Aaron Brothers - a FRACTION of the cost they were at Michael's!

And (things that make you go hummmmm) I thought that Aaron Brothers was a wholly owned subsidiary of Michaels Stores, Inc. ?  

But whatever the reason for the difference in some of the prices of identical items are, I guess WE make out if we know about it right? :)

On another note . . . did I tell you that I have to have one of THESE?!

Well, check out the videos that Tim released on his Blog today!  September/October can't get here SOON enough!! *sigh*

Dream Dinners and 2 New Charm Necklaces

Where have I been?!  I was flipping through the channels on the television and ran across a show on the TV Food Network called Dream Dinners.  When I checked to see what the show was about, it read "Find out how to make 12 dinners in about an hour.  Fix and Freeze".  Well, that piqued my interest. 

I'm thinking this might be the way to go for lunches and dinners during the work week.  Plus, it sounds like it would probably save some $$ too.

And get THIS . . . I typed in my zip code for the closest location to me and it's RIGHT down the street on the SAME street I live on.

Here's how they say it works:  You go on-line (or you can call or fax), select a session (date & time), choose your dinners, checkout and finalize your order.

LEFT TO RIGHT: GREEK ISLAND SHRIMP WITH PASTA, CALIFORNIA CHICKEN WITH FETTUCCINI, GRILLED PICNIC CHICKEN and many more!

When you go in the store at your designated session time, everything is ready for you to assemble your dinners from easy-to-follow instructions to the fresh, pre-cut ingredients.

No shopping . . . No chopping . . . .No CLEAN UP!

CHICKEN WITH HONEY, GARLIC & ORANGE

Have any of you tried this yet?  I'm seriously thinking of giving this a go.  Check it out HERE and let me know what you think.

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These are the latest and last (for awhile) charm necklaces I've made.  Both are in my etsy shop . . .

Halloween Charm Necklace 3

Dressmaker Charm Necklace

That Scary Looking Doll

In my post earlier today you saw photos of my new vintage baby doll and I told you I would be back to tell you about her.  She is a 1930's 20" doll.


I won this vintage doll on Ebay a week ago.

I was on Ebay just "looking around" and typed in "vintage doll heads".  The sale of this doll was ending in 5 minutes and there were two bidders bidding on her.  I entered a dollar more than the highest bidder and clicked on the bid button.  Within a minute (or less), someone outbid me.  Two of us went back and forth up until the last 10 seconds when I WON!

Doesn't this doll look like something JoAnna Pierotti would paint her flowers on the forehead of and then dress up in some of her beautiful laces and such?  Or maybe Michael DeMeng who would probably hammer nails in her head and put a metal gate across her face or something - HA!

So what will I do with her, you ask?  Well, for the moment she's sitting outside on a table basking in the California sun.  I think I'm going to put her in my Etsy shop - she's just a little too creepy to live here with me *smiles*  

ACEO's versus ATC's

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. These cards are 3 1/2" by 2 1/2".  ATC stands for Artist Trading Card.  These cards are ALSO 3 1/2" by 2 1/2".

I am clear on the fact that ATC's are not to be sold - only traded.  So what about ACEO's?  What's the difference between an ATC and a ACEO?  I see artists selling these "art cards" under the title of ACEO in their etsy shops.  

In my research, I read where non-artists were being "left out in the cold" because they didn't have atc's to trade.  A group of artists realized this and started making their cards available for sale.  The cards are also sold either as originals or editions. 


What is YOUR understanding of ACEO's versus ATC's?  

PUSH

I've been noticing several bloggers have been coming up with one word resolutions for the new year.


Some I saw were:  love, peace, joy, patience, health, sanity (I liked that one a lot!), listen, focus, release, forgive, seek, build, moderation.  Ohhhh the list goes on and on.

So I was at "the day job" today trying to think of a good word to focus on for 2010. Then all of a sudden the word "PUSH" came to mind!  I thought, yep, that's gonna be my word this year!
The word push means to apply pressure against for the purpose of moving.  
To move (an object) by exerting force against it - thrust or shove.
To force (one's way).
To urge forward or urge insistently; pressure.

To extend or enlarge.

To advance despite difficulty or opposition; press forward.
To expend great or vigorous effort.

Push on:  To continue or proceed along one's way

"Cause when push comes to shove,

you taste what you're made of.

You might bend till you break,

cause it's all you can take.

On your knees, you look up,

decide you've had enough.

You get mad, you get strong,

wipe your hands, shake it off.

and you stand . . ."

Rascal Flatts - Me and My Gang

What about YOU? Did you come up with a word to live by for the new year?

HEY! Where's My Christmas Basket???

December 26th is Boxing Day, and from what I have read, is a public holiday or bank holiday in the U.K., Australia, Canada, Germany, Greenland, New Zealand, Hong Kong and countries in the Commonwealth of Nations that are made up of mainly a Christian population.

Boxing Day in the United Kingdom is traditionally a day when employers distribute money, food, cloth (material) or other valuable goods to their employees.  Ok "Day Job", where's my Christmas Bonus Check, a turkey, some new clothes or something more valuable than that Christmas tree metal ornament  (that was scratched, by the way) that you distributed to all your employees?

More recently, employers traditionally give their servants (yeah, that's what I am) a gift of money or food in a small box on the day after Christmas Day.  "Day Job", are you reading this??  Where's my Christmas basket?!


In South Africa, The Day of Goodwill, also honored on December 26th, is a day to give to those who are less fortunate.


I read so many takes on this Boxing Day holiday thing and am not sure I really know WHAT it all means now.  However, from what I gather, although this is a statutory holiday in some countries, it doesn't seem to be celebrated in the way it was intended to be in the beginning.  

This Boxing Day holiday seems to boil down to nothing more than watching an ice hockey event on the t.v. or shopping the stores the day after Christmas.  I'm just sayin' . . . 

MORE Tim Holtz?!

Ok, so I was taking a break from the 12 Tags of Christmas.  I was thinking maybe I should do a little housework (what was I thinking?!).  My laundry room (slash) art studio is a little room connected to my patio, and when I go out there to put a load in the washer, if it's nice out - which it usually is since I live in Southern California, I grab the closest magazine and kick back out there for a bit.

You may (or may not) recall that last year I was contemplating moving - I didn't.  But I DID start the "weeding out" process of all my books and magazines.  You know, the ones you think you can do without?  Yeah right!   Ok, so you're probably wondering where I'm going with all of this.

I still had a box of books/magazines packed up, so I opened up the box and pulled out the first magazine that was on top and headed back out to the patio to enjoy the beautiful SO CAL weather we are having this afternoon.

Here I was, taking a break from Tim's tags and look at what I saw when I was flipping through said magazine . . .

Yep, an interview with Tim Holtz in the May/June 2007 Somerset Studio magazine.  Isn't that bizarre?!

And although I know Tim's story and how he got to where he is today, I read it again anyway.

And in case you can't put your hands on YOUR 2007 issue, I've included a few photos of projects Tim did that were included in the article.

I mean REALLY, out of all the magazines/books, THIS is the one that was on top.

PS On another note . . . I had been allowing "Anonymous Users" to leave comments on my blog posts, but in the past couple of days I've been getting some really weird looking, unreadable comments on some really old posts. Thought I'd better block "Anonymous Users" in the event this is some new scam or something. So I apologize to any of you GOOD Anonymous folks that visit here and will no longer be able to leave your comments *insert sad face here*. . . nothing personal as far as YOU are concerned.  I hate when this sort of thing has to happen *sigh*
PSS And if you haven't been to my blog already today, I HAVE completed a few of the tags now.  Check out prior blog posts below.

Selective Tweeting

Back in July of this year, I did this big blog post about Twitter and how I didn't have time and how it didn't make sense to me and well, you can re-read the post if you'd like.  You know, in case you want to say I told you so?

So here's what happened . . . November 14th I was at the RSC in Carson, CA hovering over the Tim Holtz demo table.  He mentioned something about Twitter and tweeting and how he does it and so on.  I pretty much tuned him out and dismissed the whole thing, because if you remember, I don't have TIME to tweet anybody.  Well, I missed out on some really cool free stuff  (isn't it ALL cool?!)  that mr. holtz gave away!  urrrrrrgh, that daggone Genevieve rubbing it in my face!


Fast forward to Mario . . . Mario did this "sneak" post on Tim's blog while Tim was busy designing the upcoming tags, telling everybody that he's (Mario) going to be giving away some free stuff on Twitter.  Damn, damn, DAMN! (said the way Florida Evans would have said it on  "Good Times")

Cut to the chase:  I'm on Twitter now.  Yep, I am.  I'm not following many people, but I am DEFINITELY following Mario and Tim and a few other select folks.

The Win!  Well, already this tweeting thing has paid off for me.  Last night I won a package of  Seasonal Grungeboard from Mario.  Yep, and he's mailing it off to me today, so now I can make Tim's first 12-days of Christmas tag.  See the snowman on the sheet in the upper left-hand corner?  Uh huh . . . that's the snowman he used.

 In Closing:  So yes, I will be tweeting . . . if only tweeting selectively *smiles*

Ditto on the Christmas Decorating and a Little Depression?

I used to go "all out" with the decorating at Christmas time.  The teenage manchild was much younger then and our lives were much different.  Now I find it too taxing to climb up into the rafters of the garage, pull out the boxed decorations (including my gorgeous tree), lug everything to the apartment, find a place to put everything out for a month - only to un-decorate, re-pack, and re-store.  Just typing this is making me weary *insert huge sigh here*


What I want to know is, when did all of this change???   I used to LOVE this time of year!


Now don't go get your Christmas lights all up in bunch!  I know that John 3:16-17 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."  So yes, I know that the true meaning of Christmas is LOVE.  But that's not my question here.  Why did my love for decorating this time of year change?  


So . . . I did a little researching on the internet - yeah, I know - self analysis by way of the internet can be a little dangerous, but hey, I think I may have stumbled upon something!  Holiday Depression.


Yep, I read that many people suffer depression during the holidays.  And even if you're in an UN-depressed state, the holidays can be stressful.  And the nutritional experts believe that depression is caused by excessive sugar and fatty foods moving through our bodies.  You know, all of those rum balls and chocolate dipped pretzels?


And check this out.  Seniors (I'm one of those) are more susceptible to holiday depression.  The loss of someone, the anniversary of a loss or a traumatic event can make memories come back that can put a damper on spirits.  Huuuumm, I wonder if this all stems back to my childhood memories of Christmas with the "Wicked Witch of the Midwest"?


I also read that lots of women suffer unnecessarily from depression during this time of year.  The good news is that with careful planning, regular exercise, support from loved ones and treatment by a health-care professional, can help overcome depression so you can enjoy the holidays.  This particular article didn't mention anything about the excessive sugar and fatty foods.  I'm liking this article much better than the other one already!


If you suffer from holiday depression as well, below are some action strategies you might find helpful.  These are probably good for you NON-depressive types who get stressed out and at the end of your rope during the holidays as WELL:

Take care of yourself.  It's a gift to everyone else because everyone ends up having a happier and healthier holiday 


Instead of sending out Christmas cards, send electronic ones instead.  I've been using Jacquie Lawson greetings for the last few years now.  But if you MUST send out cards, just sign them instead of trying to rack your brain with some joyful greeting inside


Learn to say "NO"


Define your personal limits and stick to them 

Instead of wrapping the house in lights, put a wreath on the door and call it a day

Decorating a Christmas tree can be a monumental task.  Instead, put out a mini tree.  Here's mine.  It's an Avon Majestic Lighted Christmas tree that I bought (from the Avon lady at work) probably 3 or 4 years ago.  


It's really cool because it only takes 2 batteries and when the season is over, you just fold it flat and slip it back in its box!  Easy Peasy!

And here's a good one!  I read that you should arrange to take a vacation during Christmas if you can afford to.  That way you can use the excuse that you're getting ready for your vacation as a way to avoid social commitments!  

holiday travelers at the Los Angeles airport

I'm not going anywhere, but I AM taking a vacation over the holidays.  I sure hope staying home doesn't depress me even more!  Yikes

And here's another one I read.  It's pretty much a no-brainer, but I'll include it in the list anyway.  Try to stay away from the alcohol that is flowing freely this time of year.  Alcohol is a depressant and is the last thing you need.  Sure wouldn't want to end up feeling all sad and over-emotional after the holidays.


I'm just sayin' . . .

Who Gonna Check me Boo? LOL!

What IS it about me and BAGS?! These are some new bags by Papaya art that I really love.  I don't own any of these (yet), but I sure do love them . . .

I bought this bag at the Women's Conference in Long Beach last month. It was $4 and has one of those lunch-bag-type-linings in it. You know, the silver kind that keeps food hot or cold? And check out what it says on the front. I mean really, I just HAD to have it right?

Kind of hard to read in my photo, but it says "I am unique.  I am grateful.  I am worth it.  I am determined."

And this is the tote that we all received as a gift on the Artful Voyage cruise with Tim Holtz.  I had Wendy Vecchi sign it, but never got around to having Tim sign.  Huuuummm, I guess I'll have to take it to the Carson Convention on Saturday and get his "John Hancock" added to my tote.

And when I returned from the cruise, some of the cruisers were talking about tote bags they got that Tim had designed, so of course I inquired, and was told to contact Mario to see if any were still available.  There WERE!  So I got one for myself and one for my sil/bff/cabin-mate Lezlei.  I've been using mine to carry work from "the day job" back and forth.  Isn't it just the coolest?!  I just LOVE the frayed edges and the handles and the hardware . . .

Oooooh, and I've got some of the grocery bag totes from Trader Joe's as well . . .

And look at these two totes I found on Etsy . . .

Both of them come all the way from ROME . . .

Sure would like this Obama Tote . . .

And a Love Birds tote would be kinda cool I guess . . .

And what about a tote made from a newspaper print flannel? . . .

And wouldn't pug owners want a flying pug tote?  . . .

Or if you're into cats, how about this messenger bag ? . . .

And check out this Burlap Paris Flea Market bag that the designer uses to hold rolls of toilet paper that she hangs from a crown hook.  Hey, I've got one of those cast iron crown hooks somewhere . . .

And if this came in a natural-colored tote with black lettering, I would DEFINITELY buy THIS in a tote!  LOL . . .

Anybody else out there in Blogland have an obsession for totes???