I'm Back - At Least for Now

I returned home today after staying overnight two nights at my sister's house. My Mom called me on Monday morning to tell me that my sister had suffered a seizure in the middle of the night and actually lost consciousness for a couple of minutes. Her jaw was clenched so tightly shut her husband could not get her mouth open to try mouth to mouth. The ambulance arrived in just a couple of minutes and she was at the hospital emergency within 20 minutes. She has never experienced anything like this before.

She experienced another episode at the hospital where her blood pressure was dangerously low, but did not lose consciousness. She was kept in the hospital hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV for electrolytes. The nurses also took her blood pressure lying, sitting, and standing in sequence about every 4 hours. She was allowed to come home last evening, but I stayed until after lunch today to be sure she felt comfortable with that.

Her husband is a wonderful guy who takes really good care of her and Mom is getting around pretty well for an 85 year old with advanced arthritis. My Mom fell at her house a week ago and I really wasn't prepared for the sight of her when I arrived. She has two really black eyes and a goose egg on her forehead. She has very colorful large bruises on both legs, her hip, her back and her shoulder. She is so fortunate that she didn't break anything.

I am going back over for a few days early next week and am hoping everything will work out. The doctors don't know for sure why my sister experienced these scary episodes, but she is understandably a bit scared that it will happen again.

I didn't get any art done while I was gone and am pretty out of it today, but hope to do some tomorrow. And if I get anything done, you know I will share it with you.

Thank you for caring so much. I appreciate the friendships I have made here on my blog.

xoxo

Wonderful Weekend

I spent the weekend in Ohio at my friend Puff's house with the other usual suspects (this is a once a month art gathering) and had a blast. I have been invited many times, but I just couldn't make it fit my schedule until now.

I drove to Coldwater to meet up with Linda and Sherry and from there Linda drove us to Hollo's near Cleveland. Hollo's is a paper supply store that sells card stock by the pound and I chose lots of colors that I haven't been able to find before. From there we drove to a stamp store in Amherst to meet up with Teri, then had a quick dinner before driving to Puff's near Sandusky.

We stayed up way too late visiting and sharing art supplies and scratching the ears of Sable, a large black lab who was very friendly. On Saturday we got up, Puff made breakfast and we got ready for the arrival of Sue, Cynthia and Kelly. One of the getting ready jobs for me was to put together my peas and peanuts salad.

Once the others arrived there was more sharing and visiting and then we got down to the task at hand - making "Tin Can Alley" art. I call them bots. I didn't have much to use for mine other than an empty chicken can but the others were generous with their

Sorry, just got an emergency call from my Mom - gotta go!

I will be in touch and will have pix of the weekend when they are available.

xoxo

Mail Goodies and a Blank Journal in Progress

I had two lovely surprises Sunday when I checked my email. I was the winner of some art. Imagine, I won not only one drawing, but two. The first one arrived yesterday in the mail. It is a print by Rachel Awes that I won at Choosing Beauty. Check this out! Isn't it beautiful?

It is 9 x 9 and is actually on a very white background. I'm afraid my photo of it looks a bit gray. I want to frame it, but think I will have to find make something very thin and plain. I don't want the frame to take the eyes away from the wondrous color and message.

I am working right now on making blank journals from found materials - old books, cereal boxes, blue jeans....

The one I am working on right now is to fit into a wonderful book cover I found (I actually found the entire book and removed the text block). Here is what it looks like.

Sorry, I had to use the flash in order to get the effect of the cover to show. The back is the same except the silhouette is blank and the text block that on the front has the author's name is not on the back. I am really excited to finish this one. I sewed the signatures together last evening and I am planning to go to USArtQuest today to find paper to glue to the inside of the covers and onto the first and last signatures to hold the book together. I recently found out that Sue has a selection of both Japanese and Italian papers.

I am also making a visit with my friend Nancy to the used book store in Jackson to see if I can find more candidates for a new life as the cover of a blank journal. Unfortunately it is raining, and though we can use it, I'd much rather it was sunny. At any rate, I'd better get a move on so I can be ready when she arrives.

xoxo

Mandalas in Color

I have found that making mandalas in color is much more difficult than making them in black and white. It completely changes the "doodling" aspect. Instead of randomly doodling and making my marks without too much thought, I now have to consider color and having to make that choice is making it a chore instead of a pleasure.

I think that for the rest of them, I will doodle in black and then color in some of the spaces. That way the pleasure will be preserved.

Here is what I was able to get accomplished while in the dentist's waiting room while the daughter was having two wisdom teeth pulled.

I thought I was going to get this finished and then begin another or work on the journals from found books, but the two year old stayed overnight; I was called by the 7 year old to ask me to drive into town to her house and help her get ready for school and then drive her there; the son called while I was gone to report that his 6 year old was sick and couldn't go to school, but he had to go to school, so he brought her out to the house; and that took care of any art time I was hoping to have.

To top off this past five days, Trevor, the cat belonging to the 2 and 7 year old, got out the door when someone wasn't careful and has not been seen since. That was three days ago. The girls have been making signs and going door to door and hanging them on posts in the neighborhood. We have reason to think he may not be coming home ever again.

Drama, drama! I am hopeful the girls can be convinced that Trevor has found another loving home, but will not be back, and that they will go to the shelter and choose another one.

I'm off to walk the treadmill, eat breakfast, shower and then do a bit of art before my "job exploration" that I will tell more about tomorrow.

Bye!

xoxo

More Photoshop Play

I am beginning to feel like I run a rooming house or maybe I'm a resident assistant in a dorm for youngsters. We had 2 overnight on Thursday, 6 and 7 overnight on Friday, and 6 overnight on Saturday. When these lovelies stay overnight I sometimes play the game of musical beds and rarely get much sleep. Also they tend to be here until the middle of the afternoon the next day. We had a great time with all three of them and we love them dearly, but I need some art time.

I have begun working on a couple of blank journals made from old books and am really excited about the possibilities. I will share them when I get them done. I didn't get much sleep last night because I was busy thinking about all the ways to sew signatures together before making them into these journals. When I am in the middle of something and am still working through the details, sleep is elusive.

I did get some time late at night while the girls were here to play with Photoshop. I hope these patterns will inspire you and not bore you:

As you can see I am still addicted to making patterns in Photoshop. It is a wonder I get anything else done at all.

Today I am driving my daughter to the dentist to get her wisdom teeth pulled. I am planning to take my circles to make into zentangles or mantangles, or zendalas or whatever. I am in a swap to make colored ones this time. I have never made any except black and white before and am looking forward to making these.

Well, I'd better get in gear. I have to hit the treadmill, eat breakfast, take a shower, pack up the first order from my new online store (Whoop! Whoop!), and get ready to go.

Hope to see you again tomorrow!

xoxo