Days End Studio...

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Red Key Gone Wild -Come Wonder with Me-

8 1/2" X 11"
Started by brainstorming around the word 'wonder'...
Had a great time with this one... kept circling back to the idea of 'seeking' for wonder, so I went quote surfing with that in mind.

This is the one that jumped out and said' 'DO ME!' the loudest:

"We carry within us the wonders we seek without us." ~Sir Thomas Browne~

'course she *had* to have RED hair, lol.

Background is rubbed mini-ink pads (Stampin' Up!).

Woman is colored largely with pencil crayons (Caran d'Ache)then blended with a blender pen (SU!).

Swirls and journaling are a mix of markers (Studio, Staedtler and Sharpie)

Seriously considering printing some postcard with this one. Got a bunch of print-yer-own ones on mark-down today... pondering...

Lousy health makes me sad, giving gifts cheers me up...
Soooo in honor of hitting 200 followers on my Blog so I'm giving away a Prize...
Drop by and enter for a chance to win!

Details are all HERE:

http://keepsakescrafts.blogspot.ca/2012/06/200-follower-blog-candy-want-in-on-draw.html

End of Year Teacher/Staff Gifts

Last day of school for da'Boyz is tomorrow...

So, that meant today was the day the Teacher/Staff Gifts went in. Always err on the side of paranoia, er... caution and make sure they're in a day early. Good thing too! In fact, the main secretary called the house this evening to thank us because she's off tomorrow. See! Paranoia pays off... sometimes, lol.

Each staff member at the younger boyz school and the 5 teachers Arthur had this year each got one of these:

Wee baggie stuffed with Hershey HUGS and a Photo Tag.

No I did not make or stamp the bags...

I 'cheat'.

Discovered a wonderful idea a few years ago, by accident of course... The 'bags' are for wedding favors. We keep our eyes peeled for something cute to pack the gifts in and they go on deep-discount 'out-of-season'. ex. These were $22.99 for 30 (owe!) and we got them at 75% off, because they were part of a Fall collection. We find something special to put inside and attach a tag with a poem/message and a recent picture. Used one of Arthur's Grad photos on his tags and we had a mini-photo shoot for the rest of da'Boyz. I let the kids give me an idea of what they want to do/give. Sometimes it's baking or canning depends on the time of year, the packages we found and Mum's enthusiasm level... lol. This round is quick and easy, Mum is drained.

All DONE... Huzzah!

Bonus:

OUTTAKES!!!!

These most certainly did *not* make the cut.

lol

Lousy health makes me sad, giving gifts cheers me up...
Soooo in honor of hitting 200 followers on my Blog so I'm giving away a Prize...
Drop by and enter for a chance to win!

Details are all HERE:

http://keepsakescrafts.blogspot.ca/2012/06/200-follower-blog-candy-want-in-on-draw.html

Book of Days ATC Swap: Sisters

I'm late... seems to be a running theme here...

That's what happens when you lose 3+ weeks of your life sleeping. lol

These are my ATC's the May swap in Book of Days, the theme was 'Sisters'.

The background was made with layers and paint on 8 1/2 X 11" brown cardstock that was then cut to size.

Brown 'dirt' then a 'garden' of color!

Stamped and markers colored fleurs (Stampin' Up!) computer printed sentiment and bordered with black Sharpie.

Paint...

More...

ahh... Perfect!

Lousy health makes me sad, giving gifts cheers me up...
Soooo in honor of hitting 200 followers on my Blog so I'm giving away a Prize...
Drop by and enter for a chance to win!

Details are all HERE:

http://keepsakescrafts.blogspot.ca/2012/06/200-follower-blog-candy-want-in-on-draw.html

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 160

Late... late... late...

Another 'White Rabbit' day for me!

But not yet too late for WOYWW over at:

Stamping Ground

Pop over and check out what everyone else is up to this week!

This was my desk 1st thing this morning...

It's been cleared, messed up, cleared and messed up again since then.

As I said... a busy day!

What was out was COFFEE, of course... that's how the rest of the sh-tuff today got done.

*wink wink*

Also last night I was printing out new Thank-You cards for Poet's Vision Aussie Rescue... I help in the small ways I can... One is by making sure those that help with Animal Transport, Donations of time, fund or material goods and fosters get Thanked via snail-mail. The other is being a Foster home... though at present we are in the process of foster-failing... We're keeping Ayva! She wormed her way into our hearts. So stuffing and stamping envelopes to have ready-to-go was 1st up this morning.

The rest is the usual mess of sh-tuff...

AND

I haven't killed the Polka-Dot Plant... yet. ;O)

The rest of the day was spent making ATC's for a swap I'm late on form May. er... was due right when the pain was the worst and we didn't have a Fibromyalgia diagnosis. Drugs... drugs... drugs aren't good for creative en-devours, only LOTS of sleep. lol The Lyrica is FAN-tastic!!! Feeling better and better as each day goes by...

Speaking of, the other thing that ate my day was taking pictures for this:

Lousy health makes me sad, giving gifts cheers me up...
Soooo in honor of hitting 200 followers on my Blog so I'm giving away a Prize...
Drop by and enter for a chance to win!

Details are all HERE:

http://keepsakescrafts.blogspot.ca/2012/06/200-follower-blog-candy-want-in-on-draw.html

Monday, June 25, 2012

The Red Key: My Vision Quest

On Friday we were asked to 'Declare Our Quest'...

The concept of vision quest comes for many traditions, and one of the most familiar ones comes from the Native American practices. Here at Cosmic Cowgirls we create a weaving of many traditions to create a powerful call that includes creativity, connection and community. For us the quest has the following ingredients and many more!
1. SEEK: A call to go IN after something you want/need/long for/seek
2. ACT: Action you are willing to take to make the journey in the form of creative practices
3. DESIRE: Passionate hope for an illumination/insight/revelation on the journey
4. CONNECTION: The sense that you are a part of something bigger - a tribe that you run with.
5. LAS PROMESAS: The promise to yourself that you will stay on the path, be present to what is unfolding and to ask your sisters for support when you need it.

******

Well...

The inner Shield Maiden in me *demanded* a sigil and shield design upon the mention of Quest-ing. My Muse was in full agreement... apparently. This just flowed together...

The main base design was some FREE Heraldry Wings Shield Vector Art, found here:

http://www.dragonartz.net/2010/02/25/heraldry-wings-shield-vector/

There were 8 different styles to choose from. (GO GET IT!)

Hand drew the sun, colored it with markers and then stamped and heat embossed the Key and Crown. Cut and Pasted my 'Declaration of Quest' straight from the board message thread and font-fied it. (TolkienUncialMF)

Now I will have it at-hand in my Book of Legends.

My Muse is Happy, My inner Shield Maiden is ready to embark.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

The Red Key: Tea with my Muse...

Another 'out of order' page for The Red Key...

Created Saturday the 23rd.
Lower photo is of the Teacup my Muse *made* me buy her. ;O)

8 1/2" X 11" Book

Journaling:
Tea with my Muse...
Yesterday while out shopping my Muse looked over and saw this pretty little cup... she wanted it so somehow it 'jumped' into my basket...
Today I lit a candle, said a blessing, poured some tea and got a Cosmic Cowgirl phone call queued up. Then invited my Muse to join me... and she did...
The flutter of wings... the corner of my eye... never too close, but not too far away... present but not forward.. shy.
We had a lovely chat while working on my Book Cover...
I am amazed at how different our tastes are:
PINK is not *my* color, but she likes it...
High Heels and Short Skirts, messy spaces...
Chocolate over Caramel... so unlike me in those respects.
We both like fiddly-diddly music and bare feet on wooden floors, sunlight and sweet drinks... and Coffee.

Soulistry: Doing Good

Got to week #8 is Soulistry through Book of Days Premium.

The quote this time was:

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”

~John Wesley~

The questions centered around what 'good' was to us, moments of 'good' etc...

I found this the easiest Soulistry to date, the timing was right.

***

My mind went for my favorite Bible Quote:

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels."

~Hebrews 13:2~

In short, my thoughts are:

good = kind.

***

I did have another story come to mind and used it for my 'journaling' since it was *just* what I would liked to have expressed, but soooo more succinct than I ever could have expressed in my own words.

-Tale of the Two Wolves- A Cherokee Legend
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”