Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day.....

It is a good thing that you are not here to hear me sing this. It has been a rough few weeks of allergies and my voice is gruff and raspy. However, this is a wonderful day and great gift from God. It has spurred a mass of ideas. My brain that has been gone for about two weeks is now humming away like a behive on a hot day. There is so much that I want to do now to find the time and all the needed things to accomplish them.

When I walked outside this morning to feed the birds, it was delightful. The air was crisp with a hint of winter still there and it was so fresh. I just stood there looking at the baby blue sky inhaling. The clouds were like wispy cotton puffs just leisurely floating by and all of this started me singing. Being very grateful to be alive and able to appreciate all the beauty that surrounds me, is an amazing gift. What a blessing!

My brain has come up with a new piece of art and now I am on the look for a large fancy key. In a box that I bought from an auction, there was a bag of keys that have been cut into pieces. What I want to do is use these keys for the background and then paint the large key that I'm looking for bright gold and that will be raised in the center. What do you think symbolizes? I don't normally share my own ideas about the main idea of my art because I like others to come up with their own "story" about the art itself. If you have any thoughts on this idea, I welcome your response. Receiving input from others inspires my creativity.

This past weekend, I went to a Pampered Chef Party and had lots of fun. The food was super yummy and being out of the house and spending time with other women was refreshing. It was like springtime for my soul. Sometimes, it is forgotten how important just being out and about is. Cabin fever can set in without realizing it and I get into the rut of just going along; day after day after day.....

With this weekend and today's weather, I am ready to move forward and greet the world. To be creative and productive and to embrace what comes to me whether it be great, good, or not so good. What is placed before me is there for a reason and hopefully I will learn from it.

To all my readers: go forth, greet the day, embrace the happenings for what they are and broaden your thoughts, your creativity, your brain power, and grow!

May God bless you with an abundance of love, peace, good health, and JOY.

How do I create with so much going on

Greetings, Much has been going on in my life for a long time. Family matter weigh heavy on my heart, health issues need to be addressed, and yet I find the creativity within me is still pouring forth. How does this happen? At times when you would think that the mind would be so bogged down with "STUFF" that nothing creative could possibly surface.

This is an easy answer for me. I have full trust in the Living God to see me through. He is always there for me and has helped me to come up with some unique ideas. I was stuck in a rut and only rehashing old ideas that I did not want to work on. So, I asked Him for help. Then there was the "aha". No big AHA, just a quiet aha. There was a soft gentle voice speaking to me. One of the things that I heard was "hands and color". This led me to scan my hand and alter the colors. Then I thought where to go from here.

What should I do with these hands. I must say that I love all the color; but where do I go with them. There were a few ideas, as helping hands (physical therapists), loving hands (mothers), working hands... There was another "aha". Working hands was the answer. I am going to make a piece of art with hands of many colors and many occupations. It is a work in progress and is taking longer to put the idea together than most. I feel good about this one; hopefully, something unique and bold.

I have a friend who asks me what does each piece of my art mean. For most of my pieces there really isn't a meaning from within - no hidden deep realities. Does the hands piece have a hidden agenda? NO, my art just is. I find from talking with people viewing my art: that each person finds their own "meaning" from the art. Little children can tell me whole stories about a piece of art. It is a joy to watch people explore my art at the shows and to express their opinions. I even enjoy listening to those who don't care for my style of art. Listening to the public opens my eyes, heart and mind to other possibilities. Listening to God helps me to handle all that is happening in my life. God bless you all.

SNOW and CREATING

Once again, it snowed on a Sunday night into Monday morning. As I listened to the news, people were griping about the snow. "It's March already. It shouldn't be snowing." I beg to differ. If you live in Maine, I would have to say, "Get used to it." It can snow into April.

Snow can be a pain in the patooty for some. However, I have been blessed that I am an artist. Since I don't have to travel to work, it is wonderful to stay home and create. My work table faces the big window in the living room. I was able to watch the snow and the birds raiding the feeder. I also get to watch my cats watching the birds.

Perhaps, I should use that as a piece of art. Make it look like a window looking outside with the cats inside. Hmmmm, nice idea. Maybe one day.

I have been creating and using my new Pazzles to make words and die cuts that I normally wouldn't be able to find. Purchasing the Pazzles (an electronic die cutting machine that hooks up the the computer.) has been a wonderful addition to my supplies. It is an expensive tool but it is paying for itself. No longer will I "have" to purchase dies or die cuts. I can make die cuts that can not be found elsewhere. Will I buy dies and stencils for my BigShot (personal die cutting machine)? Yes, because there will be dies and stencils that I enjoy working with. Dreamweaver Stencils and Spellbinder dies are two of my favorites to work with.

Using the Pazzles to create a die cut from a picture was much easier than I thought. Now I can also use my photography to make die cuts. I am having way too much fun.

Enjoy hearing from all of you. Take care of yourself and may God watch over you.

The envelope please.....

....and the winner is Deb Clark!

The winner was chosen by a random pick. So Deb, your card is on it's way.

It feels good to be creating again. I have been working on cards and enjoying the time spent with my treasures. One of the suggestions to get the creative juices flowing again was to stop working on my art and start organizing my supplies. Wow! It didn't take long and I was finding things that I wanted to work with. Now the organizing is put on hold and little pieces of art are being made. Thank you, Charlene, for the idea.

It is beautiful today and I wish I could walk through the woods and take pictures but the snow is too deep. The sky is such a pretty blue and there are some wispy clouds on the horizon. The wind is shaking the trees and snow is falling in which startles the birds resting on the branches. When I was filling the bird feeder, the birds were flying around and I could hear the soft flapping of their wings; such a gentle, peaceful sound. Hearing this has me thinking of how to convert that sound into a piece of art. How would you convert sound into a silent piece of art? And even so that it is silent, it speaks volumes!

Much can be said in silence. There is that quote, "a picture is worth a thousand words." This is one of the things that pleases me about my art. Each person that gazes at my art creates their own words about that piece of art. Some people have told me stories about a piece of art. Isn't it amazing that two people can look at one piece of art and come away with two completely different concepts. Little children are so very good at making stories from my art. Their minds are free. They have no preconceived ideas about what things should or should not be. They just let their thoughts flow and thus create.

Once again I must say good bye and get back to my art. Take care and may God bless you.

The snow is falling by the buckets full and I am sitting inside watching it fall while I create Easter cards. Not what you would think of as a setting for creating Easter things but it is for me. As I sit here with the wind blowing and the snow keeps coming down, I think that it is not much longer till Spring will be here. Close your eyes and imagine warm breezes, green grass, budding trees and blooming flowers. Ahh, what a nice "take me away moment." This is where my brain is today. I'm "tiptoeing throught the tulips" with my art supplies. It is a delight to be looking at bunnys and flowers, to touch soft fuzzy lambs, and swirl colors of pink, yellow and green.

I enjoy getting glue on my fingers and paint spots on my clothes. My table is covered with ribboms, lace, cards, charms and paper, paper, and more paper. I am in my element when there is a clutter of things in front of me. Creations blossoms out of the piles of of what some call chaos. Having a neat work space does not work for me. I work well when there is an abundance of ideas before me. Then I whittle it down to one thing at a time. Well, it's time to get back to work. I'm posting two of the Easter cards that I've created so far. Have a beautiful day.

A new beginning

Greetings and Welcome,

This is my first blog and I am learning as I go along. Please bear with me and give advice if you so desire. Creating a blog is something that I have been wanting to do but have a tad bit of fear that it would not be done right.

I am an assemblage artist and want to use my blog to share my art, ideas, and creativity or lack there of. Lately, there has been a lack in my ability to get ideas into pieces of art. Do you ever have times when your brain is like Grand Central Station? Ideas are coming in and going out so fast that they have not time to take hold? That is where my brain is right now. So, how do I slow it down enough for creativity to be productive and not slow it down to the point of no ideas at all?

Then there is always the monkey wrench that life throws into the plans of creating. Alas, that is also part of the problem. My husband has been on sick leave since mid December. Nothings is as it should be; nothing is normal. Though there is little that is "normal" in my life and that is where some of the ideas come for creating my art.

Thank goodness for my cats. They help keep me sane. There are times when they do drive me a bit buggy. Like when Kai Li wants to help me work on the computer or create. Have you ever tried to glue things together with a cat who wants to sit in the middle of it? This keeps life interesting and at times makes things better than what I first had planned. There are no mistakes in my art; just wonderful journeys to art that is at times serene, or art that tends to be uniquely original, or somewhere in between. What a wonderful journey this is. I do enjoy creating art to be appreciated by others.

Being that this is my first blog, I want to do something special for you. So, if you will email me a message stating what you do when your creativity fails, your name will be put in a drawing and I will send this card to you. (Ending date is midnight on 2/20/09.) I am looking forward to hearing from you and perhaps you will be the lucky one to receive this blog bonus.