Phantom Whispers

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

It’s off to camping we go.

When last I left you I was headed off to Newport, OR for the wonderful Paper Arts Festival. It was great. I loved getting to see everyone again and meeting new folks. The classes were well received and folks made absolutely lovely books.  Thanks to all the delightful folks in my workshops.

Unfortunately, it was pollen season and I came down with a roaring sinus infection. That kind of knocked me out of the loop for a while. I took antibiotics and got better . And then it got worse. I couldn’t breath. It was awful and I was miserable. The Mailman did a run to the drugstore and signed a note swearing that he wouldn’t use the medicine he was buying to make illegal drugs. He got me Mucinex D by way of a recommendation from the pharmacist. And it worked, hallelujah!!!!!! Boy, you don’t know how wonderful breathing through your nose is until you can’t do it.

Then my mother-in-law slipped in the bath tub and suffered a compression fraction of the L1 in her spine. I became nurse and housekeeper. While she was pretty good about it all, I don’t take well doing either one of those jobs. She was with us for about 5 days, weaning herself off of the stronger medications so that she could drive herself around and get back to her life, at least a bit.

After that came the Focus On Books Conference. Again, it was lovely to see old friends and make new ones. The books that were created in class were fabulous. We didn’t get as much sewn on the books as I had hoped but I learned that I was going to have to push a little harder and just warn folks that time is precious and flies quickly.

So now, the Mailman and me are going to spend the 4th at our property trying to build a permanent deck as a place for our tent. I’m not really looking forward to it but working with the Mailman tends to be fairly fun, even jobs I don’t like. Take for example, painting the picket fence. Not a fun job. There was no one to lure into working ala Tome Sawyer. But it wasn’t too bad doing it with the Mailman. So now we have a nice white fence again. At least, most of it got painted. There are still a couple of areas that need paint but it all looks good on the outside.

I hope I can keep that positive attitude thing going the whole time we are there. The thought of four days without electricity or water other than what we haul in, just doesn’t charm me. The Mailman assures me that we can run into town ( a mere 10 miles) to get anything. But I just don’t relish the thought of facing folks after a few days of heat and dust and no shower. Not exactly the face I want to show the world. I have a recipe for dry shampoo that I’m going to try out as I can’t go but a few days without washing my hair. I hope this stuff works.

And I’m not taking my computer as it gets really dusty dirty out there. Did I say dusty? Well, it’s not so bad on our part of the property but our friend, who owns the other half, cleared out a lot of growth building his place (yes, he has a house…...but still no water and the electricity is supplied by a generator. It’s okay but not how I want to go). He wants us to learn from his mistake and yes, we have. Did I say it gets dusty? I mean really dusty. So it is not a kind environment for computers. So it will be staying home.

But I will be taking some art supplies. I am being tough a leaving most of the stuff at home. I am only going to take:

• Watercolor pencils

• One mechanical pencil with eraser

• One pencil sharpener

• Six Twinkling H20’s

• Two Niji water brushes, in small and medium

• One fine tip Uni-ball Vision pen in black

• One glue stick

• My packet with paper journal from Teesha Moore’s JournalFest

• The latest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors

• The latest issue of Mary Jane’s Farm Journal

I guess the Mary Jane's Journal doesn't really count as an art supply but with its charming illustrations and yummy layouts, it should.   That’s it, I told myself that I had to limit what I brought and use my imagination more. I’ll share the results after I get back. That should spur me into more drawing.

I’m going to take a couple books as well but I limited those also.

And Eldest Son is going to house sit for us, making sure the cats and plants outside stay alive. It is always nice to know that things are well taken care of here. Produce Guy threatened to have a party while we are gone. I told him to go ahead but just make sure to clean up afterwards and don’t make the cops come over. Took all the fun out of the idea with cleaning up afterwards. But he was only joking, anyway. At least I hope he was only joking. I leave you all with a picture of my dear, sweet granddaughter, Ylaiza. Got to give you something pretty to look at, right?

So go forth and celebrate this fabulous idea of democracy we call the United States. Be safe. Be well.

Where Have I Been?

I've been here there and everywhere.

Well, seriously, stuff happened, life caught up to me and time slipped away once again.   The big thing was my Dad fell ill.   At first we though he had caught my sister's cold.   No biggie, right?   But he was having trouble walking (gout in his feet and arthritis in his knee).  He was in massive pain.   He had also been have problems with his blood sugar levels, enough so that paramedics had been called.  Yep, Dad had gone into a kind of sleep/coma thing.   A bit of glucose set that right., it seemed.   I had gone for a visit with him and my sister.   But once I got there for my visit, Dad pretty much took to his bed.   Not a good sign. 

See, my Dad is a fairly active guy for his age, 89.   He goes to the gym to workout three times a week (he just cut back from four times a week last year).  He still drives,goes to church does his own grocery shopping and cooking.   Okay, maybe not the most active but at his age I figure he's doing fairly well.  At least he was until this cold or whatever caught up to him.  Anyway, to make a long story shorter, he wound up in the hospital for a blood transfusion and they kept him there for two weeks, trying to figure out what had caused his blood loss and trying to get his pain under control.  Then he was moved to a nursing home for another two weeks.  These were scary times for my sister and I.   My sister shouldered the brunt of the responsibility and care of Dad as she lives with him.  I can't thank her enough for all she did.   Anyway, Dad came back home on a day I was able to visit with them and spend a day or two.

I had just finished a three day teaching stint at the Newport Paper Arts Festival in Newport, OR.  I love this festival as I love the area and it is a smaller venue with a charm of it's own.   What can I say, doing these things are the only way I get to see a lot of folks that I just adore.   Cheri Aldrich for one.  She is one of the founding mothers of the event and it's been going on for a few years.  I'd say how many but I'm not sure, I think it might be ten.   Anyhow, I love the folks involved and I love the coast with it's many moods.

At Festival I taught: Unleashing Creative ATC's, Double Secret Belgium Binding and Wonderful Woven Fiber Journals.  But on my last day of teaching

my allergies kicked in with a vengence.   That night I couldn't breath through my nose and I got very little sleep.  I got some med at the grocery store and drove to Dad's.  Which is when he did his taking to bed thing.  But he is back home now, doing much better.

My allergy thing turned into a sinus infection.....if you've never had one you don't know how they just sap you of energy and vitality.   I know what it was and got to the doctor.   Antibiotics wer helping and I though all was well.  We celbrated my youngest's 23 rd birthday early in May, followed by Mother's Day and then my birthday.  All good so far and then the sinus/allergy thing cam back and hit me hard again.  I wasn't sleeping at night because I could breath and I had no energy.   But I didn't really want to do another round of antibiotics if I could help it.   I worry about building up a resistance and then waht will I do.  Anyhow, my husband, the Mailman, found an OTC med that did the trick and I could finally breathe again as long as I took the meds right on time.   Halleujah!

So now the Mailman was on vacation.  Another wuick trip down to my Dad's to fix a few things around his place that he just couldn't, to his everlasting frustration, do on his own anymore.   Five hour round trip turned into al longer one due to Memorial Day traffic.   Ah well, we knew it would happen but it was the only good day we had.

Then we went out to our property for a couple nights.   Five hours one way there.  It was hot and dusty but I was breathing fine.   Really dusty and dirty though.  But the best part was that we finally got to take out dog, Atlas with us.  He slept with us in the tent and loved every minute of it.  Once he got used to the idea of being in the car for a long trip, he was a good traveler. 

So, that's where I've been.  Now I'm working on new workshop ideas and hoping they pan out like I think they will.  Sometimes they don't and they burn up time, energy and materials before you just have to face up to the face that they won't work like you'd hoped.  It's all part of the gamble.

I'll leave you here with a picture of a new book I have up on my etsy shop.

Take care, be good and I'll be back soon.

We are lucky souls

Last Sunday, my husband, the Mailman, took our 10 year old dog, Atlas, to a nearby park to exercise him.  Atlas is a pound dog, supposedly a lab mix but from his face a body we figure he is more, pit bull/rottweiller with a bit of lab for good measure.   The Mailman had put Atlas in the car, a 10 year old Subaru Forester, tied Atlas so he wouldn't come to the front of the car and opened the windows to give him air.   The Mailman noticed his friend with his dog was coming back to his car that was parked behind the Mailman's car.   He got out to talk to his friend.  They chatted away standing between the car, with the car door open.  

 

As they chatted a man walked past them and jumped into the Subaru with the open door and THE KEYS IN THE CAR.  The Mailman and his friend, yelled and tried to pull the man out of the car to no avail.  The man managed to start the car and narrowly missing a fire hydrant, drove away with the Subaru and more importantly, Atlas.

 

The Mailman and his friend jumped into the friend's car and gave chase while calling the police.  They lost the man after a few miles due to traffic and a bit of good sense to not run red lights, etc.  The man got away.

 

That night we pondered the fate of our dog.  What would someone who stole a car do to a dog, a big dog?  A dog that could look scary but was a sweetie.   Would he hurt him?  Would he just dump him out of the car and if so where?   It just went round and round in out minds.  We and I went driving around.  Our sons went driving around.  The Mailman's friend went driving around.  No luck.  No sign of the car or our dog.

 

Our hearts were heavy as we went to bed that night.  When I went to work out the next morning, the gals at my Curves knew something was wrong and heard my tale of woe.  On my way home I drove by the humane society but they weren't open yet.  I drove home and was pulling up in front of our house when th Mailman called me on the cell phone.   The police had called.

 

Our car had been found not far from our house (or the humane society).  We quickly drove there to find our car AND ATLAS.    To shorten an already long story, Atlas was fine.  He needed a potty break and some water but he was fine.  And the car was fine too, no damage at all.  

 

Are we lucky, or what?  Actually, we figure we are blessed.  We already knew that, but it's not often that it is so blatantly pointed out to you. 

 

And I was good.  I had managed to not play the blame game with the Mailman for which I am grateful that a little maturity has finally sunk in.

 

And the Mailman has learned a lesson.   Never, ever leave your keys in the car...no matter for how short a time or how close to the car you are.   You just don't know what will happen.

Asian Dramas

For those of you that like Asian dramas, my son, the Produce guy, sent me a link to a site that has a ton of Asian dramas and movies for you to watch on your computer.   I've already wasted way too many hours watched a little bit.  They are subtitled, so no fear about not knowing the language.  Funny thing though,  I have to have the sound up because I want to hear all the inflections.  

One of the Korean dramas I have enjoyed is Hana Yori Dango.  It started slow but picked right up.

So here is the link to the site, Asian Dramas.  Make sure you scroll down as the dramas are listed on the right hand side.   I hope you enjoy it

Hello sunshine

I admit it.  I've been hiding out again, knowing I needed to blog but yet trying to figure out what might not bore you.  The sun came out today and gave me the push I needed to get off my fingers and type.

I have been working on class samples and fighting my horrible procrastination tendancies.  My father tells me it's hereditary.  I'd like to except that and place the blame on my genes but it just isn't so.   I have these traits all on my own, I'm afraid.

But, before you drift away, let me share a photo of a class sample that I haven't yet shared.  This worshop will be taught at JournalFest put on by Teesha and Tracy Moore in October at Port Townsend, WA.   I am looking forward to this as I love Fort Warden, where this event is held and this should be great fun as it will be a small, almost intimate group.

      

I’ve got big news!

Well, it’s big news to us anyhow. Here’s a hint…

 

No, they are not for me but for my beautiful granddaughter (yep, I’m a grannie), Ylaiza (pronounced Eliza) Lynel Obana.

Isn’t she gorgeous? Born on November 2, 2008, she is the daughter of my youngest son, the Produce Guy, and his ex-girlfriend. It is a complex situation but we are looking past all that and focusing on her. We are all happy she is here and healthy, all the important things. Everything else will work out...somehow.

It’s tricky, letting your kids lead their own lives, even though they are grown. I still call my sons, the boys, though they are 24 and 22 in ages. Certainly, that doesn’t make them old men, but it doesn’t make them children either. At their ages, their father (the Mailman) and I had been married for a couple of years and living on our own for a few. We didn’t have kids until our 30’s. That wasn’t totally by choice. A couple miscarriages slowed down our family but it all worked out alright.

The Produce Guy is happy about it all and ready to take on the pleasures and pressures of parenthood. But the complications of the situation don’t allow him to fully engage in it all. Heck, it took a DNA test to clear up some stuff. I told you it was complicated.

So, focusing on the blessings of it all, here are some more pictures of our little beauty.

 

 

 

I can only hope your holidays are as blessed as we are.   May joy fill your New Year!!!!

Ch...ch...ch...changes

Okay, I know it has been forever since I last wrote. I’m hanging my head in shame. I have good intentions, always, but I have bad follow through.

I can blame a few things I suppose. I was teaching and vending at Art & Soul in Portland in October and got sick while I was there. I think it was food poisoning. My own fault really. I shouldn’t have ordered the Bloody Mary with the olives. I think the olives might have given me the food poisoning. Fortunately, it occurred after I was done teaching. Vending night was a bit of a challenge but very worth it from a personal view. A former student who is very, very ill came around to many of us who had at one time or other been and instructor to her and thanked us. Thanked me for the influence I had in getting her going in book binding. Oh, my, my eyes are tearing up when I think of it. It was so kind of her to honor us all in such a way and so humbling to me. It’s sometimes hard to remember the effect we can have on those around us. A word, a smile, you never know how it may change a life.

I spent some of my time working on class proposals. I was having a great time with them but I wasn’t loving the paper work. It brought out my procrastination gene and it was like walking through mud until I’d get another proposal written. I am done with that for a while but the ideas are still rolling around (thank you to the muses) so I’m trying to keep that all going and fresh while saving some stuff for future proposals. The pictures throughout this entry are some of the classes I’ve been working one.

Beading and knitting have been taking a share of my time as well. I sign up to do a beading project with a piece each month to kind of journal our impressions of each month. Way I’m behind. It started in September and I just got September’s done. I have ideas and plans for October and November so it’s not so bad. Fortunately, this isn’t the kind of commitment that has other folks waiting on me. Nope, I only have to satisfy myself but know that there is a group of folks out there doing the same thing and sharing the experience is kind of cool.

Knitting is something I learned from my mom when I was fairly young. I remember women in church knitting away , listening to the sermon, without anyone thinking a thing of it. Try that now a day. Don’t think it’s quite as accepted these days. I could be wrong though. Most of the women then were knitting bandages and scarves. I can’t even image knitting bandages, though my grandmother did. And a doctor cousin of mine, who worked in Africa for a while, attested to how wonderful those bandages were. Anyhow, I have knitted a couple sweaters for donations (here’s a link if your interested http://www.dailyguideposts.com/giveaways/ClassicT-Top.pdf) and a scarf or two and I’ve even made a shrug for myself. Now I’m working away on presents for the holidays.

On a personal note, I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea. It was quite a relief, actually, to have the diagnosis. You see, I was exhausted all the time. I really mean all the time. Bone deep, mind sapping exhaustion. And it had been going on for years. After a night with a tone of probes attached to my head it was determined that I have severe sleep apnea, as in, during an hour of sleep, I’d stop breathing 98 times. In one hour, mind you. Which also meant, that I wasn’t getting good sleep, at all. Strain on the heart and all the main organs, etc. Augh. No wonder I’d fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I’d be falling asleep all day long. Good thing I worked at home. Can’t begin to imagine how embarrassing it would be in public. I knew it was BAD, when I almost fell asleep while I was teaching a class (it didn’t happen, thank goodness, but I had to keep moving like a land shark). Anyhow, I now have a C-PAP machine (Constant Positive Air Pressure). I’m still adjusting to it as I now have to wear a mask each night that covers my nose and has straps that go around my head. But I have actually had nights of full sleep, five or six hours of sleep with only brief awakenings to adjust the mask. And I not getting up all night long to go the bathroom.

So now, now, that I am getting good sleep and rest, I stay awake all day long (which was very rare before). While I’m not yet getting much more done than I did before, I am seeing the possibilities of it. I’ll have more time, lots more time, to create. So watch out , world. Here I come. :-)

Pens, Pens, Pens!

I’ve been having a great time playing with these pens I got from Jet Pens. I already knew that I loved the Signo White gel pen but I hadn’t realized how really bright white it was compared to some other pens. Anyway below are some notes, sketches and ideas with some of the pens.  If you click on any of the pictures they will come up full size and non distorted in a new window.

This drawing is done with Signo white and Angelic white and Blue.

This is done with the SAI brush pens. They are water-based so I like using them on the fold of paper that I am going to tear. I fold my paper as usual for tearing and then lightly run a pen along the fold. Then I take a brush with clear water a brush it along the fold to feather out the ink. It also can make the tearing easier depending on the weight of the paper. I wrote “Peace” in purple and shadowed it in pink. I then ran the wet brush over the paper pulling the color as I wanted. I let I dry and then used the Pilot Pocket Brush pen to go over the purple “Peace” in black.

The Latte pens in Sweets colors a just lovely. The colors are a dream and they will work on dark colored papers if you go over them a couple times or just use them once when you want that more ghostly affect.

Last but not least is the Dong-A-Popcorn pens.  These things are just crazy, in a good way.

 

I have to say the Jet Pens have always done well by be as far as filling orders and being prompt and their prices are very competitive.

A correction: I misspelled Susan Lenart Kazmer’s name in my last blog entry. Sorry, Susan. And I am still trying out darker colors only to have The Mailman tell me that he like me natural….go figure

Until next time, take care.

It’s been longer than I had hoped before getting back here, so I’d better just get to it. Life has been  rolling along. The Mailman and I just got back from a trip to Arizona. While there we visited with my father-in-law, Leo, and his significant other, Pat. It was a short but very nice visit with a little time to play dominoes with them and to admire the organization of Leo’s workshop. I don’t seem to have the hang of compartmentalizing things as well as he does. I am envious.

But the real reason for going to Arizona was for Art Unraveled in Phoenix. Once again it was lovely even though it was hotter than all get out. Thank goodness almost everything is air conditioned. Art Unraveled is one of the events I do each year full of workshops from some of the most amazing instructors and attended by talented students. I am always honored and humbled by the work that is created in workshops and this event is no different. I love my students at Art Unraveled. Some I have know for years from this and other events. The Mailman and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary while at Art Unraveled. He got tired of me leaving him at home and so joined the fun.

And of course, I love getting together with other instructors and attendees. I have to say getting to hang out with all these very fascinating people is just the best. The conversations and ideas that flow is awesome and I have to keep teaching just so I can hang with these folk that speak the same language that I do and get the joy of rusty things and the appeal of a good junk shop or book store. And it is amusing to know the effect these folks have on me. Every show Susan Lenart Kasmir is always asking me where is my lipstick? Thanks to Susan , I am now sporting some deeper colors of lipstick (in the long lasting variety). Jane Salley has me admiring her great legs and fabulous  shoes, shown here. Sad to say heels will never look as good on me :-)

But other things have happened on the home front as well, good and bad and just plain changes to adjust to. Raphael, both a boon and bane to my existence, a parakeet of undetermined years, passed away suddenly before we left for Arizona. I was glad that it happened while I was there so that the boys wouldn’t suffer any guilt. Raphael often would swear at me in the mornings for not uncovering him quickly enough. And each night he would flutter his wings as he settled down for sleep. And If I’d forget to cover him and turn out the light, I’d hear this soft chirping, to remind me. He’s gone now and I miss him.

Both of my sons, who are well of an age to do this, moved out together, leaving me to suddenly face an empty nest as I prepared for the show. This move is a very good thing but it has been a major adjustment for me that I am still coming to terms with. Fortunately for me, the boys haven’t moved far away and they visit often. They were in charge of the house and the pets while the Mailman and I were in Arizona. They did a very good job but they had to take care of one very hard task.

Bianca, our dear 16 year old cocker spaniel, deaf and almost blind, Miss Sunny Personality, had reached the end of her endurance while we were. We knew that her time was close but had hoped that she would bounce back like she had always done before. But the poor dear had no bounce left and the boys, Isaiah, especially (she started as his dog before being taken over by all of us) had the heart wrenching task of taking care of her in her last days and making sure that she didn’t suffer anymore.

So, things are a little unsettled here right now. It’s just all part of the ebb and flow of life.

Next time I'll post some more pictures from Art UnRaveled as well as some samples from some pens I've tried out.

You all take care now.

Newport, Oregon and the Paper Art Festival

Yep, I am slow at getting all this stuff out but, by golly, I will.  I want to thank you all for your kind words of encouragement and just chatting with me. It helps to keep me writing and trying to do it a little more, honest.

Now, in April comes an event I love called the Newport Paper Arts Festival. If you don’t know, Newport is a wonderful coast town. And it charms me every time I am there. Just seeing the power of the water as it beats upon the coast and watching the waves beach themselves along the shore…. I grew up near a beach so I am drawn greatly to water and the movement of it, so I do love visiting Newport. And of course people have a lot to do with it as well.

Cheri Aldrich is one of the founding members (mothers, as they like to say) of the Newport Paper Arts Festival. It is a delightful three day event with day long classes. I was especially lucky as I got to teach in the same building for all three of my classes. I was in Pencil Port , and office and art supply store, run by Linda and her husband, with this great classroom area. That made it so nice as I didn’t have to schlep my stuff all over the place. And the students are some of the best. Of course, all my students are the best and my favorites. It’s true. Heck, they all show wonderful taste (yep, I’m grinning). Here you can see some of the great work they did in class. I wish the quality of the pictures were better but at least you get the idea.

While in Newport I stayed at Nye Cottage by the Nye Bead Store. The cottage is charming and has  everything you need to make your stay warm and comfortable. It even has an Ott light in the room, you know there are beaders around. Linda ( a different one) the owner of the cottage and the bead store was all ready to set me up with a beading tray. I hadn’t come to bead though, I was teaching books. Okay, some beads were involved but not the Ott light kind of beading. And there are pots of flowers, blooming, all around the cottage.

And while I was there, one night I woke up to the sound, the sound of hail beating down on the roof and the sidewalk and the streets and everything. This was April, mind you. It was pretty awesome. I mean, it was coming down hard. Hard enough to wake me from a pretty sound sleep. And as I realized what was going on and turned to go back to sleep a bright flash of light and a huge crack of thunder rumbled through the town. Wow, nothing like a good storm to remind you that you are just a wee blimp on the cosmic scale.

And there was snow and more hail. But during the days we had sunshine. It was great. The best of all the seasons in a really short amount of time.

I didn’t go beach walking this time. I hung out with great folks and just enjoyed being.

And while I’d love to leave you on that note with promises of talking about Art & Soul Virginia, I have to tell you of a friend of mine, Joe. Well, he was a friend of Ron’s, who is my husband’s best friend and my other brother, biggest kid, friend all rolled into one. About a year ago Ron started bringing Joe around and the three guys would sit outside shooting the breeze no matter what the weather. I would intrude on the male zone every so often and in doing so I got to know Joe a bit. He was a sweet guy. He never talked about his past much but he had a lovely laugh and kind manner. I loved the deep rumble of his voice. Joe passed away a couple weeks ago. There were so many things I didn’t know about Joe until after he died. I thought we had all the time in the world. I was wrong. But I knew what I needed to know, he was a good man. Today was his memorial service. I didn’t go. I shed my tears in private. Joe would understand.

Bye, Joe. You are missed.