Monday's Motivation

In keeping up with the momentum from a productive weekend yard wise; I am home alone and hard at it.

Nothing motivates me like a good noisy vacuum and some general cleaning.  I'm not talking about the boring scrub and clean kind of work.  But general dusting and pick up that lets me consider creative options for arranging various vignettes.  I luv finding stuff I had put away and reintroducing them back into the new scheme of things.  Nothing ever stays static in this house. The 2 chairs flanking the hutch were a spur of the moment find.  There were 8 available and we had to spend half of Saturday going to get them but I am thrilled with them.  $200 for all 8 and the condition is good.  The grand daughter enjoyed being up high in the front seat of the big truck and seeing the country.

The Rooster has agreed to helping with a time line for getting all the household projects scheduled and prioritized.  He had gone back to work after the initial retirement and wants to try it again without the farming option!  ;^)  But he does say that this needs to be a once and for all project so we need to get it right and I'm considering all my options as I vacuum.  We plan to stay in this house so we need to add the second bath upstairs near the bedrooms and get the laundry up out of the basement.  It won't happen unless we make it happen and get a plan down on paper. That is very motivating.

I am getting a bit desperate to be creating in my playroom/studio. The grand kiddies do like to create but I do have other things I need to do so the door has been locked a lot lately as little ones roam about looking for paper and scissors and stamp pads!  lol

The journal pages are continuing to be finished.  I am ready to get October up to date now.  I'm hoping to stay motivated for the rest of the week.

Taking Time for Thanks

I try to be thankful everyday but the calendar says today is the day to be especially thankful.  :)

Sundays are always a full house and yesterday was no exception.  The Rooster's cooking always inspires my heartfelt gratitude.  :)

So with the special thankfulness expressed I am free to get Moving on Monday  launched.

I am working away on my September calendar pages but I also paused to consider the addition of a fall canvas for the entry way.  Eliana says it is beeeeootiful!  It pays to pick the right judges! lol

I tried my Silks and my light molding paste.  I really like the paste.  I should perhaps have experimented a bit as I smudged some that overlapped but this is such a cool way to add texture.  Shoot!  Now I need some more stencils as a lot of mine have fine lines and this technique just begs for larger open spaces as opposed to lines.

This shows the Silks which goes on like paint and add lots of shine. It does enhance the magazine page but doesn't hide edges real well. Ah, I have the little jar in hand and it isn't a paint, it is an acrylic glaze.  Not only did I leap in without changing my good clothes, I skipped any of the how to's!  lol   This is okay but I doubt it'll remain this way as I learn better ways to get that idea in my mind translated to the canvas.

The calendar pages are evolving as I try different things.  I am also playing catch up.

I want to treat the one side as the journal entries and the other as a canvas.  This needs more work.

This is better.  The tags are scrapbook paper cut to fit the individual pocket spaces.

Change up as I will try writing on the spaces that the sewn line delineated.  I also worked the basic page backgrounds for the month in advance.  It does have its disadvantages!  Then I dab things on and they end up being less than appropriate so I'll be doing them weekly now with an eye to the current theme as well as the following page.



I wanted to try the colour wheel tree again and these teeny leaves are a bit fiddly.  This will be for the week the hurricane force winds blew all the leaves off and away!

Life very often plays out with little regard to lists and plans but that is also okay. This camper scene was a temporary renovating provision.  But it has turned cold and muddy.  Winter boots and mittens are the general play gear.  The renovation is a bit behind schedule.  We had some kind of wet, sloppy snowy, icy storm come through Friday and power was out just half a mile away from us. The 'other' side of the tracks!    Town declared an emergency as hydro towers and poles crumpled under the weight of freezing wet snow and high winds. The kids just got snow but the renovations and  hydro hook up are delayed and the windows aren't arriving till mid month.  Tis chilly in the camper so...  

The newly approved schedule just may come in for some real testing as we adjust to a fuller household!

Making plans

I jotted down notes as I went along last week.  Friday I fine tuned the rush from this morning's starting gate if we use Friday's checkered flag analogy.  LOL  If I'm not mixing metaphors, I am mixing the horse power!

I need to explore some of the functions on Nina for opening up and altering the patterned stitches.  A balance function refigures stitches and the stitch width and stitch length can all be changed to create different effects.  Imagine the variations are mind boggling but not every stitch will be a 'keeper'.

The toy box sat in front of the design wall that made way for the new look in the hall.  I set the toy box in the landing and I'm wondering if it could be a window seat?  ;^)  We'll see.  I did pull a few fabrics in case I need to actually make a cushion for it.

 I'm actually waiting to see how many times The Rooster will mash his toe on it.  So far he has only rearranged the jars but that was because he kicked the sander as I'd put it by the stairs to put away.  oops!

I'm thinking there is an AB class, lesson 4- wet glue, dry glue

I am also wanting to learn about my Photo Shop Elements program.  I think the biggest challenge is figuring out how to save, sort, and successfully find an image.  :(

And of course, the beading class which is a key chain.

Chicks and chooks,  start your horses???  Speaking of which, The Rooster is considering these, The Berg Grazer. Oh, my. They look like they have racing on their mind!

Oh, and yes, there is a little mouse who always seems to elude the grand kiddies!

Following a blue line

After all my careful preparations we only went as far as the Canadian Tire/Wall Mart parking lot in Kenora. That's where the tow truck deposited us when the car failed to start at our first rest break. :( So we arranged for the friends on the other end to come get my friend and then I made my way back home.

The VERY Great news was that I found this wonderful glass jar for parfait dyeing. It will be a reminder of the old axiom that the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. But I can't help but adding that all good things come to he who waits. And I have been looking/waiting for this jar for quite a while.

Blue Line Day

Fall and I'm falling behind. But I am getting a grip on the realities of what is involved in my procrastinating.

So I am actually aware of some of the approaching deadlines.

Now to do the next thing first!

A long weekend of labouring.

This is the Labour Day weekend and I can't believe that August is gone. Yikes!

I started moving in a higher gear on Friday and got a goodly portion of the fall decor all in place with the list of what I need to make to complete things.

The sun has come out to play so Saturday I began to sort things out in the flower beds. No more new stuff. I'm just dividing what works! 8^)

Sunday my royal princess arrived and truly made it a purple day.

My dearie did a good job on the family lunch as we had very little leftovers.

The prince and I got all the grass cut while the rest of the family salsa'd!

I joined them for the final bottling, 18 pints.

Now it is the blue line day. The beginning of a new month. A few nibbles on the local grapes the kids brought. I shall be talking to my grape vine which would rather climb the trees than spread out on the fence! :(

The strategy meeting has us down to the end of the list but also a few obligations as well. Time to edit a few things as we analyze the time left. I am NOT one to analyze things. Perhaps a phobia of some sort but blogging is so beneficial if you want to learn things, even about yourself. So I'm not blue, just my fingers from some grapes, but if I want to continue to grow artistically I will have to answer a few questions about why and how. It'll all be good.

Blue Monday

Monday, the beginning of the week. Time to make the plan, consider the options. Let's be calm, cool, and collected.

All the options are laid out on blue lines with a blue pen.

Will the ol' work ethic kick in or will the procrastinating tendencies win out?

Blue, a calming colour.

A playful colour.

A refreshing colour.



A rare flower colour.

A colour with lots of options.

A colour to use creatively!