Christmas is coming!

Well kids it has been way to long since I have logged on and shared thoughts. So much has been going on and I am still trying to get my routine down. Fail for sure (chuckle)

This last month has been full of work, cleaning, last bits of unpacking, house stuff and sewing all the things! I hardly have a moment to turn around and spit (lady like, huh)

So, I am working on a new direction for life and I know lots of folks are doing this too but I am just now getting to the point where I am mentally and emotionally ready to clear space. Space in my mind, space in my work, space in my home and space in my life.

My goal here is to reduce the "stuff" in my life. Once upon a time "stuff" equaled success so the more I had, the better I felt. Well kiddos, that is the slippery slope to hoarding and Momma don't have time for that. Out where I live, wildfires are a constant threat and folks are devastated when they lose a lifetime of memories and the stuff that made them feel warm and comfortable. Treasured mementos  from loved ones. Gifts and cards for lovers, children, grandchildren...all that. Yes, these things bring a smile to the lips and triggers a pleasant thought but, is this what really matters? Stuff?

I spent 3 years of my life working with the elderly and upon their passing I would hear things like, "what are we gonna do with all dad's stuff?" "who wants what, where does it go, I don't want to have to go through all that again." Well kids, it got me to thinking. My own kids are not going to want my stuff. This house full of clothes, books, sewing crap...they are not going to want it cluttering up their life nor will they want to have to sift though all this and figure out what is important and what is trash. I love them too much to lay that burden on them.

My forever Christmas gift to them is going to be a clean residence that they don't have to worry about emptying. Books will be donated because nothing I am interested in is interesting to them. My clothes? Girl, please. Off they go to donations. Kitchen crap, really? Now, I do have some original art that if they don't want it then sell it for what you can and have fun with the money. House? Sell it and have one hell of a great time.

Fun, memories, life experiences, moments of joy...these things are what is important. Not "Stuff". Is your life weighed down by "stuff"? Are you so worried that someone is going to take your stuff that you forget to LIVE in the moment? Do you drag a bunch of crap around because you might "need it" later?

Lighten the load Boo-boo and free yourself from the chains of "stuff". Once you throw off this mortal coil and cross over in to the spirit world it...won't...matter if you had or did not have "stuff". What WILL matter is that you had love, friends, family, adventures, lived life with all the joy and sorrows that makes a life worth living. Travel for goodness sake. Live! Oh how I wish my Mother would do that.

Travel, experience, live, see, do, embrace adventure and revel in all that life has to offer. She worked her ass off to make ends meet, to do the things that she was taught all her life were the things an adult does and must do and now she is retired. Our dad passed years ago so she has nothing but the dogs to keep her home and she hides from life. She has all the freedom in the world to adventure and does she do it?  Does she travel? Does she go see her grand children? Her great-grandchildren? No. She stays home, putters about surrounded by "stuff", doesn't see or want to see what is over the next hill. Someone might take the stuff, move the stuff, the stuff is what brings her happiness. Not interactions with people....stuff.

Give yourself a gift this year...give yourself the freedom to live life to the fullest. Don't just exist. Live. Get rid of the "stuff" that holds you back and Live!








































Christmas is coming!

D.O.T.I.

This is something I have been teaching, living and sharing.....D.O.T.I.....Don't Over Think It. 

Our mind's ability to engage in stinkin thinkin will sabotage every effort we make and every effort our loved ones make in the "making the positive happen" arena. I know folks struggle with stinkin thinkin...we all do to some level or another but it's how we cope and rise above to keep on keeping on that really matters. 

Every day is a fight with the little voices in our heads that say we are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, young enough, old enough....well the list goes on and one, just like that voice. Can it be silenced? Not really but we can provide a platform to the Other Voice. The one we were told from earliest childhood to not pay too much attention to. The voice that tells us we ARE good enough, smart enough and so on. 

Some of our elders were quick to tell us not to get above ourselves, don't be prideful, don't feel like you are special cause no body likes a cocky person. When they should have been supportive they were destructive and as a result...we are in a constant battle with self worth. 

You are loved but refuse to admit that you are worthy of that love."If you really knew the kind of person I really was you would dislike me as much as I dislike me." Sound familiar? I know that voice very well, it plays in my head every waking moment. Most the time I can ignore it but there are times I get triggered and BING! Stinkin thinkin fully engaged. 

I was told once, "you know you are being tested don't you" when I volunteered to do something for someone. Well that did not sit well with the stinkin thinkin at all. It took me ages to feel better about what I do and I had to realize that I am the only person allowed to test me. I know folks are struggling with the voice that works very hard to drag them down. 

We are not alone in this struggle and we are surrounded by people who will do their best to help us win the fight against stinkin thinkin. Trust those whom you know really have your back, keep at arms length those who only want to see you fail and kick to the curb those who are actively working to bring you to failure.

D.O.T.I.

California is Burning

Sad day y'all. California is on fire in multiple places and I am hoping and praying that there is no further loss of life. My current view outside my front window is grey and smoke filled. We are pretty far away from the fires but we are getting all the smoke and ash blowing our way.

My heart goes out to all those who have lost their homes and possessions but for those who have lost loved ones in such a horrible way...I do not have words strong enough or deep enough to express how very much my heart and soul bleeds for them.

Stay safe my darlin babies....stay safe.

Creative Weekend Ahead!

Whoot!!! I am finally able to open the Chic Parlor for hands on classes in Block Printing :) I am so stinkin excited about this! I really enjoy sharing what I know and learning from others at the same time.
When I teach, it helps me think of what I am doing, why I do it that way and how can I do it better. It does not matter if it is sewing, cooking, printing or goodness only knows what else I am gonna try (chuckle)

Don't be afraid to learn new skills. Don't be afraid of failing and DON'T be afraid of success! Yeppers kids...some folks are afraid of succeeding. Wait, what? Yep....it is the strangest thing. I am not a psychiatrist or have had any kind of training in the mental field but I do pay attention to people.

I see folks scupper their own selves and do all they can to fail. Dude...ya gotta work on that. Life is too short to be your own worst enemy. Find out what is causing the stinkin thinkin and work towards changing the mindset so that you don't cause you more trouble.

Make pretties my friends. Even if the pretty is in your mind and you are mentally riding glitter unicorns across marshmallow clouds...if it makes you happy and inspires you then Woo-Hoo! Personally I try to find one positive thing about me or what I do and tell myself that "that's awesome! Now go help others find a happy!" Makes each day a bit brighter and helps keep the mind focused on the positive.

Here's to you finding YOUR positive and share that with others!

A pretty commission piece

Well kids, I am working on a little something special for a friend of mine in Arizona. It's coming along very nice if I may say so my self (chuckle)

The thing is my eyes get so tired after spending all day scowling at a computer screen and then to work on a carving with tired eyes and hands is a challenge. The linoleum is carving very nice and I expect to have it finished by this weekend.

Using particle wood for the base is a bit tricky and so to prevent the wood swelling and falling apart when cleaning the blocks, I paint all the wooden surfaces with house paint and let it dry. Easy clean up and protects the wood.

I plan on using Indian Rosewood for a special carving and I have been watching various videos for wooden carving tips. Yeppers, I could just take a class somewhere and learn that way but I get a real charge figuring out stuff and then sharing with others. Seeing some of my friends create beautiful things just tickles me to no end! Like watching one of our boys do something awesome and praising them like mad :)

Anyway, Here is a picture of my progress so far. I did not get a darn thing done tonight. I fell into the couch after dinner and binge watched all kinds of You Tube stuff. Time for Momma to go beddy bye and get some sleep! Sweet dreams my darlins and remember...Momma loves ya!

What a weekend!

oh my stars y'all...this weekend was crazy busy and full of fun. I spent about 12 hours working on a new block print then starting the carving process. It is a lot of fun to see it come to life and knowing that it is going to make some folks very happy makes every hand cramp worth it.

I hope to start carving in wood one day here soon. I just need to go get the proper carving tools and start practicing. It will be interesting to see the difference in techniques and application between carving linoleum and wood. I will be using Indian Rosewood to carve on and it will be end cuts. I know there are dozens upon dozens of how to videos out there but I like to "feel" the experience.  It makes a difference to me...watching as opposed to doing. Feeling the blade glide through the lino and gauging the depth of the cut, the curve of it and more. I know I will have a little more flexibility with the wood carving and the sharpness of the details will be amazing.

Next test item will be experimenting with various inks and fabrics for achieving certain looks. There are some artists out there that are creating magic with their prints and I need to learn what works best for me.

Making things by hand is a special way for me to share pretty things and to push myself into trying more, doing more and learning more. In school I was not the most dedicated student by far but....working on stuff that interests me pushes my brain and makes my heart happy. What makes your heart happy? Do what makes you happy in heart and spirit and you will be a better more balanced person for it :) Have fun my darlins!

Happy Halloween!

Oh my stars :) so many cute kids tonight! We have not had trick or treaters in years so we celebrated by handing out full sized candy bars. They loved it!
Even handed out candy bars to the parents and let me tell you...most of them got all starry eyed and the smile on their faces were even bigger than the kids (chuckle)

Tonight I finished up the burgundy and black herringbone wool tunic for my Finnian and it looks amazing! I used a pattern from a Russ funerary dig and it fits him so very well. I am excited to see the full look put together. I will post a pix later of that for sure. I will be working on some new 16th century Turkish Ladies garb here real soon. I was asked to design and make a full set for an upcoming event in January but no pix till after it is worn. Sorry guys 😊

Thinking back I used to really dislike October. Lots of not so good memories but as time goes by I am replacing them with happy ones. Sitting outside under the moon and stars, listening to the night noises, smelling the faint wisp of woodsmoke in the air. Cool breezes wafting gently by and watching the clouds trail across the moon. Very healing indeed. Tonight the veil between the two worlds is thin and we are closer to our loved ones who have transitioned to the other side. If you listen carefully you can hear them. There is a lot of peace in that and one day I will be speaking to my loved ones in their dreams. Well that got a little deep there huh.

Make pretties my darlins cause every pretty you make will cause a smile and happy hearts somewhere. It feels great to cause a squee or a smile cause someone got a pretty that I made. We need more pretty in this world...and cowbell....always need more cowbell!

Later y'all!

Adventures in Dying Fabric With Natural Stuff!

Oh my gravy you guys! So I got a wild hair up my backside and decided to see what would happen if I took some natural fabric (linen a bit on the heavy side) and boiled/dunked/soaked it in a spice. I have a massive tub of turmeric and thought perhaps it might make a cool color so...Que a moment of "let's see what happens". I cut off a few bits of linen...perhaps about a section around a half a yard and stuck it in a bowl of water while I figured out how to make it happen. So I pulled out a large pot, about a gallon or so in size, and I put about 8 cups of water in it  and set it to boil. While I was waiting for that to boil I took about 3 heaping table spoons of turmeric and dumped it in a bowl. Salt..I needed salt to help set the color so I took an equal amount of salt (no real reason why, it just cause it looked right) and blended it all together. Once the water was boiling I added the salt turmeric mix to the boiling water and stirred it all very well. Now, Turmeric will not dissolve so don't even try, just roll with it. With the water still boiling, I dunked the wet bits of linen in the water like a washerwoman soaking a shirt (chuckle) now, once the fabric was all fully soaked into the mixture, I took the pot off the heat and covered the whole thing with a towel to keep some heat in.  The longer  you soak it the deeper the color...then I went to bed. Next morning, I did it again. Sloshing and soaking till the mix was fully heated and the fabric looked like it was a deep red/yellow/gold. took it off the heat again and let it set till I got home...about 8 hours...Once I got home I did the whole heat, reheat and dunk  thing again with the fabric. I was totally guessing on this so I rinsed the fabric in cold running water till no more color was running out and dropped it in a bowl while I made dinner. Once dinner was done I took a big ol bowl and added 8 cups or cold water and one cup of straight up white vinegar. Soaked the fabric in the vinegar water mix and dude! the red/gold/yellow color turned into a bright yellow! Wait...what! I will be sewing these onto a rust colored linen tunic for my darlin hubby...here is a video and a photo of the finished, dried fabric for reference. Try it :) it's great fun!

Hubby and I went to the Sacramento Arts Festival and picked up this little beauty. Hubby agrees with me that this "Wine Spirit" was me in metal (chuckle). Folks take themselves way too seriously sometimes and ya just gotta take a moment and laugh at yourself...or at least have a good giggle!

True, we are in some very troublesome times my darlins but I for one choose to find humor somewhere, someplace, somehow and have a good laugh. It makes for positive wrinkles and if you laugh long and hard enough, you get a GREAT core work out and even better still ...your blood pressure benefits too...sweet!

So tonight as far as art stuff I will continue to work on my newest carving for one of my peeps in Arizona. I keep getting distracted and thank goodness I don't have a deadline to finish this. It is a stylized Tudor rose with three drops descending from one of the petals. I think it will be mostly line work but so far the design is looking pretty cool.

I have been researching Indian Rosewood aka Sheesham wood due to the carve-ability of it and the fact it is soft enough to carve and strong enough to hold together when in use. One thing I have learned after 23 years in my historical group chasing art stuff is yes, you are reinventing the wheel but it is your wheel darn it and if you want to make it then you go right ahead and figure that stuff out...make all the pretties and have fun while doing so.

Alright, enough for now kids...Momma gotta get ready for the day. Y'all play nice, hug someone who needs it cause one day you are gonna need that hug returned :)

Getting started with what?!

Oh...my...gravy! Well kids...Momma is learning a whole new bag of stuff with this and I sure hope you will join me for the journey. I am rather late getting into this game and I have my darling DIL Gracie to thank for it (chuckle)

I do a lot of different creative things and folks have been asking for How To's as well as some of the stories about the adventures Hubby and I have when we are traveling. Good night nurse but just logging on to this and creating the blog to begin with was an adventure (snort!) Why can't I create this thing? Where did it just send me? What the Sam Hill is, general letters and gibberish...why do I need it?

Ah well, blog created, domain name purchased, theme set up and now I gotta put stuff on here so y'all, bear with me while I wrap my head around it (chuckle) Grab a glass of sweet tea or a Gin and Tonic kids and here we go!