coming soon....

yep it's true...i'll be teaching a workshop in beautiful downtown Bridgeport! Altered Book Shrines. sept 15th from 11-2ish. i made 2 samples up - my usual down n dirty distressed looking book, and then tried really really hard to do a "nice" one with pinks and buttons and glittery foofy stuff. it came out .....okay. maybe a little better than okay, but it's hard for me to judge, being the junk-meister that i am. anyway, space is very limited, so if you have an interest, call the store ...Stampin N Scrappin Time. This should be a lot of fun! I tried to use my neighbors jigsaw to cut through a hard-cover book and about 200 pages of inside stuff, and BLAMMO! it caught fire. very cool indeed, but a little theatrical for an indoor class, so we'll stick to soft cover books. anyway, i am totally wiped out right now...am on antibiotics (which i hate taking) and the side effects from those are less than appetizing. i managed to get away with just 2 days at work this week! a very good week, if i must say. wednesday with mom was short & sweet...we had breakfast at a diner, then sat by the river watching geese (which demanded food, then bit us when we had none) and a heron, and some baby ducks...all going about their busy morning. so peaceful. it made me homesick for my Lake. it's funny, here we are - 2 grown women acting like birds that have been caged so long....the door is finally left open, and we don't know where to fly first, so we stand on the perch looking out. not leaving. but it's been good...we needed time to adjust to, and enjoy our new views of each other before adding the distraction of an adventure. the clouds have been threatening the past 2 wednesdays, so we stayed close to home. next wednesday - the Lake! no matter what. it was mom's choice. it's been time well spent after we part ways for the day, also. i've been purging through my studio like a woman on a mission...many bags of stuff went to the curb. it's kind of like an archaeology trip -sifting through years of papers and stickers and art supplies that have been on hand for 10 years or so....i look at some things and wonder who bought this? my style has changed so much. as have the materials i use. funny, how part of the day i purge the demons of the past with mom, and the rest of the day i've been purging my art stuff. traveling light? not really....because in each instance, something new replaces something tossed. all good in both cases. i'm afraid i won't have enough time to finish all the work i want to do. the ideas come rushing and demanding to be brought to life. i need more time. more space. in my life, i've been making room...clearing away the stuff that no longer has usefulness to me...out to the curb with decorative papers and glittery glues along with aught feelings and old resentments. in both sets of piles, i'm glad to give it a kick and a shove. room to breathe and grow and experience. new skin healing over old wounds. sort of a life-exfoliation, for the spa minded among us. diva dog is at camp Grandma's for the night. i'll miss her entirely. she's felt slighted the past few weeks as i've been so focused on clearing and creating. every so often i feel a paw tapping at my knee, and she looks at me with hope for a hug. so we snuggle for a few minutes - never enough for her, of course. our nighttime routine always includes a belly rub for her, in exchange for a thorough hand washing for me (doggie style of course). she has taught me such patience....she has so many issues and needs, coming from her rescued background. yet she's learned to trust me, and love me. she senses a person's inner intentions, i think. there are some people that she does not like. period. and fears, even though they've never done anything to warrant her fear. they just send out angry vibes to her. that has taught me a lot too. people sense the same things, just more muted. dogs don't have the distractions of life that we do. but right now, i'm distracted by the thought of my pillow. an early morning will call. sleep well, y'all. L