just havin' a lil giggle-fest over here!!!

workin' in my art journal...

oh, it truly doesn't take much to make me happy!

love, love, love this butterfly punch!

tee hee hee!!!

pages torn & butterflies punched

from anthropologie & paper source catalogs.

art is in every day!

...and another!

punched envelope innards, betcha you never knew how colorful the lining could be!

inspired by this amazing artist!

Little Things Make Me So Happy!

The planets aligned today...

50% off coupon for Michael's, this punch was in stock, and it wasn't already on sale!!!

I had to have this butterfly punch (yes, because of my obsession with craft products of all kinds &) because the little butterflies make this person's layouts so very cool!

Awesome time spent at Disneyland this past weekend, got great pixs,
but too lazy to upload at the mo'.

Will do a longer post soon!

Yo Peeps!!!

I know, long time no post. Been bizee, (and a bit sad lately) but also didn't feel like I had anything important to say.

Lets see...working backwards, just finished these ATCs, the theme was inspired by the movie Juno! Phew! I am so done with doing ATC (artist trading card) swaps for awhile. For the past couple of months all I've felt like I've been doing are these swaps!!! Yikes! No art for phin makes phin really cranky!!! Click on this link to see the full description at SiStv. Photo taken by my Soul Sista MadRetz! She's a rockin' photog!!!


Drove by Santa Clara University where there's a clothing store called "Nalej." Ironic that its next to the PRIVATE, JESUIT, EXPENSIVE, EXCLUSIVE, RENOWNED INSTITUTE OF HIGHER LEARNING. Maybe they think the name is clever. uh huh.

Recently, been craving fried chicken like mad, so I stopped by University Chicken (formally know as Cluck U, haha!) also near the University to get me some finger lickin' vittles! They serve chicken wings, with 7 levels of spicy-ness:

global thermo nuclear
thermo nuclear
traditional death
nuclear
atomic
traditional
mild

Being fairly chicken, ahahahaha (I crack myself up!) I stuck with traditional, OH YUM!!! I ate ALL 10 wings!!! And the bleu cheese dressing and uh of course, the celery! My tongue was all tingly!

(I was quite hungry...I worked out for 2 hours this morning!)

Yesterday, I hit Rubberama (rubberstamp vendor convention) with my friend Mary. I really need to be on a craft budget, especially since I had a ton of work done on my car last week...cleaned fuel injectors, power steering flush, inspection, (b/c SATURN told me that I needed $2300 worth of work on the car after the fuel injectors and ps flush!) new windshield, new front brakes, new brake lights...BUT the temptation, oh the temptation!

I got some cool iridescent paints, a few stamps, vintage ephemera, a mini rubber chicken, and the piece de resistance, leather barbed wire!!! Yahoo!!! Git 'em, Doggie!!! I think I'm gonna make a necklace and who knows what else, wrapped hearts, Texas layouts, hum???

Also on Saturday, I found an Aussie store in Santa Clara. This is important b/c I did a trade with Sharmaine and in the package, she included TIM TAMS!!! OhMyBuddha!!! I thot I had died and gone to heaven after eating these chocolaty, crunchy biscuit balls!!! They had them at the store, along with some cool aboriginal art, Aussie fuds, clothing, and cheezy Australian tchotchkes! The only scary/weird thing is that they were expired, like a lot of the fuds in that store. I suppose that is to my benefit, as the USA has not caught on to the tasty-ness of TIM TAMS! All the more for me!!! The cutest thing I saw was a tiny glass kangaroo who's pouch was distended to hold a mini jar of Vegemite!!! Nope, didn't buy it. Vegemite is really gross!!!

Speaking of thermonuclear, I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I gotta go see it again, b/c I am convinced in the beginning of the movie that Indy sez something to the effect of "I was just in a 'nucular' explosion!" Taking cues from our exhalted President, I hear...The movie was good tho'. I liked it better than that middle Indiana Jones...aliens, crystal skulls, good vs evil, thermonucular explosions!

Had dinner with an old friend last Wednesday. Turns out, we think a lot a like. We were going to see Chuck Palahniuk (author of many books, including Fight Club, Survivor, Rant, Choke, Invisible Monsters, to name a few) in the city, but Steve's schedule is wonky, so we missed out on tixs. Ended up going to dinner instead, but when I called him to confirm, we were both like "Dude, the hockey game is on! <"Dude" Shakes her head! LOL!> We gotta go some where we can watch the game." (Pittsburgh Penguins are fighting for the Stanley Cup against the Detroit Redwings!) Tasty fried prawns, pear ale, lots of laughs, good company!!! Ooooh, he let me drive his Saab!!! OHBOYOHBOYOHBOY!!! It has this "sports" package, you push this button and blast off as if you were a rocket. I would say its like having NITROUS!!! I would love a car like that, but I'd also get my license suspended for excessive speeding tickets, hee!

Other than that the usual: workouts, hair dying, bang cutting, dishes, laundry, work, blah, blah, blah, blah...

Next week will be filled with fun and adventure! Tomorrow, concert buddy Paul and I are going to see Mike Ness (lead singer of Social D!) who's embarking on his first solo tour. Music may be too country for my liking, but I'll just stand below the stage and drool, hee!!! cycle class, dinner with the X-Sis-in-Law to see her Scotland pixs (and get goodies!) and ...

DISNEYLAND!!! (with the SoulSista!)

WhooHoo!!!

Grilfiend is gettin' outa Dodge!!! I can't wait!!!

Habe a gud week!!! : .)

Elusive Happiness

ahaha, hee, hee, hee, giggle, giggle, snort!!!

at work, we joke that I am pig. but after reading this...I was rat.

Pearls Before Swine, May 11, 2008. Click the comic to make it bigger and readable!

What A Week!!!

Some highlights:

Monday - Uneventful.
Tuesday - Visited new, perfect and precious Bebé Owen, went to my literacy volunteer project and found out that one of the best people I know is getting married in days!!! (Her Mom fixed her up with her best friend's son (the Mom's)! Lori knew this man in elementary school! She's not only leaving Cali and her cool job for a new life, but getting an insto-family, 3 kids!!!
whoa!!! This gives me renewed hope for finding my own soulmate!!!)
Wednesday - Watched Daniel pitch his baseball game (Annie's little bro), found out that a friend has terminal cancer (leukemia) and that another friend's Mom died.
Thursday - I can't remember Thursday. No wonder!
Friday - Found out a very close friend has breast cancer. Spent some time ranting at God. Went to the gym and did an hour on the machines. (Exercising demons!)
Saturday - Volunteered in SF for an organization called Girls on the Run where they help 8-13 year olds train to run a mile or 5K (3.5 mile) race. Cheered runners on during their race. "We need more COWBELL!!!" Such a cool concept, motivating young girls to exercise. I needed something like this as a kid! Next year I want to be a "running buddy" for one of the girls!
Sunday - Cycle class and art of course!!! (Got insulted by a "friend" while at Starbucks. I am D.O.N.E. Not hangin' with him anymore!) Talked to ohsoawesome Sista Linda (from Sistv) on the phone!

A veritable roller coaster of highs and lows, ohmygoodness!!! I don't really know how to feel right now.

I guess that is life.

Peekie of today's art...a trade with MadRetz!















Also, 2 cards posted at a skosh more...Gonna go "create" some dinner now!

Good week to y'all, Peeps!!!

Inspired Mini

I can't ever figure out how to upload pixs so they're in the order I want. Technologically illiterate, or blogger is just not user friendly. I vote for the latter! ha!

Anyway, inspired by a couple of talented ladies over at SiStv who made really cool mini albums, one out of a clothing tag (finally something to do with all the different clothing tags I've been hoarding) and another with the Daisy D's Wonder Years and Sassafrass Lass lines of papers.

Patricia's album has reminders of things she wants to do for daily self-care, so I took that cue from her. I need a title and more embellishments, but I am tired of sitting on the floor and my back is too!!! So that will have to wait unitl later.

Lazy weekend, again, only got a few things done artwise, working on some trades, hee! running, errands, etc. The usual. Cleaning the bathroom eats up way too much time.

Anyone know of a good maid service, or where I could get a wife?

Oh, I posted a new card over at Skosh!

Hope you had a gud weekend!!! Happy week to you!!!

Mini Art Cards - The Butterfly Collection

Over at a skosh more : .)

Like a Rorschach Inkblot Test, but with a Chicken

Okay,

what does this look like to you???

I think it looks like the Loch Ness Monster.
(Click on the pix to see a larger image.)

The most creative response gets a surprise
from me!!!

On the Make and National Scrapbook Day

Maker Faire highlights:

Mary and MadRetz on the make! Aren't they cute?

Cute Cece on the Make!!! Don King Ducky!!!

Cute boy on the Make!!! (He was manning the booth, and very flirtatious too! hee!!!)

Awesome metal sculptures. Humans included for scale purposes.

Purl drummer! (For you Ragged!) Seriously, knitting and drumming.

National Scrapbook Day was productive...I finally worked (for 8 hours!) on the photos from the trip MadRetz and I took to Kauai in 2005. Inspired by acetate pages done by Kristina Contes sometime last year. 4"X6" pages cut from acetate packaging, acrylic paint, paper piecing (the first hula girl), various embellishments, thickers, alpha stickers, rub-ons, laser die cuts. Just needs to be bound together, I think I'll use those loose-leaf binder rings, altho' the raffia Kristina used looks like a great binding implement!!!




The Sharks are in their 3rd overtime period in a must-win situation...Still playing!!! They must be exhausted! They need Power Bars, STAT!!!

Habe a happy week, Peeps!!!

Weekend Stuffs

Its nice to have "nothing" to do, once in awhile. "Nothing" taking me away from home.

Saturday: Starbucks, journaling, errands @ Target, ART!
Sunday: Gym for step class, Starbucks, more errands, ART!

Ok, that's not all I did...Fashion ATCs (artist trading cards) for a swap, that's the sneaky up there, laundry (sigh. necessary!), baking chocolate chip cookies (uh, eating cookie dough, never mind the raw eggs!!!), "Heal Quick" card for a SiSta at SIStv who broke her arm (also above). Got great news from the MadMonk and Run Mike who ran Big Sur International Marathon today and finished strong!

Not such an exciting weekend, so much what I needed this weekend!

Next weekend is the Maker Faire! Yay!!! And National Scrapbook Day celebration at my local scrapbook store, double yay!!! Full on weekend with my Soul Sista, MadRetz!

Sharks are on, game 2 against the Dallas Stars, gotta go watch!!!

Good week to you all!!!

Residual Haunting (NC-17 Rating)

Inspired by moments of intense emotion, echos of past events, and

the CD liner and lyrics to "Tear You Apart" by She Wants Revenge.

I need an exorcism, STAT!!!

Accoutrements of Youthful Subculture - I *HEART* My Docs!

Bloggy-land has numerous scrapbook challenge sites. Category Stories is one of these sites.

The prompts for the the CS challenges are posted bi-monthly, and have included: "Relaxin""What would you do with a cool Million?" and "Best Day Ever," to name a few.

I'm always intimidated by the enormously talented scrap artists who post at these sites, however, since my personal mantra is "do something every day that scares you," I decided to post a layout to Category Stories, who's current challenge is Shoes - "what are they to you? Do you love wearing them, loathe shopping for them, or fall over in pure bliss when you find that most fab pair of sliver ballet flats with the cute leather detailing and buckle on the side.......(ok, um, that last one may have just been me...*ha*)"

What woman can resist talking about her shoes?!

My favorite shoes ever are actually boots. Dr. Martens boots to be specific. The journaling reads:

"I couldn’t part with my first pair of Dr. Martens until the soles were worn thru and the uppers cracked beyond repair. I didn’t get rid of them until I couldn’t deal with cold, wet feet any longer. My current pair have been constant companions on many adventures, treading many miles & dancing for hours in underground clubs. I LOVE these boots."

(Click on the image to view it larger!)



Edited: I just remembered a related Doc Martens story. My Dad's (conservative) cousins visited San Diego from Ohio and their 18 year old son had recently joined the Navy, on the side became a punker, and bought his first pair of Doc Martens. My sister told Cousin Janet, "You know, Linda got her nose pierced and it all started with 'those' (docs)."

Yeah, I'm such a rebel! haha!!!

SHARKS Rockin' the Tank!

San Jose's beloved Los Tiburones advanced in the playoffs last night after beating the Calgary Flames 5 to 3 in a historic first time 7th game played on home ice.

Oh man was it loud!!! Even Paul was so excited he jumped up and down with joy and if you knew Paul... hee!!!

GOOOOOOOO SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Skunk Boy and the Running Monkeys

The weekend in review...

I ran in "The Relay." Remember back to April 2006? The Relay is Calistoga to Santa Cruz, 12 peeps, 2 vans, 199 miles, 2 days, 24 stinky armpits, 0 sleep, and multiple porta-potties. (Ewwww!!!) The Running Monkeys came in 76th out of 2o2 teams!!! A big difference from being 5th from last, in 2006.

My legs this year totaled 13.9 miles: 4.7, 5, and 5.6 miles. Along with a team of younguns, I kicked butt!!! I ran my fastest race paces since 2001! I had a great time hangin' with the kids, laughing and causing general sleep-deprived mayhem. I think the best moment was hearing about Mark's San Francisco run, where he had to hurdle a skunk and ended up getting sprayed anyway. Evidentially, his van captain thot it would be a good idea to spray him down again with Febreeze. Evidentially, that ended up smelling like poopy-diapers! They finally tied his shoes to the luggage rack on their van. I am still laughing. I am so glad I didn't have that encounter!

Good times!!!

The Relay is also for a good cause, Organs R Us. This year online fundraising generated $213,106.78. Wow! I don't think they're done calculating yet.

Big thanks and hugs to my fantastic friends who donated towards this worthy cause and my team. You ROCK!!!

Hummm...what's next?! : .)

13 is My Lucky Number!

They only give medals to the FINISHERS!!!

heeeeeeee!!!

I DID IT!!!

13.1 miles!!!

I can hardly contain my excitement!!!

{See Linda JUMPING UP & DOWN in happiness!!!}

(If you recall this from the same time last year [paragraph 8] you know why completing this race is such a huge accomplishment for me!)

Would Chuck Taylor Wear These?

But they're cute, Yeah?!

Happy Monday People!!!

Habe a gud week!!! : .)

This Love Has Got No Ceiling

The man's voice and lyrics vibrate your core.

(You can find out more about him here.)

Let Me Introduce You to My New Little Friend

I'm in LOVE!!!

My city has an "ahem," hard water problem. Supah hard water. I think its so strong it attracts dirt.

If there's one thing I can't stand, its a dirty bathroom and I've been slacking in the cleaning department lately, but only because I haven't found anything that would remove the scale, the gak, the grossness.

I dove into Smart & Final. You'd think I would have tried there before as its only 2 blocks from my house, but, I don't get to that strip mall often. Luring me from the shelf with its siren song was this beauty.

It'll take some elbow grease and multiple applications, but already parts of my shower doors are sparkling!

No harsh chemicals, no phosphorous, ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly, does not cause you to pass out within 3 seconds of being in its presence.

Love, love, LOVE!!!

(Really now...I gotta get out more! : .|)

Come to Me, My Little Pretty!

I'm in a shopping kinda mood...

My camera Guru, Dubin and MadRetz helped me decide on this:


I bit the bullet.
Wanted one for a very long time.
Droolingly coveted Mad's.
Didn't want to purchase until I could say f-stop and depth of field without hesitation.
I got the deal too, since the 10 MP version is due out soon, so say it with me..."discount." Very good, class!!!

Love, loVe, LOVE!!!

hee!!! giggle, giggle!!!

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz...

Oh my Buddha!

The Burns' rock the blackberry glazed bbq'd ham. And the basalmic glazed roasted veggies. And roasted yams.

Got an Eastor basket too!!!

Oh, wait...We had FONDUE for dessert.

Imagine this...

Rich, melted milk chocolate and
strawberries
oranges
bananas
fujiapples
cheesecake
ricecrispietreats
poundcake &
creampuffs for dipping.

I had to stop eating after the first few bites. It was just too much. (Did I just say that?!)

A gud Eastor.

Didn't get much art done this weekend...Lots going on. Chores, gym workout, journaling, ran of course, took photos for the MadMonk's new business venture, Birdie Buddies.

I finally met her newest companion, Lola, a bleu-and-gold macaw. I had to laugh, I had the song rambling thru my head, Lo lo lo lo lo la, Lo lo lo lo lo la, looked up the lyrics and the song is not about what I thot! LOL!!! LOLA! So my piece. I also posted it at SIStv, but I added the crown as an afterthot. She's a beauty, rescued, and is in birdie rehab, but sweet nonetheless. Greeted me with a loud HELLO! Evidentially, she doesn't talk to anyone except the MM. Haha!!! They don't call me the Pied Piper for nothin'!!! Animals and kids, they just love me!!! : .)


The background is masking tape, painted with gesso, then diluted acrylic splatters. The yellow paper is old dictionary pages painted w/ acrylic, I outlined some spatters with black pen as an accent. The milagro is from ARTchix Studios, and the crown is also out of the painted dictionary paper with rinestones.

I've got more bbq to eat tomorrow (beef rib night at Andy's), cycle class, tea and chat with an old "friend," etc, etc, etc...

Y'all have a gud week, Friends!!!

XO

- Moi : .)

Happi Eastor Sweeties, BOK! BOK!!!

So, I'm a lil slow on the uptake!!! I wuddha liked to have posted these sooner!!!

Made me giggle!!! Hope you get a giggle too!!!

Habe a gud Easter, kids!!!

XOXO!

I have, like totally, the BEST friends!!!

check this!!! my very own chocolate!!! (and full exposure of my secret identity too...)

choklit from my soul sista!!! yummmy!!!
she know's what makes my tastebuds happy!!!