TAKING FLIGHT

I have purchased and devoured Kelly Rae Robert's book TAKING FLIGHT.


What an unbelievably inspirational work! I recommend it to everyone - artist or not! You have to read about the Whispers Journal! We all need one and I am going to start mine right after the holidays. Her work is so beautiful..............

TIM HOLTZ CHRISTMAS TAGS 2008!!!

I just read that Tim Holtz will be starting his 12 Tags of Christmas 2008 tomorrow! Last year's tags were so great! I only did 4 mind you!!!LOL!! No time! They are very time-consuming and I started too late into it. He teaches some great techniques with these tags and I recommend them to everyone who loves his work as much as I do!

If I can actually get them done I will post them as we go along!

LIFE GOES ON

Well, tomorrow will be the services for Nick. I will attend and say goodbye to my friend. He would be there to say goodbye to me if it was the other way around.

You know, I am truly so blessed. I have such great friends. I have a family that although has its' share of problems like every other family, is wonderful. I have a profession that I love even after all these years. I'm certainly lucker than most.

I refuse to start a New Year sad or depressed. It will just set the tone for the rest of the year! My grandmother always said that instead of mourning a person we lost we should thank God that we had them in the first place. My grandmother was totally uneducated, could not read or write. But she was the wisest person I've ever known. I miss her every single day of my life.

I joined a MAJOR project on one of my swap groups, ArtTechniques. It's called a FAT BOOK and it is just too cool. There are 120 people in the "swap". Each person picks a technique to "teach" and creates a sample and instructions on a 4x4 card. Since there are 120 people in the group, you have to do the same card 120 times! I chose the Spirelli technique. I learned it from a good friend in Canada, Pam Barnes, and I love it so much it was easy to choose this technique as my contribution. At the end of the project we each have 120 technique "how to" cards! It's not due until February but given my schedule and my life style, I am starting them this week!!!!

Give everyone you love a hug and a kiss. Say hello to people you don't know on the street... you may make their day.

Hugs.

IN MEMORY AND LOVE OF DEPUTY NICK PHAM

I've lost a friend, and Monroe County has lost a wonderful and caring deputy. Deputy Sheriff Nick Pham died yesterday, November 26th, 2008, the day before Thanksgiving, in the line of duty as a result of a traffic accident. Nick died a little after noon time on a beautiful day in Islamorada doing what he loved. Nick was 38 years old.

Nick was one of the first friends I made when I came to live in Key Largo. He had a heart of gold. He was kind to everyone he came across and was a loyal and loving friend to me. I am out of town at the moment and only found out about his death late last night. I still can't get my head around it. What a horrible loss for me, for all his friends, for our community and especially for his family.

I've never met Nick's wife or children but he loved them so much. He had been devastated when his wife left him and he was just starting to breath again. We spoke about it often. He had the children and his death is made so much more sad because of it.

Wow.... what an epiphany when this happens. The realization that we truly are here only until God wants us to be. I truly felt love for Nick and will miss him. I hope that God has him in his arms and that He is able to give his family the strength to get through this. If I am so affected by the death of this dear man.... I can only imagine the pain of his family.

I'll miss you Nick.

A Moment to Give Thanks

I haven't been able to really work on my art lately - I just HATE it when real life, work and responsibility get in the way of what I really want to do!! LOL!!

But I do have the time to be thankful - at least once a day! Things are tough right now for everyone in this great country - things are not easy. But if things were always easy we wouldn't know how to appreciate what we have!

As a foreigner welcomed into this country with open arms and given the opportunities that I've been given, I am so appreciative of this country. I go back to Cuba once in a while to visit my family and every time I come back I want to the kiss the ground (and my father!!). For those born here, I can honestly tell you that we, as foreigners do not take anything for granted.

Are times tough? Sure! Are people losing their homes every day of the week? Unfortunately yes. But we can go out and rent a place to live - this country still gives us that opportunity where in other countries, like Cuba, you do not have that choice. You can not just "rent" a home or even less "buy" one. We live in a country where we will have a home again - we just need to live through a crisis which, although more serious for some than for others, is nevertheless a crisis this country has lived through and conquered before.

No matter what our political affiliations, we have to be positive about our country and the man that was elected to represent it. Our prayers have to be with him and his family - for God to give him the wisdom and strength to lead us into better times. Time and faith will lead us out of this mess and PLEASE BELIEVE ME when I tell you that despite our problems, this is the greatest, most open, most accepting country in the world.

So on Thanksgiving - for at least that one day of the year - take a look around at your children, your grandchildren, your family and friends and thank God over and over again for what you have and for being American.

A new member of the family!

My brother's son Eric and his girlfriend Lucy had a baby boy on Monday! Elias Vigil. The ONLY Vigil boy to carry on the name !!! Woo HOO!!! He weighed a hefty 9lbs 12oz and looks exactly like my nephew! Now I am not only a grandmother but a great aunt twice over!! Very cool!!! Welcome Elias!! Love you already!

Quote for the day.......... (Love these!!)

"People will forget what you said, people will for get what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." (author unknown)

Be careful with your words said in a moment of frustration or anger - you can't take them back.

A great quote to share...........

"Dreaming permits each and everyone one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives." William Dement

Great quote huh? It's those of us that continue to be insance when we wake up that are the problem!!!

It's that time of year AGAIN!

Wow! Two weeks until Thanksgiving - blink - it's Christmas and another year has gone. I am still amazed to wake up and see November on my calendar! I'm usually "mother christmas" - I love Christmas and enjoy decorating our house for the holidays. Our family decorates during the Thanksgiving weekend. It's always a huge event at our house. I'm not really into the christmas mode yet and thought I'd jumpstart it with a Christmas ATC. Now how can anyone look at this kid and not think "brat"?!!! He reminds me of my brother Julio at that age!

Button Fairies!

I guess the silver lining to having pneumonia is the time off from work and the fact that everyone leaves you alone! If you can just stay awake between the codeine and the prednizone you can actually create something! One of my on-line friends, and a wonderful artist named Di turned me on to these button fairies weeks ago. I was having trouble with the wings though because I wanted a semi-transparent, etheral look to the wings but I didn't want vellum. I wanted them to stand and look beautiful but I didn't want cardstock. You know how it is.

Anyway, last night in between feeling miserable and feeling awful I started thinking about this wonderful material I had used about 2 years ago called Fantasy Film. I had used it in a crop in Lafayette, Louisiana at my favorite store in all the world, Treasured Memories, and of course, me being me, had bought tons of it but had never used it again. So today I made my wings using the fantasy film and am thrilled with the results! Tell me what you think! Of course the first one is Kaitlynn and the other three are images from Paper Imagery Designs.

A looooooooong and Exhausting Day at Disney

Disney is my favorite place in the world... and it now is so much more fun with Kaitlynn! We spent an entire day at Disney recently (10:00 am to CLOSING)and in these pictures you can see how she starts out excited and energized picture on the right); can't decide what she wants so I buy her everything; and in the last picture she is literally walking while sleeping!!!! Too funny!

Halloween Lady Bug

My poor granddaughter had 103 temperature on Halloween! Bummer! My daughter, however, insisted on dressing her up and taking her out. At every house she would say "twick or tweet" but she said it so sadly!!! Poor thing. She was still a beautiful "bug" though!!

Taking Flight

What an amazing book by artist Kelly Rae Roberts! I have only just started reading it and it has already made such an impact on me. Wow! This is not a "how to" book, it's more like a "find yourself" book which speaks not only to me, but I am sure to many many women.

She writes about having the outwardly "perfect life" - a college education, a career she enjoys, a wonderful marriage to a wonderful man, the all important "house with a white picket fence" - and feeling like something is missing. Come on, we've all been there haven't we?

She speaks of a journal she creatd "The Journal of Whispers". Isn't that an incredible name? It's a journal about the "whispers" in our soul, in our hearts ... that little voice that whispers "if only I could....".

That really touched a cord in me. I have a very good life.. a career I've always loved (although lately I really haven't enjoyed), an income which allows for a lot of extras in life, a husband who loves me to death, wonderful children, a wonderful home, motorhome, BMW... all the trappings of "success"... but those whispers........... wow...... they are so there.


What are my "whispers" about? If only I could go to Tuscany and rent a villa for 3 months - 90 days to just create art, read books and disconnect. No TV, no radio, no email - nothing. If only I could .... be more daring in the things I try... If only I could.............

Well, you get the drift. I've worked so hard all my life that I just want to STOP. Know what I mean? Just stop and breathe. I've never been able to do that. To not wear a watch any more because there is nowhere I need to be.... to not talk if I don't want to..... To not be responsible for anything or anyone but myself. Wow.

More Flappers!

I usually take pretty decent picture. Tonight it's just not working for me! These are some more Flappers I did tonight. As you can see glitter, feathers, sexy ladies... it must have been a wonderful era in our history!

Flappers!

These are 4 of the 9 cards I made for the swap: Flappers of the Roaring 20's! It was such a feminine, sexy time for women. Despite the great depression that followed, these women were adventurous, sexy, smart and sassy! I had such a great time making these. Maybe I will post some others when I get them done. The pictures didn't come out as clear as I would have liked but I am quite happy with the cards. Let me know what you think!

There is always something new!!!!!

Every time I feel like I've done "enough" different things and that I'm DONE with my curiousity, along comes a new challenge!!! Today I was introduced to Dotees! Little handmade dolls (sizes range from 3" to 6") which are all the rage and absolutely ADORABLE!! Think about it!! The possibilities are endless!!!!

I MUST find some discipline though! I have a couple of swaps pending (some that I will admit I totally forgot about!) and have to finish them TODAY. I have the xmas exchange for PID for which I MUST make the "goodies" (Can't say what I'm going to make yet because my PID buddies read my blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise!). I KNOW what I want to do which I guess is good.... just have to find the time to do it!!

I finished 5 of my Flapper cards yesterday. Five to go. I'm quite happy with them and will be positing them this evening.

There are soooooooo many things I want to do but this pesky "working" thing just gets in the way! WHERE IS THE LOTTO!!!?? Would God think me unreasonable if I were to pray for the lotto so I can sit at home and play???? YOU THINK!?

Oh well, I guess I will just have to continue to take "sick" days when I can get away with it!

Hope everyone's holidays are starting off with a "bang" of creativity! I'm ALREADY in holiday mode and that is not good..................