Shopping Madness

Black Friday, Cyber Monday. Shopping Madness, in all it's forms seem, to me, to be indicative of the financial mess we have found ourselves in. Greed and immediate satisfaction are symptoms of what is wrong with the United States today. No one wants to sacrifice today for future benefit, they all want it now and Lots of whatever it is!

I see two bright spots on the horizon: Small Business Saturday asking you to support local small businesses over the congolmerates; and Buy Handmade in all of it's permutaiotns.

In reaction to the Black Friday hoopla, a local gallery/studio space 5G/Factory on 5th {where Rainbow Artists have art hanging } is sponsoring a "Bizarre Bazaar" as an alternative to Black Friday and in support of Buy Handmade. I have been getting ready for this show for a while, and I am sharing some of the stuff that I will have for sale on Black Friday

 Refrigerator Magnets, small size, most of them unfinished

Large Size

 Flannel Snugglie, twin sized

Triple Good Luck wall hanging

Girlfriend Glue

 Wine Coasters

Things I am Thankful for...

On this day of Thanksgiving, I have so many things to be thankful for:
I am content
I have a job
I have great friends and family
My cats love me!
I am able to support myself
I am able to make art

All in all, not a bad list to be thankful for!

Another one

Be Thankful today for our freedom

Cataract curtains

I am a sun lover, but since I have had cataract surgery, I have to watch my exposure to the sun. In my studio, I have a great garden window that is only screened by plants, and the sun coming in the afternoon is very bright. So I dug into my stash and came up with two pieces of fabric to shade the window.

The first picture shows the sun shining through the fabric, and I love that look. The plants behind, the sun shining in and the gorgeous deep colors. I may look at making some permanent curtains to put up on the window, but probably not, as I really love the sun shining in!
the second picture shows the curtains taken with the flash, so the sunshine is not quite as bright.

I am back...

In more ways than one!
I was speaking to friends the other day and I realized that I am BACK! I have been absent due to many factors for the last two years, and did not even realize it.
I had my first cataract surgery on Monday and was pampered by friends who took excellent care of me! W took me to East Arizona Sunday evening, where I spent the night with P. She took me to my surgery the next morning, took me to her house and cooked lunch and dinner for me! She also took me to my followup appointment on Tuesday and S. picked me up and took me home! It is very hard for me to ask for help, but they were all fantastic.
I am resting at home, and my only Thanksgiving chore is to make green bean casserole!

Check this out and support these people

Jefferson Davis Pie

I was coordinating our annual Thanksgiving Feast at work and committed to bring a Jefferson Davis pie. This is an old family recipe, and is not hard to prepare.
As I was mixing the ingredients, I was touched by the idea that a few simple ingredients (Sugar, eggs, spices and a pie crust) can make something so delicious. But, it is not something you can multitask while cooking it up. After mixing the ingredients, it requires slow, low heat and almost constant stirring. No matter what I tried I had to focus on the saucepan, and saw the ingredients gel and combine into an almost finished product. It really was almost mesmerizing, and very calming. Plus at the end you have an excellent pie to eat.

Fascinating Ted Talk

This is fascinating... you need to watch it twice (and make it full screen) to get the full impact! Lots of subtle stuff.

The last digital date for a long time!

11-11-11 must be very significant, and I have a most important date in 111 days, so stay tuned for updates! Someone just posted that in 2012 we will have 12-12-12!

Really s&^%%$ day at work

I had such a crappy day at work, and so I took my break, printed out 111  numbers on pieces of paper (tomorrow on 11/11/11 it will be 111 days until I leave) cut them out and made a stack of papers on my desk. I can look at the stack and know that the end is in sight. I can also toss one a day in the trash (three on Monday morning...)
Doing what I can to cope with a yucky situation!

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking

into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles ofcheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor.

This year will be different. This year Americans will give the giftof genuine
concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift-giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands.  Yes there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people.  Who says a gift needs to fit in
a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut.  How about gift certificates
from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership?  It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some
health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed?  Small, American-owned
detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a
book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down
the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen?  Perhaps that grateful gift
receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or
driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates.  And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half-dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint.  Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom?  Mom would LOVE the services of a
local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal.  Local crafts people spin
their own wool and knit them into scarves.  They make jewelry, and pottery
and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner-operated restaurants and leave
your server a nice tip.  And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at
your hometown theater.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese
lights for the house?  When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community.  If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that
China can build another glittering city.  Christmas is now about caring about
US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow
their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our
communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion
groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in
your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations,
and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other,
and isn't that what Christmas is about?

Wyld Womyn quote

Wylde Women’s Wisdom
Imagine a place:  Women gathering in vast numbers to create cooperative webs of connection that replace the old and tired domination approach of conquer, control and coerce.  

Birute Regine, Iron Butterflies: Women Transforming Themselves and the World

See the rest of this post here

This Woman is astounding and so inspirational (Yes another TED!)

Being alive at this time in history....

I got a newsletter from Jan Phillips, one of my mentors and a great and wise teacher. This paragraph reached out and grabbed me:
"The Dalai Lama once said that the next savior will be a sangha, a spiritual community of people committed to co-creating a culture based on equality and fairness. That community is us. And we are watching it occur right before our eyes. It is frightening to some, this unknown future. But it is the only way forward--right through the fear and dark and veils of mystery. I think we all had something to do with being born into this time of history. This is a time for prophets and mystics and cultural creatives and spiritual renegades to take their power public and be the God they want to see in the world. This is our time to radiate loving energy like never before and remember upon every waking that it is WE who are the light of the world. What an exciting time to be alive!"
You can read the whole newsletter here and can subscribe to her list.

Big 0 Birthday Bash!

Last Saturday our women's group got together to celebrate one of those big 0 birthdays, and had a lovely brunch with Mimosas. The food was delicious, as were the mimosas. We then settled in our circle for several hours of sharing, gifting and appreciating each other! We were gifted by the birthday womyn with lovely earrings, and I made everyone a bottle of "Girlfriend Glue". Girlfriend Glue is available on my Etsy site

World Wide Tipping Point

I have added a counter to the right for this site\movement. You can check out the site here
I am pretty well buried getting ready for an art show this weekend, but will listen to some of the talks later in the week. I was either 11,979 or 11, 980 (not sure which)

Flash Mob at the NM State Fair

I finally found out where the video was for the flash mob!

Pinterest and fabric tape!

I get so lost on pinterest and it is so intresting. This is a link on how to make fabric tape:

http://annekata.blogspot.com/2010/05/fabric-paper-tape-little-tutorial.html

check it out...

Yeah I know - ANOTHER amazing TED video...

Although this man's English is hard to understand, he has some fascinating pictures and quite a funny presentation.

Anupam Mishra: The ancient ingenuity of

Publish Post

water harvesting | Video on TED.com

Quinn Creative inspired me

After seeing a post on QUINNCREATIVE I was totally inspired. I took my brand spankin' new 12x16" totally blank moleskine journal and went to work. Although this is different from what Quinn envisioned, I love it and the process. Of course, being a quilter, I see it as a nine patch! Enjoy.
The funny thing is that I thought that I was at the front of the book, and it turns out that I was at the back of the book and upside down!
My words are: Nrrd, evocatuer, mother, techy, tactile, creative, artsy, spiritual, dedicated. Somehow I just could not put artist in. Wonder what is up with that?
The right hand page is things that I love. My words were kittehs, spirals, fabric, the internet, spring, fall, chocolate,  red red wine, and labryinths.

Going Green with solar light fixtures

I went to a open studios tour (Alameda Studio Tour) in Albuquerque on Sunday. It was a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed seeing all the art. I had been invited to the tour by Paula Garvanian, who is a master gardener, landscape artist and solar artist. She takes discards, lights them with solar panels and creates the most amazing outdoor light fixtures.
I bought this small light for my balcony and love the ambience it gives off. The pictures do not do it justice, but here goes:

She has all kinds of concoctions, all sizes and I love them all. Leave a comment if you would like to contact her.

I plan to buy more of these little gems (this one is about 8" across and about 10" high overall) and was only $21. What a deal!

What a Sunday

Great Sunday, I went to a forum on what to do with our church mural as we build a new building, then went to the service and found this in the Order of Service (at First UU)

Affirmation by William Henry Channing
To live content with small means;
to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion;
to be worthy, not repspectable, and wealthy, not rich;
to study hard, think quitely, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart;
to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.
In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.

When I got up this AM and saw all the balloons in the air, I knew it was the anniversary of my father's death. We came out of the hospital after he died and the whole sky was filled with beautiful balloons. That was the first time I saw a mass ascension. It was breathtaking and will always be associated with his death. It has been 18 years, and I still miss him!

Maybe not Fall anymore

This is what I woke up to this morning. I was puttering around and glanced out the window towards Sandia Peak and it was covered in snow, way down the mountain. No snow at my house, but pretty close!

We have had more precipation in the last month than we had the rest of the year!

I was inspired by a post on Quinn Creative to create a wavy lined nine patch, and fill it in with your attributes (only positive, not negative) and then journal about them. I took it a step further in my huge moleskine journal (blank until now). I had so much fun on one page that I put things that I love in a nine patch on the facing page. It was kinda strange, as I thought I was using the first page, but in actuality, it was the last page... so many of my words are not right side up, but I do not think that matters. Here is the beginning of the coloring process.

My words are creative, artsy, techy, nrrd, mother, evocatuer, tactile, dependable, spiritual. . I had impatience (which is very negative) so I took it out and put in the evocatuer. It is a very interesting process and I will post tomorrow when I have finished coloring. My Loves are Kittehs, the internet, fabric, spirals, labryinth, chocolate, red wine, fall, spring

Joanne's Haul

A local Joanne's is closing (there are three in Albuquerque) and I stopped by there. They had 50%, 75% and 90% off. If you live in Albuquerque, go before Oct. 6th, as that is the last day. Of course, they didn't have that much left, but a lot of stuff (buttons for 10 cents, ribbons for 25 cents, fancy yarn for a dollar, and a HUGE flower pot for $10) Anyway I bought all of this plus the flower pot for $28. Can't beat that!

Finish this Book by Keri Smith

I just ordered "Finish This Book" by Keri Smith. See below if you want to order your copy!

The premise is that this unfinished book needs to be finished. This is the starting page, don't you love my purple fingerprints? Since I had a variegated purple to blue ink pad, I figured why not purple fingerprints??

This is a sign that you are supposed to post so the people around you know you are seriously pursuing a great task. Since my two cats can't read, this was a little unnecessary, but I made it anyway!

The decision here was Option One - put the book on a shelf or give to someone who might continue with finishing the book, or continue -Option Two. I chose Option Two

Ponder this...

War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children. Jimmy Carter

Not making much art, but I am making watermelpons!

 Wild morning glories. I was watering them earlier in the summer, but gave up because none sprouted. Then after the rains started, the came back to life. Now I am watering them and they are doing great. Mother Nature is amazing.

 My largest watermelon- it is about 6 inches across.

 This is the second melon it is only about 3 inches across. They may not ripen before it is too cold, but it has been an interesting experiment. My cantelope bloomed like crazy but did not make any melons. I have a very hard time throwing away anything that is still alive, but when the cantelope got bugs I pulled it up and threw it away!

This is a mandala that I created in repsonse to a group working the Grand Mandala Round on the
Wild Precious Studio ning site. On the right side is where I journaled about the mandala and prompts. I did not realize that I was setting up a yellow/gold/purple scheme (when I was working on the mandala the right hand page was hidden, and when I opened it up to do my journaling I realized the pages were color co-ordinated). Of course, yellow and purple are some of my most favorite colors!

Did two things I had never done today...

The Sierra Club had a flash mob at the NM State Fair today- Sol, not coal. It was an interesting experience and I went along with the crowd and rode the City Bus! Never again, and that is all that I will say!
When the video is posted about the flash mob, I will put a link here

Flora on my morning walk

New Mexico has been in a drought (severe this year!). Since January 1, we have had less than two inches of rain, and most of that has come this summer. The summer is known as monsoon season which has a different meaning if you have lived in a tropical clime... Anyway, after the rains started, the flora just blossomed (pun intended). I walk some mornings on the walking trail that is right in front of my house. I noticed that after the rains flowers were everywhere. They are subtle, but definitely are noticeable. I took these pics this week.

 Michelmas Daisies among the cacti

 Orange Mallow

 Don't know what this is, but the small white flower you can see turns into this feathery seed head

 Don't know the name of this, but they are small compact yellow flowers

 White Daisy-like flowers

Another one that I don't the name of, but looks almost like babies breath

 Chamisa blooms

 Yellow Daisies

 Another Daisy that is almost through blooming

 Lots of yellow

This is a compact feathery yellow bush!

Quote from Pinterest

OK, I am hooked on pinterest and have found so many intersting quotes:
The recession won't be over until we raise a generation that know how to live on what they've got...
No attribution, but it is great!

Stack your Journals

Over at Altered Pages, Seth Apter had a great idea: On September 21, 2011, post your stack of journals, handmade journals, artwork--whatever you stack up in your studio.
As you can see from my stack, I like messy (in the background and my journals)

The Red Tent

I want, no I need a Red Tent! I wonder if I could transform my living room?

Found this on Facebook

Truly Amazing, this is RECYCLING!

We Art the People 2011

This is an experiment in video-ing. I took pictures as I stepped through the  festival, and then set them up in a video.

I walked all around (this is an annual affair and I go whenever I am in town) and only bought two small pictures of bugs of all things.
I did find a gorgeous solar powered patio lamp, but the vendor wasn't able to take a credit card so I had to pass.

My personal take on 9/11/11

Ten years after (also an old rock and roll band...)
I was living in Houston Texas and at  work at the Downtown headquarters of Bank of America on 9/11. One of my coworkers said "Oh wow, a plane slammed into a skyscraper in New York..."
Soon we realized the import of this statement, and found a TV to watch in awestruck disbelief. As soon as it was ascertained that there was a fourth plane unaccounted for, downtown Houston was evacuated and we all went home. I watched from home, completely overwhelmed. I finally decided to go and donate blood, as that was SOMETHING THAT I COULD DO. Not realizing how total the destruction was, we all thought that there would be this tremendous need for blood. The line was long, and most of the afternoon was taken up at the Houston Blood Center.

I was feeling totally powerless. There had to be SOMETHING THAT I COULD DO. My minister, Gail Lindsy Mariner of First Unitarian Universalist church, spoke eloquently at a special service about how she was concerned about the association of the flag with the militaristic backlash after the event. Her quote is "In my spare moments I'm trying to figure out how to morph stars into doves so I can create a flag where the stars in the field of blue transform into birds of peace as you scan from left to right." Being a fibre artist, this image blossomed in my brain complete and whole. I went home, dragged out all of my red, white and blue fabric and made my own flag. The peace doves were taken from a chilren's website, Peace Pals and are created from fabric applied to freezer paper.

This piece was exhibited at the International Festival of Quilts in Houston that October (we were all amazed that so many pieces could be completed in 6 weeks -over  300 pieces were received) and published in a book of the exhibit titled "America from the Heart" .
Working on this piece brought me peace and acceptance, and I still have it hanging prominently in my home. The doves of peace are a little ragged from moves and being cat toys, but they are still streaming off of the flag!

Change to my blog

I made changes to the header and dates on the blog, but I am not sure if I like this font, it looked cute on the website, but not so cute here. Now that I have finally got it to work, it should be easy to change or remove. I found out how to do it here and it was NOT as easy as Kevin would have you believe (of course had I read the directions completely, it would not have taken so long....).
Still on vacation, so I seem to think today is Sunday instead of Friday!
I made one more run to Borders, and they have really sold off a lot of stuff. I found a book that I have needed to read for quite some time (self help and I have been avoiding it). Well, the universe spoke to me today. In the checkout line, alone on a shelf was THE BOOK. All by it's lonesome... just waiting for me. And instead of $24.99, it was $2.49. So I had to buy it. I will probably spend the afternoon reading it, and hopefully it will do some good!
I have also set up a zibbet shop, will see if it is easier than Etsy. I added two of my prayer flags (one red and one blue) to both etsy and zibbet.
Well, this was from Friday, but I saved as a draft rather than publishing, so I am posting it now. 

Had an Etsy Question about Vintage dictionary pages

A potential customer asked me if the pages would go through a inkjet printer. I said I did not know, and since my printer was brand new, I did not want to try it, but the more I thought about it, the more curious I became. So I tried it, and it worked like a charm. The image above is a dictionary page that I attached securely to a carrier sheet (just printer paper) and printed a digital collage that I created and posted earlier this summer.

Just added a new item to my etsy page

 Click here for the listing.

I've been on vacation...

Nothing exotic, I went to my Mother's 88th birthday on Monday, but no big trips for me, as  I have a tear in the vitreous fluid in my right eye.
Several weeks ago I told you about a book that I got for 99 cents at Borders, called "The Worst Case Scenario Almanac - Politics"
Here is a quote from that book:
"The first professional female journalist in the United States, Anne Royall, was rebuffed in her efforts to gain an interview with the country's president, John Quincy Adams, in 1825. After hearing that Adams started every day off with a 5 AM skinny dip in Washington, D.C.'s Potomac River, Royall ambushed him. When the president emerged from the river naked, he found Royall sitting on his clothes. She refused to let him dress until he conducted an interview with her. Adams agreed and Royall became the first woman to interview a U.S. President.

Underwater Museum

It always amazes me what you can find on the interwebs!
Check out his website here
Happy Labor Day weekend, even though I am on call until Monday AM!

Great Video

Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.