Etsian Artists Tuesday Treasury Challenge - Week 2

This team challenge is quite fun and in it's second week. The theme was "Film".  Considering my love of vintage, old movies, and black and white photos, plus the fact that I've been hanging out in the past for two years now searching for Lola, I chose to call my treasury Black and White Film. Here's my contribution to the challenge.



Go check it out. I think you'll be pleasantly surpised by the fab items and just might be so inclinded to purchase something.  But if not, you can always click on items and even comment! Sunday we get to vote for the best treasury and I do have some competition here, so I will reach out again and ask that you vote.

On a family note, I took my mom to the hospital Tuesday for a barium esophagram. She has trouble lately swallowing anything from pills, vitamins, food, water, and the doctor was concerned about that. I got to hang out with the radiologist as he viewed the xrays on the monitor. They had her drink the barium and watched how it went down (a very unscientific term). The results will be in soon and we have a follow scheduled with the doctor that requested the test.  The radiologist did tell me that she was in very good shape for her age, as they had her laying in various positions of the table while drinking the barium. She told me it wasn't bad at all.

Shopping With Me Is Not Always Fun

Sometimes I wonder just why things happen.  For example, why did I fall and fracture my nose? Who knows, really. I suppose we can surmise all we want, but will we every really know why?

Yesterday I found myself having one of those "why did this happen" moments. I promised my mom I would take her to Sears. We were both in the market for new lingerie and I wanted to get a few blouses. We also had to run to Target, get cat food, go to Staples for ink for my printer, and to Rite Aid to pick up and to fill prescriptions for my mom.

Well, we went to Sears first and scored! The bras we wanted to on rack for 30% off! When I scanned them at the price scanner (a weird habit of mine), I noticed they came up at full price. I decided to question that and turns out the sale ended Saturday but no one took the sign down. We got the Maidenform bras at the sale price!

Then to Target at the Galleria. Now, I don't generally go there because it is insanely crowded. This Target is at the Glendale Galleria and across the street from this somewhat new monstrosity called Americana. Being cheap, most people don't want to pay to park at the Americana, so they park at Target/Galleria, and it is always a nightmare. We lucked into a close parking spot, went in and got our items. Heading out, the stupid shopping cart locked and I had to carry my purchases which included two 15 lb boxes of cat litter. I was annoyed.

As we walked to the car, my mom was having trouble seeing in the structure (she has macular degeneration) and people drive through it like it's a race track. I couldn't hold her hand or help her as I was carrying the cat litter. We got to the car, put the purchases in and split. I was, for some reason, flustered at that point and when we went to the next shopping center for cat food and ink, I did something I've never done before - I locked my keys in the car! I was nearly in tears. It was by now 5PM Sunday and the last thing I wanted to do was be stuck in a parking lot waiting for help. I did leave the window down a bit and went into a frenzy mode and attempted several times to stick my arm through the opening to try to pull up the lock on the door.

It just didn't work. I would push down on the window, stick my arm in and then the window would go back up and I'd feel pain on my forearm and would have to push it back down in order to pull my arm out. Ultimately, I had to call Auto Club and within 30 minutes the car was open. Needless to say, I didn't get home until 6PM and basically was so annoyed that I didn't work on any the paintings that are currently in my sketchbooks waiting to hit the canvas.

When I did get home, I noticed just how much my forearms hurt and actually looked at them. I was horrified! I looked (and still do look) like a junkie all bruised and battered.

Needless to say, I was pretty cranky and my poor mom had to put up with me and my anger over this. I apologized to her for being such a bitch; I truly felt bad. If she wanted to rip my head off, she never showed it. She can be a real saint and lives up to the one she was named after, Saint Cecelia.

After I barely calmed down, I made dinner and managed to make an Etsy Treasury. It is dedicated to the talented artists out there that also manage to blog! There are some mighty fine things included, so do check it out. BTW, I'm still trying to figure out how to actually showcase Treasuries here on the blog and haven't yet made it happen.

So after a drama filled day, I woke up this morning to find that I was featured on a very cool blog! I was jazzed. Thanks to Black Friday Studios for the feature! My fourth in a week! Wow. I shall feature Katt here soon and you will be glad I did! She is an amazing artist and an animal lover.

Fabulous Finds...and more

I'm trying to do so many things right now - spend time with my mom and help her out; produce art; actively promote my work and promote the work of other artists; and trying to do this with recently cut work hours and still trying to solve mysteries of my grandmother, Lola, and her family.

Time management has never been a strength of mine, and I'm hoping to get that under control. So I think that while I try to better manage time and family research and producing art, I shall start a new feature here. I will start sharing art of others I admire. I will decide just how I'm going to do that (maybe a weekly feature) and will now test the waters. As to not yet commit myself to a particular day of the week, I shall begin with calling this "Fabulous Finds" and leave it at that.

So, may I present my first Fabulous Find! Elizabeth from Oddball Art Co. was the first blogger to feature my art on her blog! She also created a team on Etsy and invited to join! She is a multi-talented human being. A woman who is a cancer survivor, an artist, a blogger; who has art shows, maintains blogs and on line teams, just to name a few things. And, like me, she's a crazy cat lady in progress!

I admire her so much. The fact that she's out there, exhibiting her fabulous art and a working artist, is something I dream of. Her work is so appealing and touches so many.

Busy Week and A Few More Blog Features!

It has been a busy week. Let's just say the week started this past Saturday. I took my mom to the chiropractor and then to get her hair done. After that, we went to a wonderful dinner party to visit with some friends that were in from Denver. We all had a great time.

On Sunday I had an invitation to join the fabulous Etsian Artists Team on Etsy. I have always been a bit hesitant about joining a team because there is a commitment involved and I wasn't sure I could fully participate with my current schedule. But, I decided to bite the bullet and join the team. I am glad I did. Great artists and a great support group.

Since joining this group on Sunday, I have been featured in several Etsy Treasuries (I'll post those over the weekend) and featured on the team blog. I have also contributed two treasuries of my own (I'll post those also).

Today, I got up for work, went in and left to take my mom to another doctor's appointment. After that, we went to pick up her prescription that I had filled and came home. I was then able to finish up some work from here. Also, today, I was featured in three team treasuries and one of my prints was featured on a great blog! Thanks to the very talented Em at Jazzy Gems by Em blog for including me! I was so jazzed that I had to go buy a lottery ticket. Now I need to check that!



All week I've been attempting to do another mixed media painting. It just hasn't happened yet, though. I have the idea sketched out and a little hint is that it was inspired by an episode of Antiques Roadshow this week. All I will say now is that someone brought a stroller with dolls in it to the show. The dolls were the Dionne Quintuplets!

I Was Featured in a Blog!

And was I ever jazzed! A very cool and talented artist found my art via Esty and featured me in her weekly Fabulous Friday Finds. There's a first for everything.

I must say thank you to Elizabeth from Oddball Art Co! I am still walking with my head in the clouds over being featured on someone's blog!! You can check out Elizabeth's cool art here.

Happy Father's Day

I wish all you awesome dads out there a very Happy Father's Day. Dad's are such special people. They teach us, guide us, scold us, and, often, just don't "like" us. But in the end, they love us. Sometimes, they even spoil us.

Who, but a dad, could thank you, year after year, for yet another tie? Who would go to work all day and come home and play catch with you (hopefully not wearing shorts with his work socks)? Who would drop you off at the midnight movies because you didn't drive yet (and bust you smoking a cigarette and not tell your mom for a year)? Who welcomed your friends into the home and treated them like his own kids? Your dad did.

I have many memories of my dad and am really thankful for the time I had with him. This year marks the sixth Father's Day without my dad. Six years of not getting him a tie or a bottle of Jim Beam or a ticket to see Tom Jones for Father's Day. Six years ago on May 1, 2005, my dad had his three daughters with him on his last day visiting, looking at pictures, having lunch and meeting with the hospice nurse. He was failing and ready to go and I feel we were finally ready to let him go. He had been suffering with heart failure but was stubborn, and I believe, waiting for one last chance to have us kids together with him. He had a wonderful day, and for that, I am so thankful. Of the many fond memories I have of my dad, one will always stick with me.

I was raised by a mother that at the time would have been considered either a "food faddist" or a "health food nut". We didn't have white bread or white rice, and white sugar was scarce. We also didn't have dessert on any regular basis. My mom brought us up to believe that yogurt or cottage cheese with canned peaches was dessert. On occasion, she would bake peanut butter cookies and then my little sister and I would get one cookie each, one night a week, before going to bed. That was a treat!

My dad basically went along with my mom's "rules", as long as he had the stuff he liked. He was a major meat and potatoes guy that was raised in the depression and considered things like hot dogs and sliced potatoes to be comfort food.

My parents would usually do the weekly grocery shopping on Saturdays. Sometimes, though, things ran out during the week, or were just missed on the Saturday shopping trip. My sister, Carol, and I were both determined to try this Imperial Margarine. Why not, really? After all, you could eat a piece of bread that was "buttered" with this margarine, and music would play and a crown would suddenly be on your head! Well, who wouldn't want that? We begged my mom for this margarine, but to no avail. She was a Mazola gal all the way. That was the only margarine allowed in our house.

It just so happened that the Mazola was out and an "emergency", out of the weekly norm shopping trip was required. My dad was pegged with that job. My dad was nowhere near as strict with products as my mom. Carol and I went to the store with our dad. Our begging worked with him and luckily we convinced him to get Imperial Margarine instead of Mazola. We were quite excited. The crown was finally in sight!

Well, we got home and unpacked the grocery bag. Much to my mom's horror, we did not bring home Mazola. She hit the roof and demanded this "crap" be returned and replaced with Mazola. We lost the battle. My dad gave in and off to the store he went to return the Imperial. Needless to say, Carol and I were not happy. The crown that was so close, was now completely out of reach.

He did try in so many ways to make us happy (even if my mom didn't approve). I miss my dad, but am happy for the time that I had him in my life. I also respect the fact that no matter how tough it may have been to provide for a family (and yes, my mom worked too), no matter how much he may have wanted to split (he said there were times) or how much he may have wanted to slap me for mouthing off (oh yeah, often), he stuck it out and did the best he could! What more could you ask for?

Happy Father's Day, guys! I share this so that you may understand that the little things you do, really ARE meaningful. You don't have to buy your kid a car to be special (unless you've raised a monster of course). I raise my glass to you and wish you a wonderful day!