I believe.

with all my heart, I believe this. I believe this. I believe this. I believe this SO MUCH, that I could cry.

I'm still trying to decide HOW to share what I know about art with kids... but I'm going to do it. I know without a doubt. This is what I NEED to do.
I'd also like to share THIS video... Thanks, Karen, for a great link!!

SHE'S FINISHED!!

Please prove my husband wrong about anyone but ME being able to tell WHAT Fairy Tale/Nursery Rhyme she's from!! lol One of the cool things about Jane's Gritty Cloth and Clay Doll class, is that once you've paid, you have access to the group. Period. And, she offers a challenge for those who have already had her class, and are there now as doll makers! This is the first challenge I've been able to take part in. The challenge was to create a doll based on a Nursery Rhyme or Fairy Tale.
I will be listing them in my etsy store soon!! She's been listed in my etsy store! SOLD!!!

I chose Alice in Wonderland for my Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales Doll, and used the original artwork for inspiration. One of my favorite parts of the story is the Croquet match using a Flamingo for a mallet. I created the flamingo pattern from scratch!! That was tough, and I'd change a few things if I did it again, but I love the outcome!!


Soooooo... did you know that the flamingo was FOR before I told you!?!? C'mon!! Help a girl out!!

and some days....

and some days i just want to lie in bed and dream about all that makes my heart smile.
dream of things that make the world a happy place.
dream ideas to grow love in my neighborhood.
think memories of those who are no longer here...
feel hugs from those i cannot feel today...

and some days... in my pillows and my thoughts i wish that my time were always mine.
that dishes did not need to be cleaned.
that the trash did not pile so.
that my children would tidy without asking...
that dirt did not do as bunnies do and multiply before my eyes.

and some days i am blessed with thoughtfulness
and love that spills over my cup and onto the floor.
some days i leave the dishes for tomorrow and play in paint instead.
hubby never says he minds.
i will talk on the phone with my dearest friend.
and one day... she will live close enough for play dates.

some days, in the middle of the swirling and the twirling of life around me
i know just who i am. i know just who i want to be.
i see my children for who they are... and who they want to be...
i feel at home in my skin.
i feel my pieces come together.
some days, it's just good.

Ok. THIS one. THIS is THE ONE.

Really. I promise.
I'm
DONE.
NO
MORE
TYPEWRITERS
for me.
At least for a day or two.
I just stopped in for a SECOND... I just walked past the SECTION where they keep the typewriters. There weren't any.

BUT

and that's a big but.
There was a tiny black case.
a
tiny
ALMOST TOO tiny...
very
VERY
VERY
old.
Case.
Just the handle was worth stopping to check... so I cracked the case open...

and THEN....



then....


I saw the KEYS.
and the GREEN
and the METAL...

and I had to get it.
and it WORKS.
and it's the smallest case I've gotten yet.
and I think I will call her Fiona.

yes.
fiona.

I think I need to call a shrink.

Introducing Penelope Wilona Mayor

You can click on the photo and see it larger.
Her name means Desired one who was first. She's my first doll EVER, and I am totally keeping her. :)
She's DONE!! I even altered the class pattern, so she's MINE. My first ORIGINAL art doll. Totally mine. :) I'm pretty excited to have her done!! lol
If you've EVER wanted to make a doll, Jane's Cloth and Clay Doll Class it totally worth it!!

Creations

Working on papery good stuff today!! Getting the art journal prompt ready for tomorrow...
Working with the TallyKit...
My TallyOffice layout...


and playing with the GutterGirlz Prompt...

and working on my DOLL!! Her name is Penelope Wilona Mayor. I think she'll be done by tomorrow!! :)

Starting to Take SHAPE!!

My doll is starting to take shape!! Got her all assembled today in between work and things... and got her primed, and hair and eyes painted!! I'm really liking this class, and the way that she's turning out!!

GENIUS!!

Soooo tomorrow is Valentines Day. This won't help you this year, most likely... but I had to share.
All of my boys have HATED to sign the 25+ obligatory valentines that they have to sign for school valentines. All of the schools we've ever had the kids in required that if you sent for one child, you had to send for all the class. So no one gets left out. All great, until your 5-8 year old realizes that this means SIGNING them all... Yesterday, I had an idea. I hadn't bought valentine's for Josh to take to school yet, and remembered ScrapBlog.com. I decided to make cards that Josh only had to sign ONCE. How? First, I scanned his signature into my computer on a white page. Then, I used a blank background, and put some of the free elements on it. All Boyish, of course. THEN I published that, and saved it to my computer. I added some text to the background, and layered in Josh's signature in with some more text. (the words Being Friends and happy valentines day from) Saved it again, put the image into a business card template, and printed the suckers!! WOOOO HOOOO!! I think they came out AWESOME, and there were NO tears involved. Really, no more time either, considering how PAINFULLY long it takes a kid to sign their name more than five times... ;P

Doll Goodies

This is the story all about how my life got flip turned upside down. I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there..
I'll tell you how I became the queen of clay de'paper...
Ok. I was trying to make it rhyme...
A while ago, Coffee took a doll making class on line, and she loved it.
I've wanted to make dolls for a while now, and thought it sounded too.
Then she SENT me her first doll.
I love her, of course.
Then she told me that Jane was giving another class.
I signed up.
I had already bought a bag of paper clay, and had most of the tools I needed.
Fast forward to the week I actually signed up for the class.
Paper Clay?
What paper clay?
Totally lost.
Cleaned the studio.
SEARCHED the studio.
Looked all over for a bag that might not have gotten unpacked, even though I was pretty sure that I had unpacked the bugger.
OK.
Enough looking.
Get on line.
Go to Mr. Blick's WONDERFUL store...
Buy another bag.
Fast forward again, to today, when I get confirmation of shipment.
Realize that this means, due the the holiday on Monday, I won't see paper clay until WEDNESDAY at the soonest.
SOONEST.
This is not acceptable, so naturally
I went in desparation to the local craft store.
They HAVE paper clay...

HARD AS A ROCK DRIED IN THE BAG PAPER CLAY.

Naturally, I choose the next logical solution.
I drive 25 miles to buy ANOTHER bag.
Do I REALLY need to tell you that I found the FIRST bag I bought IMMEDIATELY after coming home?
Of course I did.
Which means, that come next week, I'll be three deep in paper clay!! lol
BUT it also means that I have the clay to play NOW.
So I did.
She's drying now. First layer of paper clay on. Next stop:
FACE.
I also went to the thrift store for some mugs... because I wanted some mugs for cleaning and water, and doll stuff... I found some.
I also found this!!
It's a sheet. I think it will make a BEAUTIFUL skirt.

More on the doll front later!! I'm off to eat dinner!!

Ahhhhh Yeeeeaaaah.... Sugar Lumps.

If you've got the kiddies around... you might want to wait to press play... lol Nothing SUPER bad... but well... the song's about nuts. And I don't mean peanuts.

and there's this one... it's the one that got me hooked.

Updated Feed information

Feedburner has been taken over by google, and I've moved my feeds to google now. This doesn't really have an effect on any of you, other than the fact that if you want my current feed, you can update your subscriptions to say http://feeds2.feedburner.com/memoriesofminetothine see that 2 after the first feed? That's all you need to change. If you don't know how to do that, don't worry, you'll still be able to get things the same way you always have, it's just that your feed gets forwarded to the new one, and I think that might mean a little less fresh for you.

Typewriters LISTED

I've listed my typewriters that I'm not keeping on Etsy if you're interested!! http://DoOverDesigns.etsy.com.

He Loves Me

I was sitting here in bed a while ago this morning, and heard noises from the kitchen... when I went out later to investigate, I found this.

He washed the dishes for me. ALL of them. He loves me.
If I can manage to stop coughing long enough, I might thank him PROPER tonight... ;P

Ian jammed a finger during basketball the other night. It's not looking very pretty. He insists that there's no need to go to the Dr.

Doesn't it look like it's about ready to burst?

PS... I'll have you know he was quite the sport to pose for these. Apparently, the bending is an issue.

Alive

I'm alive!! No photos... no news... just a stuffy head and body aches. I've been in bed since Thursday night, really. Called into all jobs. I thought I was rockin the wellness track today when I woke up, so I went to WalMart to return an online order...
DUDE.
Did you KNOW how fast you must "change your mind" in order to be able to cancel an on line order!?!? I couldn't do it two hours after I placed my order at NIGHT. So I had to wait for it to come, and then, I took it to the store.
At any rate.
I went to WalMart today, because I was feeling better, and I didn't have to work until 3:30 at the coffeehouse.
Yeah.
Until I got into town, and suddenly discovered that my brain was on fire.
That, or I had a knife in my eye.
Either way.
It hurt.
So I drove home, called work and went to bed.
AGAIN.
Time off is great and all,
but when you're ALREADY behind on house stuff, and you have a ton of creative things you want to do...
Not so much.
So I've been sleeping mostly.
When I'm not talking to Coffee. The headache is better tonight. I'm hoping that will last through tomorrow... I might actually get some thing done.
Until then... check out my creative things link.
I totally signed up.
Mostly because Coffee made me.
Check out HER dolls...

Pay it Forward

It's been a while since I played this, and it was fun to do last time... so I'm doing it again!!
Pay it Forward... it's played like THIS:
The first three people to comment on this post (with a way to contact them back and shows an interest in this challenge) will receive a gift (a very nice+sweet gift) from me, sometime within the next 365 days. Who knows when it will turn up, or what it will be, but rest assured, it will arrive. All you have to do is promise to make the same declaration on your blog, and send out gifts to three of your lovely readers. Simple, and fun. And you have a whole YEAR to do something.
Thanks, Jo... I had forgotten about this one.
ETA:
OK gals, I'm full on the love that I can give... but if you visit the first four gals who have volunteered here, you might be able to get in on one of THEIR goodies!!

Hold Your Own...

Know Your name...
and Go Your Own Way.
Jason Mraz, I think you are a kindred spirit. I also think I need to make most of your songs my moto. I love love love Details in the Fabric. Love it.
Just for any of you out there who come into contact with me in person... (or even on line)
I'm Holding my OWN. I'm knowing MY name. I'm going my own way. That may mean that I have less to say to you. Mostly because I'm just ready to stop trying to talk to EVERYONE. To get my point across to EVERYONE. Chances are, unless I ASK you for your opinion, I don't WANT it. Please don't be offended. I just have some things made up in my mind. I'm a pretty confident person. I'm getting a little tired of people mistaking my past year of depression as uncertainty. They give me their opinions and I haven't asked. The fact is, I don't NEED to ask. I know where I am. I know WHO I am. It's OK for me to express my pain. It's OK for me to be happy about whatever I want. It's OK for me to PURSUE my joy. I plan to start going MY way. It's OK if you don't get it. It's OK for you to think I'm wrong. You aren't guiding me. This post isn't really directed at any person in particular. Just felt like it should be out on "paper". I have friends that I can turn to if I really have a doubt about something. I'm not listening to the doubters. I'm not listening to the nay sayers. I'm following the path that I KNOW I should be on. That's all I'm sayin.