No More Babies...

It's been one busy after another over here!! I'm getting ready for a BIG trip to Texas, and planning for not only myself, but classes I will be teaching while I'm there, AND for the boys while I'm gone too!!
Last week, we took a break and went to the lake with a friend... and caught water dogs. Macs was even bold enough to hold them!!

And as if I didn't have enough proof that I no longer have LEETLE kids...

Macs took his FIRST overnight trip to Grammas... As you can see, he was REALLY nervous about it.

Maybe he wasn't SO nervous because he had his big brother with him...

Either way. I'm not the mommy of babies anymore... and to put the final bit of SALT in it all... I'm leaving in two min. to take Ian to get his learner's permit...
::sob::
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Dirt

Dirt.
It's a common theme in our house.
Right now, it's everywhere.
Mostly in our backyard, but it's creeping into the house too.
It's also the reason that I haven't blogged in
FOR
EVER.
We filled our pool.
We didn't fill it with water.
We filled it with DIRT.
LOTS and LOTS of dirt.
27 dump truck loads of DIRT.

I'm a little sad that we won't have the chance to catch poliwogs and grow them into frogs, but I won't miss the TIME and ENERGY that Travis spent on the pool care for the one week of warm enough weather we had here on the coast for an un heated pool. Things were old... things were broken... and to fix it would have taken a LOT of cash.
In the end, we found a FREE fill dirt source, and and a GREAT deal from a dump truck owner who not only gave us the use of his truck, but RAN it the entire day.
And then there's Grampa Jim.

Who came and ran the tractor all day, so that we could get that dirt IN.
Here's the photo I like to call
The Last of the Blue...

This picture says everything you need to know about what kind of grampa Grampa Jim is, and how much my boys love that man.

And this one says everything you need to know about how a little boy feels to be "helping" his grampa.

so it's done... and my hubby even put in the fire pit!! I'll try to get out and get some good photos SOON.
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Fun award

I don't always post when I get an award, but Vicki's Honest Scrap Award to me was a cool one, and it's been a while since I posted, so here's to it!!


The rules for this award are:

1. To post 10 honest things about myself and post the award on my blog.
2. To give this award to some people who follow my blog. So, I nominate the following followers of my blog:

Marlene
Bee
MotherMack
Lizzie
Jen

My Ten Things:

1. I am not a crap taker. If you have crap. I won't take it. Please don't bother trying.
   
2. I take people at their word.
   
3. #2 has backfired on me.
4. I LOVE octopus. Alive AND on my plate.
5. I am a spicy food lover.
6. Turns out, I'm probably have some Mexican blood in my veins... even though my great gramma denied this.
7. I like creamer more than coffee.
   
8. I have no desire what so ever to be the mother of a little girl.
9. I do like spoiling my friend's girls, but I like sending them home too. :)
10. I'm planning my next tattoo.
    

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Epublication!!

Recently, I "met" a fellow Oregonian and artist on line, and she creates an AMAZING Ezine... called Altered Bits. Alicia also has an amazing website where you can view her work!! Her latest Zine called for art using odd numbers, and while I was working over photos of Josh and My Disintegration Project, I noticed that the significant numbers on the piece are all ODD! So I submitted to the Zine... AND SHE PUBLISHED IT!! You can see the Ezine HERE. We are on page three, next to my friend Kerin!! Alicia's next call is for Black and White... and it makes me want to make a DOLL for that one... we'll see....
Leaving you with some photos from the yard today!! It was misty last night, and today, the water droplets are STUNNING!! This is a Peony I planted last (?) year... it's first blooms for me!!

The bumble bees REALLY like this "weed"... but isn't it a danged PRETYT thing? I love it. Wild and stunning, and sweet, apparently!! lol Look at all that pollen on the bee's legs...

One of my newer DayLillies... it's such a pretty thing... this is the first bloom on that one this year.

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WOW.

Is it possible to be high on good news? Because I'm pretty sure, I'm high.
I got some
Gee
Oh
Oh
Dee
GOOOOOOOOOD news today!! I'm still in shock. WAY in shock.
Because the shipping to send my the circus freaks to Somerset Magazine's Art Doll Quarterly wouldn't be cheap, I thought I would put out a feeler to the editor about whether or not they would even be interested in them before I sent them. I sent a photo via email, and a quick note explaining them, and hit send before I could change my mind.
I didn't really think that much about it, because I figured it would take some time for them to look them over, and IF they wanted them, I thought they would email... but if they didn't, I didn't expect to hear from them at all...
So I was really surprised when I checked my email today...
"We love your French Circus dolls and I have GOOD NEWS! They have been selected for publication in Art Doll Quarterly."
HOLY.
SHIT.
I'm so excited I am beside myself!! Soooo Come Feb. 2010, I should have my dolls PUBLISHED!!!
Annnnnd... in other news... I'm taking a couple dolls with me to the Texas TallyRally to raffle off... and have been wanting to make a miniature one... so using a pre made body (that I bought before I learned more about doll making) I sculpted a head and face, and made a teeny girl!! I even made her a mini tag for her back. I've put a dime in the picture for size reference.

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Circus Theme FINISHED

No seriously. They're DONE!!! lol I covered a cork board with dictionary papers, and then paint washed them in red and white circus tent stripes!! lol ALSO... I got Bernard's weights finished too. I'm pretty tickled with how they came out!!

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Traveling Circus

I'm SOOOOO lucky!! I'm taking part in an assemblage project with three other AMAZING women... Kerin, Alicia, and Jo... (who's link I can't get to at the moment) We're working on a project, where each of us start our own assemblage, and send it on to the next gal. Each project will be worked on by all four of us, and I have to say, I'm SO excited to see how they all turn out!! Funny, it turns out that three of the four of us are Oregon gals, and the other is in the UK!! so exciting.
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I made this using the Father's Day KIT at TallyScrapper.com!! One of the things my mom always likes are pages made by me with my favorite memories from childhood... I'm always crediting her with so much in terms of my childhood, and I often neglect to give my dad the credit he deserves for his contribution to my childhood and who I am. So this book will fix a bit of that. :)
This kit is PERFECT for so many things!! It's a great little book, and I LOVED playing with the glimmer mist!! Which, I should add, are colors that I don't already have, and I have just about all the colors Tally ever sold. :) AND the kit went up for sale TODAY!!

You can see more of my book HERE if you'd like!! But FIRST. You need to go NOW to the store and GET YOUR KIT!! Remember! You can save your kit and have it sent later with other things... like the MONTHLY kit coming in a few more days!! Just choose to have it "saved as TallyLove" until you're ready to ship more things, and only pay ONCE for shipping of all your items!! Pretty good deal, especially for time like these, when every penny counts, and you'd still like a treat now and then!!

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Wreck This Journal / The Next Chapter

When I heard about The Next Chapter's project to work through Keri Smith's Wreck This Journal, I knew I wanted to do it. I also knew I needed to take the boys on this journey with me. So I purchased a book for Josh and Ian. I plan to make a journal for Macs by writing down the prompts that he can do, and allowing him to play with us that way. I even broke down and bought Macs his own copy. I've been really excited about the boy's having their very own copies of the book. I just knew that this book is a book for them. I was so right. Josh opened his journal, and promptly asked if he could start NOW. Of course I said yes, and he turned to the page that says "pour, spill, drip, spit, spill your coffee here."
and he
SPIT.
ALL OVER IT.
And that is why I love that boy. He never once asked WHY I would want to take a book and "ruin" it. Instead, he read the first page of the book, and wanted to jump right in with me. Ian is ready too. Ready to let loose and forget the "rules" and just enjoy a process.
And we'll do it together. Here on this blog, along with many many others who are taking part in this adventure...
And I'm doing it with my boys. This book was MADE to be worked on with kids. And I decided that my kids were totally worth the price of their OWN original books.

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Madame Encree

Her name means Inked Lady... I've had a migraine since last night, and so only finished her tonight... so I'll have to work on getting better pictures. I have plans for a "frame" of sorts for the three of them to be displayed on, so when I get that done, I'll be sure to post better photos. I'm planning to send the three of them off to Art Doll Quarterly... I HOPE they get published!! As usual, I used old pillowcases for the body of the doll, and for her skirt, I used a drape that I bought at the thrift store. I'll try to get better photos of the vintage jewelry that I used on her waist and hairpiece. Her tattoos are all made with sharpie marker. They took FOREVER... lol

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So much to do...

So little time... lol It's been so long... and I have so much I'd like to SAY!!
but
work calls today, anyway, and so things will have to wait for a bit longer.
Let's just say I'm READY for summer. READY. We are counting down the days, and the days are DRAGGING.
I'm so excited that we aren't RETURNING to school next year.
I ordered a few books from Amazon, and like I mentioned earlier... some BUGS to hatch, and butterfly caterpillars to grow into butterflies.
Yesterday, I ordered some of the supplies for my big class I'm teaching at the TallyRally in July!! I'm really excited!! I have to get some more things ready before the middle of the month, so I can ship them to Christine. Well.... I better get outta here... still have to shower.
Leaving you with a couple of the newest Year in the Life of an Art Journal prompts!!

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