pookieville

meet Mr. Mashimaro

You know when you are kid and you tell your Mom that the puppy just followed you home?

Look what followed me home. Really. 

He followed me up 43 stairs into the house, and rubbed on Harry's leg about a month ago. He hasn't left yet. I tried- but sometimes that cat decides. He is wonderful. He has brought peace to our house... he plays with Poe and they both leave Jackson alone, so now everyone is happy and no more cat fights. As you can see from this picture, he is also really good at helping with the kitchen remodel.

something new.

Sometimes you get kind of stuck. I'm stuck. I am working on some new things, and I am not there yet, but this is what I am workin on... keep your fingers crossed I get un-stuck and find the place I am supposed to be!

this is acrylic on wood with encaustic-

I promised..

My friend Denise and I high fived each other over the phone when we found out we had been chosen to be in Art on Palm in Altadena. 37 or so artist , tucked away in the hills and park like setting on Palm Ave. in Altadena with Valentine Cottage to keep us company.  Traffic was a little slow, but we met so many interesting, and fun people. It is always good to get out, get some feedback, and sell! I don't have a picture of our complete tent, but we were very pleased with it. We had made triangle kind of garlands, all white on white to give the illusion of wall without blocking the view. They also gave a very fun festive air to our tent, and look great in the breeze. Denise brought along her vintage baby bed to show off her pillows. This shot doesn't do them justice. I think I got it before she finished adding pillows. It was really hard to not plop down and take a little nap in the warm afternoon.

and some of her pillows...

I had a big basket of my monsters, next to our sign in table- a vintage suitcase and a rustic sidewalk find stool..

And then there  were my owls...

Walt here was enjoying the great outdoors.

this one, and my collage blocks were perched on an old wood ladder- another sidewalk find.

All in all- a good day!

 

one more

Sorry for this... one more post without pictures. I have not been using my own computer lately. I don't know why, I am just suddenly uncomfortable with it. My last post was from work. Hehe. And this one is from Harry's laptop- enjoying the quiet, coffee, and early morning. Well, enjoying the quiet and the coffee. I wish I was still in bed and had the time to allow myself to wake up naturally. It seems I have become so delicate.... or temperamental... I have been on some kind of "schedule" for the last 3 weeks, and I feel like I am gonna just crack at any moment. The worst part is that lots of those things in the "schedule" are good things. Just too many. No time to just wake up naturally- to sleep as long as my body needs.  OR time to just goof off and play..It really  bothers me to be so scheduled, and yet I do it to myself all the time. Harry has even stopped trying to make me not do it. He just watches, then picks up the pieces of the crumbled me when the you know what hits the fan. So my picture less post and my question to you today is - do you do this too? Do you over schedule yourself, and then implode? and were you ever able to fix it? I feel like I am just about to  figure it out  like a curtain will open and I will get why I get in this place...  My fantasy is that on this wonderfully overcast day.. I was just pulling weeds in my garden. Oh, and that my phone got lost for about 6 hours. O.k. I am off to save the tiny part of the world I am in charge of-that was a joke. AND though this post might seem a bit dismal... not to worry, there is a massage in my day today- and hopefully a better attitude. I hope you have a wonderful day. xoxo

 

Hi There!

I know- I've been gone so long. After a while it seemed almost impossible to get back to it because it had been so long. I think a word for it is procrastination. If you makes you feel any better, I have missed you all ( or both ) and I do talk to you all the time. To break the ice today I just wanted to share with you how spacey I have been the last few days. You might be able to relate. I was in the shower and had already washed my face with the special face cream , when in a daze I reached over for the heinously expensive conditioner, put a dab in my hand and proceed to wash my face with it . Oy. Now my face lots of bounce I guess. I swear I was trying to reach my hair to my face to save as much as I could. That incident along with the 10 cups of coffee I accidentally brewed last night at midnight pretty much sum up how things are going. Nothing really bad, but generally ridiculous.

I will have some pictures to share soon- and I will try to not wait so long between visits.

Have a great week!!

 

My monsters are better traveled than me.

This is Etinne. This is Etinne waiting for her flight to Asia. Lucky monster!

 

I know what you think...

You think I am not doing anything. Well I've done TWO things. So there. One thing is that I put ( finally) batteries in my camera. Hoooooray! Thing two is that I have been sewing my behind off getting monsters out into the world!!

Wanna see how cute they look when they are all ready to go?

Can you see the excitement on their little monster faces? Well look harder- its there.

Also, last night I got to go to French General to see what kind of magical creative stuff Kaari Meng has been up to. First off, if you have never been to French General, go. Now.  It is like creative heaven. So much great stuff to look at you just don't know where to look first. Kaari has collected, found, maybe even stolen some of the most amazing fabric, beads and bits you will find. Most are old which makes them that much better, BUT get this, she in her creative genius has teamed up with Jolee's paper and is now producing French General inspired paper packs and bead button packs based on the antique versions. Really, I just wanted to lay on the floor and oogle them. Jolee has been around for some time, I respect the quality of their product, but it has always been kind of cutsis  for me. But now with the French General line, it is a whole different game. I just went to the Jolee site, and I don't see the products yet, but believe me it is gonna knock your socks off! So definitely keep you eyes out for it. I also had the opportunity to meet some of Kaari's family. Her equally talented sister Mollycreates wonderful cards, and teaches at French General when she is in town. On sunday she did a journal class and when I saw the sample I was bummed out I had missed it. Molly and I hit it off because we both are paperophiles ( yes I think I  did make up that word). Trash paper? No such thing! Anyway, a new friend found and a great new blog to read!!!

Happy Monday my creative Friends!!

random-ish kinda stories that are very self incriminating ~

I hate to perpetuate the crazy cat lady thing, and yet, I do it all the time. O.K.  So, here goes! I had a friend once, who told me a story of when a pet communicator visited her home.  When she encountered the cat, she informed my friend that the cat ( who had some kind of normal name)  said his real name was Water boy , and would like to be called that. From then on the cat was Water boy. That is the preface for my story.  

The other morning I was in bed, and Poe came up and walked all over and settled in next to me for a big ole' purr fest. This is a rare event. He is not a lap cat my any stretch of the imagination, and he tolerates only so much of that loving up business. I am still in a sleep stupor and as I pet him, he is just so happy and purring and all of a sudden a name pops into my head, and I know it is his. Ready.... Fern Dog. Hum... I am now a bit more awake, and and wondering why Fern Dog has popped into my head so strongly. I say it to him, and he licks me. You can imagine the look I got from Harry when I told him this story. That's right- nothing, he is used to this. And yet by the end of the day he too is now called the cat Fern Dog. I spent the morning in the yard and that cat shadowed me the whole time. Again, not his norm. He is more of the solitary kind of guy. I kept asking him if that was his name, and he would sit on my new plants. So, there we have it, Mr. Poe/Fern Dog. And I swear I am not crazy. much.

In other news, I was making these super cute bird seed hearts to hang in the trees. CUTE! Yes, well it turns out if you make them in little heart molds, and put tooth picks in them  to make the holes for the string later, and leave them on a cookie sheet to set up, your husband will eat one.  Poor husband. If you possible want one that Harry didn't try to eat, they are for sale at Zinnia,

Happy Monday my friends!

Dear residents of Pookieville~

Oh how I have missed you. It has been such a busy time.... Mr. H had hip replacement surgery and that has taken center stage in our lives for a bit. Happy to say that he is doing so much better than the Dr.'s expected and it has already changed our lives in  such a positive way. We are slated to do the other hip in March. 

So much "stuff" happened this last year. Very challenging stuff. The kind of stuff that makes you act like an adult. I am happy to say that the "stuff" didn't win. We made it through and we learned and we grew. I do have high hopes for 2012. I am looking for a more fun and peaceful year. To start it off I spent some time this morning doing one of my favorite things. Gardening in my bare feet and P.J.'s I want to wish you all a happy 2012 and hope it is filled with lots of P.J. gardening, or whatever it is that recharges you and makes you happy. 

xoxo

 

I am mostly sure my neighbors

don't know that I blog. Thank goodness. It turns out that H and I are mildly wicked. Here is our story of wickedness.

Friday was such a lovely day- one that begged to be napped during, and since I was busy during most of the day, I snuck a little late nap in. Needless to say I awoke 1 hour later, stupider than usual. Nap hang-over. It happens. It was nearing 7 pm ( don't judge me ) and I figured I had better start figuring for dinner. I tossed something in the microwave to defrost and headed out to water the yard, and hopefully get some of my brain working again. I came back in to H announcing that " Pizzashere!" and on the dining room table sat a huge pizza box.

me- "oh you ordered pizza..."

H- "no"

me - " is that pizza?"

H- "yes - didn't you order it?"

me-" I was sleeping"

H- "yeah I was wondering how you ordered pizza while you were sleeping"

My sleep hangover is in high gear now and I am feeling a little like Alice and a rabbit plus one pizza.

me-"you ordered it- right"

H-"nope- paid for it though- get plates"

me-" you really didn't order it?"

H- "nope- a man shows up at the door with pizza, I pay for it and start eating."

me- "so it is like magic pizza?"

H-"yup"

I still don't really believe him- and I am thinking I don't want to eat random pizza, but he tells me it is from our local place, so now I am all in. Who knew I was that easy? I open the box and start laughing- He really didn't order it. He could never have ordered this pizza- his standard order is pepperoni and extra garlic. This pizza is every veggie you ever saw on one half plus jalapeno, and the other half is goat cheese and basil! We dig in. I decide that magic pizza is tastier than pizza you order yourself- H agrees. Second piece in, H looks over the receipt to see what the order actually was. He hands it over for me to read, and what I see... is my neighbors name and address! We have just kinda stolen our neighbors pizza! I grab the phone and dial and of course have crust in my mouth as I explain to pizza girl that my husband thought I ordered, but I didn't , and he paid, and then HE ate it, and then I saw that it was supposed to go across the street... when you say it all in one sentence, with pizza in your mouth, I don't understand why she didn't get it. Silly girl. Second time through she got it. "You mean you don't live at XXX? " " That's right! but my husband ate their pizza - that he paid for. Please send another one to XXX super fast!" And so that is why Harry and I are kinda wicked. I have not seen the neighbors yet. I may never- if I am lucky. I don't know if they know, I don't think I want to know if they know or what they think of us in our wickedness, all I have to say is- magic pizza is really good.