Christmas movies, music and more

This will feel like a scattered post, but that's the way I am these days. The time is flying! and Christmas will be here before you know it.
If you look on the right side of my blog you will notice I added a widget for you to listen to an all Christmas music radio station, or if you like, further down, I have added a playlist of music I chose, for your listening pleasure :-)
The sun finally came out this weekend, so I photographed some of my decorations, but then my computer decided not to accept my camera card! So no pics for now, however, I did watch a couple of Christmas movies.

The first one is called 'Fallen Angel' with Gary Sinese. It was a nice, slow paced but enjoyable movie, about a workaholic man who is alienated from his father for many years, and goes back home after getting a call from the hospital saying his father is ill.  I won't spoil it, but anyone who enjoys a nice slow romance will enjoy it. Worth watching.

Next was a movie called 'Silver Bells' about a Nova Scotia tree farmer who is raising his 2 kids since the death of his wife. A few minutes into it, I realized I had read the book a while ago. This is a Hallmark film, as was the previous one I wrote about, and I would also recommend this. Again, there is a romantic element to it, and of course, a happy ending. Great movies to sit on a cozy couch, make yourself a hot beverage, and enjoy.
One that I thought I would like but was very disappointed in is 'Snow 2: Brain Freeze'. I watched 'Snow' last year, and it was a cute film! I would recommend the first if you get a chance, in fact, I may rent it again.

Now if you are looking for a nice Christmas CD as background music, for when you have friends over, I discovered 'A Black Tie Christmas' by Atilla Fias. I purchased through iTunes, and it is a wonderful addition to my hundreds of Christmas CDs, lol!
It is instrumental, and very laid back, not at all my style, but for some reason, it is very easy to listen to. Preview the album on iTunes and let me know what you think.

Can you believe I got another Blog award? this time from the talented Nicola Toms. I appreciate it when people still think of me, (even though I am notoriously bad at following
through). Thank you again Nicola!

thanks for indulging me dear readers....
I would love to hear your thoughts on any Christmas movies you have enjoyed. Feel free to recommend or talk about them in the comments section. From now till Christmas, let's share our thoughts of music and movies, or anything else you enjoy about the season.

Back from Montreal

Late last night we got back from our 2 day trip to Montreal. I love it there! the food, the shopping....there are malls  downtown that go on and on, you could wander all day, and not see everything.
I spent more than I should have, but we only do this once a year. I am disappointed that there was no snow. It's been a strange fall here too, nothing at all for the month of November, you would never know this was Canada.  Before I left I was working mostly on ACEOs - like the mermaid you see above.  I've done a few more of the owls, more of my whimsical Sugarbugs, including one of my favorites with her snowman too. Can you tell I have snow on my mind, lol?

 

I am still waiting for a sunny day so that I can photograph some of my Christmas decorations....
and shortly I will begin discussing Christmas movies. I'm a wee bit behind this week, so thought I'd give a quick update.
I'm feeling the urge to paint larger angels and icons, since it has been a while since I did that.  I sketched for hours on the train back, and have some interesting ideas to work on. Some interesting girls made their way onto my pages, now the trick is to see how well I can make them happen on canvas, that's the tough part!
I will leave you with this photo of an over 3 storey high Christmas tree, filled with cute little scenes like this one. I went to 3 different floors photographing different angles of it, but found most of the pics ended up blurry :-(

Wanna see my hooters?

You naughty thing! I meant my owls, lol! Here are a couple of the ACEOs I've been working on, called my Holiday owls. They look better in person, but I give up, I can't seem to get good scans. So far I think I have done about 6 of them...and am working on some more penguins, and my little sugarbugs.
(For those asking, they are up on Ebay).

It feels nice to create something new, I was in a bit of a slump. Although I haven't made any angel or Christmas fairies yet, but they are coming soon. So are pendants once my supplies get in, yay!


Today a few of us went to see 'Disney's Christmas Carol' in 3-D which was great! You felt like you could reach out and touch Mr. Scrooge's face. They did an incredible job with the cinematography Some of the angles were clever. I especially enjoyed the scenes in the streets of London, I could almost pretend I was walking in Victorian England in the snow, with horse drawn carriages going by. I would recommend this to everyone, except small children.
They showed a preview of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland which comes out next March, and I can't wait! Johnny Depp is the Mad Hatter, and he looks fabulous! The best part is it is in 3-D as well!

I updated to the more advanced version of blogger, which
is supposed to make it easier to  for add photos, but I can't figure
out how to move them where I want them. If my page looks goofy, I apologize, I keep clicking and dragging, but they won't go where I
want. Until I press the 'publish' button, I won't know how it looks.

Last but not least, I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to my
American friends! May you all have a safe and happy holiday, filled with blessings.

Seasonal Art and an update

It's been a while since my last blog post! If I recall correctly, I was going to decorate my home that weekend...well, that did not happen. In fact I got up Saturday, looked around at all the things I had to remove to make way for the Christmas stuff, and couldn't get motivated. I may have gone shopping instead, lol!
I finally did make myself get it all done last week, and will share pictures, if the sun ever comes out! It's been gloomy out the last couple of days when I come home from work.

Artwise I haven't done much...only a few new ACEOs I'm working on, including a series of Christmas owls, yes you heard that correct, lol! I've found myself busy with other things, and it's just a matter of time before I sit down, and paint for several hours straight. I don't feel like I have been creative lately, and it bothers me every day that goes by without art. ( the painting you see here of my Snow girl was done earlier in the year).

Anyway, enough of that....is anyone watching the Vampire Diaries? How about Survivor? I love those shows, and look forward to my Thursday evenings.
The new Twilight movie -New Moon - is out tomorrow, can't wait to see it! Now you know I love Edward, but this Youtube clip is hilarious! I can't remember if I ever added it to my blog, but here it is, Buffy vs. Edward. Being a Buffy fan from way back, this one made me laugh...
 

Right now I am sitting here eating the last of the $10 package of Chocolate crunch that I bought at a craft show today. Damn chocolate! I can't eat just one piece, it is so irresistible!  Chocolate and sweets are my weakness. I say to myself if I eat it all now, I won't have any to tempt me tomorrow, is that not crazy??

I know I am late but I would like to take the time to thank Abi, a member of the  ArtDollsOnly blog for awarding me the Creaviv blogger award! I am truly thankful that you would include my wee blog :-)

This weekend I hope to work on a Christmas fairy painting, time is running out!

So what are your plans for the weekend?

Quick update

First off, I want to say thanks to all who commented on my previous post. It's nice to know you are not alone in feeling scattered when it comes to art. I love comments and appreciate you sharing your stories. Keep 'em coming :-)

Yesterday we had our first snow...but not the pretty fluffy kind. We had some crazy driving winds that almost knocked me over, and little ice pellets that were hitting your face,  making it difficult to walk. It did however, start me thinking about decorating,which is what I will be doing this weekend. I want it done as soon as possible, rather than a bit each night, which is what I normally do.  It should be interesting to see how long I last, lol, as it is a very exhausting process. I will post some photos.

The painting you see here was done early this year, after the holidays. It was too late for me to list it so I stored it away until now. 
I am working on some ideas for Christmas cards. I'd like to offer packages of cards, but it is not practical to do them myself. Does anyone have any advice? Do you print your own cards, or is there somewhere to send them?
There will also be pendants coming soon. I've wanted to make my own for a while, but haven't found the time yet.

Lastly, if you are looking to get some of your shopping done early, consider the ACEO bounty holiday sale, going on until Nov 22nd. There are 11 shops participating so far, and super deals. I even did a bit of shopping there myself tonight.  The link above takes you to the blog where you can see links to each Etsy shop.

Aimless Drifters Unite!

As you may know I love reading art blogs. I enjoy taking a peek at the person behind the art, and watching them grow artistically. It also feels like I am reading a letter from a friend, as that is how I see a lot of the art community here.

So I thought I'd offer a peek into this artist's mind. I have been thinking about my direction in art lately. I've always believed that learning new techniques is very important for growth. I love the thrill of learning something new, and especially the friendships found in workshops, and various Ning groups. However, I seem to be drifting from one thing to the next. I am pulled in many directions: art journaling, ACEOs, mixed media, illustration, folk art...on and on... The problem is, I love all them all, and refuse to pick one or two to focus on.

Reading some blogs today made me wish for a bit of direction. Some artists talk about how they feel guided on this path, and how things just fall into place for them. They say this is an exciting adventure, and feel they are growing spiritually as well as artistically.

Am I the only one who feels kind of left out? like where is my path? and why don't I have things falling into place to let me know I am where I should be? I don't feel like I am being guided in my 'journey'. It's just me and my paints, working late into the night, trying to make the image on paper reflect the vision in my mind. It sometimes gets lonely being an artist.

I do what I do because I love it, it brings me joy, and I can't imagine a world without creating...I like to think I am inspired to do so.
Maybe the problem is I love art too much, and let myself get frustrated over the fact that there is so much I want to do, but never enough time. After working full time, doing errands, and all the other stuff that needs to be done, sometimes you think: 'why bother'?

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm feeling sorry for myself, lol! The point of this post was to show people that I don't have it all together, that I am working through these issues one at a time. Things have never just magically fallen into place for me, I have to work for everything I get. It is determination, and a strong desire that keeps me going, even when I want to give up.
For those of you who can relate, just know that you don't need any outside guidance, or approval. You are enough. You have enough right now, where you are. There is no one, or nothing that can stop you but yourself. And it is your own soul, your own inner voice that will never let you down. Don't listen to the other voice that says 'its too late', or 'why bother'...that voice will paralyze you.

We're all in this together folks, so lets continue supporting each other.

*The painting above is one of my older works, before I discovered mixed media.

Time for a Sale

hi everyone, hope your Halloween was fun! I ended up dressing up as a witch and going to a restaurant with friends for a bit. Not too many kids came by our house, maybe it was due to the high winds, and fear of them blowing away, lol!

Or, perhaps the fact that we don't have front stairs at the moment :-)
Me or my sis would watch out the door for any kids coming by, and have to lean down and drop the chocolates in their bags.

Now that Halloween is over, it's time for me to think of Christmas art. Therefore, I am taking part in the Aceo Bounty Holiday Sale with some Etsy sellers. I'd like to clear out my shop a bit to make room for other art, so am offering all ACEO's for half price. If you don't know what an ACEO is, it is a miniature work of art, the size of a playing card.
Some original paintings are marked down too.
Please check out the blog for more details, you can see all other sellers participating as well.


I'm not sure what to work on next..In one week I will slowly start bringing out my Christmas decorations, which means my house will be a mess while I move non-Christmas items to the basement, and bring the decorations up. Lots of planning, and lots of headaches, I don't know why I put myself through this every year! but in the end it is always worth it. This would be a good week to work on some new ideas I have had, but as of yet, I've spent most of the day on my computer, getting caught up on my fave blogs.
I need a serious dose of motivation right about now, lol!

Hi Fellow bloggers!
Thank goodness you can't see me... I'm in my fuzzy pyjamas, drinking coffee and watching the Vampire Diaries. I have a face mask on ( imagine making a batch of oatmeal mix for muffins, then smooshing it on your face, lol! then you will know how it looks and smells, ah, but it leaves your skin soft).

Work has been crazy busy! Some co-workers are off sick, so it's been hectic. I've been washing my hands until they're raw, so many people are walking around sick. I will not get the H1N1 vaccine though, there is way too much controversy over it. I will be taking my vitamin D, and C, and have a supply of Oregano oil just in case. Let's see if I can avoid this flu naturally.
I know some of you have caught it already, please take care of yourselves, and do whatever you can to make yourself more comfortable until it passes.

artwise, I've mostly worked on journal pages. I'm taking Kelly Kilmer's Prompt a Day class with hopes of being more comfortable with art journaling. I love it! I will show some pages a bit later.
I've started working on some ACEOs too, the girl below is one of them, and they are done on vintage book pages.

Are you all looking forward to Halloween? I bought a few packages of chocolates and chips to give out to the kids, unfortunately, I've opened the packages and have been snacking away on them - oops! So I will have to pick up some more tomorrow. Darn snacks, they are my weakness.
Have a safe and fun Halloween everyone! and don't be sneaking your kid's candy when they're not looking, lol!

Doggies in costume

My friend forwarded these internet images to me and I thought I'd share a few with you. Look at these cute little pups in their Halloween costumes! The beagle is my favorite because that's the kind of dog we've always had, and he looks hilarious!




I do not claim copyright on any of these (just so no one comes after me, lol).

Today is rainy, dreary, and very windy. You should see my yard, filled with yellow leaves from my maple tree. This is the perfect day to stay in, wrapped in a blanket, sipping coffee and watching tv.
Last night I rushed to finish my sketch for Illustration Friday. I decided I didn't like it, and why bother putting it up when the theme was about to change the next day. I seem to be missing deadlines constantly. Anyway, after looking at it on my floor today, I thought why not...it's a simple sketch, with a bit of humor. We were supposed to depict the word 'frozen', so I thought, what freezes? computers!!
Anyone whose had their computer freeze in the middle of work, will understand.

oh, and so no one thinks my girls are behaving badly, she is shaking her fist under the censored button, lol!

Finished WIP, and some thanks

hi friends! If you read my last post you saw the painting I'd been doing for my sister's birthday present. Here is the almost finished version. There are still a couple more things I want to fix up, like the headband..I will be adding tiny flowers and crystal to it. It was so late Saturday night, I couldn't stay up any longer, lol! My sis now says this is her favorite artwork so far, which always makes an artist feel like the hard work is worth it.

I added more layers using stamped tissue paper and vintage paper, then gesso'd it loosely. More layers of creme paint were added, a bit more rubber stamping, then the fun stuff like gold stars, and gold leaf, and some gold mica powder.
(for those of you looking for a nice creme paint, Golden's 'titan buff' is wonderful! If you don't have this color, I highly recommend it, it is gorgeous and very versatile).

I must admit here, I am a bad blogger! I have received blog awards, and always make a mental note to thank them on my blog...well, you can see where this is going, lol! I swear I am so scatterbrained. If you have given me a blog award and I haven't thanked you yet, I apologize. You don't know how many times I plan to do it in the evening when I get home, only to forget.

So I will take the time here to thank some people:
First of all, a big thank you to Julia for making me her featured artist on her blog this week. Please check out her blog, she has lots of great stuff there!

Thank you to Linda for honoring me with the 'best blog award'! You must see her journal pages!

and Thank you to Carole, photographer extraordinaire, for the Deborah Award.

Now I must get working on a couple of new ACEOs I want to create for EBAY Groups Nibblefest Art Contest...this month's theme is Halloween, and it's been a while since I added anything on EBAY.

Work in progress

I thought I'd write a blog post about my latest painting while my !#*!! computer was still working! Someone set me up with wireless internet, and it is crappy! it cuts out, it is slow, and I haven't sworn this much in a very long time.
I can't wait until Monday, I am going back to my old dependable modem -unless my internet provider can get in here and figure out what is going wrong.

Tomorrow is my little sis's birthday, and I started this painting very late. She loves my Winking Diva paintings, but wants larger ones for her living room, so I am attempting to get this done by tonight. It is 12 x 24, and this is where I am at.
I tried something different this time, I based the background with a wash of Nickel Azo yellow, then loosely added a creme paint on top, and now have added tissue. I am undecided where to go with this, but I am thinking of having it mostly creme and neutrals, sort of like a wintry scene. I think I will collage butterflies, and maybe birds in her hair and around the background...who knows. Unfortunately I am planning this around the colors of her living room, which is not what I normally do.
I suppose I should get back to work, this isn't getting done on it's own, lol!
I will show the finished painting once I get it done.
Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Walking after Midnight

What a lovely night to go walking. But what on earth is wrong with Kitty? She is so restless, and keeps climbing on Jessie's shoulder, digging her claws in, and trembling......

This has been on my 'to do' list for a long time, I thought it's now or never. It took me several days to do, working on it a bit at a time. I like the story behind it, but I wish I could say the same about the goofy looking witch on her broom, lol!


Now for you fans of horror movies, I just saw Trick r Treat, and it ranks up there with the original Halloween, and Friday the 13th. The first thing I noticed was how beautifully shot it was, gorgeous cinematography, and fall colors. They weave 4 short stories together, and there are some very surprising moments. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves scary movies.
Apparently there has been a lot of anticipation of this film for a couple of years. I have no idea why it was not released in the theaters, but check it out if it is your kind of movie. But don't blame me if you get scared :-D

I had the YOUTUBE clip here for you to check out, but the video was so large, it was messing with the side of my blog, so here is a link if you are interested in seeing the trailer: Trick r Treat

Meow

Here is my latest painting called 'The Imposter'. I will let you decide if the title is about the fairy girl, or the humanoid cat in the middle, lol!
I'm not sure if it is finished, I may add whiskers to the fairy girl, but I'm afraid of ruining her face...Now that I look at it, I think she needs some rosy cheeks too.

My 'semi' detox is going ok I suppose...Thanksgiving Day in Canada is this Monday, and you better believe I will be having pumpkin pie :-) What on earth possessed me to start this time of year, when every time I walk in the grocery store, I see my favorite fresh fruit pies! Ah well, we have to do the best we can, right?

So how is autumn in your part of the world? It's a gorgeous sunny day today, the leaves are changing color and falling, and the air is crisp. Perfect day for getting out and taking some photos.
Have a great day!

Latest Kids that Creep painting

Hi fellow bloggers! I finally had a productive weekend, thanks to the miserable weather. I stayed in my pajamas most of the day too, lol! First off, here is the latest in my Kids that Creep series. I am very happy with her...a few weeks back I showed a photo of another creepy kid painting I couldn't get right. Well, after letting it sit for a while, I didn't think I could salvage it, so I painted over it, added some vintage paper, and created this latest little girl. I hope it's not too morbid...after all, I can't paint pretty girls all the time :-)

I also am working on a Halloween painting on a larger canvas, an idea I had planned out a while ago. It is proving to be tougher than I thought. The girl is no problem, I am stuck on the background again. I will figure it out though, and post it here once it is done....

I'd been thinking that it would be a good idea for me to do a detox before winter gets here. I am addicted to sugar. This is not an exageration, I really crave it. So I began last weekend. There are instructions that for 15 days, I should try to avoid coffee, sweets, fruit, anything with flour, tofu, condiments, etc...
I've been waiting for possible symptoms, like headache, nausea, or moodiness that occur when the bad stuff is being removed from your body, but nothing is happening. I re-read the pamphlet, and think I messed up. I thought eating cake and having coffee wouldn't affect it but it looks like it did, so starting tomorrow, I will follow the instructions. So next blog post, I may be very cranky, lol!

Has anyone had any experience with detoxes? Did it work for you?

Time for the witches to come out and play! It is October, now I can get rid of my shabby chic living room, and bring back the fall colors. What a big difference it makes. My halloween paintings don't look silly anymore. Now if I could only find my skull lights, lol!

The painting above is from 2007. I should be working on some new art projects, but instead I am on the computer, reading some of my favorite blogs. I find it hard to get away from distractions these days. Makes me think that 'resistance' has reared it's ugly head again.
I feel like I move 2 steps forward, one step back. On the bright side though, I get to visit my blogging friends :-)