Cindy's Creative Notes

Published in Altered Arts again!

2008-11-30T19:02:00.002-06:00

I bet you thought I dropped off the face of the earth. I have been busy doing a lot of things but one of them obviously is not keeping up with my blog.

This was published in the Nov/Dec edition of Altered Arts Magazine. It is titled Life House and I got inspired by seeing the books shaped like houses. I had some great collage images from Altered Pages and some fabulous papers from WorldWin Papers so I figured I would make my own little house of life.

I hope you enjoy it.

Paper Crazy and Art Declassified

2008-09-30T13:05:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon! I have been laid up with a bad back for too long and have not been posting much but finally after weeks of physical therapy, medication and rest I am feeling so much better. I was beginning to give up hope but they kept telling me to keep going to PT and I listened and now I am so glad that I did. For the first time in ages I can actually lift my right arm in the air and sit in one place for more than a few minutes. Yay

Enough about me. WorldWin Paper and The Paper Mill Store have joined forces with Art Declassified rubber stamps to bring you some great projects. Please go to the Paper Crazy blog to see the instructions for some of these terrific projects. http://www.thepapermillstore.com/papercrazy/?cat=75

Also Art Declassified has a wonderful gallery that show off their wonderful stamps. Fell free to wander through their gallery and browse through their store when you get the chance. http://www.artdeclassified.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1394&limit=recent

I have included some of my favorite works. I hope you enjoy them?

Some Simple Paper Crazy Projects for Fall

2008-08-28T21:22:00.002-05:00

I wanted to share some quick and easy projects that I made for TPMS blog. http://www.thepapermillstore.com/papercrazy/ All of the products and instructions are on the blog.

The first project are quick and easy napkin rings. These are really fun to make! Inexpensive and these would make a great project for kids.

The second project is an simple door hanger. What a nice way to greet your visitors. Made from crafty board and paper!

Visit our Paper Crazy blog and browse around for more fabulous gifts to make. You will enjoy the creativity. Thanks for looking!

CHA is over

2008-07-28T16:57:00.002-05:00

Sorry that I have not posted in a while. Seems like everything I want to share is either being considered for publication or for the WWP/TPMS blog.

I can share with you the project that I did do for the WWP/TPMS booth at the CHA Summer 2008 convention in Chicago. My fellow teammates came out with some awesome stuff. I had to work with one of my fave things and that would be White High Gloss paper from WWP. I fell in love with WorldWin Papers High Gloss paper. It is the best glossy paper I have ever used. I am forever and hopelessly spoiled by the quality. If you ever want a great glossy paper for sure try High Gloss white.

Anyway, I had to come up with a wall hanging for my project. I love my inks and Ranger is one of my favorite ink companies. Especially the Adirondack and Distressed lines. I used the Adirondack alcohol inks on the polished stone background and the Distressed inks on the tiger to do photo tinting. The total size of the piece fit into an 8" x 10" frame.

I used some really small gold sticker letters to simply spell grace. The tiger is my OnyXpressions, it is one of my most favorite stamps. Krylon webbing spray is the other finishing touch along with the Krylon gold leafing pen. I don't know what I would do without either one of those products either. All the products I used are ones that I use on a constant basis. Hope you enjoy it. Hope you got to see it in person if you were at CHA.

Revisting The Boys of Summer

2008-07-01T10:31:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite pieces that I have ever done was an altered board book about the game of baseball I did, four years ago. I made it in honor of my dad and to this day I believe he helped me put it together. He passed away just a few months before I started making it. He used to love to do art projects with me when I was a child. Some of my best memories are sitting on the floor in the living room with him and coloring. He would draw, cut out numbers and letters from cardboard boxes so he could teach me how to read and spell. I would color them in and we would just talk. He made me a clock with movable hands so I could learn to tell time. So, I know this is just the kind of thing he enjoyed doing. He was a great dad.

My grandson is a very good ball player and got chosen for the all stars team this year. He was the youngest and the smallest player to be picked. He made it because he wanted it so badly. Like his dad said (my son) he made that team because he of his heart. I am so proud of him.

So I am dedicating this book to my grandson David and of course my dad.

I can only share five pages per blog entry but you can see the book in it's entirety and read the story behind it here: http://www.ssreflections.com/cindy_oct05.html I hope you enjoy it. A part of this book was published in Somerset Memories magazine also.

Have a happy July 4th! Have a safe, happy and healthy one!

Innovative Stamp Creations - My newest stamp sheet

2008-06-16T20:06:00.003-05:00

Betsy wrote me and told me to look for a surprise in the mail last week. I was surprised! She had a brand new sheet of rubber with one of my sketches on it. I was really pleased with what she came up with. I just send her sketches and she does the magic! http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/ischomepage.html

I am loving these smaller sheets and this stamp image is a substantial size and a fun one to work with. I dabbled a bit with it and used some of my new papers that I received from my newest companies that I design for The Paper Mill Store. http://www.thepapermillstore.com/

I stamped her face onto some oil painting paper and used some of ISC's other stamps. I just did a little something to start me off. You can see more of her on the ISC Architect's blog. They did some fantastic works with her. http://www.innovativestampcreations.blogspot.com/

Oh, and if that wasn't enough I got the latest issue of Just Cards from Scott Publications and there were two more of my cards in there. I had forgotten all about them, they are silly little simple cards but were fun to make. I will include them in this blog. Lots of fun surprises for me this week! Yay!!
Thanks for looking!

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-13T14:16:00.003-05:00

I am a little late in posting this as it seems like every time I get ready to put something on this blog, I have to shut down the computer because of electrical storms. I hope everyone in this path of bad weather sees some relief from it soon.
Anyway, I digress.
My dad has been gone almost 4 years now. I was so lucky to have him around for as long as I did. He lived to be 89 and half, and up until he broke his hip he lived a healthy happy life with a sound mind. Not many people get to say that. I could write volumes about my dad. He was the most wonderful man I have ever known. I never met anyone who could hold a candle to his presence. He was an attentive father, he was strict and soft and gentle. I honestly can say that he never raised his voice to me but if I did get in trouble he would give me this soulful passionate look and tell me how disappointed he was in my behaviour. Let me tell you that I would have rather had him spank me than to do that. I would be so remorseful and regretful that it made me think the next time I decided to go against what he told me not to do. I was an adventuresome kid too, not afraid to try anything. Because of my parents, it probably kept me from turning to a life of debauchery! :)
My dad was even a better grandparent. All of his grandchildren idolized him and it was so evident on the day he died. His entire family including grandchildren, great grandchildren and of course his children were all in that room and we saw him off onto another place. He took his last breath with me and my sister holding his hand and I cannot tell you the look of peace that was on his face. Of course he has left me all kinds of signs that he still keeps his eye on us. Once a doting parent, always a doting parent. I was so lucky to call him Dad. Happy Father's Day Dad.

The picture in the layout was taken 7 months before he left us. He buried his 2nd wife that day. I loved how reflective he was in this picture. He was married to my mom 41 years, lost her and married Winnie 5 years after he lost Mom, and they were married for 19 years. He was ready to go home. We miss him but I told him it was OK to leave us. I know I will be with him again. The other picture was taken of him when he was 24 and he just met my mom. He was a handsome devil wasn't he? I can see why she grabbed him!

An Inchie a Day Makes My Muse Want to Play

2008-06-01T13:26:00.003-05:00

I have surprised myself this month and actually did an article in SSR for a change. I know some of you out there complain that I am not in the zine every month but I am always there, just in the background and of course the monthly Caption Contest http://www.ssreflections.com/captioncontest.html on the Editorial Deck that I host every month. So if you can't find me in my Day Spa on the Altered Arts deck http://www.ssreflections.com/cindy.html or the Designers Challenge http://www.ssreflections.com/design_challenge.html keep reading every month and I do show up! You can always check me out in the archives, some of us have been at this for FIVE years!! Can you believe it? http://www.ssreflections.com/archives.html along with our countless other talented designers past and present.
Dawn Heath our tireless and dedicated publisher/editor does a fantastic job of keeping them up to date. Drop her a line sometime and let her know how much the zine is an inspiration to you. She loves hearing from our readers as do the rest of us. Each of us has an email address on our article page. Feel free to write anytime. We love feedback.
Anyway, we had a great inchie swap that I have mentioned in past posts and the alphabet inchie swap was a real treat to be in. I took all of my one inch masterpieces and put them together in a nifty little wall hanging. I have twenty six original pieces in 7.5" x 12" wall hanging. How cool is that. On the backside I have each artist listed beside the letter that they created. I was really pleased with how it turned out. So visit my Day Spa and there is links to other inchie art on there too. Thanks for peeking in on me today. I hope you all have a great Sunday!
Blessings

Once Upon a Time..............Published

2008-05-26T11:27:00.005-05:00

My goodness!! I am so far behind in blogging! I have been so busy that I just haven't been able to dedicate the time. Well, I am here finally! Thanks for being patient.

Several months ago Valerie of Third Coast Rubber Stamps was kind enough to ask me to participate in an article that was being done for Scrap & Stamp Magazine. I meant to offer her more choices but I was only able to get two to her using the Victory stamp line, which I absolutely adore! I have used these stamps a lot. I must confess that I am a rubber stamp addict and I collect plenty of stamps that have never been touched by ink (I will get around to it!) I can say that this set has seen a lot of ink. I use them often, love the dramatic images. I do have a gallery on her website http://www.thirdcoastrs.com/cindy_roland.htm

Val wrote this to me: The card you created using our "Ocean Blue" image for the Victory Art feature was published in the July 2008 issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts! Ten artists answered my call for art for the feature, and I submitted their 33 creations to the editor to chose from. They only selected six cards, but one of them was yours.

So I am very honored!

The technique that I used is colored pencils w/gamasol (oderless mineral spirits) I used mainly WorldWin papers with a few DCWV patterned papers for accents. Prismacolor pencils were used to color in the images. As you can see it is hard not to do a wonderful card when you use these lovely Victory images. Go to Val's site and check out the tons of other images she carries and let her know I sent you.

I will try not to take so long to change my blog this next time. So until next time. Happy creating!

Blessings!

Mother's Day

2008-05-06T21:21:00.003-05:00

I created a Mother's Day card even though my mom has been gone for 28 years, I still miss her. She was the best mom. She always had a smile on her face and a positive attitude. Her name was Peggy and she stood barely 5 feet tall with beautiful auburn hair. She had a beautiful smile and laughing kind eyes. I loved her attitude, she may have been small but nobody got bigger or meaner if you picked on her family. She was loyal to the bone. I loved how she loved my dad. She may have been mad as hell at him but she kept it to herself. If one of us kids were mad at him, she would not stand for it. Her famous words were, "Your daddy is one in a million (he was) and you should be grateful everyday to be blessed with a daddy like him (we were)". I never heard either of them say a bad word about one another in front of us, ever. My mother was a wonderful cook and delighted in cooking for her family. She was in that kitchen every day for hours. She always had something cooking on the stovetop, in the oven or sitting out to cool.

She had the best sense of humor and she always kept an open mind about everything. She didn't judge anyone for anything except what they were like on the inside. She wasn't biased about anything and always looked on the positive side. She never allowed us to feel sorry for ourselves about anything. If we started to complain she would stop us and have us look at how blessed we were. I guess that was from being raised during the depression. She knew what it was like to live without and we never really had to. She never allowed vanity either, her famous words were "Pretty is as pretty does" and "Beauty is fleeting but goodness lasts you a lifetime." I told you she was a great mom!

When she did get mad, she really got mad and I would think that she was going to stay mad forever but I would go downstairs to my room and by the time I came back up she would be humming and working and always would turn around with that smile and say "Hi Honey!" She never stayed mad, and sometimes she would laugh so hard about getting mad that she would snort which made us laugh even more.

She was a great mom, and she left us early. I miss her every day and I will always be proud and thankful that I had her for my mom. Happy Mother's Day Mom, wherever you are.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Mother's Day this year. Enjoy your mom if you are lucky enough to have her around and celebrate her even if she is no longer there.

The card was made from WorldWin Cascata Lilac paper, and Purple swirl vellum. The stamp is from Magenta.

The photo is of my mom and me in 1952, she was 40 the year I was born so you might call me a surprise. She said I made her feel young again. I say I was pretty lucky to call her my mom.

Moonlight!!!

2008-04-26T12:28:00.002-05:00

Well after weeks and weeks of waiting after the writer's strike, I was not disappointed! I forgive them for taking so long. They really made the wait worthwhile as they did an outstanding job of tying in the past episodes with this one and making room for all sorts of scenarios for the future. I want this program to stay on for a long long time. Alex O'Loughlin is a great actor besides being a total BABE. Can you tell I love this show! I haven't felt this way about a show since Boston Legal first came on and yes I still love that adorable Alan Cross (James Spader) with his delicious dry humor, sharp wit and dirty mind.

Mick St. John has made me a lover of vampires! I will no longer think of Bela Lugosi when it comes to blood sucking creatures of the night. The storyline is so great and the chemistry between he and his mortal love, "my Beth" (as he refers to her to his friends-so sweeeet!!). Well, just go to the link on the title of this blog entry and it will take you to all the goodies you will need to know to get hooked on this show. He is awfully pretty to look at too! Hey! I may be getting old but I ain't dead yet!

OK, besides at looking at my new boyfriend (he is younger than my son for cryin' out loud!) I did make up a whole batch of thank you cards to send out to the nice people that send me toys to try out and play with. I am forever making different backgrounds playing around with my plentiful inks and colorwashes. I am a compulsive webbing spray user, I would take a 12 step program for it but I really don't want to! Webbing spray is just too darn fun to play with and it makes the plainest old paper look so dramatic! So, I needed some quick solutions. I took some of my background papers, some trusty black ink and the closest stamps to me and started stamping out all my frustrations. I cut them all up, edged them with my Krylon pens (another constant staple for me) and attached them to cardstock. In a matter of minutes, cards were done! My guilt is alleviated for now! I know there will be something else to replace this with another guilt in no time but one more notch in my lipstick case!

Now there is a huge pile of laundry that is calling my name.........Wash me Cindy, please wash me! If you don't, you will run out of underwear and then you will be sorry. Ooooops, better go! Another guilt trip awaits! Enjoy your day!

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T16:28:00.002-05:00

Today is a gorgeous day outside. After the long hard winter we have experienced it is so nice to see the flowers blooming, the squirrels, bunnies, birds and other outdoor creatures scurrying around looking for food for their young families. Everyone is out doing yardwork, planting and just spending time enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. What a great day to celebrate Earth Day. We all can do our part! I am a big believer that if we all commit ourselves to do something to save our planet from wastefullness that all those little things add up and make this a better place to live for us today and for generations to come. Every little effort adds up. The paper company that I do design work for is very aware of the effort to save our planet. They have a great website to visit to learn more about their efforts http://www.thepapermillstore.com/ make sure to sign up for their newsletter and our Design Team Blog as well.http://thepapermillstore.com/papercrazy/ Lots of inspiration and we have been on a real "green" kick for the past month as well as this month. Check out our contest too. Who doesn't want to win paper? I will share more inchies today as well as some pictures that were taken in my own backyard. I hope you enjoy them and I hope you are inspired to go out and make the most of your Earth Day, today and everyday!

Inchie fever is still burning

2008-04-13T01:50:00.003-05:00

Well, I still have the fever and I just had to make a couple of pages of these babies for my nifty little book. They are so fun! Big art in a teeny tiny square!

I have been dinkin' around with my 'puter all day trying to iron out a technical problem and I may have a handle on it. It has taken time away from my inchies and the other gazillion things I was planning to do today. Anyway, so much for my silly whining.

Just thought I would share them before I hit the hay.........again (I was napping in my chair for most of the evening!)

I also made my 26 "C's" for the inchie swap on the SSR zine http://www.ssreflections.com/ group list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SSReflectionsezine/ I swear it only took me about 45 minutes to make about 30 of them. That is how quickly they come together. If you belong to the group and want to join in, there are just a few letters left to sign up for. Hurry up and sign up! You can be the owner of 26 little works of art!

Well, I am off to the land of nod. See you all in the morning! Sweet dreams!

The Inchie Bug

2008-04-09T23:00:00.002-05:00

OK, it hasn't quite bit yet but I am preparing myself for the onset! I wanted to make a little book with my Bind it All and since I signed up for my very first alpha inchie swap. This was a good excuse to make one to put my anticipated alphabet inchies in. I recently made a friend an atc using a reflection theme for an atc swap on one of my atc groups. I loved it so much, that I had to make another one just for myself. It was a good reason to make myself one and use it as the front cover of my little inchie book. The image is by one of my favorite rubber stamps companies, Third Coast Rubberstamps http://www.thirdcoastrs.com/ and it was a perfect one to make a reflection on vellum. All the paper and cardstock is by WorldWin Papers (Ruche, Vellum and Treasures) and the rub on is by Melissa Frances. Anyway, since I needed to practice I made my very first inchies. I have a lot to learn about them. These are pretty primative looking but hey, I gotta start somewhere! Inchie world, here I come!!!

Damn the Flu!/Technique Junkies guest DT Member

2008-04-01T12:20:00.002-05:00

Well, I have been lagging on this blog as well as everything else I am supposed to be doing, something fierce this last month. I was bragging that I had not come down with that damned flu bug but I was sadly mistaken. I have been sick with it for half a month now. It seems to like to come back on you when you think it is going away. It is the gift that keeps on giving. Oh Joy!

I was honored and pleased to be asked to be a guest Design Team Member for Technique Junkies this month. If you ever wanted to be inspired daily, this is the site to do it on. Not only do you get the best newsletter and website but they have the most dedicated Yahoo group that daily adds all sorts of inspiration to the wonderful techniques that Pat Huntoon cranks out with each and every newsletter. Well worth the small change she charges. Do yourself a favor and join! I have been lucky enough to have a couple of my techniques in there. First was the Veined Marble which has remained very popular and this time was my Color Collage and I am thrilled with the entries that the members have come up with so far. http://www.techniquejunkies.com/ So join us for the fun and make sure you tell Pat that I sent you! :)

Here are some of the techniques that I have played with so far. There are hundreds and hundreds from past newsletters. Enough to keep you busy for a long time! Happy creating!

Easy Watercolor flowers

2008-03-03T13:33:00.002-06:00

Lately I have been on a kick of using this nifty little stamp from Stampendous that is a single image. The lines are simple and it lends itself beautifully to stamping multiple images and making great backgrounds because of the simplicity of it's design. I have a lot of requests as to how I made these crazy little watercolor cards. I managed to really get into some color. (Those of you who know me, know my passion for using color!!) Besides, this is my contribution on making spring come just a little early this year.

First take a stamp that has a lot of space for adding color into it and stamp it onto glossy white cardstock with permanent ink. I prefer WorldWin High Gloss as it takes on water so beautifully and Black India ink by Stewart Superior. Allow a few minutes for the ink to dry on the cardstock. Next grab up a few watercolor pens (again my preference is Marvy Markers by Marvy/Uchida) in complimentary colors pick at least 3 and as many as 6, no more than that or they will get too busy looking. Now get your watercolor brush (if you don't have one, you need to buy one of these-I don't know how I lived without it!) and touch it to the side of the marker tip to pick up some of the color. Start filling in the flowers randomly with blotches of the different color markers until the flowers are filled up. Do not take your time. This should be done quickly with little thought. The beauty of the technique is the spontaneity of the color washes. Once you have the flowers filled up and the centers washed in go ahead and do the background in the same manner but only use one color (for example use blue and use a lighter and a darker shades, maybe a little lavender but don't make it too busy) Now go back and choose complimenting cardstock and embellishments. Oh! Don't forget to add a little bling to your flowers by adding a touch of Stickles (or other glitter glue). A little bling never hurt anyone.

I hope you give this a try. Maybe if we all break out our watercolor markers the snow will go away for the rest of the season. It won't hurt to try, will it?

Happy Creating.

Sunday Morning chatter

2008-03-02T10:45:00.000-06:00

It is Sunday, the wind is blowing like crazy and I have heard birds chirping for the last few days...........so folks, we may be heading into spring. It has been a long, hard, cold winter and I am so ready for any signs of spring, no matter how minute they may be! Anyway, I haven't got much to chat about today. I just wanted to add something a little spring like to this blog. I made a few little Easter ATC's and since Easter comes early this year I figured I would put them up. My way of encouraging spring to peek out. Enjoy your weekend and I hope you all are busy creating. Oh by the way, if you would like to see more ATC's, puzzle pieces or whatever, make sure to visit my Webshots pages. The url is on the right hand side of the page over here. Just click on it and you can see plenty of artwork. Thanks!
Link: http://www.alteredpages.com/

I am sooooo lagging!

2008-02-27T22:45:00.001-06:00

Ok, I have been meaning to add so much more to this blog and I haven't been very motivated to do much of anything. I did manage to avoid the flu this year as my entire family was dropping like flies around me, so I do feel fortunate about that. I also cannot use it as an excuse. I am just in a dry spell, creatively. You might say I have been really lazy, maybe that is my problem. Yeah, I am really lazy and I just don't feel like doin' nuthin'. I will snap out of it soon, I just need my muse to get back and inspire me. I think she has taken another extended vacation. She can be so selfish.
Hey, I can share something with you though. I made this for WorldWin Papers booth at Winter CHA 2008. Yvonne wanted another flower and I had to come up with something a little different that the past flowers. We went through a flood in our basement where my studio WAS, a horrific ice storm, a blizzard, lost our power for three days, numerous plumbers, clean up people, insurance adjustors all the while I was in the middle of this project which was teetering on the edge of the deadline. I did manage to get it done though. I had to cut out leaves by the fireplace with a camper's lamp next to the fireplace during the power outage.
It wasn't as elaborate as I would have liked to have had it but I did get it finished. TaDah!!
The wreath measures 15" across and is made entirely of WorldWin Doublemates paper. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for looking!

These small children........

2008-02-09T08:50:00.000-06:00

are my dad and his siblings. He is the cute little towhead in the middle. They had an interesting life. They were born in Claremore, OK at the turn of the 20th century and were children of the Great Depression and the Oklahoma dustbowl. Their parents divorced about the time my dad was 10 years old. The depression hit a few years later. My grandmother worked managing resturaunts and my grandfather worked in water districts plants so they moved from one town to another trying to make ends meet. At one point my dad and uncle had to go live with a farmer for room and board because their mom couldn't afford to feed them and their dad was working in another town. They didn't like that too much so they set out on an adventure and rode the rails along with the hobos looking for odd jobs and some adventure. They were 13 and 14 years old at the time. At one point they ended up on the corner of Hollywood and Vine selling oranges for spare change. Their "boss" took all the money and deserted them. They had no choice but to contact their mother and she wired them enough money to get them home. They no more than got back to the farmer, they took off again, riding rails and staying with the hobos in hobo jungles. This time they ended up in Flint, Michigan. They shared a coat that a kindly conductor had given them from the lost and found and it saved them from freezing to death. They tried to get work at the man camps working lumber, my uncle got hurt and made his way back to Topeka, KS where he met and married his wife at the age of 16. Dad stayed a while longer and enventually made his way to where his brother was and settled in Topeka also. He met and married my mother nearly 8 years later while working as a donut maker at the local dimestore. My aunt went back to Oklahoma, married a lawman and settled down near her mother after a little escapade with a rodeo tramp at the tender age of 15. (We were never allowed to mention this when she was alive.) They never talked about these times as being a hardship, they spoke of them as adventures.

They never were famous, they all grew up to be productive members of society and they used their pasts as an example of what it is like to have nothing but one another. Family was the most important thing in their lives and you can understand why. Here is the journeling, in case you can't read the page.

These moppets were the Sutton children. Grace Elaine Sutton was born Dec 8th 1913, Richard Arden (my dad) was born Feb 2, 1915 and Henry Alvin was born Feb 22, 1916. Times weren’t always easy for these stairsteppers. They experienced a broken home and many moves with one or both parents seeking work in the dust bowl days of the Oklahoma depression. Grace ran off with a rodeo rider at the tender age of 15 and Dick and Henry (he named himself Jimmy) rode the rails with the hobos from one end of the country to the other after being farmed out while their mother worked restaurants and their dad found work in water district plants. Always vowing to keep in contact with one another, they kept that promise. They left letters in general post office boxes and would check in when they could. They would meet up whenever and wherever they could. Their parents would wire them money to get them home when they had money to spare. They all married, Uncle Jimmy and of course my dad having children of their own and Aunt Grace decided never to have children. Through it all, they stayed very close to one another until the last one died. Uncle Jimmy, the youngest went first, followed many years later by Grace. My dad at 89 was the final sibling and the last word that he uttered before he took his last breath was Grace.
I know that they are all together again. That is what family is all about.

Catching up....

2008-01-25T10:09:00.000-06:00

I have been down for a while. I had surgery and I will elaborate on that later but I have had quite enough medical lingo for awhile so let me just share some of my "Me" journal that my friends and I have been working on. Of course, I always like what they do with their's, better than my own but such is life.

Since I last shared, I have managed to crank out two more topics that were assigned. I am still a tad behind but not too bad for being post-op. The first one is a simple one. We were supposed to comment on our age that we are right now. I remember that annoying song by Sammy Haggar titled "I Can't Drive 55!" and I can remember that the song was loud, I really didn't like the 55 mph speed limit but I never ever even thought that I could really be 55!! That had to be nearly 30 years ago and being 30 yrs younger, it seems like such a long way off. Surprise!! It is here! Sheesh! Where the hell did it go?? Anyway, I was feeling pretty puny so I made it very easy. The sun is a wallpaper border (thanx Kathy L!!) and I just purtied up some chipboard 5's and added a little bling and stamped words. Easy peasy!

The second topic is Quirks. I never realized how quirky I am until I actually started listing them. I guess we are all nuts in one way or another. I feel right at home with all of my friends. LOL!

I will list them here, so the world can see!

Musts
• Make a written list when I go to the store or I cannot shop.
• Make a mental note of where I put things before I go to bed (glasses, purse, phones)
• Have at least one cup of coffee in the morning or nothing else will go right for me.
• Have all of my things in MY order or I cannot function properly. They make look out of order to everyone else but as long as I know where it is kept, then all is well in my world.
• Wear socks with shoes. I cannot stand the feel of my bare feet trapped inside of shoes except sandals.
Must not
• Have ANYTHING in my coffee or tea. No sugar, milk, whipped cream, sprinkles or any flavoring, nothing! Just the pure taste of the rich elixir of the God’s!
• Eat anything that burns my taste buds and sinuses before it leaves my mouth. I love spicy but not torturous. I like to think of my food as a pleasure not a sport.
• Have any feet touching me on any part of my body unless it is under the age of 10. I cannot stand to have anyone touch my feet in return.
• Have any part of anyone’s anatomy especially wet tongues stuck inside my ear, never, not ever! Total turn-off!
• Let anyone poke me to get my attention. I cannot tolerate it.

OK, that is enough sharing for one day.

Hope you all are having the best day ever. Until next time.........

Published in Altered Arts!

2008-01-10T10:38:00.000-06:00

I had come up with a little inventive way to make my own canvas board with my wonderful and durable WorldWin Paper. I thought maybe someone else would be interested in how I did it so I sent it to AAM. Well, they were and they asked me if they could have it for their mag! How cool is that?

My friend Lori is a designer there (check her out on my favorite bloggers list)and if you are familiar with her work, you know that they have some wonderful art going on! You gotta buy this mag! To top it off, MaryJo McGraw is also in the Jan/Feb issue. She is my idol..........Love MJM!!! Well, here is the page with my Faux Heirloom wall hanging.

More journal stuff

2008-01-06T14:29:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned before, I am working on a "me" journal with a group of my artist friends and so far the two pages assigned were my goals and my name. Well, I have finished both. My goals page is not as good as I like artistically but the goals are what I want to focus on. My name page turned out pretty good.
The picture includes a photo of my mom and me, and a small jewelry box with a gold baby heart charm from my parents and my birth bracelet. The rest is pretty self explanitory so I will shut up and let the scans do the talking. Until the next time, happy creating!

Last post of 2007

2007-12-30T09:51:00.000-06:00

This year is toast! It seems like it just started and now it is over already. I think this is a sign of getting older. I can remember as a child, I was always looking forward to tomorrow and time seemed to drag. It dragged when school was letting out for the summer, when school was ready to start in the fall. Christmas seemed to take forever to come around. Kids have a warped sense of time. My mom used to tell me when I started complaining about something taking too long that one of these days I would wonder where that time went. Well, that day has arrived and the days go more quickly everyday I am here on earth. Reality bites! I went from being a member of the youngest generation of our family to being a member of oldest generation in what seems like a blink of an eye. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and a few of my older cousins are all gone now. Our time here is so minuscule and insignificant in the realm of this vast universe. Take a hold of every minute that you are here and live it to the fullest. That is my only New Year's Resolution for 2008. I have felt this way for a long time but the quicker time passes the more important it becomes. I can't make my loved ones see this but I hope they can allow me to lead the way for them to see that life is short and the things that we think are so important aren't really important at all.
OK, enough of my rambling. My first project for the new year is a ME journal that I am doing with a group of artist friends. I am so glad that Tracey made us do this as I really needed the push to get out of my rut. I have had a hellashious month (I will talk about that later!!) and this is a nice treat for me to do this for no one but me.
Well, in case I don't get a chance to do it before midnight on the 31st.........HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!

Dan Fogelberg has left the building.

2007-12-18T19:58:00.000-06:00

We lost a musical genius yesterday. Dan Fogelberg was one of my all time favorite musicians. He touched my heart and my very soul with his wonderful songs and heartfelt words. I loved him the first time I heard him and I am saddened by his passing. He is in the hands of God now and suffering no longer but I will miss him. I am sure he is singing among the angels tonight. Rest in peace dear Dan. You gave so much while you were here and your music will live on in our hearts as long as there are ears to hear it.

It's Ornamental my dear!

2007-11-30T16:43:00.000-06:00

Where has this year gone????? What has happened to all my good intentions of having everything prepared and ready ahead of time? Down the tubes again. Alas, another Christmas with half laid plans and no extra time. It seems to get worse every year. Oh well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions or so they say. I hope that is not what is happening here! I am just paddling as fast as I can for now trying to stay ahead.
I did make a few little ornaments. One for my WorldWin DT entry and one for a swap. The big one I did with a hand cut flower but the little one was done with a small laminate sample and little bits and pieces of stuff. They are easy to do, just make a flat chipboard or other piece such as a laminant sample or a domino and add little bits of whatever you have on hand, lace, ribbon, pretty Christmas paper and of course some glitter and glitz. What would Christmas be without the sparkle?
Hope you enjoy your season no matter if you are prepared or not.

ATC, a small wonder of big art

2007-11-14T23:11:00.000-06:00

When I first heard of ATC's, (artist trading cards for those of you that might have been living in a cave for the last 5 years) I wasn't really too excited. I was thinking that what kind of art could be expressed on such a tiny canvas. Then I started looking at fine pieces of jewelry, tiny locket portraits, plus other tiny pieces of art. I guess it could pack a lot of art and boy do they. I have seen some real beauties and some really not so beautiful ones but each one means something to the artist that created it.
The rules about them vary from person to person and group to group. I have read some mighty heated conversations in groups, on what should or should not be on them and of course the biggest argument being they should always be traded and never sold. Well, if someone wants to pay me a healthy sum of money for my little artwork, I say, end of debate! Sold!!! Come on, let's not carry the starving artist gig any further than is has been carried so far. I really think that rule was made up because the people who started them didn't think anyone would be inspired enough to purchase one and since they are called trading cards, well that's my theory. Think of all those boys back in the 50's and 60's that clipped Mickey Mantel's rookie cards on their spokes or traded it for some now forgotten pitcher's trading card. Doh! It the atc moves you, then by all means buy it from the creator! You can both ignore the rule. :)
There is only one rule, it must fit into a trading card sleeve, 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Notice I didn't say the finished card had to be that size......I once made some cute little atc dolls that folded into a size suitable to fit inside of a trading card sleeve.
OK, that is enough about atc's. On with sharing, I am going to share some of my faves with you today. I have made so many that this is going to be hard but I will manage. Cheers everyone! Happy trading!

Just sharing my new stamps.........

2007-11-11T14:14:00.000-06:00

I am procrastinating my weekend away. It is almost finished and I have not accomplished a danged thing. Well, I am adding to my blog so that is SOMETHING! I need to be in my studio finishing up deadlines. (Hanging my head in shame)
I just hate when I get one of these creative blocks. Once I go sit at my desk with some sort of plan I know I will come up with something! I think I like living on the edge, I don't do it in any other way anymore and this is my last bit of being edgy and risk taking. That just made me laugh! I'm comparing my being able to sit down at my art desk without a plan or motivation with a deadline looming over my head, compared to jumping out of a plane or climbing a mountain. Well, that is about as daring as I get in my old age! So there laugh all you want. I laugh in the face of danger!! I don't have the energy to do the other stuff.
Anyway, I wanted to share my newest stamps that I made for Innovative Stamp Creations. They are really fun ones this time and will work great with altered art. I love to see what others do with them. I always feel a bit uncomfortable working with my own but I do manage to once in a while.
Well, I hope your Sunday is more productive than mine but maybe you are working at being unproductive............eh?

The first post for November

2007-11-06T10:07:00.000-06:00

I have been keeping busy and staying out of trouble so that is a good thing! I have not been keeping up my blog which is not a good thing! I have been urged to start doing Christmas things for creativity. It has taken me years of forcing myself to start early denying the fact that this holiday keeps coming earlier every year. I used to work retail. Anyone that works retail knows what a nightmare this time of the year can be. I worked in the hobby/craft retail market so believe it or not we started getting our first Christmas merchandise in March for the following December. Scary to think about isn't it? I used to spend hours setting up displays and decorating the store so doing my own home was the last thing on my mind. I used all of my creative energy in making the stores look pretty. Sadly, I never bothered to take one picture of any of my work. Anyway once I left the store, it took me ages to be able to get back into the Christmas spirit. Gradually it returned when my grandchildren arrived. Kids and Christmas just go together.
Well, here is my first attempt at an assembly line Christmas card this year. These are easy to do up ahead in mass and put together when you are watching TV.
The glossy cardstock was sprayed with those wonderful Radiant Rains and stamped and embossed with a flourish stamp designed by Susan Stringfellow by Inque Boutique. WorldWin Cardstock and gold embossing. Easy to do.
Enjoy!

Love those Radiant Rains!!!

2007-10-21T11:38:00.000-05:00

I have been playing with my Radiant Rains by Luminarte and I am having so much fun. They are rich watercolor based dyes that come in the most luscious colors and color is what I am all about. They make an excellent partner with my wonderfully versatile World Win cardstocks so I really got busy. I have made a few different sheets of backgrounds but the three cards I am sharing are all from one sheet of autumn tones. I am really into red lately and I wanted to see how red I could go. I used Indian Copper, Spiced Pumpkin, Jasper Red, Solar Gold, Yellow Rose and Nutmeg on White Quartz Elan Metallic cardstock from World Win. One I left plain with a spray of black Krylon webbing spray and a touch of spray glitter (no scan does these colors justice and they don't begin to show the depth of the layers of color). Just some paper layering and a small leaf charm is all it needed. The other two I used some gold rub on leaves that I had stashed, more layering and lettering added.
Well, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for looking!

I have been lagging!!

2007-10-15T10:46:00.000-05:00

It is time to add something! I have been busy with deadlines and have been ignoring this blog. So here goes. I thought I better show some layouts this time. I haven't done one recently and I really need to do that. I have "issues" with my basement right now (that is where my art studio is) and even though my precious stuff is fine, the plumbing is not. It has been raining constantly here, and we are getting a leak from somewhere. So, my enviroment is not pleasent all the time. I do what I have to do to fulfill my commitments to my design teams and come right back up. Boo Hiss. I shouldn't be so ungrateful. I have lots of fun stuff and this is just a little glitch in the picture. I am so thankful for all that I do have. This problem will be resolved eventually. I think all of this gloomy weather is getting me down. I love a little rain, but this is getting ridiculous!
I will add something that always makes me smile, my grandkids! I have TONS of photos of them that need to be scrapped! Wishing you all (and myself) sunny days.

In the Background

2007-09-30T11:44:00.000-05:00

There is something so freeing of my muse to work on backgrounds. I know that there is any number of scrapbook papers out there that have beautiful backgrounds and if I am in a hurry, I will use one of them. But I love doing backgrounds. Experimenting with color, form and texture. I have a good excuse because that is my job for WorldWin Papers. I get to use and abuse their wonderful papers and report back to them what I have put on them next! Their paper can take it and I am always surprised as to how they turn out because they all turn out differently. I never know what I am going to come up with next! Well today I am just going to share some cards that I made with my own backgrounds.
I better get to work on some more. So many colors and types of ink, paints and paper and never enough time to play!

The Beauty of Autumn

2007-09-28T12:09:00.000-05:00

I love autumn! It's only fault is that it is such a short season. I have heard some people say that they don't care for it, not because of the beauty but because it means winter is around the corner. I can't think that way. I am only thinking of the moment. What if winter never comes? You have spent all of your time worrying about what is next instead of taking pleasure in what is now and right before you. Autumn is full of color and smells and change. I think of gorgeous rusts, mossy greens, deep purple reds, bright golden yellows, rich chocolatly browns, reddish oranges and all the rich deep tones of the earth. Cool crisp air, the smell of fireplaces being lit up, warm snuggly sweaters, small creatures scurrying around gathering food for the winter months. I love autumn and always will. Here is hoping that you do too.

Fairytales

2007-09-27T10:54:00.000-05:00

I got this amazing sheet of Fairys from Fran at Hearts in Touch. I have been creating little works of art with these adorable images a little at a time. I have been having a good time using my colored pencils and experimenting with colors and tones. I hope you enjoy my little winged nymphs. Hats off to the artist Marjolein who created these little beauties. You will see more of them to come but for now here is what I have done.

Here Kitty Kitty

2007-09-26T00:09:00.000-05:00

I have always had a love affair with cats. I love the fact that they are so independent and full of curiousity. I love all animals but cats are just special. You don't take care of cats, not really. You feed them and love them and respect them but other than cleaning their cat box and giving them treats and food, they pretty much take care of themselves. They LET you think you are caring for them, they command that from you. If push comes to shove, they could take care of themselves but why should they and deny you that pleasure? I think that is what I love the most about them!
My cat is BooBoo Magoo. He is my heart. He loves me for who I am and knows when I am not myself. He will stay by my side when I am sick, leaving only to use the litterbox or have a bite to eat. Otherwise he is near me, letting me know that he is there for me. He gets mad at me but always forgives me. If I love someone, well, he loves them too, sometimes against his better judgement. I can do anything to him, I can dangle his legs and he will not flinch. I can hold him very close to me and stare in his eyes, he will not turn away. He lets me dress him up for Halloween and Christmas and although he does not care for it, he lets me because he loves me that much. He trusts me with his life, that is pretty impressive. He knows I love him and I always will. We share the same soul and can read each other's minds. He is 13 and a half now but the vet says he has the vital signs of a young cat. So hopefully, I will have him around for a long while. He even loves my puppy and has forgiven me for bringing that bundle of energy into our rather sedate life. So here's to cats and all the people out there that love them. You are special and your cat knows it! Cheers!

Paper Sculpture

2007-09-24T08:59:00.000-05:00

Since becoming a designer for WorldWin paper I have made a paper sculpture for each CHA convention. I really wanted to show what could be done with their wonderful paper. It is very sturdy and the colors are vivid. I totally soaked this paper with water and they have stayed exactly the same. Here is my Sunflower for the Summer and the purple winter Orchid. Each wall sculpture measures a foot across, so they aren't little by any means. :)

Happy Accidents

2007-09-22T00:18:00.000-05:00

I seem to have good luck with my accidents. Some of my best work has been from goof ups. I think the reason is, once I have messed something up I lose my fear of ruining it so therefore my inhibitions are out the window. I might as well see how far I can take this as I have already stepped over the line and what do I have to lose. I learn a lot from my mistakes. I know how far to take something and still make something out of it. I guess that is how a lot of risk takers are towards life. I stay that way with my art but you won't catch me sky diving in the near or distant future. So be a risk taker, do something daring with your art, get messy, add layers, try a new technique and remember it is only paper. The worst thing that can happen is you will have something to throw away. Hint, even my real disaster are cut up and used as backgrounds, borders and mosaics. So all is not ever lost.
Here was my experiment. I started piling dyes on my paper and webbing and stamping. I had no idea of what I was going to end up with but I kept going until I was satisfied. Ta Dah! an old world triptych arch for a swap. Be daring, have fun, let your imagination go wild!

2007-09-19T15:44:00.001-05:00

OK, This has been a busy week but I am trying to add something everyday and I missed a day. Spent all day doing Dr. appts. YUK! I hate it but luckily other than a few minor glitches I am pretty darn healthy right now. I am really trying to take care of myself but I probably will never be obsessive about it. Moderation is the key to everything and I truly believe that the body is an amazing machine that can and will repair itself if you take care of it. I really didn't do that when I was younger but health is something that you can't put a price on it. It is priceless and the older you get the more that this becomes apparent.
Anyway, one of the things that keeps me healthy is my two little furbabies. They are my heart and soul. Having a pet is good for your blood pressure and keeps your attitude positive. Besides, they are just plain cute and fun to have around!
Here is Noel, my little ball of energy that my dh calls the happiest dog in the world. He says he has never seen a dog that was just so happy to be alive. He is right about that. She is always so full of joy and I cannot look at her without laughing or smiling. She is always up to something.
BooBoo Magoo is my very sage and serene big black cat. I have had him since he was an abandoned kitten and he is 13 1/2 years old now. He is my heart, we have been through so much together and we can read each other's thoughts. He has even forgiven me for bringing home the rambunctious little mini schnauzer that he has to claim as his baby sister. They have their moments but they love one another very much and they both love me so they try to get along for my sake.
My life is so much better because they are a part of it.

Grandchildren - The light of my life.

2007-09-17T10:01:00.000-05:00

Well, another weekend has flown by and that means that we are nearly into fall. That means that the grandkids are back in action again. They have busy schedules so I have plenty to do also, since I am their back up when mom and dad are working. I really enjoy the role as I never had a grandparent when I was growing up and I always wanted one. My grandparents on both sides had passed away before I was born or shortly after so I was too young to remember them. I was forever adopting old people as substitute grandparents. I think every child should have an older adult in their lives. Grandparents are more tolerant, patient and listen to the little things that parents don't always have the time to do. I am guilty of that with my son. Although I love him more than life when I was raising him there were plenty of other things to think about, like making a living, paying bills. I was a single parent and although his father was there and supportive too, it is not like having both parents under the same roof. It is always a little tougher but I think my son is a better person for it. He knows what single moms go through and I think he appreciates women more because of it. Yet he knows that just because parents are divorced, your dad can have just as big a role in raising you as your mom. It would have been a lot easier for Mike and me if we had lived closer to my parents, but then again maybe not! My dad was a spoiler of grandchildren! He let them get by with murder and the reward was that they worshipped the ground he walked on! It would take me months to get Michael back in line after spending time with my dad. My mom at least would respect my rules. LOL!
I digress, back to my pride and joy.
My grandson David is playing football this season and my granddaughter Katie is back in dance. He is a Boyscout and she is a Brownie scout. He is going to join the school band and it won't be long until he has basketball practice. They are both good students David has made the honor roll every year and has been awarded with state honors in math and spelling. Katie, well, Katie is the darling of her class. She is loved by everyone and is a real character. She was selected as an attendant for the Jr. Miss pageant, so she got to wear tierra and a fancy ball gown. She has a wonderful sense of humor and is very artistic. Ok, they are really good kids and yes, I am very proud of them. You get the picture! I do layouts of them and have been behind lately but here are some that I am most proud of.

My Dad was a Beautiful Man

2007-09-15T13:59:00.000-05:00

He had faults like we all do but in my eyes I could have never asked for a better father. He took care of his family, he always kept his promises, he was a good citizen, a hard worker as an engineer on the Union Pacific railroad (only laid off one time when he had the flu in 39 years), he was always ready to listen to you no matter what. He passed away on August 20, 2004 at the ripe old age of 89, he outlived my mother by 34 years and his second wife of 19 years by 7 months. He was active and interested in everything until just before he passed on. He taught me more about life and what to expect from it than any other living person. I can only hope that I leave half that legacy for my son and grandchildren as left for us. Dad, I know you are up there and I got all your messages. I know I will see you again someday. :)

2007-09-14T19:06:00.000-05:00

OK, for those of you that know me you know that I finally, after years of avoiding the practice, have taken up the art of scrapbooking. I see so many neat layouts out there and mine aren't as "trendy" but I don't do the latest and greatest. I don't really care if the paper line and embellishments are "in" or totally out. I have always liked things for what they are. If I like them, then I am using them. End of story. I matched this color of paper with my mother's gorgeous hair. She was a pretty lady and I was a real surprise for her and my dad. She turned 40 the year I was born. Now, I am sure that she had to have wrung her hands a few times when she found out but she or my dad never let on that they did. Mom said I made her feel young again and Dad, well, he fell head over heels for me the instant I was born. I have an older sister Soni, 11 years older and an older brother Dick, 8 years older. So I really was the baby of the family and got a lot of attention but I always acted older for my age. Styles were a little edgy back then. Check out those curtains!! We had a lot of love in our home and I was really lucky to be born into such a wonderful family. Anyway, here I am with my Mommy and we both look pretty happy posing for my dad and his ever present camera.

Another Day - Another Post

2007-09-13T08:37:00.000-05:00

I am getting better at this but taking it one day at a time. I am featuring some of my work with Third Coast Rubberstamps. Val is a great vendor and I just love her stamps. So much so that she has created my own little gallery on her site. If you are looking for inspiration try browsing her galleries! You will be impressed! Anyway I will load a few here but there are plenty more on her site and on the pages of SSR I have used all WorldWin cardstock for these babies. Enjoy!

Another inspirational card!

2007-09-12T15:56:00.000-05:00

I made this quite sometime ago starting with a background using dye inks that were diluted with water and sprayed onto glossy paper. I am famous for my use of webbing spray and I am sure some people are sick of it but I am not so I will keep finding ways to use it. I think it puts a dramatic look to everything! I am tempted to spray it on my husband but I don't want other stampers chasing after him so I will refrain. (I am easily entertained - I guess :) Anyway, this card has been featured on Stamptalk's group page for a while so that is quite an honor. Pat Huntoon saw it, asked how it was done and came up with a nice tutorial on it called "Veined Marble" which she gave me the credit for. I am sure that someone, somewhere has done it before but she was nice enough to mention me. If you ever want plenty of inspiration and love to see talent I will recommend Technique Junkies highly to you. Google it and get all the info you need. You will not be disappointed! Anyway, I am proud to say that this card with Estelle's (Stampsmith.com) Ophelia was the inspiration. I am even pleased with it and that is saying something because I am my own worst critic. That is is for today! Hope you enjoy this.

I am having a lot of fun so far!

2007-09-12T01:01:00.000-05:00

I keep adding more and more of the things I like. I just keep finding more to put on the side bars and the bottom. It is crazy! I thought I better add some more artwork just to fill it out.
This is another Asian girl that I did from the Innovative Stamp Creations sheet. I used all WorldWin papers and colored pencils. My sweet hubby bought me a brand new set of Prismacolor Colored pencils. I have many pencils but they are all different types and brands, there is just something about a brand new set that is so inspiring. I can still remember getting a brand new box of Crayola Crayons. Oh the look of them all wrapped up in new paper and the nice sharp tips. Most of all it was the smell! There is nothing quite like the smell of new crayons. It is one of those things that you never forget. Well, I feel that way about my 144 new colored pencils now. I wished that I had a little man inside of that tin to sharpen all of these babies but I managed to do it. Well this will be it for the night. I will be back tomorrow!

I Better start adding to this Blog!

2007-09-10T15:30:00.000-05:00

I know how much I love to read other people's blogs and look at their work but I tend to forget about mine. I have been doing a lot of work and I will share some of my favorite works lately.

I am a design team member of WorldWin Papers and I use so much of their paper. Almost all of the cardstock that I use is from their line.

This beautiful image is from Innovative Stamp Creations. I used colored pencils to color her in. What you can't see is the WWP gold mirrored cardstock that frames her pretty face. It really gives this card an elegant feel. The cardstock is Crimson Red Treasures and it is the most vibrant beautiful red there could be.

I forgot I had this!!

2007-06-11T22:49:00.000-05:00

Here is my blog that I start 2+ years ago and promptly forgot about. I was going to use it as a way to keep track of my art experiences and so far I have not been good about this. I will start now. This is a card that I made using photo tinting with a OnyxXpressions stamp of a tiger and the background is handmade with some WorldWin Paper bronze cardstock that I doctored up. I think it turned out pretty good, don't you?

My very first post on my very first blog.

2005-01-15T00:32:00.000-06:00

Here is my first words on my very own blog. I have always wondered what a blog was and now I know. I will be writing more as I get more comfortable in having it. It will be fun to tell people to go to my blog and find out what I have been up to! That is going to be it for the evening. I must head down to my artroom as I have some Valentine samples to work on for Alterd Pages and a card for Hearts In Touch to finish up. Got a lot of ideas just need to find that muse and have her motivate me!