WOYWW 31 Aug

Hello again.  So, I worked late yesterday - 2nd day in a row to get off work 2 hours late.  Its terrible because it makes me so freaking hungry and tired.  Anyways... this morning I went to sick call to be seen for this sinus infection that I have - but they told me to come back tomorrow.  Another day of over the counter meds for me.  So, since I didn't get to see the doc, I got to come home and play a bit in my art room.  I was experimenting to see if I could come up with some things for an upcoming Art Journal class.  Here is a shot of the desk:

First I worked on these flags, and they came out like this:

Cardboard Kids Book that I am altering

Art Journal Page

Post Card

Then I did some experimenting... and here are those pictures:

tried to squeegee with a Popsicle stick

Smearing paint with a Popsicle stick

Now, I am waiting on the paint to dry before I can add some more to the pages.  Supposed to be off work early today so hopefully I will be able to come home and do some more art!! 

If you want to look at some more desks, go to Stamping Ground. 

Random photo of me:

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Monday Funday

Not really such a fun day  - we worked 2 hours later than normal. 

Hello everyone!  How was your weekend?  Guess what - I got sick!  Yeah, Friday my throat was a little dry so I thought I just didn't drink enough water since I was traveling to the retreat.  By Saturday night I could tell I was going to get sick, but Sunday - BAM!  I had to go to Walgreen's to get meds to even function because I felt so terrible.  So, now I am fully reliant on the sinus medication! 

Not much to tell you guys but a few random pieces of information that I have discovered in the last week or so.
1) I have been an NCO (manager) for 75% of the time I have been in the Army
2) I have been in the Army for 1/3 of my life (how sad!)
3) If I was not getting out for medical reasons I would be starting my terminal leave on the 10th of September!  Still undetermined at this point, but I might have to take some leave and stay here in town because of the fact that I have so much leave saved up!

Lastly, I have this art journal page that I did...

Doodling I did during classes we had over the weekend, and quotes that the Chaplain said that I liked.

Hope you guys had an interesting time and are feeling better than I am!  Also, I hope I get the time to post tomorrow!! 

T.G.I.F & Flag Making

Hello and happy Friday to you.  I wanted to post last night but had some serious issues with my hip and leg so it didn't happen.  But, here I am on Friday morning to tell you all the news!  So, there is not that much news but I did find out that the Army found me unfit for duty, which means I am going to be put out for medical reasons.  What I am still waiting on is finding out how much disability % (and therefore how much $) I am going to be getting.   So, 1-3 months wait to find that out and then I will be getting orders and outta here!  I hope I can be home for Thanksgiving, or at the latest Christmas.

Yesterday at work I was informed that there is a "random" button on Urban Dictionary.  Have you ever visited that site?  Its quite fun to push the random button and read the definitions, but be warned - there is no editing of content, so some of the definitions are quite inappropriate.  Urban Dictionary is basically a site that lets users input words and definitions for words.  So some are quite funny.  There is also an Urban Dictionary App for you phone!  Its free so I downloaded it for those times when I am really bored and all I have is my phone.

I don't think I ever told you guys what we actually do at work.  We do maintenance reports and meetings.  All of the information has to be as up-to-date as possible for each meeting/report so we have to wait till the last minute to compile the information.  Thus, when we have work it is stressful and short timeline for completion.  And other times we have absolutely nothing to do, but out boss makes us stay in the office anyway. That is why we do things like Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Urban Dictionary, etc when we are at work.

When I got home last night, pre-pain, I played in the art room with an idea I had that could possibly be used with the kids in my October Art Journal class.  So my idea was that I would strategically put some red paint on the surface and then squeegee it sideways and it would make the beginnings of a flag, and then I would add blue to the corner.  I tried it on several different surfaces:

Post card that had a gesso transferred image on it...I used acrylic ink

cardboard book that I am altering... I used acrylic ink on this one

art journal page...red is acrylic paint and the blue is acrylic ink

So, it takes practice but you can get a flag looking result in the end.  I was thinking of using this with the kids because they are all connected to the military in some way.  I was thinking they could art journal on top of the flag about their connection tot he military (their mom or dad.)

Well friends, I am going to be gone again for a few days.  I am headed off to a Single Soldier Retreat with our unit Chaplain and I am not taking my computer with me.  So, Sunday when I get back I should have lots of pictures for you!  I am taking a traveling art journal kit with me so maybe I will have some art to show you as well!!  Have a great weekend.

WOYWW 23 Aug

Hi and Happy WOYWW!  I have several projects to show you today!  First, I just finished one last night, but I have not yet blogged about it - so I'm gunna show you now! Several years back a pair of my favorite jeans got some holes in them and I patched them with darker jean star patches to make them fun.  Those jeans have long since retired but a few weeks ago at the store I found a pair that came with stars on them, so I had to get them.  After one wash the stars were coming off, so I decided I would sew them back on.  I don't have a sewing machine so it had to be by hand, and I thought since I was going to be making the effort I might as well as some sparkle!  So, here are the pictures:

front right pocket

front left thigh

back right pocket

back left pocket

I let the stars get a little too frayed before I started, and it turned out nothing like I pictured in my mind, but I like it anyways!! 

I am also working on a painting - see previous pictures of it here - and here are a few shots of it:

Lastly, I have finally started working on this book:

Its one of those cardboard kids books that you can get at the dollar store.  I gessoed the entire thing but never started working on it until a few days ago.  The photo is a picture of the cover so far.

I hope you all enjoyed the peek!  For more projects and work desk peeks - go to Stamping Ground!

Lastly, I finished some post cards a few days ago and I never blogged those...so here they are:

I have tons more postcard forms left to go so hopefully I can get on that soon!  Have a great night everyone, hope to see you tomorrow.

ICAD Collection

I know I am several days late, but here is my post about all my cards I made for ICAD!  I'm just going to keep in short and sweet!  So, The index cards reside on the shelf next to my desk:

And here they are... spread out in day order... top left was first - moving left to right then go down a row and repeat:

I didn't do a card a day but I still had fun doing the ones I did - and isn't that the whole point anyways?  Go check out more people's ICAD Collection posts at Daisy Yellow.  Have a great day everyone!!!

Hello Again

Hi!  Apologies for being gone for so long!  It was quite a stressful week.  I had to teach my Soldier how to do some of my job and since she had very little computer skills it was hard! 

Yesterday we got off work early which was nice.  After I saw my chiropractor I went to pick up the contacts that I ordered last week.  Then I went to Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabrics!  So, this is what I got:

I also got some beads but forgot to include them in the picture. 

This morning I went to the Farmer's Market for the first time in like a month.  I actually got there right after they opened so I got to get some goodies:

Isn't that small egg plant cute? I used some of those veggies in the spaghetti I just made for lunch!  Its been a long time since I had spaghetti - months - and it was good!!

I also got these peanut butter items at the Farmer's Market:

Then I went to A.C. Moore and got this:

Isn't that skeleton AWESOME??  There are a few other Halloween items at that store that I want but I told myself if I really want them I have to buy them 1 at a time using 40% off coupons that the store emails me every week! 

On the Art front I have been working on a painting.  It is something I started a long time ago and was never happy with it so I decided to do what I always do and paint on top of it.  So, here are some photos in stages:

I am anticipating making it like a super huge art journal page...but I am not sure. 

Well friends, that is all for now!  A friend of mine is coming to visit me later - she was my roommate when I was in my very first unit back in 2002!  We have not seen each other since 2004!  Anyways, I am going to go for now - "see" you tomorrow!!

Hard Work

Hey guys... its going to be a rough week.  I am teaching a new person how to do my job....well part of it.  The part I am supposed to be teaching her is the specifics of certain power point presentations that I do for certain meetings.   Well, as it turns out I am having to teach her power point and excel basics while also teaching her about the presentation.  So, its VERY frustrating and very slow going.  What normally takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to do took her the entire day.  So, I am worn out.While the perfectionist in me would like to make myself do something that "I should" the rest of me says "I'm too tired."  So, apologies for the short post.  Hopefully tomorrow or Thursday will be better.

Weekend Art

Hi!  Happy Monday hehe.  Monday is certainly not my most favorite day of the week.  I like Wednesday because we are always off work by 3pm, and of course I like Fridays because its almost the weekend!  I always think the weekend goes by too quickly. 

I did a bit of art journaling/collage this weekend so I thought I would share!  I did some drawing:

I did some collage:

 and I made a post card to send to a friend:

I was just having fun, passing time with art.  Hopefully I can get into my art room this week to do some painting. 



Ok, time for me to go to work...I hope you have a lovely day.  "See" you later!

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night

Hi there!  Sorry its been a while.  I'm pretty sure I am allergic to these dogs I am watching because man it is hard for me to breathe!  And if you read the blog the other day then you know I got a chicken pox shot.  Last night I noticed that there is a huge red circle and bruise at the injection site.  A friend of mine, who is a special forces medic, said nothing to be concerned about unless it gets worse, but it looks CRAZY. 

Last night I went out to eat with a new friend of mine.  We went to an Indian food place that neither of us had been to before, but I had a certificate for 25$ off if we spent at least 35$ so we decided to give it a try.  We got a sampler plate and vindaloo lamb and of course naan! We ordered everything "Indian hot" which is the hottest you can get.  I was very concerned that it would be too spicy so I told the girl that yes we would like some yogurt sauce to cool it off with, but turned out to be unnecessary - we didn't even use it.  I'm not saying it wasn't hot because it was, it even made my nose drip, but it was good and not necessary to cool it off.

Overnight it rained, but this morning I decided to mow the yard anyways.  I feel very accomplished that I got the side of the front yard and the entire back yard mowed!  Now, just gotta get the boys over here to take care of the ditch in the front and the leaves and pine needles and fallen tree limbs in the back.

This afternoon I led a mail art class.  We ended up with only 4 parents and 7 kids (probably due to weather) but we had a good time anyways.  Here are some pictures of the art that was made:

After the kids did their mail art we let them play and make art on larger pieces (9x12 I think), so some of these photos are of the larger pieces.

And when I came home I had a box and another post card!  The card I got today was from Kat Sloma:

She blogs at The Kat Eye View of the World and was the one responsible for the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap that has resulted in such lovely things in my mail box these last few days!  Thanks for all your hard work, and the lovely post card, Kat!  I love doing swaps, and I love doing mail art.  I especially love getting mail art. 

Well friends, as I said earlier its very hard for me to breathe so I am going to let you go and I'm going to go back to laying on my couch and watching tv.  I hope you have a great weekend!!

Thursday

Hello everyone!  So, I am very exhausted and almost decided not to blog but then thought I should let you know how the last few days have gone.  Did I ever tell you that my chain of command was going to let me go to school full time this fall while I am still waiting on my orders to get out of the Army?  Well, that is what they said.  They kept telling me I couldn't register and wait a little longer until they found a replacement for me.  Yesterday was the last day and I finally convinced them to let me sign up by making deals that I would do my job during my off school time.  Anyways, I went to register and since they made me wait so long the classes I need were full already.  So, I was super excited and very happy for about 15 min and then bam!  I swear anytime you get excited about something the Army finds a way to smash it to bits.  I'm trying to not be too upset by it.  Besides, soon I should be getting the official letter saying that I am going to be put out for medical reasons and when I get that I am totally not working anymore.   But, enough of the craziness...onto happier (or maybe just other?) things...  I got another postcard:

It is from Kim who blogs at moseyalong.blogspot.com - go check out her blog.  I try every now and then to get good photos, but photography just isn't my thing - I don't have the eye for it.  I am always envious when I see photos of everyday objects that are so interesting to look at. 

I am going to try and get a volunteer position at  Victory Junction for a weekend they are doing in November.  It is for the Warrior Transition Battalion  (The wounded soldiers) to go away fro the weekend with their families and be able to have a chance to play and bond as a family.  The camp normally deals with children with various physical or mental disabilities so it is perfect for wounded soldiers and their children.  Of course I am trying to get a spot as the Arts & Crafts Leader but I will do whatever they will let me because I think it is an amazing opportunity.  Its like a preview of what I think I want to do with my life - work as an Art Therapist with Soldiers that were wounded in combat and their families too.  Also it will give me a good idea of weather or not I would be able to handle working at the camp for all of next summer, which is something I am considering applying for.  I am going tomorrow to get the medical form filled out by my doctor and then I need two more references and my application is complete.  I am hoping to turn it all in next Monday afternoon or Tuesday even.  I will keep you guys up to date.  Oh yeah, as part of my application I had to get two shots today.  TDaP because TD is not good enough anymore and Chicken Pox, because I have no way of proving that I did have Chicken Pox when I was littler.


Also I have some random art journal pages - apologies if you have seen these before, but I don't think you have:

Still think it was the best concert I have ever been to!

 

I did not intentionally think about making two pages that have to do with "rules."  Ok, the one about cake was last week when I ate a LOT of cake.  Thus, I added the 1.1 about only eating one piece so I wouldn't feel sick after. 

The other one has to do with me getting out of the Army.  I am so just tired of playing by someone else's rules.  I have 100% made up my mind that when I get out I am going to have pink hair - at least for a while.  Why you might ask.... well, because I can.  Its been a long 10 years of someone ruling my hair color and hair style and how long it can or cannot be, etc, etc, so I am going to do it just because I want to. 

Lastly, but certainly not leastly (haha I amuse myself) I have another index card for you:

Do you see the word in there?  Now you are looking for it, right? I was feeling rebellious. 
I did that during a class we had yesterday morning.

Ok, enough rambling on, right?  I will stop for now and perhaps I will see you guys tomorrow.  Have a great night!!

WOYWW 10 August - and catch-up

So...this is going to be a long post because I've been a bad blogger and have not blogged in several days.  I will start with the WOYWW, so if your just here for the snoop you can skip the rest!  So, here it is:

I am working on getting ready for a class I am doing this weekend with my unit.  I am "teaching" a mail art class for spouses to send off to deployed soldiers.  I have 16 postcards ready for them to collage on!  And, here are my shelves in the living room - art spillage:

For more work desk peeks, go to Stamping Ground!

So, onto what I have been procrastinating on!  I got 2 more post cards from the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap!  Deborah Tisch, who blogs at tischd.blogspot.com, made this one:

And Geri, who blogs at myheartartbygeri.com, sent me this one:

I love getting mail art!  I also got this card that my mom made:

So cute, right?

Lastly I put some new paintings up in my Etsy Shop:

Go check them out! 

Ok, I'm out of time - gotta run so I can get to work on time.  Have a great day and come back soon to visit again!