Elmo came to visit

I just had to share my little Elmo with you. He wasn't feeling so good so we couldn't get a smile out of him but cute just the same. We took him to the mall to trick or treat but the cold he is coming down with cut the trip short. Maybe next year he will enjoy it more. Happy Boo day!

50 Things

Well, I finally finished my list of the 50 things I want to do before I turn 50. It took me awhile. Some of the things are simple and some are big. My friend Michelle was doing a list and blogged about it and so I decided to give it a try. I decided to give myself a little more time so I have till August 2011 to finish my list. I will keep you all updated on how it goes. I already want to cross some things off so I think this is going to motivate me. Should be fun trying anyway.
1. Open Etsy shop
2. Submit journal to magazine
3. Start exercising 3Xweek
4. Take a Photoshop class
5. Declutter house
6. Keep journal for Cameron
7. Go garage saleing
8. Play golf
9. Give something away
10. Send a card for no reason
11. Save money
12. Get a massage
13. Ride a bicycle
14. Attend 30 year class reunion
15. Ride the OHSU tram
16. Tour the Portland Art museum
17. Design a stamp
18. Read through the Bible
19. Maintain weight
20. Read 20 books
21. Take a balloon ride
22. Travel to Ireland
23. Get Janerie on-line
24. Take a photography class
25. Organize my art studio
26. Learn French
27. Write a letter
28. Do something for charity
29. Invest in friendships
30. Have family dinners
31. Go see Oprah
32. Work through “100 ways to simplify your life”
33. Take a walk through Lewisville Park
34. Knit an afgan
35. Vacation in Canada
36. Find a heart shaped rock
37. Catalog all digiatal downloads
38. Do a give-a-way on my blog
39. Take Cameron to Disneyland
40. Play tennis
41. Re-design kitchen
42. Teach art journaling to a newbie
43. Play tourist in Portland
44. Take an art class
45. Do something fun with my kids
46. Try new art journal technique
47. Lead an art journal biblestudy
48. Journal about everything on this list
49. Finish this list and post it on my blog
50. Go back to Paris

Be Satisfied and a Give-a-way

Be Satisfied with what you have.

Number two on this list can be challenging for anyone who likes so many different things. Hmmm, I was just having a conversation the other day about this very thing. We have been talking about moving and I was looking at all my books and art supplies and thinking, I have way too much stuff. I am trying to go through my house and de-clutter it. This is going to take a while since I must have been a packrat in a former life. When you think about boxing up all the things you own, you suddenly realize that you can live with a whole lot less than you thought you needed.

Along those same lines; if you are trying to rid out then the last thing you want to be doing is buying more stuff. I think I do pretty well in almost areas except for art supplies. There is always something new and cool to add to my stash. I have thought that I would force myself to use up what I have before buying more and you can help me do this. It would take me a long time to use up all the paper and ribbon and embellishments I have stored away. But, I could share what I have with you. That way you could benefit from my de-clutter project. Anyone want to win a bundle of stuff?

Here are some ways to get your name in the drawing:

• Leave a comment here


• sign-up to follow-me on my sidebar


• advertise the give-a way on your blog

Just let me know what you did and I will put your name in the drawing. You will have until Sunday night, November 1st, 8:00 PST and I will notify the winner on Monday.

This is my first give-a way and I am so excited.

Lots of paper, tags, envelopes, stickers, old book pages, numbers, letters, ribbons, and a lot more. I am even throwing in The Creative Journal. Good luck!

100 Ways to Simplify you Life

I have been going through the beginning stages of simplifying my life. What that means is telling myself that I need to, ha! When I was at the store the other day I found this book by Joyce Meyer called, 100 Ways to Simplify you Life. I decided to take a look and see if it could move me from saying I need to do it to actually doing something about it. Each chapter is short so that is good. I will keep the list running on my sidebar and will blog about my progress. This is going to be a long process considering there are 100 things and I need about year to do each one. Just joking :) but not really. It is in my nature to fill my schedule to the brim and wonder how it happened.

Anyhoo, The first one is to practice living one day at a time; give yourself-your thoughts, your conversation, your energies, every part of you -to the day at hand. She actually says that in the book. The ability to focus on the one thing that God has laid out for me. Not trying to do it all and not worrying about all the other stuff I'm not getting done. Anyone out there have this problem? Well, you can come along and try it with me. What's the one thing you need to be doing right now? Write it down and focus on it and let go of the other stuff that gets in the way of you doing the one thing.

My son came by the house the other day and brought this adorable little puppy. His name is Marley, as you can imagine why, and she is the sweetest thing. I spent some time with my niece on Monday and after we worked really hard we decided to take a break and go downtown to the art store. I was very happy to get the paper I was looking for.

I love Fall. I don't think I can say that enough. The colors are so yummy and decorations so fun.

New computer

I am typing away on my new laptop. It is very exciting but now I get the privilege of learning how to do things all over again. Find where all my stuff went to. Learn how to get photos downloaded. All the things I knew how to do are now done differently or moved or gone completely. ARGH! I did not grow up with computers so every time I have to relearn something I start talking very adamantly with my hands flying around wildly, knowing this will not help but doing it anyway. The only thing helping right now is that this cute little 3 lb. baby is really adorable and I have been through this enough times to know I will eventually figure it all out. About that time, I will have to start all over again.

I now have Photoshop and the dummies book to go along with it so hopefully I will be on my way to figuring that program out. So much to learn and so little time and brain power. I'm thinking a personal assistant that already knows how to do all this well would be so much easier. Oh well, this could be fun, right?

I will have more photos when I figure everything out :)

Mail Art give-a-way

I just ran across this blog that is giving away a new book on Mail Art. If that is something you are interrested in you should check it out here: http://burdart.blogspot.com/2009/10/good-mail-day-author-interview-and-book.html

TheJourney

Now that I am home and back to a regular routine, I find my mind wandering to what's next. I am working on getting some paintings ready to open my etsy shop and I'm excited about that but scared at the same time. I keep telling myself to not worry about what anyone thinks, that I'm new at this and will make mistakes and it is OK if no one likes my art. Then why does my heart pound every time I think of it.?

I just saw the movie Amelia last night. She told a young girl that was asking her advice to not quit when others tell you that you can't do it. That she got a lot of people telling her that and she didn't listen to them and kept doing what her heart told her she had to do. I also read the book, The American Pearl. A story about a woman who rowed across the Atlantic Ocean. I seem to be drawn to women adventurers, women trailblazers who exhibit determination and grit in the face of adversity and criticism. I admire the hope they bring to others. How they impact the world that they live in and those around them. All they did was follow their passion and not quit. That is what I want to do, no matter how scary it may be or how many people say I can't do it or how many mistakes I make along the way. The journey is the adventure not the destination.

Wristers

I discovered the clothing company Roots way back in the 1980's. They are a Canadian company and so whenever I go to Canada I always stop in. On this trip I bought these cut fingerless mittens. I have seen them listed as Wristers also. They keep your hands warm and you can still have your fingers free to do stuff.

When I got home, I decided to try and figure out how to make more in the colors that I like. Here is what I came up with yesterday. I think it turned out pretty good. Now I am thinking of all the color options. Apparently, the more colors the better.

Another great find while we were in Canada was on the TV. We used to watch a Canadian based show called Flashpoint. Although it was cancelled in the US they are still showing it in Canada. I am thinking that if I can't watch it on-line, I should be able to order the DVD's when they come out. I wonder what else there is out there to discover?

Home again

While I was gone on vacation, I did some journal pages but only in pencil. I waited to add color when I got home. I'm not sure why, maybe because I was too busy enjoying the scenery but whatever the reason they will trickle in as I finish them. This was our first day on the road.

While we were gone the fall colors came out. Some of the trees that were already getting their color before we left were loosing leaves by the time we got home. This is my favorite time of year. I love fall colors, crisp sunny mornings and sweaters. I just wish it lasted longer. I think it must be the shortest season we have around here.

Multnomah Falls

on the Columbia River

in the Gorge on the Oregon side.

When we were in Canada we heard a Sierra Noble song and loved the sound of her music. Check her out @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIOnnpaqBy8

My favorite song of hers is called I love you more but couldn't find it on Youtube.

Canmore to Coeur d' Alene

We started the drive home today. What a beautiful day it was. The sky was spectacular!
The lakes and rivers in Canada all had a green tint to them. This one was especially beautiful.

I love taking pictures of unusual patterns in nature. This was just a rock that the berries on the bush hanging over it had stained.

As we climbed into the mountains the fog got thick.

More unique rock formations.

The lakes and mountains are in abundance and I didn't tire of snapping shots as we took our drive home.

Your brain wants to tell you that it is not real but I was there and took this photo and it is unaltered. Now I have photos to remind me of God's beautiful canvas.

So much loveliness today. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

There are so many beautiful places on this planet and I want to see as many of them as I can.

Calgary

The morning started out with a beautiful rainbow with the mountains as a backdrop.

Then we headed over to Calgary to do a little sight seeing and to go to the top of the
Calgary Tower.

You get a 360 view of the city from up on top. They also built it with a glass floor and it is the freakiest feeling looking all the way down to the street with only glass between you and a

525 ft drop.

I am talking really freaky!

My head started to spin while I was standing there.

Here is one of the views from the top. You can see forever.

A cup of tea anyone?

These lovely ladies were in the Olympic park

This sweet bird was hanging out in the Olympic park also.

It was a great day.

We also got to see the Olympic training center.

They are definitely getting very excited up here about the Olympics coming to Canada.

We start heading home tomorrow and the time has gone by way too fast.

Banff

I woke up this morning to the sun shining and turning the mountain orange. It has been fun to see my mountain ( that's what I call the one outside my window) turn different colors as the light changes during the day. This morning I laid on the bed and read my bible, prayed and watched the sun rise as the mountain went from this beautiful orange to blue to gray. I was entertained quite nicely. We drove over to Banff today. It is cute little town, surrounded by the mountains. The wind really picked up and it was quite cold but I was in the car mostly so it didn't matter to me. I did make a quick stop in Roots. My favorite store in Canada. I always stop in when we cross the border.

OH MY GOODNESS! Can you even believe this hotel? The Banff Springs Hotel is huge and beautiful. If there had been anywhere to park without paying, I would have gone inside and taken some photos but there where lots of official men standing around and I chickened out. Maybe next time. The outside was enough for me. Can you imagine what it would be like to stay here and the view? WOW!

I love this statue or sculpture. It is actually in Canmore but it makes me laugh every time we drive by it.

Here is another mountain photo I took on the way back from Banff. I wonder what the names of all these mountains are. Wouldn't it be so cool if you could put on some GPS glasses that when you put them on you could see the name of whatever you were looking at, elevation and all that fun stuff. Someone should invent them.

The trees right in front of this photo have these little round leaves that sparkle and twirl when the wind blows. We have been admiring them all day. Now we are back in the room and I am having fun playing my new DS lite game. I am not a computer or video game person but a friend of mine said I would like the puzzle type games and she was right. I can't believe how fun this is. OK ,I am off to solve a murder.

On the road to Canmore

We made it to Canmore, Canada last night and when I woke this morning, this was the view from my window. The mountains are huge and so amazing. It takes your breath away. I don't know what I was expecting but this was not it. There are a few inches of snow on the ground and it is so so so beautiful. Mountains are not new to me because I live in the foothills of the Cascades with Mt. St Helen's right around the corner from me. I think what has got me in awe is that these are so huge and go on for ever. They also seem to go straight up in front of you too.

As we were traveling yesterday in the car we saw these misty giants. The fog was hanging low and so it was hard to get my camera to acknowledge them hidden in the background but look hard because they are so incredible.

We stopped for lunch in Revelstoke. It is a cute little town along highway 1. I think I would have liked to check it out more but we on the road for 8 hours and needed to get going. We did eat lunch in a funky little bakery with very yummy food of which I had to take half of it home with me.

My salad that had some very unique greens.

A very flaky quiche and I also got a gingersnap cookie to take with me.

We saw a lot of lakes along the way. Some of the water was green and other ones were that beautiful teal you see in the Bahamas. Whatever color the water was, it was stunning.

We stopped here to stretch our legs. You can see the low hanging fog in the background. We did see some color in the trees too but I think maybe it was at it's peak last week.

Another lake along the way.

I snapped a quick picture while the car was moving so you could see the snow and the all the unique patterns and colors on the mountains.

At one point we were at around 5,000 ft elevation. I think it was called the Kicking Horse pass. I was glad that the roads were clear though. We are having to remember that we are dealing with the metric system here converting meters and kilometers to miles and such.

Today I am planning to check out Canmore and mostly just hang out in the room and look at that lovely view.

Leaving on vacation and more

Life has been really busy lately. We have had play dates at the park, celebrating friends birthdays, my grandson's 2nd birthday and my mother-in-laws 70th birthday. Along with getting ready to take a vacation. Whew! I haven't gotten very many journal pages done this month but while I am on vacation, I plan to do some pages. I have been inspired lately to paint. It has been months since I have felt like painting and this week the painting block just broke with all kinds of ideas. Wouldn't you know it; one of the busiest weeks and that is when the ideas came. I am hoping to actually get some of the paintings in my etsy shop when I get back from vacation. It has been sitting there empty and now I actually have something to put in there. I can't wait. I hope I don't get so excited that I forget to enjoy my vacation. We are going to travel to a beautiful part of Canada and I am hoping to take some pictures of the scenery there.

My sweet hubby took me shopping for some winter clothes. I had nothing and the timing is perfect. It is going to snow while we are in Canada and so I will get to wear the sweaters I bought.

Here are some journal pages until I get back from vacation.

I will be back in a week. If I can post while I am gone, I will , but if not then I will see you in a week.

Michelle's give-a-way

Michelle has a great give-a-way going on over on her blog. Go on over and check it out. If you win you will get to pick on of these cute little houses. I always have such high hopes that I will win. Maybe this will be the time.