daretodream

Monday~the beginning of a whole new week!!

I love that monday starts a fresh week.  I can grasp this reality much more than I can a fresh new day after 24 hours....I'm not sure why.  Maybe it takes me longer to process a day. 

I thought I'd share some of the treasures I found in Florida where I visited my sweet friend, Norma and met new friends....Dottie, Paula, Sharon, Lori, Kooi (norma's hubby) and of course, little Allie (norma's little, stinky dog....bathe her girl!).

Everyone was so unique, funny, charming and only one stinky in the bunch.  The days were great, filled with shopping, lunch out and treasure hunting most mornings.  Norma had to be at work in the early afternoon, so I was dropped off at 1ish on the weekdays....she would go to work and I would usually unwrap my treasures from the day, cruise ebay, look through Norma's massive library of artsy/decorating books and magazines.  I'd try to coax Allie into sitting with me, would lay on the couch and watch court tv until I fell asleep for an afternoon nap.  Norma would get home after 11pm or so and we'd stay up for hours gabbing, laughing, showing each other stuff.  It was so good.

**oh shoot, I feel a nap attack coming on...it'll be a bit longer than expected to finish!  In the meantime, you can go HERE to peek at my florida treasures!**

sarah gifties

I received the sweetest surprise in the mail yesterday from my friend Sarah. There were 3 tiny buttons with images of her work and a pair of bottlecap earrings. They made me happy. :)  Thanks Sarah, oxox....I've had lots going on in my head the past couple of days.  I had an epiphany of sorts and immediately called my wonderful counselor, Susan Giberson, to set up an appointment.  I haven't seen her in forever and knew that I'd have to to work through some things that have been holding me back. 
What started all this introspection had to do with my lack of trusting people the way I used to.  I've always been way too trusting and believed that if you're kind and respectful of people/feelings, other people would be the same way...I've always just laid everything out there, the good, bad and the ugly and I've always found it easy to love people unconditionally.  I've always assumed that it's easy for me to overlook the "quirks" of others because I've always been the queen of quirks....
this is so hard to even think about, let alone, type it.
A couple of years ago I'd had some wonderful things happening artistically....around that time, some people I felt close to hurt me...from that point, things went downhill.  I honestly thought I was so over this, but it just hit me the other day ...I'd been stuffing the hurt and to this day I rarely make art, have turned down many opportunities to be published, have virtually cut myself off from art friends and have retreated into this safe place...but it's not safe.  I'm so stifled and this overwhelming sense of a fear of failure, of a fear of letting people down, fear of allowing myself to trust new people and letting them get to know the real me...it's all so different than the person I was.  I believe there is wisdom in being cautious with new people...my girlfriend, Tami, had me over for lunch today...I began telling her about this and was shocked by the emotion and pain that rose up...I knew I had things I needed to work through and let go of, but not having vocalized it before today I hadn't felt super emotional about it.  She told me that where people are concerned, trust is something that is earned, not given away.  I've never ever thought of it that way.  I would always trust with reckless abandon, get the rug pulled out from under me, be hurt and heartbroken which would add bricks to the wall I've been building around me for the last 4 yrs or so. 
I'm rambling because I'm working this out while I type. :)   
I used to not be such a horrible emailer...hubby used to complain that I spent more time emailing than I did making art (back in the days we needed my artwork to generate household $$).  Over the past few years, I've not only become the worst at responding to emails,  I've also stopped answering my phone, most days...don't listen to voice messages more than once a week, have a hard time committing myself to new friends for fear that we would get close and it could blow up on me.  I find that if something happens and my feelings get hurt, I now tend to completely withdraw from the person involved instead of working things out....I'm so overly protective of my heart.  Things have definitely got to change. My Dr. appt. is in a week...we'll see.

On a happier note, I will be flying to Florida to visit with my dear friend Norma Kooi in less than a month.  I'm so excited, haven't seen her in forever and can't wait to just have girl time with her.  I'm going to be there for her birthday and during one weekend we're going to some huge city flea market...  I've got to start making some spending money FAST!
I'm also getting so excited for the trip to france I'm taking with my mom.  We'll be going on an art retreat taught by Linda and Opie.  Celine and I spent so much time talking and planning, she lives a couple of hours from where the retreat is being held....I think we're going to actually fly to paris early, meet up with Celine and the next day or so, take the fast train to southern france.  She lives near Montpellier (an incredible city that I loved).  We will be going to the same places I visited in France 8 years ago.  It'll be so wonderful to share that with my mother.  We'll visit the gorgeous walled city of Carcassonne.  I spent most of my time in france staying in Nimes, which was a dream.  I can't even believe I'm going back.  I know my mom and I, not to mention our husbands who will be staying home, will feel much better having a french friend to show us around.  Celine works in Paris, teaching classes at the only scrapbook store!  It'll be so fun being in her life, seeing where she works, lives, etc.  Okay, I feel better now. oxox

Home Sweet Home

Happy Weekend!  It's my "no kids" weekend which is actually a YIPPEE thing at the moment.  We had an awesome time at the coast but by the time we got home on Friday (almost 6pm) I was needing some space/alone time.

I was excited to get back to see how my studio was looking.  We'd hired someone to put in a beautiful distressed maple wood floor (5" planks) which would be replacing the grotesque, 16 yr. old, off-white, pee stained, etc. carpet.  The floor was absolutely gorgeous but the PVC siding (that I will need to paint or stain to match the flooring) was lacking in good workmanship.  Now tell me this....If I pay $1000 for someone to install my floor as well as the baseboards, (he also removed and hauled away the carpet) and the floor looks great but the baseboard job is crappy...(the mitered ends don't match up, there are big gaps between the baseboard and the wall, etc), that's not acceptable, right?

Unfortunately I was at the beach when he was installing, but my hubby got home as he was packing up.  The floor guy (he has a name, I'm just gonna keep it quiet for now), came inside with him and let him look at the work.  Honestly, as you can see, the floor was gorgeous....Kem questioned him on the baseboards and he had some lame excuses (in my estimation they were lame)....not only that, he had thrown all the original baseboards in our yard.  Kem asked about them and he said..."in case she doesn't like these, I'll put the original ones back on.")  The job hasn't been completely done as he wants the floor to set up before doing some finishing touches...but I'm left with having to do the confrontation thing, letting him know that we approve of the baseboards, but don't approve of the job he did installing them....as well as expecting him to take away the old baseboard debris.  Fun fun.

SO.....What about the cabinet photo at the top?  It's my most wonderful find in the WHOLE WORLD!!!!
When I took my sweet friend, Paulette, out on her birthday, we went to an estate sale.  This antique, hardware store cabinet was in the garage screaming my name.  It is 9ft long, 4ft high, has 48 partitioned drawers and is what I've been searching for for my studio.  It cost $250.  It now sits in my garage, along with the rest of my studio, until the wood floor is ready for furniture.  I'll be making tags for each drawer and organizing all my crap, er...art supplies, to fit inside. 

I have more to say, but am pooped...and I have the most powerful hiccups...blah!....will share more tomorrow.  oxox

Weird Searches, Gifties and Buttons

It's 10:36pm, Tuesday and I'm sitting here listening to my laundry going.  I'm so ready for bed....and will probably just leave everything until morning.  The girls, James (katy's bfriend, see small picture)  and I are spending the next two nights at the beach with my friend and neighbors, Tami & daughter Rachel  (we live an hour or so away from the Oregon coast).  We've yet to go this summer and am glad we'll get a chance before school starts.  We're hoping to leave no later than 10am.  I've not packed or finished my laundry, but I will do it....even if I have to leave here looking like a hag....hey, we'll be on the beach and sandy, who'll notice?  It'll be interesting having james along...fortunately for me, Tami is a great watchdog and we've pretty much determined to keep things nice and simple, hormones or not (she'd absolutely kill me if she knew I was writing this...katy, not tami).
I've had something fun happen today but I won't share it until I get back.  It'll be a surprise!  YAY!
What I will share is a picture of the sweet gifts I received on Friday from my sweet friend, Paulette...I took her to lunch for her bday and I ended up bringing home gifts! :)

She's an incredible lampwork bead artist and surprised me with the most beautiful PINK! bead and sterling chain....I just love it! 
She also bought this sweet tissue cover from little birds etsy shop.  She doesn't have anything up for sale at the moment, so I've posted a link to her "sold" items....just so you can see how cute her stuff is.
It's almost 11pm and I've got to say goodbye before I fall asleep here....just one more picture to share of some buttons I've been making using my button maker, some printed out images of my artwork and real illustrations from vintage books...(do you recognize the Dick & Jane pictures?)

oxox

ps....I totally forgot about the "weird searches" part of the title..... this is for lia who has asked for me to post more of my strange yahoo/google, etc., visitors but most have been pretty dullsville until now.  For those who don't know what this list is....I can see who's happened upon my blog as a result of some fluke web engine search.  So, in the past 24  hours, people searching for the following were offered a link to this blog....(I'm doing something extra special this time and actually linking each to the specific page they HAD to click on.)

1.  how to ring a chicken neck
2. queen dresser drawers collage sheet
3. grandma's dresser drawers collage sheet (links to main page)
4. cheap collage sheets
5. ugly toes (see, always the ugly toes)
6. hairless kittens (can't find the link!)
7. hug snug
8. temp of 104 degrees
9. nonstop crying depression- (links to main page)
10. mecuricom
11. ugly toes (yet, again)
12. artfest trades

Gifty & Thrifty Thursday!

I received the most wonderful treasure in my mailbox today.  This is a wonderful tin shadow box house.  My friend, Tyn made it for me and I LOVE it!  It's so sweet and different and just perfect!  I'll post the back of it so you can see the size of it.  Thank you so much, Tyn....YAY!!

I'm also going to post some photos for Thrift Thursday hosted by the talented Carrie Sommer.  Over the last couple of days I've been getting boxes that I mailed to myself from North Carolina.  My mom and I went shopping at all her favorite thrift shops, etc., and I went a tad overboard.  Its been so fun getting the boxes of treasures this week.  Here are some of the things I got from "The Hem of His Garment" in NC. 

I've been STILL dealing with emotions....it's getting very old.  I've been putting off calling my Dr. but will do it tomorrow.  I have been spending some time with some friends, so at least I'm not a complete shut in. 

Tomorrow afternoon I'm taking my girlfriend, Paulette, out for her birthday....she'll be 34...such a baby!  She topped by for a bit today and was able to see that my house was a total wreck.  I have a doll of a housekeeper who came this morning to clean but we were both tired so we sat in my living room and drank coffee and caught up on little details of our lives. Mel is one gorgeous girl....I'll see if I can make a link to her myspace page.  (I'm so myspace illiterate).  Okay, I made a link but she might have a friends only site, which would make it impossible to see.  Anywho, she's single and dealing with the whole guy thing which is usually a pain in the you know what for most girls.

We decided to keep my house messy and she's going to come back on Tuesday...what a relief. :)  I was too tired to clean the house for her to scrub it! 

Okay, I'm gonna run now.  Just wanted to pop in to say hi.  oxox

Technically Sunday

Hi, it's technically Sunday, but at 1:20am  I'm still up from Saturday.  I've had so much I've thought I would have posted by now but fighting the flu not to mention Kimber with the flu...everyone's so needy around here....and there's only been me to be the caretaker.  Yeah, I know...welcome to motherhood. 

How can I complain....I've gotten so many awesome treasures lately.  It's my birthday month...in case you haven't read that the first million times I've posted it lately...I've been wanting to share some of them.

I've taken photos of things totally intermingled.  The above photo contains new ribbon from costco, a bunny and pink xmas tree, and old metal "R" on my trip to visit stacie a while ago...The little pigs, perfume bottle, Woman magazine, dishes are from an auction, the little flower girls on top of the candle are from my collection that I'm sending to my mom for her birthday.  I won't go into this detail for all the pictures, if you want to know the origins of anything you can visit my flicker pages and peek in the "treasures" group. :) 

I did want to show mom what I won on ebay....(she has had one exactly like it since I was a little girl and I've been dying for it...) I actually just won it, haven't held it in my hands, but I'm happy about it. 

Now, back to business...I want to thank those of you who sent your bday wishes...that's just sweet...I got a surprise package the weekend before my bday from stace... Yummy chocolate, an awesome Burts Bees set and some fun post its and notepad...thanks stace!  I received another package from my friend, Norma....she sent me the long awaited chunkybook she hosted that I participated in last year.  It's so gorgeous and well worth the wait... She included lots of goodies that totally made my day when the box came.  Thanks norma!!

Next, I got the sweetest card from Cinda Oliverio whom I just adore.  She's always so generous with a memory that's so much better than mine...her wonderful card came on the same day I received my Erratica Zine! 

I received the most incredible cork doll from my friend, Bambi Doe Blake.  She's hosting a cork doll swap that I need to talk to her about and bambi, I promise I'll call...I've just been blah and busy...This doll is so beautiful, I'll post a picture of the one I make for her when it's done.  (we did a little cork exchange between the two of us.) On the day Bambi's beautiful doll arrived, I also received an awesome artpiece I bought from Jenny Elkins.  I have it in the same photo tucked inside a vintage box that bambi's doll arrived in.  I just love it. 

The rest of these photos are treasures from an auction I attended and from my trip to seattle.

So many fun things!

I've got photos that I'll be posting on my Artsy Inspirations blog of two awesome orders I received from two of my favorite collage sources!  I'll do that tomorrow...or technically, later today. :)  oxoxo

Friday Already?

  Where does the time go?  It's been a week and a half since I last posted.  Actually, I finished a huge post on Wednesday (it was my birthday!) and when I pressed the spell check button, explorer "encountered an error" and shut down. :(  I just didn't have the motivation to start it all over again.
This week and next we have Larry as a sleep over guest.  Because of that, I'm not getting to sleep in the way I'd like to.  Larry is an early riser like his mama Tami.  :)  At 6:30am Larry's ready for action, which makes Lily ready too!  (here's a photo of them with Muffin, plotting something against him, I'm sure!) I feel like I'm a zombie at the moment...just having a hard time with the get up and go thing today.  I've had so much to tell, taken tons of photos to share.

My birthday was great.  Kimber and I have been down with the crud for a week or so, yesterday I felt better for the first time and actually left the house!

So much to tell....hmm...the above is one of my birthday presents from hubby.  I collect these tiny "wee forest folk" figurines...this one is about 1-1/2 inches tall.  she's so cute!  in my "errored" post from wednesday, I thumbnailed the others I have....and a couple I wanted. :)  Hmm...okay, I'm going to try it again...here goes.  These are the ones I have. 

These are so teensy...the tallest of the group is the Christmas mama mouse who is standing next to a table with a plate of gingerbread men.  It's called "Where did the cookies go?"  Her little one is hiding on the other side biting the head off of the stolen cookie. :)  This one is about 2" tall.  The smallest one is the little Candy Corn Kid who stands about 1/2" tall.

So...the ones I want?  (The list is longer than you'd ever want to know...so I'll post just a few of my favorites....)  Know that you can click any of the above or below photos to get a larger peek. 

 

Since I only manage to get one or two a year (birthday and xmas, if I'm lucky!) I think it'll be a while before I'll be filling up my little display cabinet!

I got some money from my parents for my bday which allowed me to make a new addition to my Bathtub Baby collection.  I'd NEVER seen one like this...it's actually a little girl!  I could have sworn I had a pic of her, but I don't and am too lazy to take one. :)

Not sure why I'm so pooped today, maybe because of my outing yesterday and my body hanging onto the last of the virus I've had.....I'm going to post more later.  smooches...hope you're having a great day!  oxox

Nesting ~ for Cynthia M.

Hi, it's been ages since I've posted.  I'm amazed that so many of you keep checking back every day...thank you.  I've been stretching myself way beyond my comfort zone almost every day lately.  It's a good thing, but it makes me feel so tired by the end of the day....emotionally and physically.

I'll try to give a quick version of the last week.  The last time I posted, I'd just mailed out all but one of the artists art decks....So far, I've had only one mistake reported....one of the artists ordered 20 decks and received a box with the correct number written on the outside (hubby's code so I would know who to match the # of cards in the box with the specific artist's order....I put her card and charm inside, taped it up, addressed it and off it went...with only 4 decks inside.  Other than that, I've had two reports from artists disappointed because one, where her name and assigned card is listed, her spot was exactly before the last assigned name on one side of the cards...so, flip the card to reveal the rest of the artists and their assigned cards and contact info...well, the manufacturer skipped right over her....went from card a....flip to the other side...and there's C.  no B. :(  I didn't notice it at all.  I'd given the list of artists as a word document and they transferred that to fit on the two specific cards set aside for text only.  So, all of you....Please visit Denise T. and let her know you see her card and appreciate her!  Also, my beloved friend Cinda sent me a beautiful card today and expressed sadness that the gorgeous card she made honoring her granny, Garnet, wasn't printed to show Garnet's full name!  I've yet to go into one of the decks to see it, as I just received the card from Cinda tonight....but it's just sad...in both cases.  To know I sent the manufacturer the information and this exact card below, with Garnet clearly seen.... I remind myself that in some of my favorite magazines, there are often little "correction" paragraphs correcting mistakes from earlier issues....and they have a team of people working to make sure everything's perfect!....but what is ever perfect?  It really hurts my heart that two wonderful artists (and who knows, maybe others in the deck who haven't contacted me) have discovered something that wasn't perfect for their specific card.   I can assure both of you, Denise and Cinda,  Your cards are absolutely wonderful and my main purpose inside this deck has been to encourage people to visit the website and actually read each of the stories represented for each card.  Your cards are incredible and I am certain they have made a difference in others lives....they've made a difference in my life.   I have more to say, but it's late and I've got to go to bed before I fall asleep at the computer....

I've got to remember to share my botched eyebrow waxing job I did on Kimber, the 12 year old, chronically pmssing, had to miss school the next day thing....also, my treasures found in Centralia, the Portland Art Collective Christmas party I attended today and one of the sweetest presents I could have ever hoped for when I got home...a present from the dearest friend...Janey Jennings...I love you sweetie.  oxox

by Denise Tedeschi

by Cinda Oliverio

Saturday

Life has been such a roller coaster.  Not horrible, really....but I've been so emotional and never do know when I'm going to burst out in tears.  Not always bad tears....I'll cry for any occasion...happy, sad, frustrated, mad, when I'm feeling sentimental or just love for someone.  I'm a basket-case, no kidding!  So, today was a good day, a wonderful day.  I only cried a handful of times but in all of these cases, I was in a good place...(ready to be in a normal place...but at least I wasn't crying because I was depressed!) 

This morning I arranged a day with my friend Lenall.  Before meeting up with her at a big student art sale at the Oregon College of Art & Craft.  I stopped by the post office to express mail a package of Art4aCure cards to one of the artists who honored her mother...her mother is not doing well and so she had asked for her decks asap....which for me lately, is hard to determine.  My hubby and I have been going full force getting the 50 boxes of orders and decks that will be going directly to the artists of the deck.  I'd hoped to get them all mailed by today, but it will be on Monday.  I took Cris Peacock's package in and had it express mailed.  Afterwards, I begin driving to the art sale to meet Lenall, I called home and had Katy look through my emails to locate Cris's phone number.  I'd never called her before, I've actually talked personally to only a few of the artists....when she got on the phone, she was just gracious and adorable.  I prayed that her mother was still living and that I hadn't mailed the cards too late.  She shared good news about her mother, she was able to leave her hospice type care and go out for thanksgiving dinner with Cris and her family.  Just hearing it made me choke up.  I've been in such a personal funk that when she had emailed me a couple of weeks ago asking for a quick delivery, I didn't have anything in me to get that out....I'd been so worried, yet paralyzed and unable to send.  It was just a gift from God that I wasn't too late, that and the fact that Cris was so gracious with me.  So, that was my first crying spell of the day....I cried again telling hubby about it tonight after we both got home....and hey, crying now just typing it out.  It's something that has weighed on my heart for two weeks...that her mom wouldn't be able to see her card in the deck because I couldn't get my sh#t together.   

I have to tell you that while mailing the package, something happened that has only happened one other time in the "real world".... In my art world, several people have heard of me because of my website or teaching, etc....but in the real world, who would know?  When I was mailing Cris's package, (I'd used a box that had been previously mailed to me and my name was on it), the post office lady looked at me and asked if I was Tracy Roos and said she knew me from my website.  Actually, that's the third time it's happened.  The first time was when my hubby sold his car in the Auto Trader...a young couple with a baby bought it, came over to get the title, etc, and asked if he was related to Tracy Roos....(I was upstairs in the bathtub at the time!)  He couldn't believe it. :)  Another time, Katy had a Dr. appt. and afterwords we went to a wonderful shop and the sales person started talking about Art & Soul.  When I told her I was teaching, she asked who I was and got excited, knew me from my article in Cloth Paper Scissors and was just so cute and flustered....it all happened in front of Katy and we both just sat there and grinned at each other and the lady.  It was so surreal. 

Okay, so, I got some wonderful Xmas presents bought at the art sale.  I found some awesome jewelry by Mullanium design.  I actually did a search online and found one of the pins I bought.  This photo isn't the best....the pin is so gorgeous.  I bought another one that has a heart and a compass.  Ooooh, who to give them to.  ....we went to an antique store and I bought some velvet millinery flowers and some wonderful old photos....then to Ten Thousand Villages... the coolest shop I'd never been to before.  It's a non profit store....even the employees are volunteer.  I bought two recycled newspaper trivets  some Milagros and two coke can dog pins...they had some awesome garlands that I might have to order online...

In the midst of typing the above, my ADD kicked in and I got totally sidetracked and went from one cool art store site to the next...I'm pooped now, so I'll close.  love, tracy

5 Love Languages

I've felt so much love from my friends during this period of my life.  Thanks so much for your kind words and thoughts.  I want to say thanks to Cinda Oliverio for two of the sweetest cards.  Cinda, you've always been such an encouragement to me, I just love you to bits. 
Last night my daughter opened the front door and found a package on the step.  Inside I found two wonderful books and a beautiful card with words of encouragement from Tanya Peacock.
I'm a book freak...love everything about them...I hoard them.  She sent me some wonderful ones that I love...Charmed Bracelets and Altered Book Collage.  Thank you so much for thinking of me.
I've received so many emails and posts as well and although the email thing gets me stressed, usually and I don't often write back, I just want you to know how much it's all been appreciated.

Have you ever heard of the book The Five Love Languages?  I first discovered it when I was a single mom and my daughters were teensy.  There was a parenting video series that I went to where the speaker said that he would tell how to love someone in such a way that they would feel it from their head to their toes.  He talked about this book, which was written by Gary Chapman, saying that there are 5 languages of love.

1. Quality Time
2. Words of Encouragement/Affirmation
3. Gift Giving
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch

He had everyone write down the names of the members of our immediate family.
Thinking of each person, he had us write the order of the 5 love languages in order of
importance.  He explained that people will generally show love to others using their favorite love language, for example, Kimber, even at an early age has always been a gift giver.  She was the little 4 year old who would walk up to someone she liked and give them a quarter...(money has always been a big deal for her too, so that quarter symbolized something important).  Katy, on the other hand didn't give away much stuff....but she craved physical touch and quality time, so those were what she gave me.  When I want to do something special for Kimber, it usually involves buying or making her a surprise present...for katy, it's watching a movie or doing something just the two of us.  The trick is, find out how the people in your life express their love and that's how you love them back.  Loving someone in your own specific love language (and you could have more than one, by the way...some will be more important than others but you could have several) is not what'll make them feel loved from the top of their head to the tips of their toes....loving them in THEIR love language is what will do that.  I'll use my husband as an example of this....my primary love languages are gift giving and words of encouragement....when hubby comes home with any ole thing (he just got me a silver dog bone keychain because he knows how much I love my puppy), it's just the greatest thing for me and it makes me happy to know he was thinking of me.  His primary love language is Acts of Service.  When I give him a present, he's appreciative and all, but what REALLY makes him feel loved is when I take the garbage out to the curb before he gets home....when I open the garage door at night and turn the light on so he'll see I'm waiting for him.  When I DO things for him like that, he feels loved more than if I buy him a present.  He tends to DO things for me as a way of showing he loves me and I accept that, appreciate it and do feel loved...but not like when he brings me home a surprise or tells me how wonderful I am. 
This whole concept has changed how I look at loving people....and accepting how they love me.
You should really check this book out if you haven't already.  oxox