Valentine Graphic and LunimArt

Here's a sweet graphic for you to have. It's two little sock monkeys falling in love. Open in a new window, right click and save. This would be a cute comment to add to myspace or sent as an email attachment, etc.

My friend Mary Ann, who is as addicted to creating art as I am, sent me a link to a website called LuminArt Inc.

This company sells wonderful iridescent mica powders in vibrant colors that you can add to all kinds of art work. I've used something similar on clay jewelry and embellishments. The powders give the artwork an elegant, shimmery look.

Check out their website for tutorials and wonderful pictures of art work you can do. I especially love the clay tray. By using texture sheets, clay and mica powders, they've made a wooden tray look like stained glass. Later on today, I'm going to experiment with some of my mica powders to make a stained glass pin. I'll be back to show you the results.

Free Valentine Graphics

If you've noticed, I've started to offer free graphics. Today I've made altered collage tags. These can be saved on your computer and printed on card stock. You can use them for collage, Artist's Trading Cards, gift tags, etc. Click on the picture and it opens in a new window. Then right click and save.


Here's a free polymer clay graphic for you. Use it on myspace or newsletters, personal cards.

My only requests is that you don't add any of my images to a collection of clip art that you sell.

You can use it for crafting, website design, art, etc. I'm still in the beginning stages of my graphics' techniques, and I know I have a long way to go, but this is a start. By giving it out for free, I'm hoping to get some feedback, ideas and motivation to make more.

Let me know as the months go along, how you like the freebies.

Polymer Clay Graphic

Here's a graphic I made today to put on my Daughter-in-law's myspace page.
Feel free to right click and save it.

100 Years to Live

Today, as I was working on a cake topper, I had music playing in the background.
The song, "100 Years" came on by Five for Fighting. That song is so beautifully written that it makes me cry every time I hear it. It also makes me think. I think about my life and those around me, the time we spend together and how much time is left. I ask myself, am I living each day to the fullest? Am I doing everything I planned on doing in my lifetime? How can I make each day the best that it can be? What is next for me to accomplish?

I'm 53 years old and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to live another 47 more years. I'm just being realistic. The biggest reason I won't live to be 100 is that I'm overweight and I don't see a lot of overweight centenarians running around. Also, I don't have good insurance, and I think people with better insurance live longer. That being said, it doesn't mean I'm going to be fat forever and have poor insurance. I do have some goals in mind.

In the meantime, while I'm waiting to lose weight and get great insurance, what am I doing to really live my life?

At this moment, getting my 4 year (really 34 year) degree is my biggest goal. It certainly involves a lot of my time and energy, but I love every minute of it. I went out in -12 degree weather this morning to get to class. I could barely breath the cold bitter air, but I was there.

Tapping in to new creative thoughts and ideas is another way I'm "living my life." The whole process of re-inventing myself is another. I've been a red head for most of my life, and I'm thinking that maybe it's time to change the color and the style. Well, maybe just the style as I think I look good as a redhead :)

I'm trying to face my fears as I get older. I've done that in a few areas. For instance, I used to be more timid in public. I'm starting to speak up, crack jokes and ask questions without hesitation. It's not much, but every time I do it, it's empowering to me.

One fear that I can't seem to face is the fear of flying. That has really held me back. That and money. There are places I want to see where I just have to fly. My dream is to visit Great Britain. The fastest way to get there is by plane. But, just in case I never get over that disabling fear,I periodically get brochures from Cunard about transatlantic cruises. In fact, I received an email today that quoted prices beginning at $745 on the Queen Mary 2. I think a trip to England would be a great gift to myself after I graduate!

Everyday I watch less TV. I think positive thoughts. I try to be nice to everyone around me. Yes, I do get cranky. I have mild road rage. I have less patience. But, I'm working on myself. I practice self talk. When it comes to my clay business, I ask myself, "Would you hire yourself?"

This is it. There are no "do overs"..You've heard, no doubt, the expression, "Your life is not a dress rehearsal." The older I get, the more I realize the wisdom in that. I want to make the most of each day so that when I lie down each night, I won't have any regrets. May the word "bored" never cross my lips. May I seize the day!

Again, my favorite quote...

"I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau

Lyrics and Video

Below are the lyrics to the song "100 Years". Below that is a bittersweet video made by someone other than the Five for Fighting. His name is Filmaker Mike.

I'm 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
I'm 22 for a moment
She feels better than ever
And we're on fire
Making our way back from Mars
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
I'm 33 for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm a they
A kid on the way
A family on my mind
I'm 45 for a moment
The sea is high
And I'm heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy, Time to lose yourself
Within a morning star
15 I'm all right with you
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
Half time goes by
Suddenly you�re wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on...
I'm 99 for a moment
Dying for just another moment
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
15 there's still time for you
22 I feel her too
33 you're on your way
Every day's a new day...
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live

Drive and Motivation

In order for me to stay motivated lately, I've had to start listening to my motivation tapes again. Maybe it's the sub-zero weather and the fact that I haven't seen the sun in days, but I have the energy level of a slug.

Today I'm going to listen to music and give myself a pep talk. Sometimes I think it's ridiculous that I have to work so hard to start to work. I guess I'm not the only one though. There are hundreds/thousands of websites that address motivation. Work place motivation, diet motivation, motivation for kids with attention deficit. I guess even Tony Robbins needs a little motivational push every once in awhile. So, I'm not alone.

Something that really works for me is a mini goal. My goal today is to finish one cake topper and start another. I have 5 hours to work on this goal before I have to go to work. When I get home, if I'm not too tired, I have the whole evening to work.

I think my biggest problem is that when it gets dark, I get tired. Once I step into my home at night, (6:45) I'm ready to take a bath, eat and watch TV. I want to start utilizing that time better. Maybe a shower instead of a bath would energize me. If I drank hot tea, listened to music and stayed out of my bedroom till 10:00 I'd get more done.

Here's a link to 16 ways to get motivated. Get off your butt!

I guess I just added another goal to my day. That's to come home, shower, drink tea, listen to music and create. I'll give you an update later.

Hey! I actually see some sunshine peeking through my window!

Here's an idea

Remember that Valentine's Card graphic I gave you for free?

Here's something I did with it.

I made my own myspace layout by going to this website.
Here's what it looks like.
Myspace.

I love the way it looks. Remember if you'd like to use this graphic, right click and save.

A "pear" of cake toppers

Sometimes I have to know when to look at my work and say, "Yikes!" So it was with a cake topper that I've been working on.

My customer wanted a couple of cute pears to go on her cake. She wanted them with a wedding dress and tux. After I finished the topper, I didn't like it one bit. I thought it was bulky and made the couple look obese.
I wrote to my customer, sending her the picture, and she agreed that it was kind of big.

So, I did another one for her. It looks like this.
I think it's much cuter and more whimsical. My customer sent me an email saying it was exactly what she was looking for. Wow! I'm glad. I used a lot of clay on these, and I wanted her to be happy. I still have to glue it to a mirror base and add blush (paint the stem too), but she got the idea.

It's hard to execute someone's idea when you are an artist. They have a vision and the artist has to try to reproduce that vision for them. About 99 % of my customers are wonderful, as they let me take the idea and run with it.

I haven't met a bridezilla yet!

Snowbound!

On Friday, after my class, I headed out to my sister's house in Howell. A few hours later, we got blasted with snow, snow and more snow. I was supposed to come home on Saturday afternoon before dark, but the roads were horrible. So, I spent another night there and got home Sunday before noon.

I usually travel with my clay, but this time I left it at home. So, by Saturday noon, knowing that I wouldn't be coming home, my sister and I ventured out to Michaels so I could buy some polymer.

Since I had no coupon, I was hoping that clay was on sale. I wasn't so lucky, and had to pay retail for a box of it. I chose wisely though, and bought an 8 pack of granitex clay. I almost hyperventilated at the check out. I don't think I've paid retail in 20 years! That will teach me to travel without a box of clay and some supplies.

When we got back to my sister's house, she wanted to load up the wood box so we could have a fire. As I carried a couple of logs to the wood burning stove, I saw a Michael's flier on a pile of papers. Sure enough, there was a 40% off coupon that was expiring that evening. Too late for me to use it though. We sure weren't going back out in the storm.

Here are some little things I made to help me pass the time and to feel a little bit useful to myself.