Whew. . . Busy and fun days kept me away!

Wow!!!! It has been over a week since I have sat down to write. I have been a busy girl - but I have been having lots of fun!!!!

I even got to take another one of Kathie's classes! But I must say that this book KICKED MY BUTT!!!!!! I don't know why it was so hard for me to do? It looked like a simple soft cover book with beads. But that long stitch and the beads together was challenging for me. I am blaming it all on low blood sugar and hunger - not on my abilities! LOL But I finally got it finished. Kathie sent me home with a big sheet of the Lotka paper for the cover to practice with and now I just have to get the signature papers, then I will try it again. I got to play with the Glimmer Mists on the cover - and that was really fun. I had never used them. Have you? I think the colors I used made it almost look like leather.

Thursday I took Monkey for a nice long walk and we ended up at the pool. She has never been to a pool and she loved it! We were not prepared for getting in the water so we just dipped our feet in. It was pretty hot outside but that water was still cold!

Then she discovered the dancing fountains and she was mesmorized by them! We must have sat and watched them for 30 mins. I couldn't get her to take her eyes off of them and look at me so that I could get a picture of her face.
This weekend I got an idea,. . .actually I was inspired by someone elses idea. Thank you Toni! And of course I couldn't rest until I got it down on paper! This is what that idea turned into. . .
It is a super fun flip book all about "My tyle". I took the photos especially for the book, that was a fun little project as well! It is a fun size and holds full 8x10 photos as well as some smaller wallet sized photos. When you completely open it all up it is a whopping 34" wide! If you want to see all of the photos just click on the photo below and it will take you to my gallery and all of the pictures.
I am teaching my "Facts of Life" book at The Creative Quest this Saturday. It should be a fun class - I just love this little chipboard book. I love quotes and this one is full of really cute ones! Maybe I will see some of you there?

Well, time is getting away from me so I should get busy. Talk to you soon!

M

Quote of the Day
Creativity is the joy of not knowing it all.

--Ernie J. Zelinski

SUPER Grammie!!!

What a FUN day I had today! I got up bright and early this morning (5am) and got started. I got some cleaning up done first thing and updated my photography blog so I could have the whole day to play with Monkey. I had some "surprises" for her!
She got here just before I finished, so Mom fed her while I did some "Super Grammie" stuff. Saturday I bought her a new toy - a Monkey Walker! That's right - it is a walker with monkeys all over the seat and on the toy tray, They even make monkey sounds! Of course toys like this don't come "put together" so you have to "build" them. So while she had breakfast I built the monkey walker. OMGoodness did she love it!!!!

She just flew down the driveway and down the sidewalk. She was everywhere.

And since she is only 8months old she doesn't understand the dangers of going in the street, so finally I had to take her and the monkey walker inside to play. It was a good thing because her socks were getting really dirty outside.
When I got her inside and took her socks off, her feet were so dirty Mom gave her a bath. Then it was time to fly around the house in her new toy. And that is exactly what she did!!!!


While Mom bathed her I went back out to the garage for more Super Grammie stuff. Two weeks ago Lizzy ran over her stroller and so Saturday I bought her a new stroller also. They don’t come put together either! The last stroller Gary had to put together for me because I couldn’t make heads or tails of the instructions. But I got this one done in record time and didn’t throw anything, say any un-Grammie like words or make myself bleed! Amazing!
I was so proud of myself I had to put her in it for a stroll around the house. She loved it, it sits up better than her old one did. She liked it so much that Mom took her for a walk around the block.

But I guess all of that walking and strolling wore her out. Look at how Mom brought her home to me. . .Knocked Out!
She had a nice nap and lunch and then us two girls headed off to Target. Time to get some new shoes to wear in her walker (trying to keep her feet clean). Of course that’s not all we bought! We had a great time shopping. It was just a great day together. I truly LOVE my little Monkey and I truly love buying stuff for her. What a blessing she is in my life!!!!!

Quote of the Day:
Creativity is a journey not a destination.
--Unknown

TIC TOC. . .TIC TOC. . .

The clock is ticking and the IRS is anxiously awaiting to hear from all of us!
Are you ready?
Have you filed yet?
I finally got it done today!!!!!! I have been procastinating but knew today I HAD too get it done and I did! Now I am anxiously awaiting to hear back from them - LOL.

Along with getting my taxes done today, I did some MUCH needed housework. Seems life has been getting in my way of keeping up with my chores. While I was cleaning I managed to overflow my tub again and flooded my master bedroom and bathroom! What is my problem?!?!? I have never overflowed a tub before, and now I have done it TWICE in only 3 months! Gary has now grounded me from the tub, and quite frankly I am a bit afraid of that thing now! Oh well, it is all cleaned up and dry, and now I am very pleased knowing that almost all of the "ugly" requirements of my adult life are done for the week. Now I can sit back and relax, and enjoy my granddaughter. Who by the way, is crawling now! She is getting so big, so fast! Bryanna and I made our reservations for Monkey's 1st birthday trip today. We are taking her to the beach for her 1st birthday. I cannot wait to get pictues of my chunky Monkey running in the sand and playing in the waves.

I am sewing again and making a BIG mess in my studio! Joanns was having a big sale this weekend and I could not resist and I found some cool $1/yd fabric at Walmart this week too. So I have projects all over the place. It is good to be busy doing something I enjoy!
What are you doing today that you enjoy? I hope you are finding some time to do something just for you. Something that brings you joy!

Have a great week and I will be back!!!!!
M

Quote of the Day
"Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas."

--Donatella Versace

I’ve been Slummin’

WOW!!!!!! What a WONDERFUL day I have had!!!! Today Lizzy and I spent the whole day together. Mom was gracious enough to take the baby all day for me so that I could hang out with my “baby”. Sunday Lizzy asked if I would go on a photography assignment with her - of course I said yes. The two of us get so little time together anymore - there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity!

Her assignment is called “Dead Arizona” and she needed to capture anything (or anyone) that was abandoned, neglected, dead, or destroyed. So we headed to the less savory parts of town. She was shooting film (required for her class) and I of course brought my digital. Below you will find just a smattering of the images I captured today. Be sure to click on the images to see them bigger.

Well, I guess I better get to bed - tomorrow I am taking Vittoria and Bryanna to the Wild Animal park first thing in the morning. So I hope to have some fun pictures of my girls tomorrow for you.

I hope you all are having a great week so far and making some wonderful memories!!!!!!!
M

Quote of the Day:
Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”

- Aaron Siskind

HAPPY TUESDAY

Today I am trying very hard to be “happy” . I am feeling a bit overwhelmed today and am “hung over” from yesterday’s migraine (that I am afraid is going to come back). It seems I have way too many things to get accomplished this week and not nearly enough days to do it all in. Each thing on my “to do” list seems to have a quickly approaching deadline. Oh well, it will all get done right? I am hoping the “Tax Fairy” will be arriving here tonight to do our taxes for us. If she shows up that will be a big relief to me. . . But somehow I don’t have a lot of faith that this will happen.

I tend to procrastinate when I get overwhelmed and end up doing things that DON’T need to be done instead. This morning was one of those times for me. I decided to finish up my 7 Gypsies book I started on Saturday at Kathie’s class. And guess what. . . I got it all finished! (if only doing taxes were so enjoyable I would have had them done ages ago!!!!!) If you want to take a peek at it here it is. I filled it with photos from my San Francisco trip this past October. I didn’t do photos of people - instead I did all buildings, landscapes and touristy stuff. I even hand wrote in this one - something I HATE to do!!!! (Click on Photo to see the pages)

Well, I guess I better get to work. I hope you are all having a

GREAT Tuesday!!!!!!!
M

Quote of the Day:
Creativity is a celebration of one’s grandeur, one’s sense of making anything possible.

--Joseph Zinker

What a FANTASTIC Day!!!!!

I spent almost the entire day at The Creative Quest today and I had a BLAST!!!!! I left the house at 8:30am and did not get back home until almost 7:00pm! I taught the 1st session of my photography class from 10 - 1 today. At 2:00 Kathy was teaching a 7Gypsies travel book, and she graciously allowed me to stay and take the class even though I was not registered. It has been a long time since I actually took a class and it felt so good to just sit there and play with a project that someone else came up with. Of course in typical "Marta Style" I changed the papers I used on the project. I think Kathy almost expects me to do that now - sorry Kathy and thank you! Also typical for me is that I talk too much, ink too much and smoke too much and didn't finish my project before I left the store. But after I got home and ate dinner with the family, I got started back on it and it is just about finished. I can't wait to print the pictures for it!

While I was working in my studio I heard my computer say "You've Got Mail" I rolled over to check it out and I had the loveliest email from one of the ladies from my class today. You know who you are - and thank you so much!!!! It is not often that I get one of those emails but they just light me up inside when I get them!

Lizzy got home early tonight (by 9:30 - unheard of!) and came in and visited with me while I worked on my project. While we were visiting she asked me if I would mind letting Mom take care of Vittoria one day this week so that she and I could go out on a photography shoot together! She needs to shoot 10 rolls of film of abandoned buildings for her college photography final. This sounds like GREAT FUN to me! I guess we are heading to Black Canyon City and then to down town Phoenix this week. She has a few weeks to get ths all done so we are going to try to get up to Jerome on a Sunday in the next couple of weeks as well. It has been just ages since the two of us have spent any real time together. So of course there was no way I was going to turn down such an invitation.

Like I said before, what a fantastic day! Unfortunately tomorrow wont be near as much fun. I still have not done our taxes, so that is what I will be doing tomorrow. Poor me!
Well I hope you all are having a Super Fantastic weekend too (and I hope you have your taxes done already and don't have to stress over them anymore).
Talk to you soon. . .
M

Quote of the Day

Let your creative spirit rush - flow - tumble - leak - spring - bubble - stream - dribble - out of you.

Happy Friday!!!

WOW! This week just flew by! I can hardly believe that it is already Friday! I have been looking back at my week and wondering where it went to and what all I accomplished. So far I can't see that I got a whole heck of alot done! I can tell you one thing for sure, my time was not spent cleaning the floors or dusting. I didn't even take very many pictures this week. But I did manage to get a few. While I was looking them over, these 3 really stood out to me. Not because they are stellar images, but just because of what they are. . .My Life. . .My Family. . .My Joy.
So here ya go - my favorite photos for the week. . .

*The 1st one is of my "baby" Lizzy with Vittoria. Look at that smile on Monkey's face as her Aunt Lizzy gallops around the house with her on her shoulders.

*The middle photo is kinda blurry but I love it still. Monkey is cutting teeth right now and she was just so unhappy on Wednesday. But for just a few minutes she dropped off to sleep on my Mother's bed. When I walked in and saw her I just had to grab my camera. She just looked so peaceful.

*The last one just makes me smile - she had her very first piece of toast on Tuesday, complete with butter & strawberry perserves. She is growing up so fast!

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the 1st session of my photography class. This is the 1st time in ages that I have been nervous about a class, not sure why I am so nervous? My new rolling cart is all packed up and sitting by the door, so I guess I am prepared. Wish me luck! I will pop in tomorrow after class and share how it all went.

I hope you all have great plans for this weekend and get to spend it with the peple you love, making memories!
M

Quote of the Day

"Creativity requires quite a lot of faith- not just in yourself but also in the knowledge that you have the right to proceed, even when you may not know exactly what you're doing.
- Twyla Tharp