A Lovely Weekend...

Here is a photo from our B&B in Montreal, The Victorian Heritage. It was so lovely...don't you like the green paint? It's so cheerful and chic.

Some miscellaneous photos from around the city:

An Inspiring Day...

Wow~how beautiful is this place? Friday I was lucky enough to get to attend the Helen Day Art Center (as seen above) for a "Futures in Art" conference that my friend Suzanne told me about. She wasn't able to make the conference (waaah!) but I contacted the woman in charge and made my arrangements. What a day! I can't believe how wonderful it was to listen to other artists, some working in the field, some aspiring...I felt so connected and just this deep "thrum" of excitement.
























It was a gorgeous day and the sunlight was just perfect for taking some outdoor photos during lunch. Plus, (I'm embarrassed to admit it) I felt too shy to sit with the other conference attendees...even though it would have been a great time to network and learn even more. I had that "new kid at school" type feeling...would someone see me coming and put their books on the chair next to them? Cowardly, yes. But it was nice to get some fresh air and a little quiet time to process everything I had learned during the morning session.


























Here are a few of the most important things I learned (or was reminded of):

1) Organic Education is extremely important (i.e. one doesn't necessarily need formal art education to be a great artist, but they do need to be exposed to great art/artists).

2) Having a support system of other artists is very important.

3) You must become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

4) What you put out there will come back to you.

The statements above (loosely paraphrased) were from a professor and head of art at University of Vermont who also mentioned his core beliefs which I strongly agree with. They are:

a. People are happier doing what they like-this is possible for everyone if they choose
b. We have an obligation to make the world a better place
c. Talent may not make you a success. You will still have to deal with the clumby process of finding your own way.

I AGREE! Especially with "We have an obligation to make the world a better place." I think that is one way that I can feel justified and "useful" making art...sometimes I feel that it's too frivolous, or others infer that it's not a worthwhile use of time...I beg to differ!

Vintage Treasures...

I have been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and look at the lovely treasures I'm parting with! My loss is someone else's gain, right? Plus I am feeling lighter having de-cluttered a bit...check them out on my ebay site if you want to snap up an item or two...



We have put off our big anniversary trip until next weekend...so this weekend I'm dedicating to organizing and tidying and crossing things off the to-do list!

And the Winner Is...

Heidi~You're the winner! Luckily (because of the pretty posie I bought) I have your mailing address and will send this out tomorrow.

Thanks for participating everyone! I'm sure to be doing another giveaway in the future so stay tuned....

Snowy Weekend and a Pretty Posie...

What a snowy, snowy weekend! This is a photo I took at Jay Peak, a northernmost mountain located in the eastern part of Vermont. My husband went downhill skiing, I decided to snowshoe. Needless to say, after 20 minutes on an unbroken trail, I was a bit fatigued. I fell through the snow in many places. I don't know if you've ever been in snow so deep that when you fall through it comes completely up to your thigh but it is a bit alarming. A panicky voice in my head tried to tell me that I would be out there all night, as I seemed to be the only person on the trail, but I shushed it and dug my leg out with my frozen hands. Ahhh, winter...

Decidedly un-wintery is this lovely little felted posie I bought from Heidi. I LOVE it! It is much more beautiful in person than in my photo...and her bags? Scrumptious! Check out her etsy site and buy a little treat for yourself!

Now, I should give an update on the "big giveaway". I forgot all about a cutoff date, which we definitely need. I am going to draw the name on Wednesday evening and get the little package all ready to ship out on Thursday. IF by chance, I do not have your mailing address and you aren't able to get it to me by Thursday morning, I will probably not be able to ship until next Monday. We are away this weekend (romantic anniversary trip~yay!) so I won't be able to make it to the post office till then. Keep your fingers crossed ladies....are you holding your breath?!

A Chic Chick Giveaway...

"Our grand business in life is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." ~Thomas Carlyle

Here it is blogettes, my very own Chic Chick anniversary giveaway. This is a piece I created using a 5x7 mat board and lots of acrylic paint. Unfortunately, the photos don't show the ribbons of silver paint throughout the piece that really make it beautiful...I added a metallic silver ribbon for hanging and covered the back in soft brown corduroy.

Now for the rules:

You must comment on this blog and you Must (with a capital "M"!) tell us what quote you find most inspiring.

I will put all the names of respondants into a pretty jar and draw the winner (no peeking, I promise!).

-Joy

PS This is not the quote I find MOST inspiring, but it is in the top 5...

And it Snowed, and Snowed, and Snowed....

Wow~what a storm! It felt like a scene from "Storm of the Century", that creepy Stephen King movie...

Brrr...not only did it snow, and snow and snow, but it blew too! The wind was whipping this morning as we tried to clear our car and truck out for work. I miss snowdays so much, but no shutdown at work for us!

I feel so sad thinking about all the animals having to be in these elements 24/7. I felt a little better after I brushed a ton of fluffy white snow from the bird feeders...just a few minutes about 30 birds descended to gobble up some sunflower seed breakfast.

I'm grateful tonight to be snuggled in with my sweetie and furry pets and a cozy fire...

A Giveaway (from me to you)...

Well, I don't know if anyone here knows but I just won a beautiful surprise from Deb! I know! I'm so excited I can hardly sit still...my mother would say I have "ants in my pants"...I think it's a little too cold for ants around here these days (is it above 0 yet?) but I am very excited and grateful to Deb for my nice surprise. Thank you again!

Did you know (I had to check back, I'd completely forgotten) that I'm celebrating my one year anniversary of blogging? I began this blog last year, on January 22nd. I had every intention of doing something special on the actual day (which is rather hard to do if one doesn't keep track of that special day isn't it?). It's not too late to do something now...Especially if that something has to do with a very special giveaway?

I'm working on a little something for one of you...my loyal blogettes. I hope, hope, hope that there are still some of you out there? Even after my many moves? If not a lot, I know at least 3 of you who will be entered into the drawing....or should it be a contest of sorts? Hmmmm, my tiny wheels are turning...

I'll keep you posted (no pun intended!) and will post "The Item" as soon as it's complete.

Metamorphosis...

This is the project I've just completed. I'm very pleased with the end result. It's called "Metamorphosis" Can you guess what it's about? :)

I have never used hardware cloth before, but have to say that I really love it. It's a bit tricky to work with (stiff and very sharp...use gloves if you want to incorporate it into one of your projects), but it provided just the look I wanted.

Close Up's Please...

A few close ups...

I did it!

I did it! I did it! I finished my take on "Nature Preserved" for the upcoming submission deadline at Somerset Studio! Whew~what a load off my mind...my shoulders seem to have raised 3 inches since I dropped my envelope in the mail this morning.

I debated for a long time on whether or not to try to ship the whole shebang to the studio, but in the end (after all the hours of work!) decided it wasn't worth the risk. I just couldn't think of a way to package everything so it wouldn't end up in a crunched up in shambles at the bottom of the packing box.

I am calling this "Bits of Heaven" because, being a true crunchy and avid nature-lover, that is what I feel when I'm out in nature...like nature here is just a bit of a preview of what heaven will be like.

My original thought when I sketched this project out was to have each box hanging horizontally on a branch (one of the two shown in the photo) but the boxes ended up a bit larger and more flexible than I thought and I don't think the end result would have been pretty. So, I left each of the boxes seperate, but displayed them using the branches instead. I'm pretty pleased with the results!

Oooh...look!

Pssst! Just to let you know I'm selling this marvelous lot of ephemera/mixed media/collage supplies on ebay. Room cleaning does have it's perks!

Follow Your Bliss...

"Bliss:
1. supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment: wedded bliss.
2. Theology. the joy of heaven.
3. heaven; paradise: the road to eternal bliss.
4. Archaic. a cause of great joy or happiness." (Dictionary.com)

When have you last felt bliss? Did you know bliss can also be a verb (blissed out)? I felt blissed out on Friday afternoon. I was home in the early afternoon, waiting for the furnace man to come and do the yearly cleaning. I had a nice roasted veggie sandwhich and then a hot cup of eggnog coffee for dessert (I realize that it's WAY past time to be drinking eggnog flavored coffee, but I love it too much to care).

I then spent some time running up and down the stairs between my creative room and my computer in the living room in my artistic endeavors. Scan. Run back upstairs. Cut and paste. Smooth out paper. Run back downstairs. Copy. Run back upstairs..."

I stopped and thought for a moment, as I sipped my hot coffee and looked out at the snow on the tree branches, "This is bliss. There is no where I would rather be right now, no one I'd rather be with than myself, nothing I would rather be doing than working on this creative project." I was filled to the brim with joy.

Even though I don't know where I'm going on this journey that is my life, I feel so, so grateful that I've added more creativity and passion into my life. There is still so much I want to do! So much I want to learn creatively, so many things I want to try, but I just feel so grateful and sure that I'm heading in the right direction. Not knowing where I will end up is unnerving...sometimes it's downright scary. But knowing that I'm going somewhere, that makes all the difference to me.

I want so much to make my living in a creative field, but I'm completely unsure which direction to go in. Graphic Design is very interesting to me; I like working with software and spending time alone working is quite pleasant most of the time. On the other hand, there is the helping side of me (the NF in my INFP/INFJ Myers-Briggs classification) that makes me feel like no work will be completely satisfying unless I can see that I'm helping a cause, doing something to make someone else's stay here a little better, be it a person or animal.

If I could have my dream job, what would it be? I'm still not sure, even after turning 30. But I know some things it would include: Creativity (obviously!), flexibility, problem solving, helping support a cause I believe in, fairly good income, the ability to work at home at least part-time, the ability to work alone most of the time, with positive interaction with others, autonomy, beauty all around, fun, work that I feel passionate about. Roll all those things up into a career and what do you have?

I'm not sure, but I'll let you know what I find out...

Got it!

I FINALLY figured out how to do it! YAY! Now I have about a gazillion links to add...whew, this blogging stuff is hard work!

I'm Back Baby(ies)!

Well, ok. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry to do this once again, but I finally had to just do away with my computer security system as I wasn't able to upload photos on a number of sites which was just driving me absolutely bonkers! I could have kept the Wordpress site, but I noticed that you are only allowed a bit of memory and when it was used up (which happens quickly with lots of photos like I have) you have to buy more.

So, here we are; safe and sound back in our little blogger site. I hope you all will forgive my fickleness and stick around...I miss you when I don't hear from you! (Deb, I especially hope you will still link to me? Even though I'm fickle and flighty? I promise not to move again?!?!)

The photo above is a view from my kitchen window. Do you like the polka-dot canisters? I picked them up last year at IKEA when we were in Montreal for our anniversary trip. It was a fun, fun, fun time. We are planning to go again at the end of this month and are staying at a beautiful Victorian B&B. I will post photos when we get back...it looks scrumptious!

I have been thinking that I need more than one blog to keep everything organized, tidy and pertinent for readers. I am going to be working on setting up another blog (or two) here on blogger, so keep checking back, ok?

Also, does anyone who has time and patience, know how to add favorite links to the sidebar? I can't seem to figure it out. One fellow blogger told me a long time ago but I couldn't understand what she meant...any ideas?

Have a wonderful, winter afternoon!

Pssst...come with me!

Hello blogettes!

I've been working on a new space for my blog as I've been having so many problems posting pictures here. It may just be my new security system on the computer as others I know who have blogs here don't seem to be having similar problems, however, enough is enough! I'm a patient person, but I'm slowly beginning to fume when I click that little "image icon" and nothing happens!

Please join me at my new home www.chicchickbiz.wordpress.com. I'll keep the tea kettle on~milk and sugar?

What a Wonderful Year...

Well, this year is off to an exciting start~I often think of "my" new year beginning with my birthday which is January 10th. This year especially it felt like a new start with a new decade before me.

I had SUCH a wonderful birthday! We spent the night in a lovely little Bed & Breakfast and took a long, chilly walk in freshly falling snow the morning of my birthday. Then we returned to the sunroom for a breakfast of fresh baked cinnamon buns (yum!), lemon creme pancakes, soy sausage and fresh fruit. It was all so lovely. I spent a little time with my Somerset Studio magazine (incredibly beautiful creations in there!) then headed home after a brief visit to the local scrapbooking store for some new altered art supplies. (I'm attempting two of the upcoming "Call to Artists" in the Somerset magazine).

I spent a little quiet time when I got home, and unpacked~then it was time for my in-home massage in front of the warm fire. It was HEAVEN! After my massage I spent a little more time relaxing (with a cup of flavored coffee) and then hubby came home and gave me my "Big Gift" which was (dum dum dum dum~trumpet noises) a SCOOTER! I KNOW! I nearly fell over! It's so beautiful-shiny and lime green...I cannot wait to try it out, but have to wait for some warm weather. Wow~What a lucky girl I am! After a long time spent ooohing and ahhing over my gift we headed inside to get ready for dinner (tuna steak with wasabi and hoisen sauce and garlic mashed potatos YUM), then home for cupcakes and presents with one of my sister's and my mother-in-law. I took a pretty picture of my lovely cupcakes to share with you, but the problem has returned and I'm not having any luck posting photos yet again. (Sniff). I'm trying to be patient but I am really beginning to get frustrated!

Anyway, in all it was quite a perfect day an I feel SO grateful and happy that I could usher in my 30's in such a special way.

On Turning 30...

Well, it’s just about here. A new decade. New opportunities to do things a little differently, experiment, play, and return to myself. I’m excited about turning 30! So many people have told me (women especially) that their 30’s brought a new level of acceptance and self-love, along with more wisdom and independence.

I’ve learned a lot of important lessons in these past 29 years. Here are few of them:

~For the most part, people treat you as you allow them to. Being a victim isn’t pretty or healthy. If you want things to change-relationships to change, you must begin the work yourself.
~I’ve learned to try to listen to that still, small voice inside. It lets me know what’s right and what’s wrong, the next path to take, and when to say I’m sorry.
~I am way, way too hard on myself the majority of the time.
~I have to follow my own path. Other people may think I'm weird or crazy, but it’s essential to do what feels right to me. Let them think what they will, I'm being true to myself.
~Always remember where you came from, but don’t spend a lot of time wandering around back there. What’s done is done (old relationships, missed opportunities, mistakes). Learn from these lessons and move forward.
~Let your feelings out! Pushing down feelings and pretending they aren’t there doesn’t help anyone. Get those feelings, especially toxic ones out of your system. Don’t take them out on others, but get them out of your body. Hitting pillows or screaming in car work well!
~Find what makes YOU truly happy and add more of that to your life.
~Play isn’t just for children. Bored and stodgy people just think it is.
~Keep a dream list of things you want to do during your time here. Refer to it often and try to make as many of those dreams come true as you can.
~Help others.
~It’s impossible to be perfect. I’m focusing on being perfectly ME, imperfections and all.
~Learn to not care so much what “other people” think of you. (I’m still working on this one, it’s a biggie).
~Do things for the joy of it. Let your passion out, don’t hold it inside.
~Experience new things. Make life an adventure. When you look back on life what would you regret NOT doing? Do those things!
~No one can save you. No one can take perfect care of you. You have to give this gift to yourself.
~Challenge the negative, judging voice.
~Beauty is not frivolous, it is essential. Surround yourself with beauty and peace.
~Count your thousands of blessings whenever you can.
~Pray every day.
~I’ve learned to recognize that fear plays a major role in my life. I also have come to see that fear is what keeps me from the things I want. For a long time I thought if I kept my world “safe” by avoiding fear, it would go away. It doesn’t. It gets bigger and my world gets smaller every time I give into it. My motto for the next decade, and the rest of my life, is “Do What You Fear”.
~Love~yourself, others, nature, pets, simple pleasures, laughter, family, art, beauty, coffee, fresh baked bread, thunderstorms, starlight, a chorus of spring peepers, fresh sheets, trees, curtains blowing in the breeze, sunshine, moonbeams, snow, walks, ocean waves, flowers, words, music, books, hugs, chocolate, hot baths, freedom, memories, dreams, baking, movies, seasons, travel…and coming home.

My Knight in Shining Armor...

He fixed it! He fixed it! My darling husband...Perhaps I should make a fairy godfather pin for him? YAY!

It's good to be back fully, blogettes. I've missed you all...many times throughout the day I would think of something silly or pretty or inspiring to write about here, but then, with a huge sigh of disappointment would remember that there would be no photos to accompany my post...but he's a genius!



So, these are the fairy gomother pins I made for the fairy godmothers in my life this year for Christmas. The top three are my three older sisters and the one in the little yellow dress is a dear friend. I'm the "So Sweet" fairy with the polka dots...I had to try out one first to make sure it would work!

These are all pins on the back side, though made out of heavy cardstock I told the girls to be careful if they really did wear them out. They would look cute on a bulletin board too, or on one of those photo memory boards.

They were so much fun to make and the girls really seemed to like them! I got the idea from a Cloth, Paper Scissors magazine (I LOVE it!) and the article was created by Art Girlz, who make absolutely adorable little pewter arms, legs, boots, crowns, etc., for these tiny dolls. I nearly bought these extras, but time and money ran out before I had a chance. Next time!

Wow~I just can't believe how great it is to be back! I have so many creative inspirations to share. For instance have any of you read this book: The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron? This is my third time borrowing it from the library, so I finally decided to buy it on Amazon. I'm on Chapter 2 so far (though I admit, I've already skimmed a few of the other chapters). It is so well written and there are these great ideas of projects to do each week. It does seem a little labor intensive (something I'm not sure I have time to tackle now with a spring college course coming up) but now that I've purchased it, I'm sure I can work on it more completely later on (hopefully, because procrastination does tend to be one my worst traits!). I also just finished reading The Joy Diet by Martha Beck. This was so inspiring, and of course as I'm sure you can imagine, not at all about dieting...just about adding more happiness, laughter and fun into your life. Finally, I ordered The New Creative Artist by Nita Leland...this looks GOOD! I can't wait until it gets here.

I'm rearranging my creative space as well...I'm really, really excited about this and hope that the changes will make it more appealing to me. There is something about having a room to myself that is on a floor other than the main floor; it makes it much harder to use!

Where, or where can my photos be?

Ugh~I cannot for the life of me, figure out how to post photos on this blog! What happened!?!?!? It was all going so smoothly and easily and now, this! Frustration, frustration! I can't get it to work! I have been purposely not posting because of this photo issue. I'm irritated beyone belief and am considering dumping my beautiful little blog all together...what is the point without the photos? It's like telling only half of a story. Like a brochure with only the words....(boring!).

I'm sorry to vent here ladies, but really. Can this be any more annoying? I have the sweetest little fairy pins (who look suspiciously like some real-life fairy godmothers in my life) to show you and I can't get the blasted pictures on here!!!! UGH! Sometimes technology makes me want to cry...