They call it "filling the well," ...

You know those days when you stick your nose in a good book and soak up the much needed ART inspiration off the ___ saturated pages instead of doing what it is you're s'posed to be doing OR you take off from work on a Wednesday just to see if the wild blackberries have started to grow yet... Yes! we simply must take advantage of those moments- to borrow a bit of happiness from a chirping bird & to feel the warmth from the sunny side of the moon. Filling the well really means making things right, balanced... WHOLE within yourself.

So, has it really been 10 days since I last posted? I hardly noticed.

Challenged by TIME. Days spent sewing away on pillows and wondering what happened to that little bird?

Back to the "filling of the well" speech-

I FEEL WHOLE and I'm ready to make new commitments like buying my first house, my home. Solace. A Sanctuary. Much more than "just" a habitat. A place for me to BE. I NEVER expected it would be here in Alabama but as it is.. IT IS.

And for those of you who have followed my blog from the beginning you might have heard me say before that we were buying a house- but FEAR stopped me dead in my tracks. Not now. I'm ready, despite the market being "iffy." They say it's in my favor tho. They also say, "come on in, the water's fine." So, we're jumping in. Do you have any advice for us?

-

On top of this I've also reconciled with my inability to ask others for help. And I'm sew glad I did!

_

So, things are really really good here. I've learned to crack myself open from my hardened shell in many, PROFOUND ways these past weeks. Perhaps it's due to an approaching birthday? You know, in an effort to meet those goals we set for ourselves last year? Then, it could also be the timing of it all, Spring has a way of making us feel reborn. ;)

-

A few things to look forward to... a new doll challenge, an art doll form swap, runner up prizes post for "the pink artist" community art doll project for charity (just wait till you see what we've been working on), and NEW blog button for YOUR blog. Yeah, it's been a really adventurous time in my life right now.!! Tell me, just how full is your well???? Time to fill 'er up again?

---

-

Please stop by ART TEA LIFE's blog

and encourage her as she graciously

donated her time & SKILLS to

the making of our new button

for the pink artist drawing!

Watch for it to

be ready SOON!!!

XOXO

Cut that out already!

And by "she" I mean ME! I'll get to that in a minute, but first...

I really hadn't ever thought about cutting my own stencils out before, but I DID tell myself that ONE day I'd like to try my hand at carving my own stamps for the making of fabric.

Then Michelle Ward with her monthly art crusades at GPP Street Team prompted the making of BOTH!

In March Michelle started part one of the challenge in her Cut It Out post- carve your own stamps. I missed that crusade due to the making of The Pink Artist Doll though I still went out and ordered the supplies.

Staring at a new block is no different from starting with a blank canvas. I had no idea what I was going to do so with it being my first CARVE I decided to free-flow it. Don't ask me what MINE is (the one on the left) I went with my mood- someone care to Freud me? -smile-

Jeff on the other hand seemed to have

a better handle on his outcome,

I love the EYE he carved:

The carving block packaging read, "cuts like butter" and they were right. The stencil sheets were a very different matter [for me].

Alright so this was also my FIRST attempt at making stencils

and just like any other situation I always opt to learn by trial & error opposed to reading the directions first.

Someone knock me in the head for not reading

Michelle's advice early on:

GPP Street Team: CRUSADE No. 19 ~ Cut It Out: II

It surely would have saved me from over thinking the design

and from cutting into places I wasn't s'posed to.

Live & Learn.

Collage sheet/background by Lisa Kaus

Here is where I started to stray...

I scanned my sheet of "stenciled figure"

and printed it to cloth:

Stamped our new rubber stamp designs to fabric:

Finished the edges with a zigzig stitch:

And I now have three vrry kuhl cloth sheets

waiting to be embellished:

But, those sheets will have to wait for a rainy day

because somewhere between stencil making & carving

I started to play in Photoshop using the STAMP option:

EUREKA! moment happened!

The stencil cutouts I made and the use of Photoshop opened

the door to my playing with and making paper dolls!

****************************

*********************************
********************************************

So you see I may have strayed off topic just a little bit

when incorporating the STAMP option from PS,

but I'm guessing Michelle won't mind at all...

it's because I tried my hand at stencil making and carving

that I created the day away with Frida Kahlo and Linda Evangelista- both fond of very BIG shoes and both ready to break out into song.

_

Big fat THANK YOU to Michelle for extending

this months crusade to TODAY,

I might have missed the opportunity

if she hadn't. :)

Oh, the price to pay for being Queen!

They say that brushing your teeth with crushed strawberries gives you a brighter smile,

that wine is a natural skin softener and exfoliant,

and washing your face with red wine which contains alpha hydroxy acids is a goood thing to do.

Kitty litter exfoliant, Preparation H cream to treat bags & dark circles under eyes, and drinking donkey milk for fant-ass-tic skin...

beauty secrets shockers

oh, the price to pay for being QUEEN!

Anti-Cellulite Body Smoothing Scrub

Mix the following ingredients into a thick paste:
-

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup ground coffee

4 tbsp olive oil

Apply to troublesome areas during your shower and massage in a circular motion.

This exfoliating scrub softens and smooths while the caffeine in the coffee tightens.

You can adjust the recipe to your desired consistency if you find it to be too wet or dry.

Also, you can substitute sugar for sea salt if you wish.

-recipe by Drugstore Beauty Queen with a disclaimer to USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

__________________________________________________

Goddess Yogurt Body Mask

• 1/4 Cup Yogurt

• 3 T Honey

• 3 T Puréed Pumpkin OR

• 3 T Puréed Carrots

To Make: Use canned (nothing added), or slightly cooked pumpkin or carrots.

Drain, and purée in a blender. Pour into a bowl with the yogurt and honey.

To Use: Draw a warm bath. Lather your face and body with the yogurt mask.

Sink into a warm bath and soak for 10-20 minutes. Rinse in the shower, tone, and apply a light moisturizer. -recipe courtesy of Homemade Beauty Recipes

Art does not reproduce what we see,

it makes us see.

-Paul Klee

With a lavish lifestyle of

dressings that fit her exquisite figure perfectly..

cups that overflow with wonder and delight

sitting alongside sweet-delectable-temptuous-TREATS...

oh, the price she pays!

---

In preparation for my FIRST EVER

round robin (RR)...

-

hosted by

-

ART TEA LIFE

-

I was asked to start a journal and to

begin the neat Vintage Dress Form sent to me

(see above pic #4 for the extraordinary box of goodies that arrived):
-

the doll

Being allergic to most perfumes

and habitually anti-regimen when it comes

to skin care I will share that I do have a

want of being "girly" at times

tho it does not always fit into my care-free lifestyle...

still I FEEL I am a QUEEN.

____________________

Beauty Secrets that are not that secret any longer:

Glitter Body Gel

frizzy hair serum

TEETH WHITENING RECIPES

Face scrub for oily skin

Homemade Foot Scrubs

______________

As my loot [or uh lot] makes its rounds,

I wonder what secrets the beautiful ladies will add to the mix?

-XoXo

What beauty secrets are YOU willing to tale?