What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Actually, we haven't gone on vacation this summer, probably should have gone to the Gulf when Belinda and Bobby did in the spring. We had planned to go after school started in August, but with the black blob enveloping our favorite playground, we decided not to go.........maybe forever. We discussed other places, but I'm not going without Marley, and Jim thinks this is a huge added travel burden. Life's not easy when you're Jim. Anywho, a while back, I realized that the best part of traveling was coming home. I'm insanely (probably the key word here) happy puttering about in my own little nest.

So, in lieu of photos of us standing in front of interesting sites, I thought I'd share with you some of the stuff I've been playing with this summer. There are always UFOs (unfinished objects) all over my house, so some of these are works in progress.

I liked these 2 old tables too much to throw them away; after a few winters on the deck, they were needing a paint job anyway, and I'd been wanting to try this primitive, playful style of decorative painting, so they were the obvious victims. I'm not sure this style has a name, but it's fun, and I wouldn't want more than one or two pieces in my house. I sanded them a bit and then began painting bright acrylics on them. I added rubber stamped stars, colored twine, some brass hardware I bought at Home Depot, and some pieces of old jewelry. The Scrabble tiles on top say, "Time is a River", which is something I say to remind myself that hard times aren't forever, and "What I do is me, for this I came", my favorite John Bradshaw quote. It was a slower process than I'd thought and took almost 2 weeks from start to finish. I was fairly happy with the results.






My next project was to brighten up the living room and entryway; theTumble Weed (dark taupe) walls were feeling dreary after 7 years, but I wasn't up for painting all the walls, so with Jim's help, I taped off four 8-foot panels (the same size and shape as the windows) and then painted them with China Doll, the color of the ceilings. I'd found these enormous dandelion stencils that I really love; I've done a lot of brush stenciling, but these suggested using a foam roller, which was tons easier, especially for such large images, but I hadn't figured on just how hard the giant stencils themselves would be to handle. I kept thinking Colleen would know a better way to do this. I painted them in taupes and white. I'm not totally pleased with them and would use brushes next time, but they do look interesting and brighten up the room.

Here's my first attempt at origami. I made 21 little cranes one evening. I love how once they're folded correctly, you don't have to worry that they'll unfold, probably not my next great passion, but when you've done a few, you gain respect for origami artists...........it's not as easy as it looks.

I've been seeing these miniature houses online, and you can invest hundreds of dollars in pre-fab appointments for them (which would be a total bore) or almost nothing and create your own decorations; I've opted for the latter. It's a project that I hope to work on for months or maybe even years, a concept Jim can't quite grasp. He keeps asking if it's finished. What I've done so far is to glue together a plywood house (only 18 bazillion unmarked pieces; the instructions said, "Look at the picture".) as well as some basic pieces of furniture that I got at Michael's. The look I'm going for is a Faerie House, and that's what I kept in mind as I painted it inside and out. For the "tin roof" I ripped apart corrugated cardboard and painted it silver. Kitchen and bath are floored with hand cut stained glass tiles, and the bedroom has a floor cloth made from a black canvas I painted with acrylics. There's also a living room, and of course up in the attic is an art room. I've got plans for tiny curtains, bed linens, etc., and in the eventual backyard, a Secret Garden.


I recently started going to classes at the local stamping shop; I enjoy them because it's a group of happy women playing. Greeting card making is big business these days, and some of the ladies have thousands of dollars invested in creating their cute little cards for family and friends. I'm not that enthralled with gluing Cricut cut-outs onto card stock, but after each class I come home all happy and relaxed, with 2 or 3 cards and possibly an idea or two.

And I've got several projects not far enough along for pictures, but I'll show you an altered book I started. For a book lover like me, it's a hard decision to deface a book, but when an old book has outlived its usefulness, I figure it's happier getting all gussied up and living a brand new life. This one has a little drawer for hidden treasures. I carved out a place for a box, using an exacto knife after I fused the page edges with Gel Medium.

And of course there's always time to play with my little shadow. He's definitely not a "dress-up" dog, but sometimes I try for 2 seconds. These starry-eyed sunglasses lasted for not quite that long. Lately he's sporting a Tinkle Belt because the marking isn't quite under control, and Jim was about to divorce both of us. Marley doesn't seem to mind the belt, and Jim loves us again. Life is good.

Who's Gettin' Fixed??

Hey, whaddup? I'm 8 months old, weigh 8 pounds, and Mom's books say I'm a teenager! Whatever......There's a lot of talk in our house about whether or not to get me fixed. Tell you the truth, I didn't know I got broked. Dad has bad knees, and mom's back hurts sometimes, so you'd think they'd be getting fixed, 'stead of me, but who can tell about peoples? And they're all bothered because I'm marking. Hello! I don't have thumbs; how am I gonna hold a pencil or one of mom's paint brushes to mark? Anywho, I'm sure they'll let me know what they decide about who gets fixed.

Oh yeah, and Shawn and Sadie came to see me! Sadie is a beagle with sad, pretty eyes; she's 7 years old, which is middle aged, and she's patient with me, except once or twice when she snapped at me and said "Go away, kid, you bother me!" I fall in love with all dogs, even the older gals (Or boys, no I'm not that way; I'm just practicin' my technique on whoever shows up!)............and sometimes my moose. Haven't found anyone who's as interested as I am yet, but I am not givin' up. Mom's been trying to get me into some obedience classes. I don't have a clue why, I do what she says if I'm not too busy; the only ones she found were already started, so we'll have to wait till the next round begins. I figure maybe I'll meet some babes there.

And you're not even gonna believe this, but last week, right out of the blue, 3 loud, sweaty guys showed up and pulled out most of our carpet and took it away and put down a slip-n-slide floor in its place! I wonder if Mom knew they were gonna do that......I miss my old carpet. It was all soft and smushy, and a guy could stretch out on it for a nap after supper, and it made a great napkin, too, for wiping your whiskers, and best of all, if you didn't feel like going outside to pee you could just slip behind a chair, and nobody would know.....usually. The new floor is shiny and hard, and sometimes when I get the zoomies and race around the house at 90 miles an hour, I totally lose it on the corners. Good thing there's still carpet in the bedrooms; hope the sweaty guys don't come back for that!

It's still waaay too hot here to play outside in the daytime. Mom said she brought me home in February and that it was really cold. I think I like cold weather best, and she might buy me a bomber jacket this winter; I can hardly wait for the girls' reactions when they see me decked out like a fighter pilot. Hooyah!

Paper Sculpture

If you're like me, your inspirations come in waves. When I admitted to myself (after 4 intense years) that digital art wasn't doing it for me anymore, I went through a fairly scary dry spell, but lately, the waves have been crashing on shore so constantly that I'm making lists of inspirations, lest I forget some of them. How do I know when it's a worthwhile inspiration? I forget to breathe. That, and my heart beats faster, and sometimes I get tears in my eyes. Sounds like a religious experience, doesn't it? It is, sort of. When we create something from within, we're connected as though with an umbilical cord with El Shaddai, The Great I Am, Cosmic Consciousness, or whatever you choose to call It. Anyway, it's a rush, and it makes me happy and gives me a reason to get up in the morning, to wake up expectantly with plans already milling around in my scattered little brain for my current art victim.

I was working happily on the project I thought would come next in this blog when I went rummaging in a supply/storage closet and came across 2 paper lamps I'd bought years ago at Pier 1. One of them got damaged when visitors were rough-housing in the living room (nobody ever admitted to the crime; I guess it jumped off and impaled itself on the table corner), and I liked the lamps too much to throw them away. They're useless as a light source, but they give off such a soft, golden glow. How could I not love them? People talk a lot these days about repurposing objects. I like that term. It's good for the planet, and it speaks to the reverence for the stuff we bring into our lives.

A few years ago, I began doing paper sculpture. I didn't know that was the name for it. Actually, I thought I'd invented something when I began cutting shapes from paper and gluing them together. Then I saw online that artists had been doing it for a long time, even making a living from it. So much for my invention. I did several ambitious pieces, one of them being a 4-foot picture of peacocks in a tree, all white. I never was satisfied with it, but Jim made a frame for it, and it hung on the wall for a while. Then I decided I couldn't take it anymore, but I'd spent hundreds of hours cutting out those feathers, and I couldn't throw them away. Do we see a pattern forming here? So I stripped them from the backboard and stuffed them into a couple of Wal-Mart sacks and stuck them in the closet. Here's a detail of the feathers, and the image at the top is a shot of an iris watercolor/paper sculpture that hangs in the hallway.

So, there were the lamps and the feathers, waiting to be repurposed, together; Breathe, Cat, just breathe.....I abandoned the other project for the moment and began feverishly gluing feathers to lamps, making sure to cover the damaged spot. It took about an hour, and I could hardly wait till dark to see the full impact of my new lamps! Well, I'm in love with them. They're not really repurposed; they're still lamps but with a new attitude. Hard to do them justice in photos.


'Scuse me now, I started yet another project yesterday, and it's the kind that involves the house, and Jim will be impatient with me till I get it finished and everything back to normal. He likes my art, just not the messy part between inspiration and ta-daaah!

Essentially Repellent

This one is for Belinda because we were talking about the problems we have in the mid-south with biting bugs in summer, and she asked for my essential oils insect repellent recipe. Where commercial repellents have side effects and smell yucky, essential oils have health benefits and smell like the best of nature. It's a no brainer.

Some of us simply attract bugs! When I was a child, we roamed the fields and woods, picnicked alongside gurgling streams, waded through waist high sage grass to get to the swimming hole, and I can't ever remember getting bitten by ticks, chiggers or mosquitoes. These days, they'll crawl, fly or hop past a dozen people to get to me, and when I'm bitten, it's red and itchy for days. Global warming? I dunno, but they never bite Jim. I resent him deeply for that. He says it's because I don't drink enough alcohol. I tell him it's because I'm so sweet, dang it! Anyway, I'll digress here and tell you my favorite remedy for insect bites: Wipe the inside of a banana peel on the bite. It works better than Benedryl, and you get to eat the banana. When we're out of bananas, I have pieces of frozen banana peel in the freezer. It works just as well.

If you're new to essential oils, buy the good stuff online or in your health food store, but when you find a display where all the oils are the same price, walk on by. They may smell nice, but they're mostly filler because true essential oil prices within a brand can vary from $4.95 to 50 bucks or more, depending on how rare or expensive they are to produce. They are the essence of plants, flowers, berries, seeds, bark, rhizome, resin, peels and roots. Store the bottles tightly capped in a cool, dark place, and they'll last a long time. The uses are infinite. I believe they were the first medicines and are capable of making our bodies and homes healthier. (I think I've already shared with you my using Tea Tree Oil for dust mites and Oil of Cloves for ants.) I love nice perfume, but I don't wear it in summer because it attracts insects. Instead, I wear a dab of my favorite oils.

Many essential oils repel insects, and you can learn about them with a little research. The ones I've used in this recipe are simply some of my favorites.

Lavender Oil.....If I could have only one essential oil, it would be lavender. It's used in perfumes, is calming, anti-depressant, treats skin problems, is anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, is used for burns, migraines, muscle cramps, digestion, asthma, allergies, menstrual cramps, and insect repellent. I have a diffuser pad where I can drop a few drops of Lavender Oil and plug it into an outlet in my bedroom; it fills the room with tranquility.

Cedarwood Oil.....Of course we know cedar keeps moths away, but among its many other uses are tonics for muscles, skin, digestion and brain disorders, also an expectorant, insecticide, fungicide, and sedative qualities.

Lemon Balm Oil (Citronella)...... has traditionally been employed against bronchial inflammation, earache, fever, flatulence, headaches, high blood pressure, influenza, mood disorders, palpitations, toothache and vomiting. A tea made from Lemon balm leaves is said to soothe menstrual cramps and helps relieve PMS. Researchers have found that using lemon balm also improved memory and lengthened attention span in individuals suffering from Alzheimer's disease. This effect may be due to its content of antioxidants, which are thought to protect body cells from damage caused by a chemical process called oxidation. And a few plants in your flower bed repels insects.

Orange Oil .....Gives relief from anxiety, anger, depression, inflammation, is a detoxifier, and boosts immunity, and insects avoid prolonged exposure to it.

Rosemary Oil.....has been a symbol for remembrance since ancient times. Aside from the fact that I love the smell of this herb and have a huge bush about 4 feet wide just outside my back steps, it's excellent in cooking, relieves muscle pain, is calming, lowers blood pressure and inflammation and treats wounds. Sometimes when I'm walking past it, I break off a long stem and rub it on my arms and legs just because I enjoy being enveloped in its scent. Oh yes, and bugs don't care for it.

Sandalwood Oil.......This is the most expensive essential oil I own. At Rose Mountain Herbs, 1/4 oz costs $42, but it's an awesome scent, found in many of my favorite perfumes, and it's all the good stuff, like antiseptic, deodorant, tonic, memory booster, etc. You'll notice bugs don't like anything antiseptic.

Patchouli Oil......I'm probably more drawn to this one simply as a scent than any other. There's a site called Basenotes, where I've learned tons about why we're attracted to certain scents. When I plugged in all my favorite perfumes from throughout my life, Patchouli was a common denominator in most of them. It's also a fungicide, insecticide, anti-inflammatory, tonic, etc.

So, take a small bottle, preferably one that has a pump, and fill it to within an inch from the top with a good oil. You can use Sweet Almond Oil or even a high grade olive oil. Now begin to experiment with quantities of your essential oils. Start with a dozen drops of each. Let your nose be your guide; you inherently know what's good for you, if your trust the process. Shake well before each use. I apply it to my arms and legs when I'm finished showering, wiping it on my wet skin and then letting myself air dry. Some of the scents evaporate before others. I notice the Patchouli lasts longest on me.

I wore this to my uncle's cookout on Memorial Day. It was a typically humid, sticky summer day, and everyone there was getting stung repeatedly by those dratted little sweat bees. I never even had one light on me. Proof enough. Let me know if you make your own repellent and if you come up with any new additions. The possibilities are endless................. Oh, and one more thing, I don't use commercial repellents on Marley. Some of the most popular ones have proven to be lethal to small dogs. When he gets his weekly bath, I put a few drops of essential oil, usually Patchouli, into his rinse water, and he's protected and smells a little like Jim does when he's wearing Polo.

Mosaic Dulcimer

Well, it's finished; it took about 3 weeks, beginning with cutting my tiles from sheets of stained glass. I cut about 90% of the tiles in this project. I like to do that because the finished piece seems more like mine than when I buy them precut. As you'll see, the tiles for the back of the dulcimer are, shall we say, untraditional? My way of doing mosaics appeals to me, mostly because it challenges me to make do.

I grew up poor, nothing wrong with that, and mostly I'm glad I didn't have the proverbial silver spoon in my mouth. We were country poor, and by that I mean we had food, shelter and clothing, and most everyone around us was poor, too, so we didn't consciously know it or dwell on it. A few people in town, like C. C. Pierson, who owned the hardware store, roller rink, furniture store, and movie theater were considered rich, but by today's standards I think even C.C. wasn't that well off.

Back then, nobody ever thought of having the government support them, and we knew that we only could have what our parents provided with their hard work. That's a good thing to grow up knowing, and another thing, probably the most valuable lesson that my mother taught me was how to make do with what's at hand. She's creative that way, and if she wanted a flower bed out front, she gathered rocks and a sack of concrete and went to work building one. She sewed most of my clothes, and I'd walk down to the mercantile store and buy 3 yards of colorful fabric for $1.00 and a 35 cent Butterick pattern, dream up my own version of it, and she'd sew me an outfit as pretty as any in the J.C. Penny catalog. Once a friend gave her a long, wool coat, and though it fit her well, and she didn't have a long coat, she took it apart, cut it down, and gave it to me. I thought it was beautiful. And that's the feeling I get from creating with mosaic tiles. Here's how I did this one:

I used a glass cutter, grinder, snips and breaking tool, sand paper, alcohol, tweezers, glue, marking pen, and grout. I'd had the dulcimer for 30 years and thought it looked nice on the mantle but didn't have any remorse at taking it out to the shop and prepping it by roughing it up with sand paper. There are several ways of laying out and applying tiles; my way is to experiment with small sections and then glue them down.

The only part I don't like is the grout. It's messy and ugly, and once it's applied, it looks as if my jewels got stuck in mud, which is exactly what has happened.

Grout is meant to be a drab background for the sparkly treasures, but I experiemented this time and applied an acrylic, pearlized wash over it; I love the look, just enough of a sheen to compliment my sparkly tiles.

Actually, I was pleased with the whole thing, after I created some faux frets and added new strings.



Oh yeah, and here's the hypertufa leaf I made a while back. I painted it after the 28 day wait for it to finish drying. Waiting is the hardest part. And now I'm off on a couple of new artsy crafty adventures; I'll share them with you when they're finished. Have a happy, creative day!

Dog Days of Summer

Hey, guess what! Oh, you'll never get it. Sawyer came to visit me! And he brought Ian and Josh and Nan. And guess what else.......Do I have to tell you everything? He wouldn't play with me. What's with dogs? This summer I've had Haven, Buffy, Bella, and Sawyer over for some romping fun in the backyard, and they're all amazing, beautiful dogs...............that do not play with me! There I am, doing all the friendly, tail wagging doggie stuff, like sniffing their butts and sharing my water and toys and food, and nuttin!



It's okay, not like I'm complainin' or anything. I just loved their smells and getting to know what dogs are like, and when each of them left, I ran from one door to the other, thinking maybe, just maybe, they'd come back. Mom says it's because I'm still a kid, and they're grown, except for Buffy, and she was real shy and hid behind her daddy.

Other than that, I'm spending most of these summer days inside with Moose, Turtle and Mickey. They're always ready to play. After the sun goes down, mom takes me outside for a while, and I run around like crazy and talk to other dogs barking in the distance. Oh yeah, and I got a Rabies vaccination! Mom didn't want me to have it; she said where am I gonna get rabies, and her friend Lu, who is a retired nurse, said the shots are hard on little dogs like me because they give us the same dose as they do to big dogs. But you know dad, everything by the book, so there we were, waiting in Dr. Mann's office with dogs whose heads are bigger than I am. It hurt pretty bad, and my right leg swelled up, and I'm still limping a little (nearly 2 weeks later), but I'll be okay, and mom said that was absolutely the last one!

That's about it, 'cept that my hair is shorter; Mom had visions of floor-length, silky hair and a topknot but decided it's not practical for a Shih Tzu in Arkansas summer heat, so when she brushes me everyday, she also trims me with scissors. (I just go to the groomer for a sanitary trim, ear check, anal glands, and nail trim.) Did you know that Shih Tzu hair is like human hair and never stops growing? She can experiment with longer hair when the weather cools off, but hey, I'm cute no matter what. Well, I'll see ya later, and if you happen to have a small dog that might play with me, c'mon over! High-5!!

A Time to Play

Hi! It's me! (Not many photos today; Mom is knee deep in her mosaics.) She said her cousins asked about me at the family get-together, so I thought I'd tell y'all what I've been up to. Mainly, I've been growing! I'm 6 months old, and I weigh almost 8 pounds. I don't eat much, especially since it got so hot outside, but I've got Mom feeding me peoples food one bite at a time, and she keeps organic puppy chow and filtered water down all the time. She says I'll grow a little more but not much. Geesh! I was sure hopin' I'd get big enough to reach those door knobs......

I've started liking people, a lot, no matter who shows up at our door. Back when I was a li'l kid, like last month, I thought everybody was here to steal the peanut butter, and I'd bark and growl at them till they went away, but now I know they just came to play with me! Well, most of 'em do, but like the guy who came to look at the carpet and the ones who hang out with Dad in his shop, not so much. And then there are the ones like Shawn......when he came for supper, he got down on the floor and let me give him kisses and threw the ball for me and rewarded me with Cheerios! Only trouble is, they always leave.

I am not loving this Arkansas summer, though! Excuse me! Whose idea was this? I mean if you're butt nekkid, or close to it, this 100 degree heat and humidity might be almost bearable, but you try playing out there in a double-layered fur coat and see how much you love the good ol' summer time! Dad says it will only get worse thru September, so I'm stickin' indoors, except for quick trips out to do my business. In the mornings, the dew is so heavy that I come back lookin' like a drowned rat, so I mostly play in the backyard in the evenings after the sun has set. You just wait till winter. You guys will be sitting around shivering, and I'll be the one all toasty and rearin' to go!

Dad didn't stay mad about the little bit of tinkle on the bed, and I've been sleeping with them a lot! It's my most favoritest thing! I start out at the foot of the bed, being all nice and quiet and chewing on Mickey Mouse, but towards morning, I get a little bored, and whenever one of them moves or makes noise, I think maybe they want to play! So I move up and kiss them on the face, but usually they say, "No, Marley!" all grumpy like. And then it's just me and ol' Mick again, all alone in the dark. People sure are serious about their sleep.

Mom is still tryin' to leash train me. I get Cherrios for not biting it, but mostly I bite it and roll up in it. A Shih Tzu will do whatever you ask him to..............as long as that's what he was planning to do anyway. Well, it's almost time for Dad to come home. He only works 2 days a week, but he's my best play buddy, so I miss him really, really bad! When I hear his truck pull into the garage, I go bonkers......I think that's him! Omigosh! Omigosh! See ya!