Digital Whisper Challenge #16-Palm Trees

I have to apologize to Digital WHISPER for calling it Digital WHISPERS on my last post.  I do hope you'll accept my apologies.  I can't imagine how choked I would be if someone got the name of my blog wrong, like Wishin I knew how to burp, or Wishin I knew how to get my mother in law to come visit me less often.  I'm sure there are blogs that deal specifically with those types of issues, (or at the very minimum, a You-Tube Video) but this aint it.  Ya know?

I like their challenges.  Wandering retroactively through their achives, it's obvious to me that some careful and artful thought goes into the selection of the images. And I appreciate that.  Here is this week's image:

Lovely, isn't it?  I'm humming a song called Fly Away With Me....what?  it's not a song?  Well, it could be.  And I'm going to keep humming it.  If it bothers you, go visit a football team's site or a shoe store.  Cus I'm still humming it.

And heeeeeeeeeere's mine!

All images except the background and the mermaid on the hammock are from Lisa's Altered Art

The mermaid I found on the Internet.  She's the nanny.  Keeping an eye on this watery playground.

I think they should have a place like this in Disneyland. Or -World.  Or something.

But chances are good that it will remain in my mind.  Oh well, it's a great diversion when work gets too crazy and I can just zone out for a few moments.  I do that a lot lately.  Go to my happy place.

But that's a story for another day.

I hope you go see them over at Digital Whisper  It will make you smile.

What's on your Workdesk Wednesday #66?

Over at What's on your Workdesk Wednesday you can peek in people's windows and see what they are up to in their creating areas.  I've always loved to peek.  Never been arrested for it though.  I feel it's important you know that.  Here's what I've got going on:

Oogedy-boogedy.

Halloween is near.

Soartful Challenges-Time

I blurfed my way over to Soartful challenges and thoroughly enjoyed her site and her challenges.  So I decided to play along!
This is the image we were provided with:

It's a great image, I think, don't you?  What's now to love about time? 

Except that there is never enough of it.

And here is my contribution:

Now, "What does this have to do with time?" you may ask.  I might answer "Nothing at all".  Or I might answer, "Well, that's kind of a silly question, isn't it?..."

I cannot lie.  All I could come up with is Time to Hide.  From the evil gargoyle.  Whose owl, the little fairy girl ripped off when he wasn't looking.

What's that you say?  Not good enough?

Fine. The truth is, I just loved the image.  I completely forgot the theme was Time.

There.  Are you happy now?  You've made me cry.

You're not my friend anymore.

But I had lots of fun making this.  So there.

I'll bet the people at these parties won't make me cry....

They're too busy.

Luv u!

Zip Lines

I promised I would post a bit more about our Montana zipline adventure. FINALLY, I'm doing that.
It was such a blast, I would recommend anyone give it a try.  I did them in St. Lucia a few years ago, but this time was WAY more high-tech.  There, a big guy was waiting to catch you at the next treetop.  Here, they have springs and pullies.  The only drawback to that is that as you hike up the moutain, you have to carry twenty pounds of gear.  Darn near killed me, that did.  The ziplines themselves were a piece of cake after the hike.

1.  Training

The Torpedo:

(To go fast.  Like I want to.  Not.)

The Starfish:

(to slow yourself down) 

Cute guy, huh?

2.Ready To Go!

3.  Going Higher

Pretty, eh?

Now keep in mind, I've never been on a chair lift (is that what it's called?)

THAT scared me.  I thought I was going to break my neck getting on.  Or getting off.  Or in the middle.  Geesh.

4.  the Adrenaline.

Now, keep in mind, we've completed the CLOTHESLINE,

which was 800 feet long and 25 feet above ground.

As we were hiking Up, Up, Up, we noticed a couple of power lines above the trees.  With those orange disc-y things to keep planes from running into them.

Except they weren't power lines.  They were our ziplines.

1862 feet long. 300 feet above ground.

5.  We're up next.

I love you Kaitlin!  I love you Mommy!

(I can't tell you what I said after that.  This is a family blog.)

5.  ACTION!!

Now before you watch this, I have to warn you, it ain't that easy to make a movie as you're trying not to die.  You'll need to cock your head to the left at the beginning, and a couple of times again, and as we're coming in for a landing, but hey.  You can pretend you're actually DOING the Adrenaline with us!!!

That was ne in the red helmet. Notice my perfect torpedo form.  Not being silly like the videographer.

6. We Survived!

I look a bit hysterical.  I know.

7.  The Highline

(yeah, right)

This one was so fast, they tied a purple parachute to my a$$.

We have a video of that, but I'll spare you.

As we neared the end of this one, I was thinking to myself.  THIS is going to hurt.

And it did.  I was shaking so hard, they had to hold me up.

8.  The Finale

What can I say?

It's kind of anti-climactic.  I admit it.

Compendium-of-Curiosities

This is my first attempt to take part in Linda's world-famous Compendium-of-Curiosities challenge over at Studio L3.  Our task was to follow Tim's Chipped enamel technique and I've done it on the heart on this piece.  I like the way it turned out.  Now I just have to figure out what to do with this.  I just realized I may be too late to participate in this week's challenge, but if I am, Oh Well, I've had fun doing it!

Studio L3.

Go see the amazing talent showcased there.  You'll be as inspired as I am!

Thanks for looking!

Still Playing

OK, I admit it.  I didn't get very far in my blurfing.  I got to this awesome site Digital Whispers which I've visited before and I got stuck.  Love their challenges.  Decided to play.  No more blurfing.  What can I say?  I've been art-deprived.  I have to make up for lost time.  HAVE TO!  Never you mind.  I had to.

Here is the image provided:

And here is what it ended up as:

There is some amazing work on this site, I hope you go over there:  Digital Whispers

I should probably go to bed now.  Maybe...

Playing

I need some colour in my life.  So I did this LO.  This is a little girl we met in Montana, she gave us a tour through her yard and showed us all of her dad's (amazing) artwork.  I asked her if I could take her photo, and I'm going to send it to her parents as a thank you gift, along with some photos I took of his artwork.  He was building a house for his family, after their original house burnt down in a fire not too long ago.  I'm guessing he must have lost some of his work too, although all the kids were fine, and that's all that matters.  Anyhoo, she is sitting in a gazebo he built, which was decorated with Thai prayer flags.  How cool is that?

Her name is Luna.

...and this next one I made for my daughter, who is having dog challenges at her new house down south this weekend.  First her new dog ran away, the second day in their new place, and then she came back, like, five days later.  HOWEVER, my girl is babysitting a couple of other dogs and now Zoe is pissed off and so she's peeing everywhere.  And the girl had to miss her first shift at her new job, thanks to this evil canine.

I love you girl, this too shall pass.

As I write this, behind me, the TV is showing Stephen Hawking's "Into the Universe" and he is theorizing about alien life forms.  I can't turn around and watch it because I'm in the midst of a Dean Koontz novel about the war of the worlds (and our world is currently losing) and I'm too freaked out to look.  I turned around once but got really scared, so I won't look again.  I'll just listen.  It's very interesting.  Really.  Maybe I'll just make another LO.  Or Blurf!!  That's it, I'm going to visit my bloggy friends!!  Bye now.

Art Creations Friday

Art Creations Friday has been on vacation this month and now they've returned!  So I immediately had to play along and make something with their (as always) lovely image.  Here is the image we are to  use:

and here is what I've come up with, using this image:

What do you think?  I think I feel AMAZING to be making stuff again, after far too long doing without.

All of the digital elements I used are from Die Cuts With A View's CIAO BELLA collection.

Hey, If I can do it, you can do it.  check it out - Art Creations Friday!

Friday Fill In

1. Family is the centre of my universe.

2. It feels like these past two weeks have been back and forth.

3. I love a comfy bed.

4. Making a reservation always makes a good meal.

5. I've got the grandaddy of all flus right now.

6. I know this is spelled incorrectly,

but some people have no cou: wth!!!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to R&R, tomorrow my plans include seeing how long I can stay up and out of bed and Sunday, I want to craft, if I'm up to it!

A Happy Labour Day Weekend to you all!

Wordless Wednesday

See (more intelligent) Wordless Wednesdays here!

Yoo Hoo, remember me?

I'm the cute, slender, blonde, young chick who runs this blog.  Hah!  Gotcha!  I am neither slender, nor blonde (although I was when I was younger), nor young (read my last comment).  But I can be cute! I think. Or maybe not. Oh now I'm so confused.  I wish we'd never started this.
I survived my recent bout with the fugly-u.  that's my new code word for the (very) UGLY Flu.  You may use this code word if you like.  Of course I hope you never have to, but if you do, I and millions of others who are reading this post, just like you are, will know EXACTLY what you mean.  How cool is that?  It'll be like we're in a secret society.  The Fugly-U Society.  Shhh.  We'll come up with a secret handshake too.  One the cool kids will NEVER figure out. 

Now that THAT is out of the way, I have good news.  It's time for the big reveal.  Well, it could be big.  If you look at it that way.  My first set of the "Seasons" Inchies was received and so I can show it to you!  I think it's only right that the recipient gets them before YOU see them.  Although I could change my mind at any moment on that.  For now, that's my philosophy.  Here they are: 

WINTER

Are ya chilly yet?  That's all folks!

PS.  Thanks for being patient with me while I was out of commision.

And now that I'm feeling better, I'm partying with these folks

75 hours

That's how long I've been sick, in bed.  I've heard there are ``super-bugs`out there and you had better believe it.  I miss you all and god willing and the creek don`t rise, I`ll be back on line (and eating) soon.
Love ya!

Woo Hoo!

I just moseyed on over to Gingersnap Creations and discovered that I'm a Ginger Gem for the second time.  I am SOOOOO excited!  For those of you who are not in the know, you should get in the know by going to see this wonderful site .  You don't know what you don't know until you know what you don't know.  Gingersnap Creations.

Go see are the arty goodness over there. 

This piece is in no way related to Gingersnap Creations.  It's just something I had fun makin.

!

Have you ever put things off?

Well, I did.  Seriously.  Put off sending in five years worth of professional credentials and now all five years are due next Monday and I havne't even done them.  Yes, you are supposed to keep up with these, but who has the time? I mean there are so many other WAY MORE FUN things to do.  Well, the bad news is that if I don't get them done and in the mail by Saturday, they could conceivably take away my license to practice.
THAT, my friends, is why I do not YET have any more pictures of our zipline adventure to show you tonight.
In fact, if you REALLY want to know how serious this is, I'll have you know that outside my studio window are this year's International Fireworks Competition taking place and I CAN SEE THEM FROM MY STUDIO!  I have never missed going to these. But yes, folks, it's true, I have my blinds drawn and have not watched.  Is that self-control or what?  Yeah, right, if I had self control, I wouldn't have put myself into this situation.
So please be patient with me, I will get back on track.  In the meantime, here are some pics from our trip.  Just not anything to do with ziplines.  Feeling sorry for me yet?  Nah.  It's OK.  I didn't expect you would.
She says as she smacks herself in the forehead, saying "you dummy" over and over and over again.

First, we have Glacier National Park.  Pretty, eh?

Next, here are some examples of this guy's art-his entire yard is full of these treasures and we drove by a few times, wondering what it all was.  Finally we went in and asked him.  He is an artist, and was rebuilding his house, which had just burnt down.  So he had his little girl Luna show us around.  It was a magical place and she was a magical little girl.

A barn (complicated description, don't you think?)

We found this field of wildflowers against a backdrop of trees which had obviously been in a fire-my daughter heard a really strange howl and urged (no, make that ORDERED) me to get in the truck and as I did, a coyote ran by where I had just been.  Normally, I don't mind coyotes, but not in the middle of nowhere and not when we hear what quite possibly could have been his lunch calling us.

I owe her one.

Are ya sick of me yet?

You always have to end with a sunset, right?  If we hadn't spent so much time is fields of widflowers and side-stepping coyotes (OK, that's BS), we would have been home before this sky happened.

And that would have been a travesty

TTFN

Yes we did it!

We did the ziplines.  AND (the best part)?  We both lived to tell about it.  I will not however tell you about it tonight.  I am too tired.  Tired and sore.  I know, I know, this could be considered whining by some.  All I can respond to that is until you have hiked up a mountain and rappelled down it 350 feet about the forest floor on what should technically (in my view) ONLY be used as a power line, and is 1692 feet long:

SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE

Don't misunderstand.  I say this with love.

Good night.

Montana

We haven't gotten too much shopping done yet, except we had a great time at JCPenneys, which I love.  And YES, I spent some moolah.  Natch. What we actually did most of the day was hike.  You heard me, I said the H-word.  HIKE.  For that reason I am a hurtin unit tonight.  Happy, but hurtin.  In honour of our visit to the great USofA, I am showing you a pic of a little album I made when we were in DC.  Hoops & Yoyo go everywhere with us, even to Thailand when we were there, BUT I FORGOT THEM ON THIS  TRIP!!!  I feel so guilty.OK, enough of that.  I need some sleep.

You can cick on the pic to make it bigger. 

I'm linking up to New Friends Friday, cus I'm meeting, what else, New Friends there!  See you tomorrow!

Friday Fill In #190

1. _Laughter _gets rid of my headaches._.

2. _Hi, do you_ are the three words that started off the last email I sent.

3. What I'm most looking forward to today is _going to Target_.

4. _A comment on my blog always_ puts a smile on my face.

5. Where in the world  is Waldo? and why hasn't he been found yet?_

6. _A holiday was_ just what I needed!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _a yummy supper out_, tomorrow my plans include _art galleries and more shopping_ and Sunday, I want to _survive the ziplines we're booked to do_!

See more here.

Move it, Move it!

This week over at The Order of the Opus Gluei they have us doing jumping jacks for this week's challenge.  No, just kidding.  I couldn't do a jumping jack if my life depended on it.  Well, maybe if my life depended on it.  But what kind of a situation would that be?

I guess I would have to have been taken hostage by an insane personal trainer who could possibly have heard me refusing to exercise in any way, shape, or form and decided that s/he would lock me in a gym until I ran 6,395 miles on the treadmill and did 218 one-handed push-ups.

Like THAT's going to happen.

But now I've frightened myself.  Give me a moment to catch my breath.

OK.  The Poobahs over at The Order of the Opus Gluei have actually challenged us to move some of our (my-substantial) stash out of our crafty places.  This happened to be right up my alley!  I made a to-do list on my holidays and the biggest item on that list was to complete my Palm Springs album BUYING NOTHING NEW IN THE PROCESS!  Ha!

And I've done exactly that!

So here are four pages from that album.

I am so happy how this worked out!

Must go now, I'm off to Montana for the weekend

If you don't hear from me, that'll mean I haven't got any wireless internet access and with the (cheap) motels I've booked, that's very possible.  If I don't see you before, have a super weekend!

And don't forget to go visit The Order of the Opus Gluei!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday-Part One

I had no intention of finishing this LO when I started it tonight.  I should be getting ready to go to Montana tomorrow.  But the phone rang and I was on there for quite a while and then I forgot that I should have been packing, and I then accidentally finished the LO.  I should say before you see it (on my next post) that a whle back some of us social workers were marching on the legislature buldings, to protest cut-backs to essential services, and we wore these tartan scarves in the official tartan of our (evil) provincial government.  There were numerous dogs and children (and the Raging Grannies) and I was taken with these dogs, with their tartan scarves.

You'll know what I mean when you see the finished LO.
Dogs are people too!