Primoriginals

Horses

2010-05-20T17:48:00.000-05:00

Samantha's taking horseback riding lessons at a gorgeous farm here in Wisconsin.

Check out "Willy and Wonka":

This bugger is frisky!

There's something so glorious about a stable.

And how can leads be so cool lookin?

Makes me want to move to the country. I spent most of my childhood in the country with horses and the whole lot.... I miss it. I miss the quiet.

xoxo

Massachusetts

2010-04-22T12:39:00.000-05:00

This might sound corny, but the best thing to me about creating our stuff and sending it all over the world is to actually be able to SEE it in pics in someone's home. Some very sweet customers send me those pics on occasion and every single time I open them I get goosebumps! Such goodness.

We love to make our state hook pieces. It teaches me something every time. Mostly I learn that I wasn't paying much attention in my high school geography class. Sigh. But hey, it's never too late to learn!

I had a really nice customer ask me to make a Massachusetts piece for her. Now, for those of you who were daydreaming like I was in your high school geography class, Massachusetts is a little dickens of a state. As far as it's shape, that is. I'm sure the folks that live there are quite lovely.

So I googled Massachusetts and learned that there's two little chunks that aren't connected to the mainland. I believe these are called "islands", LOL. These two little islands are Dukes and Nantucket. I knew we had to cut those out separately and the customer would have to affix them to their wall with mounting tape. But Barnstable was also a concern for me. It's so skinny and juts out a lot, so I worried it would break. We decided to cut it out separately and try to fit it nicely to the mainland. Well that did NOT look right. So I told Julie that we were gonna start over and she was patient and said NO RUSH. See, I told ya she was sweet.

So we did it over. And it turned out to be one of the coolest states ever.

Here is the fantastic pics Julie sent me... I was in awe. I also promptly went to the paint store and got some nice white paint swatches cuz I'm going WHITE WALLS again! Doesn't her place inspire that in you??? Not to mention her sweet dog looks perfect. Especially in that apartment! Black dogs make everything look great.

To check out Julie's new apartment, and to be inspired as I was, go here.

Or her blog here.

Liz xoxo

front page on etsy

2010-04-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

We've been fortunate enough to make it onto the front page of etsy quite a bit lately! This is such a blessing, as many of you know Rick lost his job a bit over a year ago. We are thrilled with the success of our home decor shop on etsy! This enables us to support our family and hopefully continue to grow our business! We love it!

Here's a pic of one of the front pages... I love this collection of gorgeous things!

Hope you all are having a great spring!!!

Liz

View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

2010-04-17T08:05:00.000-05:00

View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

Always so exciting to make the front page! And my beloved Wisconsin to boot!

Liz

Finally made a color chart for oldnewagain!

2010-04-16T09:25:00.002-05:00

Top row: Dark Turquoise - Coral - Forest Moss - Buttermilk

Second row: Aqua - Rust - Spring Green / Metallic Silver (shown on hearts) - Sweet Lilac

Third row: Classic White - Earth Yellow - Corona Red - Slate Gray

Fourth row: Lamp Black - Metallic Taupe - Sage Green - Jamaican Sea

yellow

2010-04-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, I was never a huge fan of yellow. But gosh I think I'm changing.... it really is a great color, huh?

You all gotta check this awesome blog out:

2010-04-05T17:38:00.001-05:00

our house rules

2010-04-03T13:31:00.000-05:00

Samantha brought an assignment she had done at school home last week. Evidently some of the rules of our household needed to be clarified in her mind. I thought these were sorta understood, but I guess not. Samantha is quite literal in her thinking, as you can see.

translation: no swearing, no killing people, no drinking beer.

zzzzzzzzz

2010-03-29T09:19:00.000-05:00

I was up til 2:00 am last night. Reading blogs on my htc hero in bed.

For whatever reason I couldn't STOP. I hate that!

I wish the world was later. What is the appeal of getting up so early, really? I don't get it. I wish I did.

So this is what I wanna do right now:

But I can't, too much work to do. So I will probably do too much of this:

and do a lot of this to my little doggie, cuz I'm just in the mood:

Then at the end of the day I will feel like this:

So that's that.

What are you all doing today???

oink oink

2010-03-24T22:49:00.001-05:00

Check out our new pig hook piece:

I love her! If you've known me for a while, this pig is a silouette of an aceo I did (in my ebay days!) which I called "Pig Rides - 10 cents". Just a little trivia for ya. ;o)

Post-edit: Here's the aceo!

tee winner

2010-03-24T11:33:00.000-05:00

Check out how cool my tee looks on Jane, the winner of my hand-screened tee!

To see Jane's blog and to check out her very cool dogs, go here.

words

2010-03-22T21:45:00.001-05:00

One of the very best things about seeing your kids grow up is watching them learn how to write. Of course reading is wonderful, but there's just something about writing that makes me so happy.

I love finding little notes in Samantha's room (it's not snooping when I'm cleaning it). Little worn out papers of random thoughts or little stories, or even finding out what she's worried about or scared of.

I found this note the other day:

And then I snapped this as she was reading her little dog book:

This has nothing to do with words, well unless you count the word "police" on the side of the car, but I caught Samantha snooping on the cop that was sitting across the street from our house! Yes, she's looking through binoculars! :D

hehe... a girl after my own heart! NOSEY like her mom! ;o)

And I gotta get some food in this post! RIGHT??!! So here ya go... our living room filled with Girl Scout cookies:

xoxo Liz

bring it on

2010-03-20T23:57:00.002-05:00

So now I know it's all about the food. I even changed my kickin' banner to reflect this. I am this serious.

I got 7 comments outta you folks from my pretzel post (alright a couple were my own, but I'm still counting them... 7 is 7 after all). And since no one judged me on the massive amount of pretzels we consume, I'm gonna share my other naughty problem: chocolate.

Oh dear me...

chocolate.

How can you be so powerful, so all-consuming, so wonderful??? Why do I want you first thing in the morning and last thing before slumber? Why do you do this to me, you sinful little vermin. You should be ashamed of yourself. Don't you know I am already eating way too many pretzels?

My last binge on chocolate happened about a week or two ago. I'm pretty sure it was because I was feeling sorry for myself and my carpal tunnel problems. I like to think of scenarios where I can eat what I want with less guilt. Pity works well, especially self pity.

My crapal tunnel (no that's not a typo, that's what I call it) has been so bad and it's put me into a bit of a depression. When I get depressed I kinda let my mind go sometimes.

So, I got a little panicky when I thought of having to stop creating because my hands would not allow me to.

I had a vision of myself painting with my feet.

This is how far I let my mind go. I told myself that I would indeed learn how to create stuff with my feet if I had to. I was off in my little world, painting while reclining with my feet up in the air, a nice big sable brush between my big toe and that second one that I don't know the name of, I like to call it "the toe next to the big toe"....

When one of my kids hollered MOM!!! and I snapped out of it and realized what an idiot I was.

So after my vision was rudely interrupted by Molly proclaiming she had KILLED (not sure how and I didn't ask) yet ANOTHER pet fish and it was her favorite fish ever (although I kindly reminded her she only had "Olive" for 48 hours), I started reading cjane's blog and all those comments from her "feminist" post that caused such a stir. This kept me busy for quite some time, and with the carpal tunnel issues, the dead fish saga, the feminist arguments, and a lack of nutrients on my part (did I mention I had the LONGEST period EVER on the face of the earth??? 4 WEEKS!!! huh???), I decided I needed chocolate. ASAP.

So I had to try nie nie's favorite homemade oreos.

Ready to be baked... I used my handy melon-baller cuz I was having a perfectionist style night, since I had to do something perfectly as there was that freaky little possibility that I was soon to become a "toe painter".

And don't they look delish??? For some very strange reason that I hate to even mention, neither one of my girls liked them (what the???). One said they were too sweet (hello???) and the other wanted her's without the frosting. She said the frosting was making her "cough". Rick doesn't like this sort of thing, so it didn't surprise me when he didn't want any (this is probably why the poor sap weighs the same as he did in high school and can still fit in his high school levi's, size 33 waist... good grief, what a friggin nutcase!).

So the fact that no one else was going to eat these made me so upset, as I then had to eat most of the batch by myself!! WAHHHHHH!! It was an absolute nightmare! It took me several days, at least. I put them in the freezer and within 3 or 4 days they were gone. I was soooooooooooo glad when it was over! The things we have to do nowadays, us women of the world!! Such troopers we all are!

P.S. I liked 'em best right out of the freezer. Don't judge me.

Liz

we love these

2010-03-17T21:28:00.000-05:00

Well my last POWERHOUSE post that summoned up THREE comments (YES! THREE! This blog is in the big leagues now people!) was about ........

food.

So you must all love food like I do. And did any of you make that killer roast I was braggin about??

Anyway, you want food huh??? Well, HERE'S some food!

We are now at the very pathetic level of buying our soft pretzels in BULK! I'm out of the closet here folks!

We buy a box of these suckers about every 4 weeks. Which means we eat 60 pretzels in 4 weeks, which, for those of you who aren't math whizzes, FIFTEEN pretzels a week! OH MY... that is really pathetic! And they are not whole grain or organic or any of those fancy words. They are just good ole' white flour gooey yummy pretzels! Processed to the hilt, no doubt. Whatever!

Okay, I seriously am going to go make one right now. With melted butter :::gasp::: and kosher salt. YUMMMMY.

Another shameless attempt at enticing you

2010-03-16T08:28:00.000-05:00

photo courtesy of the fabulous venus

Really folks, I had no intention of making this blog into a GET-THIS-FREE-AND-THAT-FREE-THANG, but it's just sorta happening, ya know? Goin' with the flow here.... movin along.... I love to give! ... and well, you gotta put up with it!

Of course the exposure helps, and I won't deny that's what started it, but now I'm addicted to it! It is a TOTAL BLAST packing up a goody that we made and sending it off to someone who WON it... I know the feeling of WINNING something (although it's only happened to me a couple times, I'm not a winner, LOL). It's a thrilling feeling! Even winning something little, like one time years ago I won a Cousin's sub ... that sub tasted better than any other sub I had ever eaten there!!! I don't know what that is. But it's cool.

So Krissy of "etsy interviews" interviewed me and wow!!! ... they do a bang-up job over there! So, if you missed out on the last give-away (and even if you didn't), go and leave a comment and put your name in the hat!

etsy interviews

Off to cut out another "live", LOL!

Liz

The Dingo Ate Your Baby!

2010-03-15T09:18:00.001-05:00

Remember this episode of Seinfeld?!?! One of my favorites!

dingo

Well, guess what??? My BABY ate the DINGO!!! Yes, Teddy scarfed a dingo bone too quickly...

and it got STUCK in her esophagus!!! So, after two emergency vet clinics, 100 miles driving, and $630 later, at 1:30 am, here she is, resting from being put to sleep, in my car on the way home:

That pink bandage is covering her little leg that had the anesthesia needle in it. And through it all, choking and gasping for air, the vet people told me she still wagged her tail and was so sweet when they worked on her. I'm tellin ya folks, this dog is truly special. I've had dogs all my life, but she is on a whole new level. She is amazing. Are you sick of hearing about her???

But how can you be?

LOOK at her!!!

and her back legs KILL me!

i'm dying here!

Are you getting tired of reading about my dog? Please, please tell me NO... please...and if you are, please for the love of all things fluffy, just ignore me right now... I think I'm going through a funny girl phase...

xoxo Liz

purple

2010-03-14T11:06:00.000-05:00

Seems purple is popular right now, or is it just me? I especially like it with green.

Check out the pretty purple treasury (that's our shelf in there) that the lovely glass etc
came up with.

food

2010-03-11T09:37:00.000-06:00

I was delighted to find The Pioneer Woman's blog and had to make her pot roast. My big-chunk-of-meat cooking skills are so-so (normally I blame it on the meat if it's not tender enough). But, The Pioneer Woman assured me that I needed to give it another shot. And I did. And my family couldn't stop OOOOing and AAAAHing. And I couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't stop being so proud of the aromatic rosemary sprigs, the tender carrots, the buttery mashed potatoes. After this very profound experience (and I'm not kidding), I realized how fulfilling it is to make a good meal for your family. I'm sort of a gotta-cook-so-we-can-eat cook. But that day I put my heart into it and I got so much more than food out of it!

You gotta try this roast!

Wish I had a plate right now.

Go here for the recipe. And if you make it, I wanna hear what you think!

wooden letter giveaway!

2010-03-10T09:27:00.002-06:00

wooden letter giveaway!

Okay peeps... here's the deal:

We need more ideas for our wooden words. We already have eat, run, be, nap, live, cook and bake. Of course there's hope, joy, peace, change, love, etc... and those are all fine and lovely, but come on, we need UNIQUE words!

I was telling my mom how I thought run would be cool for a runner's house, and she said "hmm... how about SLEEP?" bruhahahahahaha..........

Anyway, I want some ideas from you!!! Whoever comes up with the best word (according to Rick, Molly and me) will win a wooden letter of their choice! And you even get to pick the COLOR!!!

Words must be four letters or less. Let's say two words per entry. So think hard before you leave your words in the comments section of this post. Please.

So come on, get our your DICTIONARIES! Ask your friends! Ask your kids (and tell them we're not doing fart or booger).

And look, I can spell!!!

AND WE HAVE ANOTHER WINNER!!!

2010-03-09T22:15:00.000-06:00

The winner of the super spectacular (and I mean it!) headbands from the lovely Cheryl of Old School Trading is....

number 4!!! which is Annette Q!!!

I asked Molly to pick a number between 1 and 11 and she said 4, because no one ever picks 4. She's sweet like that.

Annette, please contact me with your address and I will tell Cheryl to send your goodies to you!

THANK YOU Cheryl for your generosity! You are amazing. And your headbands are the same...

On a lighter note, I went grocery shopping the other day and noticed Samantha had added a couple items on the list.

xoxo Liz

And the winner of the TEE is.........

2010-03-08T13:57:00.002-06:00

NUMBER 10! maxandmollydesigns!

I could not get that funky little random generator thingy to show up, so you're just gonna have to take my word for it. ;o)

So ironic that the winner is the gal who actually *taught* me how to screenprint in this way! Sweet.

Stay tuned for the headband drawing soon...

On another note... check out our new "eat" sign.

We're trying to come up with some clever words. Ya know, UNIQUE ones. Nothing against "love" and such, but we want to come up with something different. So far we've done "eat", "live" and "be". Our next one is going to be "nap"... wouldn't that be sweet for a baby's room?

Any ideas anyone? We're trying to keep them at four letters or less. So supercalafragelisticexpialadoscious is out.

Liz

unexpected love

2010-03-03T14:19:00.002-06:00

I've been a very bad mama.

It started innocently enough at 2:30 on Sunday afternoon at our local Best Buy. Since that seemingly normal day as I was kickin' it with Molly, I've been doing a lot of "armchair parenting". You see, I have a new love. This new love is my hero. And I mean that quite literally.

So..........

Here he is..........

my hero.........

HTC Hero from Sprint

He looks innocent enough, doesn't he? Oh but don't let his slick demeaner fool you. He is causing me both joy and pain. But, I love him. I neeeeeeeed him. I even bought him a little cozy black jacket. And I'm downloading all kinds of fun games we can play together. And I'm touching him a lot. And he responds in just the right way. Sigh.... Ah... but this blog is rated G so I won't go any further.

As you can see, I am spending way too much time with him. So much that I'm having to wear these a lot:

Which sucks.

So tonight I am going to try to put him in his little bed and hook him up to his feeding tube and make some of these. Cuz you can't go wrong with anything Nie likes.

P.S. Before the week's over, I'm going to do the drawing for the t-shirt and with Cheryl's approval, for the rockin' headbands as well. STAY TUNED and please send your friends over to enter!

xoxo Liz

A few of my favorite things...

2010-02-23T23:22:00.000-06:00

I love really arty design blogs that show us cool stuff. So that's what I'm gonna do today. Show you stuff I love, and hopefully you think it's cool, too.

Way cool, right off the bat. Don't ya think? Available here.

Clevergirl... need I say more?

Oh dear. I'm so glad I never have to go through this again. Find this funny first date print here.

My carpal tunnel is killing me. More on that another day.

Don't forget to post in the two GIVE-AWAY blogs a few posts before this one!!! Still time!

Liz

Growing up

2010-02-21T23:28:00.000-06:00

Molly is going to be 16 next month. The last 16 years... they just flew by.

It's bittersweet, this person I see...

the one that leaves in the morning IN A CAR driven by her best friend.

the one who goes to work bussing tables at a local diner every Sunday morning.

the one who works so hard in school.

the one who has the most awesome friends.

the one who sticks up for those who need it, who isn't afraid to do what's right, who loves life.

the one who's kept herself pure... no drinking, no drugs... in this world, that is quite the accomplishment!

We're so proud of you, Molly!

Love,
Mom and Dad

the best headgear AND interview AND GIVE-AWAY!!!

2010-02-14T22:24:00.001-06:00

(see bottom of this post for give-away details! WOOT!)

Samantha is super sensitive and HATES her hair brushed or messed with. Anything I manage to get in her hair (ponytail or whatever) she manages to take out within an hour or two. It's so frustrating! She's the kid that has all that HAIR hanging in her face, you know, the one that looks like a wild child! tsk tsk! I can hear you all! WELL NO MORE!

Meet Cheryl of Old School Trading! She makes the most comfy and super cute headbands!!! I ordered one for Samantha, then had to order a bunch more! Our mornings are much nicer now and Samantha loves them! Molly snagged one, too, and they fit them both wonderfully. I don't know how Cheryl did it, but they fit both my kids and me, too! And the craftsmanship is perfect!

I got these (plus a plain black one not shown):

Here she is in her favorite cheetah print:

Cheryl was gracious enough to let me "interview" her:

When and why did you start making these cool headbands?

1. When living in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri...I designed children's clothing and sold them on Ebay about 8 years ago. I designed fun vintage inspired clothing re-using jeans, chenille,vintage tablecloths, hankies, sweaters...you name it...I used it! It was so much fun! When I decided to start making clothing again on Etsy...I decided to make headbands to match my outfits. My oldest daughter, Ashley, was so excited about my business and helped me cut my first 100 headbands that I made....So I decided to call them "Ashleybands". The Headbands became a big hit since they fit so well on both Adults and children and because I offered so many fabric choices! I CAN'T STOP BUYING THESE BEAUTIFUL FABRICS!! I started getting wholesale orders from all over the country...including Australia and Singapore of all places!! So....at the moment...I'm whipping out Ashleybands on a daily basis!! Life comes around and goes around! Right out of college I was an assistant buyer/product developer of hair accessories for Claire's!! Now...I'm back doing it again for Old School Trading!

What is your typical daily routine?

2. Typically...I wake up and get my kids ready for school. I check my emails while I eat breakfast. Hopefully, I don't spill orange juice on my keyboard!! I usually then start working on my orders and get everything lined up to start sewing when my youngest, Alyssa, goes to afternoon preschool. I sew all afternoon...but check my emails...and occasionally shop supplies on etsy as I come up with other ideas that are floating in my head while I sew! I also try to work on marketing stuff (just completed a new trifold with all my fabric selections)...and trying to get a new website launched very soon which takes me forever because I'm Computer Illiterate!! When I go pick up the Kids from school...I run to the post office and try not to do "business" until late at night. But....it depends on how busy I am. When my husband comes home....I hope he doesn't ask "Did you do laundry today?"

Tell us about yourself using just 5 words:

It's hard to talk about myself!
I guess I'd say 1. Humble 2. Honest 3. Faithful 4. Creative 5. Spontaneous

Name 5 of your favorite blogs:

I can honestly say that I just got into the "Blog World" since the New year. So, I'm hoping to have time to "Add" this to my daily schedule!! I have enjoyed following:

1. http://mylilyeden.blogspot.com (very inspiring)
2. http://dandginagives.blogspot.com (awesome giveaways)
3. http://feeds.feedburner.com/trueup (great place for sourcing)
4. http://robbiegphotography.com/blog (beautiful photography)
5. And of course: http://primoriginals.blogspot.com (well...I guess you know why Liz is a favorite!!)

Name 5 of your favorite etsy shops:

It's hard to pick only 5!! I LOVE FABRICS so I would have to say 1. MaterialGal 2. Luckykaerufabic 3. Sweetdreamsandco 4. LemonTreeStudio 5. And of course Primoriginals!!

(Me again): Cheryl has graciously offered to do a give-away of her awesome bands! Simply comment on this post and you are automatically entered to win a 3 pack of *Ashleybands* in any fabric of your choice in Cheryl's shop!   THANKS CHERYL!!!

Hey ya'all, don't forget to comment on my blog post below for another primoriginals give-away, too!

Liz

Another GIVE-AWAY!!!

2010-02-13T17:40:00.001-06:00

Let's have another one! WOOT!!!

Up for grabs is a hand printed tee of my own little birdie design. I used a very simple method to make my screen (go here to check it out). Thanks to The Dog House for posting these directions!

This is something you can do with your kids or teens... all you need is an embroidery hoop, some super thin fabric (like organza -- I cut up an old sheer curtain), mod podge, fabric paint or ink, and something to make your stencil with. You can use your screen over and over, just wash it promptly when you're done printing.

Tee is a size Medium and is a pretty teal color. 50/50 blend.

Comment in this post to be entered! Let's try to make it up to 20 comments again!

coming soon: interview with cool etsy seller that makes my life so much easier!

And the winner is...........

2010-02-11T16:05:00.000-06:00

Venus, from the lovely and addictive happyfind blog! Email me so we can exchange pleasantries and what-not!

I wish I could give each and every one of you who entered an organizer.... BUT, I am definately going to do more give-aways as they are so fun! Stay tuned!!!

Liz

This is what happens when you buy reading glasses at Sam's Club

2010-02-08T13:28:00.001-06:00

I was hoping these glasses would be strewn (is that a word?) around the house so dh doesn't have to look far to find a pair. This way I wouldn't have to be the designated reader of the house. GROWL. But no. This is when he decides to be tidy and hangs them up neatly, all in a row.

(and yes, I just realized that the picture is upside down)

On a lighter note: THANK YOU all so much for posting in my GIVEAWAY!!! We've gone over 20 comments, so it's time for the drawing! WOOHOO!!! 20 comments!!! Some of you might think this is lame (think bloggess or dooce), but for me it's a milestone! And I have all of you to thank for it!

I'll draw the name within the next couple days.... come back to see if you're the winner!

If you still want to enter, or tell your friends, go post a comment here:

givin stuff out to make your life easier

(or as my daughter would say: givenstuffouttomakeyourlifeeasier.com)

Liz

custom shelf

2010-02-05T19:52:00.000-06:00

A very sweet customer convo'd me through our etsy and requested a nice, big "apple green" shelf. No holes (what???), no hooks... just nice and big and cool. Well, didn't it turn out just so lovely? I love it! Now I want one!

xoxo Liz

almost done

2010-02-02T09:10:00.003-06:00

After reading one of my favorite blogs, tollipop, (one that I have to check every night before bed or I can't sleep... yes, I'm lame, I know), I realized that it's merely the beginning of the end. Of winter, that is.

Around this time the winter blues set in here. I love Wisconsin, but February is when winter starts to get to be a bit much. I do feel though that February is sorta the beginning of the end. Yeah!!!

Here's what's going on in our house lately.

Samantha's school is selling donated chex mix snack bags for 25 cents to help Haiti. She brought me a bag of chex mix every day for the last 4 school days. My favorite bag was the one with gummy bears in it!

Tomorrow her class will be in charge of selling. I love her drawing. Especially the pink bags of chex mix!

Samantha and Teddy are inseparable right now. They are seriously BEST friends. It's so darned cute.

Valentine's Day is coming. Which means lots of heart drawings.

How are you all spending your time this winter???

xoxo Liz

Thank You Thursdays!

2010-01-28T08:14:00.004-06:00

Gotta love the snarky blogs out there, like The Chief, Supah, and The Daily Dribbles.

Today is Thank You Very Much Thursday on the Daily Dribbles. Chief is pretty much forcing us all to post there. She's pushy that way. So here's my entry:

Dear Neighborhood,

Seems that once again, you've been pigging out too much. WAY too much. I know this because for 90 minutes straight, there were large amounts of poop-pee-slush overflowing through our basement floor drain because of a clogged sewage pipe on the corner of 9th and Ridge. Yeah, you know the corner! Don't act like you didn't see the friggin' trucks trying to unclog the pipe you all clogged up! And who's eating all the CORN???

Yes, dh and I scooped our little behinds off in order to save our basement from being saturated with your overflow. I even broke a sweat and used muscles I never knew I had. I know this because they still hurt and it's Thursday. We could hardly keep up. AND we could hardly keep from hurling, either.

Turns out the handy little valve that most peeps have in their basement floor drain is mysteriously missing from ours. Perhaps it was sucked into the sewage abyss last year when the same exact thing happened?

Please, I'm begging you. Have you no self control??? Lay off the cheese. Turn down that 9th piece of pizza. Say no to the adorable girl scouts who are peddling their wares. Skip those midnight snacks. For goodness sakes people! Have a little self respect!!!

Liz

treasury

2010-01-26T15:10:00.003-06:00

Gotta love reds! Our red shelf is in there. :)

Cookies

2010-01-22T21:50:00.004-06:00

Here's a new video of Samantha making cookies. :D

Don't forget to post in the GIVEAWAY below! Tell your friends! Go on now!

xoxo Liz

GIVEAWAY!!!

2010-01-22T08:17:00.006-06:00

See my post below? Ya know- the "holey" post? Well, we're giving one of those handy dandy table table organizers away! Woohoo! Get your table stuff in order and have STRESS FREE meal! Or wait- there might still be some stress, but at least you'll be stressin' about things other than getting up 8 times for another fork or spoon or searching for the salt/pepper that's always at the other end of the table. It might sound trivial, but that stress adds up! This little organizer might save you a big fight with your husband! You won't be so mad at him for hoarding the goods! Of course you'll have to remind him to put the salt/pepper back on the organizer, but hey, you're used to that.

To be included in the giveaway, comment on this post. Bonus: if you mention my giveaway on your blog, you get TWO entries! Mention that you're mentioning in your comment so I know to enter you twice (you know what I mean).

Oh... you can pick any color that we offer in our shop for your organizer!

I'll have the goofball above pick the winner when there are at LEAST 20 comments! Please tell your friends!

xoxo Liz

More holes!

2010-01-20T13:32:00.003-06:00

I seem to be obsessed with putting holes in things lately. I think about holes all the time. How can I make my life easier and more organized with a hole? Could I put a hole in this? Or that?

I think my latest holey design came from a repressed memory that suddenly popped into my mind the other day.

When I was in college, I took a job waitressing at a very cheesy diner. After a few months I *think* I was "let go" because I constantly forgot to give the patrons their silverware (among other things, no doubt - perhaps even their food). I'm not 100% sure of the "letting go" part, because it's still repressed.

Here's my latest design for those of you who forget things like me. Or for those who are a bit lazy. Or need something cute on their table. Or want their kids to feed themselves. Blahblahblah.

kitty

2010-01-19T23:38:00.002-06:00

Jenny aka the bloggess
posted this today and I had to steal it.

first table

2010-01-18T08:51:00.004-06:00

Rick and I have been working on designing a "holey" table (similar to our holey shelves) that can be shipped flat (legs not attached) to save on shipping and to avoid packaging huge boxes. We are very ANTI BIG BOXES! USPS has new rates that take into effect the size of the box. I personally would prefer to pay less on shipping and put it together myself. I hope this is how most people think. I also think the table would be more secure if it was shipped flat versus put together. Thoughts anyone?? Would needing to assemble a table make you not want to buy it?

Liz

molly, no braces

2010-01-15T20:04:00.001-06:00

molly, no braces, originally uploaded by primoriginals.

I believe I've posted Molly's braceless teeth already, but here's another for good measure. It was all worth it, but if I had to do it over I'd try harder to stop her from sucking her thumb! :)

beans beans the musical fruit

2010-01-15T10:06:00.003-06:00

I bought a bunch of beans a long time ago. Not to cook (that would make too much sense). I bought them for some crafty reason that I've forgotten about. Maybe to weigh some display down or something? Who knows. Anyway, turns out they make a GREAT ~~ipod~~ tripod (YES, I sure did type "ipod" at first... wouldn't that be nice if I could make my beans turn into an ipod!).

Moving on --

If you want a *bean tripod*, buy a bunch of bags of beans, open them and put them all into a larger bag (like a gallon ziploc), and VOILA! Much better than a tripod (I hate em! I hate screwing them into my camera and adjusting them).

♥ Liz

"What I Meant to Say" Wednesday

2010-01-13T08:23:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Chief, all us goofballs that hang out at her BEYOND-HYSTERICAL blog now have an excuse to spew our ~~rage~~ inner child feelings across the internet for all to see.

WHAT I SAID:

(To the AT&T operator discussing my DEAD slightly-older-than-a-year-missed-the-warranty-period modem):

So I have to go buy another modem???

WHAT I MEANT TO SAY:

So you gave me a FREE modem that is CRAP and now I have to go BUY ANOTHER CRAPPY NOT-SO-FREE modem??? And I have to buy the SAME CRAPPY modem that BROKE FOR NO REASON or you won't help me if there's a problem with this second crappy modem? And don't tell me it was lightning or a power surge or too much wattage/voltage/electrical zaps.... although now that I think of it perhaps it was a power surge since my 15 yr old daughter was vacuuming and heating something in the micro and probably had the stereo, oven, crockpot, space heater AND straightener on (for SURE!) at the same time the other day. Okay Miss-AT&T-know-it-all... never mind I will go and buy another crappy modem. pfffffffffffffffffft. Have a nice day.

THANKS CHIEF!!! Can't wait til next Wednesday!

Liz

afternoon snacking

2010-01-11T22:47:00.004-06:00

my new nikon

2010-01-08T21:36:00.013-06:00

Ohhhhh dear readers! It's been quite the day here at primoriginals.

After much thought and research and a bit of a leap of faith, I bought my first DSR camera! I finally decided on the well-loved Nikon D40. I am so excited.... I carry it around like it's my baby. It's so beautiful and well-behaved. And I feel like paparazzi. Must be that cool clicking sound.

Here's some pics I took, right out of the box, without reading the manual, on Auto with a flash. I used the 18-55mm kit lens. On some of the photos I had some afternoon light in the room, but some there was no natural light.

I'll start with the camera-loving Molly. I seriously have never seen a really bad picture of her. 99% of the time every picture looks magnificent! She got her braces off a couple weeks ago, so you can see her nice straight teeth! :)

Oh how I wish I could look this lovely with my hair up in a ponytail and an old white t-shirt on.

Then there's dear Samantha, who hates the camera. She literally winces when she sees it facing her. So it's always been a challenge to get a decent pic of her with my cheapo point and shoot camera. I got some cute shots of her with Teddy. Hey, at least she's not SCOWLING at me!

I got a quick picture of Rick as he got home from work. He looks pretty good for 50, don't ya think?

Rick bought some beautiful roses for me for our anniversary, so I took a shot of one... this is an unedited picture... took it on Auto with the flash, too. I think it turned out so pretty.

Sleep well internet!

Liz

Games

2010-01-04T15:08:00.003-06:00

This year we thought it was time to get a game system. Evidently, we were the only ones in America who did not have one. At least this is what my kids have told me.

We bought a used PS2. And a handful of games. Turns out that I am not as smart as I thought. I continue to crash my fighter jet into the ocean, over and over again. What the? I put it on auto-pilot and I still crash.

So I figured I should be able to handle the Spongebob game. How hard can it be to gather as many crabby patties as you can and jump on rocks and spin around and such? HAS to be easier than landing a fighter jet! After about an hour I found myself in the same little cave area without the required crabby patties to help the peeps or whatever my mission was. I was unable to free my poor spongey self to the next stinkin' level.

Hey, there's always Connect Four.

2009-12-30T19:40:00.000-06:00

Life stages through SLEDDING

2009-12-15T23:42:00.003-06:00

1. Have your first child.
2. When your kid turns 2, go to store to buy proper boots, snowpants, scarf, mittens, hat and long underwear. Go to several different stores to look for the safest sled available - you know, the one with the back and seat belt. Buy other cool sleds, too.
3. Bundle everyone up, apply vaseline to your child's cheeks. Apply lip balm. Load up car with the 6 new sleds you bought (and the pump, in case the new tube sled deflates), and drive 17 miles across town to the best hill. Bring camera and camcorder. Stop at gas station to get fresh batteries.
4. Watch your husband go down the hill with your child, screaming WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE each time.
5. Videotape your child going down the hill at least 23 times.
6. Make jumps by gathering and packing large amounts of snow in strategic spots on the hill.
6. Take pics of your child eating snow. Put hand warmers in child's mittens. Wipe her nose.
7. Get different sleds every 10 minutes and go over jumps with each one, comparing speeds and height of jumps.
8. Talk to everyone you see, saying: isn't the weather beautiful tonight?!?!
9. Leave after 2 hours. Go home and drink hot chocolate with tons of marshmallows. Sit by the fireplace.
10. Upload and edit all the videos you took and forward them to friends and family, who of course are DYING to see them.

Several years later:

10. Have your second kid.
11. When this kid turns 5, dig out hand-me-down boots, snowpants and whatever else you can find in your musty basement. Wipe off the cobwebs with your shirt.
12. Put baggies in the boots cuz they probably leak.
13. Grab the two sleds - you know, the one that has a big crack down the middle and the other one that has a broken handle. Look for rope to fix handle. Give up on finding any rope.
14. Drive to the closest lame hill, which happens to be 1/2 block away.
15. Park the car and let your kid out.
16. Stay in car and watch kid go down hill, as you are already exhausted from the preparations to go sledding and your foot hurts. You feel a backache coming on, too.
17. Sit in car for an hour with the heat blasting, reading a week old paper with the dome light on.
18. Notice your kid and another kid repeatedly pushing each other down. Notice your kid getting run over by inner tubes full of roudy middle schoolers.
19. Yawn and look at your watch.
20. Roll down the window and beep your horn, waving your kid into the car. Time to go.
21. Come home and tell your kid how lucky she is to have a mom that takes her sledding.

Christmas shopping

2009-12-09T19:37:00.006-06:00

I decided I was going to take the "buy handmade pledge" very seriously this year, as I want to support small business owners, but frankly, even more-so, I just cannot stand the crowds anymore. Etsy has been good to me, so I wanna be good to etsy.

I bought several items for my daughter, Molly (15). If you read my blog at all, you know she's a sorta FASHIONISTA. If you knew me at all, you'd wonder how I birthed this child. I am super plain and uninterested in getting my nails done, shopping, etc. Poor Mols.

The first item I bought is the most precious little heart ring made by Sweet Nirvanas. Is this just the sweetest darned thing or what? Franky (the owner) is just as sweet.

I fell in love with Cory's shop, Sweet Petula. She has a definate gift. She has created a wonderful look and feel to her shop, don't you think?

For myself, I bought a solid perfume called "Sweet P". It's made up of five different kinds of essential oils, the main being Lavender & Litsea-Cubea. I love lavender and lemon verbena together, so I'm so excited to get this!

Molly loves lip balm. I bought one pomegranate and one dark cherry. YUM!

I did a search for "silver bird necklace" and found Just Jaynes. I love her style! I found a lot of silver bird necklaces, but when I saw this one, I knew this was IT. She has a very nice following and I enjoyed her blog, too.

Have you bought Christmas gifts on etsy, too? I'd love to hear what you bought!

Liz

Circles for the tree

2009-12-08T08:51:00.003-06:00

In an effort to hit that critical "100 followers" mark, I'm posting yet another witty, constructive, family-friendly story. :) :) :) <--- chock full of smilies for your enjoyment
Need something fun and simple to do with your young children? Don't have enough on your plate? If you are bored (HAHAHAHAHAHA) and have lots of time and lots of patience (ahem)... and of course LOTS OF FELT, then this project is JUST FOR YOU. Felt. I can't get enough of the stuff. Except in the winter it gives me the creeps when I touch it with my nasty dry hands.

Anyhoo... Cut your felt into circles... we used a pinking shears and a regular scissors to add some SPICE-OLA! And of course don't cut all your circles the same size. That would be so Martha. Plus you will argue with your children cuz it's impossible for them to make them perfect (believe me, been there done that).

Thread a big needle with embroidery floss and connect your circles. We used a nice long piece of floss. Tie more floss on as needed. Samantha connected them all herself. She's one of those crafty, arty kids THANK GOD. I wanted one SO BAD. My oldest daughter hates crafts. And nature. Which I don't get. How can anyone hate nature??? Like I'll see a hawk and get all freaked out and impressed and she'll be like I JUST DON'T GET WHY EVERYONE GETS WORKED UP OVER A BIRD. THERE'S BIRDS EVERYWHERE. Sigh. I threaten her with country living sometimes.

Anyway, you can put your finished string of circles on your tree (OBVY! as my non-nature girl would say) or do like we did, hang it over one of your windows ... super cute! Of course when I went to take a pic of it on her window to share with you, my batteries in my camera were dead-as-a-doorknob. Can you just visualize?! Her room walls are pink and her window frames are light wood. Oh... the windows are sorta dirty. I know you can see it right now. If you can't, I know you really don't care, cuz you're thinking one of two things: I really don't care OR I wanna do this myself and I don't care what it looks like in your house cuz I'm already thinking of where I'm gonna put this thing in my house and if it's worth having it around for like 50 years. And untangling it like a million times. I'm guessing you're thinking the latter.

So here's more pics:

If you take this on, let me know and post pics!!!

Yours forever,
Liz

morning dilemma

2009-12-02T08:37:00.007-06:00

So as I'm literally half asleep this morning going pee I noticed we have NO back-up toilet paper. Just a smidge left on the roll! EEK.

Samantha (6) is waiting for me to finish so she can go. I tell her not to use much tp (good mom) as we have hardly any left and Molly probably needs to go yet.

"We have another roll!", she proclaims.

"What??? Where???", I ask. I know she's mistaken, but being the good mom I am I go along with her confused state of mind.

She pulls me out to the living room and points to the tree in front of our house.

Back at the Scene of the Crime

2009-11-25T16:49:00.006-06:00

Finally it seems our family is at the end of this piggy flu thing. It's been a long two months. It sorta just lingers, this thing... you think you are fine then POOF, you feel like crap again and suddenly have another earache or sore throat or are coughing up God Knows What.

So today my daughter talked me into having one of her friends over, even though I knew it was too late in the day and a bad idea as Rick and I spent the day in the kitchen preparing for Thanksgiving. We were tired and grouchy. Any parent knows not to let their children have friends over in that state of mind.

But, I don't always think.

So we called her best friend. Coincidentally, she is the one who I believe gave us the piggy flu in the first place, two long months ago. I can't prove it, although I seriously wish I could.

So she comes in and we hang her coat up and the conversation goes something like this (names are changed to protect the little germ-spreader):

Me: How's everything, Katie?

Katie: Ohhh... okay (she looks down at her chubby little feet and sighs).

Me: Uh-oh, doesn't sound good (me trying to get the latest dirt on her parents).

Katie: I was hoping you'd invite me over here today. I needed to get OUTTA MY HOUSE!!!

Me: Why's that? (Ooooooh, this is gonna be good!!! I continue to frost my cut-out cookies so I don't look so obvious).

Katie: My brother's sick and I am getting tired of taking care of him!!! He's puking and has diarrhea and I had to serve him his lunch in bed today and change his pukey sheets!!! (she moans).

Me: Oh my. (gulp)

Katie - being the perceptive little thing that she is, she says: Oh don't worry, I washed my hands when I was done.

front page LOVE

2009-11-16T08:48:00.004-06:00

woohoo! Must be how it feels to win an Oscar! The coveted front page appearance is what all us etsiers want... if someone tells you different, don't believe them. (that's my little wooden doll there, in the red, with the star...).

Clock Making

2009-11-10T21:48:00.007-06:00

A very nice woman contacted me through my etsy shop and asked me if I could make a clock for her daughter's bedroom. I took pics of some of the different steps and thought I'd share with you!

First, I cut the birch wood to the correct size (well, dh does... i'm terrified of the table saw and try to avoid it when possible). Sand the edges well and lightly sand the front with fine sandpaper.

When I shade the face, the watercolor pencils I normally use are raw sienna, burnt sienna, venetian red, turquoise blue, rosey pink, flesh pink, white, slate blue/gray and black.

Cover the stamped area with the neutral color light paint in varied thicknesses. Leave some peaking through.

I like to use tissue paper for some of the layers. I've also used tulle', scrapbook paper, magazine paper, vintage text (use this a lot, love dictionaries and encyclopedias), or any pretty or cool paper you can find.

This piece I left pretty translucent, since the customer wanted it mostly green and pink. I applied the green paint in different hues, using the darker greens on the outside of the piece more. I normally add a tad of yellow (very translucent) to most of my paintings as I like the warmth of it. It adds a lot of dimension. I use my fingers a lot to rub in into the creases, etc. I also use sponges, clay tools, texture tools (bubble wrap!), etc. I have a box of goodies that creates texture (old cookie cutters, shelf liner, etc... I really like this part ... creating all the texture).

More layers of paper!

I normally paint the entire eye with white first. This way I can let some of the white shine through part of the iris area paint if I want it to. This helps the eyes to be really bright and alive. Eyes are very tricky and it's taken me a long, long time to get them to where I'm happy with them. Initially my eyes were more harsh, with sharper lines. Now they are softer and more natural looking. Of course I'm continually learning and refining my style!

I think a good artist is well aware of their strengths and shortcomings. My biggest shortcoming in my opinion is composition and the laying out of my "scene". I struggle with this and normally paint very simple scenes. I think sometimes I'm too restrictive and I play it safe too much.

I think I have two strengths:

The first is COLOR. I love color. As most artists do, I have colors that I use more than others. I love greens and pinks and black! I remember reading once that some artists think black is not necessary and shouldn't be used. WHAT???!!! I love BLACK! I love the contrast it provides.

I feel that my other strength is DETAIL. Once I have the main character(s) completed and the colors and texture done, I get out my ink pen and my teeny tiny paintbrush and GO TO IT! This is when I shine! I love this part so much!!! I call it the "doodle" stage. I feel so free during this time and it's just natural for me. I just keep writing and drawing and doodling and painting and it just flows. No hesitations. Ahhhh....

Here I cut the text out of an old dictionary that my mother-in-law gave me many years ago. This dictionary literally weighs probably 15 lbs! It is HUGE! You all must be laughing at me cutting up my mother-in-law's gift! Don't worry, she'd approve!

I have my husband attach the clock mechanism. Then I stamp or draw out the numbers (or letters, in this case). This clock says "how time flies" starting at 12:00 and going around (clockwise, of course!).

After the clock part is done, I antique it a bit with some warm brown/sienna wash. I wanted to keep the green really pure in this piece, so I used very little of the antique wash. I normally apply it with a tiny sponge that I've cut into a sort of round long piece.

Then I sign and date it and paint the back. Then a nice layer of varnish is applied. This makes the paint and ink and all of it POP and really come alive.

THE END!

Witchy

2009-11-08T20:05:00.003-06:00

I know you all are so tired of seeing Halloween pics of kids. But I guess I don't care enough to not put you through it again, LOL.

Samantha decided to be a witch. This fit her well as she is so grouchy when the camera comes out! She got right in character.

So here's Miss Witchy (although she was sweet enough to leave me a little bag of M&M's on my (unmade) bed.

Love Hate

2009-10-31T16:05:00.003-05:00

teen driving

2009-10-26T07:55:00.007-05:00

Our daughter just got her temps. This is an exciting time for her, but it does highlight the unfortunate fact that we have just one totally working car and three soon-to-be drivers (our second car technically works, but one must not go over 30 mph, which is sorta hard to tell cuz the speedometer doesn't work (NOTE TO SELF: google how fast 2 rpm's is).

Somehow Rick and I are getting the sick feeling we'll be pushovers (as usual) and be stuck home without a car on a regular basis. Good grief. Life sure does come full circle.

So I'm doing what I do best: concoct far-reaching impractical schemes that will never pan out. And most importantly that I would never even do anyway. Cuz I'm practical. But I like to waste time.

For a short while (minutes) I thought maybe I could find an old golf cart. Cheap and doesn't go too fast. Eh... wouldn't work as I don't think she's that self-actualized YET. Plus the pesky little winter problem. Then I thought maybe she could use my husband's scooter. But then the visual of a big semi smashing into it (and her) pretty much eliminated that thought (and her - UGH!). And then there's that pesky winter problem again.

So on the way to school one day, the answer was right there in front of me! Safe AND cheap! Plus if she happens to be driving past a house fire she can earn her much-needed community service hours! Bingo!!!

TV

2009-10-18T22:00:00.004-05:00

When our daughter Samantha was 4 years old, we did an evil, evil thing: we put a little tv in her room. She had chronic ear infections (almost constantly), and tv was all that would help her sometimes. Our whole family was exhausted and at our wits end and frankly, there were times I desperately needed a break.

Well, now that she's 6 and isn't sick all the time, we've decided it's high time to remove it. I mentioned this to her as I was snugging with her at bedtime. I told her we were going to take the tv out. She sorta complained a bit, not bad. I said, "You're going to have to play with your toys and color and stuff more." Since her toys are pretty pathetic lately, I asked her if there's anything she'd like us to get for her room.

She said, "Yeah. A pool and a hot tub."

my DAD

2009-10-13T13:43:00.003-05:00

The local paper here in Green Bay did an article on my dad (sculptor). Check it out HERE.

Supah's post-it note Tuesdays...

2009-10-12T22:27:00.001-05:00

homework oops

2009-10-11T18:32:00.004-05:00

Upon checking Samantha's homework folder, I found this "tally practice" we had after supper one night. Yes, there really were 8 farts after supper. And yes, this *almost* made it to school and into her dear teacher's hand.

FREE SHIPPING at primoriginals!

2009-10-05T22:23:00.004-05:00

Through October 11th, I'm offering FREE SHIPPING on anything in my etsy shop! No limit!

Also, spend $25 or more (before shipping) and receive a free magnet gift pack (3 mags, ready for gift-giving). The magnets make great little gifts for teachers, friends, or whoever! The magnets will be carefully chosen for you and will include a nice selection!

Please mention the word "OCTOBER FREE SHIP" in the comments section when ordering!

Thanks everyone,
Liz

Rollip and no teeth

2009-09-24T13:13:00.004-05:00

Samantha lost her two front teeth. My favorite mouth-time of childhood.

Actually, truth be told, the first one was knocked out by my 15 year old daughter, Molly, when they were wresting. And the second one was knocked out by my husband when they were goofing around! I am not making this up. (qualifier: both were loose already, not that that makes it any less ridiculous).

Learned about rollip today while reading dear jane's blog. Rollip is a cool site that you can make your own digital polaroid photos. Hope you have a couple hours!

New Dolls! and SALE!

2009-09-24T08:45:00.005-05:00

A new batch of wooden dolls in my etsy shop!

Also, 10% off sale thru Sunday, September 27! Please mention sale in comments section when ordering. I will send you a revised invoice, OR if you pay I will prompty refund the 10%.

Thanks!
Liz

Very cool clock

2009-09-18T20:35:00.005-05:00

Find this funky clock here.

New Stuff

2009-09-15T09:11:00.002-05:00

I made three little wall art pieces... available in my etsy shop ... these are so fun!

When you are THIS cute....

2009-09-13T14:17:00.003-05:00

you have to find ways to hide so people leave you alone:

Wood Dolls in my shop!

2009-09-08T22:02:00.004-05:00

I had so much fun making these, really!

Seems like the smaller things are the more I like them. Reminds me of when I was in high school and I spent a study hall writing everyone's name on pieces of rice, LOL!

These are available in my etsy shop.

ACHILLES TENDON SALE!

2009-09-03T09:57:00.006-05:00

As many of you know, my husband had surgery on his achilles tendon 6 weeks ago and cannot work (he drives a school bus and also works for the Dept. of Corrections). His doc won't sign a work release for another six weeks (for obvious reasons).

So.... poor guy is going absolutely NUTS! All summer on crutches and not working.

Me, being the good wife, told him to get his butt going and do something. Anything.

He's been a woodworker for several years, mostly making tables, big blackboards, shelves, etc and selling them in local shops and at shows. I thought most of his *normal* stuff was a bit too large to ship without me having temper tantrums, so he started making smaller stuff that he could ship at a reasonable cost.

So this is what he's been doing:

And I love them all. I especially love the last one right above this text. Those bolts are so darned CUTE! He won't let me have it, though. He's mean.

He's been in two Gift Guides on etsy already, and on the front page at least once! Good grief! ::::jealous:::: This proves that the art section on etsy doesn't get enough kudos! (sorry for the little whine)

So, to celebrate and share his goodness, both at woodworking and at fathering/husbanding/laundering/cooking/cleaning, of which I really miss, I am offering 10% off anything in his shop. Yes, I did tell him he's having this sale! He said the usual, "Okay."

Please mention the code ACHILLES TENDON sale in the comments section when ordering!

Liz

Teddy

2009-09-02T13:33:00.004-05:00

Something has changed our once fearless dog. Can you see the uncertainty in her face?

No, it's not a big mean neighborhood bully dog.
No, it's not a unruly child.
No, it's not cuz she gets dressed up in bandanas and cat ears on occasion.

It's the chipmunk living under our porch.

It took me a couple weeks to figure this out.

This morning when I was trying to get Teddy to go outside to pee, the little rodent was right there on the steps. STARING. The two of us stopped for few seconds, not knowing exactly what to do (I'm terrified of mice and little rodents). When I say "two of us", I'm speaking of me and the chipmunk.

Teddy, being approximately 1000 times the chipmunk's weight, had bolted as fast as she could, sliding on the laminate flooring, and hid in the bathroom behind the toilet.

In a feeble attempt to ward off the chipmunk from the safety of the bathroom, Teddy barked her most annoying of barks. Evidently chipmunks aren't afraid of dogs that hide behind toilets, because the little bugger decided to catch some chow at the bird feeder then. He was in no hurry whatsoever.

endearing!

2009-08-29T09:43:00.001-05:00

yes oh yes it's that's time again

2009-08-28T21:34:00.003-05:00

Years ago I wished I was one of those mothers who cried when her children went back to school. You know the ones -- sniffling at the bus stop, hugging and smooching in the hallway, their children perfectly dressed and groomed (if you are one of those moms, bless your heart, really). But, I wondered to myself: WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? WHY AM I FEELING SO RELIEVED AT THIS MOMENT?

I'm old now (43) and smarter. Maybe I'm just more comfortable with my selfishness.

Kids exhaust me. As much as I love my two daughters, they exhaust me. Did I mention they exhaust me??? I think my problem is that I'm so "intuned" to them (Is that even a word? I don't think so cuz the spell check underlined it). Some might say I'm neurotic. I like to think of myself as INTENSE. I need to always know what's up. Every stinkin detail, no matter how insignificant or boring (I'm one of those annoying moms who sends text messages to my teenage daughter on a very regular basis. This is where an unlimited texting plan comes in handy).

This little trait I have causes me to be aware of any ever-so-slight change in my kids' mood or general demeanor. I THINK SHE'S HUNGRY... IS THAT SHIRT TAG BOTHERING HER? SHE NEEDS A FRIEND OVER!!! It annoys me, this gift I have (I use the word "gift" very loosely). I try to change it, act all casual and cool, but it creeps back before I realize it! I'm wondering if others have this problem. I really don't know. But I've often wondered.

So, when summer is done, and I send them off to school, it means that for 6+ hours my "kid gauge" can get some rest and fuel up for the wild and crazy AFTER SCHOOL time, in which my tank must be full. I need my tank fully loaded for THAT.

How to make a 10 minute bike ride last 2 hours

2009-08-22T16:26:00.007-05:00

1. Offer to take two six-year-olds to store for CANDY -- on bikes
2. Realize that all six tires are flat
3. Dig out pump from garage and fill tires
4. Go in house and get band-aid after bike falls on leg while filling tires
5. Start riding bikes
6. At first corner, turn around and go home for water
7. Start riding bikes
8. Stop at park to let monkeys do the monkey bars a few times
9. Start riding bikes
10. At same corner, turn around to go back to park to look for lost butterfly ring
11. Accept the fact that ring is lost
12. Start riding bikes
13. Realize you forgot the bike lock and leave kids at park while you go get one
14. Start riding bikes
15. Argue about who gets to be in front
16. STOP and argue some more
17. Start riding bikes again
18. Listen to kids argue for 3 blocks about who is the oldest
19. Listen to kids argue for 3 more blocks on whose SISTER is the oldest
20. Watch helplessly as one kid crashes into a bush
21. Recover and start riding bikes
22. Get to store and lock bikes
23. Go into store and check out candy selection, which of course is wedged next to checkout
24. Change mind 1,237 times on desired candy
25. Make final decision on candy
26. Argue in store about whose candy is best
27. Knock over bin of gum while in checkout lane
28. Pretend not to see annoyed people behind you
29. Pay $7 for two snacks and a soda
30. Go outside, unlock bikes while man sits in truck and stares at you while you freak out
31. Pretend not to see man staring
32. Be told by an annoyed six-year-old to SMILE AT MAN!!!
33. Bike home vowing next time to take the *#!$@# car!!!!!

the end

summer over?

2009-08-18T23:21:00.003-05:00

Most of the pools have closed here in Green Bay... it's eerily quiet lately. Everyone's sorta moving slower I SWEAR.

In Wisconsin people really "SUMMER" hard. We have to cram it all in a few months.

Our family tends to do less than most people though, as vacations and getaways aren't something we like, quite frankly. Our oldest daughter Molly would love them, actually, but the rest of us... BLECH.

We get away very occasionally and I am always so relieved when we are home. The practical side of me is very strong and I can't wrap my mind around spending so much money on something NON-TANGIBLE. I hope I'm not sounding dreadful here. I am not an anti-vacationer, really. More power to ya!

When we are hanging out at home, we love popsicles. Or should I say my husband and daughter do. We go through them like water. Samantha has been known to snag one in the morning when I am having one of those "can't get out of bed" issues.

Hope you are having a good-relaxing-end-of-summer time.

picnik.com! molly! and foot!

2009-08-14T18:50:00.004-05:00

I've been using picnik lately for my photo editing. I like it better than Photoshop! Maybe it's because it's so much simpler.

The pic above I did for my husband's new etsy shop! I had a blast with the digital daisies! ;o)

This is our Mols. She's going to a party tonight. My eyes are swelling with tears right now as I type. I keep staring at this picture. Over and over. She's 15. I can't seem to believe it lately. She's a young woman. There's things I wish I would have said and done, but all in all we are so proud of who she is and our joys and struggles of raising her all make sense somehow.

On another note: while I was loading up my stuff for a farmer's market I did Wednesday night, I stepped on the curb wrong and heard a POP and felt the pain go through my foot immediately! UGH!!!!!! I couldn't walk that night or the next day without a cane, and even then it was very painful. Many of you know my hubby had surgery on his achillies tendon a few weeks ago, so we have a wheelchair, crutches and a cane in our house! So Rick let me use the wheelchair, LOL! Hey... if I don't laugh, I will surely cry and cry! Long story short, doc doesn't think I broke anything. Perhaps a tendon or ligament snapped. I have an air cast on and have to take it very easy for a couple weeks. If the pain gets better it's probably not broken. Please say a prayer for us over here! It's been one thing after another. I tell people who come over that they must enter AT THEIR OWN RISK!

:) Liz

swimming

2009-08-03T23:39:00.006-05:00

Took some pics of Samantha at a local Green Bay waterpark we love to go to. It's cheap and plenty big for a six year old.

I realize I need to get some pics of my 15 yr old daughter, Molly! It's always about Samantha on here and I'm feeling the guilts, right now, at this very moment. But, I plead with you! Do understand that she's 15 and really doesn't want to be with her ma and pa much, so how do I get pics??? Sneak in her room while she's sleeping? Or snap one as she's walking out the door? Sigh. I miss my girl.

Our new attitude (me and pops) is we are going to let go a bit. Not nag as much. Blah blah blah. We'll see how long we last! Her clothes are heaped in her closet, but I am going to try the "tough love" approach and figure if she has absolutely NOTHING clean to wear then she will HAVE to put her stuff down the shoot, which mind you, is literally RIGHT outside her bedroom door! ARGH!

For those who have or had teenage girls (15 yr olds, specifically), tell me it gets easier. I thought middle school was bad!

Liz

Rick

2009-07-29T00:53:00.002-05:00

Pic of Rick, my husband. With his cast. He's always been the picture of health, so I think this is especially difficult for him. He's always waited on me.... I know, I know.... terrible! But he's so good about it and just does it. Well, now I am waiting on him and it's good for me. You see the ice water there? I prepared it and gave it to him. WOOHOO! :)

He tore his achilles tendon terribly about 2 months ago playing basketball. Got surgery on it last week.

I am literally falling asleep here at the laptop. I need to go to bed! NIGHT!

treasury

2009-07-25T13:28:00.001-05:00

I'm in a lovely treasury: here.
I need to figure out how to take a screen shot! I heard you can do it in picnik?

:) Liz

Show Booth

2009-07-23T18:48:00.003-05:00

Thought I'd share my booth with you all. :)

I do the On Broadway Farmer's Market show in Green Bay every Wednesday from June through October. I also do other various shows, normally in the fall.

I sell my pendants, magnets, gadget cases (yet to list on etsy), zipper pulls, and occasional art pieces as well.

My pendant displays are super easy. They are black (painted) pegboards that I unscrew to the base that my husband made for me. Easy to transport and they don't take up much room. I hate stuff laying on tables at shows, so this is perfect! Right at eye level. All the pendants are in cello bags and have pennies (2!) in each one or the wind just takes em sometimes (let's not talk about wind! Last week my booth neighbor's canopy flew onto my booth).

I use a heavy dropcloth from Home Depot as my tablecloth. Nice and thick and earthy. Doesn't wrinkle easily.

The table is a foldable banquet table. I use bed risers under the feet to bring it up so customers can see everything well without stooping.

The magnet board is on a easel that has a bungie cord holding it up.

I bring a bar stool and normally sit on that so I'm upright more than sitting on a regular chair, looking a bit too relaxed. I don't like vendors standing and staring at me when I look, but I also don't like them to be sitting so comfortably, kwim? So a high stool is perfect! :D I want to be *available*, but not pushy.

Liz xoxo

AND THE WINNER IS............

2009-07-16T13:11:00.003-05:00

Please email me with your choice/choices!

These drawings are bittersweet as I wish I could give all of you freebies! :) Anyway.... thanks everyone for your support and kind words! You are all very much appreciated!

Liz xoxo

DRAWING tomorrow!

2009-07-15T23:48:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

I'm so so so sorry, but I'm going to have to do the drawing tomorrow, as I had a show tonight and it was soooooooooo challenging! The wind was horrendous.... just terrible. The canopy next to us fell onto our booth, knocked over my husband's scooter and much of my display. Thankfully no one got hurt!

Anyway, I'm exhausted and need to get some rest so I'm not a BEAR tomorrow for my poor family! :P

Liz xoxo

NEW PENDANTS!

2009-07-07T12:49:00.003-05:00

I put up FOUR new art pendants in my etsy shop! All of them were created from prints of my aceos that I used to sell on ebay *back in the day*.

Hope everyone's having a great week!

Liz

A Print from Michele Maule!

2009-07-06T23:22:00.003-05:00

woohoo!

I bought a darling print from the spectacular artist michele maule! I'm going to frame it and put it in my kitchen. I'm hoping this summer our kitchen will get a fresh coat of paint... my print would look so much better then!

Michele uses gorgeous lustre paper and packages it on backing board in a cello bag. Then ties a cute little card onto it with cool string. Such adorable packaging!

Liz

IT'S GIVE-A-WAY TIME!

2009-06-30T16:50:00.003-05:00

I haven't done a freebie drawing in a while..... sooooooo.... I am going to draw a name for a $20 gift certificate to my shop! Woohoo! I'll even pay for the shipping, so the winner gets to pick out $20 of stuff!

Here's how it works:

Post a comment in this post and your name goes in the hat once.

Post about my drawing on your blog with a link to this post, and your name goes in the hat TWICE.

Post about my drawing on your blog with a link and at least one picture of any of my work and your name goes in the hat THREE times!

If you are posting the drawing on your blog, please email me and let me know so I can put your name in the appropriate amount of times.

The drawing will happen on July 15th. :)

Happy summer!
Liz

Ahhhh... to be young again.... S I G H

2009-06-11T23:36:00.000-05:00

Bling!

2009-06-07T22:13:00.002-05:00

Went to Walmart today and got some super-cute rings for her little hands. She decided to wear them all at once, LOL. Of course we had to make some bracelets to match!

xoxo

Poor Samantha!

2009-06-04T08:24:00.006-05:00

(she picked her outfit out today, hehe.... she loves LONG WHITE SOCKS!)

I finally got my daughter, Samantha (6) tested for allergies. I've always suspected food allergies, but the pediatrician always poo-poo'd that, so I didn't push it. He knew she had allergies, but didn't think it was food, so didn't think putting her through the testing would be worth it, as you'd treat it the same anyway.

She's been on allergy meds for years. She's had so many health issues (chronic ear infections, hives, exhaustion, two surgeries, etc...). Sometimes the allergy meds worked, but the side effects SUCK sometimes, too. Well, I got tired of not knowing and brought her to an allergist. They took the blood and ran a RAST test.

Two weeks later at the follow-up appointment, the results were handed to me by the nurse. I could hear the drum roll in my head, I swear! I apprehensively looked at the results and my heart sank! My stomach ached! .... I just kept staring at the papers...

DOG: HIGH
EGG WHITES: HIGH
WHEAT: MEDIUM
COW'S MILK: MILD
CAT: MILD

The "DOG" jumped out at me and hit me so hard. DOG EPITHELIUM. DOG EPITHELIUM. DOG EPITHELIUM. WHAT was "EPITHELIUM" and how can I get RID OF IT!? I just couldn't believe it!!! Denial is such a handy little thing, huh? How could our beloved Teddy, such a little sweet innocent thing, cause so much trouble!

Well, I am a total *mama bear* and my first reaction was that we needed to find her a new home (my denial lasted approximately 3 minutes, lol). That said, I knew that my oldest daughter, Molly (15) would be so devastated. You just can't imagine.

The allergist is one of those logical types that wants to try to first *manage* the dog before packing her bags (keep out of bedroom, no carpet in bedroom, don't allow Samantha to handle, bathe bi-weekly, HEPA air filter in room, blah blah blah...). So, against my natural personality of going FULL THROTTLE on everything I do, I am going to take his advice and try to "manage" her. I am now a manager. All of a sudden I find myself thinking of her as "the dog", LOL! I love her, but my kids are MUCH higher up on the *mama list*.

Now, the DIET: we have removed egg whites and cow's milk completely from her diet. Wheat is so difficult, so the allergist wants to try to keep this in her diet (not too much) and maybe with the removal of the other two, and the dog management, her allergies will be below the "threshold" and controlled. Allergies are all about *control*. Keeping her allergen load under that magical threshold.

Samantha's eating so healthy that we all should be so lucky! As I'm sure you all know, most processed foods have either milk or eggs in them, or both. :) She's naturally a very healthy eater, so the diet part really isn't that hard for her. She has so much self-control! It's sort of shocking to me (mostly because I DON'T... she's like her dad... thin and muscular). Even if she *wants* something, it's not hard for her to not have it! She already knows most foods and what they have in them. At school she knew not to eat the yogurt in her hot lunch. It wasn't on the menu, but they served it that day and she actually didn't eat it because she knew! And she LOVES yogurt! :::sniff sniff::: I find that amazing for a six year old!

One morning I was so tired.... I made TWO fruit salads for her breakfast without even KNOWING! How nuts is THAT??? Lucky I don't have to drive in the a.m. I need to get more sleep.

Here's the little culprit!!! She sure looks innocent enough, huh?

Samantha loves writing recipes. She makes them up or copies them or asks me what a good recipe would be. Isn't this one cute? This is an actual recipe for what she calls "Fudge Balls". They are peanut butter balls coated with chocolate. We used to make them on occasion, but can't now cuz look at all that BUTTER! :(((( Anyway, I encourage her to abbreviate lots in her recipes. This is how I do it. Who needs it all written out, yk? When I cook I don't have the patience to read all that extra nonsense! :P I hope I'm not messing her up in school with this cheater-recipe-philosophy! (most of it you can figure out, but "coketi" is chocolate, in case you want to make these, LOL):

Hope everyone is having a great Spring! I did my second show of the summer yesterday and did pretty well. Thankfully! Etsy has been slooooooooooooooow lately, so I needed a decent show!
The wind was really bad, so I had to put an extra penny in all my cello bags (I already had a penny in each one of them, hidden behind the cardstock). HAHA!

xoxo Liz

Rollerblading

2009-05-28T10:27:00.004-05:00

Molly and a couple of her friends went rollerblading... Molly took her camera (against my better judgment). She got some cool pics, though!

treasury

2009-05-26T11:43:00.003-05:00

A very nice gal included a painting of mine in her treasury. I happen to think her treasury is really wonderful (not because my painting's in it! haha)...

treasury

The "Friends" painting is in my new art shop primoriginalsART. I just put some mini sculptures in there. Go take a look at the funny penguins! :O)

liz xoxo

Wow

2009-05-23T23:00:00.003-05:00

Show Display

2009-05-23T19:43:00.002-05:00

I'm getting ready for my summer shows. In the past, I lugged a huge easel to display my pendants on. It is a beast! This year I wanted something easier to load, etc. And more functional.

I decided this year I'm going to pre-package everything, so it's ready to go and looks more professional.

So, I bought a standard peg board and spray painted it a really nice satin black. Sorta looks like metal. I screwed two screws into a soap display (used to sell soap). It sorta leans back a little. I bought some durable black plastic pegs online and some hang tabs.

Pricing will be color coded. My cello bags have a piece of white cardstock in them with my shop logo printed on the bottom. So far I have green and pink shop logos (one price for the light pendants and chains, one price for the regular wood pendants). The laminate necklaces are on the left... those I can't package (they don't look as nice), so I will have to make a little laminated price sign for those. I will have a large sign on the top of the pegboard, with my shop name and a little catchy phrase. My magnets go on a board that is also facing upwards. I will sell my zipper pulls in a wood box. I am keeping those very cheap so people can dig through.

My main worry is the wind. I put a penny behind each piece of cardstock in the light pendant cello bags. Helps with the weight. Hope it works as well as I want!

It looks so much better in person, but you get the idea:

SALE!!! 20% off EVERYTHING!

2009-05-19T09:03:00.002-05:00

I'm running a 20% off sale in my etsy shop! This includes *everything*! If you order, you may pay as usual and I will refund the 20% right away. OR, you may wait for a revised invoice to pay.

I'm hoping to start selling my art necklaces that are just TO DIE FOR in person... I admit, my pics are not great. I need to get Molly to pose for me so I can show you how COOL they are on!

Actually, because Molly is so busy, I decided to order a necklace display thingy to take pics of my stuff. I bought it on etsy (of course!). I haven't received it yet, but am excited about it, as I've been looking for something I can use for shows. It's the only one I could find that wouldn't blow over all the time (outdoor shows, pfffft!) and doesn't have a large footprint. And I think it's really neat. Check it out here: necklace display stand.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

New Illustrations! New Shop!

2009-05-18T20:33:00.003-05:00

I've decided to have two etsy shops. One for my jewelry (and magnets), and the other for my art (originals and prints). I think it's much better this way -- not so crowded and confusing. My jewelry is at my original etsy shop, which is primoriginals. My art is now at primoriginalsART.

I have some really cute illustration-type paintings in my new art shop. I really like the fox the best!

I also have a sweet little box in my art shop. It is an image transfer of one of my paintings. I just LOVE how this turned out and I will definately miss this one when (IF) it sells! It is so cute, no matter where I put it.

I'm still dealing with really horrible spring allergies with my daughter, Samantha (6). She is *finally* coming out of it. It has been a very rough 6 weeks. :( She had some blood tests done and she was such a trooper. I was so proud of her. Poor thing, she is just so miserable. Makes my eyes fill up every time I think of it too much.

Hope everyone is having a better spring than we are! I'm looking forward to summer!

xoxo Liz

treasury

2009-05-10T09:20:00.004-05:00

My bicycle necklace made it into this lovely treasury.

Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there!!! Hope you all get spoiled today! :)

Liz

I'm a laminating fool

2009-05-07T11:00:00.004-05:00

I am having so much fun with my new toy! Who knew all the stuff you could laminate!? Everything I see I run it through my "can I laminate it?" brain process. You kids better run! Dang, I could have laminated my kids hair when they were babies! I have several of these funky necklaces listed in my etsy shop.

xoxo liz

Crossing Guard

2009-05-06T08:03:00.003-05:00

We've lived in our home for 7 years now. The crossing guard for the elementary school that both my girls attend(ed), which is right down the block, has been helping kids cross the street on the SAME CORNER for 47 years!!! Oh my goodness! Are you as flabbergasted as I am? She must know every little nook, cranny, and crack on those sidewalks!

She's retiring and they're throwing a party for her. Some people were just *born* to be with kids, and she's one of them. What a treat.

Little Clay Sculptures

2009-05-05T22:32:00.005-05:00

Samantha and I played with clay last weekend. I like polymer clay, but for whatever reason, I don't seem to get it out real often lately.

Samantha is an artist. She's much like me: very detailed and a perfectionist. Very methodical.

When my older daughter was younger and much more into art, she was one of those "wild artists" who just flew through her creations, very intuitive and FAST. And everything she did was fantastic. I don't work that way, but it is so fun to watch that, probably because it ISN'T the way I do it. I think most people visualize that type of movement and personality when they think of an artist working. Sorta free and loose and quirky. I don't work that way, but it's fascinating to watch.

I made a little house, cat and crow. I love using wire and it fit right in with the cat and bird. :)

I need to mention the color and exposure!!! I finally bought those pricey trumpet photo bulbs for my light box, as some of you have heard me blab about before! I never have to adjust color now, and the clarity is so much better. I took the house/cat/crow photo using my four trumpet bulbs in my foam panel light box. I wish I would have bought these years ago! Would have saved me so much time. It's such a pain finding a good sunny spot and dragging everything around for pics.

Tonight I am MAKING myself go to bed by 11:00. I am staying up too late lately and I am way too old to pull that! I'll be 43 next week. Good grief. I'm getting more tired just thinking about that.

Night,
Liz

NEW LINE OF PENDANTS!

2009-05-04T14:21:00.002-05:00

I'm stocking my shop today (and the next couple days) with my new line of art pendants! I'm calling them "light pendants", LOL. Super fun and most importantly: CHEAP! I really enjoy making jewelry from my art and this is just another way to do it. :)

Go here to find my current selection. Pay just $2.00 for the first one, then any "light pendant" after that is no additional shipping.

All blog readers will receive a free magnet with any "light pendant" purchase! Please mention this is the comments section when ordering!

Liz :)

Funny Jenn Story!

2009-05-01T11:15:00.003-05:00

Most of you know Jenn of noodleandlou. I *met* her on ebay, back in our ACEO days! :)

Last night I subscribed to Jenn's feed on twitter, not realizing that I had my twitter set to text me the feeds on my cell phone. I keep my cell next to the bed and at 2:00 am my text ring goes off! LOL!!!! And my ringer is LOUD! I'm thinking WHAT THE HECK???? Who IS that????!!! I started getting mad at Molly (my 15 yr old daughter) and ready to go yell at her for texting me in the middle of the night, LOL! Anyway, I read the text and learned Jenn was having a BOGO free print sale, LOL!!!

Go check it out at her shop!

noodleandlou

:D

A Bad Day

2009-04-30T21:02:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning and instinctively knew the day would be *bad*. Women know these things sometimes.

My little Samantha has been struggling with terrible allergies this spring and it breaks me up to see it. Today I snugged with her and she felt warm. My heart sank. I felt this sort of pit in my stomach. She had a fever of 101! She doesn't have any of the other flu symptoms. Of course I'm terrified it's Swine Flu.

I gave her ibuprofen and her temp is normal now. She was playing a bit and not acting too sick, so I am going to wait until morning to call the doc if the fever is still there. The last thing I want to do is bring her to the doc or ER! Of course I will if necessary, but I've heard they don't want people to come in unless absolutely necessary (just phone calls if possible).

I'd so much appreciate any prayers and thoughts for our little Samantha!

On a nicer note, a friend of mine sent me this link. I am finding it quite comforting right now. I keep watching those pretty ladies change and change and the music sorta takes me. They have nice round faces, unlike the "pretty ladies" of today, where stick-skinny is the thing and gobs of make-up. I'm dating myself.

pretty ladies

Good night everyone,
Liz

New earrings!

2009-04-28T21:55:00.004-05:00

I listed some new earrings in my etsy shop tonight. I am really loving my new laminator! :) Last spring I had made a few pairs of laminated earrings and kept a pair for myself. Well, I wear them constantly! They are so light -- it really feels like I have no earrings on at all. Now everything else feels so HEAVY. Ugh.

Time to get a bowl of cereal and watch a little t.v.

Inexpensive Mother's Day Gift

2009-04-28T08:03:00.004-05:00

I put together a little magnet gift pack just for moms in my etsy shop. Take a peek!

Interview of artist Sarah Wyman

2009-04-27T11:34:00.007-05:00

Below is my first official artist "interview" with the VERY talented and lovely Sarah Wyman! I stumbled across her etsy shop and immediately loved her work. Her style is so unique and I especially love how transparent her layers are and the depth of her work. Check out her blog too!

How does being an artist affect your life (good and/or bad)?

Overwhelmingly, it has been a positive thing. It feels good to create something. I’m often excited thinking about a new technique or inspired by a recent trip to a gallery. It’s my passion. I try to get in the studio everyday. Some weeks are just too hectic, but even if I can work for 10 minutes and move a painting along, I feel better. Of course it is stressful too, especially the business side of it. I spend a lot of time preparing boards to paint on, listing new work, packaging, creating prints, but I’m grateful for every sale because it allows me to continue on this amazing journey of being a working artist.

What part of the creative process do you find most difficult? And what comes the easiest?

The most difficult thing seems to be consistency. If you have followed my work for any length of time you will see me jump around stylistically. My work is mainly figurative women with collage, but within that theme I play around with backgrounds, body types and the way the faces are rendered. I hope people aren’t put off by that, but I am too curious and too new at all this to just settle down on one way of doing things. I guess the easiest is getting inspired, hence my problem. Everything gets my creative juices flowing. The way my son draws a line, the colors in a Birthday card I just received, a dark tree silhouetted against the light blue sky, art magazines, blogs and galleries. I want to try everything I see and interpret it personally.

If you had to choose just five paint colors to use for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Blue, red, yellow, white and burnt umber. The first four because you can mix most colors from them so I wouldn’t ever be limited. I had a painting instructor who would only let us buy those colors at the beginning of the semester and we had to learn to mix everything. He wanted us to only use white sparingly, but I disagree there. I love white, and wish I had more white space in my paintings. Burnt umber is my favorite shade recently, I use it with a little blue to make a lovely black, and I’ve been using it to render faces a lot. Tell us about your family and where you live:I am married to a great guy, Mike, who is one year younger than me. We have two little kids, Paul is five and Lila is two and I stay home with them. We live in Ballwin Mo, which is right outside St. Louis. St. Louis is a great place to live. We have one of the best zoos in the country and it’s FREE. I took my family to the art museum today for a family fun event and our art museum is free too. There are amazing restaurants, especially ethnic foods, gorgeous parks and pretty good art stores. Most importantly, almost all of my family lives here, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. We’re pretty close and have huge family gatherings at least twice a year. My only complaint is we don’t have an IKEA.

Describe a typical day in your life:

We are a busy busy group of people. Mike goes to work; he is an IT guy at a big telecommunications company. The little ones go to their respective ‘preschools’ three mornings a week and I go downstairs to my studio to ‘work’. I drink coffee, watch CNN and paint. Two days a week I go to college. I am nearing completion on a BFA in art education. We are all usually home for dinner and I love cooking and try out lots of new recipes. My husband and Lila are good eaters and are game for most things I make, Paul not so much, but he’s getting a little better. Once the kids are all tucked into bed, I usually am too tired to work more, so I watch some TV like my beloved American Idol or the Daily Show.