♥ Works in Progress ♥
Here’s a few paintings on watercolor paper I started over the past few days. As I told you yesterday things are a bit stressful around here so my art is taking a bit of a back seat so we can deal with what needs to be done to get the hell out of dodge. We talked to a very nice loan officer by the name of Chuck who’s helping us to get the ball rolling. We have been pre-approved to start looking and have a somewhat decent limit as to a price range we’ll be looking in. Thankfully that part is out of the way. Now to find a Realtor to work with. This won’t be the first home I’ve bought but I’ve never really enjoyed working with real estate agents as they’ve been pretty much out for themselves and their commission in my past experience. This is something that I’m putting in God’s hands so we find someone who’s fair and honest and has our best interests at heart. I will keep you posted as things happen and I might even share some house links and pics with you as we start this great adventure that is house hunting.
Today’s toys are pulled directly from my purse. I got this set for Christmas this past year and just LOVE them! This tape measure is going to come in super handy while hunting the housing market and the matching flashlight is just as cute and useful. Tools can be toys when they are as cute as this duo!
I spent some time on some real estate sites this morning and I’m feeling more encouraged than I had been the past few days. As I don’t have a car and our house payment will be several hundred over what we’re paying in rent it will be some time before we can afford another set of keys to anything I’m hoping for something relatively close to where we live now and on or very close to a bus line. When I was looking this morning I found a few that intrigued me so I’m feeling a bit more hopeful. It’s going to be quite the journey so buckle your seatbelt people! We’re in for a wild ride. See you tomorrow for Whispering Wednesday.
♥ Juggling Bubbles ♥
Juggling really suits this past week. On Friday we received a nasty email from our landlord stating that he was raising the rent, charging us a late fee for the late check (which comes via mail from our bank to his mailbox… and he lives next door.) He also said he was raising the damage deposit another $250.00 because our 1970′s vintage cream carpet is dirty from wear and tear of the past 6 years. . We have lived here for 6 years and have been a day or two late due to the mail on our check possibly 4 times. Our landlord is a monster. He’s cheap! Period. If something breaks he replaces it with a part from the Salvation Army. I kid you not. Our deck is completely rotten and he does nothing to fix it. Our fireplace is unusable as he didn’t have the chimney cleaned before we moved in and he refuses to clean it when we ask. His reason… he doesn’t want to repaint when we leave. These are just the tip of the iceberg. He now has locked us out of the garage. We don’t rent it but he’s left it open for us as the breaker box is in there and breakers trip around here about once a month or so. They actually tripped on Friday . Apparently when my husband went over to talk to him regarding the email on Friday morning.. he went postal on my hubs. He started yelling and flailing and ranting. Time to move.
We looked at a rental over the weekend but it seemed smaller to me than were we are now and has very little storage. We were up until 4:30 in the morning on Saturday night/Sunday morning talking things out. I would rather that the “right” thing be done. That we protect our rights but since we have to live next door to Satan and share a common wall with his abode in Hell… I’m letting my husband handle it. It sounds as if we are going to have to have the carpet cleaners over and have the entire carpet cleaned…. which is what we PAID for in our initial damage deposit for when we MOVE. I want to report this jerk so badly but my sweetie is worried about the ramifications.
Sorry for venting but I’ve got a lot on my mind and needed to get some feedback from all of you! If you know anything about Washington state rental laws I’m all ears. The Tenants Union I’ve been trying to reach doesn’t have anybody in the office today… So I’ve been going through drawers and such tossing out things I know I’ll never use so we don’t have to move them. I’ll keep you posted… we are looking into getting pre-approved so we can buy our own house and stop giving the turd-muffin our money. /Prays!
See you back here tomorrow for Tammy’s Toys… I’m unearthing things I haven’t seen in years!
Not the clearest of pictures…but then again…not the best of digital cameras. Close ups are super hard with my camera. You might be able to see what I’ve done.. if not, here’s a run down so far. I used punched circles in three sized cut from a page from a novel. I did it simply for the texture so you could use any type of paper I guess. I then applied gesso around the girl and used a baby wipe with purple pansy paint on it and started “blobbing” paint on until I was satisfied. FUN! Next I used a bottle cap with the rim of painted with black paint… right now I’m in search of the perfect dress fabric/paper. I want red. But I can’t find the perfect red …yet… I’ll be digging through my junk mail to find it I think. And I want it glossy. I also used a texture paste to stamp little circles around the painting so that when I add layers you’ll see them “pop.”
Today was grocery day and I found a recipe I really want to try here. So I bought all the ingredients that I didn’t have. OMG you have to check it out.. it sounds SO GOOD! (and super simple!) Toss in some garlic bread and be the hero of the day! I will be using more recipes from this site as I can’t help but l♥ve the name. What a coincidence huh!? =)
Tonight however, I bought a precooked carton of fried chicken and will make a quicky batch of *mashed potatoes and call it good. As you know… I don’t cook on grocery shopping day. I found nothing I wanted to buy today in the art supply area. I was hoping to find the red paper for my Bubble Juggler’s dress and headband but nothing spoke to me. So the search will continue in the papers that I already have or maybe I’ll create something really unusual myself.
Tonight is the new Royal Pains which is a program my hubs and I enjoy so we’ll be playing angry birds and watching tv while he eats boysenberry pie I bought at the store for dessert. Last night I whipped up a batch of cooked chocolate pudding for the guys and remain a hero! Feed em well and give em laughs and they’ll most likely love ya. If not.. serve em raw food! Hee!
*instant
♥ More Play! ♥
These two 6×6″ paintings are my latest paintings in the making. It’s been extremely rainy here giving me the perfect excuse to cuddle with my blanket on my lap and paint away. I’m really having fun. I’m trying to get back into the creative swing again. I did manage to get my desk cleaned last week and have to share what it looks like when I’m between paintings. My desk is a long computer desk so It does give me room to spread out when I’m working. Thankfully!
Lots of green with touches of pink. I wanted to spare over-pinking my hubs. I don’t have a toy to share today as you see I had to put a lot of them away so my desk was visible. I’ll have one for you next week though. Today’s post is short and sweet ~ I’ll see you again tomorrow for Whispering Wednesday! God Bless…
♥ Guardian Angel ♥
Done at last… once I put my mind to it I actually got this painting finished quite quickly. I put all my focus on it and blocked out everything around me. I think it turned out cute. I used a rubber-stamp on a page torn from an old paperback novel and cut out the wine berry flowers. The wings are also from the paperback… I added some glitter and confetti along with some punched flowers from wrapping paper. I didn’t use any collage “paper” on this painting… it’s layers with paints, decorative napkins, stamps, and other yummy things I had laying around the house. So art can be inexpensive to create… just save your junk mail! I’m out of gloss varnish so I’ll have to wait to varnish her but I’ll be picking some up very soon so I’ll post her on Etsy when she’s done.
Today’s 2sdays Toys is something I got for Christmas… and something I’ve been wanting to try for quite a while now. I actually got this from the hubs which makes it even sweeter. Isn’t this just the cutest use of socks you’ve ever seen…
I love that the socks are included… now I’ll be able to make super sock critters with some of my lone designer sockies. What projects have you always wanted to try but haven’t gotten around to?
♥ Angel in Progress ♥
I started my morning with my Silliness Workshop worksheet. Oh what a fun e-course it is. If you have the extra coin, I recommend it. I have her book… and it’s one of the best art books I’ve boughten recently. After I’ve finished with the e-course I will be dissecting the book on a weekly basis.. which will give me a full year of challenges and learning. That’s part of what I’m doing this year as my year of change. I’m also going to be doing The Artist’s Way… and will start reading it tonight. Along with these two things I’ll be adding extra prayer time to my life and a few other things I will share with you this week.
For now I wanted to share my angel. She’s as sweet as can be and couldn’t hurt a flea.. Unless need be! She’ll protect you through the storms and hold you when you cry. She’s there when you are happy, she’ll be with you till you die. This is a tribute to my guardian angel. Although I think mine might be bigger and mightier for all the messes they’ve pulled me from!
I’m using a berry color pallete with a viridian green, almost a teal but a bit more green. I had to go with pinks and berries as my angel wouldn’t know it was for them if I did it in any other color. /wink!
My heart goes out today to all of the citizens of Arizona and the victims and families that were involved in this past weekend’s tragic shooting.
I end this post with a moment of silence to honor and pray for the survivors and their loved ones. God Bless them ALL.
♥ Heading down the hill ♥
Today was grocery day again and we headed out in the misty rain. I toted my camera along and took a few snap shots to share. This is the hill that takes us either to downtown or to Tumwater where the Fred Meyer we shop at weekly is located. The view you “can’t” see is a very cloudy Olympia, Washington. That’s what our weather is doing today… it’s keeping us on our toes as we’re on the road.
No Bikes.. where to go!?
With rain pelting the windows I noticed this sign and felt for the brave bikers that frequent the bike lanes in our community. Bike Lane Ends… What now? Where do they go? It’s at the end of a block and it’s rather a suprise as to where they are to go… And I had considered moving my bike from my dad’s warehouse to here so I could venture out on excursions and get some much needed exercise at the same time… But what if I have no lanes? I guess I’ll have to read up on Olympia’s bike lanes. Google maps it awesome for this too.. they give bike paths to wherever you type address in for.
Yes… this cover is half pink and half purple. I’ve had my eye on it for weeks… I took the snapshot today of it but since the weather was so bleak it truly doesn’t give the “joy” of the color… when the weather improves I’ll share this tiny piece of urban art with you so you can appreciate how pretty it truly is… this is about 4 blocks away from where I live. I love the creativity of the painter… as I’ve not seen other cover like this around. GO Artistic city workers!
I realize this is very hard to see as it’s still only pencil lines… but I got these awesome ovals for Christmas and I’ve decided to make them all into a “GOTH” series… so I’ll be using a lot of black, white, and red, with skulls, and tattoos and creative uses of the Goth world. I had initially planned on calling this Princess Poopy-Pants but my son said it won’t sell with that name… what’s your take?!
That pretty much wraps my day up. I got some pink bins to start my organization of my messy art hutch.. I’ll take photos to share this process with you as of next week. I’ll be buying the second set of bins next week… and then I’ll have a full set! I’m very excited about getting a better looking living space. It’s amazing how much one can accumulate and not even notice how it starts taking over until you go to clean!
Come back tomorrow and we’ll see who wins the Give-Away!
