Effy's Blog Along

4/17/14

Wow I managed to fall so far behind in this daily blog-along. A few days in I got sick, like had to go to the doctor, had a temp, needed antibiotics sick. Then an intestinal bug hit my house.
All that pales in comparison to the devastating phone call at 8 am yesterday morning. My 24 yr old nephew committed suicide. I can not wrap my head around this situation at all. I was close to my nephew, he and my son who were the same age were cousins, brothers and best buds. The entire family [clan] is a mess. No one can make any sense of it. My heart breaks for my sister-in-law, his mom, and for his dad, and his siblings, really my heart just breaks. 
I'm sad, confused and mad all at the same time. Things like this aren't supposed to happen. Losing someone you love is hard, but to lose someone with no rhyme or reason, with no answers, no understanding of why, how do you move forward? This whole situation just sucks. I'm at a complete loss for all those I love. 
Sorry for such a heavy post, It's just to freaking hard to say it out loud. Thanks for listening.

Kimmie


An Irish Blessing
(I couldn't decide on which to share, so I am posting both)

Remembered Joy
Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free!
I follow the plan God laid for me.
I saw His face, I heard His call,
I took His hand and left it all...
I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work or play;
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss...
Ah yes, these things I, too, shall miss.
My life’s been full, I’ve savoured much:
Good times, good friends, a loved-one’s touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief—
Don’t shorten yours with undue grief.
Be not burdened with tears of sorrow,

Enjoy the sunshine of the morrow. 

Day #2 Blog-Along with Effy.

4/2/14

So today is day 2 of the blog-along with Effy. It is a 30 day blog challenge, click here to check it out. Shout out to thank my commentor's for my first post!! You made me smile!!!! ((((HUGS))) ladies!!!!!
I'm both excited and nervous. I'm nervous because I once posed a 30 day blog challenge to myself, and it was much harder than it sounds. Also when doing such a challenge I find you are more likely to have to share more personal parts of yourself, because some days when things really suck, that's all you can give of yourself. For me sharing means being vulnerable, which means you can be judged and get your heart stepped on, and that's a scary feeling. My best friend ripped my heart into 1000's of pieces a few yrs ago, and it never quite healed the same. I'm excited because I get a chance to meet new peeps, to be inspired by talented and amazing women(or men). I can say after day 1, I had the pleasure of "meeting" some new peeps. Several of the posts I read I discovered a few fine folks with whom I have much in common. So besides meeting a challenge, I'm hoping to reach the end and have made new friends, and to maybe discover something new about myself. 
I had originally started this particular blog as a tool in my homeschool journey with my youngest daughter. All of my kids attended public school. My youngest began homeschooling in 6th grade. My oldest 3 have all graduated and I have a son in 11th grade still in public school. Somehow this blog strayed from what I had originally intended. The biggest factor… I'm technologically challenged. I find to run a multifaceted blog, having computer and HTML skills are imperative. I even thought about paying to have someone do all the work for me, but one, I don't blog enough, and two, I can't afford it. So I have a blog, but not one I'm crazy about. I have been contemplating staring a new blog that is dedicated solely to my art journey, and keep this and truly blog about our homeschool journey. I'll just add that to the list!!
So a bit about me, I am dear say it..46. I'm not aging gracefully. Quite frankly I am struggling  with it. I have been married 27 years to an Irish man who can still make me laugh, but most days I wanna duct tape his mouth. We have 5 very amazing kids, Kady is 27, she has a 4 yr old daughter Kaya,(my Polly Pissy Pants) and is expecting baby #2 in August. She is finishing up college, is learning to cook like me, (I grew up in an Italian restaurant) and looks like me. The other four look like their dad. Kyle will be 25 in exactly 4 days, he is the eternal smart-ass. He is absolutely brilliant, but sometimes think he went to one too many parties in college. He got a Lacrosse scholarship to go to college. He has big goals. Jacob is 20, (21 in Sept) he works 2 jobs and goes to college. He wants to be either FBI or a US Marshall. He is my pretty boy, but is an old soul. Michael a.k.a. "Meat" a name he acquired in pop warner football, is 17 and the one who gives me a run for my money. Though he plays Lacrosse and works and has a 3.75 GPA. Then I have Bridget 14, she homeschools, and is a competitive Champion level Irish dancer. She is a really sweet, funny and is also an old soul. I have 2 Boxers, Adella & Bruiser, who are crazy dogs. 
I love to work on my art, I'm a huge movie buff, (I'm not a chick-flick fan) My favorite TV is BONES, Dr. Who, Being Human, Supernatural, Downton Abbey, Criminal Minds, and Big Bang Theory. I'm sure I can add to that list, but those are my top go to's. I love listening to Mumford & Sons while I work on art, or sleep. (that's when I can sleep)
I have a many health issues and am on disability. Though most people look at me and think I look perfectly fine, and am using the system. I wish the nay-sayers could walk in my shoes for a day. 
So that is a little bit about me. Nothing exciting, borders on boring. But it is my life, and It's not perfect, but it's mine. Some days I will babble, some days I may put nothing but a quote, some days I might cry, but I am going to work hard to see this through and write my day how it goes. I just wanted you to know what makes up my life, my family!!! You'll hear lots about them. Hopefully you'll continue to choose to come back and check in from time to time. 
It's 3:30 am and I need to get this posted and go to bed. I'll be popping by and visiting later once I'm up and awake. So happy blogging… Thanks for stopping. Feel free to leave any comments or questions, or email me if you'd like. Ta Ta For Now….
HUGS,
Kimmie

Day #1 Blog-Along With Effy

4/1/14

It's been absolute ages since I've actually blogged. I did post about 2 months or so ago when I did a few blog posts about my adventures with Flat Susan. (It's a grown up version of Flat Stanley) You can check out her blog at http://flatsusan.blogspot.co.uk Flat Susan was created by one of my online art friends Anita "Neet" Hickson, who resides in the UK.
Prior to that I was blogging at least weekly while participating in WOYWW over at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com where I had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful, talented and welcoming group of artist and crafters. Then I fell into a funk, and didn't do much art work or blogging. Life also got busy with homeschooling my youngest daughter Bridget, and her Irish dancing. (which I will save for a future post).
I have started getting into a routine of trying spending at least 10 minutes a day doing some sort of Art. Even if I only sort through my piles of stuff. So Seeing Effy's April Blog-Along, I've made a commitment to myself to try and jump back into creating and posting. 
I've become somewhat overwhelmed by scattered thoughts. I have several projects I'd like to finish, I belong to a few online Art classes, Lifebook 2014, 48 Weeks with Donna Downey, The Documented Life Project, and Soul Restoration over at Brave Girls, all of which I've fallen behind in, and when I attempt to do one and or the other I find myself so overwhelmed I get anxious and stressed out at which point everyone within a 15 ft radius runs and hides. I find this is defeating the whole purpose of doing Art. So I am going back to basics. I'm going to go back to square one and try and organize my thought, and my supplies, which have taken over practically every nook and cranny of my already small house. Wish me luck with that!!!  I really only got started in my journey with Art about 2 yrs ago as a way to deal with chronic pain. I went into it with a very defined definition of what I thought an artist was. Well I have most certainly learned you can not define Artist by any one definition. I have found I do lean more toward mixed media. I love to grunge up most things I create. As with most of the stuff I create, I love using recycled or re purposed materials. One of my favorite things to make is Art Journals, I actually enjoy making the art journals more than I do filling them with art. I recently bought my first sewing machine which has been really fun incorporating into some of my handmade things. Though it's one more thing I'm adding to my chaos. Plus Donna Downey studios is 5 miles from my house, and I stop in at least once a week and buy more stuff….I really need an intervention!!! 
Well I will leave it at that for today, now that I'm super excited for this blog-along, like the energizer bunny, I could keep going and going, but alas I have 29 more days to fill y'all in on my life. I'm excited to get to know some new peeps, and check out some new blogs, and some new Pinterest boards. (another thing I could use an intervention for) Ta Ta for now….

Some of my handmade journals

Cover to a Gelli Print Journal

Binding with some of my handmade beads

Signatures with some of the prints

A tag thrown in

Fabric thrown in

A bag with a tag

Back cover

From Effy's Wildly Inspired Episode #3
(I did this on an 11x14 canvas for my son Jake)

HUGS,
Kimmie