Dang! No April Blog Post -- But Here's A Little Something For May!

Hello Art Peeps, 

Well, my intentions were good for my New Year's Resolution of posting every month, but April kind of got away from me! Crazy busy at work and at home. Quick post tonight, just showing a couple things I've done recently that I haven't yet posted. April was so busy there were weeks that went by that I didn't even get a chance to get into my studio to play. That is NOT good! Hoping May is much better! 

You may remember that I painted my Midori Traveler's Notebook some time ago. Then I decided to paint a pair of Dansko clogs the same way. This is my favorite color palette as many of you probably know. So I also decided to paint a Dylusions Journal cover to match. 

Here's my first (and only) journal page in this book. I have been going to Weight Watchers since early January and I was documenting my weight loss to the point where I did this page at 21.8 lbs. I'm happy to announce that as of today, I'm down 29.4 lbs. I was sort of wavering thru the busy times in April and bounced up and down a bit and didn't make as much progress as I'd hope, but I'm very pleased all in all with my numbers. Besides the weight loss, my bloodwork numbers are way down and really looking better than they have for years, so I'm thrilled about that. Hoping to get them down to where I can get off some of these darned meds I take. 

I streamed last Sunday and did a collage I but down into ATCs. I just love the way these little works of art turn out when you cut up the larger collage. I use these as a little thank you note for my customers that purchase items from my Etsy Shop Inky Obsessions. Ustream seems to be giving everyone problems and I've not been able to upload my recordings to YouTube for my last two streams. Very frustrating because there's no one to call and speak to at Ustream to figure it out unless you are on the professional level of service and pay for streaming monthly. However, all is not lost. If you missed the live broadcasts and would like to view the recordings, you can do that by visiting my Ustream channel page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll see all my recent recordings. 

I'm planning to stream live this Sunday morning, a little earlier than I usually stream, hoping to start at 10AM EST. Its been raining here daily for almost three weeks and calling for a break in the weather Sunday, so we're hoping to get the lawn mowed. Its never been as high as it is now and will be quite a job for sure. Hope to see you on the stream! Until then...

Happy Arting! 

Patti 

Happy 2016 to All!

Happy New Year!!! 

A new year, new hopes and dreams, new plans, a clean slate full of possibilities. I love opening a brand new, clean calendar at the first of the year and filling in all my family and friends birthdays, anniversaries, vacation plans and parties and looking forward to what may come in this fresh new year. I make resolutions every year, but admittedly, I rarely stick to them. I'm not sure if they are too lofty for my time schedule and abilities, or maybe I lose focus when every day life kicks in. Not sure what happens. So here I am again at the beginning of a fresh new year, looking back at what didn't happen and looking forward to what I hope will happen. We will add two new babies to our family this year. One in February and one in March, both little girls. We are really looking forward to that. But what else lay ahead for us? Kind of exciting to think of what is possible in a whole 12 month cycle. 

One of my resolutions is to bring my blog back to life again. I resolve to post at least once a month this year. Surely I can squeeze that into my crazy schedule! I usually work about 50 hours a week at my real job, then streaming and doing videos, designing my stamps and stencils and doing my own art in my spare time, after my family responsibilities of course. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to do everything that I want to do. I'm also resolving to put more focus on my health starting with joining Weight Watchers (AGAIN!) and going to the gym three times a week if only to walk on a treadmill. I also want to come up with a regular Ustream schedule so that my viewers will know when to expect me to be on live. This is really difficult since I never know when I may have to work later than usual. I can't stream during the day since I'm always at the office, so I have to try to squeeze it into an evening during the week, as weekends can be more spontaneous with things to do with family and friends. I'm considering Monday evenings or Sunday afternoons. I'll announce it here and on my Inky Obsessions FaceBook page when I decide. 

I'll be having another iStencils release coming in the new year, this one will feature a bunch of new designs I've made especially for the 8" round gelli plate. I'll have some new stamps that match at some point after that launch. I hope to play more with polymer clay tiles, metal embossing, watercolor, gelli printing and more. Lots in my mind, I just need to find the time to make it happen. Am I the only one with this problem???

Here are some things I've been working on over the last several months that I haven't posted: 

New cling mount stamps and wine totes with my art prints now on my Etsy Shop: 

So for now, I hope you are feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and looking forward to the brand new year. Let's do something fun and creative in 2016! Let's make it count!

Happy Arting, 

Patti