here is my wordle. click on it to make it larger so you can
read it.
you can get your own by going here.
Author: Emily
I am the owner of Bloom Art Studio in Mokena, IL. I LOVE ART! I am a middle-aged woman who vows to live each day artfully and with intention. Teaching art, walking the dog, painting, photography, reading books and writing are my favorite ways to pass the time.
Animal photos by Caroline….
THis dove was in the tree in our front yard. He turned his head just as she was snapping the photo. Perfect!
My daughter went to the zoo over the weekend armed with my digital camera. She came home with some stunning and adorable animal poses. I think they are absolutely wonderful. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Can you tell she loves zebras?
The Cutest Photo I’ve Seen in a Longgg Time!
Just wanted to share this with you….http://flickr.com/photos/lovelydays/2441821150/
It’s so adorable! Like cat wings on an angel!
Project Runway….I’m addicted!
I know I’m really behind in this subject because I’ve seen it discussed on other blogs, months ago. But I will mention it all the same even though it makes me look like I’m just not with it. I just discovered Project Runway about 2 months ago and I absolutely love it! (After reading all the hooha about it, I was nosey and just had to check it out),
I’m no fashionista, so I don’t watch it for the clothing aspect, but the part of this show that strikes my fancy is the creative element. I absolutely love the challenge aspect and watching the designers put something together out of nothing and with limited time and resources. It’s addictive, and I know my husband won’t admit it, but it’s growing on him, too.
Since I’m a cloth doll designer by trade, I keep thinking it would be fun to have a ‘Project Dolly’ night(for lack of a better name at this moment at midnight when I’m writing this) with my cloth/primitive doll making friends. We could think up a ‘challenge’ and force ourselves to come up with a new design given the parameters of the challenge. I just might have to run this past my girlfriends.
If you haven’t already seen this show, I highly recommend you tune in. It’s on the cable channel Bravo every Wednesday 9/8Central. I’m warning you-you WILL become addicted to it! You just might find yourself itching for your own creative ‘challenge’.
Thoughtful Friday
Once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul thro’
My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
~Alfred Lord Tennyson
I got an award!
Well, thank you Tammy Burks from Skip to My Ewe! I love your blog, too! What a sweet award to be bestowed upon me…..and now it’s time for me to pass the baton to someone who’s blog I also enjoy reading so much…..and the winner is:
Check out her blog and see how cool she is!
Ms. Martha….Bloopers that give us all hope
Despite her slightly stuffy demeanor, she really seems like she’d be a hellofa lot of fun when she lets her hair down. I think she would be downright fun to be around!
I’m SEW in the mood!
I have been itching to begin this purse, just in time for my girlfriend getaway to New Orleans on 9/4. I’m inspired by the shabby chic knitting bag Rachel Ashwell mentions in her first book, Shabby Chic. It’s absolutely so feminine, I can’t help but want something similar for my trip. I plan on using a Shabby Chic curtain panel that I purchased a year or so ago with the exact intention of using it as fabric for a purse.
This is an idea for you gals. If you like Shabby Chic fabric and can’t afford the real thing off the bolt, settle for the same stuff already made into cotton curtain panels. You can find the panels at your local Target store. The panels are like $24.99 (cheaper if you catch a sale.) and you get quite a bit of fabric in one panel.
This Amy Butler pattern calls for something I’ve never sewn with. It’s called ‘Timtex’. Basically, it’s a thin stiff foam stabilizer that goes inside the lining. I’ll let you know how it goes with this strange, new ingredient. If all goes well, I should look very stylish walking around the French Quarter with my new, handmade Betty Shopper. I think I will have to rename it the Emily Shopper, don’t you agree?
Elliptical update for today- 30 Minutes (cut myself short 5 minutes-had to go get my daughter at school! ) I’m eating very well, too. (I don’t feel hungry…thank you Jesus!)
Sweating my AZZ off-(I hope!)
This brunette is thin. Why’s she workin’ so hard? This is now my machine of choice, and for the record, I’m blond and big (ger than her!).
Over the last week or so, I’ve started getting really pissed. I’m sick of the metabolism I was born with. What the heck? The scale is not going down, people. In fact, when I went to the gym yesterday, they almost had to call an ambulance for me because I nearly had a heart attack when I stepped on the scale. The numbers went up. OMFG.
So. Battle plan is now in force. I’m not going to bitch about it anymore-I’m going to take action. I realize that calories in/calories out is the formula for weightloss in a nutshell, and admittedly, I haven’t been paying too much attention to it. I’ve been eating too many carbs-particularily bread. This is all going to stop. I’ve decided to cut my eating considerably and eat much more healthy than I already am. That, paired with going to the gym much more often than I have been should do it. If not, I’m going to collapse in a corner and suck my thumb, inconsolably.
I can’t afford a personal trainer, but I do need encouragement. I’m hoping that if I post my elliptical time you’ll all write me a comment of encouragement to help keep me going. This exercise thing is not my favorite thing to do, by a long shot, and I find myself trying to talk myself into going, instead of just doing it. I’m am such a pain in my big, fat, azz.
This morning, armed with my IPod Nano and a water bottle, I mounted the elliptical and kept going for a whole 35 minutes. And, I have to admit, I could have gone longer, but I decided not to push it. After all, I have to go back tomorrow. I am so encouraged by my ability to go this long. You don’t understand, but, back in December, the elliptical was my nemesis. I just couldn’t do it. It ripped the crap out of my thigh muscles and I always felt defeated by it. I’d glare with envy at people I’d see who were up there pumping away for wayyyy too long. I hated those folks. But one day, I decided to hell with it, this thing wasn’t going to intimidate me any longer. I was going to own it. And I have.
I’m working my muscles with the machines and I am starting to see a real difference in my arms. I’ve also been working my leg/thigh muscles over the last six months by using the bike at the gym and the leg machines. I can do this elliptical thing now without pain to my muscles and that is a feat in itself. This could also explain my slight weight gain. If I understand it right, muscles weigh more than fat, so I am getting heavier but leaner. (That still doesn’t work for me. This number’s gotta go.)
Will keep you all posted if I have any remarkable body changes. I know you’re all sitting on the edge of your seats, and will be checking my blog daily for updates. Right. This girl’s no fool. But, if you would check on B&B once and a while and give me your typed thumbs up, I’d be forever grateful.
By the way, Even Flow is a GREAT song to do the elliptical to. There is nothing better than closing my eyes and rockin’ to the beat of a good song while I conquer my nemesis and my fat. It is really enjoyable. There’s nothing like endorphins paired with oxygen and Pearl Jam.
35 MINUTES!
Some Flea Market Treasures
I have an outdoor flea market about 2 minutes from my house, and I never go there. I don’t know why, but I just never do-maybe it has something to do with having a houseful of my mother-in-laws stuff to sift though, or it could just be that I didn’t have the urge to shop for treasures. Recently, my step dad told me he goes to this flea market every Sunday and suddenly I found myself piping up saying, “Ooh, pick me up and I’ll go with you!” Huh? Yep, that’s what I said, and yesterday was the second week in a row I’ve gone. It’s actually really great! It’s not too big that it’s overwhelming and not so small that it doesn’t make it worth going. Maybe next Sunday, I’ll snap some photos of it when I go so you all can see it.
Here’s a few of the items I scored. I am very selective and I don’t buy all kinds of junk. I’m always eyeing for the perfect item that makes it worth going.
A week ago Sunday I scored the brand new, still wrapped in plastic The Great American Pin Up book. This is absolutely fantastic! I have been collecting photos online by many of these pinup artists, and this book outlines all of them and most of each artist’s work in full color. Its an absolute treat to page through. That book cost me $20, and the guy selling it wouldn’t be haggled with, so I snatched it anyway without a discount. I also found, lying in a pile of used clothes, a genuine, (not a knockoff) Kate Spade wool plaid purse. It was in pretty good shape, but it had a few moth holes, but for $4, who cares? It’s a KATE SPADE!
Yesterday, I found two books, the Sewing Vintage Stlye book by Country Living ($2) and Stitch and Bitch Nation ($1) Who can beat that?
Being someone who goes weak in the knees at the sight of good quality wicker, I just had to have this foot rest that came complete with cushion. The woman saw me eyeing it, and I asked how much? She said $20, but you can have it for $18! Hello? I’ll take it!
Now my cats have a classy place to snooze and I have a new addition of wicker to add to my home.
I wonder what treasures await me next week?
Why Jane 