Here’s what they reeeeeallly look like!  (Except for the First Prize Macro painting, I added my digital sig which is not on the front of the painting.)  They’re dry now, got good scans of them this morning.  I registered with ArtByUs this morning, which is an auction site strictly for art by original artists.  I think I’ll pull the bud from eBay and put both of these over there.  My userID there is “intricateart”, I’ll get links when I list them – which won’t be today, ’cause we’re going to the zoo!! 
 

Well folks, this is it.  My application to be a member of the MidCoast Fine Arts Organization!

My app will go in the mail tomorrow, and I’ll find out around August 20th.  Once accepted (positive thinking!), I will receive the 2005/2006 Exhibition schedule, and my work would hang at The MARK, Centre Station (by John Deere Commons), and/or the RiverCenter – all located in the Quad Cities.

Mark helped me select the pieces that will represent my work the best, and I spent all morning putting images together and burning them to CD!  Think happy thoughts for me will ya?  Thanks!!!

It’s a rainy day here, so we’re just hanging out.  I wanted to go to the zoo today (more reference pics!), so fooey on the rain!  I will paint this afternoon, and finish the piece I started lastnight.

Hope you’re day is sunnier than ours today!

xoxoxo

updated 7:48PM:  I finished another one!  Enjoy!  The painting is still wet, the pic is blurry, and the color is off.  LOL!  (I couldn’t wait to show you though!) I’ll get a better pic and all that jazz tomorrow in good daylight.

I finished this purdyful flower today, just for you!  It’s been listed, you can click the bud to go see it on auction.  Thank you so much for returning to read my ramblings, and for being patient while I was “under construction”!  ;D   Enjoy!

Good morning!  I have a few “progress photos” to share today.  I didn’t take pics of all of my band-aids, and I’ll just leave it at that.  😉  This view above here is for all of you who have never visited the Mississippi River before, yep, it’s the Mighty Mississippi.  You know how folks say “it’s only a hop-skip & a jump away”?  Well the MM is literally just a hop from here!  Skipping and jumping is optional upon arrival.  They have a beautiful parkway (when it isn’t submerged) with a bike path, I took the girls down there this week when I had a bug fogger going off in the house.  (iew, bugs.  bitey bugs.)  It was a gorgeous day, obviously a few other folks were enjoying it as well.  🙂

I finished drywalling the family room, taped most of it, need to mud it and get the cabinets in there.  I also put a floor down in that space, and will cut the carpet back further for a few more tiles in a fun half-circle design.  Here are a few shots of what it looked like the other day…

Drywall Completed

this is what’s going on that wall…except for one piece I found space for after I drew this out!

The Entertainment Wall

The old living room carpet is gone, bye-bye old yicky carpet!  Guess what was underneath?!  Yes, tile, but really old tile, and the kind that needs to be treated before you go walking on it barefoot or anything.  So I treated that on Thursday night and yesterday morning.  Blechy fooey on uncovering more problems with every project!  Dagnabbit!!  (I can whine just a little bit can’t I?  I mean it’s just me doing all of this, and I’ve been really good about not cussing like a regular construction guy would be..lol)

Now I do need to get the baseboards painted in the living room but I HAVE to take a day (or two) off from this.  It is making my mind warp in ways that just plain hurt.  I took it easy yesterday, believe it or not, and only painted the part of the baseboard around the entry way so I could get the new floor down in that area, well then I thought heck, I may as well paint the door too, so I did that.  (Someone smack me!)  Here’s a teenie little preview of what I did yesterday and what it’s going to look like with the new carpet:

I do believe I’ve caught you all up with the past few days at my house, sans the really pitiful me that sat and moped and got weepy over missing my hubby so much…not to do the work, but just for me to rest my head on after I finished.  He knows how much I dig these projects and what a tomboy kinda gal I am, the only thing I ever say “I can’t do that” about is getting up on a ladder – and now I’m doing that too.  I miss my man.  9 months to go.

BTW, I haven’t updated my weight loss progress in a while.  I’ve lost 42 pounds now.  I have 21 pounds to go to meet my goal, and 9 months to do it.   Hm…that’s about 2.5 pounds a month, and I’ve been averaging 8.4.  Not too shabby, I’m actually quite pleased with myself since I’m down 3 sizes (6 if you count by 1’s, lol), fitting into things I haven’t worn since 1997-98.  Even found my favorite jeans, Levi Silver Tabs that I loved so much and have been looking for for years – in a bag of my “don’t fit into these anymore” clothes – pulled them out and they fit really nice, and they’re a Junior’s size!  I love it when that happens.

Ok better get moving for the day.  I hope you all have a beautiful, calm, sunny weekend!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Grab your coffee, come outside with me I have to show you these!!

Just your average day here, I was working away on clearing out the mess I made, getting ready to clean carpets when all of the sudden,
someone stopped by! You can imagine my surprise, I mean it’s not often a celebrity like this just pops by and waits for you, you know? We were all so excited!! Squealing and being giddy, just your average girls here. 😉

Yes that was our excitement for the day!

Here’s a lovely I photographed yesterday morning after giving my babies a little misty drink. See my baby refreshed!

**I’m adding these from my morning coffee break. Enjoy!!**
Soaking up the morning sun 🙂
More lily blooms
Morning footsteps on my rooftops!

Oh alright, enough with the break already. Get back to WORK WORK WORK! Yes, the insulation is ALL DONE. Old stuff out, new stuff in. Area is taped off/sealed, carpets are so clean I hate to replace them, and now all I need is someone to pick up 6 sheets of drywall for me. Ooh yea I was going to call Lowe’s and see if they deliver for free. Yep, then I can drywall, install cabinets, a little floor, and bing-bang-boom, we’re ready to go (rip the rest of the room apart!)..hehe!

Ok have a great great Wednesday! I can actually kinda relax a little today before I move all of the furniture. Hip hip hooray! ;D

Most of my Print Auctions are ending today if you haven’t seen them yet. I added my Purple Tulip to my available prints, it looks lovely!! (I am partial to purple!)

Mark has been asking me to make a stencil of Wile E. Coyote for the guys over there to use on a few things. That’s not the stencil of course, this is my test spray of it with hand embellishments that Mark can hang on his wall of photos. 😀 I sent it off yesterday, along with a few spare stencils they can trace onto something else. I know how guys are, they like to rip and tear stuff up if it doesn’t go how they want it to go! Goofy guys! Ok that’ll be $150 bucks guys, for chiropractic treatment on my hand and wrist from holding that daggone x-acto so tight & pressing through many layers of cardboard! (Just kidding! about the bill, not the pain..lol)

Did I tell you my Stargazers outside of my front window are blooming? OOOOOH yes they are! Yummy!! (I smell more paintings of them coming!)

What else…ooohhh yea…the room. Well I think I’m going to have to take a progress picture of the mess I made yesterday. oops. The ceiling, well ok the FIRST ceiling (yes there are two, just like the walls), appeared to have some water damage on top of damage I made removing the closets – on top of just being old and stinky. 😛

I ripped them out.

Blown cotton insulation fell like rain – ok no more like a monsoon or something – all over everything. Last night’s trip to Lowe’s brought home a 12 gallon shop vac (everyone should have one of these, and they’re ON SALE!), 2 rolls of insulation to replace that other gook, and a FACE MASK. Good gravy! I couldn’t have had enough bandana’s on my head to prevent that stuff from getting up my nose. :P~

Here’s the mess!

Today I have to clean up my mess. Then I have to get all the wood I tore down out of the house!! There are a few pieces “in tact” from the closets – framing, thick pine paneling, etc. and I told Caitlin I would see what I could save to build them a mini-house in the backyard. Wouldn’t that be cool? They may be getting their own little pine cabin. Fun!! I always wanted one of those!

Ok I’m procrastinating now… I’m going to go outside with my coffee and camera and do my morning wake-up and smell nature thing! 🙂

Have a Happy Tuesday & thanks for stopping by!!
xoxoxo

Hiya folks!

Hm I am absent far too much lately. I had some chaotic days Friday and Saturday, and after the chaos continued the home improvement projects.

First, it looked like this.

A little while ago, it looked like this!

Now, it looks like this!

Back to work!

Hope you are all having a GREAT weekend!!!!!

xoxoxo

p.s. Erikie dared me to post this pic for you to see! Ok, I have a fetish, and it is belly buttons. I know I know, wierd. But they are symbolic to me, very cool and cute. I look at my girls’ buttons and think about how much I love that they were connected to me for 9 months through that cute little “scar”. So mom, this one is for you, too! (Humming the tune “Memories” for you)

So anyhoo, it’s not obscene or anything, and I will probably paint it! Just as soon as I get this daggone room done! LOL!

Are you all tired of hearing “Toronto Swampy!” “Toronto Swampy!”

Ok, I’ll have to start referring to him as “TS” ok? ok. I’ll try to remember that. Why I make promises at midnight is beyond me. LOL

So here we go, I modified the page(s) for TS, to include all of the new photos, and split the final images from the work in progress. Please have a look, let me know if the links to the WIP page are clear and stuff aye? (Did I use that in the correct context?)

ok ok. Go look. I did a whole lotta little stuff today, like installing a new doorknob on the girls door (after I had to jigsaw the hole bigger since the other knob was too small..it’s always complicated!) and did some bird and squirrel watching and took photographs and stuff. Cableman, stuff stuff stuff…It was a day filled with I don’t know what, but it was filled. LOL!

Have a wonderful middle of the night and morning!

ooh, yea, the link: “TS’s” new pages