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HI there Bloggy Darlings!!

I'm super excited to be blogging again so soon....with new fun things to share!
Yesterday was a good day.
A really good day....and I'll tell you why...

I know I've mention Amy before.  She is just a really cool person, spreading art love everywhere she goes, coming up with great ideas for collaborative projects, and is offering LIVE online classes......for FREE!  Absolutely free....she invites everyone to attend...

Anyhoo...yesterday was the first time my schedule allowed me to sit in...
It was a lot of fun!  More on what we did in a sec....

Yesterday was also a good day, because Geri nominated me:

You are supposed to share 7 things about yourself that you don't think your Blog Friends know...

Hmmm...okay...let's DO this!!

So for the class, Amy showed us how to attach fabric to paper using a sewing machine.

I used muslin fabric, watercolor paper underneath and black thread...because that's what was in there already.  Here's the back of my piece to show you the randomness of my stitches.

That leads me to my first thing...

1. I'm lazy...I don't like to put too much effort into certain things, like my appearance (jeans and a t-shirt EVERYDAY....splash my face with water and now that my hair is short...a few finger rakes...and I'm fine).

...or having my home be spotless...I'll clean like a fiend when company comes over, but push the mess aside otherwise.

....or in this case, changing thread colors....I'm going to just say, I thought black would look cool instead of that I hate winding those bobbin thingys and figuring out how to rethread my needle ;P

2.  An exception to the above is a bit of craziness in me  that makes me empty out every box in the garage or hunt the aisles of a million stores.... just to find and create some  vision in my head.  I don't understand where that drive comes from....but it is exhausting, and sometimes, just not worth it in the end.  Here's an example:

I was looking for something to use in my Mad Sea Party Post

Nothing I already had would do...

...went to 5 stores looking for just the right thing

...found this mermaid

...put her in a dozen places til I settled on this candleholder perch

...took the picture

...and returned her the next day. 

Why?

Craziness, I tell you...

She's not even that cute.

Back to the class, so after we did the sewing, we started drawing....she was showing us how she paints her cats.  They are more simplistic...more stylized...I have trouble with that.

I started to sketch this guy out. 

I sewed two 5 x 7 inch pieces....so thought, to be fair to her teachings, I would try to do something looser...and not be so serious :)

3. I find it funny, that even though I like to paint fantasy and whimsy, I have such a hard time letting loose.  I tend to lose the playful quality I want to convey...and instead, get hung up on details and minutia...

So I drew out another cat...and started applying the paint until I got this little guy...

Can you see the wonderful texture of the fabric?  Amy was right...it is really, really cool!  I'm sorry these pics are a bit blurry.  It's actually raining today!  I love the rain....but, it makes the lighting not so good for photo taking :)

4. I never use an umbrella.  I don't like trying to hold them steady when the wind catches them, I don't like the fuss of having to angle it just right or walking slower so others can share it.  I think I get just as wet trying to close the thing up as I do just going where I need to go.  Besides I don't mind a little water on my face...I don't have to worry about running mascara or messing up my hair...haha!  ;P

At first, I picked browns and creams....cuz that what colors cats are, right?!  Sheesh, I'm just so darn literal!  So when Amy made hers blue...I went and grabbed some, too...and some fuschia for good measure.

Fabric really soaks up the paint, so I learned that I could use a ton of water to move the paint around.  If I used plain water on my brush, I could almost erase parts of it and add subtle highlights.

I mixed fuschia and cream for the background and enjoyed how it gave me a mottled effect :)

This class was soooo much fun!  The girls across the pond were sipping wine...and I was jonesing for one myself, but it was noon here, and I had to drive to pick up my daughter from school not long after.

5.  I am a total light weight when it comes to drinking now.  When I do drink wine, I use one of those small juice glasses..and only fill it half way.  This is enough to make me "happy"....heehee.

I used to be able to drink all my dates under the table *sigh* good times...haha!

6.  I like being good at stuff.  Not that drinking is something one should excel at....but I like surprising people by being able to do/be more than what they expect.  I'm pretty unassuming when you look at me....so I guess I leave room for lots of surprises!

I had to miss the part where she showed us how to cover it all in beeswax :(

I've seen her do it before though, she has a tutorial here...

Besides, I don't have wax or a warmer anyways..

7.  I'm a boring artist.  I use the same short list of supplies all the time.  Of course, now that I'm not working, I can't afford new ones....but, even if I had the money, probably wouldn't get anything new.  It takes me a while to venture out of my bubble and do what the other kids are doing.

Which is why I'm so glad I could be a part of this class!  I woulda never tried or even have thought of this on my own.  So thank you, Amy, for helping me to branch out a bit :D

Thanks, to Geri, too...for the award :)  I'm supposed to nominate 15 other Bloggers now...but, I'm lazy, remember, so I'm going to break the rules.  But, feel free to grab the button and share 7 things abut you if you like!

...And, of course, thank all of you for making this creative journey of mine so much more worthwhile....it is always more fun to travel with friends! 

Just, as I'm finishing this, the rain has stopped...and the clouds are parting...

That's California for ya'....see, no need to get the umbrellas out ;P

Hope your weekend is a great one!

Much paint covered love,

Cameron

My First "Listing"

Hello my Dear Blog Friends!

Do any of you know Amy?  She has a thing with writing lists that I just love...well, truth be told, she is utterly hilarious, too...so raw, unapologetic, unique...and FUNNY...I know I said this already, but she is....that you can't help but instantly like her.  She makes some really cool art, too.....

But this post is not about art today...it's about lists....
I'm going to do one. Just for the heck of it.
A List of Randomness...yeah, I like that.... ;-P

1.  

 If you have an attached garage, don't store fertilizer in there during the hottest months of the year. Your house will smell like poop!

Oh, and if you have a hole in the garage door for your dumb cats to get to their litterbox, but they refused to go in there with the little flap covering it, so you had to take it off for them....you will get flies in your house!  Dozens upon dozens of yucky, buzzing flies!! 

2.

I will ooh and ahh over spiders....save crickets from bathtubs....

...try not to step on pill bugs on the sidewalk and rescue worms that have washed onto the concrete after a rain....but I hate flies in my house....

3.

And cockroaches....well, ants, too....guess I'm not the creepy crawly saint afterall...

4.

I pulled a muscle while swatting flies...

.....a testament to how many flies we actually had....and a wake-up call to just how out of shape I am...haha!

5.

I don't care about shoes.

I'm jealous of my friend's contact lens collection!  She has a pair to match every outfit.  I had a pair once....

I felt friggin' cool that Halloween...though I couldn't see anything.  Your pupil gets wider as it gets darker and starts to get overlapped by the white coloring of the lens. 

This makes everything blurry.  It's okay, they were itchy, too...so I threw them away.

Which leads me to 6.

I like to be comfortable!

This not only goes for shoes and clothes, but situations, as well.... I don't like crowds and will go out of my way to avoid them. 

7.

I tried on 2 occasions to dress with "personality"....once in Jr. High I wore 2 different colored neon socks (this was the 80's) and I was teased all day about how I must've gotten dressed in the dark.  Needless to say I didn't try to be unique again....until High School...Freshman year.

My Mom bought me a gorgeous black velvet skirt and vest at a vintage store after I begged and begged her for it.  The skirt was full without being ruffly and had a satin bow with one rhinestone button in the center around the waist.  The vest had the same buttons down one side.  I wore a crisp white shirt underneath and felt like a million bucks!

Then I walked into school....

Oh well, now I reserve my flair for funky, unique things for occasions where you get stared at in a good way :)

Ren Faire with my Dad...

...and Mom.

8.

Though, you'll find me in jeans and a t-shirt all other days. 

9.

I care way too much about what others think of me....always have.  Wish I didn't.

10.

Being in Nature relaxes and inspires me.

11.

I love animals!

12.

I am not a vegetarian.

13.

My daughter's goldfish took 3 days to die.  I think I cried more than she did.  This was the first time she dealt with the death of someone close to her.  It made me so sad to see her struggle with loss and come to the understanding that every living thing grows old and dies.  She took an active interest in seeing what happens next...so we buried him in our planter where she could see orange flowers and think of him. And we made sure to say some nice things about him, too.

Made me think of my own mortality.....

14.

I really need to start working out again ;)

15.

Isn't it neat when you find a sign out somewhere that speaks to you!

16.

Did you know the name Cameron is of Scottish origin and means Crooked Nose?

17.

I was adopted and came with the name....I have no idea why it was chosen :)

18.

My daughter and I visit the shelter regularly just to give the dogs and cats some good scratches and kind words.

No, we haven't brought anyone home.....yet.....

19.

Pansies are my favorite flower!

20.

I'm surprised I got this far....(and that you are still here!) 

This was a fun little experiment...doing this list....

Now, at least, I can cross it off mine.....haha!

XO,

Cam