Late Night FIT...

Today just did not allow any Mommy Time:) We were all on Boy Time. And after I had the realization that school starts back in less than a month that was ok with me:) Sweet Sweaty Boys who bicker and fight and cuddle up together to watch 'iCarly' and who keep each other company and play Army men during bath time and who make my heart ache and swell until I think I can't possibly take it, not one more second and then I find it grows as large as it needs to be. It's full of fear for them, hope for them, love for them. Full of dreams and wants and wishes for them. Full of Sweet Sweaty Boys.

Carl, Lola and Helene FIT

I love the photo booth pictures. These three seem a little serious:) I wonder if they are brother and Sisters or just friends. I definitely think Lola and Helene are sisters because they look so much alike. This photo strip would make a very cool collage element.

Sweet Pea FIT

This is the same Sweet Girl from last week, only a little younger. I have many photos of her thorough her childhood. Her eyes are amazingly beautiful. I hope you love her as much as I do! Love, Jamie

Quotes for Today:

"To a child's ear, "mother" is magic in any language."
~Arlene Benedict, For Mother with Love

"Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible."
~Unknown

"A mother is not a person to lean on but a person to make leaning unnecessary."
~Dorothy C. Fisher (1879-1958)

New Photoshop CS4 and Starting All Over Again...

Digital art piece, "Communing with the Dead".

Copyright Jamie Miller July 25, 2009
click image to see full piece on Flicker

I bought myself Adobe Creative Suite 4 and now I am learning PhotoShop ALL over again!! I must be a glutton for punishment:) I have been doing what did before and just using trial and error and watching some Adobe tutorials with a really cute Canadian dude. This is my first practice piece. While it was not exactly what I was going for, it did let me stretch my comfort zone a little.

I think it is important to share the mistakes and the triumphs in our art journeys. Sometimes my worst mistakes have opened the door to my greatest discoveries. I used to have a regular post called, "Bad Art" and I focused on the pieces I was the least happiest with at the time. It was freeing to call it what it was and move on to something else. I have a really bad habit of becoming "stuck" and not doing what's in my head because I don't think I can give it justice in real life. It is the doubter in me. The negative Jamie saying this is frivolous and of no merit. I am working on quelling that Jamie. I am learning that nothing is impossible and everything I envision can be given a voice. Even if it's not a perfect one. That's ok. As long as I keep trying and experimenting and moving forward in this journey. This fabulously scary and completely exhilarating journey.


Quotes for Today:

"In the end, the only people who fail are those who don't try."
~David Viscott

"If you haven’t failed, you’re not trying hard enough."
~Unknown

" Do or do not. There is no try."
~Yoda

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha...

Here is my piece for the Stop Piracy Campaign

I love this Gal for so many reasons. She is a giving Friend, an incredibly talented Artist and she shares her journey openly and honestly. Please visit her blog and read what she has to say about pirating other's artwork. In this day of right clicking and digital magic it is happening all too often. She has also started a Flicker Group (see link below) so we all can express our thoughts about this through our art.

You MAY copy this image for the sole purpose of displaying on your blog or website IF it is linked back to this flickr group www.flickr.com/groups/stopartpiracycampaign

You may NOT use any piece of this image for your own artwork or any other publication or reproduction.

Quotes for Today...

"In everything truth surpasses the imitation and copy."~Marcus Tullius Cicero

"The difference between a bad artist and a good one is: the bad artist seems to copy a great deal; the good one really does."~William Blake

"You can't copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling."~Billie Holiday

Free Image Tuesday...

Here are the FITs for the week. I love the Sweet Little Girl photos so much. Thank goodness I have boys because I never would be able to do a little girl's hair. I hope you enjoy these photos my Sweet Friends:) Love, Jamie

Quotes for Today:

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship."

~William Blake

"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."

~Helen Keller

Three Muses Challenge...Word Salad...

I love this week's Three Muses Challenge. Here is my take on word salad. I interpreted it pretty literally:) Stepped outside my comfort zone and made a three dimentional piece. Thanks so much Ladies!! Love, Jamie

Quotes For Today:

"He who would be useful, strong, and happy must cease to be a passive receptacle for the negative, beggarly, and impure streams of thought; and as a wise householder commands his servants and invites his guests, so must he learn to command his desires and to say, with authority, what thoughts he shall admit into the mansion of his soul."
~James Allen

"The inner speech, your thoughts, can cause you to be rich or poor, loved or unloved, happy or unhappy, attractive or unattractive, powerful or weak."
~Ralph Charell

"If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time. It's very important to be aware of them every time they come up."
~Deepak Chopra

"The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large."
~Confucius

"All causes are essentially mental, and whosoever comes into daily contact with a high order of thinking must take on some of it."
~Charles Filmore

"If you hear a voice within you saying, You are not a painter, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."
~Vincent Van Gogh

Free Image Tuesday...

Running in super fast to post one lonely FIT. I have more to post, but I wanted to get at least one up and going. This sweetie pie is so cute clutching the curtain beside her. I bet her dress is light pink:) Hope everyone had a wonderful Tuesday!! Love, Jamie

Sometimes Life Gets In The Way...

Thank you for being so patient with me. The past few weeks have been crazy!

My poison ivy was under control by the time the retreat happened. It flared up again the next week and I had to get some more meds.

In the mean time, I spent that week with David and James doing fun things before David had to have his ear surgery. We knew that once he had the surgery there would be no physical activity for several weeks. So lazer tag, go-carts, bowling and slip and slides were the focus of our week.

My Mom was able to delay the start of her radiation therapy (with the doctor's blessings) so she could be here for the surgery and James' birthday. I spent as much time with her as I could while she was here. She is doing so well and is so brave and wonderful. I am a lucky daughter. She starts her radiation tomorrow.

David's surgery went very well. He has a two inch long incision behind his ear where they took the graft tissue and he still has packing in the ear until the 21st. His Doctor was great and was able to go in through the ear canal instead of cutting the ear all the way in the back and flapping it forward to get to the ear canal. Thank you , Dr. Wyatt!!!! The mere thought of that made my knees weak. Keeping him still and calm and occupied has been a balancing act. The eardrum graft is very delicate until it takes and you have to really baby it. Even blowing your nose can dislodge it. The DS1's (hand held video game players) that Daddy brought home for the boys have been a BIG help:) He has been sleeping with me in our bed. Every time he moves at night I open my eyes to make sure he doesn't roll over on his hurt ear. I am TIRED!

So that's where the past month went. I missed Blogland and all my friends. I have so much to share with you, that I don't even know where to start:)

The paper Cowgirl's Retreat was AWESOME!!! Tina and Cindy really put on a class act retreat! I learned how to solder glass and it is FUN! Above are pictures of the soldered house I created in Tina's class. I can't wait to make more stuff:) Cindy's Altered Journal class was fabulous and I loved seeing every one's take on their journal pages. All the ladies were so fabulous and talented and sweet. I needed a girl's weekend in the worst way. I have not had a true Girl's weekend in over 9 years:) Apparently, I also needed some sleep because I fell asleep after lunch the second day and slept until 8:00 that night. How embarrassing!!! In my defense the hotel room was dark and cold and the spa pillows were heavenly! Everyone was calling me Sleeping Beauty;)




My Sweet James turned the big 06 and he is sooooo proud to finally, in his eyes, be a big boy;) This was the first birthday EVER that he was able to blow out his candles all by himself. Until now, he has not had the lung strength to do it. Such a simple thing. Such a miracle to see. He is doing very well on his new asthma medications. We also have been researching the connection between asthma and eczema. 70% of children with eczema also have asthma. James has had it since birth. We have started aggressively treating his eczema and since it has disappeared he has not even coughed once. Amazing. Not breathing treatments and no wheezing. Dr. June said his lungs sound better than she has ever heard them and we have put the bronchial scoping on the back burner for now:)

I turned 40 yesterday. Bittersweet, for sure. I am so blessed and have a wonderful life. But 40 is still hard to swallow. Above is the wonderful Birthday present Sweet Lori sent me. Isn't my sweet felted bear the cutest bear ever?!!! I love him and his antique popcorn box home:) Her felting talent is amazingly wonderful! She also sent me a beautiful baby tintype (she knows they are my favorite!) and a sweet wee French button card that I coveted from one of her antiquing outings. Thank you Sweet Friend! It was worth all the coffee grounds in the world! LOL!!!

Quotes of the Day:

"To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old."
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"
~Satchel Paige