The Documented Life Project

I did a little bit of catching up on my art journal project. I'm still running behind but I managed to finish two more pages and start another.

June Theme
Travel Journaling
June 6
Art Challenge: Illustrative Art Journaling
Journal Prompt:  Take Me Away

I'm going to admit that this months theme has me a little lost. My version of travel is to work and back with a weekly trip to Wal-Mart thrown in.  I'm going to plug away at it and if the art challenge and journal prompts don't "speak" to me I'll just start and see where it leads me.

The first thing I thought of when I read the journal prompt was that old commercial for Calgon. I eventually ended up getting a really old song stuck in my head and that's what I used for this page.

I'm not much of an illustrator but I figured how hard is it to draw a moon and some wonky stars. Because I initially had the lyrics wrong I drew a swing. I thought it was "Let me swing among the stars" When I looked it up it was play but I already had the swing so I went with it.

The bird was a last minute addition because I had to have something sitting on the swing.

Thought for the day

Butt Shots

Does my title have you worried?  Well don't be. This really is a funny story.

It all happened when Gibbs and I were out for a walk. I grabbed his business bag and my cell phone and headed out the door. We started up the street and I put the bag in one back pocket and my phone in the other. We enjoyed a nice brisk walk and returned home to get a refreshing drink of water.

I took my phone out of my pocket and noticed that the camera was on. It was then that I realized that there were new pictures on it.

Apparently the camera turned on while it was in my pocket and I was taking pictures with my butt as I walked. There were 15 pictures in all. They were all pretty similar with varying stripes of white and black. It must have been the light going through the material that caused the white stripes.

Words of wisdom from Gibbs

Even if you've got a very busy day and your on the run, take a few minutes to stop and smell the roses.

If you can't find roses,  you may substitute any other flower you have available. Don't forget to sniff around the rocks too. There could be some good scents there. Have a wooftastic day my blogger peeps.

A quick hello

Thursday night I was just too tired to get a post ready for today. I'm just popping in to say hello and tell you I'll be back with something better tomorrow. At least I think I will :)

A Daisy a day

Well maybe not every day but here's a few for today.

Documented Life Project

May Theme
Touchy Feely (Texture)
May 30
Art Challenge:  Textured Paper
Journal Prompt:  I'm So Not Feeling It!

Finally I finished the May challenges. Now I only have 3 June ones to do. I really didn't follow the prompts on this one. I did use a piece of textured paper but instead of showing the textured side I did a little experimenting with inks and stencils.  I guess the journal prompt applies since I couldn't get in to this one.

Another think I'm so not feeling is the crafty thing. It's going to be August before you know it and I have not made one single new thing this year to take to the craft show. My mojo has taken an extended vacation and I'm beginning to wonder if it left the country permanently. 

Project 365

6/14 I almost forgot to get my picture of the day. I realized at 8:24 that I still hadn't taken one so I took a picture of the clock on the stove.

6/15 Gibbs and I did our walk at the park. I took a bottle of water for myself and a dish for him so we could sit and get a drink before we headed back home. He wouldn't touch it. I think I drank 3/4 of mine down while we sat. Or make that I sat and he explored the area.

6/16 Bummer. I forgot a picture.

6/17 The day lilies were blooming. They have been before this but I hadn't noticed them.

6/18 Normally I go sit in my car and eat my lunch. This day it was raining so I had to sit in the break room.

6/19 Just a peek at one of 3 cakes I had to do that day.

6/20 Not much going on for a Saturday. We did a lot of sitting around inside and out. Gibbs kept watch over the back yard

Morning has broken

On my way to work one day last week, the sky looked so amazing I had to pull over and take a picture of it.

I always hate how power lines ruin an otherwise perfect landscape so I took them down. While I was at it I pulled up that stop sign too.

And since I mentioned morning has broken I have to leave you with a video for that Cat Stevens song

Happy Father's Day

My dad is no longer with us but I still want to take this opportunity to wish a happy Father's Day to the best dad ever.
This is a scan of the last picture I have of my dad. It was taken with a cheap camera ages ago.

This is more of how I remember him. This one was taken in 1982 when I got married (for the first time)

The only pictures of my dad and I together that I could find were from that day. I know there's more but for some reason I can't find them.

Happy Father's Day dad. I love you and miss you.

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there, I hope you have a great day

Before and after

I've been taking a lot of pictures at the park when we walk. Some not so good because it's not always easy taking pictures when a little powerhouse is pulling on the leash.

Here's a before and after of one picture.

I did a little cell phone edit and then a little more in photoshop elements when I got it on the computer. I may have gone a little too far

Couldn't help myself

Yesterday while Gibbs and I were out walking he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking and he fell in a hole. It wasn't very deep and he didn't get hurt.


He may not always be the most graceful dog around but he's not alone.

It's all in the timing.

If you get the timing right it doesn't matter what the truth is because a picture is worth a thousand words.

Something tells me you won't even need that many words to sum this one up.

Project 365 week of 6/7/15

6/7 After work I treated myself to a chocolate milk shake from McDonalds. Haven't had one in ages. It was so good.

6/8 Instead of spending my day off lounging on the deck under the umbrella I could only take a quick picture of it in the rain

6/9 It was a beautiful day for a walk in the park

6/10 Loved this sign so much that I had to turn around and go get a picture of it.

6/11 I'm sure there was some reason why I took the picture of a cemetery but I've completely forgotten.

6/12 The power went off at work at 10:30 am. We stood around for the rest of the day doing nothing. It didn't come back on until after 2:00 pm. I was surprised they didn't send us home.

6/13 The park was a little on the damp side but when the rain stopped, Gibbs and I headed down to get our walk in

The Documented Life Project

I may be way behind but I haven't given up on this yet.

May Theme
Touchy Feely (Texture)
May 23
Art Challenge:  Cheesecloth
Journal Prompt:  Say Cheese

I created the background then glued down a piece of cheesecloth. From there I originally was thinking of adding a picture of a camera. Somewhere along the line I changed my mind and cut out smiling faces from a magazine. I couldn't help adding the dog because he looked like he was smiling to me.

 I wrote the words out on a piece of white paper then used stamp pads and inks to color them.

Bonus report.

Woot Woot, Hello my blogging peeps. It's me again. Two days in a row of me should make all of you very happy. I know it makes me happy.

Any way, today I want to tell you about our walk on Saturday. We had the whole park to ourselves almost. There was one guy who was mowing and only one other person who was there and we only passed him and his dog once.

It was fun walking through the wet grass. It kept my feet nice and cool. Mom walked on the pavement. Silly her.
What's even sillier is that we got out of the car and started walking and she realized she forgot "the bag". You know what bag I'm talking about I'm sure. Lucky for her the park has Dogi Pot. They provide bags for silly humans who can't remember to bring their own and there's even a place to put the bags when they have something in them.

I hope everyone's week is getting off to a good start. Have another wooftastic day

The Gibbs Report

Hello blogging peeps. I have an extra special treat for you today. Today you get to see me in action.

Sometimes when I do this mom just laugh and laughs other times she tells me I'm a crazy pants psycho dog.

You'll be happy to know that mom and I did three walks last week. We didn't think we were going to be able to get that third one in on Saturday because it was raining. As soon as it stopped though mom grabbed the leash and we headed to the park .

Well I think that's about it for today. Have a wooftastic day

Bird brain

It's rainy and I'm feeling sluggish and kind of like I have a bird brain. Come back sunshine.

This and that

I'm on a roll. I did the second day of my 3 days a week walking. I didn't time anything this time though. I knew it took 3 laps around the park the first time so I went around 3 times and alternated between walking fast ans walking slow. Maybe once I get more used to it I'll do more laps.

Have you ever heard of fitbit? I've been wanting to get one. It's an activity tracker that can even track your sleep.. One of the ladies at work has one and she really likes it. There are different kinds and this picture doesn't show all of them.

Last but not least another church sign

Going through the archives

This is a repost from June 11, 2012


The other day I said that I had made some crocheted owls and today "Owl" show them to you. I've had these pinned to one of my boards for a while and when I was going through to find something to make I chose these.
The original pattern came from Crafty is Cool I like hers a whole lot better but they're still kind of cute.

That's it for today, I guess Owl be seeing you tomorrow

It's a start

I have not been happy with myself lately and have been trying to change my habits so I can shed all the extra pounds I've packed on.  I haven't been very successful so far.

I read about a walking plan that is supposed to help rev your metabolism and thought I might be able to do this. You walk for 18 minutes a day 3 days a week for a total of 54 minutes a week. You start out walking at a normal pace for 4 minutes then 30 seconds as fast as you can. Back to 4 minutes normal another 30 seconds and keep repeating until you've reached 18 minutes.

I wanted to start on Monday but it was raining. Tuesday I was telling one of the cashiers at work about it and when I was leaving she told me to go for it. When I got home instead of plopping on the couch I grabbed Gibbs and we drove to the local park.

Gibbs was more than happy to help me out with this and since other than blog friends he's the only friend I have he was the likely candidate. We did our first 4 minutes and he was full of enthusiasm and ready to go. Just as I was beginning the first 30 second full steam ahead Gibbs decided that he really needed to poop. Well what can you do when nature calls.

We made it through the rest of the 18 minute walk and sat for a second before heading back home.

I'm hoping for 2 things. 1 that it works the way they say it does and 2 that I can keep it up and not blow it off like I do every other attempt. I seriously would like to fit in to some of my summer clothes from last year.

Rainy days and Mondays

Although I don't like not having my two day weekend any more I will admit that it's nice to have Monday's off.

This one was a bit stormy looking

There would be no enjoying the deck today.

But at least I know now that the water sealant we put on the deck is working

Rainy days and Mondays don't always get me down but I do like this song

Project 365 week of 5/31/15

5/31 admiring the solar lights by my back steps.

6/1 Gibbs gets his first hair cut and after 5 cuts he gets 1/2 off his 6th visit

6/2 I took a walk around the yard and admired some of the flowers growing.

6/3 Checking in on the nest.

6/4 Road works. What really kills me is the number of guys sitting around in trucks doing nothing. Those trucks are running too. Don't you think that the department of transportation could save a whole boat load of money by sending out fewer crew members and shutting the trucks off while they are not moving?

6/5 I walked in to work to find 4 cake order forms that all had to be done that day.

6/6 I went to the grocery store and was thrilled to see they had some really nice patio umbrellas at a reasonable price. I can now go out and enjoy the deck again.

I have seen the light

And it only cost me $3.00

I bought a couple of these cheap solar lights to put at the bottom of the steps on one side of my deck. They don't really give off all that much light but they look kind of nice.

And just because I felt like it, I pulled an old picture out of the files and played around a bit and added a quote.

Hi ho, hi ho it's off to work I go. I won't however be whistling while I work. Have a great Sunday

Life isn't always fair

There's no denying, it's a tough world out there. Just the other day, the 3rd to be exact, I came home from work and took this picture of my little bird family

They were hungry little things and every time I looked out at them they had their necks stretched up as high as they would go looking for mom to feed them.

Friday I came home from work and I found this.

Not the best picture but that is the nest. An obviously empty nest. Now considering the fact that there is no way those baby birds were ready to fly and seeing the condition of the nest I know something got them. The way the nest is sitting in the tree, it appears that something heavy must have been on top of it because it's sort of pushed down over the one branch.

Now mind you I have no proof but I found it very odd that last night I found this guy sitting on my front porch.

Very bad picture but I wanted to get a shot of him before he got all the way across the street and out of view. I've never seen this cat in my yard before let alone sitting on my porch. He was also looking up at the tree before he realized I spotted him. I wonder if he thought that the nest might have refilled itself and he could get another snack. 

The Substitute

Hello blogging peepers. I get to be a substitute today, whatever that is. I don't care what it means because I get to be on the blog and I can tell you anything I want.

I just have one wee little problem. I don't know what I want to tell you. I could tell you about all the fun and exciting things mom has been doing but it would be a lie and a lie is worse than lifting your leg on the furniture. Maybe I'll just stand here and look cute for you.

Have a wooftastic day and go get yourself in to weekend mode.

The Documented Life Project

I'm really falling behind on this and I don't see myself catching up anytime soon. But for now here's the latest page that I've finished

May Theme
Touchy Feely (Texture)
May 16
Art Challenge:  Modeling Paste*
Journal Prompt:  Rising to the Occasion
*Other items can be substituted for modeling paste such as drywall spackle or make your own--just search "homemade texture paste medium" online to find recipes using inexpensive and easy to find ingredients.

I didn't have any of my home made modeling paste so I did use spackle for my page. I spread it on through a stencil and it made for some great texture.

For some reason I kept thinking balloon so I painted a balloon on the page then stamped some flowers and swirls.

I finished up by writing a quote by Confucius.
The quote reads:
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in in rising ever time we fall.

Project 365 week of 5/24

5/24 Sunday afternoon I got home from work and the purse, tote bag and apron got dropped in the chair and I dropped myself on the couch

5/25 It was time to put away the Easter bunny and egg that were sitting on my dining room table. They were replaced by a few red white and blue items

5/26 The sky was looking a little stormy but at lunch time I need to get out of the building and away from people. I go outside and sit in the car and read while I eat my lunch

5/27 Speaking of reading, I was so close to finishing a book that after work I got comfy and did just that

5/28. In order to get some things done outside someone was left inside. He didn't think that was right.

5/29. The oven that was giving me a hard time when I had an order for 200 rolls that had to be done. For some reason the oven wasn't holding it's temperature and the rolls had to bake longer than usual. All was well in the end.

5/30 That yummy chopped greek salad I blogged about.

The Gibbs Report

Hello my blogging peeps. Boy do I have something to bark about today. I finally found out what a groomer was. I don't know if I like the whole thing but I sure do look mighty handsome now.

Mom asked Vicky, my groomer, how I did. She laughed and said that I had no problem with things I should have freaked out about and freaked out about things that shouldn't have bothered me. Call me crazy but I wasn't about to move when she came near me with scissors and those cutty things on my nails but I drew the line when she tried to touch me with that comb. No way was I doing that stuff without a fight.

Mom's hoping that I'll outgrow my dislike of brushes and combs but as far as I'm concerned this whole grooming thing is just not something I plan on repeating.

That's it for this report. Have a wooftastic day.

Hatched

Friday when I came home from work, as usual, I forgot about the nest and walked towards the front door. As usual, I also peeked in to make sure the eggs were still ok. To my delight there had been a whole lot of hatching going on.

This picture is pretty bad but I took this through the front door. They look like little aliens.

Saturday after checking to see if mama bird was anywhere around I got a little closer. If I had been a little quicker I would have caught one with it's little beak open. From this picture they really don't look like birds at all.

Here's a closer look

In no time at all they'll be flying off.