How to Clog Your Dyson Vacuum in 11 Easy Steps

Step 1. Have a Dyson because they're "guaranteed not to lose suction".

Step 2. Have a dog who is hyper active and likes to mouse (a destructive cat will also do).

Step 3. Have a small mice/rat problem (don't worry - it's being treated - if it wasn't the name of this post would be "Welcome to My New Home").

Step 4. Have a small rodent get into your crawl space where the dog (or cat) can hear it. You only need one to drive the dog crazy.

Step 5. Have dog spend the day, the night and all the next day guarding the area of your carpet where the dog can hear the rodent. I know what you're thinking - this step should be 'go under the house and find the rodent'. We've tried that - we've even let the dog try that. We've even had the pest people try - and they can't find them - but they baited the heck out of the crawl space. SO, we've given up trying to find it too!

Step 6. Wait for the dog to grow impatient and start digging through your carpet AND the pad (the pad part is important) down to the sub floor in the middle of the night.

Step 7. Awaken to complete disaster in your dining room and large bare area of subfloor. Because what you needed at 5:30 in the morning is a major disaster on your hands.

Step 8. Roll your eyes, wake cranky husband up and alert him to the issue, cover the hole to prevent further damage and head out the door to work. Silently cuss at the dog in your head.

Step 9. Have husband decide that the vacuum is the best option and vacuum up large pieces of the carpet pad thus clogging the vacuum. Have husband forget to tell you that he clogged it.

Step 10. Wait for dog hair to pile up on the carpet. Then try to vacuum only to realize it has lost it's suction (some guarantee!).

Step 11. Call husband at work, take deep calming breaths while you contemplate raking up dog hair.

If Alice had a Sister - The Mad Tea Party 2011

Hello and welcome if this is your first time to my blog! This is my first time participating in the Mad Tea Party, and I am super excited, if not a little late, to join in the fun!

Below is my painting for the big day. It's a picture of my daughter, Mackenzie, when we took her to her very first afternoon tea. I snapped the picture for posterity, but when I saw it, it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. And I thought to myself that she looked like Alice's little sister. My mind began to wonder into my daydream world, and I wondered what Alice's little sister would say and do. Thus, a poem was born! (It's under the painting).

I had a burning desire to paint my daughter as Alice's little sister, but alas, I had no painting skills a year ago when the idea was born. I've gained a few since then, gradually working up my nerve to give this a try. I typically do collage work and abstract pieces, so this is my first portrait.

Although I am pleased with it overall, I can already see the things I need to adjust in it. Unfortunately, I ran out of time today, so I am posting where she is at now.

I hope you like it (be kind and lie to me if you don't)!

Without further adieu...


The poem reads:

If Alice had a sister,
I think she's have a lot to say.
I think she'd make up stories
and dream her day away.

If Alice had a sister,
I think she's want to play,
and have lots of tea parties
throughout the month of May.

If Alice had a sister,
I think she'd be okay
with taking a trip to Wonderland,
but only if Alice would stay.

This is the original picture the painting was based off of:

These are Mackenzie's rules for tea - taken from my original post.

Conversations with Mackenzie:

After what I felt was a thorough review of appropriate behavior for tea, I say
"Okay, what are the rules for tea?"

Mackenzie (age 4) says very matter-of-factly "We are not supposed to burp or toot!"

Jack (age 7) "WHAT?!! I'm not going to tea!"

Me "Don't start! Don't even think about starting, Jack"

Mackenzie "I'm not supposed to show my underwear either, am I, mommy?"

Me (stifling a big giggle) "No, honey. You aren't supposed to show your underwear at tea"

So, if ever you need to review the rules for high tea, remember that you aren't supposed to burp or toot and you shouldn't show your underwear. Just in case you weren't clear about that.

Painted metal pendant

Happy PPF and Sneak Peek Friday!

I'm a bit late to the party this week! I work in the schools,and this was our last week - which entails short deadlines, last minute requests, and lots of chaos! I collapsed into bed last night before I could write this post. I woke up refreshed and ready to go today!

I thought I would have my painting - If Alice had a Sister - finished, but as you read above, there was no time. I'm finishing it today for tomorrow's deadline. I'll try to update this post with a pic when it's finished. Fingers crossed! Update - here is the 90% finished piece! The link to the post is above!

Being short on time and long on my desire to create, inspired me to work on some unfinished jewelry pieces that have been laying around the studio. I have a love of all things old. If it's old and rusty, I'm interested, but if it's old and sparkly, I must have it!

Recently I found a few foil back glass pendants which were in mint condition - one was red, my favorite color! These types of pendants are not a typical size, so a pre made setting isn't an option. I decided to create one from metal I had already embossed. I should note that the foil on the backs of these is easily damaged, so it needs to be protected from wear and tear .

BUT, last night while working on this piece, I realized that aged brass was a better fit than silver. I debated for a while on what to do, and thought I might try painting the metal.

The metal is attached to the pendant via silver foil tape which was also painted. It's a bit brighter in the pic than in real life. I sealed it with gloss medium which accounts for some of the brightness in the pic. Here's the finished piece. Thankfully, the paint won't be seen much. The cream beads are from an old rosary I couldn't repair.

And now for your Friday dose of funny - Conversation's with Mackenzie on her field trip to the zoo.

Me "How was the zoo?

Her "It was awesome."

Me "What was your favorite part"

Her "The PENGUINS!!! It was off the hook, Mom!"

Because, you know, we talk like that all the time....

It's Complicated Water Color Skin

Happy PPF and Sneak Peek Friday!

This piece is called It's Complicated because, well, it was a complicated process. In fact, I can't fully remember all the steps. You can skip the process part and jump to the painting if you want. I totally understand!

It started with a watercolor skin made from some left over paint on my palette. I added torn cheese cloth and part of a used dryer sheet both of which I dyed with a watery red paint mixture prior to applying (it's possible that the left over paint was from dyeing the cloth).

The skin dried orange, instead of red, so I added red to the back of it (which didn't do much). I added crimson glaze to the front to bring the red tones out which helped. When I removed the skin from it's backing, it stretched and rippled (which I liked).

I thought it needed more texture and wanted to echo the rippled/stretched effect. Actually, I wanted an excuse to use my new glass bead gel, so this was it. Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen introduced me to Glass bead gel, and let me tell you, I have a bit of an addiction. I added random pieces of dried glass bead gel (painted with crimson glaze) to the piece, then decided to try to sculpt it by draping it over pencils and leaving it to set for a few days. It's more dominant than I intended, but it definitely added interest.

The water color skin is transparent, so I added strips of transparencies which were printed with a picture of a flower and it's green leaves. I also mono printed the paper with the dashes on it using Acrylic Open Medium with paint, a brayer and a texture plate for opacity.

I had no idea what color to paint the canvas before applying the watercolor skin, so I asked hubby (who has an art background) and he suggested Pthalo blue (green shade). This was an unhappy accident as it washed out the water color skin and rendered it useless. So, I added an interference color to reflect the light back out through the water color skin which saved the piece.

And there you have it. Whew!! Like I said, it's complicated!

I'm also working on a piece for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. You can visit the challenge here. I'm painting a large canvas from a picture of my daughter, Mackenzie, the first time I took her High Tea. If you need a laugh, you should check out Mackenzie's rules for tea. Here's your sneak peek pic. I wrote a poem for the piece called If Alice had a Sister. Finally, I'm adding words to a painting!

I can't wait to blog hop this weekend and see what everyone is up to! I have a nasty cold and a date with my bed for some much needed rest this weekend. It's the perfect excuse to spend my day getting my art fix on!

Sunday Sketches - Aren't we a Pear?

I'm new to Sunday Sketches, and so excited to put my first post up! I've been checking it out for a while now, but have never actually posted.

I have an affinity for mixed media pieces, but I especially love my water color pencils. They are so forgiving. When I first started with them, I used a brush to blend the colors. I have young children though, and they inevitably knocked the cup of water over, or took it to use with their paints. I couldn't always find a cup to use either. Then I discovered Copic markers makes a clear blender. It has a broad end for larger areas, and a fine tip paint brush end for detail work. A love affair was born!

In the piece below, I used my water color pencils to sketch the pears and fill them in, then blended with a Copic marker. The background, believe it or not, is made from large sheets of watercolored paper that I paint randomly then cut them up to make a "sketch" book. It's more blue in person, but I'm not sophisticated enough to fix it in Photoshop.

I don't always have a full concept in mind when I start a sketch, so I cheat and cut the finished focal piece out and adhere it to my background. I then add collage elements to support it.

I hope you like it! I call it "Aren't We a Pear" - because I'm terrible at naming paintings ;)

And now, for your Sunday dose of funny

Conversations with Mackenzie (age 5)

Her "Mom, can I have a sharpie?"

Appropriate Mom warning bells go off

Me "Whhhyyyy?"

Her "I need to write a note to the birds to tell them (she turns to the birds) to STOP POOPING ON MY SLIDE!"

Me "Sure"

She wrote them a note and made sure to add the consequence "If you poop on my slide again, I'm taking it down and you won't be able to do it anymore!"

Always in My Heart

Happy PPF everyone! I'm late to the party this week and missed last week all together (yikes!).

I have a new vinyl project started. So far it just has black lines (not really post worthy). I'm hoping to have it ready for PPF next week. It's my first large piece ever (read intimidating). Stay tuned...

In the mean time, I decided to post a piece I did last year. It's a deeply personal piece for me, and I've never shared it before. I'm sure we all have someone who lives in our heart. Here is the story of mine.

In between the birth of my oldest, and Mackenzie, we had three miscarriages. The last one was particularly difficult because I had felt her kick. We named her Kayla, and planted pink tulips in our front yard to remember her by. A month later, we were pregnant with Mackenzie (she has her own story, but that's another post).

Everyone handles grief in their own way. I decided to paint. This piece is called Always in My Heart for my baby girl, who lives there.

In other frivolous and completely unrelated news, I bought a new rose for my garden. It was too beautiful to pass up when I saw it at the rose farm . I thought you might enjoy it too!

Last but not least, conversations with Mackenzie, on how she would like her spaghetti.

Me "Do you want sauce or just noodles?"

Her "I want just a bit of sauce on 1/4 of my noodles, a little pinch of salt on 1/4 of the noodles, and some grated cheese on the rest"

Me "So, yes?"

Now I ask you, where does this child think she lives?

Happy PFF everyone!