Musing on getting older...

Yes please..a good strong coffee! Now you ask??...yuppers....:)

 

I recently listened to an audio book about making the most of your mornings..before 7am. Being a morning kinda gal...sorry I am an early riser, I thought, well this sounds good!! I read it and it seemed to make great sense..use the early hours to get creative stuff done. Not answering emails and FB responses etc etc...the creative stuff. Like blog posting, brainstorming, drawing, creating new ideas for artwork! Creative stuff. So ever the enthusiastic girl..I did it! For a week and a half ...Monday through Friday I popped out of bed at 5am and got down to being creative. I loved it..enjoyed the time doing creative things..blogging (finally), organizing my thoughts for the day, creating! No interuptions..everyone was sleeping..me time!! Whoot!

 

 It was great...until I realized one little thing....by two o'clock in the afternoon I was suffering from some serious brain fade and that was about the time that I was studying. Coffee was applied..to no avail..I was not retaining information like normal. System overload! So although I really liked that getting up early thing for creative purposes...it occurred to me that that bright shiny brain energy needed to be applied to school. I can knit in the afternoon instead! It all left me feeling a little bit old. Sigh:/

 

Some other news from this week..that just proves that I am getting older...my last little chickie, Mhanon turned 9 last week!! HOW did that happen?? But chip off the ole block..she requested a TARDIS (time and relative dimension in space) cake. If you are a Doctor Who fan you will get it. She made me proud:) She wanted to be a weeping angel for Halloween..YIKES!!

I did my best to create a TARDIS cake and a couple of Daleks for her without real tools. She was happy and it tasted great..so I guess I did ok:)

 

Just a quick reminder...I am having a Cyber sale in my shop today... 25% off any item with the code "holidayjoy".

Happy Monday all!

Cyber Weekend Sale!!

Ok all..here we go...holiday shopping! So for this weekend..cyber weekend through cyber Monday..use this code for 25% off in my Etsy shop ... "holidayjoy". If you are shopping local..feel free to email me if you would like a custom order or local pickup! cottagegardenstudio@gmail.com !! The code applies for local shoppers too:) Just mention it in your email:)

Off to cut and sew and wrap and package! Happy Thursday all!!

Hugs, Sarah

 

Black Friday Etsy Sale.....

Black Friday Sale... 25% on any item in my shop by using the code "BlackFridaySale"!

Needing tags for your knitting projects this season..here are some little sheep to attach to them..add care instructions on the back!

A fun little art print..or maybe an original? Find em here!!

How about a full set of 40 fun little spice labels for you spice jars? They come laminated for long use! Find them here!!

Need some fun stocking stuffer? These sweet little pocket warmers come in pairs..one for each pocket..to keep fingers cozy! Fun little treat for a little price! Find them here... and here !!

Would you like a custom pair of fingerless gloves..made just for you in colors & patterns you love! Just email me here  - cottagegardenstudio@gmail.com! I have room for just a few more orders this season!

Happy Friday all!!

Hugs, Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Happy Thanksgiving all!!

Blessings to each and every one of you!

Namaste, Sarah

Musing on Failure.....

It has been one of those weeks. Where everything that could go wrong did..or at least it seemed that way. Stress was at an all time semester high and my brain took a convenient exit stage left. So lets see..where shall we start? Jim..new job..swing shift...whoot for new job. Seriously huge happy dance. Hmm swing shift...regroup schedule for study and well everything. Done and done. Three major tests this week...HAVE to pass...cause I am driven,competitive girl.

 

Main plumbing line decides to be plugged up..completely plugged up. Which means..basement toilet full of poo..can't use water in house..means..no showers, no laundry..no toilet..ARGGGGGG! Dog decides to eat something nasty outside. In the middle of dealing plumbing issue I wake up to find that she has puked and pooed allllllllllllllllll over the living room in the middle of the night. OMG!!! I am now up to my eyeballs in poo..and well other stuff. See that little guy up there...giggle..yup I looked a bit like that by Thursday morning!!

To be honest I am not really sure what came out of my mouth that morning..am guessing something not so Sarah like. I would post a picture of Lucy..but seriously she was mortified and hiding in the basement. As she really never does this..unless....she has raided the garbage can!

So in the midst of new job schedules, toilets full of poo, sick dogs, knitting orders and homeschooling..I had to study for three major tests. My Muse was standing over in the corner going.

 

."Good luck with that girl!!"

 

She is sassy..geesh! But..I ignored her sarcasm and tried to study. My son yelling from the basement...

"OMG who flushed the toilet up there..the poo is overflowing."

 

Then finding it necessary to use a Big Bang quote..

 

"It's like an upside down volcano in here!"

 

 Jewish accent and all. So I run down to the basement to clean up the mess. Thank goodness for funny boys! So much for studying...I needed to just put my headphones on and go here...a happy place...

 

 

doesn't that look nice...hot cider please!! Carmel in it you say?? Oh yes please!

 

So I took my Conflict management test first..giggle go figure..managed to pass that one! Then on to Algebra...do you think I might get a few points for this one....snort.

 

Uhmmm..open up the test and it is three pages..two of which are all written problems..I think the teacher hear a bunch of this Thursday evening...

 

 

I might have passed this one..not sure yet..my ability to judge much of anything at this point is sketchy at best!

What is up next? Oh ....dog is fine..$100.00 later main line is cleared and we have all showered and have clean clothes on! Major Psych of learning test. Ok well..as I have been teaching for 26 years this class should be a piece of cake..uhmmm...silly me! Great professor..hard class..huge amount of information..huge time commitment. You can see what the issue is here...you can picture me giggling in a sorta not really sane way at this point. The extra shot latte did not help.

So I get to work on this one...and I feel pretty confident. I know the concepts..a great deal of it logical! That is what he wants me to know right? The how and why of it all..right..sigh..sorta.

It was not so much the how and why as the who that tripped me up. The beauty..or horror of online classes is that you get results right away..at least for tests. Huge FAIL..worst fail of all..huge head banging...OMG WTH kinda fail! I kind thought I managed to pass..just maybe..nope. To be honest I was a bit stunned. My Muse..not so much...

 

"Ha...told ya so! What were you thinking..that you would pass this one with all this going on?"

 

Told you she could be sassy and sarcastic! But she was right...I was trying to do it all..and failing big time. Because I am driven..I THINK I can do it all..if I just try hard enough. WAKE UP CALL! I cannot do it all..I have to sit down today and regroup! What do I need to REALLY get done in the next month? What can wait? What cannot. I need to take care of me a bit better too! So today..I am gonna take a little time and look at the next month and figure out what is what! I gonna do this...

Then I will write the 8 page paper for extra credit in my Psych class. Have a wonderful Sunday all..and take care of you today..one little thing even..but do! I am gonna have a delicious hot cider with cinnamon and caramel...can I get you one too??

Namaste All!

Senior Year...almost there.....

I am a Senior this year..in January I will have one last semester to go. All most there..pant, pant, pant. I have been challenged this year. All those upper level classes needed all my attention, hours of study and enough memory work to choke a horse. My 52 year old brain is working overtime! That said..I am loving the learning part. If you are thinking you are too old to head back to school...I am here to say..you are not...GO FOR IT!!  That said... I am really ready to be finished and get on with what comes next. In the mean time I am training this fellow...

 

Sniffy..my virtual rat! We have to do some experimental lab work for a psych. major. So rather than have a lab full of 50 rats for all to experiment on..we get virtual ones! I love that..no real critters are shocked or messed with and we get the training we need. Cause really..we are the ones being trained. Even though my fellow is not real..I still don't enjoy the shocking part..:(

My studio table looks like this most of the time..a mix of artwork and assignments. I look forward to my art table being just for art..next summer:)

Giggle....yuppers all that but the redbull..would never, ever, ever sleep again if I had one of those!

I think I may need to do a bit more of this..a great deal more of this! Have a wonderful Friday all!

Namaste, Sarah

Not a Label Girl.....Musings

A few years back a very wise woman, who I adore gave me some sage advice...

 "Sarah, don't label yourself."

 

I have given that a great deal of thought..as I do most things she shares with me. I have been labeled a great deal of my life...because well..I kinda go my own way. Here are a few I have been called: Weird, odd, Yankee, Geek, Nerd, Drama geek, gleek, uncommon (I like that one) Sci-fi nerd, Trekkie, tom boy, immature, wise, oversensitive, bitch, kind, Christian, Pagan, Buddhist, spiritual, stupid, brilliant, slow, advanced, stylish, outdated, outsider, loner, leader, follower, sheep, wrangler, Republican, Democrat, Independent....you get my point.

 

I suspect if you think on it you could come up with a list of things that you have been labeled with yourself. Some are OK..is nice to be uncommon..I kinda like that one..or kind..or brilliant LOL! But words hurt..labels hurt and separate us as friends, as people, as communities, as a country.

This week on many social media sites I have been quietly watching folks promote their political thoughts. As we have the right to do!! Sites like Facebook and Twitter allow us to post whatever we are thinking..sometimes without thinking... and it in my opinion has changed the way we experience political campaigns. It is all out there..in your face.....all the time..the political media. I am even OK with that..although sick to death of it! What I am not OK with is folks finding it OK to bash each other..unfriend each other..use hurtful words to harm each other over labels! So I am going to wade in here for just a minute and share with you what I have been musing about all week..

One of the beautiful things about living where we do it the freedom to be who we want to be..reach for the things we want to achieve and be..well uncommon if we want to! So when I look at you as a friend...I am not looking at your belief system, who your partner is, what color you are, where you went to school, or where you work, who you support for president, if you are a soccer mom or  a granola, if you are rich or poor, thin or fat, young or old, I do not care about those things... but for one reason..they make you the amazingly wonderful, complex, fascinating person that you are!

 

I want to know what makes you unique, amazing, special! I want to know about where you have been and where you want to go. What makes YOU uncommon!  I want to know your heart not your labels! I want you to know mine!

 

So today..while I am posting things around the Internet..I will be taking a minute and think about my audience and what those hearts are hearing me. Cause sometimes I forget too...I will be watching my words and labels.. 

Happy Wednesday all!

Namaste

 

Needing your help...

Morning all! Well...I was wondering if you might vote for me..if  you have not already? I am participating in a wonderful contest. One winner will take away $10,000.00 towards a technology makeover for their business. It is being offered by Toshiba, Intel and Staples.

What this would mean for me and my artwork is this.... a new printer..I sooooooooo need a good quality printer that has a large scan plate and can create good quality art prints. As it is now I pay a fortune to have someone else do them. A new desk top computer with a larger capacity for programs that use larger space like photoshop etc. This would allow me to expand my business to not only more quality prints but also cards and tags etc. I would love to be able to do that!!

Last but certainly not least...a new camera. Many of you know I sold my Rebel a couple years back to pay the bills and honestly the loss has killed me ever since. My little one is wonderful but is starting to show its age. I might even be able to get some better storage for my studio!!!

So the fun thing..if you click on this link... HERE:) you can just vote for me without logging in..or..if you take a minute and log in you can leave a comment for me ..which would be amazing AND you are entered to win a new Toshiba Ultrabook.

They will be judging all entries that have a large number of votes over 50 and also looking at comments and our businesses! So please take a second and add your vote..and if you have a couple minutes please add a comment. Thank you all so very much!

Namaste, Sarah

Happy Halloween All!!

Happy Halloween all! Off to finish costumes and carve pumkins.

Feeding my passions...

So between classes of my own...six more weeks to go, home schooling..which is going well I am happy to say..and life in general..I am doing this..knitting and a bit of artwork. I love this yarn..nice wool blend..soft..a little chunky in places! On the skein it was not so pretty..but knitted up...well..I kinda love it!! This pair will feature a couple of fun Scottie buttons..almost done. Keep an eye out for them in my Etsy shop!

 

Now...I have been knitting in my studio and listening to my lectures for my classes..and also I have discovered this site.. Audible.com , which is part of Amazon. To post a review for Jeremy Robinson's book Ragnarok (which was amazing) I had to have purchased a book on Amazon. I had not..so I found a fun little cheap business book I liked and purchased it..and discovered Audible. Along with a free month subscription I received a couple fun audio books of my choice. Uhmmmm..I love it! I adore reading..and frankly have been soooo busy studying and creating..there has been little time to read..so now I get my book fix, art fix and knitting fix all at the same time. Thank you Jeremy!!

 

Oh and here is a secret you might not know yet..most public libraries have audio and Kindle style download books you can get online! One more little tidbit...you don't have to have a Kindle to get the program for your laptop or PC..it is free on Amazon..just download and get all the Kindle books (they are generally cheaper) you want. I kinda loved that!!!

Oh and in my spare time I have been playing around with owl tags..not sure what I think of these..hmmmm...kinda prim..kinda folksy. Tell me please..what kind of tags do you think I should create? Scottie Dogs are coming and some kitty ones..any thoughts?

Everyone back East...take care and be safe please!!!

Happy Tuesday all!

Staging Halloween...

Maybe because I am a teacher..or maybe I was suppose to be a decorator..or set designer LOL..I love, love, love doing this for each holiday. Staging! Pulling all the fun little treats I have collected and putting them together in places around the house! So much fun. This year the main staging area is my yarn cabinet. I love it..it is in the main room and perfect for adding fun too!

 

 

Some of my fun little treats I have created..like the Scottie dog or the potion bottles. Some of them I have collected at thrift shops like the little owls.

But the ones I love the best are the ones from other artists and gifts from folks:) That delightful broom in the last picture and the cute witchy and cat from this one..see her sitting on top? Those little signs..yup:) So each year about now the kids get excited to see what I am gonna do with all of our collection! Christmas you ask..do I do this for Christmas?? You betcha:)

 

Oh and the yarn cabinet..is one of my favorite things too...all that soft, delightful yarn in full view...yuppers..happy girl!!

 

So why inside the cabinet this year..last year it was all over the table and everywhere else LOL?!

Well....................

This fellow...sweet William..love that nose!

and.....this new little fellow..Gnocchi.  Love that little nose too! Who would have a field day with all the fluffy, wispy, feathery, rolly fun on the table top. So this year they are up in the yarn cabinet..and I am OK with that! What do ya think??

Happy Thursday all!

Hugs!

Musing...and Regrouping...

It has been a rough season really. To be honest that is half the reason I have been missing in action here on my blog. Yup was a busy summer..and I loved the lake and being with just my kids for a change. But here I am in October and having to rethink things..again. Unemployment checks for Jim ended early..and threw us for a loop. To say the least..we are scrambling.

 

So what am I really writing about today..regret..frustration..anger..well..no not so much. Have I been feeling all those things? Yuppers..right back in that financial pit! I grumbled..cussed..was cranky and sulky...

Uhmmm...yup..that! If course you all know my Muse..always having to get the last word in..

 

"Ehemmm....HELLO! Are you listening Sarah??"

 

Trying to ignore you...am being grumpy girl..pity pool..geesh.

 

" Time to wade on out and get a grip..no time for all this foolishness..get over yourself!"

 

Grmmmph..

 

"Has it occurred to you that maybe..just maybe there is some wonderful new experience waiting for you? That perhaps this is an opportunity waiting to be offered?"

 

But..but...but..I have it all planned out..what is suppose to happen..all planned out!!!

 

"LOL Sarah..are you serious?? Planned out huh? So let me ask you..did you not ask for certain things to be brought into your life?? Put it out there right?"

 

Uhmm..yes...:/

 

"Well has it occurred to you that you are getting an answer?"

 

Uhmmmm..no...

 

"Then let that sink in and get back to me!"

 

Ok..so this is where I am today..my Muse has made herself known..and I am thinking on this notion. That I put out there what I wanted..and that this could be an positive thing..not a negative one..that I need to go with the flow..and ..yup..got it.. be present and positive!

 

Being present sometimes feels like a skittish horse to me..shys away so easily and just out of reach. I need a bucket of oats I think!

Hope your Wednesday is a good one!

Namaste all!

 

Sweater Weather...

You can tell it is getting colder outside..cause this is what the kits do at my house..snuggle up in my room..where it is warmer. Why warmer you ask? Cause the rest of the family it seems has some strange hot blooded gene..not so much me! So I bought a little heater for my studio. While the rest of the family runs around in shorts in December..I can at least remain warm in the studio..wrapped up in triple layers. Oh and yes..my thyroid is fine..I am female and older...sigh. So..I love having a couple pair of these around. They leave my fingers free and hands cozy. Great for the office or studio or out taking photos! If you would like a custom pair please feel free to contact me @ cottagegardenstudio@gmail.com or convo me in my shop.

These sunny treats are in my Etsy shop.. 100% acrylic yarn for easy care.

Oh and I love this yarn..such stunning colors. Lovely wool blend. Just listed these babies..

Because it is that time of year again..collecting acorns and colored leaves. Oh I soooooo love the fall! Happy Tuesday all!

Love This Book..

A week or so back Jeremy Robinson posted on his FB page that he was offering a audio download of his latest book to five folks! Uhmmmmm...YES PLEASE! I was one of the lucky ones. Thank you Jeremy!

 

Of course this meant that I disappeared into my studio for a full weekend of art, kick butt action and some really cool monsters! My children ate pizza and my husband played video games. I, on the other hand got a huge amount of artwork done. Homework..not so much. But soooo much fun!

 

A couple years ago my husband passed one of Jeremy's books on to me. I thought..OK..another one of those action filled team books. Which I like I do..a good action thrilled always makes my week. But I had been handed several of these by him..and it was always the same..amazing team of folks..stereotypes..static..never changing.  After the second or third book I was bored beyond belief or totally annoyed that the female characters were either shrinking pansies or more male than female. But I read the first one and the second one..and WOW!!! Not only can this man write..he writes amazing female characters! Strong, smart and capable! WHOOOT! There is nothing I like better than a well written character! Full of flaws and ever learning! There is nothing static about Jeremy's characters! With each new challenge they grow and morph! I love that!

 

Uhmmm...oh yeah..action/thriller novel...yuppers!! The Chess team tend to deal with the odd job. Mythical monsters and alien threats..world saving stuff. Somehow Jeremy manages to create scenarios that just well...ROCK! The man has some serious imagination! Something I have a great deal of appreciation for..but then you knew I would!

 

The story.. I will not give away..but it has to do with Norse myth and monsters, different dimensions, a kick butt team, some dark experiments and saving the world in Chess Team fashion. Oh and I am still wiping virtual white goo off myself..with shivers! Thank you Jeremy for the chance to enjoy this wonderful read!!

 

You can find the audio version on Amazon... and later this week it will be available in hardback!

Oh and Jeremy....Happy Birthday!!!

Teaching an Old Dog....

Happy October all! My very favorite month..maybe cause it is my birth month..or the Autumn colors, the snap in the air, the delicious smells in and out of the house, the sweaters or well it is just Fall and I love that!! Uhmmm..yuppers all that! Of course I had to do a little Kitt and Boo picture:) 

 

 

 

This ole' dog has been trying something new this fall...hang tags. I have really enjoyed creating these little sets of artwork. So much fun!! Why didn't I think of this sooner? Tags for your knitting projects..to add care instructions perhap?. Sheep tags for Hand Knit and Hand crocheted items!!

 

No wolves here!!

Of course you need fun little tags for your spice cabinet! Some with little bees and things..and some with some sweet little monsters..cause I love little monsters! Laminated for long lasting use!

Well ya know I had to create some fun little Halloween hang tags!!

Do you can and preserve? More fun little laminated tags with critters and more sweet little monsters and dragons! Turn them over and add the date and item on the laminated blank back!!

 

Some laminated fall leaves to use year after year or in the classroom? Yuppers I have been having some serious fun with these little projects. You can find them all in my Etsy shop! Happy October all!

Namaste:)