Postcards: newly introduced to my shop:







I'm hoping you'll stop by my shop and fave it if you've not already done so. I will readily return the favour (:
And please check my most recent post if you've not seen it yet.

Later,
Wendy

I am following the lead of the lovely Karen who gave the idea of putting the little photos at the beginning of sections. And as I'm always thinking of angels I thought what an appropriate way to embellish my posts. I have also been sent so many angels I wanted to share some of them with you.

I am in a place where I have so many works in progress at the moment and I am feeling uncertain of where to turn. I think I will begin by showing you my latest creation from the weekend. That is a new carved stamp. I had borrowed Ruth Issett's book from the library. Through her book Print, Pattern and Colour, together with various articles from Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazines I have drawn so much inspiration.

And since I started this post yesterday morning I decided to do a tutorial video about making stamps.











I've also completed three postcards using the recent stamp and have posted them in my shop. YES! I'll show photos of them tomorrow. It's getting too late now. (PHEW! THANK GOODNESS daughter's Home Ec. project is done. There was much turmoil today after school.)

Unfortunately the planning was just a bit slow in that I learned the dear Karen had advertised my blog and shop in a post she did yesterday. Oh well, there is only so much I can accomplish at one time and my left eye wants to keep twittering at me - take time to rest, take time to rest.

I have also learned that my dear friend Elena has started her very own blog. ***YAY ELENA*** I hope you'll take time to visit her and comment. I also hope to be stopping by some of the fabulous blogs she has introduced to me and putting links to hers AND numerous of these others in the near future.

Getting very late so I will have to be back with you all tomorrow.

Angels be with you,
Wendy

still here: I have been quite tied up the past few days because our daughter has been needing to complete a major home cooking project for homework. It is due on Wednesday. She needs much help and I am trying to help her so she can impress the teacher. I doubt she would ever see this so will tell you we are making a little video. Cat did most of it. I've been teaching her how. I also helped with some of the photographs to put the name of the recipes directly on them. It really helped Cat's attitude at least, by suggesting these little fancy extras.
Also our scanner gets tired. It doesn't want to work properly after a number of scans. (: I guess I should be tired too. I have to take the dog and myself for a walk yet. Hopefully in next couple of days I'll have 2 more videos done and a few more things for my etsy.
Good night or good morning as the case very well may be.

earth day Part 2:
Of course I have to keep reminding myself that I CANNOT do everything at once, even if I think I can. And so I am working very slowly at trying to introduce more items to my shop and do networking. I really wasn't sure what I was going to do for my dear friend Suze - today is her birthday. I thought of something to send her and I truly hope that she likes it. I wish I could have done more but that's all time allowed right now.

I'm a bit late but finally got this video prepared from earth day, April 22. I'm working on other projects too. Earth day may have to extend into next month (: I'll see what I can do.

I know there is much more I could do for Mother Earth but I am doing what I am able for now. If you want to hear the words from the t-shirt with the words you'll have to listen to the video.

I'll be offering 4 x 6 inch prints of some of the photos from the video in my etsy shop - hopefully I'll get then listed sometime tomorrow.







Till next time
may angels be with you,
Wendy

Earth day Part 1:
Getting quite late so I won't take time to tell much today. I'll show you a couple of photos of some works in progress and some earth day projects. I'll tell you more about everything tomorrow or as soon as I can.



I should mention also that I saw the optometrist and she reiterated my thought that the changes in my eye are very normal. I have two areas of hypo-pigmentation in my right eye - all normal. She asked if she should send a letter to the diabetes specialist. I said not necessary as I wasn't planning to return to him anyway. Wonderful reassurance for a person with diabetes (of 47 years) to be told that the eye is fine, which the diabetes specialist (the idiot, I mean character) had thought was a concern.

Till tomorrow,
angels be with you,
Wendy

Wishes for today:

1. that I could dance - more like this:



2. that I could speak my comments to people's blogs and videos and etsy and pictures, and have them automatically typed. Even better would be if I could think them. Ummm - it would automatically be able to pick and choose the appropriate thoughts to type :D - typing with just 2 fingers sucks (and takes a lot of precious time) : (

3. that the sun would shine a bit more these days.

Thought for today from inspiration peak:
There are no accidents... there is only some purpose that we haven't yet understood.
Deepak Chopra
Indian Author and Medical Doctor

Getting excited:
The first good news is our daughter did a complete (for the time being anyway) turnaround. This was Wednesday. Cat also sees Naomi and had just seen her last Saturday. It takes a few days sometimes to notice positive effects. Also the proper consequences set in place make a world of difference. Prayer probably had a huge impact too. Thanks if you were one of the many people offering those up.

Just a couple more days until I will have so much more time for art and networking. Lots of my time will be spent networking for etsy but I also hope to visit more of your blogs soon. It probably helps that I received two awards this week and have to find - hmmm - 15 bloggers to present awards to. That's a good thing :D I think I'll be announcing some give aways soon also. Maybe the two can compliment each other.

There's some bit of exciting news with my etsy. Check my shop announcement and recent additions. Once I get networking I may not be able to keep up with it all. HA! I wish. Here are a couple of the places I hope to be networking - etsy groups on facebook and etsy groups on flickr. I've shown my face a bit already on the flickr groups. I'm still a bit uncertain about this whole facebook piece. Sigh. Wish me luck. Also let me know if you are there and I don't have you marked as a friend. You can find me there as Wendy Burton.





Above are a couple of pictures of a beautiful, thin vintage handkerchief I found in the past week. I love the picture on it and thought it so appropriate for this time of year.

Almost forgot to mention I made my first etsy purchase a little while ago. I so wish I could buy something from each of you but I first have to make more sales myself :D If you can't buy anything from my shop right now I'd truly appreciate if you faved anything you at least like a little bit. I'll be doing the same for you if I know where to find you.

Angels be with you,
Wendy

PEACE GARDEN art quilt:



I've posted a new video and a new item to my etsy shop. The quilt is not actually new but perhaps new to you.

Stay tuned. Hopefully I'll have another video and more items for etsy in next day or two.
Please see yesterday's post where I mention More cheerful things

So much happening lately but trying to take time to relax also.
In the process of cleaning our folks house I've found a number of vintage items. We've also been trying to clean at the farm where we need to make space to put the things they want to move from the City. I am trying to organize even more in my studio space so I can have things in a place AND have places to put everything we brought from the farm and City. I can't remember if I'd said I got an old cupboard that had probably been at my Aunt and Uncle's on the farm before they moved to Regina. The most recent find was MANY old books. Yummm - perfect for my altered arts. I've had to put things in the main room of the basement - just not enough space for all the treasures of a mixed-up :D media artist. I've started a video about my studio and many of the vintage finds. I'm not certain of when I'll get to putting that together. I've too many other videos already started. Two of them are for my etsy shop.

For anyone that's been following my posts I'll say that the diabetes specialist was not understanding. My diabetes is affected hugely by my stress levels. Unfortunately my stress levels are affected largely by things I don't have control over, but I CANNOT in most cases, walk away from. The main piece would be our daughter who has sensory issues on top of being a teenager. One of her labels is Oppositional Defiance Disorder. While she is doing well considering her labels, we have NOT been getting the support this past year which we were receiving the previous few years. Fortunately the school is very accommodating about her issues and trying to work with her needs. It is also through the school that we have found the main support for our family. The therapist understands diabetes very well also and that makes a difference. There is also the family factor of both my folks aging and having a single brother who has taken on the responsibility for them. This is a huge burden for him as their needs for assistance increase. I try to help as I can but my bro is very understanding about our daughter. Again a piece I will not walk away from.
And so my diabetes goes along. I try very much to look after it properly. We almost always weigh and measure my food. I've been having help with my depression and anxiety for about the past six years, or more. I can't remember exactly. I have chosen to not go on prescribed medication at anytime for the depression and anxiety. I choose to use other methods of treatment. They have been extremely effective.
I can also mention that through my nursing, which I did for about ten years, I encountered many folks with diabetes. I was also involved with the Canadian Diabetes Association serving a number of years ago as the provincial president and at the same time as the provincial representative on the national board. I was part of the diabetes educators group and had as a good friend the past president of the national association. Through my experiences I have had great amounts of respect for my knowledge and expertise, as well as understanding for my extremely difficult to control diabetes, from many of these people as well as endocrinologists I have had in the past. The endocrinologist I saw last Thursday was a jerk, I mean, did not respect me at all, paid no attention to what I had to say. He was going totally on the information given to him by the family doctor in her referral. And that was all after having to wait an hour and fifteen minutes to get to see him, resulting in an appointment over the lunch hour. He asked if I'd had my breakfast and lunch. Ahem - what time was I supposed to eat my lunch - 10:30? My appointment was to have been at 11 a.m.
I am not really certain if the diabetes specialist has any inkling of how hard I try to manage my diabetes AND in the trying probably cause increased stress. In the past I would probably have chosen to tell him and try to educate him BUT I'm at the point where I choose to continue to find time for art and relaxation as opposed to spending increased amounts of time trying to support his ego, I mean try to teach him.

More cheerful things:
Besides starting to sell on etsy I have been investigating more local possibilities. I don't think I had ever told you about a neighbour from reasonably close to the farm. Edie Marshall is an artist who has been gaining local acclaim. The Mendel Art Gallery and Calories are just two of the locales in Saskatoon which have shown Edie's work. I encountered Edie at the workshop I had attended a year ago February. We determined we knew each other. I had actually gone to school with Edie's sister. I had actually forgotten about that meeting of Edie until just a few weeks ago. I remembered she had invited me to paint at her studio (you need to scroll about half way down the page to get to the place where Edie's studio is mentioned). She suggested when we are visiting at our farm sometime. Last summer it was not practical but I will be making every effort to try to do that this coming summer.
There's more - Edie is now a member of the provincial CARFAC board as the Saskatchewan representative. CARFAC stands for Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes Canadiens. I have been encouraged in the past to join CARFAC and am very seriously considering doing that in the very near future. It's kind of funny that when I had first encountered Edie and was telling her about my interest in working with fabric she and another person attending the workshop told me about Martha Cole. Through CARFAC there are mentorships which can happen. These two were suggesting that perhaps I could do a mentorship with Martha Cole. Again, it seemed unlikely at the time. Now I'm starting to think something like this could someday be a possibility. And I got an interesting surprise when I was talking to my enterprising sister-in-law last fall. I was telling her about Martha. I wasn't really too surprised when Donna told me that she knows Martha and did some work with her, possibly on the books I just had for the link. How cool is that?
Back to Edie - I found another interesting piece of information when I did a search on Edie. I found her name as one of the participating artists for an event at The Garden Gallery. Not only is Edie one of the artists but I also learned of a local singer/songwriter named Carrie Catherine. When I started to investigate, the possibilities for using some of Carrie's music on my videos came to me. I have to get in touch with her. Regardless - I am planning to go to Kindersley and meet with Edie and other Saskatchewan artists as well as have the opportunity to listen to Carrie Catherine. I hope I'll be able to get tickets.

Can we handle any more news for today? I have chosen to leave the writer's group with which I was involved. There are a couple of us wanting to start a local visual artists group instead. I have a friend who has been studying art for a number of years at St. Pete's. She actually had a showing at their gallery in the library. I had opportunity to show Cynthia just a few of my pieces about a year ago. She was interested but she also has been busy with family commitments. I did a search online but found nothing.

And so the future holds possibilities.

One more week - I want to let you know that I am doing fine. The challenges keep coming at me when I least expect them but I have learned some excellent coping skills and I have some wonderful helpers. I started a longer post earlier today but was nearly knocked off balance again after school today.
Now I have chorus practice to go to. Our final concerts are Friday and Sunday evenings. I also have some other appointments in the meantime. So once again I have very little time for creating. But just wait until next week - oh, I can hardly wait. In the meantime I'll try to finish the long post I started earlier today and introduce a couple of videos and items in my etsy shop.
Till tomorrow, may angels be with you,
Wendy

Greg, Billy and I took a lovely walk yesterday:

a man in the universe -
I had an appointment yesterday with a new endocrinologist (diabetes specialist). I wrote a piece about it which I am sharing at my other blog.
I hope you'll take a moment to read it.

And here's a photo of "my faithful friend"



Angels be with you,
Wendy XO

blue lady



I just completed this journal page today. I'd done the background a couple of weeks ago. It was done with words, light blue acrylic paint, possibly a mask with words in oil pastels, blue ink over top and then some stamping with a hand carved stamp and metallic paint. I drew the face a few days ago in pencil. Today I used a bit of watercolor pencil and then caran d'ache crayons with water. I drew in some details with a black pen.

I thought it was a good day to finish the "blue lady" as that's pretty much how I'm feeling today. It doesn't help that I've got an appointment tomorrow with a new diabetes specialist and my blood sugars have been bouncing around crazily. I'll have to try to explain to him about all the stress and how it affects my diabetes. I'll have to try to tell him that I'm trying to look after myself but how difficult it's being. I'll have to go through the whole story again. That's difficult. I spent 45 minutes on the phone yesterday morning talking to a new helper for our daughter. Shortly after that my blood sugar was something like 22. The normal high is 7.

Actually I feel like running away someplace right now and just doing art. OH WELL! Maybe next week :D

A touch of sunshine:

Taking some time to recuperate. I was feeling quite uncomfortable on Sunday but in my way, kept going, through the morning anyway. Yesterday was better and today even more so. My family commitments should be diminishing somewhat, I think. My main area of discomfort seems to be in my jaws. I could barely open my mouth on Sunday. I carry on though as I know there are folks much worse off than I. I also can wreak havoc with family who over-react to discomforts. OR they think they have to compete - with a worse cold or a more sore head or WHATEVER! So you see - I am fine :D

I am trying very much to complete a video about the "strong, free, me" girl. I am planning to introduce a "line" at my shop around her. Next week, if not sooner.

In the meantime I wanted to share this new video:



I was also astonished to learn yesterday that I have a couple of pics on flickr with over 1000 views. I can hardly believe it. Here they are:





May angels be with you dear friends,
Wendy

Breezing by to say all is well and I'll be back to you next week.
Remember to take time to smell the roses.



Angels be with you,
Wendy

Bits and pieces:
If you haven't already, please take a moment to check the pink artist doll. I believe this is a spectacular project to raise funds for breast cancer. Love Squared, as she is known, has been a wonderful collaborative project of Monica and many artists. Thanks Monica. I have chosen to put my blog in pink for a few days to honour those who have lost loved ones to this painful entity of cancer. Also I want to recognize those who are survivors. Interestingly, I have a cousin whose name is Monica, that is a survivor.

As I plod along my artful path I have chosen to share this video which contains one of my favourite songs. It's a little bit of a unique presentation.



And finally I'll share a self portrait from this morning. I did it mostly in preparation for some of the videos with which I'm working. I've written words to go with that speak a bit to where I am at the moment:



relax?
WHO? ME?
I don't remember
what that means
maybe
I could
try

another busy day:







These are not new. I can't remember exactly when I did them. I just thought they were something different to show that I've worked on in the past couple of weeks. They are backgrounds for journal pages in case you didn't realize. The two with blue I actually used watered down ink. I had tried with undiluted blue and they got way too dark. I love playing. Unfortunately I often don't know how to repeat the steps to get EXACTLY same effect. LOL

I did some rearranging in my studio today again. I love to do still life photos. I'll share them in a couple of days. I've also done more experimenting with transfers. One of these years I might get lucky and actually get some kind of results. I was going to check at "The Good Neighbour Store" for a little crock pot for wax BUT the thrift type store wasn't open WAAAHHH :( tomorrow :D

Sometimes we stare so long at our balloon in the sky we forget that our ice cream is melting on our plate.
Author Unknown
But Greatly Appreciated!

From Inspiration Peak

Angels be with you.