Cathy Michaels Design by Cathy Bluteau

Fall to Winter to Fall

You can feel the winter in the air ...

though nature looks like fall

The full bushes remind me that Christmas is on the way

 and the flowers say no - maybe not yet

 

Brag Monday

Hello Hello - busy weekend and busy Monday - but NO I did not forget abou Brag Monday over at graphicsfairy.com.

I have today - to brag about  ;)  another little muslin bag with the sweet little girl piece of clipart that  Karen provided.  As you know, I have used this little image on a few of my pieces but somehow I never tire of this little face:

  And here she is sitting up:

The JOY DIET - Chapter 7 - PLAY

 

Martha's Chapter on "PLAY" was a little disappointing I must say.  I was so sure we were going to  "Play".  But no—Martha wanted us to work—AGAIN!!  Oh no….

This Chapter focused on an area that I have been struggling with my entire life.  How to resolve that conflict between having to make a living versus where my true passion is?  Is the work I am doing in my daytime job the legacy I want to leave  - of course not.  Does it fulfill my inner needs, my deepest desire my BIG MIND! - no not really.  Do I do this day job well - absolutely - Does it sometimes give me pleasure -  yes, sometimes - Does it pay the bills and keep us living with the quality of life we have chosen - absolutely!!!

I know I know, I should have taken the risk a long time ago and made the plunge into the world of art as I have always wanted to do - but I didn't.  And this back and forth in my mind between the two worlds has often left me very tired.

At this point in my life I have chosen to stop considering my day job - as "the maintenance work " as Martha calls it - of my real life.  This is my life.  I spent a lot of energy and time being frustrated as I went through all of the motions of being a single parent, and the groceries and the dry cleaning and the work and the babysitting - complaining and whining -  and then one day my mother said - "It's a lot of work isn't honey" - and as she said it - a light bulb went off in my head.  But rather than the usual whining and complaining I stopped and thought and said - you know what mom, yes it is, but this is my life - and this is the way things are - I can go on complaining through every minute of it - or I can chose to believe that everything I do is part of my life - it’s part of living. 

 

No one likes laundry - but it has to get done, - I don't like cooking - but I have to eat.  And those little mundane things should not go unnoticed as just “maintenance” but part of your life to be enjoyed when you can make it enjoyable.  But you cannot keep complaining about all those things because then life would just be too tiring.

So all of that to say that I have reconciled these two worlds of day job earning money versus "night" job creating art and doing what I love - by simply accepting that, for now at least - this is the way it has to be.  I do however, like Martha says - make sure we take the "eagle" view and not only the "mouse" view.  And that has helped me a lot.  I often joke with colleagues at work who get so worked up over what I consider minor issues - I tell them - we are not saving lives here - we are only supporting the customer - or answering a call or whatever it is.  These are not life or death decisions—they are just a part of our work.

And so this type of thinking has allowed me to see the big picture.  I know what I do every day doesn't feed my soul - but I also know that what I do everyday from 9-5 or 9-9 on some days - is NOT my whole life.  It doesn’t represent everything I do or everything I am.

The little things I do in my life—making dinner with my son nearby, having dinner conversation, making art, talking on my blog, sharing books in book clubs—that is what is my whole life.

All those eagle view things I do during my "mouse-y" days are what my life is really all about and that for me those things are my BIG MIND.!

 

 

Cathy

Peaking your interest

Hello to you all.  I am so glad you all liked the muslin bag I posted the other day.  And although I had posted the lot of them before - I'm going to be sassy and post them again now that I have "peaked your interest".  ; )

I love my little bags and so, without further ado - I am posting a few more of them here for all to see and enjoy. 

My sweet little bird...

Perfect and Pure at his feet

 

Original watercolor transferred and sewn

Ruffled and sweet

A variation on the drawstring with a little button tie ...
(another fabric transfer of an original watercolor)

With a little lace you can always get by  
 
 

 

 

I still think this might be one of my favs

 and just might be one that I save

 

Have a good rest of the day to you all ...

 

Cathy

Sharing new blogs - from you

Ahhh - it seems that its been a crazy few days what with giveaways and the Joy Diet and Paris and the giveaway.

Time to take a little breather.  So I wanted to post some of the links you all sent me on some of your favoirte blogs - so  here's what you offered up in random order:

Some great blogs to visit here

http://www.wewillalwayshaveparis.com/

http://afteralltheworldisabeautifulplace.blogspot.com/

http://djpettitt.blogspot.com/

http://www.soulemama.typepad.com/

http://queen-of-arts.blogspot.com/

http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

And these were a couple of blogs that were new to me that I found somehow in going through your suggested blogs and then hopping around

http://shabbyscraps.typepad.com/shabbyscraps/  Beautifully shabby

http://laurelines.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Check out these sketches

So enjoy

Oh and BTW please don't forget if you have any more tips on where to go what to see in Paris please continue to pass them on!

Have a good day all.

Cathy

BRAG MONDAY

I don't know how I could have forgotten that I used Karen's beautiful downloads to create many of my muslin bags.

Well you know by now that I go through different obsessions for things that I am making.  Tins of course was my latest obsession (oh no - that one is not over - I just bought some more blank tins to collage - but I'm getting away from myself).  Anyways earlier this year I started making these muslin bags and I just couldn't stop.  Each bag I made gave me new ideas for the next one - when I still ahdn't finished the first.

 I have to say that Karen's  site gave me a lot  of inspiration for making these bags.

These are on my esty site but so far none have sold but I don't mind because I love each and every one of them.  I use them for everything - for my makeup - for pencils, I have a small one for my ipod etc. etc.  Some of them I love so much I don't want to touch them.

So 'nuf about me - here is one I made - thanks to Karen:

And a closeup

AND THE WINNDER IS ....

I hope you had a wonderful halloween nite - I know I did.

I promised to announce the blog winner on Friday but with halloween and all I thought I would wait a little.

So - drumroll please:  

ta dum ta dum ta dum dum dum ta dum ta dum ta dum dum dum ta dum ta dum (doesn't sound like a drum roll does it.???)

AND THE WINNER IS

 

'DONNA'

 

(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ CONGRATULATIONS¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)

 Donna wins  the collaged tin shown below:

Cathy

The Joy Diet - Chapter 6 TREATS

Well - I had a terrific week with Martha's Joy Diet  this week. How about you?

Treats, treats - what an appropriate time of year to be talking about this subject lollollol!

I really enjoyed this chapter as it is something that I have been working on for a number of years and as I went through the chapter I noticed that I am getting much better at this than I was a few years ago.

I did do another artboard for the "sensory" exercise which I think is a great thing to do. How often do you actually stop to think about what "you love the feel of" or "what sounds put a smile on your face". I found it was actually very hard to identify these things and I had to think long and hard - and am still thinking about it. But I made an artboard for myself with what I had in mind.

(A little aside here - I created this artboard after being inspired by a book I read by Traci Bautista's book - Collage Unleashed. What I did was "wrote/drew" my senses list using all kinds of fonts and colors.   Traci says when she creates her journals she just has fun with it and I DID.   Anyways, so once I wrote my list I printed it on transparency paper and then I laid it over a piece of one of my fun favorite scrapbooking papers, added some ribbon and embellishments - right on the surface on my scanner - and then scanned it!  - voila !
Thank you Traci Bautista!!!

Treating myself is almost something I never did. I somehow believe it was "selfish". That I was indulging myself and who was I to think I needed indulging. Well now I think I am me and I deserve to indulge myself!! Sometimes I do it in simple ways just like Martha suggests … I buy myself a new gel pen - or like the other day I finally bought myself one of those POST IT highlighter pens which have the mini post it flags built into the handle of the pen - l have wanted one for about 2 years. It cost me 5.99 and I was thrilled. I used it when I read the Joy Diet!! It's perfect.

Then sometimes however I do indulge myself a little too much. Like when I decide I deserve a treat but go into my art supply store and spend $50 bucks before I know it. Well a little control (and guilt) usually fixes that!!

So I loved this chapter - it made me feel warm and fuzzy and delighted.

For those of you who have been following my blog especially this week I also wanted to mention how lucky I feel to have the opportunity to go to Paris as I mentioned, at the end of November. In my dream board - believe it or not - France was listed as one of the things I "dreamed" about. Little did I know when creating that board that only a couple of weeks later one of my dreams would come true. Another of my dreams also came true in the last couple of weeks but that I have to hold onto until I know it is for sure sure sure - don't want to jinx it.

As I said in my post this week - I truly believe this is the universe answering some of my prayers. I really do. Sometimes, somehow things do just come together. I had a friend once who said she always feels like "it's never her turn". When she told me that I so knew what she meant and it articulated something I have felt for so long. This week though - I feel like "it's my turn".

Later tonite I will be doing the draw for my giveaway. All my JOY Diet friends will be included in the draw just "because".  See here for more on this. 

Can't wait to hear all your comments on the Joy Diet    !!!!!!!!

Cathy

 

GENTLE REMINDER ON BLOG GIVEAWAY AND CALL FOR PARIS INFO

I know I know this is my second post today but I wanted to remind you all again about the blog giveaway from my earlier post this week 

I will put everyone's name who leaves me a comment this week either to list their favorite blog or to leave me some ideas about great places to see in Paris from my Call for Paris Information post (also earlier this week - busy week!) 

THE DRAW IS THIS FRIDAY OCTOBER EVENING

¤´¨)

¸.•´ ¸.•*´¨)¸.•*¨)

(¸.•´ (¸.•`¤~♥

 

THE GIVEAWAY IS ONE OF MY COLLAGED TINS -

WITH LOTS OF GOODIES INSIDE .... 

 

\õõõõ\

 

Cathy

 

PARIS FRAME OF MIND...

So in preparation for my trip to Paris and to get us all in the mood I made some whimsical Marie Antoinette fun paperie.

As you know I often play "swap" with my Marie Antoinette Swap Ring of friends.  Now I don't want to give everything away since these are going to be a part of my swap partners swap goodies - but she doesn't know this yet  ; )

So here, to share with you are some of my MA creations!

Yes, another tin - I'm obsessed what can I say - but Marie looks good on this don't you thinkl!!

And then I made these frou frou tags:

 

 I still have more MA goodies to make - I'll share these as they are completed - but don't tell my swap partner.

Cathy

CALL FOR PARIS INFORMATION

Call it serendipity, call it coincidence, call it luck.  I like to say that it is the universe responding to our questions.  Ask, Believe, Receive

In the last month or so, as I have been working my way through the Joy Diet and other methods of reaching my goals I have listed some of the things that I would like to happen in order to move me closer or at least in the right direction of my goals.  I often feel frustration at all the desires and wants I have and frustration with trying to make these things happen.  Every once in a while however the universe responds by giving me a hand with these things.

Which leads me to my CALL OUT for this post.  I will, at the end of November, be going to Paris for 3 days - yes Paris - yes for 3 days.  One of my long long long time dreams and goals. 

So now I need your help.  I want to spend 1 day doing the museums and 1 day doing the "marche aux puces" or world renowed flea markets.

Some of the things  I am looking for are great fabrics, quilts, linens, bedding.  Great paperie places, millinery flowers, ribbon, ephemera etc.

Please tell me for those of you who have been:
- Which are the flea markets  that I NEED to go to in Paris.
- Which stores do I NEED to go to in Paris
- Do you have links to great sites that can provide this sort of information?
- What is a "can't miss" site I need to see?

Remember - I only have 3 days AND I need to find some places where I can actually "purchase" some things, ie not out of this world expensive places please - I need to be able to actually afford (okay with a bit of indulgence) these things. 

I know you are all chock full of ideas on this so please help me out.  I have less than 1 month to plan this so I really need your help.

 

**********()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()**************

In the meantime, don't forget about my Blog Giveaway giveaway as described in my previous post!!

♥*¨)

¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)

(¸.·´ (¸*´¨(♥

(¸.·´ (¸.·´♥

 

Now all you have to do to win is leave a comment here with a link to one of your favorite blogs. (Yes, it can be my blog but it doesn't have to be - no LOL just kidding guys).  This way I get to say thank you and we all get to share some of our favorite places to visit.

 

 

 So please leave your comment and a favorite link.  I'll be making the draw on Friday October 30th and I'll list all the great links that you have all sent me

 

PS.  The tin by the way is also filled with goodies ... but that's a surprise....

 

 

Waiting on your replies

Cathy

Happy Weekend and Blog Give Away

Hello all, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  I know I had a very productive weekend.  In fact today I got everything outside to take some pictures of everything.  In fact - believe it or not -I took 275 pictures!!!  Not to say I made 275 pieces but you know - shots from every angle.

But enough of all that - I promised you a blog give-away tonite for all the nice comments I have been receiving from all of you. 

It's just a way to say a small thank you.

So, the give away is one of my tins.

 

  
♥*¨)

¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)

(¸.·´ (¸*´¨(♥

(¸.·´ (¸.·´♥

 

Now all you have to do to win is leave a comment here with a link to one of your favorite blogs. (Yes, it can be my blog but it doesn't have to be - no LOL just kidding guys).  This way I get to say thank you and we all get to share some of our favorite places to visit.

 

 So please leave your comment and a link.  I'll be making the draw on Friday October 30th!!

 

PS.  The tin by the way is also filled with goodies ... but that's a surprise....

 

\

gnite for tonite

Cathy