The Postman Bringeth

This past week has been hectic. It included providing a part-time living arrangement for my son, which included putting a bed in the office and rearranging just about every other room in the house to accommodate the stuff that had been where the bed is now. It's chaotic right now.
Obviously, not a planned-for event.

I was oh, so happy when I went to the mailbox and retrieved some goodies that are perfect fodder for collage and other artsy projects. A much needed distraction.

First, a thank you note from a birthday girl became:

Spring Fashion (1963)
Greeting card, gift wrap,
Duck tape (in glitter!) and a
Rhinestone

It's a bit more "girlie" than my usual, but I think it has just the right edginess to it to not stray into "cute" territory. Besides, the woman's expression just glares at you as if to say, "You can't afford me."

An invitation from the Phoenix zoo had the perfect collection of images to attempt a mosaic for the next TwobyTwo twinchie challenge. Coming up next is, "Nine-patch." Cutting perfect squares was, ahem, tedious, then trying to arrange them?! 

Whose idea was this? Oh, yeah, mine! 

Tigers
Nine-patch mosaic and
Hodge-podge

I don't know if I'll try the perfectly square mosaic thing again. Like, maybe never!.I'll stick to my more typical throw stuff down and see what works methodology, which I also did. I still have a bunch of pretty pictures to play with another time. 

I may go see the beautiful tigers, but I'm not joining the zoo for $179; that I'm fairly certain of.

Lastly, the same mailman left a postbox out in the pouring rain and we found it about three hours later. His job may be to deliver the mail in the rain, but mine is not to go schlepping to find it! The box was soaked and the corrugated paper peeling apart. Luckily the paper scrapbooking supplies inside did not get wet!

But the box provided plenty of fodder for little artworks! Besides, corrugated paper is my favorite (and I still owe you all my story as to WHY!)!
So, I collected some goodies.

The teenie paper has a note from my daughter asking to play with a friend--actually, more of a demand. I remember she had finished her chores, made an accounting thereof and slipped the note to me in the bathroom!

So I glued some of this up after applying some paint and trying to get 400 grit sandpaper to stick (it wanted very badly to curl!). I don't consider it a big success, but it includes my offering for the EIM, "texture."

Texture Inchie in a
Twinchie

You win some and you lose some! I'm going to try working on some more Nine-Patch thingies. Don't you want to join the fun?

It's....

We've been watching the DVDs of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the preeminent British comedy from the Seventies. I think we have made it through the fourth of sixteen tons. You know the beginning? Where the guy who looks like he has lived under a rock for twenty years goes through some sort of difficulty to just be able to say, "It's...."?
A very important line he has, to introduce the show. Then it's the full complement of collage images that include flowers popping out of heads and not just a couple naked ladies....

I think that's where my fascination with collage began--the vintage photographs, the sometimes silly juxtaposition of images. Everything is fair game.

The word of the week at the art challenge I host, the TwobyTwobyTuesday, is: "IS." I know it's a bit of a stretch, but there it is. It's a concept I've wanted to pursue for awhile, at least since Bill Clinton was in office and that whole mess with the blue dress. I try not to venture into the territory of "Mature Audiences ONLY," as my kids like to see what I'm up to. I'm not attempting censure on their part but while they are adults, they are still my children.
Yet, when I pulled out my collage goodies, I pulled together this cuteness:

Is
Magazines, dictionary definition and
Greeting card

My daughter LOVES sunflowers. I have many fridge magnets that I have made with sunflowers on them, but this one is specifically for her.

I put together this one starting with a tough challenge over at EIM. Every Monday can be challenging, but what do you do with this week's, "yogurt?" Well, for starters, you empty a container! Lately, my favorite is a Greek-style plain with honey and Grape Nuts, which is what I'll probably have for lunch. In my collage stash I found a Yoplait lid for Breast Cancer awareness. It promptly became an element in yet another fridge magnet!

I'm all for that, and I think it's a stitch that our football players are running around with pink accessories this month (those shoes!!!) to draw attention to the cause. But it's not the leading killer of women--coronary disease and accidents far outweigh cancer deaths. And it's not even the leading cause of cancer deaths--lung cancer is, all the way around.

I bring that up as a friend of ours recently went under the knife suspecting lymphoma and found he is in very good health and another who was the image of perfect health, was diagnosed with liver cancer just a month ago and died last night. We are saddened; we're to go to New Jersey to see him next week. Right now, we're still going....

Life is precious. Enjoy dessert NOW! One of my favorites: pound cake covered with dollops of Yoplait lemon yogurt and whipped cream with sliced strawberries on top. Mayoe I'll have THAT for lunch!

Meanwhile, see what all the lovely ladies are doing over at EIM and please check out the TwobyTwo. Everybody's welcome to join in the fun! It's....

Can I Borrow the Khakis?

I just came across a key that was given us on the day we bought that house 14 years ago. My son identified it as the one he kept, based on the key ring it was attached to and has added it to his current one, It was a happier time for him, before he went to live with his dad and then his grandfather.
He has become a fine young man through it all. It is what we wish for our children: to grow up and be their own adults.
You can have the key to success and then, the key to the city.
You can hold the key to someone's heart.
You can sing songs in the Key of Life, according to Stevie Wonder.
Our DNA holds the keys to our lives (and this story tells of how getting rid of some can prolong life!)
You can be entrusted with a house key at a fairly young age and when you reach one of life's milestones, you ask your parents for the keys, to borrow the car that they taught you to drive. (I taught my son to drive, and that was quite an experience, considering he worked for a company that repaired vintage race cars. My daughter taught herself to drive and boy, was I surprised to find out she did!)
Which in a very round-about kind of way brings me to:

Khakis

If you live in Boston, like I did for twenty years, if you ask for the kah kees, you may or may not get the keys to the "cah," you may just get a pair of pants! Notice the subtle differences in pronunciation.(I still do not know what they do with all those extra "R's" they don't use!)
Additionally, khakis are a specific fabric, fit and color. They are NOT black, brown or green. They ONLY have FOUR pockets. They can be pleated and cuffed but never riveted.
Think school uniforms, that's what khakis are. But kah kees will not get you into my car like this will:

I love my car, I love to drive it and it has loved me for 160 of its 213 thousand miles. We have taken it places that Lexus just THINKS it can go. I hope to get 350 out of it and when I do I'll get another one just like it (just with fewer miles). Meanwhile, I'm going to hang up my car keys so i'm not digging through my khakis later to try and find them.

Let's All Sing Together, Shall We?

I was very excited to see "Lumberjack" as the word at EIM this week. We have been watching the Monty Python show DVDs and we're up to, I think, the third "ton," which includes the notorious skit. My partner in crime has been singing the song for a week now and I hope we can get past that soon.
I was thinking I'd make something with tea and scones or even pressed flowers, but I really want to move along from the song.
Arizona has three major universities: ASU, Arizona State Sun Devils

That's HOT!

UofA, University of Arizona Wildcats

And NAU, Northern Arizona LUMBERJACKS!

I don't know WHY any self-respecting lumberjack would wear yellow, but that and blue are the team colors. When I think lumberjack, he has to be wearing red buffalo plaid. (and I'm not being sexist, but women should know better than to freeze their buns while wielding chainsaws. I'll stay inside where it's warm). Also, they've changed their mascot to something more menacing. I don't like that, either.

I put together this little collage for the EIM including a pinecone because Flagstaff, home of the 'Jacks, hosts a pinecone drop for New Year's eve. It's similar to the ball drop in Times Square, just different. 

The theme for the TwobyTwo is "HOT," so I got into the SPIRIT of things with this macabre item:

For those of you who may have been wondering what "xeritas" could possibly mean, I offer this: "xeri-" is a Greek prefix that addresses hot and arid; "-itas" was a Roman superlative that the ruling class used. Thus it would have been Augustus Cesearitas to show he was better than everyone else. He was emperor, after all.

So, Xeritas is a word I made up that loosely means, "hotter is better." And, now you know!

I'm going to poke around the internet a bit thinking warm thoughts. It's 70 and raining today (thirty degrees colder than this time last week!). We're going to need our pellet stove ASAP and it's needing repairs.
I'll leave you with this. We just returned from the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. The weather was not the best for flying, so this is an image of my favorite photographed by Andi Wolfe:

So, should pigs fly and hell freezes over....

Can YOU say, "System Restore?"

I know you can.
That's what I'm up to.
YIPPEE!

Meanwhile, I worked on a concept for "hotel," the EIM word of the week

Because that's how I feel!

No one can hear you SCREAM!

Creepy.

Let Them eat Cake!

It's birthday week! Or, it's an excuse to do a lot of fun stuff. Either way, we both win! Last night I was treated to a trip to the gun range to improve my rusty skills and then dinner at our favorite Italian place. What fun!
I don't know what the rest of the week may bring, but I'm working  on my take on "CAKE!"
I've never shied away from having just cake for dinner, or breakfast, for that matter. Is anyone else amused by the women's magazines that advertise how to lose five-ten-fifteen pounds THIS WEEK plus a recipe for an awesome chocolate cake that weighs in at over 600 calories per slice? That's more than I normally consume for dinner, so why not skip the meat and potatoes and go straight to dessert?
We can always be good tomorrow. Or, the next day!

I've visited this concept before now:

But I wanted to do a glue and paste collage--this is more correctly termed an assemblage--to add to my collection of fridge magnets:

My Favorite Chinese Fortune

What's your favorite cake? (Mine has to be any that I don't make myself--which is ALL of them as I'm not the baker in the household!)
Check out what the other artists have whipped up for their response to cake, and perhaps join the fun!
I also tackled the EIM for the week, "Myth."
There are endless possibilities there--perhaps the Kokopelli of the ancient Arizona ancestors? You know what I mean--the ubiquitous flute players, the gods of fun and fertility. But to do that properly deserves some photographs. I'll have to revisit that concept another time.
Instead, I chose the Phoenix, the mythical bird that rises from the ashes. I saw a couple memes that suggest that the bird is more beautiful after the fire than before, and a relationship to the Irish adage, "That which does not kill you makes you stronger."

Feenix
Color pencil and marker

No surprise, the symbol appears on the flag of the city. It's a very interesting emblem that deserves reprise. And all the crayons in the box. Have a brilliant day!

Soundtrack of Life

I am truly blessed. The love of my life adores me, his words, not mine. But he holds the line at my singing and for good reason. I cannot carry a tune to save my life.
This does not preclude me from enjoying good music and I truly love to dance (though I've taken no formal training, I just shake my booty).
My man immediately introduced me to flamenco guitar artists...remember Charo? Coochi-coochi? She plays a mean guitar. And he's fond of newer artists like Jesse Cook, Ottmar Leibert and Strunz and Farrar (and we've been able to see them all in concert in fairly intimate venues). Some of their songs are so emotional and passionate, they've become the soundtrack to our love affair.
But there's one song in particular that stands out from all the others: Malagena Salerosa, a classic mariachi song. The rock band Chingon recreated it and we like that rendition. But we really like going to El Encanto in Cave Creek and asking the guitarist to sing it--he can carry those notes for forever.
So I created this digital assemblage of a flamenco dancer and the music:

Malagena Salerosa

The impetus for this was the word of the week at EIM: "rhythm." I started with the Rhythm Room in Phoenix, which is hosting the world's only heavy metal mariachi band on Sunday: Metalachi. I'm not sure if Planet Earth needs more than one, but they have a VERY interesting sound.
In between, I learned that there are minimum requirements for the players in a mariachi band--there are specific numbers of violins, guitars and horns that make up the band. And pity the poor guy who has to lug around the humongous guitarron. He's the unsung leader as it is this instrument that sets the beat.

I leave you with this one.
What's the soundtrack to YOUR life?