Nightmares Can Be Strange Things...

My original image that kind of looks
the way I think nightmares feel...

Everyone has nightmares. Whether it's the one where all your teeth are falling out, or you're at school for the big exam you didn't study for and you just happen to be naked, we all are familiar with waking up in a state of dread only to be relieved that no, this isn't something you actually have to worry about at that moment.

For years, I had school nightmares. I would remember that I had signed up for a class that I then promptly forgot about until the final exam, only to realize that I had absolutely no idea where the class was being held. I also had a recurring dream that I would suddenly appear at school either completely naked or in my underwear, with only a pillow to conceal myself.

Lately, though, I seem to be having a new type of nightmare. Instead of being based around school disasters, these focus on something much more distressing for me - moving. I will find myself in a fairly luxurious apartment that I absolutely love. It often is the same apartment, one Ive never been to in real life, but I recognize the floor plan once I wake up.

In this apartment are the things my family and I have acquired over the 1-2 years we lived there, and we find ourselves faced with the prospect of boxing it all up to move. But wait, you say, I thought this was supposed to be a nightmare?

Oh, my friend, trust me... it is SUCH a nightmare. See, we aren't just boxing up our things. We have to move because some sort of drama has occurred- someone has lost a job, or become disabled (things we have gone through in reality), and for whatever reason, we have left everything until the absolute last minute possible to leave. We have a matter of hours to get everything we own out of the apartment and clean it up to get the deposit back, and it just is not going to be possible.

It gets worse from there, as then family comes to help, but instead yell at us for being unprepared, and the landlord comes with police to evict us... my child (who is an adult in reality, but always a small child in these dreams) cries as everything familiar is being boxed up and taken away, and I stand helpless, watching everything Ive worked for basically falling apart.

Then I wake up, and let me tell you this- my life is nowhere near perfect, but the relief I feel when I realize I don't actually have to move right now? That is a wonderful, wonderful feeling.

Brains are weird. What sort of nightmares do you find yourself dealing with? Have you found anything that seems to trigger them? Leave me a comment, I would really like to know I'm not the only one having weird dreams like these!

My brain is a strange place to be trapped sometimes.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Halloween costume fun!

(I apologize- if you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen these photos already. If you have, then read along- maybe the story will make up for having seen the photos?)

I love Halloween. You may know this by now, but if you don't, it's my favorite holiday. So even though I haven't dressed up for the holiday in at least a decade, I still wander through Halloween stores and departments many times throughout the season. This brings me to today's post.

As we wandered the Halloween department of a local big box store, my husband and I were enjoying pointing out silly costumes, coming up with ideas for the various bits you can find. I'm halfway planning to make some hair padding from some of the costume wigs once they go on sale after Halloween, but that's a different post entirely! Suddenly, my husband stopped, picked up a costume, and held it out to me with a curious look on his face.

"Honey, do you see anything... odd... about this costume?"

I looked closely, and was overwhelmed by the cuteness of the baby in the photo. I couldn't see past how adorable the whole thing was. "Umm, cute baby?"

He shook his head. "Nope... look more closely."

I looked and looked... and nothing stood out to me. There were sweet googly eyes under a puff of sweet pink curly hair. Soft felt teeth framed the baby's face. A pink bow tie matched the giant yellow feet of the monster and the yellow horns on the monster's head. The effect was almost unbearably cute, and I couldn't get past that.

Finally, he gave up and pointed out what had made him stop and stare in confusion. When I saw it, I had to take a close-up picture, because I knew this was going on the blog.

 That's right: this costume is apparently part of the Noah's Ark collection. Did you miss the part of the story where pink fuzzy monsters were hanging out on the ark with the rest of the animals? I know I did, but hey, I was never the most diligent of students. Maybe I missed out on some of it... and judging by the other costumes we've found in the days following? I missed a LOT.

I don't even know what else to say, other than I've taken to carrying my tablet with me because I keep finding more and more amusing costumes in this line!

That's right- the ark held dragons, too!

Oh look- it's a BOY's monster costume, since boys can't wear PINK, and girls obviously can't wear blue!

Don't look now, it's the terrifying PUMPKIN monster. Because you know, pumpkins...

... so the ark had SHARKS on it? Why couldn't they just swim? Oh, whatever... my brain hurts now.

Yea. So that happened. I don't know who's coming up with the ideas for these costumes, but I think they need a new theme. But now you know the rest of the story, so that's good... right?

Halloween is my favorite holiday!

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Rubber Stamping Adventures!

Hidey ho, campers! How are you enjoying the summer so far? Thankfully, it's been a very mild summer this year, so I've been able to spend less time lying in a puddle in front of the air conditioner! The question, then, is what have I been doing with all that extra time?

As some of you know, I've got this driven need to learn things. Asked what my goal in life is, I'll often reply that my goal is to learn everything. EVERYTHING. Yes, I know I'll fail, but just think how much fun I'll have learning in the meantime!

The latest thing I've been learning recently is how to carve my own rubber stamps. See, it all started with business cards...

I've designed my own business cards in the past, and I've been very happy with them. The problem is that they go so quickly. I made a ton of cards a couple of years ago to tide me over until I could get some proper cards printed up, but I kept running into the same issues- business cards can be expensive, and I don't know that I always want the same, single image on my cards. Then there's the question of what can I do when I run out of cards and need some in a hurry?

Some of my first stamps. Robot! :D

So, my kind of strange creative mind hit on rubber stamping. I thought about having a stamp created with all my information on it, but then I found how much a single business-card-sized stamp could cost. (Think $25-40!) Because of this, I started thinking about carving my own stamps. It's something I've been interested in for years, but have never really had the time or opportunity to do.

A quick google search found a Speedball carving set for significantly less than $40. While waiting for that to reach me, I hit my local Dollar Tree and grabbed a bunch of erasers and a couple of things I thought I might be able to make a stamp pad with. Because I'm so fond of bright color, I knew I didn't want a single-color stamped image. So, I grabbed a children's watercolor paint set and some felt to see what I could come up with.

The result? Well, my first stamps were a smashing success, but they were pretty small. My husband brought home some larger erasers a few days later, and I carved the middle stamp in the above image. I've carved over 20 stamps now, and have only cut myself twice, so I figure that's a good thing, right?

Then came the stamp pad. Let's see if I can simplify what I did- I got a medicine organizer with 7 separate compartments, put the watercolors (green, blue, purple, red, and orange) into different compartments with some water to liquify them, then poured them onto the felt and let them dry. To use the stamp pad, I spray it with a light mist of water 5-10 minutes before I plan to use it, then again right before, and oddly enough it works!

I also decided I wanted something beautiful for the back of my cards, so I set out to make something... colorful and me-like. It's amazing what you can create with a set of Crayola watercolors...

Once it was dry, I doodled over it in white, adding paisleys and hearts, fun phrases and spirals. I wanted something that looked like pieces of a whole once it was cut up. I wanted something that felt special, as if I were giving a piece of art to everyone who gets one of my cards.

The result? Crazy fun business cards in gradient colors that make me SO happy... I've had to hand-write the blog address, mainly because I don't carve that well yet. Still, I'm happy with the result so far.

Stamped business cards version 1.

Stamped business cards version 2.

I've also carved some flowers, some leaves, as well as a few other things. Then I wondered what I could do with them, so I started experimenting. And yes, I'm frugal, so I've been painting on old envelopes. I'm weird that way. :D

Not bad for children's watercolors and some eraser stamps, eh? So what do you think of all these? And what do you think I should carve next?

Leave me a comment telling me what you think. I need the feedback, what can I say?

Til next time...

I'm still alive, isn't that fun?

See my disclosure statement for more information.

New Year's Resolutions, and Why I Don't Do Them

Every new year brings with it wonderful things, including having life calm down after the whirlwind of holiday gatherings. However, the new year brings something I cannot stand- the idea that somehow this arbitrary calendar date should signal a time for total life upheaval. Blogs and news sites are talking about how you should be making resolutions, and so many of them seem focused on crazy ideas!

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for making positive life changes. But I also understand how the human mind works. Huge goals seem overwhelming, and huge tasks can sometimes seem impossible. The road is too long, and the positive feedback of reaching that goal is so far removed that it may as well not exist!

This sets us up for failure before we even start. For example, let's look at my weight loss. (Ok, I'm excited and I want to talk about my weight loss. Humor me here, please?) Had I started out saying, "All right self, we're gonna lose 90 pounds! Let's cut out all yummy foods and get on that restrictive diet so we can get there! Go go go!"

I promise you, 3 days later I'd be go-go-going to the ice cream store, or baking up a big pan of brownies to console myself. It's just too large an obstacle to overcome. I can't see myself doing it, and as a result, it's unlikely to happen.

Instead? Soon to be 3 years ago (I think? Maybe? I'm bad with time) I was at an event and someone took photos of me. Those photos were posted on Facebook, and when I saw them I was absolutely horrified. Not only was I fat, I looked unhealthy. I realized I didn't want to be that anymore. But instead of thinking big and heading for failure, I started small.

As I'd been basically maintaining my weight for a couple of years, I came up with a plan. I was going to eat slightly less with each meal, I would drink more water, and I would try to be more active when I was able.

Fibromyalgia means some days I'm just in too much pain to walk a whole lot, much less anything else. On those days, I didn't hate myself because I couldn't do something. Instead, I was happy for honestly trying, and called it a day. If we went to eat at Taco Bell (a family favorite), I would leave a bite or two of my burrito uneaten. Most of all, I bought a water bottle that has a built-in filter. I'm a bit of a princess, and tap water in southern Louisiana is yucky. I now take that bottle with me everywhere, so that I can drink tap water instead of going thirsty or reaching for a soda.

I didn't set a goal weight. I didn't even think about how much I wanted to lose. I just wanted to try and be healthier a day at a time. I thought about whether the calories of whatever treat I was wanting was worth the calories I'd be ingesting, and frankly? Sometimes it is. Sometimes I want a milkshake enough to deal with the calories. Most days, I don't.

I haven't reached an end because this isn't a diet. I'm not eagerly waiting to go back to any particular way of eating. Instead, I've made a bunch of tiny changes one step at a time. But 2+ years later? I lost that 90 pounds, I've gone from a size 24 to an 18 (which is now baggy on me! :D) and I'm able to do more than I have in years.

It's not about the giant leaps. Start with baby steps. If you mess up, it's ok... you didn't mess up anything too badly to fix, and tomorrow is always another day. Forget the new year's resolutions and maybe go for the new day's resolutions instead. :D

Every day is a new start.

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Last Sketchbook Update of 2013!

The year is winding down, and I'm sharing a last few sketches of the year. There's not much here, mainly because I've been fascinated by intricate patterns lately.

For those of you who don't know, I find drawing to be a wonderful thing. It helps distract me when I'm worried about something or having a bad fibro night. Because of this I tend to carry art supplies with me wherever I go. Nothing too fancy, just a notebook and some pens.

Ok, that's not quite accurate. I generally carry 4 black gel pens in different weights (from extra fine point to extra heavy), a few pencils and erasers, and something like 30 or 40 gel pens. And maybe a ruler or two, and maybe a couple of stencils for drawing circles or other shapes. Oh, and then there are the sharpies...

Let's just say I love color, lots and lots of color. I carry more art supplies than anything, because they're important to me. If you ever see me in public, I'll probably be doodling! But enough of that... on to the sketches!!

I doodled this onto a napkin after Thanksgiving dinner.

Flowers. I absolutely LOVE flowers. When we went to my dad's house for Thanksgiving, I wound up doodling on my napkin after we ate. I get really caught up in my head sometimes, so when I'm having a conversation, doodling something simple helps me focus on the conversation.

It sounds silly, but there are even studies to show that doodling can help people focus in meetings! Having a simple, mindless task certainly helps me turn off the internal chatter that seems to run through my head. That way I can actually pay attention to what's happening around me!

 
These three are related, although it's hard to tell. The left image is a copy of a drawing by Lorri-Marie Jenkins I'd found while browsing Stuffed magazine. I copied it, then colored it and added the white patterns. A few days later, I tried to draw some sketches in a similar style, but I don't feel like I captured it. Maybe it's my own style, but I don't really know. Then I did the strangest one... it started out being a woman, and then ... I don't know. It turned into some sort of woman/Dalek/duck combination. Don't ask, I don't have any answers.

But hey... this is how creativity works. Sometimes you get the Sistine Chapel, other times you get a woman with duck legs, a plunger, and... umm... whatever that silver thing is. They can't all be winners, right?

It's 6:40am, and I haven't been to sleep yet. Let's just show the rest of the sketches without much commentary, shall we?

This is the sort of intricate pattern I've been experimenting with. These take a long time to complete, but they're so much fun to do. I really, really love doing these!!

 

I hope your holidays are going wonderfully, and that you're having a joyous time. I'll see you soon!

Drawing supplies are cheaper than therapy. :D

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Laynie Takes Your Requests!

It's that time again... I have a bazillion ideas, and I'm having absolute fits trying to narrow them down into something productive to work on. It's one of those things I struggle with from time to time, and it's really frustrating sometimes!

How can you help? Easy- leave me a comment telling me what sorts of videos you'd like to see from me. Do you want to see how I do galaxy nails, or perhaps a walkthrough of my local Dollar Tree while I point out goodies you might not realize you can use for nail art? How about just simple, sexy looks with a red color scheme? More rainbow stuff?

If I like your idea and feel like I can do it, I'll add it to my list of videos to make. (You know, the list I've been planning to make for years and am just now getting around to writing. I suck, I know. Sorry!)

So quick- leave me a comment and give me ideas! Thanks!

Watching old boy band videos is fun with friends!

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Do you ever have one of those days?

This has been quite a day so far, at least the bits I remember. I have a strange sleeping schedule lately... and this last time I slept a whole 37 hours at a stretch. You have no idea how exhausting doing something for 37 hours is.

I don't want to do ANYTHING for 37 continuous hours. Let's just leave it at that.

When I finally dragged myself to consciousness, I was in the foulest mood. Everything made me angry- my husband, my socks, the air blowing on me (or not blowing on me)... everything SUCKED.

So, I did what I often do in this situation- I turned to one of my favorite musicians. You may or may not be aware of this, but Jack Conte is one of the most perfect specimens of musician I've ever encountered. Versatile, talented, and holy CRAP the music is good.

So, as I change my mood and eat (because dude, nothing by mouth for 37 hours leaves you RAVENOUS) enjoy some of my favorite Jack Conte music. You're welcome. :D


This song is like... sex. Just literally, sex.


Love this one. So violent, so cathartic.


Love. This one... *sigh* yea.


Have I mentioned how much I adore his harmonies? This one... *sighs* Yea.


Oh yes, those harmonies... :D *swooooon*

Blah. Just BLAH.

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My body is falling apart. But I'm not dead yet!

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind I mean- a day where absolutely everything goes wrong. You oversleep, stub your toe twice on the same thing, you drop your cell phone in the toilet and then your glasses when you go to retrieve it, the bread is moldy and your hair won't do anything presentable and it seems like everything you'd like to wear is dirty or lost?

The last four months have been like that for me. I'm serious- I have been sick for almost the entire last four months, with only an occasional day of almost-normality. I have had multiple stomach viruses, a chest cold, strange rashes, multiple ER visits, laryngitis... and just about the time I think I'm over one, another one pops up just in time to put me to bed for another week. I don't mean to complain, but seriously- four months of being sick gets tiring.

Oh yea, insomnia. I've become well acquainted with 4am, and am fairly used to sleeping every third day or so. Unless I've had to go to the doctor or something- then I sleep for 24-36 hours. Sleeping for that long without drinking or eating anything causes interesting results. Yep, how does my body react to that? I throw up.

But hey, I've lost 50 pounds, so that's good, right? :D

I have just about decided that my body is a lemon, but I can't seem to find anyone to contact about it. I'd love to get a trade-in, but so far I've had no luck. So I promise, I'm still here and still have tons of ideas, I've just got a body that refuses to cooperate. I've been in this situation before, and I promise I'll be back. I just have to weather this... this span of ill health.

At least I haven't been in the hospital yet, knock on wood!

Is there someone I can call to get a trade-in body? This one's busted.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Holy cow... 1000 Youtube Subscribers!!

Holy cow... I checked my mail this morning and found out that today I reached 1,000 YouTube subscribers! I'm blown away! This has made my cold/virus so much less miserable! So here... have a celebratory graphic!

Video killed the radio star.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Home again, and flaring again.

My mom is home again, mostly back on track. Unfortunately, the hospital stay coincided with one heck of a weather change, and the combination of that plus the stress of the hospital has triggered a fibro flare. No big surprise here, I've been through this before.

So, instead of leaving the blog empty again, I'm going to share a song from youtube that has had be laughing until I almost passed out. I've watched this video four times today, and I'm not done. This one's a keeper, in my opinion!

Singing animals make me laugh til I pass out.

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Hospitals suck, so here's a design I've been holding on to...

Well, I'm still at the hospital with my mom. It looks like they aren't going to be able to figure out what caused her problems, but sometimes things happen. However, they've found a problem with her heart, so we're going to be here for at least a couple of days more. It's ok, though, because what they found isn't really necessarily all that bad if they can fix it now.

So, while I'm here and polish-less, I figured I'd share an image I'm planning a video tutorial for. I'll still do the video, so consider this image a teaser of sorts.

This design is actually fairly simple. I used striping tape and two colors of polish, and I set the corners with black stones to add a bit of sparkle. So cute, and there's SO much room for tweaking. This could be funky and fun or elegant. It's all up to the colors you use!

So if you would, keep my mom in your thoughts, and let's hope for the best. I want to bring her home for Christmas, and for many Christmases to come.

I need sleep.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

I may be AFK for a few days...

This is just a brief note to let you know I may well be out of pocket for the next few days. My mother is in the hospital, and the doctors are doing tests to try and pinpoint what's going on with her. I'm staying with her in the hospital, both as daughter and as advocate.

The good news is that I've got my laptop and a decent internet connection, so hopefully I can work a bit more on my surprise. That's if I can stay awake long enough to do that. :D

Wish us luck, please...

Hospitals suck.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

A fun teaser...

I'm working on something fun for the holiday season. I'm so excited about this one that I have to share some teaser shots with you! So, enjoy these mockups and leave me a comment if you have an idea about what I may be doing!

 

My husband is the best husband EVER!

See my disclosure statement for more information.