Update to Dia de Los Muertos information & drawing...

I want to appologize for not posting earlier...I am still going to be doing the series on Dia de los Muertos and a drawing however it has been postponed because my 7 year old son has been in intensive care and is still recovering.

I am sorry for any seeming flaky but I'm sure you all would agree that family comes first. I will keep you posted and I will get things back on track asap. Thank you.

Day of the Dead

Please join me beginning Monday September 6th me as I begin to navigate a “virtual trip” through history and across the world. I will share with you a beautifully exotic fall holiday that celebrates death as a part of the cycle of life…

See how el Dia de los Muertos relates to death and the dead yet is not at all morbid, but rather is a celebration of life that involves a lot of food, family, and fun.

We will briefly touch on how other cultures around the world have celebrated Fall’s beautiful and bountiful harvest, share stories and photos of our ancestors and loved ones that have passed away, see art made by other artists, and last but not least...have several chances to enter to win Mi Vida Loca's el Dia de los Muertos give-away that will take place on October 1st.

Rosette Swap Reveal

Hey Girls! Want to see what I got?

It's elegant...classy...and has hand-beading....

Oh ~ did I mention there are more than one of them???

But I think what I love the best about my new pretty is how how much loving care went into the creation of my Rosette...

My awesome swap sister is Sandy Navarro of SMN Designs! If you haven't seen her blog, please do look! She is such a super-sweet person ~ I know because we "met" through an on-line scrapbook club a couple of years ago but lost touch with each other. What a small world! Thank you so much Sandy! I absolutely love my rosette!

My Apologies & a Peek Into My "Big Art Project"

Let me start by apologizing for not visiting all of you yet for the French Cupboard's Paperie Party. I started to play and then got overwhelmed by life and so I have not yet had a chance to come see you all.

The last couple of days I have been reminded of a very important lesson and ironically, I am being reminded of this as I work on a my "huge" artistic venture, which happens to be for Dia de los Muertos.

My Ex-husband's Uncle Felix passed away on Saturday August 21, 2010.
While I'm not an official member of the family anymore, I was sad to hear about Uncle Felix. I really liked him. Uncle Felix was a very sweet 80 year old man who loved his family. It wasn't at all unusual to see Uncle Felix sitting in the corner of any family function with a smile on his face and a glimmer of pride and amusement in his eyes as he watched the hustle and bustle of the younger family members doing what they do.

And for the last week, my 7 year old son has been helping me with my Dia de los Muertos project...

So I thought I would take this opportunity to teach my son, and anyone else that visits my blog, about some of the cultural beliefs of his ancestors, while we remember Uncle Felix, as well as Grandma Margaret and Grandma B...
My posts may be sporadic over the next few weeks, but please follow along to learn more about one of the most important celebrations of life in the Mexican Culture; Dia de los Muertos.

French Cupboard Paperie Party

Happy Friday Girls! Just popping in really quick to post my paper creationbefore I head out the door for work. TGIF!

I used a little wooden cheese box (the kind that brie is packaged in) to create this romantic project.

Since it is Friday and I still have a minute before I have to go I have to leave, I'll share a little peek at one of my recent flea market finds...

I love the Vintage Cat's Eye Glasses ~ they are heavy as the lenses are made of glass. What's even cooler is that I scored them for $1.00! Woo-Hoo!!!

Thank you so much for stoppping in. I hope you have a beautiful and blessed day!

“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” ~ Tom Stoppard

While reading through several blogs yesterday, I had the pleasant surprise of finding a blog that I had never seen before and OMG, I fell in love... Gail of Little Beach Designs had posted that she had put new items for sale in her Etsy Shop and being the shop-aholic that I am, I had to go see....

The first thing that caught my attention was this beautiful boudoir doll.

I really love her!!! She's sassy and classy ~ just what I like to see a lady be!

What I especially love about her though, is that she reminds me of the boudoir doll that my Grandma has in her guest room. Wow, she brings back memories...smiles...I swear this gal could be sisters with my Grandma's doll!

After I spent a few minutes drooling over her, I went back to the store front of Little Beach Designs and began looking at Gail's other items...Gail is really an awesome artist! Her creations are so cute and original...Just one example of Gail's work is this Vintage Cabinet Card Doll

One thing that I really appreciate in art, is a piece that has been created with love and attention to detail. That is something that Gail must appreciate as well because you can tell by looking at her art that she has put her heart and soul into each piece that she creates.

This Back To School Collage is a perfect example of what I'm talking about...

front

Gail definitely pays alot of attention to detail, as seen below...Not only does she make the front of her art look great, but she also gives each piece a little extra attention by finishing the back side of her art pieces.

back

I know (and I'm sure Gail does too) that alot of people won't take the time to look at the back of a piece of art, but those that do, will see that when she makes her art, she takes that little bit of extra time to make her art all the more special just by adding those little extra touches.

¡Ay, Caramba!

So much has been happening here these last couple of weeks and I'm about ready to crash & burn. Nothing really devastating - just alot of little things that are starting to add up. But I can't rest yet ~ there's too much to be done right now.

My husband & I have been blessed with a fabulous opportunity to sell our art and although nothing has been created yet for the upcoming event that we're preparing for, there has been alot of positive reaction to what we're planning & we both have a really good feeling about this! I'm already having people request specific color schemes and this is an event that is expecting over 7000 visitors! (More info to come as the event draws closer.)

All I can say for now is that I have until September 19th to make as many of these lil' creations as I can, as well as print greeting cards & prints of my husband's art. I put hubby to work making new designs just for this event. (Just because he's not here, doesn't mean that he doesn't help in any way he can! Bless his heart! He really is a sweetie!!!)

I received a beautiful Rosette from my Rosette Swap Sister. Thank you, Sandy!

My son started 2nd grade on Monday and my daughter starts at our community college on Monday. Yikes! I'm only 37 - much too young to have a child in college!

I've been having problems with my home Internet so I have been limited on "me time" on the computer so posting has been a challenge lately. This post is being typed from work (Sssshhhh!) I do have some neat pictures to share of a local road trip we went on last weekend so look for those soon.

On another note, I found a really inspiring blog and it just so happens that she's having an Anniversary Give-Away...Tracy of Cotton Pickin Cute has the most gorgeous up-cycled, and handmade items to give away. Please visit her blog and say hello.

So, I apologize for the lack of pictures but pictures or not, I was determined to post today! Wishing you a blessed and beautiful day!

{{{HUGS}}}

Jennifer

For The Love of Paper

I am sooo in love with paper...It's such a versatile medium. You can create almost anything you could think of using paper ~ even a wedding dress.

And I love Paper Sky - a brick and mortar stationary store in San Luis Obispo, California.

And I also love the style of Anahata Katkin!



I think I'll visit the Paper Sky while I'm in San Luis tomorrow. You have a wonderful weekend!

Free Vintage Images...Road Trip Anyone?

I just wanted to post a couple of free vintage images real quick before I go on our little camping trip this weekend. I'm in the mood for a Road Trip theme today but most of my images are buried in a box in the closet & I'm in a hurry to get going so that I'm a little better equipped for the outdoors than this lovely lady was.



The images above are from my personal collection. Please feel free to use it if you'd like to. (You can make them larger by right-clicking on the photo.)

I also visited a couple of other blogs that offer free images and thought "I hate to post this way but why not spread some love to other bloggers since they're kind enough to share thier images?!" There are so many great blogs that offer free vintage images so it was very hard to limit myself to just two for today's post...

This cute little girl is from Marie's Freebies Thanks Marie!



And I found these gals at The Graphics Fairy. Wow - these ladies look like they'd be fun to "roll with"...(I know - really bad pun!) Thank you Karen!



Last, but not least, I thought this post might fit in well with The French Cupboard's August Black Friday Blog Party today since Jill posted about August being the time of year that most Americans travel & since I posted my black & white images. Please stop by and check out all of the neat things other bloggers are sharing at the party!

I hope you all have a relaxing, but fun weekend! See you gals in a couple of days...

TGIF

I thought I'd share a drawing my husband did a couple of months ago. It's cute and light-hearted and always brings a smile to my face when I see it. Which is something we both need right now.

It's been a really rough last few days for my husband and I. I can't really say much right now because his case is still pending trial but we did get some very tough news from out of left field and it just knocked us both down.

Thankfully, I'm feeling a little better and am trying to be strong for him. Bless his heart - he's always been the one that holds me up during hard times but it's my turn to reciprocate and I'm ready, willing, and able to be his rock right now.

So, T.G.I.F. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

p.s. - If you'd like to see more of my husband's art, please visit our etsy shop. We have alot more art to post but for now, I've just been taking my time in the shop.

The Best of the Best...

For the last month or so, I have seen several blogs that have a "button" in the the sidebar about a Bloggerette Sorority and I have to honestly say, I didn't really know what that was but I had this idea of it being an exclusive group of the best of the best bloggers...I also have to admit, I want(ed) to become a "best of the best" blogger too! (Hee-hee ~ we always want to be the best and be a part of the group, right?!)

Today, I found out that this "exclusive group of the best of the best" bloggers isn't exclusive after all, which is really cool news to me cause I'm still really new at blogging but I want to be part of this group... But what's just as cool is the fact that I might still be able to become a sister in the "Bloggerette Sorority" helped affirm to my lil' mind that this isn't about being "the best of the best"...

It's really about meeting others that share the same passion for beautiful things in life and also about sharing the beautiful things in your life as well. It's about slowing down to see and appreciate all the little things that we're either too busy or too worried to notice otherwise. What a powerful lesson I learned today! Thanks to all my fellow bloggers and artists and to Some Days Are Diamonds for not only allowing me to share a peek into your beautiful world, but also for the lesson learned.

Shabby Shops In A Box & A Give-Away

So as I so often do, I was surfing through my favorite blogs this afternoon and while visiting the French Cupboard, my attention kept drifting to a button on the sidebar for a site called Shabby Shops In A Box... That little avatar just kept catching my attention so I finally gave in and clicked on it to see what Shabby Shops In A Box was all about...Aaahhhh - you have got to visit! Before I try to explain, please note, I just found this awesome site today so I am sure that there is alot more at Shabby Shops In A Box than what I'm about to tell you.

It's an online boutique that is home to several vendors that are not only talented, but have excellent taste. Each vendor has her own on-line shop at Shabby Shops In A Box. Now, I'm not sure if it's a monthly deal or not but for the month of July, you can purchase a "Shabby Shops In A Box" which is a box filled with something from each of the vendors. And let me tell you, well no, I can't even begin to describe the pretty things...look for yourself...and be sure you enter to win!

As if this wasn't cool already, I discovered that Shabby Shops In A Box has a newsletter that you can sign up for, as well as a magazine, a blog, you can advertise your business, you can support fellow artisans by shopping in their boutiques, and more. Please do visit Shabby Shops In A Box.

Welcome to Mi Vida Loca!

Hello and welcome to Mi Vida Loca! I am so glad you stopped in to check it out. Let me start by sharing with you a couple of reasons I started this blog...I wanted to have a place to share my art, to share my husband's art, and to admire & share other people's art that I find inspiring. I also wanted to have a place to "be me" with as little judgement from others as possible. You see, my husband is currently incarcerated and that's something that I may talk about from time to time but I feel the need to bring that up because I don't want to "trip" anyone out. My husband is not a bad person and he's not a monster; he's my best friend and he made a bad decision in getting caught up with some not so good people.

Another reason I started this blog is I'm an artist who lost her muse and I really hope to find her soon! I have all these cool ideas that are constantly popping into my head but I find that by the time I actually have the time, energy, and desire to create, my lil' Muse has spread her wings and flown away! Darn her!!! And even when I write my ideas down, lest I forget them, the end result is never even close to what I had envisioned.

Not only have I lost my muse, but I'm going through this stage where I feel like I don't have a "style" to my art. I've been playing with art and paper for over 6 years and at one time, I was pretty darn good. But lately...I find myself playing with different things (i.e. an art journal, mixed media canvases, a mini collage book) and while they're ok, I'm just not feeling them. I know I have it in me to be better but the magic isn't flowing like it used to. Hopefully these are just creative growing pains.

I hope that you will find my blog to be an inspiring, if not interesting place to visit. Please come again - I intend to post at least once or twice a week. Until next time, I leave you with a photo of a canvas I made in February 2010.