Final Day of ArtPrize in GR...

I don't know how quickly these pictures are going to download, i think i took these pics on the highest setting so I could print them out.  I hear that you can somehow magically make them small using photoshop, but  like 100 other things right now, I have no idea how to do that.  Next blog post: 

All The Things chinamommy Does NOT Know How To Do With Her: Camera,  Computer, Blog and Photoshop!

Sunday was the last day of artprize here in Grand Rapids, MI

Here is my brother with his painting.  I know, I know... it's like we're twins- we're always getting mistaken for one another.

 My brother in line for his "swag bag"

 Me...sadly behind the line because it's for ARTISTS ONLY!!  But let's talk about my shirt... isn't it cute!!??

 a painted WALL!!!  it's HUGE

 photo by my brother... all the dripped paint below the painting.

  3rd place WINNER.  It was AMAZING!!!  Every red disk was hung by a red thread attached to a NEEDLE!!  there were 100's, the sheer number of them made it amazing! 

Of course I loved this piece, not only because it was gorgeous to look at, but it was based on this Chinese proverb which means so much to the adoption community

 The Invisible Red Thread

"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break."  -Ancient Chinese Proverb 

don't ask me how a RED thread can be invisible or how they can know it's red when it's invisible, I'm also baffled by this...

Don't forget, the deadline for my baby/kid hat drive is getting close!

Oct 31st...

Here are the details:

a little plug about my BABY/KID HAT DRIVE

As most of you know, my daughter was adopted from China and I left a little piece of my heart there.  I'm collecting hats to keep the children and babies warm in the winter.  Many live in orphanages that are without heat.

1. make a baby hat, toddler hat, or kid sized hat 

(you can take the non-crafty way out and buy one if you must)

2. Send to:

David Shellenbarger

c/o chinamommy

146 E Main

Caledonia, MI 49316

3. I need them in my hot little hands BY Oct 31, 2010.

4. I'll take care of shipping them to CHINA this fall.

any questions- please feel free to email me!!

chinamommy@yahoo.com

Thank you to those who have participated so far, I'll be giving an update with all the donors and pictures at the end!!  

Can't wait to see them ALL together!

The old grey mare, she ain't what she use to be...

So, I went to my 1st run last night, I was the only girl, I was the only one who hadn't run in years, and apparently the only one that had a giant spaghetti and meatball dinner BEFORE the run... but, I DID IT!!

4 1/2 miles!!  

No stopping, or puking, only 1 small fart, and no peeing my pants, all in all, I'd say that's a SUCCESS!

I LOVED IT, well, not while I was running, but Oh, the memory of how you feel after you're in shape and running!!  I'm in hopes that in 2 weeks it won't feel like my lungs wanna explode.

I've been saying I'm going to run again for years, I must say I am so proud of myself for taking that first step, which is always the hardest!!

Ok, let's talk a little bit of art...

ArtPrize click here!!! do it, come on!!

ArtPrize 2011

Grand Rapids, MI... so worth the drive!!

Now, mind you, all the best pictures on my BEST camera which I STILL can't get to download onto my MAC... so go to the website (above) and check it out for yourself!!

Trust me, this in NO way highlights all of the extreme COOLNESS that is everywhere in my city!!

Ok, I haven't been keeping up with my etsy store AT ALL!  I have got to get it stocked for the Christmas season since I'm hoping to actually SELL something this year!!

That WOULD be nice...

Have a grand day and we'll meet back here later, ok?!

I have wet socks...

I HATE messes, hard to believe if you knew me in college or before!  I spent part of yesterday washing all the lids of the condiments in my fridge... shut up, I DID!

Today I cleaned my carpet in the living room and Darlings bedroom (thankfully the only area upstairs WITH carpet!). 

So now...my SOCKS ARE WET!!

and my front hall looks like this

see me waving at you?

Darling's room...

yes, that's me having a STROKE!!

stuff ON bed was stuff found UNDER bed...

Apparently she 

didn't read her chore chart, the one that says 

"Make Bed"

Anyway thanks to the devil.... errr, this guy:

I HAD to steam clean Darlings carpet...NEW CARPET!

Note to self: do NOT install new carpet and then get a dog, especially a YORKIE!!

Have a fabulous day, I'm off to RUN and then I REALLY hope to get in my studio while the carpet dries!!

don't forget the deadline for the baby hat drive is Oct 31, 2010!!

(see yesterday's post for ALL the details).

Email me at chinamommy_04@yahoo.com

for any questions or to let me know hats are coming my way!!

My long, long...LONG weekend

Ok, not "long" as in bad, but let's just say "it was time for school".  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my daughter, but she was ready, I was ready and today is a good day!  Monday we decided to head out to Lake Michigan because we heard there were some GIANT waves and I wanted to see if I could be rescued by a helicopter and make the 11 O'clock news!

1st off: see how Darling is dressed?  1. hat, 2. hooded sweatshirt, 3. jeans... guess what? It was CHILLY, really chilly...

but do you see this?:

a lady in a bikini with a surfboard!

 the water WAS warmer than the air, which is fine if you plan on staying IN the water.

I found this pill and sold it to a hooker

Now this guy may have made the 11 O'clock news.

this is him walking along the EDGE (NOT THE main walk out to the lighthouse) with his 2 VERY young boys.  It's wet, it's slippery and the waves were totally crashing up along here... 

Can you even believe what a chance people are willing to take with their kids?  To the right (ON the walk) is Mom, I couldn't believe she was letting her idiot husband take her babies onto that ledge!!!

a little piece of "art" carved into the boardwalk.

We walked out to the lighthouse, watched some fisherman, walked on the beach and had a stranger take a picture of the 3 of us with my new camera (after we figured out that I didn't have it turned on).  

Suddenly Darling had to go potty-go figure.

We didn't have shoes (we left them in the truck)...

Yep:

public bathroom at the beach with no shoes!

1 toilet was FULL 

the stall Darling chose had a pantie liner stuck to the floor

wet toilet paper

sand all over

EXTREME grossness

So gross, even I didn't take pictures (yes, I know.... You're welcome!!).

I was beyond grossed out, I'm still shivering just thinking about it.

Headed home and saw this

No, not the camper... the GARAGE!!  

Can you say "Hoarder"?  The Mister even turned around so I could see it (and take a picture).  I would guess the inside of his home wasn't much better and who wants to bet that trailer is being used as a storage unit?!

Then as we drove up the road to our drive we saw our "Friendly" neighbors place

Nice, hun?

and then TODAY at 8:05 this little sweetie headed off to 2nd grade!

No, I didn't pick the outfit.  She's been dying to wear this shirt that says "Pick me, Pick me".  Out of all the adorable new outfits, she wanted the t-shirt.

Her face?

Well, I had this weird email a while back that "someone" was searching for me.  They wouldn't tell me who unless I joined their group, but by the 3 clues they gave me I knew just who it was.

It made me a little paranoid that perhaps she (yes, it's a she) was trying to keep tabs on me or spy on us.

It's not someone dangerous, just someone that is nosy and nasty and has no business being in my business, so I think I'll just keep my sweetie's face for us right now...

Ok, school has started and that means it's time for this girl to get to her studio and start makin' some stuff!

Have a great day!!

Have you met my weird-o friends?

No, not really!  Or maybe... I mean, I never take the term "weird-o" in a negative way, do you? I like quirks, I like unusual people, I like funny, I like creative, I like mischievous!  I like people that can laugh at themselves and I like people that don't have a lot of secrets- hey, I tell mine!!  I don't like boring, I feel the need to fill the space with chatter, wait- I always feel that need, but still, boring people BORE me!!

  Wouldn't you rather hang out with this... guy?

or maybe this one?

or...this cutie?!

maybe all these men would make your husband jealous?!

Perhaps this gal would be better

You could talk about your stuffed animal collection, as long as you don't mind the SMOKE!

I love how the Internet has connected like-minded people...  

Anyway, check out the links below and see 7 things about each of my very interesting pals!!

http://bundlesofblossoms.blogspot.com/2010/08/7-things-about-me-im-sure-you-didnt.html

and

http://inmyminditisfunny.blogspot.com/2010/08/award.html

and

http://melisthepositivepessimist.blogspot.com/2010/08/award-for-me.html

If I didn't include you in this award (AWARD-doesn't that sound prestigious?), don't be insulted, chalk it up to the fact I had a brain fart and just couldn't think of anyone else as I was typing out my list!  If you want to play along, grab the list, add to your blog and type in your own answers... or use mine if you're lame :)

No, I still don't know how to use my camera, I spent the weekend hiding in my studio (the pollen is about to take me down!) catching up on darlings scrapbooks, crocheting, and cutting the fabric for my camera strap re-do!

7 things about ME... cause People magazine was asking!

Sherry over at  "Life, from my perspective"

http://littlebitintexas.blogspot.com/ 

awarded me "The Versatile Blogger Award" I am supposed to share 7 things about myself and pass the award to 7 other bloggers - so here you go! 

1. I'm don't eat hot-dogs or bologna after the tragic "Bologna Puke Incident" of 1979.
Although a big fan of pink, I'm not a fan of hot dogs and packaged meats.
Ewww!

2. God told me to adopt when I was a child.  He reinforced the idea by making sure I was shown a birth movie in 10th grade and again on TV when I was 24.

My daughter was born in China.

3. I've worked in a Spanish pre-school, a dentist office, 2 flower shops, 2  clothing stores, a drug store, de-tasseled corn,  subed for a maternity leave, worked for Kodak, sold carpet and owned a pizza shop.  I hated them all... ok, I didn't hate the flower shop or Kodak, but I love my job now!
"Head Goof-Ball"

4. I've always been a collector of stuff.  As a kid I collected: miniatures, Hello Kitty "stuff", stickers, stickers and more stickers (and still have my original sticker books which include Duran Duran stickers!), and rainbow "stuff". I'm too lazy to go take a picture of all this stuff and yes, I still have a LOT of it!

5. I don't camp.  I don't get it...
Sleep at home in my clean comphy bed,

 sleep in a moldy tent on the ground.
eat and cook at home where everything is clean and neat and convenient,

eat and cook around a campfire where it's a ton of work and theres sand in my food.
Poop and shower at home where 2 other people live

, or where 1,000 other people are pooping and showering in your same spot.  And have you noticed there is always wet toilet paper on the floor and sand on the toilet seat...
I don't camp.

(We stayed at a Hotel, we were visiting a friends campsite...)

6.  I have a BA in Fine Art, but still am not sure what my nitch is.  Maybe when my kiln gets hooked up I'll figure something out.

7. I remember when the internet was 1st becoming popular (thank you Al Gore for a great invention).  I thought "why in the world would I want that?  Isn't it just a bunch of information to read?" 

I seriously thought it was just like an online encyclopedia...

Now, I can't imagine my life without it!!

The inspirations

The friends
The blogs!

The next 7 lucky bloggers are..
Zoe
Chris
Mel
Funny
and anyone else that wants to play!
If you do this, shoot me a message and a link to your blog and I'll feature you here!
Have a great weekend, my allergies are KICKIN' My butt!!....

Whoo-hoooo

We're off to a local Amusement and Water park today.  I'm pretty sure they call it "amusement" because of the people you can watch at these places- if ONLY i had those secret spy glasses!!

(I don't think these would be too obvious, do you?)

  

I need to get a pair so I can take pictures without being punched by a toothless Grandma with a hot pink mow hawk!

Every time I ever took one of those tests to help me figure out what career field I should be in

Private Investigator came up!!

(I think being nosey helped lead me in that direction)

I'm sure it's because of the hours I spent watching this man!

(Don't you love how i sneak this image in at every chance i get!!).

Happy Monday and I'll be back tomorrow with tales from the park!

We'll get back to some art and crochet too because I've been hookin' away!

Summer Time ⎨etsy⎬Pretties!

I haven't listed any etsy goodies for a while...

Make sure you check these out, I've even included a link below the picture that takes you straight to the artists etsy store.  Wait till you see what else they have in their stores!!

Gorgeous stuff!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmilyGill/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/bustle/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CorinnaCouture/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/alishawhite/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/GingersGirl/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BakedwithLoveAprons/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JenniferMorrisPhoto/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vesselsandwares/

If you want to see more like I found above, I did a search of:

"Aqua, ruffles".

and then of course, I have to show off some of my own aqua pretties!

All available in my shop:

chinamommy

http://www.etsy.com/shop/chinamommy/

a little plug about my BABY HAT DRIVE 

As most of you know, my daughter was adopted from China and I left a little piece of my heart there.  I'm collecting hats to keep the children and babies warm in the winter.  Many live in orphanages that are without heat.

1. make a baby hat, toddler hat, or kid sized hat (you can take the non-crafty way out and buy one if you must)

2. email me at: chinamommy_04@yahoo.com for my address.

3. I'll take care of shipping them to CHINA next fall.

any questions- please feel free to email me!!