Friday, September 28, 2012

Cross Stitch Skull

Yeah you read that right. I am taking a break from jewelry for a while -- more on that later -- and I decided to cross stitch again. So, being the incredibly cheap person that I am, I scoured the internet for free patterns. I found out there are a lot of great free patterns out there and that cross stitch is so much cooler now than it has ever been. I offer exibit A: Subversive Cross Stitch

Oh, I laughed and laughed. That website is such a fun place. After seeing that I wasn't stuck with cute animals and trite sayings, I felt so inspired! Here is what I landed on:


Hey Judgy McJudgerson, it's not finished yet! And I feel good about it considering this is what I was working from:
Please feel free to use this pattern and come up with your own awesomeness. Hey, if you do, please send me the picture of your finished product! I changed the pattern up a bit here and there and obviously I had to make up my own color palate (I call it "whatever I had laying around" -- fancy), but I think she's coming right along. I already gave it a golden grill so I'm not sure if a moustache is over-doing it.... Thoughts on this? I gotta say, it's been a fun process. It's been nice to stretch my creative muscles in another direction. More to come!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Taaaahdaaaaah!

So. Yes. Here I am. I am attempting a metamorphosis and, in typical fashion, I am doing it all at once and in all the facets of my life. Incredibly easy and smart, wouldn't you say? Ha. Let's break it down, shall we?

1) Melanie, Part Deux - Those of you who have known me for a while might wonder "wasn't Melanie really into writing/acting/crocheting/make up/some other creative thing that made her happy?" The answer is yes I was and then I got scared or I felt challenged or pressured and backed off. Well, no more. I am following the book The Artist's Way and it is ... astounding. I can't say enough about this book. Please read that as a warning; I will likely bring this up a lot. And recommend it to everyone I know. Everyone.

2) Hay Zeus Creased Toe - Every realize that the only time you talk to God is when you can't find your keys or you need a green light or some other trivial thing? Even if you find that set of keys or get that green light, you just zoom through without another thought. That's kind of where I am. There's no "thank you" or "I'm sorry" or "hey just checking in." There is a bit of rebellious "what have you done for me lately?" that I can acknowledge. So, I'm working on it.

3) OMG, the clutter - I have so. Much. STUFF. I have things in boxes that I haven't seen for years. I have things I never particularly liked but they were gifts. I have things that I will never use because they have a bad memory attached to them but they are nice things. Sigh .... These things are getting in the way of my life and I want them gone. I will be garage selling, craigslisting, donating, and possibly regifting. Look forward to that.

4) Fatty Boombalatty - I have lost, since the birth of my son, over 100lbs. Granted, a lot of it was the weight I gained during my pregnancy. But the fact remains, I am much smaller than I was (though not nearly the bean pole I used to be). I am still 15 or 20lbs from where I really want to be. I am at a stage in the weight loss where diminishing my calories any further feels HARD. In truth, I just need to exercise more but one of my super powers is filling the time I could be doing something productive with bugger all. Go me! Side note: If you are looking to lose weight, go to myfitnesspal.com and DO IT. Your excuses are not going to cut it any more.

5) Le Blog - Since I have started reading The Artist's Way, I keep plowing head-first into strange coincidences. (<-- em="em" i="i" is="is" plural="plural" that="that" the="the" ugh="ugh">could
look it up but I'm just ....not) Anyhoo, coincidence always gives me a funny-spooky feeling (as opposed to funny-haha) and the author, Julia Cameron, assures me that this is because coincidence is really "synchronicity." Frankly, I am somewhat offended by that word - so self-help, so salesy, corporate feel-good and just a little bit corny sci-fi. But, I do agree that there should be a better word than "coincidence" because it's not big enough to encompass the truth in the situation. Lately, the things that I am struggling with or questioning in my mind have been brought up to me in a million little ways. So I am trying to go with it. I'm trying to take advantage of the gifts and opportunities I am being given. This blog is part of that.

Well, I could get into some more fun changes but I'm pretty sure the master of the house will be waking soon and he likes his service to be prompt. I'll be back to outline and then flesh-out more of this transitional time. And, if you like, you can read along as I try to make sense of it all.

And maybe next time, I'll include some pictures.

Ta.