I have a habit of overbooking myself and then driving myself absolutely insane to meet all those obligations. Usually I end up in a corner sucking my thumb by the middle of it all and not performing well on half of these commitments (at least by my standards), and that’s never a pretty sight.

Lately I’ve been reevaluating what I’ve agreed to do and decided that it’s never a good thing to let myself get *so* overwhelmed that I get paralyzed. No one benefits and I’m sure it’s taking off minutes – if not days – of my life. So last month I decided to start hacking away at things I said I’d do but were stressing me out big time.

And it worked. People were disappointed, but they’ll get over it. What’s most important is that I kept myself healthy & able to create. When I get overwhelmed I get blocked – creatively & otherwise – and I become rather useless. I know I’m one of those people who wants to please everyone all the time (eldest daughter, dad w/ temper, sister who’s a bit wild) and in the meantime gets so frustrated and stressed out that she explodes with her own pent-up energy at the most inopportune times.

This month I realized I overbooked myself. Three shows, 2 classes, 1 band gig, several arts league-related things, new fantastic, exciting project & helping my sister with her upcoming wedding. Argh! All this on top of writing articles for eHow & keeping my 6-8 hr/day web gig.

So now I’m going through my schedule and hacking away at things that aren’t important to me and are not doing anything but increasing my stress levels. That means backing out of one show (which I didn’t have to pay for) and flaking on a few friends (who I see weekly anyway) to keep my sanity.

And I’m feeling good about it. That is, until I got hit with major sinus crap yesterday. (double argh!)

I guess what I’m trying to say is:

Be good to yourself.

Quit doing things because you feel obligated (and that’s the only reason you’re doing it).

To create you need space – both in your life and around you – so make the space you need.

Even if it means disappointing people. They WILL get over it and you will be a lot happier & more creative. And as a bonus, those people you disappointed may ooh & ahh at your latest and greatest creation!

photo credit: FredArmitage

I swear I have a good excuse.

You see, this Tree – a red oak – was uprooted during a horrible storm with winds reaching 75mph last Monday April 13th (tree with a capital T since it’s 100 year life-span and 15-ton weight sort of make it a Tree). It fell in the direction of our neighbor’s house. It did not land on said neighbor’s house (that would have been bad for them, but easy for insurance to cover). Instead the Tree got tangled up in a pine about 1/2 the girth of the Tree and stayed there all week while the pine slowly kept bending under the weight.
All week our neighbors did nothing while we were stuck trying to figure out how to take care of this Tree. Insurance wouldn’t touch it since no buildings were damaged. Our neighbors wouldn’t touch it because it was “our Tree” although the law in GA says that what falls on your land is your problem…

Four tree service quotes later we found a service that would take it down for $1200 LESS than everyone else was quoting and wouldn’t completely screw up our lawn with a crane. It came down on Thursday. I suppose it would have been sooner if a) the Tree actually fell on our neighbor’s house and b) if there weren’t 17 kazillion other trees in the Atlanta area that fell.

Hubs and I ended up borrowing money from my dad to pay for this tree removal since we were not prepared for this in the least. It’s scary when you know something needs to be done about a precarious situation but you don’t have the funds to accomplish it. The Tree came down on Thursday, and the large parts went to a craftsman. I’m glad the bulk of that gorgeous red oak went to a good use.

Where that huge tree stood for 100+ years is now a bare patch of earth with roots sticking out of the ground. The last barrier between us & our neighbors has fallen and we’re not too happy about that. How does the saying go….? Good fences make good neighbors? Well, we’re going to put one up. As soon as we have the money.

We were supposed to drive up to New Jersey for Pascha (Greek Easter) on Thursday but that’s when the tree service folks came to remove it. So Easter was downsized… I made some killer lamb chops, but nothing could possibly compare to what my family had without us…

So it’s been a rough week, and I’m still coming down from it… I have 3 shows in May as well as my first Tiny Art Make & Swap class at the local community center, and I have a feeling I have overbooked myself. I’ll try to make it here more often but I can’t promise.

Send some vibes this way if you can – I’ll need all the positive energy I can get to push through the rest of this and next month.

1. Intro to Blogging: How to use Wordpress.com to set up and maintain your own blog.
   $49 for Kennesaw Residents
   • Saturday, June 20, 2009 10:30 AM
   • Saturday, August 8, 2009 10:30 AM
2. Tiny Art Make & Swap: Learn Mixed-Media Techniques, make ATCs and trade ‘em at the end of the night!
   $15 + $7 supply fee
   • Tuesday, May 5, 2009 6:15 PM
   • Wednesday, August 12, 2009 6:15 PM

You can register for these classes at the Kennesaw Parks & Rec Online Catalog.

So this is what I got:

It’s the Blick Beechwood Convertible Easel and it can lean forward, lay flat and fold up completely for easy storage. I’ll take a photo of it in my studio when it gets here.

In other news, I’m cleaning up my studio – AGAIN. I finally put up the few shelves I had painted almost a year ago, got some of those puck-shaped LED lights that mount underneath for some extra lighting. I have 2 large leather journals to make for two loverly ladies and I can’t keep them waiting any longer.

AND I bought the Artella BusinessBlitz Intensive ™ today. I need a boost to my business (as does everyone these days!) so I decided to take the plunge after joining Artella finally after so many years of drooling over the creative smorgasboard Marney Makridakis has created. I’ll be posting my progress & reviews of the program on here. In the meantime, Artella has quite a few specials going on – check ‘em out!

And a gift for you for the Holidays. Create your own holiday cards this year!
Download a FREE copy of the Artella eBook, Stunning and Simple Seasonal Salutations, an eBook featuring 10 beautiful handmade cards, complete with photos and descriptive “how-to” instructions, showcasing a variety of techniques such as rubber stamping, collage, and innovative paper and mixed media arts.Download your copy here!

1. If you’re going to attach metal objects to the clay, just make an impression of it in the clay before baking and glue it on later.
2. Sand & buff before you attach your metal objects (my favorite adhesive is E6000).
3. Always sand with a sanding block that you can use in water. Polymer clay dust is not fun to have in your nasal cavities/lungs/sinuses/eyes.
4. When using steel wool to buff your pieces, wear protective gear. This means long sleeves, mask and full apron (leather if you have one).
5. Rhinestones, no matter how well you remember them being glass, are probably plastic, and do not bake well. 

When I finish my polyclay pieces, I prefer a matte sheen so I wet sand the rough edges & imperfections with a fine sanding block, follow up with a vigorous rub with steel wool (I have the “0″ steel wool) and then buff with my dremel buffing attachment. I think I should probably invest in a buffing wheel — the kind you attach to a workbench — at some point. It’ll make my wrists happy.

I love to teach – and I’ve been realizing this more & more lately. So I started a class based around an idea I’ve had rolling around in my head. It’s tentatively titled “Art Journaling for the Intimidated” but I’m not married to it. I’m taking about 12 people, some who haven’t even picked up a paint brush, through a process from writing, to doodling to a full-fledged mixed media journal page in 4 weeks. This is my testing ground. Students aren’t paying much in the way of class fees, but there is a supply fee.

My goal with this is to formulate a set class to teach elsewhere and to create an on-line class for those who can’t come to where I am.

I will still make & sell my journals, so don’t be too disappointed. I’ll probably only do 1 or 2 festivals a year and concentrate on actual art shows – showing some of the more elaborate journals and even my completed art journals. We’ll see how that goes.

I’ll keep ARRRT! updated as much as possible with details on how my class is going, where else I’ll be teaching, and when the online class is launched.

I’ve also ordered the 1000 Journals book from Amazon. I’ll post a mini-review when I’ve had time to digest it.

Here’s a great video on how to start art journaling:

Doodlage: a site devoted to doodling and a guide to interpreting your doodles.

Grrl+Dog: Journal artist, published in 1000 Artist Journal Pages

The Pen Addict: blog on pens… oh don’t look at me like that!

And these French notebooks are fantastic! I bought two at MOMA last week and gave one to my sister – but the paper is so fantastic I ordered more.

And speaking of MOMA, they had the most fabulous artist book, book arts, book-related arts & printmaking exhibit called “Book/Shelf.” I was in heaven. If you’re in the NY area go see it before it goes away on June 7th. My favorite was the table of altered board books. They had a TV next to the table showing a pair of hands flipping through what was on the table. One thing I was truly disappointed with was that the museum didn’t let anyone touch the books… they’re BOOKS. They’re meant to be touched & opened… (oh well!)