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Let me off the grid! A journey toward artful, holistic living in the middle of Sin City...

A journey toward artful, holistic living in the middle of Sin City...

Thursday, May 17, 2012

All Together Now!

Hello, party-hoppers!  My name is Julia.  Welcome to my blog.  Pull up a pillow and be comfortable.  Sip some tea or a glass of wine, depending on your mood.  Feel free to snoop around.  (I love snooping - don't you?)

Amy insists that we speak glowingly about ourselves and I've been pondering what to say ever since I signed up for this party.  I guess what I like best about myself is that I'm never bored.  Really.  Never.  I'm one of those people who can't wait to retire (5 more years!) because I have so many things to do besides work.  Two things I do consistently are play in my garden and play in my art room. Every day.  Sometimes for hours and hours.  Like I'll still be in my pajamas and it's 6 o'clock at night and all I've been doing is painting and collaging and making a mess.  Some things I do for a little while (Kung Fu - I have a second degree brown belt, playing in the SCA, making and selling baskets).  Some things I keep coming back to (belly dancing, knitting, drumming - frame drum and doumbek).  I love taking classes just to learn new things (Italian, jewelry making, dance).  It's important to me that I keep finding my boundaries and walking along those edges.  Of course, all this adventuresome learning and experimentation have left me with many more unfinished projects than I'd like to admit.  And sometimes the unpleasant thought crosses my mind that this behavior is not admirable - that it is the sign of adult ADD.  (Good gods, am I really suffering from "Shiny Chicken Syndrome"??? I think I'll choose to call it "bohemian" and leave it at that...)

Well, one project that I did finish was my giveaway for this party. (Yes, I can finish a project when I really put my mind to it!)  It's an altered board book.  Here are a couple of pictures:
the cover
one of the spreads
 Elsewhere in my blog I've posted a picture of another spread.  And there are two more pages, plus a surprise, but I'm not going to post those pictures because then it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?  If you'd like a chance to have this book for your very own and find out what the surprise is, leave me a comment telling me where you'd go if you had a time machine.  I'll choose the winner through random.org on May 21, so be sure to check back here.

Thanks again for visiting.  Now I'm off to visit you!  Party on...

20 comments:

Fallingladies said...

I used to think i would go back to the early 1800's as i loved that time period, the clothes etc but now i would go back to when i was 14 or 15 and tell myself " loosen up, have some fun while you're still young, don't be in such a rush"!

Šolanje na domu-Waldorf said...

Hi Julia! :) Lol! Shiny Chicken Syndrome! :)) You sound super busy and very fun to be around. You book looks awesome and I would love a chance to win it. :)

Linda Vincent said...

Hi Julia....I've just spent a happy half-hour looking through your blog. We seem to have lots in common (never bored, always learning new skills, love of Cary Grant, lots of unfinished projects ;-).......but I have to draw the line at the Beatles, lol! (Although my DH would be well impressed if I developed a liking for them:-)
Your altered book looks fab...very lush.
As for time travel? It would have to be the court of Henry 8th...as long as I could wear those amazing dresses.

Gina said...

Hahahaha....can I be a bohemian too ? I have loads of "stuff" that I've started and got "distracted" from lol. Gosh, I think I would love to travel back to the Elizabethan error, just to see all the gorgeous tiled floors and architecture...cos they look amazing know, so how gorgeous must they have looked when new :D XXX

Judah is a.... said...

Here's to folks that are never bored! I've never understood it when people say "I'm bored." Really? How does that happen? I don't get it!

As to where I'd go in my tme machine, that's easy-peasy. The Mesozoic era! But first I'd go to the far future to get myself a Really Cool Suit of Armor, so that being devoured by dinosaurs wouldn't be an issue.

Luna said...

Awesome, love this! So fun to be Partying with you!

If I had a time machine, I'd go back to Sister Dolores, art class autum of 1965, and tell her she was wrong, I DO have some talent, I just couldn't do it her way, it had to be MY way.

Magaly Guerrero said...

If I had a time machine I would go to the time when stories were told around campfires and and people would look at the storyteller wild-eyed and full of hope. And I would want a garden, like yours, to play with after I'm done telling tales ;-)

Unknown said...

a time machine? can i come back to that? i have to think about it.

i feel the same way you do - i start so many things and then i .... start something new (:

but i am impressed with the kung fu. i don't think i can top that.

okay, this time machine thing... can i go back and watch myself meet my husband or have one of my children? i think that would be nice.
i wouldn't make any changes (don't know what that might lead to) but i would like to be a fly on the wall (so to speak) and see my kids being born - i sort of missed it with all of the screaming and panting.

xxa
i would go

WrightStuff said...

I'd definitely stick with Bohemian - I use that all the time - that and mildly eccentric. I think it's our duty as artists to sport at least 10 eccentrities! I see you blog background is already potty!

Terri Corona said...

Love your blog, and your board book. And what a wonderful question! I'd go back to the Italian Renaissance - I want to watch Michelangelo, and Leonardo and all the greats at work - living and dying for their art...

Karen Isaacson said...

Hey - I know you! you're in the flutterbye swap group! yay! so glad I found your blog. I'm going to spend a bunch of time looking around. Shiny chicken syndrome made me laugh out loud. my whole household has shiny chicken syndrome! the best part of SCS is never being bored like you said. I'm only ever bored when I'm trapped in tedious obligatory social conversation. when left to my own devices the word does not exist. those book pages are way cool. as for time travel....back to see some legendary concerts maybe - the who live at leeds. nirvana before nevermind came out. the ramones at cbgb's. I'll think of about 10 more after I post this.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I have that same problem of starting something and not going back to it. As for where I would go, it's easy. I lost my Grandparents (who raised me) when I was still a teen. I would go back and show them how I turned out as a result of how well they raised me.

Marcia Beckett said...

Hey there! I'm visiting via Amy's blog hop. I'd love to win your altered book, as I'd love to see how one is done. I'm interested in making more of my own, but I started one and it turned out junky. I'd love to zip to the end of this school year and just have summer start now! Also, I'd love to go about 1000 years to the future and see what it's like.

Unknown said...

Ciao!
I'm from Italy and read thet you studied Italian. Ti piace la lingua italiana? :)
I have done so many things in my life, too, and some of them I never took to an end. But that's not bad. In Italy we say "impara l'arte e mettila da parte", learn an art and keep it away. You never know when you'll nedd it. Ehehhe. Your altered book is awesome!!

Cameron said...

How awesome to indulge in so many wonderful pasttimes!! My daughter takes Karate...and if not for the expense, I would totally take it with her! Such an empowering and beautiful thing to watch...as is bellydancing...on my list of someday soons :)

So nice reading about you!

Oh, I almost forgot the time machine query...hmmm...I think I'd love to go to the future to see my daughter as a grandmother....learn from her insights...so I could apply some of her wisdom towards our life together now.

Joyce van der Lely said...

Shiny Chicken ? that cracks me up, hehe ! Love the look of your blog and the giveaway and your post. I'll go and do a little more snooping now and I might actually start staling you and hit the follow button ! Nice meeting you like this :)

Sunshineshelle said...

Julia, you can't give away that book, it's too beautiful (not to mention a finished project) to bear parting with!!! But if you are please through my name in Mr Randomiser ;) It's great to meet you & I totally identify with the (well weekends usually)... I'll just go to my art desk at 7am & 6m someone asking if we have anything organised for dinner - thank goodness for 2 minute noodles... OK better go, I think I see something like a shiny chicken... promise you won't karate chop me & I'll be your newest follower ;)

Carolyn Dube said...

I am an explorer too! I try lots of different things, and come back to some NEVER come back to others. We don't have ADD- we have a sense of adventure! Love your book- so much mixed media texture and goodness in there!

Kristin said...

I love this post! YAY, 5 more years . . . I think you described a lot of us - I can especially relate to the PJ's part ;)
BEAUTIFUL book - what a generous offer - thank you for the chance. And hmmm . . . I loved Cameron's answer, but the first thing I thought of was how cool it would be to have tea with Marie Antoinette - even for a day - to be surrounded with all that opulence!
Kristin xo

Amy said...

if I could go back in time..probably 80's..just because I was a child from the 80's and I LOVED it..especially the music.

Your book is wonderful..would love to see more pages! Thanks for doing the blog hop swap. amy