Mad Hatters Tea Party!

Today the Mad Hatter festivities begin

They’ll be tons of merriment possibly a taste of gin

Vanessa at a Fanciful Twist is to host the soirée

A place for bloggers to celebrate all day

Whimsy and wonder loads of fun too

A blank slate to create the way that you do!

The decorations can be romantic or fancy and bright

Whatever your preference, will be a delight!

My friend and I were dressed and ready to go

When Mr. Grumpy Pants decide to say “no”

Spotty said he felt silly dressed like a clown

So he dug in his heels and sat his bum down

To show him how fun the party might be

Miss Tutu licked the cake right in front of me!!!

Now I’m afraid that the four of us will be tardy

But sooner or later we’ll arrive at that party

I have no time to make or embellish a new cake

Beside the house is too hot, to attempt to bake

So I dashed to a fancy bakery located at the mall

I couldn’t decide which cake I liked better,

so I took them all!

Make sure to visit Vanessa and all the party goers on her blog
for some fun and frolic in blogland!

Three Word Wednesday " Salacious"

Peppers sister-in-law made this fun necklace out of old buttons from grandmas button jar!
Click the image to see if you recognize any buttons from your past!

Three Word Wednesday , rumor, shake , spontaneous

Salacious

Spontaneous Rumor

is laid out

On the asphalt

Gossip mongers

Drive over it

Vicariously

With weighted vehicles

Squashing it

Into a semblance

Resembling

Road kill

Basking

In the hearsay

Of feted pain

Never imagining

It hovers

in the distance

of their existence

Waiting to

shake their world

Impede their joy

Sanctimoniously

They revel,

Void of

Compassion

Manic Monday "Night"

Catching Dreams done on flat canvas with Acrylics

Manic Monday

Night Knocks

Night unearths thunderous thought

Pounding on the pavement of my psyche

Like a tropical monsoon

Furiously flooding,

pouring out

Onto paper,

Keypad,

in colors

In angst,

in compassion

In prayer

Thump, thump, THUMP

It awakens

The lull

Beckons a reckoning

Breaking through

All barriers

To be heard!

Sunday Scribblings " Happy Endings"

"Posers"
Water color pencils on a small flat canvas!

Sunday Scribblings " Happy Endings"
Last night a dear friend and I joined our other friend,
her daughter and grandchildren for fish and chips on the beach.
We enjoyed watching these sweet little ones interact
with such kindness towards each other!Best friends for life!

Mother and childen

Grandmother and grandson!

Grandma and granddaughter

A petite dancing Rose Fairy

Grandma and grandson, a very old soul!

I just want to break out singing Lennon song Beautiful Boy
when I see this sparkly eyed boy!

Tender little man adores his Glamma!

Three generations, mother, grandchildren, my friend the grandmother!

Unexpected Treasures

They came unexpected, fifteen months apart
Forcing a young woman to make a brand new start
Tumultuous fathers, unable to commit
She took her broken heart, grieved a little bit

The Babies needed her to put her angst aside
So in a box she packed their life, took it all in stride
Found a cozy place to live, to raise children who are kind
Enrolled herself in school to cultivate her mind

Future deliberations, a job, own a car and home
Ammunition to squash the odds, and thrive out on her own
It’s been a year now, the kids are smiles and joy
A darling petite fairy and a soulful little boy

A mother with her children can flourish beyond thought
The innate power of motherhood is a mystery never taught
Though she may find loneliness knocking late at night
Enthusiasm for her offspring fills her with delight

Ambling carefree the promenade knowing mom is near
Past few years of oblivion, become obviously clear
Gifted treasures in her midst have helped her heart to heal
Closeness she’s honed with them has made happy endings real!

Quiet Gestures

Dressed in 80's garb for a theme night out on the town!

Note that she is wearing my earrings from the eighties!

Do you ever feel on high alert when you hear something unexpected three times in the same day, or three times in a short interval? I do! I usually ask myself what should I be learning from this, what message should I take away.

I’m embarrassed to say, on occasion, I make the kids lunch and set up their coffee for the next day. You know those weeks when life is difficult, too hectic with not enough sleep. Yes, I know they’re grown ups. But who doesn’t need a break once in a while. That’s just what moms do! Besides, they’re always good to me, so it works!

The other day during conversation Pepper mentioned that she only eats half of her sandwich for lunch. This has gone on for years now. I wondered what happened to the other half. She nonchalantly volunteered that she gives it to the homeless people in the area where she works.

I remember hearing about some scruffy old guys who stop by to talk to her; she’ll ask them if they’d like one of her snacks, an apple or cookies. A few disabled pensioners, some are homeless. For some reason when she first told me about the old guys , it didn’t quite compute. When she mentioned giving half her sandwich away for some reason I felt surprised. But I'm not sure why!

There's a tenacious old crippled guy who walks to the mall daily. Apparently he was turned down when applying for a much needed scooter. Pepper was outraged. I saw him painfully inching his way down the road in a sideways manner…I was shocked that he didn’t qualify for that scooter. Finally after years of living this way he was approved. Now he rides around so proud of his new freedom!

Next day Bryan mentioned that he left his uneaten banana bread on a bench where he knows some homeless people frequent. That too surprised me. Reading my friends blog, hearing her surprise at how her girls are making a difference and it brought a tear to my eye.

For the first half of her life Pepper was raised fairly affluently. I always worried being a spoiled princess may be detrimental. Not being privy to the plight of the less fortunate could cause her to be less compassionate. Well as a teen her world opened up, seeing the homeless on the Vancouver East side, listening to the woes of kids less fortunate at school and living on a tight budget with me! My worry was futile.

So what did I learn from hearing this three times you may ask. Well I realized the importance of those small everyday quiet gestures of compassion filling a daily need. Those gestures done on a continuum can have as big an impact on the less fortunate as those grandiose yearly contributions! This new perception can be applied to the importance of many small acts of kindness shared daily.

Today I miss you mom!

This is my #3 Jayna's angel, Porclaine is an old hippy angel seeking peace, she meditates daily! Even though I love to be current, a little of Porclaines spirit trickles through my life, in art and attire!

Last weeks Three word Wednesday

An intrusive change has convened

A lost key is not all that has intervened

Forced into a constant dizzy haze

I can’t wait to pass this outrageous phase!

Sincerely the change can wreak havoc on a womans life! My mother always spoke about how hard it was, but never in detail. This is when I most wish she were alive. So I could apologize for not being more compassionate as a teen. Now I understand why she was up at four, or until four A.M.reading at the table, why she was so crabby living on short intervals of sleep. Why she was less tolerant, and slower to compute things. I wish I knew then what I know now, so I could just say sorry mom, I didn't get it!

I wish she were alive so I could compare the experience, ask her those details she never shared, have her comfort me by saying, " this too shall pass!" Today I miss you mom!

This Weeks Three word Wednesday!

I think of her on a frequent basis.

Never knowing someday I’d understand

And be even more open to forgiveness!

Faith and Karma

Date night for the kids, they joined us three ladies for dinner before
their Adam Sandler movie .

A few weeks back my daughter and her husband insisted on paying our way to a movie. My two friends were very uncomfortable with the two treating them. As I have witnessed in the past, I assured my lady friends it would be repaid ten fold. One friend slipped the money into my purse unable to take the gift. I made sure the kids got it back.

Sure enough, a week later, a radio station called, out of the blue, informing Bryan he’d won passes to a very expensive concert. Tickets costing approximately three hundred dollars! He doesn’t recall entering a contest! Maybe I entered him, I do that sometimes. Or it could have just been a random draw because they belong to the stations website! They already have tickets to this weekend event but plan on selling them to pay for half their own tickets! Pretty fair investment if you ask me! It’s all about faith and karma! One good deed really does deserve another!

Sundays Scribblings " Guide" and Birthday Wishes!

m

I like to publicly wish my fellow Gemini Artist Friends Violette and Nicci , a very Happy Birthday! May your creative life bring you fiscal Abundance, peace and joy! Both ladies are living an artful life, Violette has a book in the works soon to be published and Nicci is busy marketing her jewelry and doing commission work! I wish you both boat loads of success!

Prompt for Sunday Scribblings this week is " Guide"

" The Artist Way" guided me into self discovery and personal resolve in my less creative days! The book " Crazy Time" guided me through the darkest days during the divorce process! The following poem touches on my internal guides!

Guided

My heart guides me to love and joy

My mind can lead me astray

When thoughts meander in fear

Constitution guides me back to the fray

Faith channels me to believe

Sorrow forces me out of sync

Hope draws me back to my heart

When I feel most on the brink

Compassion guides me to kindness

While doubt leads into mistrust

A jolt from ethic and karma

Compels me to do what is just!

Love guides me to feel generous

Austerity chokes me in a prudent haze

Consoled by Creative endeavors

Guided out of my dankest phase

Trust captures my attention

When resolve saunters on in

Contentment cozies with love

Joy bangs the drums to begin

June Honeymoon, My off Beat Bride

My daughter was an off beat bride and had an off beat wedding. I knew at seven years old when she asked for an album of " Queen's " music, and divorced Barbie for trolls that she had no intention of following the mainstream. She told me at seven she would be married in either a purple dress or a red dress. While on a search for a dress she stuck to those two colors! To this day she never wears white! She defied convention then and still does! Never a dull moment with my girl who was married Feb 14th, 2008. Was I upset that she planned to elope? Not a chance I encouraged them to do what made them happy. We keep hearing of horror stories where mothers take control of what is suppose to be the brides day! I wonder if the fact that I never enjoyed my wedding day was a precursor to the subsequent 23 years?

Knowing the groom had been wanting red shoes for well over a year, the bride went on an extensive search finding the last two back east, only one pair size 12! She spent less time worrying about her own shoes.Instead she had his shoes shipped here and presented them as a wedding gift. They made for perfect Valentine shoes!

Click image to enlarge

Tinker is having a celebration called June Honeymoon, I made it! Posting one minute before midnight pacific standard time! Perfect, being the Night Hawk that my off beat bride is she would love getting married right at midnight! Surrounded in purple and green! Candle light aglow, indy music of all unheard artists playing in the back ground! A quirky cake with the angel Aunt Tuition whispering good wishes, checking out the groom to make sure he's on the up and up! My girl Chaise is ready for her special day. Would I want an wedding like hers!! Hell yes! For more off beat weddings and pictures, check out this cool website.....I wanted to post some of the pictures on my blog but was worried about copy right infringement!! So this is what you get!!! Hope you live happily ever after Chaise, and Pepper too!

7th Thursday Thirteen " 13 Reasons for the Apology"

Yesterday the Prime Minister of Canada presented the First Nations people with an Apology for the eighty thousand (possibly 150,000) aboriginal children taken from their villages and forced into Residential schools, where they were stripped of their rich native culture then physically and sexually abused. To hear the Prime Minister poignant short Speech and read more about this issue check here.

My Seventh Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen reasons why the Canadian Government owed the First Nations people an apology for the former resident schools.

1) It changed the fiber of who our first nation’s people were! Many lost the foundations of their language and culture!

2) The damage done to the aboriginal community has cause immeasurable suffering which has become generational!

3) Aboriginal children in Residential schools and their parents were stripped of their rights, and dignities. One child watched as a six year old girl died; her parents were never notified of her pending death.

4) Because the suicide amongst children of parents who attended residential schools is six to seven times higher than the rest of the Canadian populace. Children tormented in the residential schools have passed on some of the indignities they suffered to their offspring.

5) Death of Children in the residential schools was higher than children raised within their villages.

6) Because until now this injustice was not recognized in history books and has not been a part of the Canadian education system. Therefore many Canadian people have penalized and treated aboriginals with prejudice and judgment.

7) Because aboriginals were robbed of their childhoods and forced to live like prisoners

8) Because they were beaten and sexually abused

9) Because many aboriginals have become substance abusers in order to mask childhood cruelties.

10) To affirm the indignities forced upon them so they may implement a healing process.

11) Because a large populace of natives are still housed in Canadian jails, ramification of the abuse suffered by parents in residential schools.

12) Because many Canadians refused to recognize first Nations people as an oppressed sector expecting them to work through their adversity and move on.

13) To affirm abuse suffered in residential schools presenting them with a forum to speak about the humiliations suffered in those schools in an effort to diminish horrific shame carried on to the next generation!

Jaynas Angel Jazzy

#4 Jayna's Angel Jazzy a 9x12 Acrylic

Jazzy jives with flair proudly taking center stage. Vivacious she's a bright spark in a dull day. Jazzy is full of ideas and can always make things happen! I'm not much like Jazzy, but I know people with her traits. They just light up the room, they have blogs that are dazzling and they just make life so much more interesting. Always thinking of a new adventure. They're the most inspiring people. I can't help wonder if they sometimes feel a bit drained though, or whether they feed on it!

My friend introduced me to Bitchin Kitchen youtube videos! Nadia has is going on! Check it out. Vibrant set design too!

Thanks Chris, her videos are really fun!

Unconscious Mutterings

Stormy done on 9x12 canvas in acrylics

A few posts back I presented a wall of Jayna's Angels, but now I'd like to introduce them individually. This is my sixth Angel Stormy, she loves to whirl away her worries; Stormy enjoys creative adventure but is often sabotaged when people take advantage of her sweet nature. She'd like to learn better boundaries so she can hang on tighter to her own dreams!

I fully understand Stormy, sometimes it's so hard to juggle everything you need and want to accomplish while pleasing others. It can be even more disappointing when you know it wasn't fully appreciated! I'm learning to dissuade my guilt to follow some of my own dreams. Unfortunately, some may feel snubbed, housework may get behind. But oh well.....I'm taking charge of my dreams! Only so much time in the day! Woman are known to wear the weight of the world upon their shoulders! Along with self doubt!

Here are my Mondays unconscious mutterings!

1. Rambling ::man
2. Magnetic ::love
3. Again! :: baby….do it one more time!
4. Acoustic ::guitar
5. Mahogany ::bench
6. Promises ::broken
7. Ill fitting ::loose
8. Sublime ::gelato
9. Poop ::scoop
10. Disoriented ::foggy

Sunday Scribblings Night

Sunday Scribbling this weeks prompt is " My Nights"This is my falling angel I digitally drew for drawing day 08

Truly Night can be my bliss! I think I was a bat in another life. From childhood I loved the dark solace, moist air, twinkling stars, and solitude of Night! Not to mention the moon! Pepper has favorable memories of being awakened to walk in the new fallen snow well after midnight.As a teen I would escape from my bed to wander or just sit outside in the summer evenings that I adored. I'd sneak out in the dead of winter to deliver papers in the snow with a boy I liked. Some of my best creative moments awakened me out of a solid sleep in the wee hours before dawn! Night hours now rule me. Years of being summoned by the A.M.had dire affect.It's a choice I've lost, some nights I want to sleep and can't because of menopausal madness. The late calm has absconded with any semblance of routine the next day. Ruling whether I can function to my normal! The poem I wrote is about my youthful nights! Now it's self serve after eight pm, nothing physical accomplished after that hour either!

Midnight Maid

Worked eight hours, gone nine or ten

Labor at home, started then

Painted rooms, way into night

Like magic, working till morning light

I used to be the midnight maid

Night my solace, or quietude

All my troubles I could elude

Most nights I slept just four hours

Stayed up late to clean or scour

While I was the midnight maid

Years went by in this routine

Those nightly moments so serene

Then I crashed, not enough sleep

A virus, a death, I collapsed into a heap

No longer the midnight maid

Illness knocked on my back door

Housework, no choice but to ignore

Piles of laundry slowly done

Unsightly dust I had to shun

Gone was the midnight maid

Grief, anger, acceptance too

No longer did what I used to do

Weariness forced me to use the word “No”

Slept on demand, now weak and slow

I needed the midnight maid

Hastened days sadly changed

Life was now rearranged

Insane treadmill of life I’d been on

Dissipated, completely gone!

No more midnight maid

Our Dream!

Last night we went to Sex in the City. Laura brought Cosmo's for us to drink in the theater. Of course it was on the down low! As Laura left the theater her purse was dripping....hmmmm wonder what that could possibly be. Almost a dead give away, along with her laughter!!!

I was so stoked after the movie I wanted to capture the moment. So with a combination of Photo shop (which I suck at), and the paint program I produced this picture of the three of us as the Sex in the City Characters! How fun is this?

If you were ever a fan then it's a must see! I won't spoil it by saying a word. But I will agree with my friend Chris, there is quite a bit of wisdom throughout! Enjoy!!!! We did!

Cookies Contest and Peppers Shoes

These are Pepper shoes that she wears everyday!

These are Cookie's Shoes!

Well, they're not actually her shoes because she's grown up! But they're a wonderful piece of her art work that just happens to look exactly like Peppers shoes, save the bows and color! Cookie Sunshine is having a contest to win six Mary Jane prints along with her poetry that accompanies each illustration from her "Little Red Shoe series." Each print is limited to an edition of six. She's giving number 3/6 of each print to her lucky winner!

To enter just visit her spectacular blog, full of nostalgic stories, art and everyday life. See the magnificent cakes Cookie produces, works of art almost too beautiful to cut into! I find myself excited to see what she's doing next or what exciting website she might lead me to as she kindly endorses other artists and their wares!

Leave a comment there by the June 30th, 2008 deadline letting her know that you have put a post on your blog informing your readers about her drawing, with a picture of the little red shoes and a link back to the Cookie Sheet.

Check out this special artist, you won't be disappointed, you may even win some cool illustrations too!

Thursday Thirteen

"Soul of the Sea"
This Jayna's Angel was made for Kai who won my 500th post contest. I originally had something different in mind, but wanted to do a bag more suitable to Kai's personality as a lover of Mermaids and the color blue!

Thursday Thirteen #7

Thirteen things I could be found to say on a continuum

You’ll never say” Gee I wish I’d stayed in that bad marriage longer”

Children learn what they live

Definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over expecting different results

Karma

Just ask

Find your voice

What do you want to eat?

Thank you for abundance! (Looking to the sky)

Turn it up!

Hmmmm……not sure about that! (With an inquisitive voice)

I ...DON’T .....THINK..... SO!

I feel so blessed!

Is it hot in here?