I've been Tagged

I'm a big fan of Mystele's blog and she tagged all her blog friends today and I like to think of her as just that... an artsy cool  friend that never fails to bring a smile to my face every time she posts or vlogs. The kicker is that by doing so one of her art pieces is up for grabs...Ohhh Ohhh Ohh Pick Me!!!!! lol Seriously I love her art because it comes from the Soul and would love to hang it up on my wall of inspiration. So enough gushing already here's my six randoms...

1) I have always battled bouts of insomnia.  I love to be up late feeling like I am all alone in the world... everyone else asleep while I while away the hours painting, scrapping and reading up on art, painting, creativity, photography, scrapbooking... you name it. After having my two kids it's only gotten worse, it's the only "ME" time I get. the downside is that as I get older it is taking a toll on me so I've recently been trying to reign it in and go to bed earlier during the weekdays at the very least.

2)I get really cranky when I don't get enough "ME" time. I need solitude, time to just putter, time to get messy with paint and paper, time to watch movies or CSI episodes ,time to crochet, time to cook or bake,  time to just be by myself and be as dorky as I want to be. Many people are surprised by my actual interests and hobbies when they find out. It always gets a big laugh. My friends & family  refer to me as the Black Martha. I don't get embarrassed by it, I stand by what brings me joy. I actually find it some what funny that these hobbies would be seen in that uncool light because people will pay top dollar for the 

finished product of these art  forms... and also sad that something as simple as cooking/baking has become a lost art as is ma

ny other handicrafts. 

3)My grandma used to say I had an old soul because I was always most comfortable with adults or kids much older than me. No wonder that my husband is 14 years older than me (which is why at only 27 years old I have 4 step boys who range from 15-21). I also find I get along much better with women who are older than me...I have friends who are the same age as my Mother, who is also my BF (despite are bickering at times lol), and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

4)I LOVE greens! Especially Rapini also known as Brocolli Rabe. Give me a bowl of Spinach, Callaoo, Kale or Okra cooked up with some garlic and I am in heaven. I love my salads to be made with dark greens too and even blend them all up with an apple for added sweetness to create healthy Green drinks.

5)My favorite place to be in the entire world has got to be back home in Jamaica. The moment my plane gets close and I look out my window and see Montego Bay airport and the ocean touching land I get excited.  As I step off the plane I take a huge, deep breath of that gloriously fragrant air full of the heady scent of the red earth below and the salty freshness of the coast with a mix of florals and spices. MMMMMMMMMmmmmm. That smell is BLISS to me. If I could bottle it and carry it with me on my return to our home here in Canada, I would. It would really come in handy, especially this time of year when the snow is everywhere and it is so blasted cold. 

(sorry that sounds a bit bitter but we have been experiencing "arctic winds" with temperatures ranging from -20 to -33c... it is BEYOND cold ya'll!)

  

 I can close my eyes and hear the sounds of the ocean crashing on the rocks right outside my bedroom window, I can imagine waking up when the roosters start to crow (4:30-5 a.m.) and it being really bright outside and seeing the ocean glittering beneath the sky... beckoning me to come for a swim. Ahhh....take me away.

 I dream of the day when I can divide up my time between living here in Montreal, Canada and White House, Jamaica. I imagine that I could bring small groups out there for artist retreats. I imagine teaching art courses at the huge University out there. I imagine going to all the locations I love and discovering more and taking photographs, documenting the country and landscape that I love then heading back to the studio and translating that further in my art. I imagine banquets under the stars and adventure's under the sun. Doesn't that sound heavenly?

6) I get along best with men. Yep. I think that growing up the first girl born into a family of plenty of boys and men really gave me a whole different outlook and reasoning. My best friend in the whole world is man, we've been friends now going on 15 years. We talk every single day, sometimes for hours at a time. Coincidentally he ended up dating and fathering a child by my husbands cousin. I say friend but really he's family.

 That was fun. I'd love to hear your randoms, but hate to impose a tag on my blog friends. So if you feel like playing along post 6 random things about yourself and let me know that you did. :)

On the creative tip; 

 I altered a Tv/Laptop tray for my Mother this past weekend.

 I kept the design very streamlined and simple and chose to do o for two reasons.

1) To highlight the  huge picture of the boys and the quote to go with it

2)I didn't want anything too textured or bumpy because this will have to be a functional laptop tray for my Mother to use.

 This was an easy project and I am really happy with how it turned out. I started with a UGLY  tv/laptop tray (the kind with a tray on top and a pellow underneath) that had a print of a horse painting on it. I then took some sandpaper to the laminated surface of the print to give it some tooth upon with I used gel medium to glue down some yummy scrapbook papers by the company Chatterbox. I printed out a 8x11 precious picture of my sons sleeping and adhered it to the tray with glue dots. Next came some Alpha stickers for my quote, Home is where the Heart is..., a layer of acetate to protect everything from  wear and tear and a yummy ribbon to finish it off. 

I apologize for the bad photos but lighting at my Mother's house is rather poor and the acetate was causing a glare. 

My Mother is a nurse practitioner who works out of town doing  northern  nursing way up in the Arctic so she is gone  for 2-3 months at a time. She has often complained of getting a cramp in her neck from having to bend over her laptop on tables and of a hot laptop on her lap. So I thought she would enjoy sitting in a bed or chair with this. The added bonus; a piece of home she could look down at whenever she was feeling lonely. 

Turns out she loved it!!!

Hope she doesn't kill me for popping this picture up on here, with her hair all wild! Love ya Mom!