tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57673542024-03-14T06:30:15.741-03:00DragonMusingsMusings about life as an artist by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon DreamsJenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.comBlogger516125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-59782904397018802192011-05-15T15:22:00.001-03:002011-05-15T15:24:47.629-03:00<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>New Challenges Force Us To Grow...</b></span></div><br />
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The internal soul-searching that I’ve done over the past few weeks as the book gets ready to go to press has stayed out of the blogs, which is why I’ve been quiet, until I drove myself crazy with self-doubt this past week and technology kept making things more difficult.<br />
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I have drawn by hand and taken that seriously since I was 11. That’s now 34 years of experience feeling the pen or pencil in my hand and working digitally with a tablet still feels so different. When I watch what some of the younger artists are capable of doing digitally with a tablet and layers in Photoshop, I feel strangely left behind.<br />
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The book cover for Emily Finds A Dragon is done after a very hectic week and I shared all the details about the process on my <a href="http://doodlingdragons.blogspot.com/">Doodling Dragons</a> blog.<br />
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This is the shorter version for those of you who just wanted a quick peek at the final cover for the book.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-15310988231547531672011-03-27T23:37:00.000-03:002011-03-27T23:37:19.565-03:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Dragon Finds Her Voice Again...</span></span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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Every now and then, milestones happen in your life that cause you to radically change the way you think, act or look at the world.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Our visit to Japan to watch 2010 become 2011 and the Year of the Rabbit begin was one of those moments.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
It was an incredible journey that took our whole family halfway around the world to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Tokyo for 9 wonderful, amazing days.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We welcomed in the new year at the temple closest to their house...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/buddha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/buddha.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We listened to the Emperor give his New Year’s Speech at the Imperial Palace...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/palace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/palace.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We crossed at Shibuya...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/shibuya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/shibuya.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We visited Shinjuku and Senso-ji...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/shinjuku.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/shinjuku.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/sensoji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/sensoji.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Nick posed in front of the crowds at Harajuku to show how much we stood out...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/NickatHarajuku.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/images/NickatHarajuku.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We tried new foods, made new friends and fell in love with the country and the culture. I came home, however, profoundly changed by the public and consumeristic nature of our North American culture. Until you get away from it, you often don’t realize how “in your face” it can be. We tend to share everything without a filter. We upload, download, youtube, blog, Facebook and tweet almost anything instantly.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I needed time to wrestle with that and how it affects my life, especially when I’ve been doing so much self-discovery and recovery in the past year. Marking the 1 year anniversary of my father’s passing was more difficult that I anticipated. Juggling 3 careers at once is a bit overwhelming sometimes and began to wonder if the private angstings of my soul had any place in a blog instead of in my own journal. I admired the public privacy and inner stillness that so many of the people I met in Japan seemed to carry with them, even though I knew that I couldn’t suddenly transform my outgoing, talkative, extrovert self... nor did I really want to. I am still working on finding the right balance between the private and public persona I need to maintain as an artist, but it isn’t easy.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I’m not even sure this explanation makes sense, but many of you were wondering where the dragon was and if I was OK.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The answer is a profound and joyful... <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">YES!</span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Sometimes bigger things happen to put everything in perspective and give you a jolt.</b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Waking up on March 11th to the news of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan was one of the scariest moments that I’ve experienced in years! My sister sent off an e-mail to family and friends as soon as she could so that we’d know she and Yoshi were OK...but watching the news and seeing scenes of buildings where we’d been swaying in the quake was astounding. Watching the destruction of parts of a country we’d just visited 9 weeks earlier made our hearts ache right now for what that proud nation is going through! Listening to the North American media sensationalize some details and cause more panic than was needed made me angry! We aren’t seeing most of the heroic and uplifting stories... only the scary ones!</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If you want to see just one astounding example of how diligent, hardworking and determined the Japanese people are, check out the photos in this <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/24/japanese-repair-quake-ravaged-road-in-just-six-days/">car blog</a>. </div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If you want a cartoon explanation of what is going on with the nuclear power plants, you can check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O1aH2-MhEko">this subtitled clip</a> on youtube. It doesn't deny the seriousness of the event, but it does to explain it and put it in perspective...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If any nation knows how to deal with the effects of radiation, it is the country that survived having 2 nuclear bombs dropped on them, but they need our help to rebuild in the areas that are hardest hit by all these disasters.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">On my <a href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/">Dragon Dreams website</a>, you will find a special <a href="http://dragondreams.accra.ca/Sample_Charts.html">Dragon of Compassion</a> to stitch up. If you enjoy this design, I implore you make some kind of donation... even a small one... to the <a href="http://www.icrc.org/">Red Cross</a> in your country for Japan Relief.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Our planet has become too small for us to just ignore the cries from around the world for help. The price of gas and groceries remind us on a daily basis that we are all interconnected and that each of us can make a difference in changing our world for the better.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">While I will continue to explore some of these musings in public, I’ve also decided that some of my journey in the next few years has to be a private one. I’d rather not muse so deeply in public anymore. I need my blogs to be uplifting or informative rather than depressing because we can see enough of that in any media.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dragons sometimes take a long time to think things through, so thank you for your patience. I think now that the snow is finally melting here, it is time to crawl out of my cozy cave!</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-28713241629308399752010-10-20T08:53:00.000-03:002010-10-20T08:53:34.550-03:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Packing is SUCH a PAIN!</span></span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Packing for a vacation is stressful, but nothing like packing for a trade show or event. I woke bolt upright this morning thinking about the 2 things for the classes I will be teaching in Toronto that had NOT made it into my suitcase last night. The worry that I will forget something important and have to fly by the seat of my pants makes the last 24 hours before a show really difficult for me.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It’s funny, but once I am on the plane then I seem to relax because I know that there’s nothing I can do but go with the flow and adapt. It is the running around before I leave, trying desperately to remember everything that I find much more challenging.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Is it easier to leave the kids behind as they get older? It is different.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I can still remember the guilty feeling of freedom to be in my own head space that I felt that first year flying up to teach at what was then the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival. Time to write in my journal on the plane, no one’s food to cut, rediscovering myself as a person instead of just a Mom... those were all heady stuff.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Now my girls are both capable of getting themselves out the door in the morning to school and even helping with or making a basic supper. While they may not need my help as much, I know that they will still miss me. The hugs were much stronger this morning than usual.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Absence can make the heart grow fonder. Maybe their rooms will be tidier when I get home.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Did I mention how much I hate packing? Here is another reason... stuff gets lost!</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yesterday, I did all the laundry to get ahead and wash up some of the clothes I needed for the show. It promised to be a beautiful, sunny day with a nice breeze so despite the bitter morning cold, I put laundry out on the line. Silly dragon!</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I checked it again before I left to teach my pre-supper Weight Watcher meeting and some things were still a bit damp, so I left Nick a note to get stuff off the line when he got home.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Last night as I was packing, the only thing missing was my good dress bra. When I asked Nick about it, he said he hadn’t seen it.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9sZw-JWTapk/TL7YCIOMr-I/AAAAAAAAALM/pPAm-zEkxYM/s1600/frostybra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9sZw-JWTapk/TL7YCIOMr-I/AAAAAAAAALM/pPAm-zEkxYM/s320/frostybra.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I found it this morning in my garden, covered in frost.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Needless to say... it is going in the dryer before I put that sucker on!</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I HATE PACKING!</b></span></span></div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-72514020657284369562010-10-13T00:14:00.000-03:002010-10-13T00:14:09.451-03:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Back To MUSING Out Loud!</b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/JenDo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/JenDo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A year ago, I hugged my father goodbye for what ended up being the last time. His huge frame that had seemed so strong and invincible to me as a child, felt so fragile in my arms that night. </div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We’ve had almost a full year of feeling fragile as a family...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">From parents being sick to daughters getting injured or bullied, from braces to wisdom teeth that need to come out, from friends going through challenges to changes in all of our lives.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It has been interesting to say the least.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Most of it was just too personal to blog about. I’ve discovered that I am a much more private extrovert that I’d ever dreamed, at least about the inner things.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Learning to let go to some things while holding on to others was an important part of my healing and my decision to narrow my blogs down to just 2.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I ask your understanding for all the silences and posts than ended up in my own journals than out here for all to read. I needed to glue a few things back together, get a few things straightened up and out and decide what needed to be done.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This has meant a wee bit of a deadline crunch as school started back and the phone began to ring for substitute teaching work. I’ve taught all but 4 days so far with the many overcrowded classrooms around town. I’ve gone from Kindergarten to Grade 12 in 48 hours, taught in both languages at 5 different schools and enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve come home to check charts for the classes I am teaching in Toronto next week, snip floss or draw the final illustrations for Emily Finds A Dragon which we are trying to get to the printers by the end of the month.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Sleep has been a slightly scarce commodity, but I am loving every minute of each of the things I am doing.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I kept thinking of all these long entries to write and post... but then would run out of energy before I had time to post them! Now I realize that it’s not about how much you write or how often, it’s just about sharing when you can.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Welcome Back to the Dragon’s Musings. </div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-24274377054657949642010-06-20T17:43:00.000-03:002010-06-20T17:43:27.250-03:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><strong> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Father’s Day 2010</span></span></b></strong></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/images/Dad11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/images/Dad11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is an odd sort of day for me... the first one I’ve ever been through were I couldn’t pick up the phone and call him. If I am honest with myself, his death affected me far more profoundly than I’d expected, especially when Nick and I realized that our mothers and stepfathers were growing older too. It is a strange and scary thing to be hit in the face with the thought of being the “end of your line” when you still feel so young at heart inside. Maybe that is why I hid from being out here in cyberspace for a while... </div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This year it was more important than ever for both of us to thank the other Dads in our lives, the stepfathers who have been there through thick and thin, especially over the past few months. They are more precious to Nick and I than we can sometimes put into words or find the right card for, but we really tried this year to let those wonderful men know that they were the fathers of our hearts!</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There are many men in our lives who play important roles as nurturers, role models, guides along our path in life, teachers, protectors, providers and comforters. If this is a day when we celebrate those attributes and those special people in our lives, it should also be a day where we choose to celebrate our own inner strengths as well.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Nick has been away since early Thursday morning chaperoning the grade 8 trip for his school with some other brave teachers and parents. I have kept in touch with him by phone, but I have been the only adult in the house for 4 days now and I miss him very much. I have had to do quite a few things out of my comfort zone from BBQ meat to check the tire pressure and inflate a tire. Showing my girls how to pump gas or put the hubcaps back on teaches them that they can find their inner strengths too when they have to, as well as appreciate the men who so often handle those tasks.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Whether Father’s Day is a special one of joy or a sad marking of what is missing in your lives, I hope that you take the time to honour those in your life, regardless of gender, who made a difference and inspired you to greater things. </div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">When we remember to tell the people who matter to us most how special they are, it is always a special day.</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-64598128920431520802010-02-13T22:11:00.000-04:002010-02-13T22:11:36.889-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/YoursWeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/YoursWeb.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">February Newsletter and Contest Up AT LAST!</span></span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The thing about deadlines is that sometimes, I am very, VERY bad about keeping them! </div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I think it will be worth the wait...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I hope that you will adore the little <b>2010 Valentine Dragon Mystery chart</b> on our website right now with the blank colour key to stitch up before March 21st, 2010. I will share some of the best ones in April and release MY version of the colour key, but I know that all of you have incredible imaginations and lots of cool bits and pieces in your stash that are just begging to be used up.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I am working hard on my ornament for the 2010 JCS Ornament Issue and can’t decide between 2 different choices, so I’d like your input. I’m not going to ruin the surprise by showing off both sketches, but I will ask you this one question.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>How important is it to you to have a dragon or fantasy creature in there?</i></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of my designs has a mother and baby dragon and the other one is something really cool and Christmassy with perforated paper, but not Fantasy at all.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What do you want to see more?</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Chime in, share and go check out the chart on the website’s <a href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/news.html">newsletter page</a>.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!</span></b></span></span></div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-23862384281337015872010-01-14T22:36:00.000-04:002010-01-14T22:36:24.844-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/NewHair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/NewHair.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Stepping out into a New Year...</span></span></span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As glad as I was to see 2009 end, I’ve been tentative about posting something here to start off 2010.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">You see, I’m not really sure where I am going just yet.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">By 44, I certainly expected to have a clear road map of where I was headed and what was expected of me, yet so often these days, I feel as if I am just making the plan up as I move through each day.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Considering the upheaval in Haiti right now and the pain that one of Nick’s former principals is going through now that she knows her husband is dead instead of missing, maybe that isn’t such a bad way to live.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Live each day with a sense of adventure and a sense of hope.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The world is not always a safe place - the ground can shake... parents can die... economies can collapse.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Then school children donate life savings... strangers help each other... artists create wonders that stir our souls... songs move us to tears... a hug makes the day much brighter... people pull together to make things better and the path opens up again, ripe with possibilities and enticing destinations.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Don’t worry about how closely you follow the plan of where you think you should be. Spend today appreciating where you are, finding one thing you can change for the better and take the first baby steps in that direction.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A brand new year of possibilities is waiting....<br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-86789144101418711592009-12-27T15:31:00.000-04:002009-12-27T15:31:58.563-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/housebrag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/housebrag.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Reconnecting as a Family...</span></span></b><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Part of getting ready for Christmas has always been decorating a Gingerbread House together as a family. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/house1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/house1.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I’ve been buying the basic kits ever since the first disastrous year I began the tradition by trying to bake the house pieces from scratch. If anyone else, beside <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/swedish-gingerbread-house">Martha Stewart</a>, has ever tried to make those kinds of memories for their kids, they will understand why kits are so much safer. There are certain words that children under 5 should never hear Mommy say! <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/house2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/house2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This year, we even found the foil covered cardboard at the <a href="http://www.bulkbarnfoods.com/ver_html.htm">Bulk Barn</a> along with an infinite variety of candies. One of our favourites are the chocolates that look like rocks to make a path with.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/house3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/house3.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Every year, I remind myself that I need less than half a cup of any type of candy... and each time we have leftovers. The thing about family traditions is that they don’t always come cheap, but they are fun!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This year, we even found a set at Michael’s that let us make some candy mouldings for the house such as the tiny wreath, gingerbread trim and the little welcome mat. Is that cute or what?<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/house4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/house4.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The coolest tip was also how to slice up those sticky mint leaf candies to make trees and bushes. A keeper for next year, but I won’t use a good pair of scissors!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Because we decorated the house so close to Christmas this year, we didn’t have a week of torture walking past the finished house and trying not to pick off candies where no one would notice. It has less than 48 hours before the giant rodents in our house began to nibble at it... but that is the second best thing about making our Gingerbread house.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The best thing is just spending time as a family... something I appreciated more this year than ever before!<br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-14734737389067723882009-12-23T19:11:00.002-04:002010-01-11T16:01:34.552-04:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saying Goodbye...</span></span></b><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad5.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>The past 3 weeks have been a blur of teaching then waiting then crying and traveling. Now at last I am home again with my family and trying to prepare for Christmas. I didn’t blog during this time because I just didn’t know how to write my goodbye to my father. Then I got to speak at his memorial service and wrote this:</i><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">My earliest memories of my father were of him singing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVfgrGrVxGs">Scarlet Ribbons</a> or the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLww_Jpssdc&feature=related">Lord’s Prayer</a> to me before bed. I remember the sensation of being lifted WAY up into his arms or onto his shoulders for an eagle’s eye view of the world. Before Costco or Warehouse type shelving, we never lost Dad in a store because we could always see him over the aisles!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad3.jpg" width="216" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Car trips, especially the long ones to Connecticut were spent learning to sing in 4 part harmony or playing silly word games in a pre DS, DVD and iPod era. Everyone wanted to make sure that Dad didn’t fall asleep at the wheel, especially if he’d been out for a delivery the night before!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dad was a dreamer and an adventurer... full of big ideas and infinite possibilities. This took him from Montreal to Hawaii to Tulsa... and each time there were new, deep friendships that formed.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad7.jpg" width="312" /></a><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: 11px; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: 12px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: 11px; white-space: pre;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Delivering babies was a kind of magic for Dad. He used to describe the sense of purpose and rightness that he felt each time he held a newborn in his big, gentle hands. When we were younger, I think we resented the fact that babies didn’t follow a 9-5 schedule. His beeper could go off at the movies, during your birthday party or even in the middle of church, yet as we grew to have dreams of our own to follow, we understood that a job can be a Calling.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad9.jpg" width="258" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dad found love more than once in his life... and while it hurt as children to have him leave and move so far away, I know that in the end, our family just got bigger. Dad was loved by so many of you... Thank you for honouring his memory by being here today.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The last time that I saw Dad, he was still dreaming of possibilities... his smile was still gentle and his eyes still twinkled.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Dad11.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dad taught all of us some important things- love with all your heart, grab sleep whenever you can, chase your dreams, do what you love, grow older but keep a childlike sense of wonder, try to just live your faith daily(leave being perfect up to God) and no matter what height you are... <b>STAND TALL</b>!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Goodbye Dad!<br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-61118718283746691842009-12-01T22:07:00.002-04:002009-12-02T17:03:51.549-04:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/DragonContest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/DragonContest.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
</div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Taking A Day to Get Stuff Done...</span></span></span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I booked the day off on Subfinder today. I had Dragon Dreams stuff that needed to be done and just couldn’t wait any longer. Namely, uploading the new website and deleting all the old files from the server. <br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A month ago, I went back to my sketchpad and tried to figure out exactly what I needed to have on the site, what could make it more fun and more meaningful to navigate around and how I could get back to that feeling that I had when I first started the adventure of sharing my work with the world. Back then the Internet was a smaller place and there were fewer people out there to talk to. The kids I talk to in High School when I am substitute teach are SO much more wired into this cyber world than I ever thought would be possible, that I sometimes wonder about this brave new world out here. It can be both a challenge and a blessing to reach a world wide audience from my dining room table and the laptop computer.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The one thing I have learned about websites is that they can never be static things. They must grow and evolve and be interactive for people to have a reason to come back for another visit with you. This won’t be the last overhaul I do to <a href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/">Dragon Dreams</a> , but for now,just for a little while, I am going to sit back and enjoy the fact that the work is done... and wait to see what everyone thinks.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Let me know!<br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-34864052038544870222009-11-08T22:32:00.000-04:002009-11-08T22:32:36.982-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/bedmates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/bedmates.jpg" width="253" /></a><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Home from Retreat...<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It was a wonderful weekend that went by WAY to fast. We saw old friends, made new ones, spent time stitching and knitting, ate well but not too much, exchanged ornaments, laughed and cried as well as raised money for the fight against breast cancer. Dwaggie and Sneaky came along to keep me company in the sleeping bag and I put the dragon pillowcase from one of my favourite Austin store owners (right Ginger?) on my pillow.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Friday night, we arrived up at Camp Wildwood in sleet and slushy snow that made us feel like we were stuck in a snow globe. Mom and I found an empty cabin (Squirrel A) before Nick drove us up to the main cabin to unload the stitching gear. We set ourselves up near the back in the room and greeting familiar friends before settling down to stitch. <br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I’d fully intended to give away the Perforated Paper Castle ornament that I taught in Toronto, but the more people asked to see it and exclaimed over it, the more I decided it needed to stay on MY tree. Luckily, Jeannie had brought along some colours of perforated paper for me to play with. Unfortunately, after a full day of teaching, picking up Bethany from volleyball practice, Nick from school and then rushing to get to retreat in bad weather, I forgot the sheets of blank graph paper that I usually bring along with me...<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joygrid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joygrid.jpg" width="289" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So I made my own.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">FIrst, I sketched out the letters for JOY and stitched them in overdyed threads on the white paper.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joyflake1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joyflake1.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Then, I flipped the paper over, borrowed a pencil from Mom and began to figure out how to create a geometric snowflake shape around the word.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joyflake2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joyflake2.jpg" width="312" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I am not the most math gifted person, so I had to fudge things a tiny bit near the end, but soon the snowflake shape was designed for me to cut out.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joyclose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joyclose.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I added a holly button to the front, some braid and beads to catch the lights from the tree.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/cordtwist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/cordtwist.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Then I made my own cording for the top...<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joyfinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/joyfinal.jpg" width="238" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">and hung it on the tree for the ornament exchange!!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">During the weekend, I also spend time knitting on Bethany’s scarf and raving about <a href="http://www.yarnharlot.ca/">Yarn Harlot</a> ’s pattern to people, stitching on 3 projects a little at a time, chatting with folk and not thinking much about any day to day things like cooking, laundry etc.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Erin texted me from the volleyball tournament in Saint John during the day. They finished in 5th and she has some incredible new bruises from diving across the floor, but it was an odd tournament with 11 teams, so it came down to the win/loss ratio and the missed the playoffs by one more point scored against them than the other team. Instead of being upset, she is already talking about the 16U tournament next weekend!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/mandolin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/mandolin.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This morning, we all woke up fairly early, determined to cram in as much stitching as possible before we all had to head back to reality. After a short worship service, I worked on an ornament for my step-dad for Christmas. It’s a beaded mandolin from <a href="http://www.wichelt.com/detail.html?pid=162425">Mill Hill</a> and I think that once all the beads are on it will be incredible!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Momretreat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Momretreat.jpg" width="183" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mom worked on a little mouse ornament for most of the weekend...<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">and she managed to take a picture of me stitching too!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">After lunch, we had our ornament exchange and I got a beautiful ornament that I will have to take a picture of soon.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We also raffled off 3 baskets of pink donated items and I added in tickets on the models for <a href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/Images/DD51WingsOfCourage.jpg">Wings of Courage</a> and the pillow model from Dancing Dragons. In all, we raised about $370 for the fight against Breast Cancer... not bad for a small group of determined, passionate stitchers.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">All too soon we were saying our goodbyes, hugging and planning for the next retreat!<br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-17326883924037649292009-11-05T22:32:00.002-04:002009-11-05T22:32:26.617-04:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Getting SO excited about RETREAT!</b><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">24 hours from now I will be AWAY!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I really shouldn’t be this gleeful... the rest of the family has to go to Saint John for volleyball on Saturday and the girls sing in church on Sunday, so I will be missing some important stuff. I will try to look like I am VERY miserable. They will not see the dragon skipping gleefully on the inside of my head.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There is something incredible about getting away with a bunch of creative women, especially stitcher. For most of the weekend, I will wander around a huge room where there will be a fire going and little circles of chairs and stitching nests, ott lights and power bars, snack bowls and coffee mugs... and most of all LOTS of stitching projects to look at.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This is one of the only times I stitch OTHER designers’ stuff for MY enjoyment. You see, when I stitch my own models, I am REALLY slow and I know how it is going to turn out. I am such a visual person that I very rarely have something turn out drastically different from what I envisioned. Well, except for the sunburned princess, but I have paid Erica to be quiet about that one. I probably owe another installment of that hush money soon!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I love getting away to stitch as much or as little as I feel like, get in touch with myself in long journal entries, go for walks, chat with my Mom and other great women, raise money for Breast Cancer and have someone ELSE do all the cooking.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It is a little piece of Heaven and I can’t wait.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I just have to teach High School all day tomorrow.....<br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-9687328724065220292009-10-20T14:44:00.000-03:002009-10-20T14:44:00.478-03:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">A Wonderful Time at the CreativFestival...</span></span></span></b><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Packrat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/Packrat.jpg" width="131" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I arrived home safely despite some VERY bumpy turbulence on the way home and dragged my suitcases to the basement Sunday night before falling into bed. Unlike some of the wonderful stitchers I spent time with this past weekend, I had the luxury of not having to go to work early Monday morning! As soon as the kids were on the bus, I went home and crawled back into bed to catch up on some of the sleep that I missed over the weekend. Then Nick came home sick from work and hour or so later and I have switched into nurse and mom mode ever since.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What wonderful memories I have! From getting fabulous ideas from stitchers (I’m already doodling my “muddy” little dragon) to hilarious giggles over chart symbols, the weekend was full of wonderful memories. I’d also like to thank all the friends (rather than students because that is what you’ve become over the years!) who jumped in to help snip floss, collect class fees and pass things out to make up for Teresa’s hands not being there and having extra things to kit up. You were my guardian angels and I appreciate the help more than I could ever put into words!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">To Karen and Erica who went above and beyond, I owe you more thanks than this dragon has words for. I would have been totally lost without your support , thoughtful gestures and helping hands.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The photos of the class models (including the two of Teresa’s that I had with me) are up on the website under the secure links we discussed in our classes. If you have any trouble with the URLs, just e-mail me to double check how they are listed and that way you will have your photo reference to work from. Remember that if you run into any problems or have questions as you stitch the pieces, I am always just an e-mail away.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Finally, to all those of you who traveled from near and far to share time with me this weekend, I send tired but big dragon hugs to all of you. You truly are the reason I just can’t walk away from designing things to stitch... you are all far too much fun to spend time with. I’m already planning new things for next fall!<br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-35885616164625316802009-10-15T00:24:00.002-03:002009-10-15T00:24:58.706-03:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When You Can’t Control How Life Unfolds...</span></span></span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It’s really late back home. I don’t sleep well on the road and a warm bath didn’t do much to soothe the jangled nerves, but I’m going to crawl into bed soon.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Today didn’t unfold the way I’d planned and I am worried about Teresa, who should have been here in the hotel room in Toronto giggling with me instead of lying sick in bed at home. As challenging as it was to have to think about adapting things for the rest of the weekend, I’d still rather be me than be barfing!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It really was the moment of truth today to see if I could put my <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://inhalingcreativity.blogspot.com/">Inhaling Creativity</a> </span> explorations into practice. Funny how sometimes we learn things just in time to really use them!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Now if only I could get all these ideas out of my head so that I can get some sleep!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Get well soon, Teresa!!</span><br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-3837933957073170112009-10-07T23:22:00.000-03:002009-10-07T23:22:05.230-03:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Pattern Hoarding and Pre-Toronto Chaos...</span></b><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There’s something about getting ready for the show in Toronto that makes me feel so alive in a total panicky kind of way. I usually have dreams about showing up at the wrong room or with the wrong supplies, but there is something so satisfying about watching the kit pieces come together as they take over my living room. Erin and Bethany have a 5 day Thanksgiving weekend this year since the next 2 days are Curriculum Development days. Teachers have been given a lot of new course materials to integrate with very little preparation or time to review the materials, so they will be doing some workshops and fine-tuning things. Rather than begrudge the fact that they aren’t in school, I gleefully informed them that they could work for me! Kit assembly requires many hands and someone to double-check the counting, snipping etc. Bethany worked for an hour tonight and actually enjoyed herself! We’ll see how long that enthusiasm holds up when we have to put floss on card!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I didn’t teach this week in order to get everything ready, knowing that I’d want a bit of family time for Thanksgiving, so I actually got time to catch up on e-mail and business stuff, but that also allowed me to discover a disturbing trend.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I really wrestled with the shift my work had to take towards illustration as it became almost impossible for me to do trade shows alone with degenerative disc disease. I actually shipped a box for Toronto up to Erica today rather than have too much weight in my suitcase when they asked me to do a book signing for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Owen-Dinosaur-P-E-Burns/dp/0978488008">Owen & the Dinosaur</a> in the Kid’s Zone at the <a href="http://www.csnf.com/f09_classes.html">CreativFestival</a>. While I may not be publishing as many patterns, the older designs that I spent 16 years of my life creating are still out there for stitchers to enjoy.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This week, several e-mails from stitchers overseas and in the USA revealed a rumour that “<i>Dragon Dreams is no longer selling to shops</i>”. When that showed up in two separate e-mails, I was floored!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">See this? <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/hoard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/hoard.jpg" width="420" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This is just what I keep in my office close at hand in case a shop or distributor needs something quickly. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/hoard2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/hoard2.jpg" width="203" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I also pay for a self-store every month for all the boxes of printed patterns that used to take over my basement.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Honest... the dragon is NOT hoarding her patterns!</b><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So, if your local shop is having trouble getting their claws on a design for you, tell them to give me an e-mail. Only THREE of our 98 published patterns are getting close to being out of print... and they are the least popular of all my designs. I will happily send them to shops who have customers with specific requests or just thought that a design had gone out of print.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The only thing that I won’t do is sell directly to stitchers. Call me old-fashioned, but I spent too many years of my life at trade shows building relationships with store owners to suddenly become their competition. I fully understand that many of the new designers feel the need to have both a retail and a wholesale presence out there. I chose to head more into the Children’s Book Illustration and teaching. We all have to decide what is best for our businesses, our families and ourselves... but I’d hate for stitchers to think that I’d taken a torch to all the patterns that I spent so many years creating. Until those printed patterns run out, they are still IN PRINT. Trust me... I will NEVER, EVER run out of StormBringer patterns. I had to print 3500 to get that printer to take me on and I’ve sold less than 1,000.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I know that some people believe that you are only as fresh as your last piece of work, but I also believe that classics stand the test of time. I know that every time I read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wrinkle-Time-Madeleine-LEngle/dp/0312367546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254968225&sr=1-1">A Wrinkle In Time</a> to my kids!<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What brings me a lot of joy right now is getting ready to teach pieces at the CreativFestival. I was going to keep my 3-D Perforated Paper Castle Ornament under wraps until next week, but I am just so tickled with how it turned out, that I have to show you.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I am NOT the best person at 3 dimensions... I almost failed sculpture in Fine Arts. Yet, I wanted to come up with a cool ornament for a tree that wouldn’t require a lot of finishing. Perforated paper seemed ideal, but I also wanted it to have some SHAPE. The results were even better than I’d hoped for.<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Here is the front...<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9sZw-JWTapk/Ss1MpoTZAbI/AAAAAAAAAHI/Tvq-zPsOr-A/s1600-h/CastleSide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9sZw-JWTapk/Ss1MpoTZAbI/AAAAAAAAAHI/Tvq-zPsOr-A/s320/CastleSide.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">and here is the back side with the year.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9sZw-JWTapk/Ss1MwK2rLgI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/Ne0xWHO3Iu0/s1600-h/YearSide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9sZw-JWTapk/Ss1MwK2rLgI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/Ne0xWHO3Iu0/s320/YearSide.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Is is just me or is this too cool??<br />
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</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I can’t wait to get together next weekend with stitchers, friend and other creative people who understand the importance of being Creative in a ready-made world!!!<br />
</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-25385131247171476882009-09-14T23:16:00.000-03:002009-09-14T23:16:52.773-03:00<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Musings From A Morning Walk...</span></span></b></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I was only mildly disappointed that the phone didn’t ring before 7 am with a substitute teaching job this morning. After all, it is only the second week of school here and not many teachers are sick yet. I also have plenty to do getting ready for the <a href="http://www.csnf.com/f09_needlework1.html">CreativFestival</a> in Toronto next month, so I had plenty to fill my day.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I did, however, start the morning with an hour’s walk in Mapleton Park which begins at the foot of our street. At 6’5”, I am less afraid to walk in the park alone than some of my friends during daylight hours. I make a point of not wearing headphones, carrying a cellphone and staying to the main paths. There are also few people on this planet who can keep up to my long natural stride without breaking into a run, so I truly enjoy walking at MY pace.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I was musing over what I had learned with the Doodle exercise for my <a href="http://InhalingCreativity.blogspot.com/">Inhaling Creativity</a> blog when it suddenly struck me. My walks in the woods alone accomplish the same thing for my body that doodling does for my brain! My lungs are pumping in and out, my feet are moving and I am staying on a fairly wide path, so my brain is able to detach a bit and think things through, just like when I am doodling - the hands are busy playing but the brain gets to wander ever so slightly and creative ideas can spring forth.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I also tend to carry a camera with me in case I see something interesting that will illustrate what I plan to blog about, need to take a reference shot for an illustration or see some colours that I want to find floss equivalents for. Today’s walk was a bit of all 3.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Paths can be a wonderful metaphor for our lives. Sometimes, the path we are meant to take can seem so clear that it is almost blinding...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/LightPath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/LightPath.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Other times our lives are a blend of shadow and dappled sunshine along the way...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/DapplePath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/DapplePath.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There are also people, events and moments that come into our lives like beacons or some elusive white stag that we chase...</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/WhiteStag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/WhiteStag.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">and I also spotten my first Type A personality, overachieving tree trying to be the first one to turn colours!</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/TypeATree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/TypeATree.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So the next time you walk down a path, no matter where you are, take a moment to really look at it to see if it mirrors where you are in your life right now or where you would like to be.</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But watch out for tree roots and rocks... I looked pretty silly stumbling when my mind wandered a bit too far!</div>Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-68320103374440230132009-09-10T17:39:00.003-03:002009-09-10T17:50:36.473-03:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/WoolPlay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://dragondoodles.ca/CreativityBits/WoolPlay.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><b>A Fork in the Road...</b><br />
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Today was a wonderful birthday... I got to go play at a fabulous <a href="http://www.thewoolworks.com/welcome.htm">local wool shop</a> today! Heidi not only spins and dyes fibers in the nummiest colours I have ever seen, she also creates incredible images with them. A few of her felted pieces were hanging on display and it was all I could do not to reach up and touch them! She has them hung out of the reach of most people, but I was wearing my 3 inch heels today and had to remind myself over and over “look but don’t touch!” Of course that advice did NOT apply to the yarn I was intent on buying. Best of all, my Mom bought these for me as a birthday present! Wheeee!<br />
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Dragon Musings will still remain as a place to blog about what is going on in my life, thoughts about stitching and everything I have always mused about, but today also marks the beginning of 2 new adventures and 2 new blogs if you care to follow me down either path.<br />
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<b><a href="http://DoodlingDragons.blogspot.com/">Doodling Dragons</a></b> is my new illustrator blog that will be linked to my illustration site as soon as I get all my September updates sent over. As I try to get the attention of children’s book publishers, editors and agents, it helps to have a more focussed message about that particular area of my life that includes doodles and drawings on a regular basis rather than the variety of images I tend to share here.<br />
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<b><a href="http://InhalingCreativity.blogspot.com/">Inhaling Creativity</a></b> is a 365 day adventure that begins today about finding more ways to be creative in everything you do so that it is as natural as breathing. For the next year, I am going to be posting about things to get inspired about and then put into practice. I’m not exactly sure where this will lead, but many explorers weren’t sure where they would end up either.<br />
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So now you have 3 blogs to follow with one crazy person if you choose. May you find a thread you like to follow...Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-58535962577946093722009-08-29T12:37:00.005-03:002009-08-29T13:21:13.214-03:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/pottedwall.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 338px; height: 450px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/pottedwall.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Provence Life Lesson Number Two: </strong><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Age Should Be Appreciated <br /></span><br /><br />North Americans fear aging. Countless ads offer products or procedures that will help us turn back the clock to keep us looking and feeling younger. Most people trade in cars or switch houses as soon as things begin to get worn out or cause trouble. Some even do the same with partners... trading in the older model for a younger one. Is it any wonder that our society feels a little bit worried about growing older?<br /><br />I can already feel it in my bones some mornings, especially my hands. They are stiffer and creakier than they have ever been in my life. The artist worries what would happen if I couldn’t hold a brush or pencil or needle comfortably to create images any more.<br /><br />My house is the same way. Nick and I have lived here for 17 years, but it was built 21 years ago. The stairs have recently begun to squeak more as we climb them, perhaps done in by the exuberance of my girls as they barrel up and down them with abandon, despite constant reminders from their parents not to “stomp up and down like a herd of elephants”! All the doors but one have been replaced as well as the roof and some of the window seals are starting to go. With a house, there is always something that will need your attention or your money, but there is also the sense of creating a home. Nick and I have lived longer in this house than either of us did anywhere while growing up. It is a place we have built together.<br /><br />By Provence standards, our house is brand-spanking new! Wandering around villages where some of the buildings could trace a history of a thousand years, it was easy to see why one person I met called us a “cowboy culture”. He meant that North Americans were set in a more frontier mentality because we still had so much wide open space and our buildings were all so very young. We think of something over 100 years old as being “historic”. I saw one farmhouse being refurbished that had been built in the 1400s and was considered a “newer house to remodel compared to some!”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/valleyview.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 355px; height: 450px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/valleyview.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Every hill in Provence seems to have a village perched on it. Far rarer are the villages like Coustellet that are built on the flat plains. These are newer ones, planned out with care like many of our towns in comparison to the cluttered wonder on the hills. Given the history of the Luberon valley area, where huge battles fought during the Crusades caused the fields to “run red with blood”, it makes sense to built up on a hill where you can see an enemy coming. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/carvedin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 403px; height: 300px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/carvedin.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Safety is provided by building on top of and in many cases almost INTO the hill on which the town or village is built.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/churchonhill.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 338px; height: 450px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/churchonhill.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Invariably, a church is near the very top of the village, closer to God and worth the climb. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/belltower.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 263px; height: 450px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/belltower.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Its bell tower, wrought of iron, is unique in its design and so is the sound of its bell. People used to know which village bell was which by its tolls indicating a call for help, a celebration or a death. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/village.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 231px; height: 450px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/village.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The rest of the village, almost every one we visited, then clusters down and around the church. Buildings rise and tangle with each other, leaning on each other for support to share common walls instead of sitting on individual lots of fenced in land as they do here. There is more of a sense of community with the buildings so close because nothing escapes anyone’s notice. To celebrate a sense of individuality without a huge lawn to mow, each house owner seems to have their own way to decorate the ancient stone with coloured blooms, <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/catnap.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 388px; height: 600px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/catnap.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />create shade for their cats to rest in <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/pottedstairs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 301px; height: 450px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/pottedstairs.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />or grow potted herbs to add to meals along staircases, in window boxes or on doorsteps. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/potinhole.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 300px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/potinhole.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Any hole in the wall can hold a potted plant to become a thing of beauty. <br /><br />We watched a grey cat streak in through the hole in this door. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/weathereddoor.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 383px; height: 600px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/weathereddoor.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I could only marvel at some of the cracks and spaces I could see in the buildings, imagining all to well how snow and cold would seep into such a space in Moncton.<br /><br />Instead of a quest to make something look new and “perfect”, Provence seemed to celebrate making things that were old or worn still beautiful and worth appreciating.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/streetview.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 197px; height: 375px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/streetview.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />This respect for age carried over into the food as well. <br /><br />We drank a young wine created by a son taking over the winemaking business from his father and resurrecting an older almost extinct grape to make an amazing homage to his father called “À Mon Père” that is the best red wine Nick and I have ever had in our lives. It lived up to all of the memories we had from our last visit. The two bottles that we brought home with us are already gone, used for very special meals with friends, but the taste still lingers on the edges of my tongue.<br /><br />As I mentioned before, cheese is an entire course in France and you can find everything from young, nippy one to cheese that has surely been aged inside a sweaty sock and buried deep within some well for hundreds of years before being served in tiny chunks to unsuspecting cheese lovers. One such pungent morsel left a smell that seeped under our fingernails and remained there despite much scrubbing with soap. My sister in law was horrified that she might carry that lingering smell on her business trip the next day and have people wonder why her handshake stank!<br /><br />As an artist, I was also fascinated by the faces of the elders in each village, the ones who had earned their spot on the wall around the town’s fountain or courtyard, who sat in the sunshine waiting for a turn to play pétanque (a form of boules or lawn bowling played throughout Provence), who perched on chairs knitting and discussing those who walked by or sat under the awnings of the cafés sipping on something in the heat. Many of the faces, wrinkled and tanned by the strong sun, reminded me of the apple dolls I always tried to make. The sun and wind had weathered them as they lived their whole lives in this area, watching things change as tourists moved in, discovered the area, bought houses to transform and then left when each summer was over. People in Provence, and all over France for that matter, dressed with more care than most of us here in North America (no sweatpants or sloppy looks), but without trying to look younger. Perhaps it it simply that money is to be spent on other things that creams and potions. Many villagers in the area live on less than $25,000 a year quite well. It is a simpler life and there is less need to fill a house with the latest, fastest, newest things. Tables and other furniture get handed down over generations and they are built to last. A bit worn and loved, smoothed from years and many hands, but sturdier than almost everything in my house!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/Potsonwall.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 293px; height: 195px;" src="http://dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/Potsonwall.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I came back from Provence with a determination to appreciate age and to embrace its steady march more easily. With a birthday looming just around the corner, I will remind myself every time I look at my girls, who have that boundless energy that takes my breath away, that my years have shaped and sculpted who I have become. By Provence standards, I am still a baby and my house is brand new!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-74488339297844419322009-07-22T20:37:00.003-03:002009-07-22T20:47:08.113-03:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/LoveProvence.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 316px; height: 563px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/LoveProvence.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Provence Life Lesson Number One:<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Treasure The Moment, Love Where You Are.<span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span><br /><br />The thing about vacations is that they can’t last. To stay on vacation forever would mean that eventually you would take things for granted or get bored. It has rained 5 out of the 7 days that we’ve been back, so it is perfectly natural for me to think longingly about the pool at Roux-Cailloux or the smell of “lavendre”... but then I look at how lush and green my garden is. Each place has its own beauty, each culture has its own food and riches to share and each moment is alive with possibilities.<br /><br />This shadow captivated us because something about the mountain’s shape causes the heart to appear when the afternoon sunlight hits just right. I am sure that I wasn’t the first to notice or try to capture the beauty of that view, but it was fun to suddenly look up and see the shape there on the hill. A simple moment that would have slipped by if not captured with a camera.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/market.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 215px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/market.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I miss the marketplaces in Provence. Shopping for fresh food was so much more intimate there, even if the selection was more limited. At the big supermarkets this week, I had to look at produce under sterile, plastic wrap or hunt for peaches that weren’t rock hard because they needed to travel so far to reach us. Just over a week ago, I stroked pallets of peaches and baskets of apricots to see which one we would buy, chose sun-warmed tomatoes from the farmer himself and wondered at the variety of colours, textures and smells around me. No wonder they say “good food remember where it comes from”.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/cheese.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 185px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/cheese.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Part of savouring the moment is appreciating what a local area has to offer in terms of food that you don’t get back home. For me, my trips to France will forever be tied to the taste of cheese. Cheese is a separate course there, served after the main course but before any dessert. From tiny stalls in marketplaces to glass cases full of incredible variety, there are dozens of flavours and textures to explore. None of these products would travel well and many of them are pasteurized differently from what we eat in North America... but OH! what incredible tastes!! From soft cheese that puddles from the spoon onto a crisp baguette slice to goat cheese coated in black ashes for a smoky taste, each bite touched different taste buds in your mouth. No wonder I am finding it a bit hard to go back to cheddar, mozzarella and cheese strings!<br /><br />In the cult classic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckaroo_Banzai">“Buckaroo Banzai”</a>, there is a quote that says “No matter where you go, there you are.” Provence Life Lesson Number One was to appreciate just that. Great memories, experiences or tastes are fun to relive, but you cannot live in the past. Celebrate what can be appreciated right around you and make memories, even on rainy days!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-60773038270177081372009-07-21T23:49:00.003-03:002009-07-21T23:51:35.528-03:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/20years.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 181px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/20years.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">To Everything A Season...</span><br /><br />Today, I helped one of my very best friends say goodbye to her mother. I watched Karen and her family share memories of a wonderful lady amid tears, laughter and hugs from old friends. It was a touching reminder that from Death, there is ultimately no Passover. What matters is not how much wealth you have accumulated, how powerful you have become but how many lives you touched while you were here on this planet. Those whom Mary touched with her presence while living will now treasure their memories and carry on.<br /><br />After celebrating 20 years with Nick in Provence, I cannot image what John is going through after losing his wife of 62 years, but he spoke so beautifully today. There are some who say that such a loss would be unbearable, but I think of the famous quote “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”<br /><br />Goodbye Mary... we will help watch over your family for you now that you are gone.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-87779544362730200982009-07-08T11:50:00.001-03:002009-07-08T11:51:40.530-03:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Celebrating Twenty Years...</span><br /><br />Twenty years ago to the day, I married my best friend. I had known him since I was 17 and dated him for almost 5 years before we married. When I walked down the aisle and saw the expression on his face, I knew that our adventures together were just beginning. After all this time, he has forgiven me for forgetting his wedding ring in the back of the limo and still jokes that we was married to our minister for about 20 minutes (our minister slipped off his own ring for me to use and it only went down to Nick´s knuckle) instead of me.<br />We have had our ups and downs like other couples. We have supported each other through career setbacks and changes, challenges and triumphs. Together, we have raised two amazing daughters. As much as we love them, we are also painfully aware of how little time we have left with them under our own roof. Already they are growing into young women who will head off on adventures of their own in such a short time. Funny how I thought those sleepless nights would never end when they were little children. Being here in France with my niece and nephew (who are 8 and 4) is like taking a step back in time to 6 years ago when my girls were that age. It is wonderfully exhausting. I watch my husband toss them around the pool and smile. Although there may be a few more grey hairs on his head, he has lost none of the youthful enthusiasm that makes me call him Tigger in the first place.<br />So many of our friends have divorced already that we are now considered to be an old married couple by today´s standards. I think of my grandparents who still teased each other after more than 45 years together and hope that we will have as long to treasure each other´s company. However many years we have left together, I will try never to take them for granted. This day, this moment in the blazing sun of Provence, with the cicaidas buzzing and a gentle breeze blowing, I know that I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful partner to share this adventure called life with.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-13362344801871114672009-07-01T10:30:00.004-03:002009-07-01T10:37:00.986-03:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/JenMulch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 265px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/JenMulch.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Being Happy In Your Own Skin...<br /><br />Nothing is harder on an artist or crafter than not being able to use their hands!<br /><br />I overdid it a bit spreading 4 yards of mulch around our property before we leave on vacation today over the past 3 weeks, working like a fiend on the few non-rainy days we had. In the process, I gave myself a nasty case of tennis elbow (shouldn’t that be mulch elbow since I don’t play tennis?). In order for it to heal, I’ve had to do little or no drawing, stitching, gaming, knitting, typing or anything involving my right hand for the past week. Aaaargh!<br /><br />Though Erin reminds me that the same thing happened when I shoveled all the gravel a few years ago right before my back went out, I found myself wallowing in worries and fears about my body being less invincible than I think... and how that affects my ability to be creative. I am less afraid of growing old than I am of getting something like arthritis that will cripple my hands... but this is the only body I live in, so I will just have to learn how to pace myself.<br /><br />All I am taking to France is two sketchbooks. I plan to draw for the sheer joy of it and give my hands a break from everything else they do to fill my days.<br /><br />Here’s what I meant to blog about last weekend when my hands couldn’t type...<br /><br />The death of Michael Jackson and all the video tributes has made for some very interesting discussions in our household. Neither of my kids are very familiar with his music or videos and had certainly never seen pictures of what he looked like as a young man before the endless rounds of plastic surgery.<br /><br />The French have a wonderful expression “etre bien dans sa peau” which basically means that you are comfortable in your own skin and happy with who you are. <br /><br />Erin wore 3 inch heels to her Grade 8 graduation to have fun with her height since she knew that she’d be the tallest one there anyway. Some of her classmates had “dissed” her choice of dress as not being fancy enough when she described it to them (this is a grade 8 graduation for pete’s sake!) or told her that she didn’t know how to dress up from her jocky everyday school look... and BOY, did she prove them wrong! Why go for “pretty” when you can go for statuesque and stunning?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/ErinGrad.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 408px; height: 862px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/ErinGrad.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Nick was heartbroken that his school ceremonies were on the same night, but he bought a corsage for her and posed in our front hallway with her before she put on her heels to be taller than him.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/ProudDadandGrad.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 407px; height: 598px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/ProudDadandGrad.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />When she strode across that stage to accept her award certificate, all I could think of was how proud her 6’3” great grandmother would have been! She always put her fingernails between my shoulder blades if she caught me slouching and told me to be proud of my height. I am sure that she is the reason I up straight and have great posture to this day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/stage.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 379px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/stage.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />There are many things about ourselves that we can change and quite a few that we cannot.<br />What matters is that each of us try to learn to “be well in our own skin”, to love who we are as unique creations and to take care of our bodies both inside and out.<br /><br />I remember my own high school years and know that it will have challenging moments for Erin as well... but I am so glad that she is learning to have fun with the inches she has been given and celebrate them. To paraphrase the words of She-Hulk in her classic graphic novel <span style="font-weight:bold;">“I’m 6’7” and green. People are going to stare anyway, so I might as well wear what I like!”</span><br /><br />AMEN!!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-70064459883057064632009-06-12T22:45:00.002-03:002009-06-12T22:52:31.501-03:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rvtravel.com/blog/canada/uploaded_images/7-wonders---Quebec-City-744675.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 640px;" src="http://www.rvtravel.com/blog/canada/uploaded_images/7-wonders---Quebec-City-744675.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">It Make The Heart Hurt As Well As Grow Fonder....</span><br /><br />Nick is up in Quebec City right now as the principal and also a chaperone on the Grade 8 field trip. They left early Thursday morning and though we’ve managed to touch base a few times by phone, it certainly isn’t the same as seeing each other on a daily basis.<br /><br />These days, spending time apart for couples is becoming common again as one spouse may seek work out West or serve overseas. I am certainly not the only one to find the empty side of the bed disconcerting, but tonight I am feeling it deeper than I usually do.<br /><br />I took the girls to see the movie <a href="http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/up/">UP</a> this afternoon right after school. What an awesome, wonderful and poignant film. The only drawback was that I blubbered like a big softy at least twice in the movie. The opening scenes set up the premise so well and so passionately, that I doubt there was an adult (or savvy child) in the audience with a dry eye. The scene that got to me the most was the one later in the movie with the scrapbook. ( No, I won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it yet!) In the darkened theater, I suddenly realized that if I was missing Nick this much on a 4 day trip after almost 20 years of being married, what on earth would I do if he were to die before me after we’ve been together for another 20 or 30 years?<br /><br />Being a total glutton for punishment, I picked up some pizza for the girls and we had a picnic in front of the TV for supper while I drank a few litres of water to wash the salty popcorn taste from my mouth. We put in the first <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Little-House-Prairie-Complete-Season/dp/B00016JE5U">DVD of Season 4 from Little House on the Prairie</a>... and it happens to be the episode where the beloved dog, Jack, dies!! Luckily, Nick bought several boxes of tissue when they were on sale last week!<br /><br />Now that the girls have gone to bed and the heavy rains have eased up, the only sound in the house is the tapping of my keyboard as I make this entry, avoiding going up to the half empty bed until I am so tired that I will sleep despite the absence of any weight or snoring noises on the other side of the bed. It is good to have time away from those who are closest to you now and then, because it makes you understand how easy it is to take people or stuff for granted.<br /><br />The thing is, we cannot go through our lives without feeling things and taking chances. Any writer or illustrator who is going to REALLY speak to children wrestles with this. If there is no conflict and challenge for a character, then there is no growth. Truly great stories, legends and movies teach us about rising up in the face of adversity, about not losing hope in the face of insurmountable odds, about loving with our whole hearts even if it means that they might get broken, about standing up for what is right instead of just doing what is safe and won’t make waves.... and so much more.<br /><br />That's what draws me to children's literature more than anything. Children may be growing up faster than I did in my day, but there is still room to believe...<br /><br />When we see someone being heroic, we remember that it is possible for all of us to be more than we are, braver than we think and more tenacious in our hope.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-8408855114591409622009-06-03T12:21:00.003-03:002009-06-03T12:42:49.466-03:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">BEWIXT AND BETWEEN...</span><br /><br />At first, dealing with all the chaos of the unexpected, I didn’t know what to say...<br /><br />Then, I wasn’t sure of how much I wanted to share...<br /><br />Then I just got caught up in taking one day at a time...<br /><br />Suddenly, so much time had gone by that it became almost intimidating to think of how to sum up the last few months.<br /><br />I guess the best place to start is at the beginning.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" <br />href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/eastertable.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 375px; height: 282px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/eastertable.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Right before Easter, I went in to teach 6 days of High School while my best friend took a much needed leave without pay to go on a cruise after completing her Master’s thesis and producing the musical Jesus Christ Superstar at the school. I went in to teach Office Technology and Journalism classes for the person who replaced her as the Vice-Principal.<br /><br />A day after she and her family returned, my friend’s house was burned to the ground and her two cats killed in the blaze when a faulty propane tank on their BBQ exploded and destroyed their house in the ensuing blaze. As we helped them pick up the pieces of their lives, gave our godson a place to come when his parents needed to deal with all the chaos of sorting things out, the school decided that keeping me in for that teacher would offer the students a sense of consistency. Thus began over 3 weeks with one set of classes and then a variety that led to working 27 out of the last 38 teachable days!<br /><br />Amid all this, Erin coped with the pinched nerve that caused the headaches, finished her volleyball season with another injury and is now waiting for the results of a mono test. <br /><br />Bethany starred as one of the 2 lead roles in her school play at the District Drama Festival, finished Explorers, went off to a weekend camp and finished her 10 week preteen modeling course. <br /><br />Nick has been wrestling with scheduling for next year amid one of the most ridiculous and insulting round of cutbacks to Education that our province has ever seen and trying not to rip his hair out. Thanks to the Liberal government here in New Brunswick, our schools will have less Teachers Assistants, almost no library time at any school as well as the highest number ever of split grade classes in Elementary schools as they fill each class to the legal limit to avoid paying for extra teachers. So much for the literacy-centred, quality education we were promised where our KIDS would come FIRST! <br /><br />Despite the low teacher morale, I have indeed LOVED working with kids of all ages as a substitute teacher. I have taught one out of every 3 possible days so far this year, which has been way more than I expected to. After almost 2 years of juggling things around with the ebb and flow of cross stitch income, it has been really wonderful to bring in more income... but that can also become a temptation and trap unto itself.<br /><br />The whole point of choosing supply teaching was to work a certain number of days a month and then devote the rest to illustration and designing...<br /><br />Instead, it has been so easy to say yes to extra teaching and extra income instead of taking risks and sending work off to publishers.<br /><br />Time and time again, I ask myself WHY it is easier to get busy at other things instead of allowing myself to be vulnerable.<br /><br />Maybe I’ve become just as conditioned as the rest of our society to want everything FAST!<br /><br />Some tasks need to be done slowly and properly if they are to accomplish what is needed.<br /><br />See this junk? All of it came from our shed beside the house which hadn’t been properly sorted in 4 years. Victoria Day weekend, we took EVERYTHING out... even the dust and spiders. (I swept the dust, Nick handled the spiders)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/stuffmess.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 338px; height: 450px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/stuffmess.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />We even had people stop at the end of the driveway to see if it was a yard sale only to leave disappointed.<br /><br />4 hours, 2 runs to the dump and one run to the Salvation Army drop-off, we had a shed again. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/tidyshed.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 338px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/tidyshed.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Nick teased me for being way too OCD after labeling one set of drawers, but I smiled ever so sweetly and reminded him WHO bought me the labeler! In celebration of having a tidy shed and burning off all the calories moving stuff around, we went for the first Ice Cream Cone of the season as a family.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/labelled.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 399px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/labelled.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Now begins the transition into school closing activities, Grade 8 graduation ceremonies, piano recitals, Church picnics etc. I am learning to celebrate little moments and not take them for granted. Do you want to know how cheap lobster was here for Mother's Day or does my grin say it all?? (Cooked lobsters were $6.99 a pound! Whooo Hooo!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/lobsterjen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 382px; height: 450px;" src="http://www.dragondreams.ca/blogphotos/lobsterjen.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Somewhere along the way, I need to think ahead to the fall and remember that I wanted this to be about balance instead of just diving into something to the oblivion of everything else. <br /><br /> It just goes to show you that even after school gets out, you never stop learning!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767354.post-64593033365599732262009-04-02T21:46:00.003-03:002009-04-02T21:48:02.548-03:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9sZw-JWTapk/SdVcmKVE9HI/AAAAAAAAAFI/WnGioknjsLA/s1600-h/question.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9sZw-JWTapk/SdVcmKVE9HI/AAAAAAAAAFI/WnGioknjsLA/s320/question.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320260345485653106" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">MOMENTS YOU DREAD...</span><br /><br />There is nothing scarier than sitting beside your child in a hospital bed as they sob, not knowing what is wrong. After a great performance in the Greater Moncton Music Festival today, I took Erin back to school shortly before lunch only to receive a call around 1:30 that she’d almost collapsed in class while giving her oral presentation. I raced to school to pick her up and found her in tears with a blinding headache, almost unable to stand or walk on her own.<br /><br />Five hours later we are home again and I have nothing but praise for the ER staff at the Moncton Hospital who got her right onto a stretcher in the trauma side and up for a CAT scan in a matter of hours. How thankful I am to live in a country with medicare tonight and for doctors who took her pain seriously, especially when they discovered that pressure on a certain spot at the back of her head made the pain escalate. The doctor immediately reassured her that this was a good sign since it probably meant that it was muscular or nerve related. I feel blessed that the CAT scan revealed nothing internal to worry about. The pinched nerve that had been bothering her earlier in the year has probably just reared its ugly head again in a rather dramatic way. The doctor recommended a stronger anti-inflammatory and a follow-up with our own family physician in a week to explore other options if the pain is still there.<br /><br />I feel weak with relief and yet also far more sensitive to parents whose answers aren’t always as a relief as what I heard tonight.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849123806156361364noreply@blogger.com5