Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

I feel like I'm living in the last episode of Grey's Anatomy....
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years - all in 1 hour.

Let's see...
Family visited for Thanksgiving
Working full time
Parties - 2 to 3 a week
Hubby
Friends
Cats
House
Food
Making Christmas gifts, thank you cards, & tags
We traveled to Maine for whirlwind Christmas
And now a snow storm MAY be coming our way for New Years.

Phew!


I realize that my last few posts have been my pining over the fact that I barely blog any more. And I know I keep thinking I will. I do think I'm transitioning into the joys of a 140 character Twitter updates, that automatically updates my facebook status more than blogging... for a while now.

Social Media - FIND ME:
www.facebook.com/AlisonMewerCowan
www.twitter.com/AlisonMC


That's all for now. Find me on facebook.... I love to connect!

Peace & Blessings!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Sewing? Really?

I have finished Christmas gifts.

Everything is made, wrapped, tagged, and sitting pretty in a plastic tote waiting for December.

On one hand, it feels AMAZING to be done so early.

On the other hand, I have been obsessively creating in my studio for the past 2+ months, and now I'm out of projects that NEED to be done.

What to do.... what to do....?

LAVENDER EYE PILLOWS!

I know, crazy right?
I don't think I've pulling my sewing machine out for 3 years, and I did last night.

I'm in the process of whipping up some yummy lavender eye pillows to have on hand for future gift giving. I found some fun fabric, so last night I washed, pressed and cut it to size. I think I sewed half of my panels (all 24 that I cut). I received my filler today, so this weekend I will fill a few and snap some photos.

I subscribe to the thought - you can NEVER have too many gifts on hand. You just never know when you'll need a quick gift for someone, or a hostess gift.

I'd love to hear from you:
What is the most memorable hostess gift you've ever received?
What is the most memorable funny gift you've ever received?
Why?

I'm looking for more ideas of fun things to whip up and have on hand.



Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Oh My Neglected Blog!

Dear Blog,

It has been since the end of July since we last met.

It’s true, I AM seeing someone else.

No, no… it’s not you, it’s ME.

I have missed you.

I like to you use as a of journal of my life.

I promise, (maybe), to be better at showing you some love.

~ Alison


Isn’t it interesting how life changes?

How interests shift?

How pet projects are set aside?


So much has happened since we last met. Here are a few highlights:


In August, my stamping / art studio underwent a MAJOR overhaul. Adam and I switched rooms in the basement. I was ready to tunnel under the pool from my old room, and Adam's puzzles don't take up as much space as my art supplies do.


The shocking thing about the move - my old space is LESS THAN HALF the size of my new space - and everything in my new room - was in my old room. I had stuff just squirreled away!


The fun part about showing off my new room is walking people to my old room, having them get a feel for the size of the room, then unveiling the new room and say "and all of THIS was in that other room". No one ever believes me!


Drumroll please......


Before:


After:




After:



Before:



After:


After:


After:


Before:


After:

This last picture is actually my Passion Parties Area. I love it here because it's put away, and I have it organized in one area (Thank you Michele!). Also, I can have people over to play in my art studio, and nothing, ahem... that buzzes, is laying around.....So unassuming... ;-)



I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new space. It’s BEA-U-TI-FUL! The first week I had it, I would just sit down there, basking in the glory of all that is organization!


I must thank Michele and her family for all of their wonderful help. Without them, I would not / could not have pulled it off!


So, why no blog updates of my beautiful creations.... I’m working on Christmas gifts, so, I cannot post pictures of what I have been creating. I'm already about 50% done with Christmas gifts, and I've also already WRAPPED what is done. I'm way ahead of the game this year.


I've got to be on top of things with working full time, and doing Passion Parties. Time is my new currency, and that demands a higher level of efficiency and organization.


As an Independent Passion Parties consultant – I am rocking the business! It is fulfilling, fun, profitable, and an absolute PASSION of mine! I fill my time with working my business, and my results show it.


That's all for now.

Hopefully I will update this pet project of mine a little more often.

For me. So in a year, or two, or three, I can read through posts and smile and say "oh yeah, I remember when that happened".



Peace & Blessings!




Monday, July 27, 2009

Happy Birthday James

My God Son, James, turned 15 today! Adam and I couldn't be more proud of the intelligent, witty, responsible, fun loving, hilarious, respectful young man he has grown into.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!!!!!


PS - I CASEd the card off SplitCoastStampers.com.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Excitement!

Haven’t been stamping lately…. Not that you could tell by my silence on this blog with stamping posts.

This will all change, soon!

My stamping studio / art studio is a bit of a disaster. I find I can clean & organize it, only to find that after 1 session of making a few cards – it’s trashed again. Almost like when I go into my creative mind, my organizational mind goes completely dormant. Putting anything away just zaps my creative mojo. So, when I’m done with a tool, I set it aside. And then the paper, I set it aside. Oh, and embellishments – set those aside as well.

And what happens is my clear work space suddenly becomes a pile of tools, paper, and embellishments. ACK!

I have been meaning to empty my studio closet out, go through supplies, and clean out for a while. I’ve also got a vision in my head of ripping out the shelf that is there now, and installing custom shelving to serve my needs. Finally, a vision of an art studio where everything has a station and a place, so when it comes time to clean up, I know where everything goes instantly, and I could clean up in 10 minutes or less.

Frankly though, that kind of organizational skill isn’t a strong point in my being.

However, it IS for my best friend, Michele! She’s AMAZING at looking at a space, learning about what the needs are for a space, and setting it up to be functional and BEAUTIFUL at the same time.

AND………

She is coming for a visit this summer.

AND…….

She has asked if she can help me with this project!


I have no words for the level of relief, excitement, and anticipation I have for the two of us digging into that studio and creating an organized, functional, beautiful space.

Thrill Chills Abound!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Running Barefoot

One of the reasons for not updating my blog as often as I used to, is I have had a dramatic lifestyle change – particularly over the past 3 to 4 months. A major change… I am now a runner.


I am reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. This book is a fun, easy, reality shattering read. I won’t go into a summary here – check it out on Amazon.


A major reality shattering concept he discusses at length in the book is the idea of running barefoot. That we, society, have been conditioned by corporate entities that we NEED to wear thick soled shoes with pronation support, arch support, etc etc etc in order to protect our feet from anything we try and do throughout the day. When in actuality, runners that go barefoot or wear shoes such as the Vibram Five Fingers have less injury, run faster, feel better, have better arch support and stronger feet.


The research I’ve done on barefoot running online, and viewing a video of a woman running barefoot in slow motion and running with running shoes on in slow motion – I can SEE the difference in body mechanics and foot strike. It’s really quite amazing to me. Barefoot running makes sense, intellectually at least (and I’m speaking as a licensed massage therapist).To see the video:





I have yet to try it though. This has been my obsession over the past two days. Research. Research. More Research.


I must admit, I am VERY nervous about hitting my road barefoot for my run tomorrow. What about glass? What about the *stuff* that could injure my feet? I really want a pair of the Vibram Five Fingers, BUT I have webbed toes. These shoes don’t work for webbed toes. That is a MAJOR bummer. There are other companies out there making shoes with no support, that are basically for barefoot running – but give the foot protection from road debris. However, no one sells them locally, and I really want to try them on first!


(Who would have ever thought I would be researching specific running foot protection that will allow the sensation of being barefoot, which would in turn change my body mechanics & foot strike while running…. Ok, not me!)


I think the most compelling argument I’ve heard so far is that when you put a cast on your leg, your leg with atrophy by 50% in a 6 week time period.

So why are we putting our feet in shoes which immobilize our feet and the natural flexion & extension feet were designed for?


Also, the graphic below I scraped from Barefoot Runner:



Time will tell when I find shoes that’ll work for me. Time will tell how my body responds to this new way of running.


If you are as fascinated as I am, some resources to do your own research:


Barefoot Runner


Barefoot Ted


Running Barefoot


Peace & Blessings!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

5K!!!!

Whew!


Today I completed my 1st 5K!

And I RAN THE WHOLE WAY!

YAY WOO!!!!!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Happy Birthday Dad!

My parents came out for the weekend, and it happened to coincide with my Dad's birthday.
As always, they do too much & I greatly apprecaite all their help!!! We get so much done around the house when they are here!!!




Peace & Blessings!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Animator vs. Animation 2

Friday, April 17, 2009

Making A Card - Standing Up

It's been so long since I've made a card - that last night when I realized I had flaked out on someone's birthday - I ran to my stamping room and busted out a card - standing up!

That's a first for me!



Peace & Blessings!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Where have I been?

Busy…. of course I brought it all upon myself – but I will say this is the busiest I’ve been in a long, looooooooooong time!

(I haven’t made a card in over a month!)

What have I been up to?

Working – a lot.

             Between having a full time day job & working my Passion Parties business – I work. Granted Passion Parties is one HILAIROUS ride of my life, and I’m loving it – it’s still long hours. (I’m booking parties for Saturday’s into July, Friday’s into June, and weeknights into May!!!)


Running – sort of. 

                Adam and I have signed up for a 5K training program through our local Fleet Feet store. It’s a 3 month training program, with our 1st 5K race on Father’s Day this year.

I’m really excited about this, but I didn’t realize the time commitment. We have group workouts at the state park 3 x’s a week. I’m so used to working out at home that adding 20+ minutes to each end of the workout for drive time has pressed my patience a bit.

I am feeling really good about what I’m doing though. Pushing myself every workout – and my original goal was to run the entire race in under 30 minutes. Now, I just want to run the entire race, and start looking at times in a couple months. (right now I’m running/walking)

Treadmill walking/running is VERY different on the body than road walking/running. My body is working into road workouts. (THANKFULLY we have a Jacuzzi – which has really helped our soreness factor!)


Tap Class - awesome!

                A new instructor moved to town, and the National Museum of Dance picked her up for tap classes. She’s currently doing a 10 week series – and the Advanced class is GREAT! She really works on giving me advanced things, and I feel pushed every lesson. I’m THRILLED she’s here to stay!


iPhone - what did I ever do without one?

                For my Passion Parties business, I purchased an iPhone. I now think of my life in 2 ways: before the iPhone and after the iPhone!

Before the iPhone, I rarely had my cell turned on. I usually only dialed out, and I even checked it's messages from my home phone.

After the iPhone, it's usually within arms reach at ALL hours of the day - and it's always turned ON. I'm on it ALL THE TIME - the ability to check e-mail, facebook, twitter, texting, yadda yadda yadda is AWESOME. I'm addicted to finding new and fun (FREE) apps! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT....

Oh, and BEFORE the iPhone - I wasn't a texter - at all. Didn't like it. Now - I'm a texting crazy person!


House - sigh....

                Lately I’ve been looking around and just wanting to purge and clean out EVERYTHING! I’ve been a bit frustrated because with work, Passion Parties, 5K training, tap class…. when do I have time to really clean out?

We have made the list of things we wish to accomplish with the house this summer. It’s ambitious – especially with my schedule.

                NEEDS

New Jacuzzi cover – and we know what we will be getting: www.spacap.com

Water pump

Garage Lighting

Landscaping plants - hopefully some friends will help with this as I truly detest landscaping duty!

I need a new computer for my business..... MAC baby!

  WANTS

Overhaul Adam's Man Cave - better organization, etc

Overhaul my stamping room closet (under utilized! I think I can fit more art supplies in there ... instead of having them peppered around the house - and no this doesn't mean purchasing MORE supplies - this means having better organization of my CURRENT supplies)

Entirley redo the office. It's currently lime green with lady bugs (little kids room from when we purchased the house). I want paint, new floor, and furniture to make it into a functional office vs the storage space it's acting as now!

Cabinets in the laundry room for added storage

Solar pool heater


Now that you know what's going on in my life - what about you?



Peace & Blessings & HAPPY SPRING

Friday, March 27, 2009

So Proud of my Hubby!

Adam is a "Mechanical puzzle inventor, designer, builder, producer, and collector; expert level sandwich maker; and the keeper of an ever expanding reading list." (that's from his Twitter)

A new book came out, and he's featured on PAGE 63!






Exciting Stuff!!!

Peace & Blessings!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Love this Card!

I CASED this card from Splitcoast Stampers. I saw this, and flipped over it! I just love how simple, but elegant it is:




Peace & Blessings!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Sympathy


I found out one of my Passion clients just lost someone in her life..... sympathy cards are the hardest - and the most needed....



Peace & Blessings!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Sheila's Birthday Card



Peace & Blessings!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Valentine Inspired Thank You

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day w/ Jeff & Walter

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Happy Birthday Sheila!

Sheila has a BIG birthday today! She turned..........


As usual - the scanner just can't capture the true color - but you get the idea.

A child in the nursery at her church told her "you're almost 100"! Too funny!

Happy Birthday Sheila!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Art? Life? Business?

I have been remiss in posting ART to this blog.

I have been super busy with my Passion Parties Business! Although I have whipped out some cards, I haven’t taken the time to go down to my studio and create something new – for the sake of creating something new.

When I’m down there – I’m there with a purpose: Thank you’s, birthdays, etc.

I promise I will post something - eventually..... and until then.....

Peace & Blessings!

PS – Find me on Facebook!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Happy Groundhog Day

This day always makes me laugh.

Do you know the origins - if not: CHECK IT OUT HERE

Peace & Blessings!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Barack Obama's Inaugural Speech

I made a comment to a friend today that my kids will ask me someday if I remember Obama's Inaugural Speech....


If you want to read it - you can find his speech here: http://www.pic2009.org/blog/entry/president_obamas_inaugural_address/

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Precious Metal Clay

Adam and I took a Precious Metal Clay class! YAY WOO!

We've been wanting to do this for YEARS!

Here are a few things we did:

Adam made the chain a few years ago, and made a pendant to hang on it! Looks great!


We both made sage leaf pendants. Mine is on the left. These are by far my favorite! I could make 100 of these, and still love them all!



This is a ring I did. We learned how to texture the band of the ring and set a stone:


We had a blast - and are now totally addicted! The best part - the instructor is in town, and will allow us to fire our pieces in her kiln! YAY!

Peace & Blessings!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

A couple of this years Thank You Cards

These are from this year - my ready to go for Christmas of 2009 cards will be posted in 2010! (I actually made a handful of different designs - but sealed them in envelopes before I could scan them! - WHOOPS!)



Peace & Blessings!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Laugh WITH me!

Before you read this entire post - remember - LAUGH WITH ME!

Every year, around September / October I make all of my Christmas Thank You cards - so I will be ready - and not have to think about it in the middle of December craziness.

This year, I didn't do that.

So, about all of December and into the beginning of January - I've had this self talk going on in my head: "Why didn't I make Thank You cards early this year? When am I going to have the time to do this? I can't believe I didn't do it early! ARGH!"

This weekend, I finished up Thank You cards - wrote them out, addressed, stamped, sealed.... etc.

I made 2 extras - as I haven't done gift exchange with 2 people yet. So, AFTER I finished my cards & was cleaning up, I pulled my card box down off the shelf to store my 2 extras.

Drum roll please......... (remember laugh WITH me)

There, in my card box.......
25 Christmas Thank You cards......
beautiful, complete, READY TO GO Thank You cards..........

And it hit me - I got together with girlfriends back in AUGUST - and that's when I made them - because I knew I'd want to be ready!

I think because I did it in August - I totally forgot! That's much earlier than usual!

So, now I have 25 beautiful, complete, READY TO GO Christmas Thank You cards for 2009!!!!

Laugh WITH me......

Peace & Blessings!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Josh Groban - You Are Loved

Are You Going to Finish Strong

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Christmas Pictures

I realize I'm late in posting these:

Apollo has taken up residence under our Tree!


We threw an afgahn over the chair - for whatever reason - and Merlin took up residence! Smart cat!

Peace & Blessings