Painting 101

In all my creativeness, I had never tried to paint, until the other winter, right after my surgery, when I was feeling my lowest. My sister said to me that now was the time to forget all the walls, the boundaries that I had put on myself and do whatever I had wanted to do and so I did, and I started painting.

This was one of the very first painting I ever did. A flower, a very timid flower at that, you see. I made the background a very watered down color of the flower and I was so scared to paint a flower petal that I just drew lines for the petals, and I even put it half off the canvas because I didn't think I could do the whole flower.
On the day I painted that I was so proud that I actually put paintbrush to canvas and came out with something that looked good, and I liked. I am still proud of that.

Today, I look at that picture, and I see so much more. I see a woman who was frightened and afraid, of painting but more of life, of what was going to happen, could I do this, could I be this other person. I had just had a major surgery, it changed who I was, or at least I felt like it did, I felt like it took away my identity. I was TAMM, T(Tiernan), A(Amalia), M(Maeve's),Mom and I was now no longer able to be a mom, I had a hysterectomy, and everything that made me a mom was gone, or so I felt. It took a lot of soul searching and praying, time with family and friends, and even some painting for me to realize that those parts do not define me at all!

Yes, that is a timid flower, and I still like it, but if you see a painting from today, you won't see the timid colors, I am bold and bright and in your face, because time is just too short to be timid, but there is still a place for the timid in the world. I just don't paint them anymore.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-TAMM-creation/287096398006038

Long absence from the blog, but not from creating

I may have taken a long absence from the TAMM creation blog, but I have not taken an absence from creating items for the TAMM creation line or creating things for friends and family and myself, developing new ideas and concepts and trying new things. It is just hard to try to balance it all, between family and life and health, I have not focused on me and the blogging in a long time. After a rewarding lunch with a good friend the other day, talking about a number of things, and what makes me the happiest, I have a renewed spirit and desire to focus more on the blogging again and getting back to writing more. To that end, I decided to start today with the apology for being away for so long, but to let you know what that means is that I have a whole bunch of pictures to upload and tell you about. The Etsy store to update, now have a Facebook page and a store page on there and a new CafePress shop, which is wonderful and I can't wait to tell you all about that one! Welcome back to my world!

Pictured is the Mixed Media Art I did for my own daughter. This listing is for the same art, only with your choice of names and colors. Your art will come on an 8x16 stretched canvas, just as pictured. The background is a torn paper Cheetah print background. On top of that will be your choice of name and in your choice of colors. If you have a small name, I will be happy to add the flower or a butterfly to the top corner. if you would like it with the name only, just let me know. With the Cheetah background, I can do almost any color but the brighter colors work best, such as: Hot Pink, Yellow, Orange (as pictured) Lime green, Turquoise, etc. You pick the whatever color will match what you want. It is unframed so that you can again decide how mach attention you want on the piece. For a subtle look, frame in a plain brown or black frame, for more attention pick a carved detail black or brown frame. To highlight it, pick a frame in the color of your lettering. Shipping is listed to the US. I only charge exact shipping, or less in the case of the US. If you would like it shipped elsewhere, message me and I will get an exact cost from the post office and let you know. I do not make money on shipping, so I don't like to list elsewhere unless I kno the exact cost.

Mixed Media Art - Name on Zebra background

This is a custom order piece. Pictured is the one I did for my own daughter. Your piece will come on an 8x16 stretched canvas, same as in the picture. The background is a torn paper Zebra print with a custom name over it in a custom color. My daughter choose a lime green, but you can choose any color. The bright colors look best, but any color will work, such as: Hot Pink, Orange, Yellow, Bright Blue, Red, etc. This one, the name was long enough that I only did the name, but if you have a shorter name, or would like the name smaller, i can add a flower or butterfly to the corner for more decoration. See the Cheetah background custom name order. I will do large names, like this or smaller letters, your choice. The piece comes unframed so that again, you can decide how much attention you want on the piece. To keep it subtle, a plain black frame works well, for a little attention, a carved detail black frame is good. To make it more noticeable, add a plain frame in the color of your lettering, and to really make it stand out, frame it in a carved detail frame in your lettering color. This can also stand alone without a frame just as well. All my pieces are titled, dated and signed on the back. Shipping is listed for the US only, but I will ship elsewhere, just message me and I will get an exact cost for your location. I do not make money on shipping, I only charge exact cost, or in the case of the US, less.

Balancing Act...

The issues with blogging when you are a full-time mom to three active kids is time! When do I have time to sit down and type out a blog entry?

I know, there are those out there that would block out some time on the weekend and write four or five entries and then just schedule them to post throughout the week. I have never done that. I take that back. I had one post that I wanted to show up on a birthday, and I scheduled it to post that day, but that was one time. I just don't like the idea of blogging ahead and then scheduling because I am sure I would forget to go back when those were done and do more.

I love the idea of writing daily as things come to me, but the time to do that is little and far between! It seems like something is going on every night of the week, and after school and during the day, and just anytime you could think of!

Now, I am not complaining, because you know that I love my kids, and they are so important to me. I wouldn't want to deprive them of any of the things they are doing that takes up my time, it is just a matter of craving out a little bit of "mommy" time somewhere in the day. At least I was able to crave a little out today...now off to pick Maeve up from school early so she can go to Peter Pan practice, then a kindergarten celebration tonight for Molly after school.

We have an older home with the small closets, so twice a year I have to do the clothing switch. Since I have been home recovering, I have been working on it, but just a little at a time.

I started in Tiernan's room, because well, being a boy he had the least to switch, in fact I found there was nothing to switch, but I did clean out the old clothes that no longer fit him and got things looking nice in his room.

I then moved to the girls room. This takes some time. I had to go through everything, getting rid of what no longer fit, passing things down from Maeve to Molly, pulling the summer stuff from last year out of storage and seeing what fit who this year, then putting the jeans, sweaters and other winter wear away, but only stuff that fit. It took me awhile, but I have that looking good. The girls have some pants put aways for the fall, and they have some summer clothes, although Molly has more because Maeve outgrew her stuff and passed it down to Molly, now I have to find new stuff for Maeve.

What is funny is that it feels weird to go to the store and only buy for one kid. I used to think that I needed to bring home equal amounts for each child, but I now realize that they grew at different rates, and this is a good thing. Right now I only have to get stuff for Maeve, and then if a few weeks or months I'll need to get for another. This breaks up the cost of clothing the kids nicely, and makes it easier on the budget.

Today I worked on my room. That is probably the biggest undertaking! I have work clothes, play clothes and church clothes, and so I had to go through the winter stuff, and anything that I did not wear this past year went into the Goodwill pile. I am not going to keep holding onto stuff, just because I think I might wear it, or something. I got all my winter stuff packed away and the summer stuff out, and that feels so good.

Over all, while I have been doing this bi-annual clothing switch, I have taken five garbage bags of stuff to Goodwill already and I have another two bags to go next trip. That is seven bags altogether. I know, I can hear you all yelling "yard sale" but you know what? I tried that last year, and I ended up with more stuff left over than I had to begin with! How is that you ask? Well, when my mother-in-law found out I was having the sale, she brought over a boat load of stuff, so when the sale was over, I had more stuff than I started with, and it all stayed at my house. Yep, everything my mother-in-law brought over that didn't sell, all got left in my basement! Not doing it again! It was way too much work for way too little reward, I'll just take it to Goodwill and write it off on taxes next year.

HGTV Green Home Sweepstakes

Anyone else love HGTV as much as I do? If the tv is on, and the kids aren't in front of it that is, I have either HGTV or DIY on. If you watch then you know that through June 4th you can register to win the HGTV Green Home.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv-green-home-2010-tour/package/index.html

That is the link to a tour of the home. Now, I would LOVE to win a Green Home, the solar panels are probably my favorite. I have wanted solar panels on a house for years now! And so of course I have entered, but you know the likelihood that I win is slim to none, which is probably a good thing.
I was looking at the house yesterday, and I realized that for this nice big home, it only has TWO bedrooms. Granted that one is a hugh master suite, but that only leaves one other bedroom, listed on the tour as the kids bedroom. Well I can tell you right now that my three kids would refuse to have to share one bedroom, and who would want them to!
You would think, that for such a large house, and all the things they are talking about in the home, it would have more than two bedrroms. Although there is a sitting room off the upstairs that I guess could beturned into a third bedroom if you needed it to be.

Oh well, it's fun to enter the contests, and fun to dream about a luxury green home, but it just wouldn't fit my family, so time to come back to reality and get on with the laundry. Oh, what I wouldn't give for those new big load washer and dryers, and a dishwasher!! Maybe in another life!