So, what’s going on in the studio? A custom bead order. Color mixes for the Premo Fall 2012 polymer clay color recipe ebook, which I hope to get done sometime this month. I probably won’t get to the Kato and FIMO versions until June. I’m also working on my homework for Teaching Art Online class.

My Etsy shop was looking rather chaotic with color recipe ebooks, tutorials, beads and jewelry, so I split out the beads and jewelry into a new shop – Crafts by Chris Studio B. I’m still working on moving things over and adding newer things, but it’s getting there.

A little over a week before he passed, I spent the evening with him while my mom went out to eat with friends. After beating me at solving the Wheel of Fortune puzzles (their favorite pastime), we talked. He told me that he knew he was dying and that he was ok with it. He was very accepting of the whole thing from the beginning. Never did he say, “Why me?”. I hope that when my time comes that I handle it as well as he did. Truthfully, I hope that I drop dead in my tracks and never see it coming.

Yesterday, on my way out to help my mom write thank you notes, I had to swing by the funeral home and pick up his ashes. The lid for the container mom picked out was missing, so we were waiting for the lid to come in the mail. Anyway, with the ashes sitting on the seat next to me, I remembered the conversation they had about whether he wanted to be cremated or not. He said that she could just burn him in the burning barrel out back. He was ALWAYS joking. The conversation continued as to whether to scatter the ashes or bury them and my mom makes a comment that whether they were buried or not she would want a headstone to say that she had been here.

Art is like a headstone. I had never really thought about it this way, but art is a marker that says that we were here, that we existed, it is a part of us that will still be here long after we are gone.

While mommy and baby were at the hospital, we had our two year old grandson. I forget how much energy a two year old has…wore me out. Yesterday we had his slightly delayed birthday party.

Now on to the new monthly inspiration project…

The Muses from Greek mythology are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. Each month I will be your Muse by providing an inspiration challenge. The idea is to step outside your comfort zone, try something new and have fun. This group is open to all artistic mediums.

Playing along is easy…you can join in any time throughout the year. Upload your photos to Flickr, add them to the Monthly Muse Flickr group and tag them with the corresponding monthly tag. For example the first monthly inspiration will have the tag MM1.

And here is the first Monthly Muse inspiration. Mesh and denim shades (Marina, Dark Blue and Twilight Blue).

Tomorrow is our grandson’s 2nd birthday. It looks like he may have to share his day with his sister. My daughter was supposed to be induced last Friday, but got bumped and tomorrow is the day they rescheduled it for. Keep your fingers crossed for us that she doesn’t get bumped again….she’s getting rather grumpy about it. I was blessed to be able to be there when our grandson was born and plan on being there to welcome our granddaughter. Hubby is taking the day off work to babysit, so that I can go to the hospital.

With everyone being home the past couple of weeks, I haven’t gotten much of anything accomplished. For those of you waiting on the FIMO and Kato Spring 2012 color recipes, I apologize. I had hoped to have the FIMO version done by the end of this week followed by the Kato version a couple of weeks after that. However, it will probably be the end of next week before I have the FIMO recipes done and a couple of weeks beyond that for the Kato recipes. After this week, life should slow back down and I will put my nose to the grindstone to get them done.

I’m still working on the Spring 2012 color recipe ebook. It is taking longer than I anticipated, but hope that it will be worth the wait as it is bigger and better.

The teenage son got in a wreck last night on his way home from work. He wasn’t hurt, just a little shook up. (It shook mom up as well.) It was his fault and he admitted it, which got him a $195 ticket along with having to fix his car since he only has liability insurance. I’m just grateful he wasn’t hurt.

“Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.”
~Claude Monet

As you might have guessed by the above quote and photo, I have been mixing Spring 2012 colors. My goal is to have the Premo Spring 2012 Polymer Clay Color Recipe Ebook in my shop by this weekend. I also hope to have the FIMO and Kato versions finished before the end of the month. Of course, I’ve yet to put up Christmas decorations or do any Christmas shopping…..

My trip consisted of driving my parents to Texas and back. The trip was for my step-dad, who has terminal cancer, to be able to see his daughters and grandchildren. While the trip wasn’t for a happy reason, I did get to spend the weekend with my best friend. We have been friends since we sat at the same table in kindergarten, which has been many more years than I like to admit to.

Now, it’s time to play catch up….
Here’s is this past Monday’s color palette a week (CPAW).

For all my polymer clay peeps….if you haven’t seen Lindly Haunani’s guest post on Polymer Clay Daily, please check it out and take the survey!!! Not only is this a chance for your voice to be heard by polymer clay manufacturers, you have a chance to win an autographed copy of Terra Nova – Polymer Art at the Crossroads, released in conjunction with the opening of the Racine Art Museum’s exhibition.

I have email to catch up on, blogs to read and a mountain of laundry calling my name, but maybe I’ll take a little nap first…..