A Mermaid's Day

"Uncle" Mark and  me, "Auntie" Leslie went to breakfast with our dear little Frances and Mama and Papa. It was a looong wait for our table but worth the wait when Uncle Mark order the upside down pineapple pancake as our appetizer! That took the edge off of our hungry tummies.

and what breakfast be without your own blow-up princess crown...

It was a fun and sunny day and Mark and I thought it would be nice to take Frances to get her Halloween Costume...ok we did go to Costco but the selection was fabulous! Now the problem was so many many frilly pretty costumes from which to choose! We thought Frances would love the princess costume with the wide turling skirt...no that wasn't the one....of course anything fairy would be good...but I know that she has a plethora of fairy items- what 4 year old that is a girlie girl wouldn't??

So then there it was the Mermaid costume! Perfect!! And we were off to look at all the other things Costco has to offer...did you know that even Santa has his own (pre-view) aisles of toys for children to look at and write down what they would like?? Whew- got out of that one!

A little tired but I sure look pretty!

Home at last and what a day of pancakes, visiting, and the decision of being a mermaid..

...time for a rest!

Tink and Frances ready for Halloween!

Have a Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Yeah- don't forget about me...
this is my favorite holiday!

inka tinka - black cat

Many of you know my love of black cats...well should I say one black cat in particular- mine- Issy or also known as Isabella Sunshine Conchita Little Havana Brown Molen and yes, she is every bit of that! ...and we love her feisty-ness and all.

oh I know I look sweet here
but just give me a second or two...

I know that black cats are of the feline breed but sharing a home with one for 9 years now, I am certain that they are their own category of feline!

So, when it was time for me to create a fall project for my class here at ROotie, how could I resist not doing a black cat...on a pumpkin! That is when inka tinka came on to the scene...

and yes..that is why I choose this fabric of the month too! ;)

She had to be of the blackest velvet I could find...sparkling wide eyes, a bit of mischief in her whiskers, pretty bow, and of course with heart.

Also taken into consideration with my design was the flavor of the Asian aesthetics of clean and simple lines...and taken from the Japanese culture that bit of whimsy...in the wide spread eyes and simple body stance and we can't forget a pumpkin!!

 Some details:

vintage velvet leaf

hand-dyed wool felt 

for pumpkin

shiny sequin eye

with glass bead

 

pretty sparkle edged bow

peacock feather whiskers

 heart of hand-dyed velvet

So all in all..no matter how our little ones express themselves, 

may it be so sweet and the next moment hisssssss...

but isn't that what makes them so dear in our hearts?

Pattern to be available 

email me from my website 

for inka tinka in subject line

What is Important...

Being the very visual person that I am, when I share my blog with you,  I like to include wonderful beautiful photos..but I had a very eye-opening experience this past week that I really want to share with you...just a few photos but mostly words. This is something that I think is worth mentioning for us to ponder...

I went with my friend, Kathy, to the Colorado National Speakers Association monthly meeting held at the beautiful Westin Hotel (side note- this is where the NIADA conference is next year- so why not check it out??)

so we were a bit like 

"fish" out of water..

Kathy is looking into becoming a speaker for Life after Recovery for Women...I think that she is going to be fabulous at it! She told me about this meeting with a "famous" speaker talking about "Building your Business that You never Dreamed Possible".

it is good to step out 

on a limb and into groups 

you are not quite familiar

I thought this man had some good info that I was pretty much practicing, which was good to see it formulated and laid out in a bell curve-type format. I am always for making my business better for my clients. He told funny stories that tied in well with the points he was covering. 

So you are asking why I am even writing about this??

hummm there was just 

something odd about this guy..

The story continues with a discovery from my oh so brief contact I had with "this man"...he basically was saying that your clients range from A-E with A being those who are not so interested but may dabble a bit into your business to E being those who spend a lot and need little energy...

So I thought hummm...for my business I am probably in the D-ish range...at the break I went up to chat with him a bit (this man who talks of building relationships and community)...I introduced myself and told him I was a doll artist (not a speaker) and was enjoying what he was saying- "WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION"- was so forcibly smacked into my mid-sentence...I was caught off guard ..."GET TO THE POINT- LESLIE"

I thought ok...here is my question "How do I get from D to E?"..."name of book" was his reply accompanied with a stare and with that I turned and walked back to my table thinking "What was that about?"

need I say more??

As the day went on and my view of him had been greatly colored a sort of murky muddy color...I thought well even though he is very distasteful, I can still glean SOME info from him...but as I sat there listening, his jokes were not so funny and his stories about himself took a slower pace than the info he was dishing out...I thought this guy is really a well honed machine giving you just the right bit of information and speaking so fast that I had a bunch of half sentences written down- well at least he would have people buying his books for more information...or not...

So later that day after Kathy and I left early to get a little retail therapy after that weird experience...I thought about all that he had said (or really NOT said) all of this in a tidy presented package of if you are going to be as great and wealthy as me this is what you do...

I came to the final conclusion that really to get from D to E -Would I have to become a big jerk pushing aside those middle people?...and is that really what I want for my business? Is that really MY business anyway?

kind a lonely at the top

kind a dark too..

NO! What is really important to me- the true building of relationships, the creating of community-that we do together...that is what is important to me. That I can touch someones heart and make them happy..that is what makes me happy...and no amount of money can ever buy you friendship or the smile you get when someone loves your work- all right it helps pay the rent here at ROotie, but I think you get the point.

I am so thankful for all of you who share my life, as a student, friend, family, or even the person who reads my blog on occasion! 

So all and all- 
Thank you for being you and being in my life!

 and they lived happily ever after
knowing they had love in their hearts!

Legend of the Luo River Goddess

I recently came across this Chinese legend of the Luo River Goddess. I love this legend and wanted to share it with you! From the information I can glean, it seems that there was indeed an Empress Luo Zhen...her life was all things that drama is of today. 

Lady Mi was the daughter of FuXi, the legendary Chinese emperor deemed to be the mythical creator of fishing, trapping, and writing. Because she was very fascinated with the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Luo River, Lady Mi descended onto the Luo River basin where the brave YouLou clan resided. There she mingled among the industrious folks and taught them how to create nets, fish as well as the skills of hunting, livestock-raising and herding which were learned from her father. 

One day, while everyone was working, Lady Mi took out her seven-string qin, a Chinese musical instrument and played a melodious tune. Unfortunately, this exquisite melody was heard by HeBo, the prodigal demigod of the Yellow River. He infiltrated into the Luo River to get a glimpse of this qin player and was instantly mesmerized by the beauty of Lady Mi. He subsequently transformed himself into a white dragon, caused a great havoc in the Luo River and engulfed Lady Mi. 

While Lady Mi was imprisoned in the water palace of HeBo, in order to drown her daily sorrow and anxiety, she strummed her seven-string qin. Her melodious tune attracted the lonely HouYi to her side. 

Upon hearing Lady Mi’s bitter encounter, HouYi was very indignant and rescued her from the water palace and returned to the Luo River. Both of them fell in love. On hearing that Lady Mi had escaped and that both of them became lovers, HeBo was so embarrassed with shame and anger that he again transformed himself into a white dragon and attacked the Luo River, gobbling up the villages, farms and livestock. 

The furious HouYi came to the rescue and shot an arrow into HeBo’s left eye which sent the panicky HeBo fleeing. Knowing that he was no match for HouYi, HeBo went to lodge a complaint with the King of Heaven. The King of Heaven who knew about the whole saga, sided Hou Yi by telling that HouYi shot a dragon and that HeBo should not have transformed himself. HeBo got no choice but to retreat to his water palace and left both Lady Mi and HouYi alone.

Since then, Lady Mi and HouYi led a happy live. For their contributions, HouYi was later conferred the title of God of ZhongBu by the King of Heaven and Lady Mi was conferred Goddess of Luo. Subsequently, the folks on both sides of the Luo River erected the grandiose Temple of Luo Goddess at the east gate of the old city.

Thus, the legend of LuoShen was passed down 
from generation to generation.

This legend and story of Lou Zhen has been told in Opera of the Luo River Goddess

 

and even made into a Chinese television series which aired in 2002
Where the Legend Begins... 

Pam's Journal

How honored did I feel when one of my students, Pam, created a beautiful journal especially for her time at John C Campbell with my- Usgai Rakki-Lucky Rabbit- class being included in it...and not only did she make one for herself, she also made one for her friend Mary!

Pam's Rabbit

As I viewed these journals, I felt it added so much to the class and our week's experience of understanding art and the use of fiber.

I would love to share these photos of Pam's journal with you...





To see more photos and how Pam created this journal - check out this link for her blog and website.

Also check out the On-line Journal Class by Mary Ann Moss.

“There is no doubt that
creativity is the most
important human resource of all.
Without creativity,
there would be no progress,
and we would be forever
repeating the same patterns.”
Edward de Bono