Patty Van Dorin

my mojo beads

I call them my gris gris mojo beads. Some may call them wanga.

What these beads technically are called is Phoenician and Bactrian glass and they are really old. Like really really old as in about 2000 years old. Even though they are incredibly ancient they are not proportionally rare or expensive.

Some beads will a have a zig zag line that is supposed to confuse an evil eye which of course would be lost in the zig zagging line, that is if an evil eye were to come round.

Beads with the eye design supposedly absorb evil energy, therefore protecting the person who wears it. An according to legend you should wear coordinating eye color with bead eye color. Hence the big blue eye bead is for me. As a courtesy, I also wear a brown eye bead to protect anyone who is standing nearby me. The red color eye bead is good if I have a late night of reading or being on the computer. One can never be over protected when it comes to the evil eye.

But as you can see below, these beads don't always perform their mojo, as witnessed by this sorry excuse of a cake I attempted to make today.

 

Maybe I need to rinse the beads in salt water and find a new silk ribbon or maybe I just need some baking mojo charms.

waiting for the next train

I have had this old suitcase for years but never put it to use.

Last night I was looking at it and thinking that just maybe all my journal stuff would fit in it.

Not only did the stuff fit in but I have room for more stuff.

And the most amazing part of this story, is that my journal fits in the suitcase all nice and neat.

Can it get any better than that?

Now I am ready for a big and amazing trip.

faux bois deer

so I pulled down some stuff that was half finished, you know the projects that just can't find there completion and you put it away for another day.

Well I have a stack of canvas that are in various stages of "not quite there"
 

can not tell you how many times I have re-worked "the deer in my garden"
at one time it even had an armadillo

I had penciled on the back that I started this in 2008.  It may be one of those that never gets finished.

 
I do like the left half.  Maybe that's what I will do cut the entire painting in half.

kindle kitty

 
Max the Cat and I are re-visiting some old favorites. We are currently reading "Alice in Wonderland" and "Treasure Island". 

If you have a kindle, e-reader or reader application, you need to go here
http://manybooks.net/

  

on the way home, I saw two zebras

 
It was a rather odd weekend, so I wasn't too surprised to see a couple of zebras on my way home.

Crazy for Stitched Paper

Ya'll know I love stitched paper but sometimes you just has to admit that you have more paper that can ever be used in one's lifetime.
 
and since I have more paper than I could use if I was a cat with nine lives, I have put some stitched paper collections for sale in my Etsy shop.
 
They can be found by clicking here - River Bend Ranch Etsy shop  - sold

a few good markers

two of my favorite brands of markers:

Copic - quite pricey but worth the money - I get mine on sale at Hobby Lobby and when they have a coupon for 40% any one item, you can bet I will have a Copic marker in one hand and a coupon in the other

Staedtler - wonderfully fine .3mm tip in a rainbow of colors and in a nifty case that folds to stand up - again Hobby Lobby or Office Depot
 
The only thing I don't like about the Copic markers is that they bleed through and since my journals and sketchbooks have a big variety of paper, this happens quite a bit.  
 
Like on this page, on the bottom left the blue marker bled through but I use it as an opporunity to paste a drawing I made that was on a scrap paper when I didn't have my book with me.
 
Actually I have quite a bit of "floating" random doodles. I will spend an afternoon when no inspiration is to be found and glue them on the pages of the current journal.  
 

Every Day Alice

Thanks for all the well wishes. How good am I feeling? So good that there are two blog posts for today. That's how good!

another page set in the "Down the Rabbit Hole" altered book
with just two more sets, this book is winding down
I have had so much fun with it, that there may be a second book in the making

a tiny little sailor's valentine

a tiny little valentine made of little shells and beads the color of sea glass

made from a rusty 2" size mint tin, an old washer, cholla cactus skeleton, and a picture of a favorite childhood doll and a scrap of stitched paper

just the right size to hang from a cabinet door latch   

stitched

no words today, still not up to speed but better after this last bout of pneumonia 

almost finished with a sailor's valentine and will post it tomorrow