Package in the Mail!

My Valentine shopping for the Mister is done! The package from Ro Bruhn arrived today in the mail, all the way from Victoria, Australia. The earrings are lovely ... not too heavy and they have triple heart power. Thank you for the wonderful tag, too, Ro. I love it and will recycle the wrapping paper into my journal.
Did I mention the Mister's present is for me?

Today, thanks to my friend, Sylvia, I went to yoga. She invited me and I'm glad I went. I have needed the stretching, grounding and relaxation.
Dawn Sellers, one of the ArtHouse bunch, has a blog with pictures of the heart pins she made on Saturday. Scroll down her blog for a look-see. Sylvia will bring some to my house soon so I can take a photo of the ones she made.

As I sign off, I'd like to share one more photo of a friend, Fran Richards (right), who's realizing the longtime dream of having her own art space, right next to where I work in a cooperative artist space. The artists must be in their studio so many days a week and allow the public to come in and observe so many hours a week.
It's a great deal for everyone. Fran is working on pastels right now. Me, I plan on checking in so I can learn more about that particular medium. That's all for now. I hope you are creating something wonderful. - femminismo

Greetings to Number 500!

Will you be Visitor No. 500? Thanks to Sitemeter I can tell where visitors are from (usually) and how many people view my blogspot every day. (No worries; I do not get your e-mail addresses or know any more about you than where you are from and when you visited.)
I appreciate all your visits and hope you find something useful or fun to read or view when you click on femminismo's blog.
I see people from my own state of Oregon and from other states I have lived in: South Carolina, Virginia, Florida. Places I have driven through: North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (where my grandparents were from), Oklahoma (where my father was born) ... so many places with so many memories. I've never been to New York, but maybe someday.
Above is a November art journal page.
I have ordered Valentine earrings from Ro Bruhn in Australia and can hardly wait to get them. My connection with her has been very rewarding, and I've loved to get comments from visitors.
Five hundred visitors isn't much in "blogworld" but I'm getting there slowly but surely.
And it's not so much the number of people who see what I have to say or "show." It's the creation of art and the journal keeping online that is rewarding for me. As long as the Internet exists, perhaps floating in space somewhere in years to come - even if I'm gone - these memories of times past will be present for my great-grandchidlren.
femminismo - live long and prosper

Dedicated to Ro.

If you haven't heard of her, you simply must go check out Ro Bruhn's art. Her stamped journal/altered book pages have led me to new painting heights with vibrant color mixes and patterns.
And her encouragement to carve my own stamps has got me up until past 10 p.m. (again!) even though I swore I'd get to bed early tonight.
It's not Ro's fault, however. It's addictive and has kept me from snacking on chips and from biting my nails ... for a while.
I carved two stamps tonight: one is a flower inspired by a similar stamp on Ro's pages, and the other is "the woman" - as the Mister calls her - that I keep drawing over and over again. Ro says she finds carving her own stamps is "very rewarding." I'll go even further. It makes me feel Powerful. Watch out, world!
Sleepily, femminismo.