Altered comp book

Here's a composition notebook I altered for DH. I found the notebook when I was working at Wally World in Prescott AZ over the summer. It has a black faux leather cover. I also bought one for myself in brown. That should be fun to play with also, someday soon... :)

Vintage Nude

After many hours of pleasurable work, I am finished with my contribution for the Vintage Nudes fatbook swap for the Altered stART group. I like it a lot but, being the way I am, I keep thinking of ways to make it better. It is time to stop playing with it and let it out into the world. Let it go--out to all 9 other participants. lol
I can't wait to get my bound book from Francine, the group's owner and swap hostess. The last two fatbooks I participated in are wonderful. I feel joy every time I look at them.

Wisdom from a Kindergarten Teacher

On Wednesday, DH and I went to our first parent-teacher conference for our kindergartner.  We were discussing the usual topics and the subject of misbehavior came up.  Teacher Melissa uses a version of the time-out which she calls the "Power Place".  It's simply a small table and chair away from the action of the class where misbehaving kids can go and get their power back or, in other words they calm down, refocus, and adjust their attitudes so that they can rejoin the group.  To me, it is a fresh twist on the old time-out concept which inevitably ends up seeming like an isolation-type punishment.  

But something else struck me about this idea: how depression is related to one's power, or lack thereof.  I've searched for a logical reason why I suffer from depression.  If you have chronic depression, you know that there usually isn't anything logical about it, but that hasn't stopped me from wondering, WHY?  Well, Teacher Melissa may have answered that, at least in part.  I get depressed because I feel powerless.  I get depressed in the winter because I am powerless against the weather.  In that situation, I feel that I am without acceptable choices and powerless to change things.  Conversely, when I am feeling good, I feel powerful.  And when I feel powerful, I feel good.
So how do I get my power back when I start feeling down?  
Or do I need to be more accepting of this powerlessness?  It's not a good feeling.

First post ever

Here it is...my very first post on my brand-new blog.   I've put off starting a blog for a long time now mostly because I was concerned that, posting to what I hope is primarily an artist's blog, I wouldn't be productive enough.  That is still a concern but I will deal with it if it becomes a problem.  

To the left is a button fairy I made some time ago for a challenge on the Yahoo group, Altered stART.  That's my much-adored German Shepherd Dog, Cupid, on the flattened bottlecap.  I added freebie wings from Dover:

 www.doverpublications.com/sample4/