Trying again

Hey, it worked this time!  Here's me and my Max man.  He was so excited to give me this big CZ necklace that he was jumping out of his skin saying,"you're gonna' faint when you see it."!!!  He's so funny.  Gosh, he looks so much like my hubby when he was a boy... except Max has my hazel eyes instead of blue.  I should find a childhood photo of Chuck and put them side by side for ya'll to see.  It's shocking, I tell ya'!

Hey, look, I got another one to load!  :)  This is both boys in their new bathrobes from Grandma!  They didn't know what they were when they opened them!  LOL!  However, they are now really into wearing them.  So much so that Max, little character that he is, has discovered that if he puts it on when his skin is still damp, the lint sticks to his body so, he now wants to intentionally wear lint "chest hair".  I'm not kidding.  Sam saw him with black lint all over his chest and told him he looked like he was going through puberty.  I looked at Sam, puzzled, and asked if he knew what puberty meant... keep in mind that he's 8.  He said, "I think it's when you go to see the Statue of Liberty and pee"!!!!  I almost fell out in the floor laughing.  Now how did he ever come up with THAT?  LOL!  Yesterday, while getting ready for church, Max wanted me to give him 'chest hair' for church.  When I told him it wouldn't stick once he put his clothes on, he wanted me to tape it onto his chest!  He's only 6 and he wants chest hair!

Mellowing out

Well, now that craziness is over from the holiday, things are settling in.  One of my boys favorite gifts, especially Max's, was the basketball hoop and ball that Chuck purchased for them sorta' last minute.  Of course, his shopping is usually last minute and almost always something "big".  Next year we need to coordinate gift buying better.  I'll find out his "big gift" plan ahead of time before buying stuff while I'm out.  I want to scale way down next year on gift purchases within my family.  Anyway, after many talks with my boys about safety and stranger danger, they are now allowed to play in the front yard without me being out there with them.  Believe me, I'm at the window almost constantly and if we didn't live on a side street that didn't have through access to main streets, I'd never agree to it but usually, the only cars on our street are from neighbors who live here on the street.  Anyway, my boys think they died and went to heaven.  Now, Chuck and I park our cars on the curb and the boys have the entire driveway and carport so they have been riding bikes, scooters, skateboards, a go cart, and playing basketball almost non-stop.  They don't want to come in at all!  Once the basketball hoop went up, Max literally stayed out playing basketball almost ALL day for a couple days straight.. just shooting and dribbling.  This is a 6 year old people!  And OMG, he's really good!  I was stunned!  I had no idea he knew how to play! He's trying to teach his older brother how to properly dribble and how to aim for the "square" on the backboard to make the baskets!  It's so fun to watch him.  He's a natural at sports while Sam is not... Sam is the brain who wants to grow up and have his home look like a book store!  :)  He talked about owning a bookstore and naming it Bookmania.  The name is probably already taken but I loved that he was thinking like this.  He's so fun to take book shopping.  He never tires of it.

Well, I was going to post a few pictures but am having some difficulty.  See, Chuck bought me, one who has sludge on the non-artist side of my brain, a new 24 in. screen MAC for Christmas.  It hasn't been an easy few days.  While I'm very grateful for a new computer, having to learn new stuff and figure things out, not being able to find things, etc... well, let's just say I don't adjust to change easily, especially when it's sudden and requires the other side of my brain.  I'll try loading pictures again but who knows... you may not see them!  

My boys were so excited to give me the gifts they purchased for me.  Max got me a necklace and Sam chose a pair of earrings.  I'll try to upload the photos of me with each of my sons but keep in mind, this is taking bravery to a new level.  These pictures are of me just crawling out of bed... pajamas, no make-up and I hadn't even thought of looking in a mirror so just know I clean up ok.

Here's me and my Sam, whom I've nicknamed Sam the Yam... he could totally be a couch potato either in front of the t.v. or computer for the entire day if I let him.  

OK, I FINALLY got that photo loaded so I'll try the one with me and Max.  I'm having trouble because when I try to upload more than one photo at a time and then cut/paste them in the body of the text, for some reason, the second photo over-rides the first and just deletes out the first.  Now I'm going to try again and see if it will work now that the photos won't be "next" to each other in the post.  Here goes the try with me and Max.  Life with this child will never be dull... that's a guarantee.  Well, now blogger is sorta' "locking up" and the photo just never loads.  I'll have to try again later.  I've now sat here for over an hour trying to get this far!  This is ridiculous!  I'm throughly frustrated now.

A little art time... early in the morning

I just finished this piece as a gift for a friend who happens to be our pastor. However, it is not a Christmas gift but a Rebirth-day gift. December 23 is the date he came to know Christ over 20 something years ago. I will give it to him tomorrow. I wrote a letter to him explaining the piece, etc... so instead of me explaining it again here for you, I'll just post a copy of the letter and save myself some writing time! :) The scripture that has prompted this piece is John 17: 20-26 which says:

20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

On a more personal note, I'm pretty much finished shopping for Christmas with only a ocuple of details left. I still have several bags for the homeless to deliver. Sam just lost another tooth so he has one and a half top front teeth out! He looks pretty cute. I have also spent HOURS cleaning out my kids play area and rearranging things to make more room for play on the floor so they can stay off MY side of the room since we share a room for my studio/their play room. That was quite a project! I don't know why but I always get "spring fever" around Christmas... I guess it's all the extra chaos and clutter that just sends me in an organizing frenzy. I just can't stand all the "stuff" around.

Oh, now, on to John's letter and please know that John has quite the sense of humor so if any of the letter sounds kinda' weird, he'll get it:

December 21, 2007

John,
Over the past couple of years, God has been increasingly showing me and teaching me about “Jesus in me”. He has shown me things with my own eyes that I have difficulty even explaining to someone else! Now, He seems to be constantly running a tape through my head allowing me to ask the same questions over and over about what it really means that Jesus is in me.
I became a Christian when I was 7 years old and for most of those years as a Believer, I have imagined Jesus as “little”. You know, ‘Jesus in my heart’. Truthfully, I sorta’ pictured him much like the Plankton from Spongebob. And while Plankton is my favorite character on the show, I have found the Jesus is nothing like Plankton…. Jesus isn’t “little Jesus in my heart”, He’s BIG Jesus who is in every fiber of my being. He’s in every molecule of my DNA. He fully and completely embodies me and every Believer. WOW! This is HUGE! I am continually asking God to make me so aware of this every moment of the day so that my attitudes and actions can be completely turned over to Him to ‘act out’ or ‘speak out’ with me simply being a vessel. Oh how different I would be if I could truly grasp the magnitude of powerful love the lives in me! The creator of the entire universe lives in my body and wants desperately to be able to use me as a vessel. Yet, He patiently waits and never forces His way. My prayer is that I can be so aware of His presence in me that He just seeps out. I am awed as I come to know the reality of His presence and power IN me. Not beside me, in front of me, behind me, but IN me. How wonderful that He can be in all of those places for me but something happens in my heart and mind when I take in the fact that He dwells IN me.
For months now, I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to do some piece of art as a response to show what He has shown me and I could not figure it out. Then, two weeks ago, when you were speaking on Sunday morning functioning on only 2 hours of sleep, THAT’S when God showed me how to show it! On so little sleep, you may not remember saying this but you asked everyone to raise their hand for ‘something’ and then you said, “those of you who didn’t raise your hand are lying”! Well, I was so engrossed in this art piece in my head that all of the sudden I snapped out of it and thought, “what did I just lie about?!” I have no idea what you were talking about at that very moment but I do remember your heart. And what you kept saying over and over was the word “Remember”. Remember who God is. Remember who you are. Remember what He says. Remember the truth. So, as I sat there listening and creating in my head, I sensed that this completed art piece was to be yours. Not for Christmas celebrating Jesus’ birth, but a birthday gift for you celebrating your new birth in Christ over 20 years ago. Your re-birthday: A day of celebration to remember that He is living fully IN you for eternity!

So, while this piece is full of flaws in my eyes, being imperfect shows my humanness but the message is from Jesus and that is perfect. I pray that it is HIM you remember each time you look at this piece. Max saw it and said, “Wow mommy, you made a trophy!” Well, I hadn’t thought of it like that at all but when I looked at it, I thought, “Yes, I guess I have!” It seems fitting. Now, each time you look at this ‘trophy’, REMEMBER:
*He is fully IN you.
*He will never leave you.
*He is IN you for eternity.
*Because He is in you, He literally experiences everything with you.
*Since He is IN, He has bound Himself inside you and will never come out.
*He’s waiting to use your body as a vessel.
*When you acknowledge His fullness in you and allow Him to use you, HE is the one who permeates everything you touch and lives are changed including yours!
*He and the Father are ONE and He is ONE in you as well. Love itself embodies you. (Look up the scripture verse on the bottom of the trophy stand.)
*Now stand back, smile, breathe deep, and feel the Love, John!

So, John, Happy Re-Birthday! I pray that your heart will celebrate both yours and His birth this year in a new, life-changing way!

In Him,

instructions

I've been asked for the instructions for the little tie bag I showed you in the last post. I wish it was my original idea but it wasn't. It was on the sulky site. Hopefully the link shows up for you. http://www.sulky.com/project/tiebags/printit.shtml
However, in making it, many, many other ideas began to form....You know how it is....

More art

Thanks to everyone for their help with my blogger problem. I'm now writing in the "compose" window and will see how the pictures upload!

I have been working on a project most of the week. Assemblage pieces really test my patience with drying time but I have finally finished this piece. It is a gift to be taken to my Leadership Women's Bible Study brunch tomorrow morning. We were each asked to bring a token of some kind that represents something God is teaching us this year in Bible Study. Of course, I can't go buy something! It must be handmade! So, this assemblage formed. It is dimensional and very difficult to photograph due to glass and the mirror in the piece so I had to photograph it at angles. Here they are:

I know the angles are weird but it was the only way to show the depth of the piece. I almost pulled out my hair with the mosaic of beach glass on the outside. I've never done mosaic before and once I got it done, I didn't like the color of the grout so I painted it a metallic silver, which I really didn't like either. My original intent was black grout but then I thought it may make the entire piece too dark overall. So, I finally compromised with my original plan and had to repaint the grout AGAIN using black glaze. It gave a very similar look to the patina on the soldered area so I'm pleased with the outcome now. I don't yet know the recipient of this piece. This is my first year in Bible Study leadership so I am not sure how this exchange goes. I'm looking forward to the morning though.

In one of my yahoo groups, a link was posted to a Sulky thread site that gave instructions for the cutest little cell phone size bags made of a men's necktie. I knew I had to try one since I have an enourmous stash of silk ties. I made this one for my neice that will be sent with Christmas money tucked inside.

I got several gifts wrapped today too and this little purse is the only one left to wrap and package before heading to the post office to mail all my out-of-town gifts.

I'm having a lot of fun gathering things to put together gift bags for the homeless. I finally found white gift bags at The Dollar Tree so Sam is in charge of decorating them. So far, my favorite is Santa on a motorcycle wearing dark sunglasses and the sentiment is "Have a Cool Holiday"! Isn't that funny? Only Sam.... Once he finished the bags, I'll be able to unload a boatload of stuff from my car and then the boys will be put to work helping pack the bags. Then, I'll be driving them around looking for homeless people on the street to pass out the gift bags. I want the boys to experience giving on a different level instead of the constant "me, me, me" attitude that makes me want to hit things.

Well, a pile of clean laundry is calling me... gotta' go fold before bed.

Need Blog Help

OK, for all you with Blogger out there, please help me. When I first started using blogger and I uploaded photos, the photo itself would show up in the body of the new post I was creating. I could then click and drag the photo around. Then, all of the sudden, several months ago when I uploaded a photos, it showed up only as the computer lingo code... whatever it's called. The photos no longer show up. So I have to try to read through the codes (when I upload more than one photo at a time) cut and paste it somewhere in the body. It's so much more work! Does anyone know what happened and how I can get it back to being able to see the actual photo in the body when I'm composing a post? Help would be appreciated... in VERY simple terms please!

Fran's gift

I delivered Fran's gift to her yesterday and am pleased that she loved it. I had difficulty getting a good picture of the whole piece since it measured more than 40 inches in length and is skinny. But, here are some shots I took of it. It consists of 40 beaded prayer pillows to commemorate Fran's 40th birthday. I attached them all to a triple folded to create tubes on the outside edges which I slid dowels into. I added a beaded hanging wire and beads off the bottom. Each pillow has a different fabric and is beaded differently. Fran's picture of the over all piece is better than mine. You can see it on her blog: http://artsyfran.com







And, I forgot to post the picture of my little rusty metal building fronts I purchased last weekend! Aren't they darling? The largest one measures about a 4 inch square.


Last night, Chuck and I drove in the pouring rain downtown to the Phoenix Convention Center for a 25th Anniversary celebration dinner/fundraiser for Neighborhood Ministries, which was started by a woman in our church 25 years ago. It is an inner city ministry that has grown from a small food bank to a large series of buildings for a food/clothing bank, clinic, classrooms, church, etc... and the next phase of buildings is in the works. It was amazing to see what God has done. There were over 800 people at the event last night! We were given a beautiful book at the end of the evening full of photos and the history of Neighborhood Ministries. If you would like to learn more about this amazing ministry run by Kit Danley and her very supportive husband, Wayne, you can log on to http://neighborhoodministries.org

Gifts

I finally finished Fran's 40th birthday gift a few weeks late but I can't post pictures until tomorrow after I give it to her!

I have an assemblage in process and during drying times, I created this watercolor journal as a gift for a friend. I reconstructed a vintage hymnal which is very fitting for Billie since she plays piano beautifully as well as teaches. She often plays at church. It's not a terribly thick hymnal as you can see so there are only 20 pages in this book. Half hot press and half cold press paper. I kept the book simple as I think Billie would like it. She's new to art and is just venturing into watercolors and I want to really encourage her. I saw her eyes light up when I mentioned watercolor journaling so that was the idea for the journal for her.

Fran's blog

I just noticed that Fran updated her blog about our trip with a few photos included AND, she posted a photo of the gorgeous tote that she made me for my birthday! Go look!
http://www.artsyfran.com

Weekend with Fran recap (LONG)

First, go grab a cuppa' Joe cuz this is a long post! As you know, I went away this past weekend with Fran for our first (but NOT last) girl weekend. We drove up to Prescott, AZ, only about an hour and a half drive north of Phoenix. Prescott is my favorite town in AZ. It's a small town with the cutest, quaint, downtown square and it's in beautiful mountains. Not a far drive from Phoenix but a drastically different landscape and atmosphere.

On our way, we stopped at a little roadside antique store that was jam packed full of stuff. We wandered around for probably 45 minutes to an hour. We got some vintage linens to cut up and I got THE coolest little rusty metal building fronts. I haven't photographed them yet but will when the sun comes up so I can post them. I also squealed with glee when I saw lengths of rusty barb wire for sale! so, of course some of that came home with me!

Fran and I had tried to find a cute little B&B available for the weekend to no avail so we'd booked the Holiday Inn. Well, the night before we left, Chuck asked me where we were staying and when I told him he was like, "Uh, why are you staying THERE?" Then, his next thought and action changed our entire weekend! He remembered someone that use to attend our church who moved to Prescott and have a little place the rent out. Well, by weird chance, it had not been booked for the weekend like everything else had... the town square X-mas lighting with a parade was happening on Saturday and apperently draws quite the crowd. So, We lucked out... no, we were divinely blessed to get this DARLING 2 bedroom, one bath loft overlooking the city and an amazing mountain view with that entire wall of the main living area being windows! It was breathtaking! And the place was so freakin' cute!

The downside of the weekend, which really wasn't a downside if you look at it with a different perspective, was the weather. It started raining on our way up there... then we were driving in fog. It got cold and windy. Friday, we stopped for lunch on our way up there and then did venture back out that evening for dinner and back to the loft for a girl movie. Between arriving at the loft and dinner, we both journaled our first watercolor journaling pages. Well, Fran has done some watercolor journaling. This was my first page ever:

Well, we woke Saturday and could barely see beyond our deck. The fog was so thick, it had been pouring rain, winds were 30-40 mph, and the temp had dropped during the night to the low 20's. We plopped down at our table and continued our watercolor journaling, which we'd started the previous afternoon, but had to get pretty creative with what to paint since we didn't have much of a scene to paint due to the fog! I'm so very thankful for the windows or we'd have really felt trapped. I got a few more pages painting on Saturday. Here they are:




Now, please keep in mind this was my first time doing this. It's suppose to be fairly fast work. However, I am not fast. I spend too much time on a page doing layers of color but I kept trying to simplify, really, I did! The painting of the coffee cut is so wonky it's not even funny. I did not draw anything out with a pencil first... went directly at it with a pen from the get go so I didn't really check the dimensions too well... the cut was not this tall and thin! Oh well... it captured the "essence"... it's certainly not a picture perfect likeness! The bathroom floor tile was my fastest page and you can see why. I didn't even try to make it all perfect. I just slapped stuff down!

Anyway, Saturday, our view changed drastically literally from one minute to the next.
We'd never seen anything like it. We did get a rainbow!
When we had a moment of lifted fog, we ran for the door to go to town to eat lunch. We had a magnificent lunch at my favorite restaurant called Murphy's, which is in an old bank building. It was quiet, not busy, and the food is phenomenal! While there, we not only ordered lunch but also dinner to go since we knew we weren't coming back out for the day. We went back to our loft to continue painting and later, while eating dinner, watched a couple more movies!


We woke Sunday morning to a breathtaking view. The weather had completely cleared and we could see for miles and miles. I literally got out of bed, walked to the coffee pot for my coffee, sat down at the table, and was painting within 5 minutes of waking up! The mountains in the distant were really something to see with the sun rising and casting purple and pink hues. Here is my journal page:

The temperature was suppose to be in the 50's, which it was. We ventured out for coffee and browsing through some little galleries and shops. Fran and I are perfect partners to do stuff together. We are on the same wake/sleep schedule and we both have low tolerance for certain things... one of them is walking around shopping. We both hit our limit within a couple hours. We grabbed some yummy soup on our way back to the car and went to the loft to eat and enjoy our view before packing up our stuff and heading home. We arrived at my house at 4:00 to be greated by a very fried husband and two little boys with a stomach virus. Max got sick Friday night and Sam on Saturday night so Chuck really had an interesting weekend.

I'll leave you with a couple of other pictures from the weekend. Fran working and a gorgeous woodpecker that I managed to capture with my camera. The bluebirds were just too high up to capture. Bummer! And, you can see our work table for the weekend.



I am very thankful to God for giving me a friend like Fran. I never knew such a friendship was possible! Someone that you are completely comfortable with, can go long stretches of time sitting with and have no music, tv, or anything else in the background and just be silent, someone you can laugh spontaneous with, and someone who even speaks the same exact words at the same exact time even when the subject got changed... well, it's a gift. I am incredibly blessed! Fran, I love you and can't wait to do it again! I'll always treasure our memories of this weekend!

And OH, I almost forgot! I have to photograph the most incredible birthday gift that Fran made me! OMG, you guys will just die when you see it! I almost did! I'll take pictures and show later... along with the darling little rusty metal building fronts!

Girls weekend

I just returned from a weekend away with my best friend, Fran. It was fantastic! I'm too pooped to tell everything tonight but will leave you with a small painting I did while we were away. I left it in the darling little loft we rented for the weekend as a thank you. I'll post more pictures and tell all tomorrow!

update

First of all, Lori's 10 year heart celebration was wonderful and very special. She loved the book I made for her.

We went out for Thanksgiving dinner with my mom and step-dad with my nephew joining us. Mom and I caught up on a couple games of Scrabble in the afternoon. We are viciously competitive when it comes to Scrabble! We love playing. We each won a game that day.

Thanksgiving evening, upon returning home, Max notices a couple of Bratz dolls on my art table. He wants to know what they are doing here... I mean, there are no 'girls' in our house.... and these dolls were naked and missing their feet! Well, I got them on Freecycle and just need them for the hands so Max's little eyes lit up and he wanted to know if he and Sam could have the rest of the dolls. I'm thinking, "HUH?" well, they joyfully ripped the arms off the dolls, pulled out scissors, and proceeded to cut off all the dolls hair! Here they are in action... which, by the way, brought them great pleasure. It was so fun to watch them... they are truly my sons in this moment... from a retired hairdresser/artist, getting to watch both your boys cutting hair and altering dolls... well, it makes me giggle. Here they are:


Sam, my little entrapenuer, got the idea that if they could get more dolls, they could give them new haircuts and sell them to girls at school! LOL! Now this tells me he is Chuck's son! hehehehe! They did get another doll head, asked me to give it a mohawk, color it red, and then they decorated the face, stuck the head on a chop stick and promptly named it the Magical Laughing Wand because it makes you laugh when you look at it. And let me tell you, they both had their giggle boxes on full blast over this.

Yesterday, I spent the day cleaning my studio! I had the boys clean their half of the room, the play room, on Wednesday and now my half is clean and it feels so great! I finished a piece of work today... my piece which was the meditation response to the Samaritan Woman from my Art Expressions Bible study class. The words are: The thirst that from the soul doth rise doth ask a drink divine." I used tar gel to create the illusion of water dripping down the painting. I'm happy with the result. There's a close up of the words with the "water" running down. I love the affect.



I am now counting down the days until next Friday... Fran and I are going out of town for a girl weekend!!!!!! I've never done anything like this and I'm beyond excited! We're driving up to Prescott, AZ which has turned really artsy in the past several years with many funky little galleries all over. We'll be taking our own stuff to work on too! This is our birthday celebration weekend a little late. We're both still working on gifts for each other too so now the time crunch is on. I worked several hours today and am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel! I can't wait to give her my gift!

Well, it's bedtime for me. Gonna' hit the hay.

brows

After getting the best tip ever, I added the second eyebrow. Kari, in my diva yahoo group, suggested drawing a brow onto something clear... I used a scrap of transparency. Then, you can put it on and try it out! What a great tip! I liked the second eyebrow so I quickly added it. So, here she is with two eyebrows!

Opinion needed

OK, I did this painting on canvas paper this morning which will be mounted on paper and added as part of my "page" for Lori's book. I titled this piece "Joyful heart". Do ya'll think she needs the other eyebrow? I did this drawing with my non-dominant hand and I initially didn't put the eyebrow there but I'm wondering if it needs to be there. What do ya'll think? Anyone out there?

A special gift

For several days, I have been like a mad woman working on a special gift for my friend Lori. This Saturday, a party is planned for Lori in celebration of her 10 year birthday with her new heart. Yes, Lori had a heart transplant 10 years ago when she had 4 children under the age of 4! The youngest, a set of twins only a few months old when she got her transplant! Wow, I can't believe how the time has passed. I remember that time so well even though Lori and I only knew each other by association at that time. I prayed for their family many, many times. Since then, Lori has become a very precious friend and is also my co-teacher for my Art Expressions Women's Bible study class! I love Lori dearly. This party was planned and each person attending was asked to take time to write out their thoughts about how Lori has impacted their life. I was approached to make a book of some sort to compile all the letters as a gift for Lori.

So, the book has been my latest project. I was inspired by the latest issue of Quilting Arts with an article for making book wraps. My book looks NOTHING like those in the article and I did take the idea and convert it into an actual book instead of just a quilted wrap. The front cover was created by weaving strips of fabric together and then adding some sparkle and overlaying it with gold organza. For the inside cover, I cut out quotes, poems, prayers, scripture, hymns, etc... all containing the word 'heart'. I then arranged them on top of a piece of fabric and added hand cut hearts from various red papers. Then, I added the same gold organza over the top and quilted it. The edging is blanket stitched and the inside has page protectors bound with screw posts making it easy to not only add the letters but also additional pages if needed. I added a 'rope' of various fibers to wrap the book however, the book does have a magnetic clasp closure. I also did a little beaded heart on the flap with a hand in the middle to represent 'receiving'. I can't wait to give this to her. I know Lori and she will be thrilled.

class photos

Many of you may remember the amazing class I took with Katie Kendrick in August called "Let's face it, be fearless". Anyway, Katie generously allowed me permission to teach this class for my women's Bible study group called Art Expressions. We took 3 weeks (Tuesday mornings) using various meditation techniques to meditate on the story in John 4 about the Samaritan woman. It was a great 3 weeks. While a few of the women managed to get out the door with their canvas's before I photographed them, I do have 13 of them photographed. There are 17 of us in class. I haven't finished mine since I spent much of the class time helping. I have a very wide range of women coming from different art backgrounds all the way from some with no background at all to some with gallery showings! It's interesting trying to teach such a range and I wish I had more time to spend with those "beginners" to help them with some techniques but time just doesn't permit it. Anyway, if you are interested in seeing some of these pieces, I uploaded the photos to flickr here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/77671127@N00/sets/

I hope the link works!

One less tooth and a new painting!

I just finished this painting based on the scripture verse in Matthew 7:13,14. It says: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many eter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (said by Jesus) I am sensing God wanting to teach me what this means in a broader sense for every day life. When I read the verse, although it is not new to me, I saw this picture in my head and created it on a 16x20 canvas. It only took me two days! And, I discovered that a caulk transfer will work with a magazine image! :)

On a family note, Max lost his first tooth on Friday. He had his teacher pull it. He was so excited!

Max's costume

Well, the countdown has ended for a 6 year old. He's very excited about Halloween and getting to wear his costume that he designed. Kindergarteners get to wear their costumes to school so this is the photo I took of him this morning before he left.

Today is a very busy day. I have Sam's school Halloween party from 9:30-11:30 off school campus at a senior adult's facility which their class has teamed up with. Then, I have to help at Max's party from 1:00-2:00. Then, I have to be back at school at 3:00 for Max's parent/teacher conference! And, of course, tonight is trick-or-treating. Today is also my mom's birthday.... Happy Birthday mom!... but we are going over to celebrate with her tomorrow.

Halloween creeping up

Well, I have finished my boys Halloween costumes. They each designed their own costumes. They drew their ideas out, told me colors, etc... and I set to work. They are both insect alien creatures. Sam had a Halloween party this evening so he got to put his on and I snapped a couple of pictures. Here he is! Those are sorta' shark fin things on his arms and there is a large fin on his back. He wanted his candy bag to have a volcano on it, which it does, but he turned it a bit in the photo so it's not so noticable. I'll get better photos on Halloween. Max's costume is the same color but he got a little more detailed with his. He's VERY particular with his designs of anything and completely inflexible unlike Sam who is reasonable! I'll post both boys costumes with them together on Wednesday.

It has been a busy day with Max having a birthday party to attend this morning and Sam's Halloween party this evening. I stayed for both parties and am now officially pooped. I'm heading for bed!

p.s.

That single little girl at Max's party who can really hold her own with all those boys, is Emma whom I'm really hoping will be my daughter-in-law some day! Isn't she just the cutest thing? And what a sweetheart. I just love her. She and Max are big buddies and she's the only girl "friend" that Sam will even claim and he treats her like royalty. I'm crossing my fingers and toes for a "happy ever after" with one of my boys! :)

Survival mode

I am gasping for air after this past week but especially this weekend. My boys have been home on fall break, which throws me for a loop. My schedule gets all out of whack, I get no time alone, no art time, and I play referee to all the bickering and fighting and tell them to be quiet at least a thousand times a day. It's been exhausting. As the weekend crept closer, it got crazier. Max was having his 6th birthday party this weekend so there were things to get for the party, the goody bags, etc... AND, there was the delivery of the new dishwasher, scrubbing down the house before the party, grocery shopping, cleaning up the back yard since that's where the party was, baking a cake, getting everything out for the party and ready, and also gift shopping for the birthday party Max was invited to just an hour after his own party ended! All that on top of regular life stuff. I can't tell you how tired I've been. My head feels foggy and my body just wants to sit. Sitting is something I've done very little of lately.

Max's party was fun for the kids but I almost ripped out all my hair. It was planned to be a party of building box forts in the back yard. The kids had a great time playing with all the boxes but our swing set hasn't seen so much action in many, many months! Put 7 boys and one girl (the other girls invited couldn't come) all together and let them loose in the yard and they were like wild banchees I tell ya'! I have decided that this is the last of the major birthday parties at home. I just can't take the craziness. Doesn't a few friends at a movie sound nice? Nice and quiet! :) Anyway, Max had his Darth Vader pinata so that made him happy... and he got his coveted lifesabers so he's ready to take on the dark side of the force... or maybe not... he likes the dark side! LOL! Oh, and once again, Max had to direct every part of the cake making from the shape, kind, frosting design, etc... so here are a couple of pictures:




Max's party went from 10-1 and then we had to be at the other party from 2:30-4:30. After spending the whole day outside with way too many kids and tons of noise, I am 100% chicken fried. Today I have felt like a zombie and had a major melt down in tears. Now my eyes are still hurting and I'm totally ready for bed.

Unfortunately, next Saturday doesn't look much better as there is another birthday party in the morning and a Halloween party that evening with the school's fall festival in between! YIKES! Calgon can't take me far enough away.....

Tomorrow is Max's official real birthday so I'll be meeting him with McDonald's for lunch. Then, Chuck has the job of taking him shopping with his birthday money which he's thrilled over! He has big plans... but I think Chuck is actually going to take him to the bank and have him open a savings account to put some of the money in so we can start teaching them more about saving. Max just asked about getting a real savings account at the bank a few days ago so I think he may go for it. He's not the spender by nature like Sam is. Max gives more thought to spending his money. Sam can't stand having it and will spend it on anything. He needs the savings account worse than Max!

OK, I'm heading to bed to read a little. I'm reading a book called "The life of Pi". I just started it but it's good so far.

Reworked, finished, and for sale!

I have reworked my iris painting on Yupo and it is now declared finished. I have just listed it in my Etsy store should anyone be interested in owning this piece! My Etsy address is: http://Artvisionz.etsy.com

Breakfast Art

First of all, thanks to everyone for all the sympathatic comments on my book post as well as encouraging words. I'm getting over it...

Yesterday morning, Max asked for his breakfast and then gave instructions to make it look like a face on his plate. OK, so here we go... 2 poached eggs, sausage, and an english muffin!



I watched "Surf's up" with the boys yesterday. It was a cute movie. Then, Chuck ended up going out for a bit so I watched a movie myself, which is way overdue from Blockbuster and has to go back TODAY! It's called "The Ultimate Gift". I really, really enjoyed this movie and recommend it for those of you looking for a good flick.

We have finally made it through all the Star Wars movies too... I even watched some of the special edition bonus material on the making of Episode 3 and wow, is that fascinating! I was very impressed with George Lucas and he won a soft spot in my heart when I saw that amongst all the amazing technology in making this movie, he writes long hand on notebook paper! Amazing! Did you guys know that it took over 2 years to make that movie and over 900 people worked on it? YIKES!

OK, gotta' go get some coffee made.