Jill's Junk to Jewels

Short update

2011-12-20T16:04:00.000-06:00

We are in the middle of the changes I mentioned earlier. We are having to let our farm go back, and, as a result, will be moving. There are still some procedures and processes that we have to go through, but hopefully things will continue to work out at least as well as they have so far. I am also gong to be changing jobs, as of this week! So no more long commute for me, although my trade-off is going to be a way more irregular schedule. This does come with a higher paycheck and I will be gaining money from not having to spend 2 hours per day on the road x 5 days/week. I am hoping the pluses will outweigh the minuses for the new job.

Have been trying to pack and go through 26 years of accumulated "stuff/junk"!!! I have been donating and throwing away a lot, but some things I'm just not ready to get rid of yet. This has been made worse by the fact that Kerry and I had a flea market booth for a several years. We had been to auctions and acquired some pretty nice things that never made it to the booth or had not found a home by the time we closed it down last year. I'm having a hard time letting the nicest of these things go, because I keep thinking I could sell them on Ebay or Etsy if I ever had time. So I am packing the nicest items up to try to do that later. We don't live in a good place to have yard sales, even if my present work schedule had allowed it. The new place we are moving to is not really either, although it would be better than where we live now.

The next few weeks will be moving and transitions from this job to another and from our home of 26 years almost to a new older home. I was having a hard time with letting this house go at first, only because Kerry and I built almost all of it ourselves and my Dad did almost all of the cabinet work. I have reached the point where I am ready for all this change to be over and done with, so we can start adjusting to our new place.

I know Kerry was past ready for all the headaches with the farm to be over. Hopeufully, we will have more time to spend with the grandbabies and to go camping some. I do need to get some pictures of our newest grandson, Sam, on here. I have posted on Facebook, but will here, as well, since some might not be on Facebook.

Wanted to get an update posted. More to follow later.

Changes...

2011-11-09T21:45:00.000-06:00

are on the horizon. I can't really say a lot about them right now, but hope that they will be the beginning of some good times, the end of some bad ones and the way to answered prayers. This transition time will be difficult as will just changes themselves for me. I'm not one to love change so am having to make myself think of the "who moved my cheese" philosophy and what that little book meant to me. We were supposed to read it at work, as some kind of administrative motivational propaganda but I had already read it when my daughters had to read it at school. The message for me was, although I might feel safe in my familiar little world, being forced to leave what I know and venture out to search for the "cheese" could lead me to rewards only imagined. The journey may be scary because I won't have a GPS telling me when and where to turn. Provisions may be scarce at times but I do know my Father will always provide what I need. I hope to look back at where I was and be amazed that I was ever afraid to venture on.

We are in the middle of getting ready for this new part of our lives. At the same time, amazingly it seems, life still goes on. Everyday tasks must be performed. Jobs and the associated stresses must be dealt with. Holidays approach and we try to decide how we are going to incorporate them into a life that can not be visualized. I feel like there is not enough time for everything I need to do or think about. I see others who continue to be creative even during difficult times. I have even done that myself in the past. When my Dad had Alzheimer's and my Mom had a stroke I found some solace in journaling and in art, but right now it is taking all of me to deal with just life. I am holding onto hope that there will be the time and creativity left when this all settles out.

Beautiful art received for my birthday

2011-10-10T19:16:00.003-05:00

I realized that while I have not been creative lately, I did receive a beautifully-created piece of art for my birthday. To explain the gift, I have to give a little history. A few years ago, I participated in an art quilt swap hosted by one of the Yahoo groups of which I was a member. I received a gorgeous art quilt but a few months later the artist asked if I could return the quilt to her so she could use it in an upcoming book and to feature in some workshops she was doing. She promised to send a replacement art piece in return, but unfortunately has never remembered to do so. I understood her need for using the piece, indeed, I think she sent off something that she really wasn't ready to let go of. Still I felt a sense of loss, because I had spent time making a quilt myself and was really excited about getting one in return. My friend, Kim, knew how I felt so she took the time to make this lovely little quilt and gave it to me for my birthday.

Wish my photography skills were better, but then it is hard to capture the beauty of a dimensional piece in a picture. You can't feel the textures or see the small details all at once that make it so special. The fact that she spent all this time making this just for me makes it all that more dear to my heart. The wording inside the doors reads, "You are inscribed in the palm of His hand."Isaiah 49:16. Maybe I didn't get to keep the other piece because I was meant to have this particular art piece made by a friend so that I can cherish it all the more.

Above you see a close-up of the heart that hangs at the bottom and below a closer view of the center inside the doors.

Besides my big present of a trip to the beach and the art quilt mentioned above I also was blessed with some other remembrances from friends and family.

We had our friends, Terry and Michele, over the weekend after we got home from the beach to watch Alabama football and they brought the beautiful flowers, lavender candle, and the sweetly wrapped organic chocolate bar. Michele had also wrapped the candle beautifully in the same fashion with the pink and black stamped images, but I didn't get a shot before I opened it. Another friend at work, Kendra, picked out the monogrammed lunch bag and notepad as well as a "Happy Birthday" glass and then I also got some beautiful cards from my daughters, Mom, and friends.

In spite of some difficult times we are going through at present, I am so blessed with family and friends. I know that really having those that love you and that you love back is one of the things that really matters when all is said and done. Material things can come and go, but "love remains".

Beautiful Saturday in October

2011-10-02T14:54:00.000-05:00

We went down this past Friday evening to Tuscaloosa, spending the night so that we could be there for a baby shower for Baby Sam being given by Emily's coworkers at Sealy. Above is the cute wreath that her friend, Valerie, made for the front door. Didn't notice that some of the letters had been blown over by the wind, but it says "Welcome Baby Sam".

This was inside taken before the party started. There were more gifts there later on. Valerie made all the decorations. She is very talented.

Above you can see the cute cake that we brought all the way from Vinemont with the main part sitting in my lap and the top in a separate box. Emily loves the cakes made by a friend's Mom, Sarah Yarbrough, so Valerie arranged with me to get her to make it. She does a great job and the cakes are so moist and yummy! The rest of the tables look lovely, as well.

Here I caught Valerie touching up her face before the shower as I took a shot of the bar area decorations.

Emily was chatting with some of her friends. Since I am bad with names I won't try to name everyone in the pic. If I find out later on for sure I will edit this.

Thomas came, too, as did Kerry and Craig(Em's husband). Emily was very blessed with some really cute outfits and many practical items, too! Thomas wanted to help open the presents.

Grampy helped get Thomas ready to go. Here Thomas was singing while Kerry got his shoes on him. Emily has sheets on the furniture, btw, to protect the furniture from the dog hair. We usually bring our 2 with us and they have one of their own. That is a doggie blanket on the floor beside the chair. Our dogs are spoiled, what can I say.

Had a wonderful day overall. Besides the shower, it was great to have some time to play with Thomas. He and I spent several hours having fun while Kerry watched Alabama football with Craig and Emily. He tells me all kinds of things only part of which I understand right now. I really look forward to whatever time I am blessed with to spend with my grandbabies as they are born and grow up. All those things you hear about the blessings of grandchildren are so true!

Ending of the perfect week

2011-09-16T22:40:00.000-05:00

We saw the sun sparkle on the water.

We left our footprints in the sand and observed the beauty of Mother Nature.

We saw the tropical beauty of sparkling blue clear water lapping the shore.

And ended the week with a sunset that could not be equaled in it's beauty, although impossible to be captured on film.

I could not have asked for a more perfect week. We didn't do a lot but that was exactly what I needed. I left behind stressful work and personal situations that I know will be waiting for me when I get back. This week was an escape from reality and I knew it and took it with both hands, embracing it fully as just what it was. It was a gift of respite from stresses that have been overwhelming. They won't go away and will probably only be worse when I return, but now I've had time to commune with Mother Nature and with God, resting for just a brief while from what I know awaits.

In looking back over recent years, I have seen that often we have had the opportunity to get away right before there was a time of great stress. I hope and pray that this is not the case this time, but know that if it is, that at least we've been granted this gift of rest and enjoyment of the beauty that is the ocean.

Birthday present

2011-09-14T14:36:00.000-05:00

My fifty-first birthday has sped right up here and for this birthday I am getting something I have wanted for a while, which is a trip to the beach. Kerry is not really a beach person, so he is always resistant to my suggestions about going there. It does seem like there have always been other places we needed to go when we have been able to take time off, like to visit family or we just have not had enough time to get this far from home

The last time we were at the ocean for a vacation was 6 years ago before the girls got married. We took our last family vacation then and made a spontaneous trip to Panama City Beach, Florida. That is where we are now, enjoying several days on a budget vacation but I am finally here, breathing in ocean air, feeling the breeze off the water, hearing the waves lap the shore. There is just nothing like it to me to restore the soul. I can find communion with nature anywhere. I love being in the woods, in the mountains, near a lake. God is there and so obvious to any observing eye, but, indeed, there is a special something extra for me about the sea and just BEING there. By that I mean "being". Perhaps the rhythms of the water and wind cause me to slow my mind down, let it empty of all those busy and often harmful thoughts, and actually "be" in the moment.

That is something that is hard for me to do, live in the moment. I try to constantly remind myself to, but it is easy to start worrying about problems and solutions, the "what if's" and next thing you know another day has slipped by and then another. Having a birthday past the half-century mark will definitely remind you that time is "slipping into the future". When a moment is as beautiful as this it is so much easier to savor, though, than those days spent working or doing mundane tasks.

I love a pretty sunset and those over water are so awesome. Don't think you can ever tire of seeing beauty like this.

We enjoyed eating out the other evening at a restaurant recommended by my friend, Kelli. It was a very popular local establishment, J.Micheals, that was pretty busy for a Monday evening. Hard to see the detail of all the decorations in the pic above, but it was quite colorful and the food was delicious.

I was walking back to the room from the pool when I noticed the cool shadows of the railing. This might be a cool background for something. I keep saying I want to get back into art more, but I've not been too successful. There are some personal business issues that have been on my mind and I have got to get to where I can put these to the side instead of waiting for the perfect day.

I did bring some fabric stuff and some journals with me. So far have started a couple of pages in my "Blue Traveler" journal and worked on some needlepoint in the car on the way down. I've read one book and started another. Lazy stuff and that is just what I wanted to be doing.

Seeing the light

2011-09-05T21:14:00.000-05:00

I am trying to get some posts off even if I have nothing artistic to share. If for no other reason, than to keep myself in a habit. This picture is one that I took on the way home last week. I love to try to catch the rays of sun as they shine through the clouds. As it happens, my morning and evening commutes coincide with the rising and setting of the sun, making it easier to capture such a moment, ones that seem to me to be sending a message that our God is there watching out for us with a light so bright that it can break through to us when we need it. I need to be reminded of this sometimes. Life can seem so burdensome at times, when problems that you pray will be resolved don't seem to be anywhere near that resolution. It can be hard to understand the "why" and "when". Then you hear of others who have so much more to bear that you feel small. Even so, to each of us, our cares are still important and real. It still lifts my heart to see these rays breaking through clouds and to know I am not alone with my burdens.

What your bookshelves look like when you are a "collector" of many things!

2011-09-02T22:44:00.000-05:00

Show above a shelf in my dining room. It used to be my living room and my Dad built us a lovely built-in entertainment center across one end of the room. If/when we ever move, I will be sad about leaving things like this behind. He is gone now and he built most of our kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and the afore-mentioned unit. Of course, Kerry and I have built most of the house, too, so that will be hard to leave, too!

Well, I digress, as I often do. The shelf above highlights my eclectic tastes, shall we say. Two dollheads, rescued from from a burn pile, 2 mercury glass candleholders, hand-carved snake and wooden letter openers made by a friend, a butterfly that made it's way into the garage and didn't make it out(died from the heat, I guess),bird feathers, small vintage business card for a Hitchcock Lamp available at J.H. Hedenburg's in Brooklyn, and a lovely little bust.

I love little things like this. Too much, I guess.

Have been creating a little here and there

2011-08-21T14:22:00.001-05:00

Think I have set an all time record for no blogging for me, anyway! It's been 2 months now! A friend mentioned a post I once did about trees and people on Facebook and it shamed me when I visited my own blog and saw how long it had been since I posted anything. I have been trying to get scans done of the mini-journal I mentioned in that last post, but it's been hard. My scanner is hooked up to my desktop and it is working vvvverrry slowly now. I think it either has a virus or spyware crap that I can't find or some settings are messed up that I'm not smart enough to figure out.

I was able to get some jewelry made this past week. Shown above are some asymmetrical earrings I made today. I wanted to use a jade floral charm I've had since I was young. I never wore it on a necklace anymore so I thought this would be a good way to wear it again. Below are 2 pics of a necklace that started out with vintage blue glass beads from an old necklace that I cut up. Then they seemed to call for some more bright colors, so I mixed all colors of beads in with the blue. I like it although I'm not so sure about it still. I did get some funny looks when I wore it, so maybe I'm the only one that likes it.

The little journal is something I've worked on here and there with mostly little scraps from my art table. It was one of those sheets with punch out pages that you assemble together. I wanted to art it up so it was more my style. I made it so I could go back and journal in it. It ended up having some running elements throughout with an overall them of quirky!

Above the cover, closed. Uses stamped and painted scraps of paper, flower brads, paper leaves, Stickles glitter here and there.

First page: watercolor painted and stamped vintage book pages, vintage text, Go embellishment

More stamped or painted paper scraps(color is off a bit in this scan, couldn't get it to fix) Used some gesso, markers, paint once elements glued down. Plaid pocket has a marbled paper tag.

Still mostly scraps of paper with randomly chosen images, more stamped book pages

This is one of my favorites spreads in this little book.

More of the same. Some of the shaped paper trims I used in this journal were from some children's craft kit that had punch out shapes, strips in all kinds of colors.

I like this one, too, especially the left page. Used gesso to soften arond the edges and touches of paint, too. Like the dreamy look it has.

Yeah, weird, I know, lol! Inspired by the stamp. Again this one uses watercolor painted book pages. I got some one day and just played around throwing colors on there in different ways. I stamped on some of them. Reminder to me: you need to take time to play like that again!

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Still playing around with craziness. Some of these images like the dragon and the star were in a collage pack that a friend, Jane Widman, sent me in a swap one time.

Last page. It is like a third page next to the spread shown above. Actually the back cover of the book. This one didn't scan well either, maybe because of the plastic flower. The colors look better than they show here and there is gold outlining making a tree that you can't really tell here.

Wish I could get back into some kind of artistic groove, but it just hasn't happened. I keep feeling like I am in some kind of "waiting" mode, although I am not sure what I am waiting on. Thought at first it was that I had to get adjusted to all the changes from my job and that may still be it, but fully expected to be over it by now. There is still uncertainity about our farm and what we are going to do about that. Perhaps it is having that in the back of my mind which keeps me like this. My job does take much more time out of my life than I was used to since there are an additional 2 hours added to each day just commuting. Also, there are no extra off days like I had at the hospital, either working 4 ten hour days per work week or a 7 on/ 7 off schedule.

I will just have to keep hoping and praying that I get my head all straightened out and that creativity will return as much as time allows. We do take time to see Thomas and that is time I never regret. Recently he turned 2 years old and we all celebrated that occasion with a trip to a petting farm near Tuscaloosa. It was hot but we had a blast. I'll close this long overdue post with few shots from that day.

In the meantime...

2011-06-14T14:26:00.007-05:00

I know it has been a LONG TIME since I have posted. I am really working to get a post together about a little mini-journal I've been working on here and there. In the meantime, you should visit the jewelry workshop link(the new button on the side bar) and check out the amazing work by Deryn Mentock of Something Sublime Her work is amazing, often spiritual, and always beautiful!

She is also giving away 2 free workshop experiences. I would love to win one of these!

I am having so much trouble with blogger today that I want to scream!!! I can not see any of the stuff down the side of my blog that is supposed to be there, including the button that I mentioned above. When I go to "settings" everything shows up that is supposed to be there, but I can't see it once I go to my blog. I can't stay signed in and am having a LOT of trouble just posting or editing. I am trying to attach the button link here, but not having much luck with that.

Monthly blog?

2011-04-25T17:51:00.019-05:00

Seems to be what I'm down to posting, if that. Good intentions, but you know how that road goes! In looking back at my last one, it is so sadly ironic that I mentioned, Sammy, my other granddoggy and needing to give equal time to him. We spent this past week in Waco, Texas visiting Chris, Holly, and, of course, Sammy. I am so sad to say that last Wednesday evening, Sammy was killed by a hit and run driver when they had let him out before bedtime. Ended up being good that we were there to help with some things. Above is a shot of Holly and Sammy that Chris was kind enough to send to me. He was the sweetest, most well-behaved dog! Also, one I took last year when we went to see them. It left an empty spot for them and I know they are missing him!

Other than this, we had a wonderful visit. Holly wanted us to make some jewelry together while I was out there. She had some ideas in mind and I had brought some jewelry magazines also for inspiration. I am still a novice at wire-wrapping but started out doing most of it. Holly quickly caught on and ended up doing one necklace entirely by herself. When sewing was required, that was my job. We didn't capture the best pictures of the necklaces, especially the one made of tie-dyed fabric strips, cording, and felt balls. All the others are combinations of various metal chains, beads, and jewelry findings. We flew so I couldn't bring all my junk jewelry, so Holly had to purchase the different components. I had brought my tools and some fabric notions.

Holly made this one with the white glass beads by herself.

For the necklace above, Holly already had a vintage pin from my stash that she wanted to use as a focal point. She cut up an old white tshirt to make the fabric flowers.

This was the first one we made.

Holly made me work for my keep while we visited! We rearranged some furniture, hung pictures, etc. This is her new guest room decor below. Also, we did some fun things. I got my first professional pedicure ever. Probably won't be my last. It was very enjoyable! I would show you the picture we sent to Emily of that, but it makes my toes look fat :)

We visited Holly's classroom to see how she had redone it for this year. She has worked really hard and was rewarded by being honored with "Teacher of the Year" from her school during her first full year of teaching. We are very proud of her.

On Friday evening we drove down to Austin to eat at the Melting Pot and got to see a little of the city before we ate. It was a contrast of beautiful old buildings and modern architecture.

This week away flew by as they always seem to do. We got back into Birmingham on Saturday. Emily and Thomas picked us up along with our 2 dogs. So there were the 3 grownups, Thomas and his carseat, our 2 dogs, and all our luggage along with what Emily had to bring for she and Thomas to visit for Easter. This was a very comical sight I'm sure. I'll make another post about Easter and Thomas, since this one is long enough already.

Post to show my grand dog, Coal

2011-03-26T23:22:00.004-05:00

I follow several blogs, keeping up with them from Google Reader. One of my favorite artists, Colette Copeland, of A Bird in the Hand, posted some pictures today that led to my quickie post here. Her doggie friend looks just like my daughter's dog, Coal. I almost thought at first I was looking at pictures of him and my husband did think so when I showed him. Here are some shots of Coal. I have better ones somewhere, I know, but couldn't find them just now.

Aren't they beautiful dogs?!? I will have to do another post soon and show my other granddoggy, Sammy. Can't be partial! He belongs to my youngest daughter, Holly. Just wanted to get these up here so Colette could see the resemblance.

Be sure and check out Colette's blog while you are there. Her art and blog are among my favorites.

Good intentions, you know the story

2011-03-18T20:45:00.010-05:00

Well, you make promises to try to do better about blogging and next thing you know, things go wrong. I won't even get any deeper into this since I shouldn't really talk about some of the things going on in such a forum, but suffice it to say that life can be very challenging sometimes. The trick is finding the place where you can be "in your head" to be able to continue on with your day to day life, which as they say does go on. I'm trying to focus on the good, hope for the best, but make some contingency plans all the same.

I did finally make a little bit of jewelry, very simple pieces, which are pictured here. Have some other jewelry ideas in my head waiting for time and energy to coincide. Maybe I should not make any plans, but just sneak up on some projects here and there, as I've still not gotten around to journaling, drawing, and painting like I had planned.

Both of these recent projects are actually remakes of old jewelry. The multi-strand necklace is just old chains of different colors reassembled. The earrings were gaudy eighties items that had this strange orange glitter rock-looking plastic centers. I removed this tackiness and punched some dictionary scrapbook paper to replace the centers, topping them with some glass marbles. One side reads "creator(God)" and the other "creation", a reminder to me of the glory of what I am to the One who is in charge.

Today one of my talented coworkers did a "lunch and craft" class where she showed us how to make this really cute card with a suit and tie on the front. It is harder for me to do this type of crafting, as I'm more of a "put it together as I go" kind of person instead of one who plans and executes. It was a bit of a challenge to me, but one I really enjoyed. Plus, the end product is so adorable!! If I got around to doing more cards it would certainly be a way to use up some of that collection of cute scrapbooking papers I've accumulated!

I was fortunate enough to escape down to Tuscaloosa to spend some time with Thomas, Emily, and Craig last weekend. It was so nice to laugh and play and amazing to see how much he changes. He already exhibits a great sense of humor and is such a little ham! Love this little fellow!

Promised snow pictures

2011-02-04T20:28:00.009-06:00

These are the promised snow pics from my last post and were taken of the snow that we got around the 10th. Above is Max enjoying and posing in the snow behind the house. He loved it surprisingly and ran around having a good time.

On the other hand, we took Thomas out the morning after most of the snow fell and he was not too thrilled as you can see. Granted there was a very cold wind blowing that had some snow still in it. You can tell by looking at my face above that the wind was miserable. Grampy was even willing to go outside with the grandbaby, but we only stayed out a few minutes. We put Thomas down on the ground to see what he would do and he just held his little hand back up to Grampy, like "get me outta here"!

The shot below of our back deck steps illustrates how much we got. We think maybe 6 inches or so. This is a lot for our area. It hung around for a week in some places and that is also not very common in Alabama.

The pictures below were taken at the end of the week outside my workplace. You can see that there was still a good bit of snow left on the ground. Where they plowed the snow off the parking lot into huge mounds lasted on almost another week. I know this is laughable to those of you who live where it snows all winter, but this is remarkable to those of us in the Deep South.

We have had even more episodes of snow and ice since this, including an unpredicted one yesterday afternoon. It started about 2-3pm, catching people at work and school or trying to get home from those places. Ice and snow in various mixtures fell with freezing temperatures keeping it from melting on the roads. I work an hour from home and left there about 4:30, trying to get on the road before it got too bad. In an unusual twist, this system came up from the south, so that although nothing had happened where I worked, I was driving south into the icy conditions. By the time we got about 20 miles southward, conditions rapidly worsened and we ended up creeping along the interstate in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Thankfully, we only stood completely still a few times and were able to get home safely. What is normally an hour commute or less took 3 hours. Other coworkers who left later than us were not as "lucky". By the time they made it 3 miles from our exit, so many cars and trucks had stopped for one reason or another that traffic was not moving at all and those last 3 miles took them two and half hours, making their commute be about 5 hours!

There is even another winter weather event being talked about for next week. I do so hope that this doesn't come to pass. I love winter weather and if I worked at home or in a job where I didn't have to go in or stay due to bad road conditons, I would be happy about it.

So a post about the weather and grandbabies! Lol, I have done almost nothing artistic recently. There is jewelry stuff sitting on my table that has been here a month. Holly and I got it out to make her jewelry and I thought if I left it here, I would be more inclined to do something with it. In my defense, I was sick for a week or two, watched Thomas that next weekend, and have had to work late several times. Also, we had a really bad week last week with the chicken houses. My off days last week were spent working out there. This week I was at my Mom's on my Monday off helping her.

I am starting to feel some return of motivation though. Wanting to get back into my journals, try some new things in them. Lots of ideas bubbling in the leaky cauldron that is my brain. I must find a way to get my artistic self back into some kind of groove, even if it is just a snippet here and there!

No I'm not dead

2011-01-12T17:33:00.008-06:00

you might think my poor neglected blog is! I won't go into a long string of excuses, just suffice it to say that life remains busy between work and just general busyness!

Well, of course a lot has happened since I last posted on NOVEMBER 8th!! There was Thanksgiving which we spent at Emily's where we had a wonderful meal. Work has been pretty busy for me and also during the time before the holidays our choir was practicing and getting ready to present a Living Christmas Tree musical. This was performed the second weekend in December, so it seemed to be here before we knew it after Thanksgiving. It was a very moving experience for both those who sang and those who listened. Being the procrastinator I am, Christmas was upon us before I knew it. I almost didn't put up or decorate a tree, but Kerry suggested us getting a real tree this time, so that did the trick to get me more into the Christmas spirit. It turned out really pretty, so I'm glad we went to the trouble.

I was working the week of Christmas including Christmas Eve(Saturday)so Christmas Day ended up being our Christmas Eve and the day after our Christmas. When your children grow up and get married, you do the best you can! Holly and Chris were able to come home for a Christmas visit, although Chris had to leave on Sunday to get back to his job. Holly is teaching now and was able to stay for a couple of weeks. I had taken off the week after Christmas, so I was fortunate enough to have that time to spend with Holly.

She wanted to make some jewelry while she was here, so in between visiting family and friends that she wanted to see while she was home, we spent a little time working on a couple of new jewelry pieces for her. She designed and did most of the work of putting the ideas together. I did the sewing for the red, black, and white necklace and attaching the fasteners to both. Thought she came up with some really great ideas and that they turned out really pretty! You can see them below.

For the necklace above, we followed the ideas from a couple of jewelry mags I had. We totally used scraps of fabric and beads I had on hand,including red and black velvet, white organza, black and white dotted fabric, various beads and buttons all sewn onto a white crocheted piece on top of black felt. The starting point was the houndstooth fabric-covered button and then Holly's imagination took off from there into the red/black/white theme.

The necklace above is turquoise, amber, and brown beads of various kinds. Wasn't a ble to capture a good shot, so imagine the colors being lots prettier than they show up here.

Also, Holly wanted to take home a jewelry piece I had made earlier but not totally finished. I put together a collage of fabrics and ribbons for the necklace part and here she is modelling the finished product.

On New Year's Eve eve, we travelled down to Tuscaloosa to see Emily, Craig, and Thomas. Holly and Emily wanted to spend a little more time together before Holly had to head back to Texas. This pic of Thomas below is of him playing outside that day while his Mom and his Aunt Holly had travelled to the urgent care center. Emily woke up sick New Year's Eve with flu-like symptoms. Craig's parents had also come and we had all planned to have a family New Year's Eve celebration which of course was cancelled. The Nolen's ended up taking Thomas home with them so Craig could look after Emily. Kerry, Holly, and myself left for home, too. Unfortunately, everyone who was there that day ended up being sick within the next few days excepting Thomas and some of us are still trying to fight it off!

Life was somewhat getting back to normal. Holly made it safely back to Texas and we all went back to work. My work was really hectic and busy after the holiday slowdown. This week has been been very surreal for us in Alabama. We've had a good bit of snowfall, at least 6 inches here, and it has brought us kind of to a stop. Schools have been called off and I've not been able to get to work the last couple of days. Hope to get in tomorrow. I'll try to post snow pictures soon. Wanted to take this opportunity to get a post done while I had some time at home.

Not so recent getaway art

2010-11-08T17:22:00.018-06:00

Wow, I'm getting so bad about getting a post on here. I've been meaning to write and show what I did get done during our RV weekend getaway last month, but didn't mean to take this long about it. We just seem to be gone so much or what little time I am home, I'm too tired to take the extra time to get pictures taken and posted. So explanation over, I'll proceed!

I say we got away, but really it was mostly me and the doggies. Kerry stays very busy working 2 jobs, but he was kind enough to help me enjoy a long weekend by pulling the RV to a campground about a 30 minute drive from our house. He was able to spend a little time with me, too, but he is tied down more to the farm than we used to be because his Dad has never really done well since a knee replacement a couple of years ago. It seemed to do a number on him, so that he has not been able to make himself move around as much as he should, so therefore, he is getting less able to. There have been some recent medication changes that will hopefully help some with this.

We are in the farming business with Kerry's parents. Due to his Dad's health and other reasons we are trying to sell the farm and have someone interested. Not sure if that is going to work out, but are praying that it will. I really don't want to leave our house, but the farm is becoming such a burden that it would be for the best even though hard. Kerry and I have done much of the work on and in our home, with some help from his Dad and then most specially to me, my Dad who I lost a few years ago, did all of the cabinetry work for us. So for me, it's not just a house, but a special place that would be hard to leave.

Well, back to the escape from reality. I took a lot of art and jewelry-making supplies, but mostly ended up making or working with jewelry. I did work in a little mini journal, that I'll try to post about later. Forgot about that until just now and it's lacks a couple of pages being done, so I'll save that for when I can scan and save to my other computer because that will show up better. Spent time relaxing on Friday, worked on artsy stuff on Saturday and Monday(when we came home), and then on Sunday drove down to Northport, where Emily lives to attend the Kentuck Art Festival. Kerry went with us, which shows the power of the draw of a grandbaby. Thomas was going, so Grampy came, too! The weather was beautiful. We met up with some friends of Emily and had a wonderful afternoon seeing some amazing art. While we were walking around, Thomas decided that the pine bark path needed some cleaning up, see below.

Pictured next are some shots of the art on display. With a grandbaby in tow, I didn't have time to take as many shots as year before last when we attended the show or time to get the artists names to give to you. I think the number of artists might have been down a bit, but still great stuff. Wish I had a bigger pocketbook!

Now on to the jewelry shots and my apologies on these pics which are not so great! First I finally did some wire wraps so that I can wear the beautiful pendants that Holly gave me for Mother's Day. Love these!

I've been wanting to do some asymmetrical earrings ever since I saw the ones in the Charming Exchange book. These look so easy, but it took me awhile to get going on them. Not as flexible as I like to think I am, perhaps,making it harder to do something not so matchy-matchy! Happy with how they turned out. The starting point were some Frida charms bought on sale recently. Took the colors of the beads from them. The glare was bad on this shot!

And the glare was really bad on this one and the colors and beads didn't show up too well either, but I want to get this post done, so here it is. This was also inspired by a book project, think it was a recent issue of a jewelry magazine. You start with a felted half circle. I used a felted ball cut in half and then attached beads around the outside and some tiny silver and clear beads to the flower center. This had a jump ring attached to the back and I'd like to make a ribbon type necklace for it to hang from. Promise it looks prettier in person.

This last piece ended up being one of my favorites. It started with an overdyed quilted fabric that I was lucky enough to get in a studio cleanout lot purchased from Belinda Spiwak of Crazy Art Girl's Musings She is a talented and prolific artist often featured in current art magazines. I've been in a few Yahoo art groups with her and lucked up on some really cool goodies! I cut a rectangle of the quilted fabric, used embroidery floss to attach some netting to "finish" the edges, then attached a orphan vintage flower earring, a few beads here and there, and finally attached a fabric piece for a hanger and dangling from the bottom a favorite pendant saved since my teenage years. I also am thinking of making a collaged ribbon and fabric necklace to wear this on, similar to one like this that I made before.

Lots has been going on since I posted last, since it has been over a month. Maybe I'll get another post in with more news and pics soon. I'll try! To close, I'll show one more shot of Mr. Thomas. This was at Halloween, when he was Thomas the Turtle dressed in a cute costume made entirely by hand by his sweet Mom, Emily. He is being held my his Aunt Holly. Emily and Craig had to be in Texas for a wedding the weekend of Halloween, so his Aunty Yaya, as he calls her, was lucky to get to spend some time with them. Holly and Chris live in Waco, so they miss out on a lot.

Introspection

2010-09-27T13:01:00.012-05:00

In the long interim since my last post, I turned 50. It was a birthday I was dreading a bit to be totally honest. If I allowed myself, depressing thoughts that go along with aging could take over, but I tried not to dwell on those too much. You know the ones that come if you look too long in the mirror or ponder how it REALLY does seem like yesterday that your children were babies or, heck, that I was young myself just last week! I tried instead to dwell on the blessings of my life, past and present, and to remember that each day of life is a gift from God. I think of a friend and former coworker who lost her husband suddenly and tragically six months ago. His 52nd birthday would be today. I know they would be grateful for more time together.

I really don't feel my age most days. Inside is the same spirit of the young woman I once was. The one who has dreams for the future even though it is shorter today than yesterday. She's wiser from experience, but she feels just as youthful as ever. That is why it is a shock if I take that extra time in front of that mirror. The image in my mind is not the one I see in the reflection scaring back at me. I want to be one of those women who feel beautiful and secure in their age, but I've not gotten to that point yet, maybe because I've never before felt that beautiful. I have and do feel secure about my inner self, about who I really am, but I never have about what I look like on the outside. I don't mean to imply that this is something I dwell on that much anyway, but if I think about it at all, it is with some twinges of guilt that I don't take better care of my body. Then I see women who I think are beautiful at an older age and bigger size and wish I could just learn to be happy with all of me, including how I look. Conversely, I ask myself if I'm not happy with how I look, why don't I have the gumption to do something about it. This is one of those guilt cycles that I'm a professional at riding! That inner eye with which you examine yourself is so much more critical than the one with which you view others.

Guilt is something that I believe women are more prone to feeling. If I sit and think long enough, I can find a multitude of things to feel guilty about and sometimes I do this. I've given some thought to this lately and decided to look at a list of these guilts and see what I can do about some of them. Perhaps there are some messages in some of these guilt feelings that I need to take the time to interpret. Also, I think there are some that I need to just erase, recognizing them for the garbage that they are. I do wish I could give some of this professional guilting away. I know of some people who never seem to feel guilt about anything even when they should. Those who hurt and take advantage of others and never seem to feel a qualm about it.

Getting back to the birthday itself, I did end up having a great one. Family took the time to throw a surprise birthday party for me, my MIL(70th), and our niece(her 16th). Emily and my SIL, Melinda, had a big hand in getting the party together. Several family members and friends attended and helped in making me feel loved and happy. My friends at work had balloons, gifts,and cards to surprise when I went into work on my actual birthday, along with a birthday hat for me to put on as a joke. Sorry I don't have a pic of that to share.

Emily made me some really cool and green birthday presents. One was a tote bag made from old tshirts which she embellished with embroidery, fabric, and trims. The other is this awesome scarf which she knit from Tshirt "yarn". You can see these in a pic above. I couldn't get a good shot of the tote bag, but it is the navy you see, with a blue/white striped lining. Really it would be reversible if I could stand to hide the cute bird and flowers on the side. Love these!!! Mostly I got cards and money. Also shown above are the assortment of cards which ranged from hilarious to sweetly pretty. I have to say my favorite card of all was from my hubby who surprisingly picked out a card with just the words I needed to hear and which made me start to cry.

With the money I got for my birthday, I've bought some clothes, art supplies(including some nice acrylic, oil, and watercolor paint sets) and will use part of it to get an Iphone. We've never had internet on our phones before, so that will be a new experience. Can't wait to see my computer-shy hubby using an Iphone. Probably he'll end up catching on better than me! Also had a gift card to BAM from my brother and used it to get some art magazines because you know I needed some more of those!!

Recent swap and stuff

2010-08-17T20:14:00.008-05:00

How is that for a snappy title for a blog post? I promised I would show what I made for Beth for our recent fabric cuff swap, so I am, even though I did post this on Facebook. I think most of my friends that come to my blog are friends with me on Facebook, too, so my apologies to most of you that have already seen this, lol!! From the hit counter, though, there is the chance that a few visitors might not be, so here you go!

Shown above is the fabric cuff I made especially for Beth. I tried to go a different direction, vintage but with brighter colors than you might think of first off as vintage. The main body of the cuff was part of the waistband from a little girl's skirt I bought at the thrift store because I loved the bright colors. It has a cute playful paisley print on the body of the skirt, but the waistband is what came in handy for this project. I've tried to look at clothes as fabric when shopping at the Goodwill, etc. There are items that you can buy for a dollar or two with lovely fabric and/or trims that couldn't be bought if you could find them for that price! Fir example, found a precious dark red velvet little girl's dress with lovely rose ribbon trim. I've already made a heart-shaped Christmas ornament out of the velvet and still have more fabric left as well as the ribbon to use on something else. But I digress! To get back to Beth's cuff, I then collaged some various fabric scraps over the turquoise cuff and then the flower is from a vintage tablecloth. I embroidered around the outline to add a little "umph" to it and the pink leaves are cut from a crocheted thrifted doiley that was damaged with a green sheer fabric circled ironed on and a center of a vintage button. A vintage button was also used for the closure.

This piece was made from the cuff of a Ralph Lauren blouse that I saved because I loved the fabric so much! It has a piece of vintage trim embroidered on one side and then a scrap of linen, gold crocheted lace, pink felt and a bone heart bead and vintage buttons for the centerpiece.

I wanted to make extra surprises for Beth, as I've said before. I owed her some hostess gifts from a previous swap and she has always been so good to send me something for my birthday or "just because". She is that kind of friend and I am definitely not one of those, SO , I wanted to make up for all that. This was a main reason it took me so long to get this all done. I deliberated back and forth about what I was going to make, and ended up deciding to do an altered jewelry box. My first step was to sand lightly and apply coat of gesso. Then I painted off-white and white paint in several layers before adding torn pieces of real old letters and red/white handpainted striped book pages for the accents front and top.

Here and there various accent pieces were glued on, some because they reminded me of Beth. There is a antique horse charm on top to represent her present home in Tennessee, a shell for the beach, old buttons and stamps to love of vintage stuff, butterfly for the outdoors, etc.

I enjoyed making this and have some other vintage jewelry boxes that I want to redo. You know, one day. That day that is going to be so busy because I've so many things planned for it!

By the way, this post was started a while ago, but blogger was not cooperating with posting pictures. They had changed the format used and it was automatically turning my photos sideways. Well, some of them. Couldn't figure out why or get help from blogger to fix it. Found out you could revert back to the old blogger method for now(will go away eventually) so that is what I've done for now. Still this post looks a little funky because it was started with one method and finished with another, but I've spent so much time on it, it's just going to be that way. I've something else more personal I want to blog about so I want to get this one off the drawing board.

Dog days of August!

2010-08-11T20:17:00.003-05:00

Maggie Mae-mischief maker

Mr.Maximus with a sad face!

It is so hot right now that I really can't stand to be outside very long and am so grateful that I don't have to work out in it! Our particular spot of the county is very dry, also. We are missing almost all of the afternoon heat-related showers. Thankfully we got a good bit of rain back in the spring and early summer or we would really be hurting right now. I guess I can also be grateful I didn't bother(translate I didn't have time to anyway) with any flowers and we didn't get a garden planted this year. Kerry is working 2 jobs now and with my commutes and work schedule, time just seems at a premium. I won't get off complaining anymore about time, though! I do wish it would set into to raining for a couple of days as I can't remember how long it has been since it even rained all day. My soul seems to be crying for some rain as does the grass and shrubberies!

Wanted to take some blogging time to brag on my daughters a bit. I appreciate them in so many ways, but on this occasion wanted to highlight their "craftiness"! I had purchased a necklace earlier this year and when Emily saw it, she threatened to steal mine! Well, she did put mine around her neck and wear it, but I was able to grab it back from her before she left home that weekend! Since it had only cost me about $8 at a store called Holliday's, I went back the next week to get her one but they no longer had them in stock. Here is a closeup of the one I purchased.

Emily came for a visit again and we decided that we would look at my beads to see if I had enough similar beads for her to attempt a copy. Emily poured through my bead collection and in just a few hours, with a little help from me in adding the chain and fastenings, came up with her own version of the necklace. Not longer after this Holly came home for a summer visit while she was off from teaching(the lucky little stinker!). She also loved my necklace and, just like her sister, stole it from my jewelry box to wear every chance she got! When I told her that I wasn't going to let her pack it away in her suitcase to take home to Texas, she decided she would try to make one, too! I didn't have enough bigger beads of different colors any longer, so this meant we HAD to make a trip to Hobby Lobby! So sad, I know! Well, it WAS a little sad for my wallet since jewelry findings were half price when we got there and that meant several bags of beads and such made their way into the buggy somehow! A night or so before she was to head back to Texas, we stayed up late so Holly could make her own colorful necklace. Their versions are shown below. The one Holly made is on top and Emily's on the bottom. I think they did a great job!!!!! Actually I may like their necklaces better than the one I bought!

I'm also proud of how creative they are in many aspects of their everday life Holly is a teacher now and I am always amazed at the clever ideas she has for decorating her room and the classroom teaching aids she creates from sometimes very inexpensive items. Both of them are very resourceful and imaginative in decorating their homes, creating lovely rooms with mostly what they have on hand. For Thomas' birthday party, they worked together while Holly was home to come up with the cutest invitations. Unfortunately I gave mine to the lady who made Thomas' birthday cake and didn't get it back, so I can't show you a pic of that. Emily did make Thomas a Cookie Monster cake especially for him that was so cute!! You can see it, other decorating for the party, and some people who shared the day with us in this Webshots album. Note, Emily made the crepe paper pompoms hanging from the ceiling, too. I am so proud of both of them and love them SO much! A Mom couldn't ask for better daughters!

In everyday life, I still remain pretty busy. Work is mostly good. We don't have to stay over as much anymore. Some days are hectic, but that is any job, I guess, and I am so thankful to have one! I am doing a little better about art. I was able to get my fabric cuff swap done along with the extra goodies I wanted to make for my friend, Beth. I've had the cuff completed but it took me some time to decide on the "surprise" part. Once I decided what to make, I worked here and there, and finally got it done this past Monday. Beth should be getting the package any day now, so I will blog about the cuff and the surprise once I know she's received them. I did, also, complete all of Thomas' collage pics that I had been working on since before he was born! Here is the last one of an alligator. I think I've already shown the turtle and the elephant, but if I see I haven't I'll add that to the next post.

I do hope to get back into journalling again and to try to find time to paint. These things have been said before, but maybe this will be the time it actually gets done! I was telling a friend today at work that I still don't feel connected to my life. I feel like I am living someone's else life, if that makes any sense. Some is due to the job changes last year, I know, and other life changes, as well, but I expected it to be getting better by now. "One day at a time" is all I know to tell myself.

Pitiful blogger=ME

2010-07-19T21:25:00.003-05:00

Didn't seem like it had been a month since I posted last, but I see it has. I am so really not sure where time goes when it flies by. You would think that 2 old empty-nesters would have so much time on their hands they wouldn't know what to do with it, but evidently that is not how it works. We seem to be on the go too much and with not much to show for it. I mean it is not travelling to interesting places or doing wonderful things, just life stuff.

As far as life goes, we have much to be thankful for right now. Among many other blessings, Mom is doing pretty well right now and our daughters are, too, for the most part. Holly's Chris is looking for a job at present, but he has several prospects so we are hopeful it that regard. Also little Thomas will be one year old next month! Hard to believe! I'm including new shots of him for you to look at since I don't have anything else photographed to show yet that I've been working on.

In the artistic department, I have actually gotten some things done, but don't have them ready to show yet. I am STILL working on my stuff to send to my friend, Beth, for our fabric cuff swap. I've had the cuff done for several months, but am making myself finish the extra goodies before I send it to her. I know myself and if I don't get it all done, I'll procrastinate on the extra and never get it to her. Sad story, but I recognize the way I am. I already owed her in my mind from a previous swap many months ago! I am pathetic and that is a fact. BUT, I have made great progress on the surprise and hope to have it done before much longer. Also, I finally put the finishing touches on Thomas' 2nd of 3 collage pictures. Also, sad because these were supposed to be done when he was born. I will be starting on the last alligator one, maybe to get it completed for his 1st birthday. See further evidence of my professional ability to procrastinate!! I have also done some journal pages. What I am doing on those is washes of watercolor paint on torn-out book pages and also just playing some with color blobs and such. These are for future journalling fodder and to use on Bethie's gift.

Speaking of the paint, let me take a moment to warn you of the dangers of leaving watercolor paint out. I had bought some assorted tubes of watercolor at a yard sale in a plastic bin. Granted these are the regular METAL tubes that paints come in. I had done this painting last Thursday evening while watching a movie. I didn't clean everything up because it got to be time for bed. Planned to do it later. Silly me left the plastic bin sitting on the end of the couch. You can probably see where this is going. Kerry calls me at work to tell me that Maggie got into the paint tubes while we were both gone. He gets home earlier than I do. I was expecting much worse, but she only got it on a throw on the couch and herself amazingly enough! She has a red spot right in the middle of her throat and some blue and green on her feet. It would probably wash off, but I've not felt up to giving her a bath. Never dreamed of her wanting to chew on metal, but there you go! She constantly surprises me! She makes me laugh, too, so much is forgiven.

This past Friday I contracted a really bad stomach bug or food poisoning. Anyway, was really sick. Couldn't work Saturday. Actually couldn't even stand up. Sunday I felt well enough to sit up so I got some rubber stamps and stamp pads and played with them on some of the painted pages, using some stamps that have never had ink on them. Had a little fun. I'm trying to get my artistic mojo going again. Recently have finally had a little extra time here and there, but just had the blahs as far as art goes. Hopefully it's coming back as bits and pieces of progress are being made. Of course, this is always at the expense of housework, but then something has to give!

I leave you with picture of this sweet face with these long eyelashes.

Father's Day

2010-06-19T14:01:00.002-05:00

With Father's Day coming up, of course my Dad has been on my mind lately. Here is a picture of him when he went to work at Monsanto in Decatur, Alabama in the late sixties. I need to find out actual dates and write them down. Wasn't he such a handsome fellow!?! He was one of the sweetest people I've ever known and always had a hug for us when we were growing up and even when we were grown. He comes from a family of "huggers". When you leave a visit with any of them, more than likely you will get a hug and a caution to "be careful" which originated with my Granny, Dad's Mom.

Above is a picture of my father with my Mom either taken when they were dating or very early in their marriage. They graduated in May, 1958 and then married young in January, 1959. Mom was only 15 when she graduated as she had been double-promoted twice during her school days, turning 16 right afterwards. Dad was 19 when they married. I was born then in 1960 and my brothers, Stanley and Gary, in 1962 and 1965. They were very young parents.

Here is my Dad with me at my wedding in 1980. The year following he and my mother ended up getting a divorce. Dad married again in 1981 and had 2 more sons, Jeremy and Tony, with his wife, Charlotte. He always joked that I was the best daughter he had! Because he ended up raising another family while I was doing the same, we didn't get to see each other as much maybe as I would have liked to, but still talked and visited fairly often, especially earlier on. As years passed, seemed like life got so hectic that I didn't make the time for these things like I should have. Dad was forced to retire early, in his early 60's, because he had developed Alzheimer's. I didn't know it at the time and only found this out later. He died year before last in November. One of my regrets in life is that I didn't spend as much time with him as I should have. We get so involved in day-to-day living that it becomes so easy to let simple but important things like this slide.

Take time to hug those you love! If your Dad is still with you, give him a big one! Make time with loved ones a priority in your life. One less thing to regret later on.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! Love you so much!

Lovely swap goodies received!

2010-06-06T23:04:00.001-05:00

I was so thrilled when I opened the package waiting on me when I got home Friday! I've mentioned before that my friend, Beth, and I had agreed to do a fabric cuff swap. I've finished my cuff for Beth but have some other things I'm wanting to make for her and don't have them ready yet. Anyway, the cuff Beth made for me is SSOOOooo beautiful!!!! I love everything about it, the colors, antique buttons, sweet little pearls and lace trims, and especially the bird charm which is the centerpiece. Beth included a note to explain that the base of the cuff is an old quilt top and the bird charm is from a bracelet which she took apart. She also made a gorgeous necklace from another charm with hand-wrapped paper beads, pink and white pearls, accented with clear glass rose beads to match the fabric cuff. Again I totally love the colors and how she tied the rose theme together in both pieces. I love birds and flowers so this was just a perfect choice. I told her I will have to hide these when my daughters are home to prevent them from taking off with them! On top of these lovelies, her note card itself is a piece of art. Beth is very talented at Zentangles, which is new to me, but I believe is like art doodles taken to the extreme of coolness as you can see in the pic of the card. My plans are to mount this to hang as a colorful work of art. Isn't she so talented!?! Also she added some "fun stuff" in the package consisting of some of the antique buttons like on the bracelet, painted dominoes to alter, quilt heart, and some other little goodies. She is such a sweet, generous friend! I will be hard-pressed to equal her wonderful present to me. These will be treasured! Thanks so much, Bethie! Please be patient with me!

Necklace and fabric cuff

Closeup of necklace

Lovely Zentangle card

Extra goodies

The beauty of trees

2010-05-31T15:42:00.001-05:00

While at church Sunday morning, I was observing the faces of those around me. By this I mean I was literally looking at the faces, noticing how people I've known over the years through school or attending church have changed. If you see a face fairly often, the metamorphosis from aging is not so readily apparent and the faces are just accepted as what they are. I changed my perspective, trying to recall the faces as they were at a younger age, noting how time has altered the person's appearance, the characteristics that stayed the same, how the changes often make the person more beautiful just in a different way.

This thought process somehow segued into comparing people to trees. I must say I love trees. Love looking at them, marvelling at the beauty of them, the many ways that branches can grow on a tree, some twisty and curly, others straight and reaching toward the sky. How beautiful the trees look in every season! In spring, there are small green buds or colorful sprigs of flowers bringing hope for growth and warmth after the cold of winter. The full grown leaves of summer feed the tree, provide shelter, and give us greenness to beautify our world. As the leaves turn the glorious shades of autumn, the horizons portray the masterpieces painted with the brush that God holds in His hand. When bare of the leaves that graced them in other seasons, the beauty of just the shapes of the trees and their branches becomes apparent.

In the words of the preceding paragraph, I think you can see how I began to relate trees and people. Each season of our life has a beauty all it's own. As written in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything. The young are lovely in a way unmarred by the ravages of time. They are tender but resilient all the same. As growth brings them to young adulthood, hopefully roots grow that will anchor them firmly when storms blow. Sometimes there may be damage from these life storms, branches lost, wounds inflicted by uncaring individuals, and even some that will be lost altogether in the different stages of life to disease or the storms. Those who survive to adulthood will bear the scars and the signs of the passage of time but still have a God-given unique beauty only enhanced by these marks of character. Often the spark of the child within can still be seen in the face of those who are granted the favored privilege of old age, especially those who can appreciate the value and preciousness of life. I had the fortune of working with people for many years in a hospital with the majority of our patients being in the latter stages of life. There is beauty in the wrinkles and the sight-dimmed eyes just as there is in a tree that has lost most of it's branches. Even when the life is gone from the tree and there remains only a stump, nature is still at work, returning the remains of a tree back to the ground to enrich the soil to bring new life again. Hopefully we leave enough goodness behind when we are gone that we, too, are still contributing to the lives of those coming along after us. Even if it be a nameless legacy that would be enough for me.

Already into another month

2010-05-10T21:49:00.002-05:00

I know I keep saying it but time is flying by. I just enjoyed a great Mother's Day weekend. I was off for 4 days so we took advantage of this time to take some furniture down to Emily that we had stored here in Mom and Pop's Storage Building(aka our garage)on Thursday evening and exchange it for a baby Thomas. Definitely think we got the better end of the deal all the way around, a little more room in the garage and spending time with our precious grandson. Bad Granna that I am, I did not take the first picture all weekend! Emily drove up Friday evening to join us for a visit. This was her first Mother's Day. I totally intended to take some nice photos for remembrance and then we stayed so busy I never did. Oh, well, we have memories, although Emily and I joked that we don't know how long we'll have them the way we forget things. I told her we could just make something up when and if we did!

I've spent all evening working with my desktop, trying to get it working faster, with no luck. For my internet browsing these days I'm using my laptop since the desktop is sssooo slow. My scanner is connected to the desktop computer, so if I want to scan some art to share on my blog, I need to do it there. The connections/plugs are not easy to get to or I would just have it to where I could use the scanner interchangeably with either my laptop or the desktop. I got my latest art scanned but only managed to get one pic loaded onto my blog before I lost patience with it all. Shown above is a spread I've done in a cute deco book/journal that a friend of Beth's has going around. I've had it several months now and need to get it in the mail to the next person. Hope to get that done this week. The theme of these pages is to take joy in the moment and were done by gesso on the base pages, collage with various paper scraps, and a little stamping.

I have completed and did scan the fabric cuff I've done for Beth, but the scan didn't save to my blog. It will be a post for another day and upon thinking about it some more, might be best if I wait to show it until I've sent it to Bethie anyways. I still haven't made the extra gifts that I want to send with the cuff so that is the reason it's still here and not on it's way to her. I've ideas and plans that I hope come about soon in regards to art and crafting. Trying to keep up hope that I will find a way to incorporate art into my life again and have a creativity spark be there as well.

Today I had time but I was not feeling well, achy and draggy like I'm coming down with a cold. Emily and Kerry have both been sick with some really bad stuff, so I hope that is not what it is. I'm fortunate to hardly ever be sick, having developed a strong immune system working at the hospital, I guess. I've been drinking Airborne and taking my vitamins trying to fight this off and hope to be successful.

Blog is evidently on vacation

2010-04-28T19:04:00.000-05:00

Blog is not dead just not very active at the moment. Guess that goes for the blogger as well. Life has been pretty busy, as usual, although work is going much better overall. I've gotten used to the testing routines, so that is not so hard, and then some problems we had been having that caused us to have to stay over very late are better for the most part.

I've still not adjusted to the different schedule with less off days so that I find I'm not creating as much as I used to. I feel this is mostly due to not as much time but then also because I'm still not in the groove to be creative. I have finished a fabric cuff for Beth for a swap I think I mentioned before. I want to get some surprises done to send with it, as I owe Bethie for a hostess gift from a previous swap. Will have to get it scanned or take pics when I get it all together.

I really want to get to making some jewelry. I've been blessed with lots of "stuff" along those lines. For example, all those costume jewelry pins that a sweet friend gave me last year. Have lots of ideas in my head and just have to get my act together and get started.

Along the line of excuses, we've had a series of plumbing problems and we have done some travelling. We were fortunate to be able to spend a week in Waco, Texas visiting my youngest dd and her husband, Chris. We mostly just relaxed, enjoying spending time with them, but we did get a little sight-seeing in. Waco is the home of Dr. Pepper and we were able to visit it's museum. Very interesting! I've a few shots taken while we were out there. I'll try to do a post soon and show those.

In the meantime, here are a couple of recent shots of little Thomas. One is at bath time and the other of him enjoying a simple wooden spoon. He has learned to crawl and is working on pulling up, so fun times are in store for all, especially Emily and Craig!

I thought you might also like to see what Miss Maggie looks like after a few months living with the Thompson's. You can see her before pic on the side of my blog. Bless her heart, she is looking too much like her Mommy(me, that is) and also kind of like a little pot-bellied piggie!

Happy Easter

2010-03-28T13:54:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter to everyone! I'm so bad about posting I thought I would get this post in early and I'm cheating by using pics from last Easter's decorations. None out this year. Busy with the "this and that" of life in general. In addition, we are participating in an Easter musical drama at church and so have some extra practices this last 2 weeks before the performance. My friend, Jeanie, has a wonderful post of her Easter decorations replete with bunnies and a gorgeous chandelier egg wreath. So it inspired me, not to get my decorations out, but to just take the easy route and show what I did with some of my bunnies last year.

Shown above are some the Capidomonte rose candleholders I have and a sweet lamb planter that once belonged to my Granny Parker(my Dad's Mom). I had put this out in memory of them, but also to be symbolic of Easter's true meaning by placing the cross inside the lamb. I think I posted these photos last year, so please forgive my cheating!

For our Easter drama, the choir has to wear a Biblical costume as we are the "crowd". I had one(made about 20 years ago) but Kerry didn't, ssoooo, this had led me to get the sewing machine that I bought about 2 years past, brush the cobwebs off it(literally, lol), and get past my fear of the scary sewing machine monster. I learned how to sew many, many moons ago from my Mom, but she was not totally patient, shall we say, so I only learned the basics. The experience left me with a lack of confidence in that area that grew over the years in my mind. Mom gave me her old electric sewing machine about 20 years ago and I managed to thread it and sew a few things, including the costume I'm wearing, but it messed up so much that I again got discouraged. That machine ended up being thrown away as it wasn't worth fixing and that was the last time I sewed anything except by hand until yesterday. Made myself get the manual for the machine and follow the directions for threading the bobbin and the sewing machine itself step-by-step. After I got started some of what I learned before came back. I've gotten Kerry's costume sewn together, although some is poorly done. It was just basically a large rectangle with a slit cut for his head that I hemmed the edges of and sewed the sides together. My hope is not to get good enough to make garments, but to be able to use the sewing machine in my artistic endeavors, like with art quilts or the like.

I'll leave you with a shot of my favorite little man, as he was one morning last week, bad hair and all!

Postscript: In my busy-ness and my not posting, I've forgotten all about the feature I have available to me that enables me to see the number of visitors to my blog. Went there today and saw that people are actually checking in, so my sincere apologies for not updating more. I'll try to be more faithful about putting something here for you to read. Not that I'm arrogant to think that what I post here is that great or anything, I just hate to think someone takes the time to drop by and I've offered nothing.

FYI

2010-03-07T09:07:00.000-06:00

I added back the word verification feature to the comments as I am getting tired of Anonymous spam.

Interesting results, but not surprising

2010-02-22T19:43:00.005-06:00

took this online quiz for right/left brain tendencies with the results being split exactly down the middle. Was hoping for answers that would help but have to admit I am really not surprised. Now I have proof that I have a split personality, lol! My entire life is like this. Examples: I love artistic things and self-expression, but then my career has been that of being a technician; I'm organized in some ways(close friends and family are not allowed to let me know how hard they are laughing now!) but totally scatter-brained and disorganized in others; when I was trying to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up(you know, like last week I was wondering) the possibilities were all over the map! Heck, even my husband and I are totally opposite! I'll just end this by saying I'm going to interpret this to mean that instead of being crazy, I'm just a "well-rounded" person. Ha, in more ways than one, she says, looking down!

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz
The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others.
Left Brain Dominance:	(16)
Right Brain Dominance:	(16)
Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

One post per month

2010-02-14T23:55:00.002-06:00

seems to be what I'm up to these days. As I've said before time is just flying by. I am getting a little art done here and there, although I never got anything done for One World One Heart. I haven't even been able to visit the participants much this time. Did finish 3 atcs and just lack getting the backs decorated before I drop them in the mail for a 3/3 swap. Also, have done a spread in a deco book that was passed on to me from my friend, Beth. It's actually for a lady who lives in California that I don't know. I was fairly pleased with how it turned out, since I was just kind of playing around. Will have to share before I mail it out to the next recipient, but right now I'm on the internet most of the time on my laptop which connects most easily with my wireless device. The desktop has some kind of issues that I've not conquered yet that make it very slow in getting started, taking like 30 minutes to load the initial web browser page, so with limited time to browse I'll get on the laptop. It's not connected to my scanner which is my favorite way to post pics of art. With a camera can be hard to capture all details. Will do my best to get some art on here soon. Also got a spread done in one of my journals last week and some pages prepped with gesso in an altered book. Small steps but better than none at all!

I want to try some jewelry ideas out and do some fabric art, too. I've done a few fabric cuffs which are fun to do and still have a cuff swap to complete for Bethie! I want it to be really special so I've kind of been putting it off so that I do justice to the project. Beth has been such a generous and encouraging art friend!

In the place of art, I share with you 2 photos of this little fellow that has stolen my heart! He is growing so fast! Only get to see him in person every couple of weeks or so, so he is doing something new and has changed in his looks each time. He is starting to try to talk at 6 months. His first word was "Mama", although I'm sure his Grampy would have loved it if it had been "Bama"! Grandbabies are such a special blessing!

Insights

2010-01-24T21:39:00.006-06:00

I'm such a blogging failure right now. I suppose I've been waiting until I had something interesting to blog about, like new art to show or exciting events in my life to report. Since nothing like that is going on, there has been no blogging! Also, I'm mainly using my laptop now, since my desktop has become extremely slow for some reason I've not been able to determine. Almost all of my art scans are on my desktop, so no quick access to any of those pics.

Actually, I have worked on the collage series I'm doing for Thomas. Previously I posted about the turtle picture and have now finished the one of a cute little spotted elephant. Now there just remains the alligator collage and I'll be done with those. Will try to post a photo of the elephant collage soon. Maybe I'll have all of them done by then anyway.

As for life, the new job is going much better. I'm about to get over the learning curve part, so the stress level is going down. Since this is such a new company, improvements and additions to the testing process are constant so there will not be a time for awhile, I don't think, where I can totally relax, but at least the main initial stress of learning an almost totally new set of job skills is over. I'm not finding the 1 hour drive to be as bad as I worried it might be, partly due to the fact that I'm carpooling a week at a time with a friend and coworker.

We did get to keep Thomas last weekend from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. I had to work on Saturday, so Kerry had him by himself most of the day. He did go to his Mom's for a visit, but other than that cared for Thomas, including feedng him lunch and changing diapers! We stayed on the go almost the entire time, taking Thomas to see Mom on Saturday evening and then taking Thomas to church with us on Sunday morning before having to drive back to meet Emily and Craig in Birmingham to give Thomas back. It was fun to get to see how he interacts with the world now and how he is changing. I could go into great detail with all that, as a grandmother, but I'll spare you all!

Tomorrow starts the OWOH giveway that I've participated in the last couple of years. I've been trying to decide whether to do it again this year. Obviously if I do enter it I will be late, but we'll see if I can get a prize together. I feel guilty entering to win prizes, if I don't offer one myself. I enjoy giving something away as much as I do having a chance to win. I really need to finish Thomas' pictures and then I have a fabric cuff swap to do for my dear friend, Beth. Also a 3/3 atc swap to finish(almost done with that) and then a deco book to work in. Besides those obligations, I want to start playing around in the art room again. I'll be trying to get my act together for the OWOH event, but check it out anyway. Lots of wonderful blogs and art to discover out there.

There are so many things I want to try. I want to get back into journaling again. That is so rewarding, but I've gotten away from making time for it. I look back on some of the pages I've done and read things I've written and never regret them, just regret not doing it more. Sometimes there are entries about life struggles and I can now see how God led me through them. Other times my writings will be about my thought processes or observations regarding my life. When rereading what I've written I am often surprised at my insight or what I wrote about my feelings. I'll think, "wow, did I write that?". Not that I'm a great writer or anything, far from it, but when you write from the heart without holding back, it can be amazing to see what comes out even from an ordinary person like me. That is the way art is too for me. When I just make art from the heart without overthinking it too much, these pieces often turn out to be my favorites. I send a lot of my art out into the world to others, since they will be for swaps that I've signed up for, so it's no longer here for me to see, but I usually scan or take pics. I'll look back at them, be amazed, and wonder where it came from. My point being, especially with journaling, that you should try to take the time for it. Write, draw, collage, or whatever you want to do from the your heart and you won't regret it.

My Mom has taken the time to journal throughout the years. Often she is just recording daily events. She collected some of her early journal entries and presented them to us several years ago for Christmas, These chronicle our early years with tidbits about what we were up to as little kids, how much Christmas from "Santa" cost and what we received, what was going in in our family life, etc. I took this out right after Christmas this year to read. I can see as time goes by, how much it means to have these memories to look over. My Mom's father was a very meticulous recorder of where his pennies went. He was a German born immigrant, coming to America with his family when he was just a little boy around 1900. His journal entries of the family's spending include side notes about floods, sicknesses, births, and in and of themselves a fascinating picture of how my Mother and her family were raised during often very hard times on a farm in the South. So even if your style of journaling is just to record what is going on in your life, these examples from my family show me that this will not be time wasted either.

Maybe I'm saying all this to remind MYSELF of how important a journal can be for various reasons so that I WILL get back into this valuable habit again.

Christmas shots around our house 2009

2010-01-04T18:09:00.014-06:00

As I get all the Christmas taken down and put away, here are a few shots of what little Christmas decorating was done around here. Above, Tiny Tim was the only tree that got decorated since he's so small and I hated to not have a tree up at all. The Wooly Mammoth(Kerry's 9 ft tree that he insisted on) was gotten out of the box and set up because I had told Kerry I refused to do it all alone. Alas, Kerry never volunteered to assist me in getting lights on this monstrosity so all it has on it right now are the 2 cute ornaments Holly made and gave us for Christmas. I really must go take a pic of that to record it for posterity as it is a very sad sight indeed. A huge, flocked beautiful tree sitting unadorned, no lights, except for those 2 ornaments. There was so little free time left in the weeks before Christmas, that I was hard-pressed to get my shopping done, much less decorate. Had to work late several nights and then there just always seemed to be other engagements on the other evenings and off days.

Above and below are the spots above my kitchen cabinets. I decided to decorate these this time, since I finally had gotten the tin ceiling varnished, although please excuse the spots on the wall. I'm not through with the wall treatments and will be covering these up with either trim and/or wallpaper border or repainting. Used the white and green pottery pieces that I have with a little red thrown it. Fronted that with some of the vintage Christmas pieces I've acquired over the years. The Christmas stuff will be coming down as well as the green and then I think I'm going to mix back in some pink for Valentine's day. This is the first year I've tried doing this, so not sure how I'll like it or if I will find it too time-consuming to fool with.

The mantel I've propped up in the dining room got a few quick vintage Christmas items to brighten it up and then I set up a tablescape of houses and Christmas trees. This is the entry room of the house and where Tiny Tim is also. Those are the 2 shots below.

And then best of all, a picture of my favorite little guy:

For those with whom I'm friends on Facebook, my apologies since you've already seen this picture. Emily took it earlier this week so that I could see what his hair looks like first thing in the morning. He has a section across the top that never came out and is longer than all the rest of the peach fuzz covering his head. It's one of my favorite shots of him so far(hhhmm, wonder how many times I'll say that!?!) so I'm going to post it again here. He has the sweetest expression on his face, although I know I am a totally prejudiced grandmother.

Yay, something artistic to post about!

2009-12-30T13:50:00.012-06:00

My daughters scheduled us for a painting session at Sips and Strokes in Tuscaloosa this past Monday evening. This was our last chance at a Mother/Daughter get together before Holly left out Tuesday morning to fly back to Waco. We had a good time. Emily took a few shots of the occasion with her phone camera. First shot is us with our aprons during the class, then below some of me with each daughter, works in progress, one of both Emily and Holly together, and lastly our finished paintings. I tried to make a link to the painting we were supposed to be doing, but couldn't get that to work, so here is one the the calendar they have where the cross we did is shown toward the bottom for classes later on somewhere else.

The premise of the workshop is for the instructor to show the step by step instructions to the group for you to complete a simple painting during the 2 hour class, with wine available for purchase and sipping, thus the name of the business. There were over 70 women in attendance, many came in groups or families as we did, and fun was had by all. Maybe this will inspire me to get out those paint sets that I have bought and never opened! Emily reminds me though, that first, I must finish up the collage/paintings that I have started and promised for Thomas. I have only completed one of three, although the others have been started. Hopefully the New Year will see me more settled as far as my job situation goes and find me more organized as to my time utilization.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T19:49:00.003-06:00

One of Santa's little helper's wanted me to remember to post and wish all of you a wonderful Christmas season. Hope all of you are getting to enjoy time with those you love. We have already had our get together with the kids(minus Holly's husband, Chris, who was unable to come home due to work). Also had the one with Kerry's family, so it kind of feels like Christmas is already over here. We still have a lunch at my Mom's to look forward to tomorrow, but Emily, Craig, and Thomas won't be there for that one so they can spend time with Craig's family also.

This weather we are having is some of the nastiest and strange that I ever remember on Christmas. We are having hurricane-like winds that have been blowing all day. Hoping the power stays on as the lights were flickering earlier.

I've been fortunate enough to have been keeping Thomas since Sunday evening. We went to get him and he has stayed with us until today, so that Holly could spend some time with him while she is home visiting us. She will leave to go back to Texas on Tuesday. It has been wonderful seeing her, too. They moved to Waco this past May and the only time we've seen her is when she came home for Thomas' birth.

We exchanged gifts last evening and it is really touching to see how my daughters are so thoughtful in their giving. I will have to take pics of some of the gifts so you can see. Kerry also came up with a thoughtful gift which was a pendant that is to commemorate Thomas's birth as it has the birthstones of Kerry, Thomas, and Emily.

Again, I wish each of you a blessed Christmas filled with love, hope, and peace.

New record for no posting!

2009-12-01T20:29:00.002-06:00

Can not believe it has been a month! Life just seems so busy right now. The new job has been pretty stressful. Learning a new set of job skills after 28 plus years of doing the same type job has taken a lot out of me. I'm still not used to only having 2 days a week off. I know that is what most of the working world is used to, but for over a year I've worked 7 on/7 off and then for some years before that worked 4 ten hour shifts. So I've become accustomed to having extra off days to take care of things. Having only 1 real off day is throwing me. I'm off on Sundays and Mondays, but Sunday's are usually pretty busy, leaving only Monday. I am going to have to learn to manage my time better, especially my evening hours after I get home. Two hours of travel time add to time away from home every work day, but I know I can do better than I do with time management. I also believe that once the stress of learning and implementing the new job skills eases that things will be easier to handle. I'm going to post this update without a pic for now since it's been so long without a word from me here. Not much going on artistically, but I do have cute baby pics that I could show.

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-29T20:55:00.008-05:00

Wow, life has been so busy lately that I didn't realize it had been over 2 weeks since I posted. Thought this would be the perfect time to share the Halloween atcs I did for the Halloween atc swap. The top scan was one I stole from my friend Beth's post at the atc yahoo group. Her scan was better than the pic I had of the "2 Witches" atc. The other pics are mine. I didn't have time to do scans before I had to get the atcs in the mail, so these shots I took with my digital camera are not the best. I received 3 really great Halloween atcs myself but they are at work so I can enjoy them, since I seem to be there more than home right now, and also so I could show them off to the people at work.

Work is going pretty well, but that is why I've not posted for the most part. Had to stay late a lot of evenings. This week I have been preparing for and taking my competency, which is really an evaluation of your training and readiness to perform the job. I still have a little bit more to do for the competency then I will be able to start doing patient testing. Was really worried and stressed out about that and so glad it is almost over. Once I get past this totally, I know I will feel better and will be able to settle into a routine and enjoy the job and workplace so much more. Still even with this stress, it is so much better than where I was before and I am SO thankful to have this opportunity to try something new, especially considering the economy and job market. I know how lucky I am.

I did tell a friend at work, one that I also worked with at Woodland, that I will be glad when I no longer feel displaced. My brain just has not been able to process all the changes yet, so I am still not feeling totally "at home" with where I am. It is like if you moved into a new home. Even if it is where you will be living and you love it, it still takes a little while before you feel like it is "home" and you no longer feel a sense of newness, if that makes sense.

Oh yes, have also been having some computer issues, that are still not totally resolved. For about a week, was not able to use either my desktop or my laptop because of very slow or no browsing capabilities on the internet. With my work schedule, I didn't have time to try to get if going again. Still it is slow, but at least it is working.

Halloween table-quick post

2009-10-12T11:18:00.002-05:00

Taking a break from housework and taxes. Did a quickie table decoration for Halloween this weekend because the previous decorations were very summery-looking. I do have some more cutsie child-friendly decorations, which might be a better idea next year when Thomas is more aware. These are just some various flea market and thrift store finds that I thought looked kind of spooky when put together. The pics are a little dark. They were too bright with the flash and too dark without it.

New month, new beginnings

2009-10-10T11:11:00.004-05:00

Wow, life gets away with me and blogging doesn't figure into the picture. I've now finished up my last days in a hospital setting, I hope. Will start my new job next Tuesday. God really underscored and put exclamations points by the reasons I hated the job, especially my last night to work. I believe I will remember for a while why I wanted to leave.

During my last couple of nights to work, my little grandson, Thomas, was hospitalized with viral pneumonia, but it was not very bad, thankfully, or they caught it early, so he only stayed a night and a day. I went down Wednesday after I got off work to keep him Thursday and Friday so Emily and Craig could get back to work. Not that I had to have my arm twisted to do so. It was good to get to see and hold him after the worry of him being sick. He is better except for suffering a bit with colic, possible from having acid reflux, and being a little anemic. He'll have to start taking some iron supplements and they will also begin with a little cereal in his formula.

I was participating in a Halloween atc swap for my friend, Beth. Did manage to get those done and in the mail this week. I always try to do extra cards for the hostess and/or make a hostess gift. This time I didn't get those made yet, but will be doing that and getting in the mail to Beth soon. I took pics instead of scans and won't post them until Beth gets the atcs which I hope will be today.

Way behind on housework and need to get my tax stuff together. Yes, I know it is not traditional tax time, but we had to file extensions this year since the partnership return for the farm was not ready before now due to Kerry's Dad's surgeries and all. Shouldn't be on here piddling away my time on the internet, but here I am, lol.

Drawings and new life journeys

2009-09-24T21:48:00.009-05:00

Don't think I've ever blogged about drawing. Mostly because I rarely do it anymore. Many, many moons ago, when I was a young lass, I loved to draw. That is how my interest in art began. On my own, I experimented some with painting, but mostly I drew. When I was in college obtaining my 2 associate degrees, I took several drawing and painting courses, all they offered at the time actually at WSCC except for the pottery classes. The painting was with oils, so I've never had any teachings in watercolor or acrylics.

The drawing above is one I did while about junior high age, I think, from looking at a picture in a National Geographic magazine. I entered it in the local county fair art competition. Won a first place ribbon. Unfortunately I just drew it on some stationery paper since I had no real art papers and mounted it to a burlap-wrapped piece of cardboard with regular cellophane tape instead of a frame. It looked nice at the time and suited the subject matter, but over the years the paper has yellowed and the 6 spots where the tape touched the paper had turned brown. I scanned it yesterday for this post and retouched the brown spots and posterized it some with the photo editing software to minimized the damage time has inflicted on the paper.

I married while in college, got a lab job immediately upon graduation, and then we had our 2 babies not long after. Life got very busy and as is the case with a lot of working Moms, I put the artistic side of myself on hold. Locked it away somewhere for safekeeping actually. I did do some embroidery and cross stitch which was my way of creative expression at the time. Still have lots of patterns, threads, fabrics, etc. from these times put back that I keep meaning to go back to.

Several years ago, while on a frugal lifestyle forum, I ran across the mention of altered books which led to my exploring the internet for further information. This has led in turn to my widespread interest in all forms of altered arts and thus my return to art. I had never been exposed to mixed media art and find it so fascinating with all it's infinite possibilities. So mostly I've been going from this to that just having fun learning and trying new things. Still, I have wanted to return to the basics to see if I can still draw or paint, maybe finding a way to bring all these things together. I started a sketchbook journal, but so far only have a couple of drawings in it. The drawing below is not even in there. It is one I did at work one night(it was a slow night, what can I say) at Woodland on a piece of printer paper from a Time magazine cover picture of Kate Winslett(see link here). Yes, I realize it doesn't really look like her. My intent when I started the drawing was just to get one that I could use as a base for a mixed media painting in the style of Kellie Rae Roberts or D.J. Pettit. Of course, I have a lot of good intentions, too many and too scattered, I suppose. But sometimes blogging about some of this helps me to remember it later and to actually follow through with the intention.

In general, non-art, life news, I am about to embark upon a new phase of my working career. I have accepted job offer that just came up with Diatherix Laboratories in Huntsville. You can click on the link to see what the lab does. So, for the first time since becoming a lab tech, I will be working in a non-hospital setting. I can't even get my head around how different it will be yet. I do know that I feel like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders, so I would hope that is a sign that I've made the right decision. My present job at Hartselle involves me working by myself almost the entire 12 hour shift, putting me in some very difficult and stressful situations at times. I just turned 49 and I feel like it was taking years off of my life working like that. I had been praying that God would help me find where I needed to be and if possible a job where I could be off on Sundays. This job presented itself, with the schedule being dayshift, Tuesday through Saturdays and all holidays off. I can't really even comprehend being off every Sunday and on all holidays. I will have to drive to Huntsville, but was already driving 30 minutes one way to Hartselle. Two of my former coworkers at Woodland are working at Diatherix and were the ones that told me about the job opening. We will be able to car pool sometimes, if we want to,so that will help some.

Referring back to my earlier post about "light through the trees", I do believe the light is growing and that I feel like my feet are actually resting completely on the bottom so that I am going to be able to start walking toward that shallow water and maybe even up on dry ground.

More fabric work and pics of my sweet grandson

2009-09-22T08:44:00.010-05:00

I have done a little something artsy. I finished another fabric cuff, just practicing with some scraps I have. I am going to do a one-to-one cuff swap with my friend, Beth, but the one I finished is not the one for her, so I won't mind sharing it here. I also will be participating in a Halloween atc swap that Beth is hostessing, so will be working on those this week while I'm off.

Not been a great week around this house. My hubby has the swine flu and has been sick over a week. He started feeling bad last Monday and is still not up to par, although he did go back to work today. With him, it ended affecting his breathing the most. The doctor gave him an inhaler and the Tamiflu. He doesn't smoke and never has, but he is kind of allergy-prone, so maybe that is why the lung symptoms were worse for him? Thankfully I've not come down with it so far(knock on wood).

Of course, I'm always going to have baby pics to share these days. Those of you friends with me on Facebook will have already seen these, but here they are anyway. Some I took last weekend. The bath pic is one Emily sent me this weekend. Emily had to go back to work yesterday and I've not gotten to talk to her with me work schedule and her's conflicting to find out how that went. I know it was hard for them.

In news of my other daughter, one of my most faithful readers, Holly found a job in the school system in Texas although not as a teacher yet. With their move during the summer, it didn't leave her much time to get papers transferred and certifications for that state, also. She got an aide position with the special education program(not sure if that is still what they call it, probably not in this day of political correctness)at the fifth grade level. At least it got her foot in the door and in place with the state school systems.

Light through the trees

2009-09-11T14:30:00.004-05:00

I know that may seem a strange title, but hopefully it will make sense. I thought I would take a moment for reflection today on my 49th birthday. (Edited to add: I realized after I posted that I started this post on the 11th, but am just now finishing it on the 14th.) As I approach half a century of life, reflection seems most appropriate. There have been so many changes in my life especially in the last year. I lost my father, became a grandmother, had a daughter move halfway across the country again, lost a job by the hospital closing, found a new job, had 2 pets die, left one church and began attending at a new one, struggled with hardships on our farm so that we have considered selling the farm and moving if we could even find a buyer, and other struggles, emotional, and otherwise that I won't go into. I don't say all this in a bid for sympathy. In fact, I have pondered not even saying it, but decided to attempt the post.

For the last several months, these circumstances have put me in a frame of mind where I feel like I am just keeping my head above water. That there is no moment of freedom or rest from the struggles of life. In actuality, I guess, life is just like this sometimes. Life comes with no guarantee. Indeed there have been moments of great happiness mingled in with the sad. Right after my Dad died is when Emily found out she was expecting Thomas who was born the month after Woodland closed. Of course, I have given myself the "keep your chin up" speech and then the ones about having much for which to be grateful and there being a reason that things happen the way they do. I do know that there is a Master Plan but it is just being human, I guess, to have times that you feel overwhelmed.

Have you ever been swimming out in water over your head? You can stop and tread water, but still you get tired. Then you find that you have reached a depth that if you find the right spots with your feet you can rest a bit and get the strength to move on toward more shallow water. That's where I feel I am now. Seeing the light through the trees. Feeling the hope for better days. Getting ready for the rest of the journey that is my life.

Roll Tide!

2009-09-08T08:44:00.006-05:00

Evidently I'm only going to get a post in about once/week right now. I actually have something artistic to post about this time. In between work here and there this week, I finished this fabric cuff for myself. I gave away the one I did before in the OWOH giveaway, so I made one kind of similarly. I'm trying to make time ,even if it's just a little bit at one time or another to work on art. Seeing an actual project completed in just bits of stolen time, will hopefully be an inspiration to keep doing this. Of course there were a pair of these cuffs as they were cut off a Ralph Lauren shirt I was no longer wearing, but couldn't get rid of due to the lovely fabric. This one got embellished with a bit of lace trim, buttons, felt heart, linen scrap from an old dress, vintage trim sewn across the bottom to hide the cut edge, and some embroidery. May add some pearls or beads. Not sure yet.

And of course, had to show the family's youngest Bama fan! Emily took these shots of Thomas this past weekend. He is laying on an Alabama quilt by one of Kerry's aunts. Isn't he the cutest Alabama fan you've ever seen?

Has it been a week since I posted?

2009-08-31T14:36:00.005-05:00

Doesn't seem like it! My 7 day work weeks seem a blur. There are 12-13 hours at the job, add an hour of commute time, and then about 5-6 hours of sleep(sometimes 7) and then the time leftover is spent doing the miscellaneous things you have to get done, like shopping, errands, fixing food for meals, etc, etc. Then my off week flies by! I've had to spend some of it working in the chicken house to help Kerry in the place of his Dad who's not been right since his knee and back surgeries several months ago. Of course housework gets behind when I'm working and then I help Mom some at least one day a week. So here I am whining, but only to explain why blog posts aren't too frequent presently.

On a pleasant note, we did take time to visit Thomas on Saturday(well, Emily and Craig, too, lol) and then Emily and Thomas followed us back home from Tuscaloosa to spend the night and Sunday visiting. They attended our church with us so we could show the baby off and then visited with great-grandparents. My Mom,who will be called Great Nana since Craig's Mom wants to be called Nana and my girls already called my Mother "Nana", was especially thrilled to get to see little Thomas since she's not been able to make the trip to Tusacaloosa.

I hope to get into the art room tomorrow to at least work on the other 2 pictures I have to get done for Thomas' nursery. I've been mulling over moving my art room out to the garage, but not sure yet if I will. We have a 2 car garage which is presently being used as a storage shed. It is a big mess of boxes and stuff! Each time the girls moved, which has been probably 10 moves since they left home, all totalled, something came to live in Mom and Dad's garage. Then Kerry and I have a booth at a flea market. We actively went to auctions for a couple of years, though not last year or this due to time constraints. So items that have not made it out to the booth are also stored out there. The booth has been really slow for a while due to the economy, so not much turnover. We did have 2 booths, but cut back to one, so back home to storage for some of what had been for sale. Then there is your usual garage junk, like paint, tools, Christmas decorations, etc.

My thinking is to maybe use one side for the art studio because my husband's truck won't fit in there anymore. When we built the garage, we built it just a little bigger than the vehicles we had at the time, but didn't really allow enough room length, I guess, because we were trying to save money. Now Kerry can't park in there anyway, but at the very least I could my car if we got it organized or even just moved the junk to one side.

I've been going back and forth in my mind over the pros and cons. The worst cons I can think of besides all the work it will take are the dampness and then the lack of heating or cooling. Would have to get a window air conditioner and/or heater and possibly a dehumidifier. If I did this, then it would free up a room to fix up as another guest room and then put all my hubby's Nascar crap, I mean valuable collectibles, and other sports memorabilia. Maybe, we could even find room for the exercise equipment we own in one of the guest rooms if I got MY crap, AKA art supplies, out into the garage. Finding the time to do all this is also a con, though if I would just manage my time better, maybe cutting back on my internet and blog-browsing, and do just a little at a time, it would eventually get done.

Will go ahead and post this without pics, but am going to be adding some when I get on the laptop which has them uploaded on it. Oh, yes, that brings me to another point which I'm excited about. I found a wireless device from Verizon which is working pretty well and so have gotten rid of my dialup! It works great on my desktop, but the laptop is a little picky about getting connected sometimes. Otherwise, I am thrilled to be able to visit blogs and websites and actually see the photos! Before, on most blogs, especially those with a lot of pics, it was pretty much impossible to ever see all the pages.

Ok, pics have been added. Right below is my Mom, Thomas' Great Nana. The other's are probably self-explanatory.

Time for another baby picture

2009-08-24T08:29:00.002-05:00

Ok, there may be more pics of Thomas than art related posts for a while. Some due to lack of time for art and also just have to show you how cute he is! I've not seen him now in over a week. Today's photo is one that Emily took of him as they had him dressed up to go see his other grandparents(insert frowny face here). I'm glad THEY got to see him, but sad that I didn't get to. This is my work week and Kerry was out of town for a couple of days this weekend while attending the race in Bristol, TN. We had 2 tickets, but I couldn't go since it fell when I was working and I hated ask off again this soon after being off for Thomas' birth. Kerry took a friend in my place and since we were both away from home, Craig's parents were the first ones to be honored with a visit in their home from the new grandson. Oh, well, guess someone had to be first. They will be coming to see us next Sunday, but I may just drive down before then since I will work off Wednesday morning. It will depend on what I need to do to help Mom and also to help Kerry here on the farm since his Dad is not totally recovered.

Tutorial for effortless unmounting of wooden rubber stamps

2009-08-21T08:02:00.017-05:00

I thought for a change from baby photos, I would offer up a tutorial today. Some of the key requirements might be a little hard to find, but I might be able to help you out. These days those unmounted clear stamps seem to be all the rage and I've seen others offering advice on how to unmount your old wooden block rubber stamps so that they can be stored more efficiently. I accidentally happened upon a method I thought you all might be interested in. Here is my step-by-step tutorial.

Step 1. Have your rubber stamps stored and displayed very neatly in an over-the-door wire shelf organizing system, especially one whose bottom shelves are only a foot from the floor.

Step 2. Accidentally leave the afore-mentioned door open when you leave the room.

Step 3. Walk to another part of the house to take care of household chores.

Step 4. Own a small hyperactive dog like this one.

Step 5. Realize that you don't see the sweet little creature you have taken in off the streets, provided with a comfortable home along with plenty of food, water, and legal doggie chew toys.

Step 6. Start searching through the house only to startle this doggie in your bedroom with a piece of wood hanging out of one side of her mouth and an innocent look on her face that says, "What?!? I haven't done ANYTHING! Why are you looking at me like that?"

Step 7. Remove the wooden block from your pet's mouth, wipe the slobber and splinters off it, and locate the piece of rubber that has become detached from the wooden block with totally no effort on your part. See how easy-peasy that was!

Advantages to this method: Very little to no work involved for you. You can take care of other things while your artistic helper unmounts the stamps.

Disadvantages: You do run the risk of varying degrees of damage to the wooden block or rubber stamp depending upon how long it takes you to get back to your dog, how sharp her teeth are, etc.(See photo below). Also, you may find that it is very tedious picking the now-embedded pet hair from the part of the mount with the still-sticky adhesive. This might not be as bad for you, depending upon how well you keep your carpets vacuumed and/or how much your pets shed. If you find your doggie is not as adept as Maggie as the stamp removal, that is where I might be able to help you. Call me. Depending upon the day and how much damage has been done, she might be for rent!

No irony at all in the word on the particular stamp my lab assistant chose to alter for me!

Ok, another baby pic

2009-08-19T15:03:00.002-05:00

Emily took this one and sent it to Aunty HaHa who is then forwarding them to me. Thomas is already picking up his head and putting it on his arms. He also is already trying to turn over from his back. Of course, these days they aren't supposed to lay babies on their stomach to sleep due to SIDS risk, so they put him down on his back with one of those things with the wedges on either side of him(don't know what they are called). Emily says he still tries to roll over to his stomach over the support thingy. He had a visit to the doctor yesterday and is doing well. Is now 22 inches long and almost 9 lbs. They are changing formula to see if he'll spit up less with the new one. He's got his nights and days mixed up as they say. Sleeping more during the day and staying awake a lot more at night, but he is not really a fussy baby, so that is good.

Thrift store shopping today!

2009-08-18T16:02:00.006-05:00

Took some time to hit a couple of thrift stores, meeting up with a friend, Becky, a former coworker from Woodland who is an avid yard-saler, thrift store shopper, and couponer. We would shop bargain stories at work, so now we have to do it by phone, Facebook, or meeting up to talk or shop. So far there have been several opportunities made by the Woodland Lab gang to get together. I hope we are able to continue doing so as it is nice to keep up with these friends. Becky and I went to the Salvation Army in Cullman where we had pretty good luck and also to a new thrift shop, The Loft, being run by one of the local churches. This new store was very clean, had reasonable prices, just not as much merchandise but we still found a few deals.

Top photo shows most of my finds from the S.A. As usual, much there was over-priced, but if you keep digging there are bargains to be had. Got 2 Tupperware bowls, like new, for $1 each. A new Hallmark card organizer was $5, a tad high for my thrifting taste, but it included 3 new cards, too. I hope this will inspire me to organize my cards. Other deals include a bamboo tile placemat at $1 to be disassembled for the tiles, 2 pretty fabric wall-hangings of roses for $2, pretty photo album also $1(for baby pics you know), and this crazy fabric patchwork curtain that was $3. The curtain is a bizarre combination of odd-sized fabric pieces of various time periods, but it reminds me of some of the fabric artwork being done presently by Pam Garrison and Rebecca Sower. I'm thinking it could be embellished in the fashion of their work to be a cute table runner or even still used as a curtain. At the least, for that price, I can cut it up to get the various vintage fabric scraps to use in smaller pieces some other way.

In the bottom photo are the clothing finds of the day. The light purple blouse was from the Salvation Army and was cute, I thought for $3. Not showing up at all underneath everything is a navy pair of blue cropped pants, Caribbean Joe brand, that were $5, but in very nice shape from the church's shop. The shoes were all from the Loft and include: brown suede slipons for fall/winter $2, gold comfortable sandals $2, and the rhinestone flipflops were just 50 cents. Needed some dressier-looking flips as my black ones were mistaken for a chew toy by Miss Maggie!

It was nice to get some "me" time in the midst of the busyness that has been my off days this time. After being down in Tuscaloosa, then we were busy with a couple of church events. Monday I worked all day in the chicken house to help out Kerry and my inlaws. I got to sleep late today and then spend some time thrifting. All in all a great day for me. Of course, in the mean time, the housework still looms as does laundry and other household chores. But, what the hey, those never seem to get caught up anyway! As my friend, Kim, says, "these are highly over-rated!".

Latest art and baby stuff

2009-08-15T23:56:00.010-05:00

Sorry to not have blogged anymore, but I've been gone. Shown above is one of the reasons for my absence. After working off Wednesday morning, I drove down to Tuscaloosa with no sleep. Needed to see that grandbaby again, you know! Also wanted to help Emily out with a few things and see Holly a little bit more before she headed back to Texas. Wish I had gotten to see her more while she was visiting. It just didn't work out so well for that. As it was, though, she was able to help Emily on the days that I had to work. I had to take Holly to the airport on Thursday afternoon. Sad to see her go. This is Holly making a sad face right before we had to leave to go to the airport.

After seeing me blog about my experiments with combining photos with a painting technique on canvas board, Holly requested the 2 fall-looking ones. I really wanted to do a little bit more on making a hanger for them, like maybe with a twig and fibers, but since Holly said she liked them like they were and I didn't have a lot of extra time, they just ended up with a simple ribbon hanger.

I also got one of the 3 collages done for Thomas. I hesitate about showing it here, as I was totally inspired, shall we say, by someone's work on Etsy. I did make it my own by adding the sun and the letters, but the turtle is done much like hers. Decided to go ahead and show you, but link to her work and give her the credit for the inspiration. Her shop name is Kate Endle Collage. Clicking on the link will take you to her etsy pages. Her work is so wonderful. Being on a limited budget means you have to make your own sometimes. Emily had asked me to make some pictures for the nursery. She had seen something similar to these, wanting some art to bring more color into the room to bring together the bedding and other furniture pieces and toys. Went ahead and took this one on down, but still have 2 more to finish of an elephant and an alligator.

Thomas Jeffery Nolen

2009-08-08T09:12:00.011-05:00

Arrived in the world, Tuesday, August 4th, at 10:22 am. He weighed 8 lb., 11 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long. Emily had a c-section due to him measuring by ultrasound to be over 9 lb the week before he was born. The doctor was afraid to let him get too big and Em was having no changes at all as far as dilation, etc. As it turned out, it was a blessing. They found the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice, so they may have had to do an emergency c-section if there had been a normal labor.

Of course, just sharing a fraction of the photos on this post. There will be more. Trying to get a post in before getting ready for work. I was able to take a couple of nights off at the beginning of my week to be down there to see Thomas and help Emily some. Holly flew in from Texas Thursday and will be staying with them a week. I got to see her, too, which was wonderful! Just sad that I had to come back home Friday afternoon to go back into work Friday evening. Would have loved to stayed longer, of course. I was so wishing that it would work out that he was born during my off week, but then there were reasons that it happened the way it did. It can't be all about me, lol! They got to come home on Friday and are doing pretty well. Emily is very sore and Thomas is jaundiced. His bilirubin was 9 something the morning they left, so not too bad. Will have to go back tomorrow for bloodwork.

Craig is working 3rd shift now, too. Bless his heart, he had to go into work Friday night, as well. He's only been at his job a short time so he didn't have any leave built up. So it was Emily, Holly, and Thomas last night. Talked to them once about 1 am and Thomas had been awake since 9pm. Didn't hear anymore, so not sure how it went from there. He slept most of the day yesterday after being up all night Thursday while they did tests and worked with him in the hospital nursery to get hime ready to come home.

The new Mom with Thomas the day he was born.

The shot above was him in the nursery bed the day he was born.

This is my hubby, Kerry, also known as "Grampy" now.

Thomas at home on Friday. Sorry got my pics out of order when uploading. He had been asleep and the sound of the camera made him wake up just a little. Just enough to peek at the goofball that kept taking pictures.

The goofball and Thomas at the hospital.

Aunt Holly just in the door from Texas. She flew in Thursday. Her first time to fly and all by herself at that. Kerry picked her up at Birmingham airport. Emily came up with the name Aunty HaHa for Holly. Very appropriate!

From the left above is Uncle Blake(Craig's brother), Craig(the proud new Dad), and their Mom, Glenda, who wants to be known as Nana. We may have to say Nana Glenda since my daughters call my Mom, Nana. Craig's Dad, Jeffery, had to leave to go back to work, so I missed taking his photo with the baby.

Well, there will be more pics to follow.

Thomas will be here tomorrow!

2009-08-03T15:47:00.002-05:00

Emily just got out of her doctor's appointment. No changes, so she is going in tomorrow morning, Tuesday, August 4th, for a C-section. The doctor doesn't want to wait any longer since Thomas is measuring so big. So, tomorrow we'll be holding our new grandson! Can't wait to see him. Just pray that everything goes ok for both Mom and baby.

Lovely surprise

2009-07-30T23:05:00.003-05:00

Was received in the mail yesterday from a dear friend, Beth. It was so sweet of her to take the time to make and send this beautiful card! I love the artwork and then the sentiment is so appropriate: "Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars"-Henry Van Dyke. Thanks so much, Beth. I needed that reminder. The colors are so pretty and of course I love birds and flowers. It is now on my bulletin board by my computer to brighten my days.

I did get some grapes picked yesterday afternoon, late, after spending the day with Mom. Before I could finish, a storm blew in. It had been cloudy but not raining so I was going to work until I was done picking the ripe grapes or it started raining, whichever came first. Well, all of a sudden the wind started blowing so hard and in such a fashion that the trees were just whipping around, so I high-tailed it into the house. Not a minute later, a fairly large limb broke off one of the black walnut trees in the back yard and landed about where I had been. It stayed stormy like that for about 30 minutes or so.

Still need to get those grapes processed and finish picking the other ripe ones if I get time or the rain allows when I do. Will be going down this evening to help Emily with some things and coming back tomorrow morning. I've been on the phone or the computer taking care of business and talking to some friends and family on and off this morning, so I've not gotten anything done(except sleeping late, which was on my list of things to do).

July is flying by

2009-07-29T21:20:00.004-05:00

I'm cheating by using a photo I took last year of the butterfly bushes because I've not taken any good pics lately or completed anything artsy. When I'm working these 12 hour night shifts, it just seems to kill the creativity. I did work some more today on the pictures for Thomas' nursery. Not sure I'll get them done before he gets here, but I'm trying. I'm doing a set of 3 collage paintings, very simple ones of animals, that frankly I'm "being inspired", shall we say, by someone's work I saw on Etsy. I would have loved to purchase her art, but the budget just isn't there, so I'm making my own. There will be a turtle(the one almost done), an elephant, and an alligator.

Time just seems to fly by. I need to get so much done this week while I'm off. The grapes are ripening and I really want to put up some preserves this year. Last year we gave the grapes to a neighbor to make wine, as I was helping take care of Mom a lot more. I do need to take Mom to take care of some business tomorrow and go down to help Emily with last minute preparations since Craig is now working. May do that Friday evening and Saturday morning. The former Woodland laboratory employees are getting together Saturday evening at our most recent supervisor's home for a party. Sunday will be church. So, not sure when those preserves are going to get done. The grapes may not wait until next week, so I may try to get them picked, cut up, seeded, perhaps Friday, and then freeze them for making the preserves later on. I've read online that you can do that. Basically, none of this is really interesting, is it? I think I'm trying to plan my week as I'm typing, so please just bear with me. We'll call that a "time out", lol.

Good bit of news to share since I've not been posting that often. Emily is about to "pop", very miserable, and ready for that baby to be out of there! So she says! The due date is August 9th, but little "Thomas" is turning out to be not so little, weighing already an estimated 9 lb, 6 oz. by today's sonogram. There have been no changes yet so if no baby by her appointment on Monday they may then schedule a C-section. I was selfishly hoping he would be born this week while I am off so I would have more time to spend with them. If it is next week after I start back to work, then it will be hard to ask off at a new job, working a solo shift, for more than a couple of days. But, of course, whatever is best for the baby and Emily is what I want most of all. You will notice that all of the "stuff" I mentioned above would be no longer so important to get done if the grandson decides to make an appearance, lol!

The new job is going fairly well. The second week was better than the first, somewhat from me being more familiar and getting a routine, but mainly because it was not as terribly busy as it was at first. My first nights alone there were pretty awful, almost more than I could do. I was very worn out at the end of that week.

Seems like there was more than I was going to report on, but I can't remember it now. If it comes back to me, I'll edit the post and add it on.

Nursery pics for Holly

2009-07-21T13:00:00.008-05:00

This post is especially for Holly as she is not getting to attend the baby showers or see any of the preparations for little Thomas firsthand. Snapped a few shots in the nursery on Saturday while visiting Emily and Craig. They still have a few more things to hang on the wall and are refinishing a shelf/cabinet for future toys and books, so some items are in there awaiting a home.

Above, of course, the crib and the changing table. The crib was given to them by my former SIL and the bedding they chose is from Target. Em found the changing table at a yard sale and she and Craig painted the letters hanging above it.

The chest of drawers was Craig's growing up as was the toy chest you can see in the center of the room. We moved it to the corner after I took the shot. They repainted both pieces and are having to strip the shelf cabinet I mentioned earlier. Well, Craig is since Emily can't use the stripper. They have done a great job, I think, picking the colors. I'm working on some animal collage pictures this week to hang over the crib.

This little Rock-a-Bye lamb was a thrift store find early on in the pregnancy. I found it at a Salvation Army store very near Emily's house. It was $10, I think, which is pushing my limit on a thrift store purchase, but since it was like new I went ahead. Felt better when we looked them up online and found out they sell for about $125 when new.

The last picture is the Pack-n-Play. That is something new to me since mine were babies. Very nice! There have been a lot of changes since mine were little!

Some fairly recent art experiments

2009-07-15T20:40:00.005-05:00

I did these on our last camping trip at the end of May which I am so glad we got to take. Unknowingly my friends at work were already hearing rumors about the hospital being sold while we were away. They thought about calling me, but decided not to and I'm really glad they didn't. I blindly enjoyed several days of relaxation, resting, reading, and some art. Haven't done anything artistic since then. Just not had the time mainly, but also not really the inclination.

These are an experiment I wanted to do in using a photograph and incororating into a painted background. The inspiration for doing this was Angela Cartwright's technique as published in a recent Somerset publication. If you click on her name that will take you to her blog and here is a link to a piece of her lovely work she has on sale at Etsy, at really reasonable prices I might add. I'm too lazy to go hunt the magazine to scan those, but this one is done similarly. As you can see, her pieces have a simple color-washed background with designs done in the gesso. I started out trying to do this, but couldn't get it to look right. I ended up just working with the colors and backgrounds of the photographs to blend them. These were shots that you might remember me showing before from a trip last fall. The colors are prettier in person than they scanned,not as muddy-looking as they appear above, but still not any that I have in the house anywhere. Since they are lightweight I'm thinking on a way to make wall hangings out of them for the RV which does have this color scheme. As a matter of fact, the upholstery in the camper has a leaf pattern.

The canvases were thrift store purchases and were a pair of farm landscape prints on canvas minus their original frame, but only 50 cents each. Less than the cost of new canvas boards and I like the shape in relation to the photographs once turned up and down instead of sideways. I gessoed over the printed background with white and while it was still wet stamped into it and added texture with my brush. As it started to dry, I added gesso to the back of the photo and squished it into it deliberately so that the gesso covered the edges of the photo some. The color washes followed, but in trying to match to the colors in the photos, somehow I ended up with blah, pukey tones so I kept on working with it until they evolved as shown.

My thinking is maybe to add some wording and make a hanger of twigs to go with the woodsy look embellished with beads, fibers, or whatever strikes my fancy. May even have something hanging off the bottom.

I also did another larger canvas that I had to photograph since it won't fit on my scanner. This was another rescued thrift store canvas but it had an original painting of a really scary-looking face. I gessoed over that with black and then added an acrylic sand texture medium. The picture I chose to use on this one is the closeup I did of a leaf on a rock wall on the same fall trip. The photo is not glued on there crookedly. The photographer is just lousy in cropping her shots! Not finished with this experiment either. I was going to color wash this one, too, to bring the color of the rocks out into the background, but I like the look of the black with the gritty texture medium, so I can't decide. I am going to at least on all three unify the finish overall. On the bottom 2, think I will apply a layer of matte gel medium so the the shiny surface of the photos will be gone. For the top piece, I will most likely go with gloss gel medium.

BTW, do you need any confetti for any upcoming party or event? I have a confetti-maker I will hire out to you cheap! As an added bonus, she is really cute. Heck, some days I might even let you have her for free! Just kidding, we love her, but this is a picture of what the little stinker can do with plastic and paper.

Goodbye to Woodland!

2009-07-08T00:19:00.013-05:00

Went by this evening for one last visit to my old place of employment. It was sad to see it almost empty and boxes being packed up everywhere. Made me think of my friends and coworkers and how much I will miss them and this place. Above is a shot of the people I work with or have worked with in the lab in recent past. We got together a week ago to get a group picture since some of us have already left for our next job.

My years at Woodland began in 1981 when I was a lab student doing my 6 month internship. There were no openings at the time I finished so I looked elsewhere and was hired at Huntsville Hospital. After only a couple of weeks, the lab supervisor at Woodland, Suzanne Porter, called me to say that one of techs had decided to leave and to ask if I was interested in a position. Of course I said, yes, as it meant not having to move to Huntsville or keep on with a longer commute. So as the story goes, I've been there since January of 1982 as an employee. The company I worked for has changed several times over the years. At first I worked for what is now Labcorp, but was then called Medlab. The hospital subcontracted the lab services at that time. Medlab was bought by Roche and that is who I was working for when the hospital decided they would make more money by running the lab themselves. I had to either transfer to Birmingham to stay with Roche or begin working for Woodland. Since my girls were small, I opted to remain at the hospital. Woodland has been under the ownership of several corporations. Not sure I could remember the names of all of them.

Emily was born in 1983 and then Holly in 1985. While they were young it was great to have a job this close to home. I worked for 7 years on 3rds while they were growing up to allow me flexibility in my day schedule so I could do what I needed to as far as attending school functions, ballgames, etc. I could stay up and sleep later in the day or get up earlier in the afternoon depending on what was going on. After a while I got physically tired and switched back to day shift for several more years. That was until the layoffs last year and then I went back to 3rds again.

I've put in a lot of years at this hospital. Perhaps one reason I've been here so long has been because I don't like change. My friends and family will verify that statement! But it seemed like about the time I felt like I needed to move on, I would be able to change to a different shift or negative job situations would change for the better. I also saw over time that people would leave Woodland and then come back because they missed it so much. It really was like a family. We may have fought and bickered among ourselves some(but not too much) but if someone else messed with one of our coworkers we would stand behind them like you would a sister or brother. As a matter of fact, if I find out anyone is not treating one of friends right now at their new jobs, all they have to do is call and I'll be there to take up for them!

This camraderie we enjoyed enabled us to work together to do the best job we could in performing our work and taking care of our patients, and we did see them that way, OUR patients. Some of our anguish in the hospital closing has been about who is going to take care of these patients now. There were many who came in as outpatients for labwork that we became close to over time. It was not just a job where these patients were a test or a number or a dollar sign. They were real people with needs and worries who we really cared about. This leads me to my other pictures.

Right before Woodland was sold a little over a year ago, while it was still CHS, there was a lot of money wasted initiating a program to inspire us as workers to provide better service. I mean there was a LOT of money spent on training executives and supervisors, books, CD's, computer programs, etc, etc. by a company that was about to sell us to another company? Go figure!?! It was a waste of time and money also because the employees of Woodland were already providing an excellent level of care. We didn't need pillars erected in the front entrance area to tell us what to do. My apologies if any of you read this that had do some of this stuff. I know a lot of you were just doing your job and had to do what those higher up the corporate ladder told you to do. But if any of you read this that made these decisions, I would like to let you know how it made me feel as an employee. I felt insulted, not inspired, and angry that so much money was spent by a company that would turn around and ask me to take time off without pay to save money near the end of the year so that budgets could be met and bonuses be paid. Then in turn you sell us to a company that then turns around and sells us again to another hospital who closes us down. All this was supposed to be done for the better of the community, the people. Below are some closeups of a couple of the "Pillars of Excellence" that were installed at the entrance to the soon-to-be-closed Woodland Community Hospital. In the end, you have to ask yourself, what was most important, the people or the finance?

Sorry to be away so long without a word

2009-07-04T23:02:00.006-05:00

Life has been pretty hectic while I've been trying to finish out at one job and start at another. Worked extra days to get some training at the new position. Will be going in next Wednesday evening there to start my night shift work week. The first few nights I'll be working with someone, then I'll be on my own. I expected to be working my last week at Woodland right now but they decided to cut staff back and let the workers go on that already had other jobs lined up. I didn't find this out until the this past Tuesday, the day before I thought would be going in to start my final week at Woodland. I still had people I hadn't said goodbye to and thought I still had time to do that, take a few more photos, etc. I had to go on up and clean out my locker that evening since I was going to be working at Hartselle for the remainder of the week. It was hard when I loaded up my car and pulled out of the parking lot to realize that I would never be going back there again as an employee and that 28 years at this work place was over. Will really miss the place and the people I've worked with. Lots of memories!

The reason I'm showing the picture of Bama is that we have had another loss in the midst of all this. Bama started getting sick and was just not eating much any more. At first I thought it was because she was upset about Maggie being here, then realized that she was sick. Well, she started wanting to stay outside and one day last week, she disappeared and we've not seen her since. Bama was another of Emily's Tuscaloosa rescues that ended up at Mom and Dad's. We were of course not sure how old she was since we don't know how old she was when Emily took her in. So my computer buddy is gone. I miss her sitting by my hand while I tried to blog or surf the web. Also at night, she would come into the bedroom and lay on my side while we slept. If she needed water or food, she would sit by my face and stare at me, resorting to gently slapping my face if I didn't wake up and do what she wanted. So rest in peace wherever you are sweet Bammy! We miss you!

Ties That Bind Raffle is going on!

2009-06-23T01:53:00.004-05:00

You can visit the Ties that Bind blog
or go directly to the raffle spot by clicking on the picture button below:

Here is some of the auction info:

"It was one year ago that we began this project. Everyone pitched in with their art. Now it's time to pitch in againby donating and spreading the news!Remember this is a tax deductible donation! Give big. Give often.If we can get 500 people to donate $20 over the next 4 months we will raise $10,000.How awesome would that be???????We can do this. If everyone here gets just 6 people to donate $20.....we can go beyond that goal!
THAT IS ONLY 6 PEOPLE DONATING PER ARTIST.

Tickets are 1 for $5 or 6 for $20

We would like to announce that Scrapbook Royalty will be hosting the Ties That Bind Art Doll raffle this summer.Donating will be sweet, simple AND tax deductible! Scrapbook Royalty....It's not just for scrap booking anymore.

Scrapbook Royalty is dedicated to raising money and awareness for worthy causes. 100% of the money raised by participants, silent auctions, and raffles is donated directly to charities. Scrapbook Royalty will not collect any fees from Ties That Bind. All money raised by the Ties That Bind raffle will be sent to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund http://www.ocrf.org/ . Scrapbook Royalty is a non profit organization based in San Diego, CA and run by founder Elena Etcheverry with help from volunteers.

Scrapbook Royalty has held fundraisers, raffles and auctions for many worthy causes.

We've had a few people tell us that they would prefer not to purchase raffle tickets because *after all that is a big doll and I just don't have a place for her*....Well, you if you also feel that way you can just make a Donation ONLY.

When you click the donation button and sign into PayPal there will be a link that says:

+add special instructions to the seller

Just click on that and type in Donation Only - No tickets. That way no raffle ticket numbers will be assigned to your name and you have still contributed towards our goal of raising $10,000."

If you would like, you can see a gallery of photos of the doll. My charms are both in the picture that is used in the raffle button above. If you care to read my thought process, this is the link to where I posted about it right after finishing the charms. Here are my photos of the charms before I sent them on their way.

Sorry, I'm not been posting much

2009-06-22T04:42:00.003-05:00

There are some posts that I want to get done, but just haven't yet due to time and computer constraints. The Ties that Bind auction is going on. Please check it out by clicking on the button at the side. I've been meaning to blog about that with pictures and links to the auction and the blog, but since the auction site has lots of photos, it was just taking a long time to try to do it at home with dialup internet speed. I can take my laptop to work and do it there, but I've been forgetting to do it once I'm at work. Think that is because when I'm at the hospital all I can think about then is the fact that I won't be working there much longer and how sad it is that the hospital is closing down entirely. That is what I am most upset about. Moving onto another job is kind of scary(ok, for me, really scary!) but the reality of this hospital no longer being in operation is hard to grasp.

To get back to the auction topic, the awesome doll that was made and being raffled off has been photographed and will be published in a Somerset publication, I think, and also in a book that is being printed to raise more money for the worthy cause of ovarian cancer research. I will do my best to get more detailed info on here soon.

I also have some pics from last weekends showers for baby Thomas that I could post, but I've not gotten around to that either. I am definitely not in the best frame of mind these days for many reasons. Father's Day has hit me harder than I thought it would. Since Dad's disease had made him not really be there as far as his mind the last few years, I thought I had probably already dealt with the Father's Day issue, but I guess not totally so.

Will be going up to train some on my "off" days from this job at the end of this week at the new job, so I'll not have much leisure time this week. So glad we got to go camping when we did. We had tentatively planned to go this week as we would not have chickens for Kerry to look after(they are catching them today), but will have to wait for a better time. It would have been really hot anyway, I guess.

Again, my apologies for lack of posting and any pictures. I will hope that better days are ahead.

Baby showers for little Thomas

2009-06-14T21:19:00.005-05:00

Here is a still shot from the ultrasound of Thomas Jeffery, showing his sweet profile. As of a little over a week ago he already weighed approximately 4 lb. 11 oz. His measurements are ahead of where he should be in relation to the due date, August 9, so the doctor said he might be born a little earlier. All along with my pregnancies with my 2 dd's I measured bigger than I should but they were both late. They were just big babies. Emily weighed 8 lb. 13 oz, 22 1/2 inches long and Holly was 10 lb 5 oz, 23 1/2 in. long. We decided that was big enough and called it quits.

We've been busy this weekend with baby showers. Craig's family in Heflin, Alabama had a shower for them Saturday evening and then our family had one today here in West Point. They were blessed with so many lovely gifts. Thomas is going to be one well-dressed little fellow! Such cute outfits they have for boys now! Can't wait to see him! All in good and proper time. The only sad spot in the festivities was missing Holly. They filmed the showers though and Craig is supposed to be fixing it up so Holly can watch them. Emily and Craig gave Holly a webcam and hope to be able to get one themselves so Holly can watch Thomas over the internet after he gets here. That is one great thing about the internet, how it helps bring us closer together.

Now I'm praying that my work schedule will work out so I can be there. With changing new jobs, I'm going to have to swap weeks in my work rotation from what I am working now, meaning, if my schedule remains as it is now, I'll work 7 days in a row at Woodland and then immediately begin my 7 days on at Hartselle. My transfer is going through for me to work at this other hospital owned by the corporation I presently work for. It is not too much farther than I drive now, in the county just north of us. We keep hearing rumors that our corporation will be closing this hospital next, but then who knows!?! The employees will always be the last to find out, that much I know for sure. I figure at least it will buy me some time to get some bills paid off and be getting my resume updated.

I've still not gotten my head around the fact that the hospital is going to be closed down. It just seems surreal. I mean if I had left my job there in normal circumstances, the hospital itself would still have been there to go back to. Some coworkers would remain to visit. Going through this process is like waiting on a death that you know is inevitable and just as difficult. Each time one of my coworkers leaves it is like we've cut off a part of the body. Then we are going to reach the moment where, as in a code, the end is pronounced and those of us left have to accept the death and walk away.

I've been mad and sad, sometimes within just a few minutes of each other. Some of the literature that was handed to us the day we were told of the hospital's sale and closing was supposed to be about helping you deal with all the emotions to come. An "expert" who had written it warned that you might find yourself blaming your family, coworkers, or supervisors and offered suggestions for coping. I find this sadly laughable. I think we all know where blame can be placed and I know exactly where to direct my anger. I'm just going to have to learn how to let it go. It will not do me any good nor change the course of events. Greed and the love of money will remain as the root of evil that is feeding our corporations. Lots more I can say along this subject, but perhaps it is best left for another day.

I know this post has been up and then down, but that is my life right now. I have so much to be thankful for and am richly blessed in so many ways. Then there are the difficult and sad times that have come my way, some happening right along side the happy. Such is life I suppose.

Post #2-remainder of art deck cards

2009-06-08T13:19:00.007-05:00

King hearts-windows theme

Queen hearts-Alice in Wonderland theme

Jack hearts-furry friends theme

Ten hearts-ocean theme

Nine hearts-sewing theme

Eight hearts-use ribbon

Seven hearts-use colors orange, lime, raspberry

Here are the remainder of the cards. Sorry some of the scans are not the best, but the cards and the holder are still in the possession of the publishing company. Not sure when they will find their way home again.

I want to also post sometimes the art project I tried while on our camping trip. Needless to say I've not been in the mood to do any art this week with the upcoming closing of the hospital.

Post #1-my art deck cards

2009-06-08T12:55:00.008-05:00

Six hearts-Vision theme

Five Hearts-Numbers theme

Four hearts-Birds theme

Three hearts-Specimen theme

2 Hearts-Journey theme

Ace hearts-Time theme

These are part of the cards I made and sent in for the collaborative book. I only have the hearts suite done so far. I do plan to try to do all the others just for the fun of it and already have the folders laid out to make to hold them. As I mentioned last post, each card had a theme. I'll show part of them in this post and do another for the others. I couldn't share any of them until the book was published. As it turned out, the main focus of the book was not on the individual art, but the project itself and how it was done. Since you could only see the first card, I thought I'd show you the others.

Publication pictures and tentative good news

2009-06-06T12:26:00.005-05:00

These are scans of the book by L.K. Ludwig, the cover shown above, in which some of my work was published. My first time in print, yay! The book is about collaborative art projects and mine was part of a group effort, Magpie Arts, whose work is shown below. The objective of our project was to complete 5x7" cards representing each of a deck of playing cards with each card being assigned a theme. These were not for a swap, but to keep for yourself. The idea being to see what each person came up with for the theme and to share the art online. I joined the group late so I was behind most of them. At the time the work was submitted for publication, I had only the hearts suite done. We were to make some type of holder for either the entire deck of cards or, as in my case, something for each suite. I decided on making a box whose top would have some type of roof shape to it, each different. Of course, I've not finished any of the others yet, but hope to one day. I have the cardboard cut out and ready to assemble for each "house". For the house of hearts, the roof is arched. It is in the scan at the bottom. My work ended up being featured in a different section of the book than the group art. As a matter of fact,my name is not even mentioned in the write-up about the group's project or even, unfortunately, by the picture of my house of hearts book with the cards inside. I contacted the publisher and heard back from them that hopefully this will be corrected in future printings of the book, the next of which will be done very soon. But I have to say I was bummed out that my copy does not have my name.

Overall the book is very lovely. Lots of wonderful art of all kinds is included. My piece was moved from the group pages to a section near the front about different ways art projects can be presented. L.K. seemed to think that was when my name was left off the caption.

In the good news department and in reference to my last post, I think I have a job position secured at Hartselle Hospital working the same shift that I am here. This will be a transfer, so that I will be able to maintain my benefits, vacation and sick days. I've nothing in writing yet, so it's not for sure and certain. Please continue praying that this will work out and that all employees here will be able to find other jobs.

In shock this morning

2009-06-01T10:48:00.002-05:00

I just got calls from friends at work that our hospital is being closed next month, July 15th. I'm off work right now, but there are employee meetings being held today, so I'll be going in at 3pm for one to find out more. I'm posting here so that those of you who believe in prayer will be praying for the employees losing their jobs to be able to find new ones. Most of the nurses will probably be ok, as there are more nursing jobs, just maybe not as close to home, but other departments will be more hard-pressed to find jobs, especially in this economy. Lab jobs are not easy to come by so those of us who are left in the lab may not all find work in our field anyway.

I've had suspicions from some things that have been happening, but there have always been rumors surrounding our hospital and it's closing since it is the smaller of 2 hospitals in our county, so it was hard to know whether to believe them or not. As a matter of fact, we've been bought by the other hospital, thus eliminating any choices as far as hospital care in this area. There are rumors that it may be opened up later as a rehab center or something like that, but immediate plans are just for our hospital to be closed.

Again, just be praying for all those involved to be able to find jobs. I will have to have one, as my dh is self-employed, and so we need my income as well as the health insurance. I've been at this hospital for 28 years so it has been a long time since I've looked for a job.

Camping trip is on!

2009-05-27T11:05:00.005-05:00

Was tentatively planning on it starting tomorrow through Monday, but I had forgotten Kerry's Dad's knee surgery is on Monday. So, we are pulling out with the camper today, so that I can get some time away to rest, relax, and reflect. This is the first time we will have camped this year, besides the trip earlier to the races in Bristol, TN. Poor hubby won't get to stay all the time as he has jobs that have to be done here on the farm but he hopes to be up there the evenings and most of the weekend. We'll be coming back on Sunday.

I just got off from my work week, so I'm busily working on getting the camper packed up when I thought I might better post on here in case I don't get time to find some internet. I'm taking my computer, thinking that I might go catch a Wi-Fi connection somewhere or perhaps the park might have it by now. If not, I'll be back online come Sunday evening to respond to any messages.

I'm packing up some art supplies, books, movies, & magazines. I always take too much STUFF, but a girl needs to have options! I may not go anywhere but where we are camping I also could visit some shops or thrift stores if the mood strikes me. The doggies are going, of course, so I'll have company when Kerry is not there.

Still not received my shipment from Amazon with the book. I'm impatiently waiting! Wish it would get here before we leave. I'll be posting pics of my project when I get back.

Notes from the Universe

2009-05-25T02:15:00.005-05:00

I signed up for these inspirational emails from here after seeing it mentioned on someone's blog. Sorry, I don't remember whose because it was one of those times where I clicked here and then there and then here and ... well, you know how it goes if you read many blogs, lol. I wanted to share one that I love:

"Some things should be done just for the fun of it. Not because they're inexpensive, practical, organic, logical, fashionable, modest, brilliant, green, expected, proper, spiritual, thinning, fattening, prudent, or allergen-smoke-chemical free."

Isn't that a great reminder!?! Children have no trouble with this. How do we lose this ability to do something "just because"? So, sometime this week, at least, do something just for fun.

BTW, when you sign up for the emails, the program asks you for some information about your dreams so that when the emails come they are somewhat personalized. I've enjoyed receiving them. Very often they bring a smile to my face just from the content of the message or from the funny way "the Universe" signs off such as the signature for the above message which was "please supersize me, The Universe".

Posting update, pics added

2009-05-22T03:30:00.007-05:00

I've not had time to get pics uploaded which is one of the reasons I've not posted lately even though there is much going on right now. After being berated by Holly about no new posts, I'd thought I would go ahead and get one up here even without a photo, which I may try to add later.(ok, I've added a couple of Maggie so you can see her)

Holly and Chris are now in Waco, Texas. I helped them get packed up Wednesday,13th, along with my 2 nephews, and Emily's hubby, Craig. Holly and Chris left out early Thursday morning with one of the twins, Tad. Kerry was not able to get away from the farm until Thursday evening due to water leaks, etc, etc. which put us on the road ALL NIGHT, not arriving in Waco until 7 am on Friday morning. My other nephew, Ty, came along with Kerry and me to also help. We took a short nap and then were up to get their stuff unloaded. Don't know what we all would have done without the help of Ty and Tad(and my son-in-law, Craig, in getting the van loaded). We were fortunate as well that Chris has a cousin who will be living a couple of miles from them and he brought his foster sons over Friday afternoon to assist in unloading the Uhaul. We woke up Saturday to a day of rain, so if the truck had not already been unloaded it would have been a mess. So thanks go out to several young men!

Holly and Chris were allowed to repaint. They decided to do so and also to strip wallpaper from the 2 bathrooms which were sadly dated(we are talking faded blue and mauve floral print). Of course, this had to be done before stuff could be moved in. They stayed up most of the night Thursday after they got there and then we all worked together Friday and Saturday to get everything done and most of their stuff unpacked. Sunday we finished the unpacking and then got pictures hung and knick-knacks out. It was a marathon of DIY, unpacking, and decorating. We fell into bed exhausted Sunday evening and then got up Monday morning for a tearful goodbye to head back to Alabama. We drove to Tuscaloosa to leave the boys at their apartment and to pick up our doggies, Max and Maggie, from Emily's house.

Emily and Craig were really glad to see us! Maggie and their dog, Coal, had bonded and being very active dogs had played themselves silly. Poor Max thought they were fighting, so he kept trying to intervene and would try to get between Maggie and Coal creating a 3 ring circus, lol!

Still need to get some pics up here of Maggie. She is a mess! Sweet, but into everything! It's like having a manic 2 year old in the house. I found a chewed plug end the other day and have yet to figure out what it went to. Hopefully nothing vital. I've lost several house shoes, multiple pens, some book covers, magazines, etc. She will even chew on aluminum cans!

I've been having to hold back on some news on the art front for some time. I was involved in an art project that was submitted for publication in LK Ludwig's newest book, Collaborative Art Journals and Shared Visions in Mixed Media. This was months ago and while we had been told the project was included in the book, I wasn't sure if my part would be. The book is now out and evidently my work is mentioned. I'll be posting more about this later on. I've ordered the book from Amazon and will be able to tell you more for sure after I receive it. I do have scans of the art I made for this that I did before I sent them off but, of course, couldn't share them until the book was published. For now you can read what Deb Lewis, the group coordinator has posted about on her blog, Vintage Moon Studio.

This is the first time anything I've done has been published, so I'm excited to say the least. I've been too cowardly to submit anything or just not taken the time to do so. Deb was very instrumental in getting the group to get their projects ready for submission, so really I've her to thank for this.

Other things I've not really blogged about include gifts for Mother's Day from the girls which were a painting done by Holly and some pretty potted flowers from Emily and graduation pics from 2 weeks ago. Will try to get some of these posted soon. Also, I've not forgotten that I promised to do a one year anniversary giveaway, I just keep putting it on the back burner. I'll have to come up with another name for it when I do get around to doing it.

Oriental tags

2009-05-11T18:38:00.010-05:00

Here are the tags I made for our recent tag swap on the atc_yahoo group. The scans weren't the greatest. I still had some tags leftover from a previous art project that had been aged with coffee, so that's how these started out. Above is the front and back of one of them and below the same for the other. We were supposed to decorate both sides. For the one with the woman on it, I collaged a piece of a pretty soap wrapper and then a stamped image which was hand-colored with pencils and pens. Also, some layers of color around the image with more stamping with extra color on the tag itself from several stamp pads just dabbed here and there before and after the collaging was done. Embellishments are flower brads, handcut and folded paper leaves, Oriental coin at the top with the fibers. For the back, I collaged some torn papers for the hills below the temple charm glued over a paper scrap and added a strip of ribbon to finish it off.

The butterfly tag below was a prettier color than shows up here, especially the orangey fabric strip in the fibers on top. I tried to color-correct it,but couldn't seem to get it right, maybe because it was a silk-type fabric with a little bit of a sheen. The front and back central images are from some stamps I have also colored with markers and pencils to enhance them some more. Again, overall used several different stamp pads to add more color. The butterfly was a printed image. I used some of the Sakura gel pens for extra color on the butterfly and the moon and bamboo and then decided some stippling with a black fine-tipped marker would add some depth around the back image.

Not sure if I'll have computer time or access until next week. I work one more night and then will be going down tomorrow, Wednesday, to help get the Uhaul packed up for Holly and Chris. Then we'll be leaving out on Thursday headed to Waco, Texas to get them settled in there. Kerry is coming down to Tuscaloosa on Thursday to pick me up so I can ride with him, after he gets some work down in the chicken houses that he needs to get done before leaving the farm with his Dad. The plan is for us to stay until Monday. I"m going to take my laptop, I think, in case there is come wireless internet available somewhere that I can use to check in here and to check email, but you never know if there will be time to do so and if I'll be able to find it.

Another beautiful tag

2009-05-07T12:33:00.011-05:00

This one I received a few days ago, but I've not had time to blog about it. It was made by Jane Widman, from New York, who is another friend from the atc-group on yahoo. She was also one of the first people I swapped art with and is a very talented artist. The first atc's I received from her were all individually hand-drawn. Jane has since branched out to try collage. This tag is a lovely example of Jane's gorgeous work. Above are scans of the front and back of the main tag and then below is the sweet little tag tucked into the pocket, which is a little work of art all on it's own. I was a very lucky recipient in this tag swap! Thanks, Jane!

I've not heard yet if the tags I sent out were received. I hope so. I did scan them before mailing, but the scans turned out kind of dark. After showing the beautiful ones I received, I'm kind of hesitant about showing mine, but I will when I get time to post about it. They were Oriental in theme.

Life has been kind of crazy this past week, so that my time off just flew by, not allowing much time at home, much less time to be on the computer. The kids were home this weekend for a little while. My in-laws wanted to have a going away/graduation party for Holly and Chris. Then I went down Sunday evening and stayed until Monday evening to help Holly pack. Emily was off and my MIL went down, too, so the 4 of us were able to get a good bit done. Also, I volunteered to help out with a costume/drama committee at church and we've gotten together a couple of times during this past week. I let them know up front that I don't really sew. I was thinking I'd work on props or do handwork, but I'm proud to say I did sit down at a sewing machine and sew the edges down on a couple of belts. Maybe that will be enough to help me get over my fear of failure and enable me to get my machine out and attempt some art quilting when time allows.

Oh, yes, we also got another doggy during this week. Sorry, no pics yet as my camera batteries were dead and I just got some more yesterday. I had time to take a few pics, but not to get them uploaded to the computer or to post. I wasn't really ready for another pet at this time, but Kerry was. He insisted we go by Pet Depot Saturday to see the pups they had there from the shelter and we drove to the shelter to see the ones there. We ended up going back to the pet store and bringing home Miss Maggie, who posed her way into our hearts and our home. She is a one year old Jack Russell terrier mix who looks like a black/white border collie that started growing and then quit. Her hair is not slick short, but then not as long as a collie's either. Maggie is really sweet, but also a stinker. It's kind of like having a 2 year old in the house again. As soon as you turn your back, she's sneaking around and getting into something. I joked with Holly that this is one way to declutter. So far she's chewed the handle off of a shabby chic basket I had lotions stored in the bedroom and somehow managed to get a beeswax candle off the piano(? how this happened) and chew part of it up. So far no shoes have bit the dust, but a couple of magazines and a bottle of powder have. She is an attention hog so that we are having to really work to make sure Max gets some love, too. I'll be sure to get some pics of her on here when I have time. It is going to be hard to get a good shot of her since she hardly ever stops moving.

Not sure how much posting I'll get done here over the next week. I'm taking off work the next couple of evenings for Chris and Holly's graduation on Saturday. Holly is graduating Magna Cum Laude from the College of Education at the University of Alabama and Chris is getting his degree in Business. We are very proud of both of them! Then after I work off on Wednesday morning, we'll be going back to Tuscaloosa, loading a Uhaul with their stuff, and then leaving early on Thursday headed for Waco, Texas. Chris will be attending seminary there and Holly will hopefully begin her teaching career. They have found an apartment which Holly wants us to help her paint some of the rooms in before we get their stuff moved in. After helping them get settled in as much as possible, we'll be on our way back to Alabama, either on Sunday or Monday. I keep telling them I'm getting to old for this moving business, but they don't seem to be listening!

Lots of momentous events in our lives recently and to look forward to in our future. I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. Most of the time I'm ok, just taking one day at a time, but then sometimes it will feel overwhelming and I'll give in to a little cry. But that's all right, I'm gonna laugh and enjoy the fun parts of the ride, too!

Lovely mail yesterday!

2009-04-29T11:11:00.003-05:00

This piece of art in tag form was made by Diane Tisch who is the atc_group on yahoo. She has been a member of this group for awhile, even when it was an MSN group, and was one of the earliest people I swapped atc's with. Diane was also really supportive when my oldest dd, Emily, was in the group during a difficult time in Em's life and I appreciate her so much for that. Her work is always so beautiful and so well-done.

I've been working on the 2 tags I'm doing for this swap and will be mailing them out tomorrow. Just worked off my 7 day stretch this morning. We will be fairly busy the next few weeks. Holly and Chris are graduating from college on May 9th which is a Saturday right in the middle of my next work week. I asked off for Friday and Saturday and some of my coworkers have been kind enough to fill in for me so I can attend her graduation. Then the following Wednesday, we'll be heading down to Tuscaloosa to help Chris and Holly pack up to move out to Waco, Texas on Thursday, 14th. I, at least will be riding or driving out there to help them for a few days. Hopefully Kerry will be able to go as well, depending on how his Dad is doing. I am glad to report my Mom is doing great since her arthroscopic knee surgery. Her left knee is pain-free enough that she is able to walk around much better and she is even still having a small amount of improvement in her stroke arm enabling her to do a few more tasks by herself, like her laundry. She has to take her time, but it is probably good therapy really for stroke recovery.

Some of my mantras

2009-04-24T03:38:00.007-05:00

I have a tendency to let others make me feel inferior. To try to overcome these feelings I have started saying some mantras to myself. I don't always remember to do this and I'll catch myself in a mind set where I am letting other people make me feel that way again, sometimes for a long period of time, before I wake up and realize it is happening and remind myself to repeat my phrases. They are not always these same words and it may seem silly, but I've found it helps me to refocus and to regain some self confidence. I decided I wanted to record these here, partially to remind me if I need it and then maybe someone else might find it helpful.

BTW, if you are one of the people who find that the easiest way to make yourself feel better is by putting someone else down or pointing out the fault of others, you need to realize the harm you might be doing. I think we all may do this from time to time. I realize I am guilty of this myself. I'm trying to do better in this regard. We all need to remember that no one is perfect and ask ourselves, one day if we make a mistake, do we want those around us to be glad to see us down or to be there with a hand to help us up? I think sometimes rather than trying to make yourself feel better by criticizing it has just become a bad habit to do so rather than compliment. Also, I'm sure that at times I might be misreading what someone means, but regardless of intent, I still seem to be talented at making myself feel unworthy or less worthy than others. Isn't it amazing all the "stuff" that swims around in our heads? Or maybe it is just me?

So anyway, here is what I say to myself, silly as it may be:

Do not let others rob you of joy.
I am important and special to God.
My feelings and opinions are valid AND of as much worth as those belonging to others.
Do not let others bring you down.

Ok, my little sermonette for the day.

Our sweet Angel is now an angel

2009-04-23T03:13:00.009-05:00

Even when you know it is coming and you know they are better off, it is still really hard to let them go. Angel had been having trouble getting around since last year. The vet had us try glucosamine supplements, which did help some, I guess, but lately it was getting harder for her to get back up if she slipped down on the hardwood floors as her hip joints were bad and then even her front leg was bothering her this week. Her vision was getting really bad. During this last few months, we had been debating taking her to the vet to have her put to sleep, but it would seem like that about the time we thought maybe we should, she would get better for a time. Starting Tuesday she was very restless and couldn't seem to ever get settled down. She kept falling down and then started getting really sick during the night. We were going to take her to the vet today, but Kerry called me at work to let me know she had passed on. I was able to hold her a lot yesterday and tell her how special she was and how much we loved her. I hope she understood. Kerry had her next to him in the bed when she died. Kerry was crazy about Angel. He's not one to be emotional, but he was about this little dog.

We were not really sure how old Angel was as Emily rescued her from the animal shelter in Tuscaloosa about 7 years ago, I think it was. The shelter told Em that Angel was about 8 or 9, so if that was right, she was about 16 years or so. She had evidently been in a bad home before as her hair was so matted that they had to shave it off and she was skin and bones basically. Her hip had been broken at some point and never set so that she always walked with a limp. So she probably lost some years off of her life from malnutrition and abuse. You could tell she had been hungry by how fast she would eat any treats you gave, as if she was starving to death. How anyone was ever mean to this precious Angel I will never know. She hardly ever barked and while she loved to be petted if you weren't paying attention to her, she would go off and lay down to sleep. I don't think I've ever seen a sweeter animal.

She was a little thing, but I still remember when we first got her how she would get a run and go to jump up on the couch to sit with us and hopefully get a belly rub, her favorite thing. We have pictures of her sitting with her eyes closed in bliss while someone rubs her stomach as in this shot.

I think I've explained before how we came to have her at our house. Emily decided she wanted a pet while she was in college. After a while, she realized that she and her room mate weren't home enough to care for a pet properly, so Angel came to stay with Mom and Dad. Later on, when Emily probably could have taken her back, Kerry wouldn't hear of it, as he had become attached to her by then. Even our other dog, Max, loves her. If I ever went to let him out to do his business, but didn't have Angel with me to take her out as well, Max would just sit down and look at me until I went to get Angel, too. He's probably not going to know what to think.

Bye, sweet thing!

Catching up and thrifting goodies

2009-04-20T09:41:00.011-05:00

Sorry to not be blogging that much. Time seems to get away from me. I've spent some of my off time at the end of last week trying to get caught up on laundry and getting rid of a few clothes as I go through them. Also, been trying to clean up the art room some, at least the work table. I have a list of projects that I want to get done, some big, some little. Most involve decluttering or cleaning. The others are bigger ones like finishing up our remodeling efforts in the kitchen and utility room. I figure if I get a little done here and there it will eventually add up. Of course, I would love it if my screened in porch were ever completed. My dh promises we will work on at least the roof when we get back from getting Holly and Chris moved to Texas in May. To give him a little break, he is working a part time job in addition to the farm and his Dad has been limited in what he can do since his recent back surgery, so hubby has more to do than usual.

Have been able to get in a few thrift store shopping expeditions. These trips are stress relief for me and much needed after last week at work. I've gotten some great buys with several nice tops and 2 like new pairs of Izod pants. Found a couple maternity jeans for Emily. These finds were from the Salvation Army in Cullman where I also got a great deal on a king size Ralph Lauren comforter cover AND bedskirt for $10. It's a lovely floral bark cloth(I think) or a nubby linen that you can see in a close up. We have a formal looking blue comforter on the bed now, but I'd like to be able to have something less fussy for a change. Got a few other deals as well, including some hand crocheted wash clothes and this vintage Mexican floral curtain panel shown in the photo at the bottom. I've not taken pics of everything.

We went down on Saturday to take a baby bed down to Emily and Craig that my sister in law gave them and some boxes to Holly and Chris so they can start packing to get ready to move:( Holly and Chris were out of town attending one of his cousin's weddings in South Alabama so we didn't get to see them. The main reason we went down was so Kerry could go to the scrimmage game at the U. of Ala. Craig also went to the game. Emily was working. I did go by to see her at work, but then also killed some time thrifting, of course. Thomas has some more clothes now. I couldn't resist a pair of cute olive green overalls in 3-6 months and a few other items for him. I have a Santa mug and pitcher collection, most of which was given to me by my MIL. I try to add mugs when I find good ones. Got one Saturday for 50 cents that is really unique and has a face on each side. Other goodies included a small classical statuette in white and a cute Made In Japan relish tray. Then take a look at this starched-beyond-belief pink and white doily. I scanned it so you could see it up close. It's an odd shape that you can see in the blurry photo. Perhaps it was made to put at the top of a chair back? I'm not sure if I'll ever get all that starch out, but it was only $1.50 and it was begging to be rescued. For $2 I got a new Christmas framing set by Colorbok that I don't plan on using as is. The kit includes an 8x8" canvas which will hopefully be used for a mixed media painting and then I'll have the scrapbooking paper, metal name plate and other embellishments for other projects. Oh, yes, I bought 2 cute purses. Those are at the back of one of the shots.

We also got a little yard work done here and then I spent Friday afternoon at Mom's cleaning up sticks from recent storms before her mowing guy got there and will be going back today to her house to finish up some other work in her flower beds. We've been lucky to have made it through recent storms without much damage. I lost my only remaining rose bush last week. It was like it was just plucked up out of the ground and thrown out in the yard.

I hope to get some art time in here maybe tomorrow. I think I'll just have to give myself permssion to be all right with doing that. The problem with having a to-do list for me is that I then feel guilty if I'm not doing something on the list. Ok, I'm seeing what I need to do and that is put "make some art" on the list. Maybe that will help with the guilt thing. Why are women so good at making ourselves feel guilty about stuff like this? Do you ever see a guy worrying about making time for what he wants to do vs. housework? Not my guy, anyway!

Easter at our house and OWOH giveaway received

2009-04-14T18:44:00.012-05:00

It's has been a crazy week. Very busy at work and then lots going on outside of work with it being Easter. Our church choir presented an Easter musical. The girls participated in the presentation, so they came home for that as well as to visit for Easter along with their hubbies. Friday morning I had to find time to get some food in the house, as we had a pretty bare cupboard. Friday evening we had dress rehearsal for the choir. Emily's birthday was the 13th, Monday, so we kind of had a birthday supper for her Saturday evening since they were going to be back home on the day of her birthday. I woke up to the smell of food cooking. The kids fixed supper which was lovely and then we had birthday cake for Emily. Now that I think back on it, Emily had to help fix her own birthday supper, bless her heart.

The pics of the family were taken Easter Sunday after we got home from church and before I went to bed to try to get some sleep in. The shot with me in it exemplifies why you don't see many photos of me. I am so not photogenic. It was a very windy day as you can see. A very handsome bunch, I think, excepting my mug. Emily is starting to look pregnant and glowing. She's almost 6 months now. Hard to believe time is flying by this fast. We are going to have a busy summer, what with Holly and Chris moving in May and then little Thomas making his debut in August.

Also, thought I'd show my 2 last minute Easter displays. Friday I was cleaning up the house some and decided the house would be a little more welcoming and festive for the kid's visits with some decorations. I've collected bunnies on and off over the years so one grouping shows several of those. The middle bunny dish is sitting on a cedar plank that my Dad once cut for me(I've 2 of these) and that I love to use in decorating. The other photo shows the dining table centerpiece where I used an old lamb planter that used to belong to my grandmother surrounded by my Capidomonte rose candlesticks with pastel Easter eggs instead of candles and then a couple of cute egg holders and little chick I found at the thrift store recently.

During this busy weekend, I received my other OWOH giveaway from Susan at A Drawer Full of Dreams blog. I LOVE the hand-knitted cap. She knitted this just for me after finding out my favorite color. The blue yarn is so soft, you just wouldn't believe, and this shade of blue is just gorgeous! Her wonderful prizes included a landscape sketch/journal handbook which I hope will jumpstart my recent wish to get back into drawing. Also included are a lovely art card, entitled Gift From the Sea, and then a book by Elizabeth Berg, The Pull of the Moon, which promises to be very inspiring and that I'm looking forward to reading. I just love everything! Thanks so much, Susan!

Thrifting finds

2009-04-08T09:10:00.010-05:00

Found last week at the Salvation Army. Not shown is a really cute baby boy quilt that I got for only $1. Emily has already taken it home with her. It will be a good floor quilt and had a cute, colorful design of planes, cars, and trucks and was like new. Shown above in the slightly dark photo are the other goodies that never look quite as exciting as they really are. On the left is a cute patchwork bag that I am seeing altered up, maybe some Teesha Moore style of embroidery and embellishments, definitely a new strap, and a closure flap to brighten it up. It's kind of a strange mix of a 1980's look with some older vintage fabrics, but I couldn't pass it up at only $1. At bottom are 2 cute vintage pillowcases for only a quarter each. Also, on the right, a couple of fabric remnants that were also only $1. I found more wooden plaques for 50 cents each(I had gotten some a few weeks ago). These would be good bases for porcelain or ceramic figurines or great for altering or decoupaging. Underneath those are some wooden boxes. These were $1 for the bigger ones and 50 cents for the smaller. I'm thinking they could even be taken apart to use as shadow boxes. The cute little bucket wasn't from the thrift store, but a recent meal out with friends. Their dessert was little cheesecakes in little pots in the buckets. You get to keep the buckets and they gave me one. It would be cute with Easter grass and an Easter egg.

I went to the thrift store hunting baby stuff, but you can see that I can't pass up other great stuff/junk when I see it. Now, if I only get around to doing something with it all. No luck with baby clothes. Most of what was there was for little girls. I did get some cute outfits recently at a Kid's Mart event which is like a giant consignment/yard sale held twice per year. We also got a bouncy seat. Never had heard of a bouncy seat until this baby was on the way. Those had not been invented when my girls were babies, but evidently they are a great thing for little ones according to what I've been told. A couple of friends at work have also given us some outfits for Thomas already. I didn't think to take pictures of the baby clothes and they've already gone home with Emily.

Next I'm showing one of my pieces from my collection of restaurant ware. Isn't this cup so cute? Not sure of the name of the pattern, but it's Walker China and I like it. It wasn't from this thrifting trip but another. I'm showing it to talk about some recent experiments with food. Yes, sometimes I have the mind of a mad scientist.

Experiment #1: I have the Celestial Seasons Sugar Cookie tea that I bought at Christmas. It's pretty good. Now I was thinking that maybe it would be good to sweeten it with sprinkles. You know, like sugar cookies. Well, not so good. The sprinkles don't all melt. Well, duh, they are designed to stay on top of a baked cookie and still look cute. Plus, the ones that did melt turned the tea a funky color, though the taste was not so bad.

Experiment #2: I love to put cheese in my soup once in the bowl. One day earlier this week, I had warmed myself up some chunky chicken noodle soup only to realize that we are out of any hard cheese because someone needs to get to the grocery store. Desperate for cheese, my mad scientist brain kicks in and I remember that I have blue cheese sprinkles in the freezer that I keep there for salads. Hhmm, worth a try. Also, I keep some grated Parmesan in there so I threw a little of both in the bowl. Yuumm! This experiment was successful! Very good flavor!

Experiment #3: I love me some Diet Mountain Dew. Now I guess I could be addicted, but I choose to not explore that possibility too much. I have tried adding a little OJ to my Dew before and that's good. This week I had some grapefruit/orange juice so I tried adding a little of that. This experiment was also successful. Of course, you'd have to be someone that likes grapefruit juice, but if you do, it's worth trying. I'm sure this like a juice spritzer or something that. Having grown up in the rural South, I've not been exposed to many social occasions to know. We'll just call this a Redneck Grapefruit Dew Spritzer.

Well, back to work tonight. I just realized that a full moon is coming up. The ER is usually much busier at a full moon, so keep your fingers crossed that not too much crazy stuff happens.

I have done something creative lately

2009-04-06T10:55:00.017-05:00

Over the last couple of weeks, I've worked on this fabric necklace. This started with the flower. I saw the idea of taking the silk flower and sewing it to a felt base in one of the Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazines. (Unfortunately, I don't remember which issue as I have every one of them and almost all of the Somerset Studio magazines AND numerous other Somerset publications AND lots of art and craft books. I'm not addicted to buying them. NO, really! I'm sure I could go months and months without purchasing an art magazine or book if I really wanted to!.... Let's hurry and go back to the original subject, shall we.) I had also seen in another of the CPS issues where this artist had made these lovely necklaces with fabric tubes, beads, and other goodies. Again, I can't recall which artist or issue, but if I do run across it again, I'll be sure to post and point you toward the articles/artists. Being as I still haven't gotten up the nerve to set up my sewing machine to try to conquer my sewing machine phobia, I wanted to do adapt this project to what I could do by hand.

The flower itself, has purple, pink and white petals that you can't really see in the scan of the entire necklace, so I made another of it all squooshed up where you can see the under layers. If I were younger, prettier, more photogenic, and had my hair combed and make up on, I would have modeled the necklace in one of those self-portrait shots. Since I'm none of those things, you are gonna have to settle for these scanned views. For the necklace part I used various torn fabric strips, fibers, and ribbons tied or sewn together accented with beads, buttons, or fabric bows.

I actually got up the nerve to wear it yesterday. You know when you make something like this, there is always the fear that other people will just look at it and see a mess of torn fabric. I have that same feeling about everything I make really. Emily was home visting yesterday and she reminded me of what I would always tell them, which is "why are you worried about what other people think?". Yeah, sometimes your own words get thrown back at you, lol! So, I wore it with a pink top, pink linen cropped pants and a blue jean jacket. I got a couple of compliments and some second glances. So I'm sure there were those wondering, "what the heck?" But, oh well, I like it.

Edited 4/9/09 Ok, I found the respective articles that provided the inspiration. The flower is from the Sew Somerset book of Winter, 2009 and is found on page 19 with the artist being Leigh Houston. Also on that page is a necklace not done like mine, but where I got the idea for sewing my flower on the type necklace I was doing. The artist for the flower and bead necklace is Gaye Collins. My fabric necklace version was inspired by an article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors, Issue 17, March/April 2008, pages 66-71. The artist featured in this article is Tina Givens and her necklace on page 69 is most like the one I did. I didn't even have the article with me when I was working on the necklace, so I am surprised at how much like it this one it turned out to be. My subconcious memory is better than I thought, lol! Like I said, she uses fabric tubes that I didn't use because I was avoiding the sewing machine.

Pictures from Bristol race

2009-04-04T16:41:00.009-05:00

I got them uploaded to the computer and thought I'd share a few. I didn't go to any of the races, but Holly took my camera with her on Sunday and took some great photos of the track. She took the top 2 shots of the entire track and the one of the turn closest to where they sat. I'm showing this one to try to give you an idea of how steep the bank is to the track. She got a lot of great shots, but I'm just showing 2 of them.

I did go over on Saturday morning to walk around the advertising booths, etc. set up around the outside of the track. That's where I took the pic of Jimmy Spencer speaking to the crowd and Holly got close enough to get a good one of Kyle Petty(one of my favorite drivers) who was at a TV broadcast setup. There were fireworks on Saturday evening and I got some decent shots of those. If I knew more about my camera I could probably have done better. What's funny is that the shots of the fireworks never look like what you just saw. Also, showing one of what the track looks like at night from where we camp.

Just realized there are no people pics, so I'm editing this post to add a couple. One shows my hubby sitting watching the grill(looks like he's praying) which is on the ground and Jason in front of our RV at the campsite. The other shows me, Holly, and Dawn on Saturday by the track. Dawn and Jason are big time race fans who got Kerry hooked on going to Bristol and North Carolina.

Coincidence?

2009-04-03T15:11:00.004-05:00

Right now clover is growing like crazy here. Anytime I see a big patch of it, I think of my Dad. He would always stop and look for four leaf clovers and find them, sometimes several. I guess he had an eye for seeing the differences in the patterns of the growth. I remember him doing that my whole life.

Today I was outside spray painting a recent thrift store find(one of those metal sap buckets). While I was waiting for the first coat of paint to dry, I walked around in the backyard looking down at the clover patches. Of course this made me remember my Dad. Now, I've never had a talent for finding the lucky clovers. I'll look and look and never see them. When Dad was still alive, we'd look together and he'd find 2 or 3 while I'd never see the first one. I would press his finds in books on my bookshelf. After he was diagnosed with Alzheimers and had gotten pretty bad, I found one of them and put it in a frame. It's faded now, but I plan to use it in a shrine I'm going to do about my Dad. One of life's ironies, I guess, my Dad being lucky finding four leaf clovers, but being unlucky enough to end up with such a sad disease. Well, I digress, as I often do. To get back to today, while I visually searched the patterns of the clover, I was thinking about my Dad and how much I miss him. Wondering whether he could look down from heaven and see. Thinking it would nice to have a sign that he could. Immediately after I thought that, I unbelievably spotted this four leaf clover.Coincidence? I don't know.

Not thinking

2009-03-31T11:39:00.003-05:00

This is an atc I did several years ago which I sent out in a swap. Sorry for the bad scan, but this goes along with my rant for the day. On the way home this morning from work, I saw yet again a driver doing this one thing that makes me so mad! He didn't endanger me, but only because I was a little farther back in the lane I was driving in. Maybe the laws have changed since I took driver's ed many years ago and if they have, someone please fill me in. I'll see if I can explain this where it makes sense. What I'm talking about, is when you are either stopped at a red light or approaching an intersection where the light is changing from red to green(what happened to me today) and the driver(s) in the left turn lane opposite you in the intersection decide it is ok to go ahead and turn across in front of you just because they THINK there will be enough time to do this since you have been stopped or slowed and will have to accelerate. Does that make sense? They don't have a turn arrow obviously or you would not have a green light. I know in intersections with no left turn arrow, you can turn left WHEN NOTHING IS COMING but the ones I'm talking about are those where people are sitting in a turn lane with a red light. There is one in particular that I travel through all the time that is where a 4 lane highway crosses over an interstate and the traffic light is at both ends of the bridge. People are constantly turning in front of me to get onto the interstate, sometimes more than one car at a time, like this. I've even had them look at me, like "what are you doing, lady?" HHHmmm, I think I was proceeding legally through an intersection with a green light! What are you doing, you goofballs?

OK, rant's over. Like I said, if I've missed some traffic law change, I would appreciate being told.

Giveaways

2009-03-27T00:42:00.004-05:00

No, I've not gotten my act together yet for my own anniversary giveaway, so I'm going to point you in the direction of some others. Jean at Bluebirds Living in the Meadow is having a lovely giveaway. I learned of it by checking in Jann's blog, A Vintage Heart. Jean is offering some wonderful goodies as shown above-books, beads, and beautiful art pieces.

Also, from perusing Jann's blog, I learned of another giveaway by Kristin of Retro Cafe Art of some gorgeous paper cuts and collage sheets. Go check them out! She had several photos in her giveaway post so I didn't copy one of them here.

It's a boy!

2009-03-25T12:06:00.005-05:00

Emily and Craig found out today that the baby is a boy. I didn't care either way, boy or girl, so I would have been thrilled with whatever they said. I grew up with only brothers, so I always thought I'd have little boys, since that is what I knew about, never really being a girly-girl. When I was expecting my babies, they wouldn't tell you for sure so I didn't know what mine were until they were born. I guess God wanted me to experience raising baby girls and sisters on top of that since he blessed up with our 2 daughters. My daughters definitely are a blessing and I wouldn't trade them for all the money in the world. I think God gives us what we are meant to have. So we will be awaiting Thomas Jeffery Nolen to make an appearance at the beginning of August.

P.S. This is not a family photo, just a vintage picture of a little boy that I thought was cute and might resemble our future grand baby. It's hard to find a vintage photo that you are sure is a little boy, since they all used to wear dresses until a certain age.

Ties That Bind project doll completed

2009-03-24T19:28:00.009-05:00

The doll has been completed and pictures are now posted on the Ties That Bind blog. By checking out that post, you will be able to see a link to a photo gallery with several great shots of the doll. This amazing doll with all of the altered ties and charms contributed by numerous artists will be having a photo shoot and then will be raffled off with all proceeds going to ovarian cancer research. I will post all details as I learn of them so that those of you who would like to purchase tickets for the raffle will be able to do so. The doll artist was Jan Brown and then Aileen Roberts and Kris Henderson have also been instrumental in this project from making the bird cage to doing a lot of coordinating and behind the scenes work, as well as maintaining the blog AND a yahoo group. Didn't Jan do such awesome job on the doll! Then all the ties, charms, birdcage, just all of it so wonderful! On the left side of the blog is a list of contributing artists and the blog itself has pictures of all the charms and ties as they were received faithfully posted as the project progressed.

I'm showing the scans of my 2 charms and then I borrowed from the Ties That Bind blog(hope that was ok) pictures of the doll and one of the pics that shows both of my charms in one shot. If I find out I shouldn't have done this, I'll remove the photos from here and just direct you to those at the project blog. Be sure to check it out anyway, as it is the best way to see all the charms and ties up close and to see which artists did what. There were many wonderful stories sent in with the artwork that I hope get published somewhere. Lots of meaning behind each piece of art. I deem it an honor to have been able to contribute. This is a link to my original post here on my blog where I explained some of my thought process behind the charms I created. Here is some of my explanation that I posted to the yahoo group about the family members who died from cancer that I wanted to remember with my contributions:

I don't have any family members who have had ovarian cancer, except perhaps my great grandmother and they are not sure if that is what she had or not. Back then they didn't know things like that. I have had several family members die from cancer though. So these charms are in memory of them. The list includes:

Both of my grandmothers, one from complications from breast cancer and the other from metasticized colon cancer

My mother's oldest sister, from lung/liver cancer

That same aunt's only child, her daughter, from metastatic breast cancer, and my aunt's husband from a brain tumor. One of my cousin's 2 sons ended up committing suicide as a teenager, so I count him as a victim as well.

My Mom's only brother from metastatic skin cancer

Please help spread the word, especially as the raffle time nears, so that this will be as successful as it can be to help in the fight against this silent and deadly killer.

Starry nights?

2009-03-16T11:46:00.002-05:00

Not lately with all the rain. I've not heard the total rainfall here, but it has rained on and off for a couple of days. I'm sure we will be glad of it when summer droughts hit. This is a scan of an altered book spread done previously, but not shared here before. Life seems to be pretty busy lately, so nothing new to show. This spread was kind of an add-on between a spread about faces and a page that I have shown before where I watercolored a painting of a tree and moon with found poetry in the words on the book page. The left hand page is star-patterned paper with daisies cut from a greeting card to illustrate the poem on the right hand page that I think I found in a vintage children's textbook and printed out on blue cardstock. For the window, I used some clear plastic taped into a cutout with silver tape.

I wanted to be sure to get a post done in case life gets even more hectic in the next few days. It does look like I am going to be able to get away with Kerry and Holly to go to the races in Bristol, Tenn. Mom seems to be doing well and we will only be gone from Thursday evening until Sunday evening.

Mom was able to get physical therapy at her home because of the stroke. This was an answered prayer and Mom says the therapist is wonderful. During the first therapy session yesterday, she was able to show Mom some exercises to help her right arm which is the least recovered from her stroke and had some suggestions to help her strengthen her right ankle. So already she has been able to help with some issues that 3 physical therapy places never dealt with last year, in addition to the exercises she is having Mom do for her left knee to recover from the arthroscopy. I was so glad to hear that.

While in Bristol, I will not have any internet access. I could take my laptop and probably find wireless internet in a fast food place or something, but I won't be able to charge the battery on it because we will be totally running electric by generator. I've been told you shouldn't use computers with that kind of electrical current.

One of the reasons I decided to go even though I won't be going to the races(we only had 2 tickets) was to just spend time with Holly some before she moves off this summer. Don't think I mentioned here before that she and her hubby had been contemplating moving to Waco, Texas after graduation in May. He wants to attend school there to get his Masters. They have decided to make the move. I am behind them, of course, in their decision, but as a Mom was secretly wishing it could work out for them to realize their dreams a little closer to home. We just got Emily and Craig back here last year and now these 2 are moving off. With Em's new baby on the way this summer, too, I see lots of emotional moments in my future.

Giveaways

2009-03-15T00:23:00.004-05:00

I haven't forgotten about mentioning having a 1 year anniversary giveaway. I've just not had time to get anything made, so I'm still thinking about what I'm going to do. Maybe it will have to be an ephemera pack or thrift store find. I guess it will just be a late giveway, that I'll have to call a Spring contest or something like that.

On the other hand, Jann at A Vintage Heart, who was one of my OWOH event winners is having a lovely anniversary giveaway. For posting here about it, I will get 2 chances to win the lovely Easter rabbit trinket box she has made. Go check it out here.

Time flying by

2009-03-12T02:46:00.002-05:00

I haven't made you all look at a cute pet picture in a while, so here is one of Max where he is most probably saying, "Mama, will you come play?" This is how good he is at begging. He will also use this face for when he needs to go outside and you have not noticed. Thinking about that reminds me of a funny story about Max and his asking for something. I had come into the kitchen to begin to fix a meal. Emily was living at home at the time and she was already in the kitchen. Max walked over and stood up with his front feet on the counter at the sink. It's not like him to do that and I told him to get down. Emily said, "I don't know why, but he keeps doing that!" He did it again and it finally dawned on my preoccupied mind that maybe he was trying to tell me something. I really looked at him this time and he was looking at the faucet and then looking at me. So then I looked over at his water bowl which was bone dry. All this time he had been basically pointing at the water faucet with his nose and then looking at us, "like, you morons, if I had fingers I could do this myself" or "what do I have to do, draw you a picture?". So sometimes our pets are smarter than we are, lol!

Why is it that off days seem to fly by? I'm back at work again. It seemed like my off week was here and then gone. Of course, part of is was taken up by helping Mom. I didn't get much creative done, except to start sorting that massive bunch of jewelry, mostly pins, that my friend gave me last year. I did get some clothes together and boxed up to give to the thrift store. I really need do that with lots of things, like books and junk, too. Well, more clothes need to go also. My hubby wanted to wash off the camper while the weather was pretty so we got that done Tuesday and I did take a few moments that day to sit on my deck and enjoy the gorgeous sunshine.

Took Mom to have her stitches out of her knee yesterday. They are going to be able to have Home Health come do her physical therapy at her home which is so wonderful. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage when I had to work. I don't really like the idea of driving someone else around after I've worked all night. She is doing pretty well. Has a lot of bruising which bothers her more than the incision areas. The nurse practioner explained that during an arthroscopy your thigh area is held in a vise while the doctor bends your knee in very awkward positions.

I hope to be able to go with my dh to the races at Bristol next weekend while I'm off. Holly is attending the actual races with her Dad, as I wasn't sure if I could get away depending on Mom's health, so he asked her if she'd like to go. It looks like I might be ok to be gone for the weekend, so I'm going along to just spend some time with them. I don't really care whether I see the race or not. There are other activities such as sponsors with free samples and giveaways. We take our RV and are dry camping so to speak. Have to borrow a generator and take water or buy some. A couple of our friends who are big time race fans are going to be staying with us as well. I'll take some books or craft stuff to while away the time while they are at the races. Or maybe I'll just take a nap or two. We'll see how it goes.

Spring flowers and good news(warning long post!)

2009-03-07T09:00:00.012-06:00

Mom had her surgery Thursday and everything went pretty well. Some great things happened, like she was moved to be the first case by her surgeon, so while we had to be there at 5:30am we weren't there all day. The outpatient surgery had numerous cases that day. If they hadn't moved her time up, I feel it would have been an extremely long day and Mom doesn't do well when she hasn't had anything to eat as she is a diabetic. This is actually why her case was first. She opted for spinal anesthesia which has fewer risks overall than general, but the disadvantage was it took a little while for the feeling to come back in her bottom half, limiting her ability to move that is already impaired from the stroke. They kind of rushed her out of there because they were so busy. If my brother and his wife had not been there to help, I don't know how Mom and I would have managed to get her in the car or out of the car and into her house.

I stayed with her until about lunchtime on Friday, when she sent me home. As the feeling came back, it became easier for her to move and it seems that the surgery is making difference already in her knee pain. Of course it is sore from the surgery, but she said even yesterday that the sharp pain from before was gone.

I finally got the spring flower book done for Priscilla and dropped it in the mail on Wednesday evening. I stayed up late to get it done and packaged up, so was up at midnight Wednesday night scanning the pages before I had to get up a 4am to go get Mom to the hospital. So anyway, please excuse that the scans are a little crooked!

This is the front cover, with the pic above showing one side of the attached tags and the one below the flipside of them. The background is collaged strips of paper that were gessoed over with some paint glazes also. The flower was one from a package of chipboard elements that were too glossy for the look I wanted so I glued watercolored book page paper over the front and then sanded to distress the edges using sticker letters for SPRING. I like to save unique clothing tags to reuse and the big oval tag is one of those. I gessoed it to cover the advertising, then stamped, used some paint glazes, and added images. The book is tied together with strips of torn vintage pillowcase fabric.

Note: you can click on each picture to make it bigger so you can see it better.

Above is the first spread of pages. All pages started out as gessoed cardboard saved from the packages of printer paper at work. For this background I used some green, yellow, blue glazes and then stamped leaves with a multicolored stamp ink. The central images and words are from a vintage children's schoolbook. Small snippets of paper gleaned from my messy craft table surface surround these images. See, there is an advantage to not being a neat freak! Uh-hmm! The left hand page has some vintage green trim for an accent, both pages some ric-rac and then on the right another of those chipboard flowers that I distressed. Also used some clear flower stickers. Handcolored the black and white illustrations with watercolors pencils.

For the next set of pages above, I started out with horizontal strips of torn paper as for the cover, also gessoed with some light gesso stamping. On the right page is a transparency glued over some scrapbook papers and on the left a poem from the same children's book. The middle strips of paper were floral wallpaper so I used some of the flowers in that and added more paper flowers and punched green hearts for leaves. Drew the greenery with markers. The floral swag between the punched birds is one of those glittery temporary tatoos.

This spread started out as more of the floral wallpaper as a background. The girl under the umbrella was from a piece of scrapbook paper. The flowers and grass at her feet inspired me to blend her into the background with more handpainted grass, flowers, and color splashes of acrylic paint. The roses in the teacup and the one in her hand are more of the clear stickers. The words are again from the kids textbook.

Here the background is scraps of book text and other paper scraps glued down, gessoed, and then acrylic glazes washed over them. The bird and nest are clear stickers, the flowers are rub-ons, and the tree was drawn by hand and color with markers. More text from the vintage children's book for the poem. The awning across the top is more watercolored book paper.

The last spread above is collaged bits of 2 different watercolor painted book pages. I did up a good many of these by tearing out pages from vintage books and then playing with my watercolor paints in different combinations and deigns. For one of these I had done several colors in polka dots and the other was a rainbow that went across the page. Of course, I gessoed to blend, one of my favorite things to do. The lady was an image from a collage sheet from Aileen at Outside the Margins. Her antennae are cut from some glittery paper. The roses, butterfly, and her butterfly wings are more of those clear stickers. The flower circles were punched out from scrapbook paper and surrounded with Stickles glitter. Again the wording from the children's book. To finish off the background, I used markers to added different circles of color.

The back page of the book was done pretty much like the front, just a different, smaller chipboard flower.

May be away from the computer a few days

2009-03-04T21:03:00.004-06:00

Will be going early in the morning to pick up Mom and then will be staying with her at least tomorrow evening. We'll see how she does. She doesn't have internet, so I won't be able to check the blog or email until I am back home.

Update

2009-03-02T00:32:00.004-06:00

It's been a busy week at work and I've been sick with a bad cold as well. Isn't that the way it usually goes? Didn't start getting sick until my first night back at work, this past Wednesday. I usually try to start taking extra vitamins, Airborne, and/or Zicam when I first start getting symptoms and often can fight off being very sick, but this time it was like I was fine and then I wasn't. I did start my regimen after I got sick and I think it did shorten the duration of the cold as I was already feeling better yesterday and even more so today.

I had hoped to get some pretty pictures of the snow we had here in Alabama, but it was not a good morning at work, so I was late leaving. By the time I got home this morning at 11 am, the snow was already melting, so I didn't bother trying to take any pictures. Wish I'd gotten to see it more than just from the windows at work. It still looked pretty in the wooded areas driving home.

Today's photo is one of an altered lunchbag that I posted about last year. I brought it to work with me tonight, which reminded me that I had said I would see how durable the technique was over time. I used gel medium to glue down the paper and also as a topcoat. It seems to be flexible enough that the collage is not cracking and makes it also where you can wipe it off with a damp cloth to clean. If you didn't see that previous post, this bag had a corporate logo on it and that company no longer owns the hospital. So I thought I'd give it a facelift. The collage is different paper pieces with words from a label maker, a foam heart sticker embellishment, and buttons. I think this would work on canvas tote bags printed with advertising.

Oh, yes, my Mom is to have arthroscopic surgery on her knee this Thursday. This is her "good" leg, so she really needs everything to go well and this surgery to work to help her be better. They found a medial meniscal tear which is inside the knee bones so the surgery will be to shave off and remove any loose "stuff". She will have some physical therapy starting the week afterwards. Her right side is still not fully functional from her stroke, so I would appreciate any prayers that her surgery will go well, that it will help her problem, and that the physical therapy will all work out so I can take her around my work schedule.

Some journal pages

2009-02-24T14:01:00.006-06:00

Great post title, huh? I'm not too good at coming up with them, so I just go for the obvious or simple. I meant to post these pages for Valentine's day, but obviously missed doing that. Since the month of love is not over yet, decided to go ahead and post them. These are from one of my composition book journals where I'm generally just playing around with images or paint. The images were from catalogs or magazines(sorry I don't remember from where so I can't give credit, but just know they aren't mine) and were glued down first then I used markers, paint, etc. to doodle in and around them. Added an envelope pocket and an altered junk mail tag inside it.

With the OWOH giveaway going on, I missed my one year blogging anniversary. I want to have a giveaway for that, but will have to be thinking or working on a prize idea. May aim for the first of March. So stay tuned, as they say.

I'm finally getting OWOH heart prizes on their way and also working on the spring flower book.