Monday, December 21, 2009

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas






Every year, honestly every single year, I swear that the next Christmas will be less chaotic, more full of peace. Teaching myself to slow down enough to enjoy all the days of Christmas and not just the days when I finally finish my yearly 500 yard dash has not come easily. Keeping it simple has always worked best for me but there are just so many "important" things about this season. I let the cards go unsent last year after many years of creating my own cards annually and , you know what? ...It was fine! I did make cookies but not the number or variety of previous years and I slipped in a few made from ready-made dough. Again, no body cared--they gobbled up the store bought dough ready-mades as if I had toiled for hours! Even the tree is pared down to silver balls, lights and a little ribbon. The humble simplicity of these decorations seems to suit the rest of our decorating and we can decorate a tree in very little time leaving alot more time to just sit back and enjoy it. We love a well dressed tree but at Christmas, even an undecorated tree is lovely. Believe me I've been tempted to give the undecorated tree a try too.



I'm striving to find the perfect balance where I've done enough to make it special without driving myself crazy trying to make it perfect.





Away In A Manger

Every time Christmas rolls around, I find myself thinking wistfully of the days when my children were tiny. The magic of the season is so much more profound when witnessing how children experience it. So... Christmas shots of tiny people and their sweet tender expressions is one of my absolute favorite things. One precious little face (and hands) that I took pictures of for holiday cards was intended to look like a snow princess but when all was said and done, her delicate features and little face ended up looking like part of a nativity seen. I LOVE it!




And then these sweet chubby little fingers. They'll be gone by next year and they'll be replaced by true little girl fingers! I'm sure it's enough to make her parents water up but for now these fingers.... Oh my!






Wrapped in icy blue fabric, she almost looks cold but I promise... it was hot enough here for bathing suits. Within shot of an enticing playground and feeling the heat, this little princess was such a great sport.



Saturday, September 26, 2009

Going to the Beauty Pah-lah!

Let me start by saying, I absolutely LUVVVVV this guy. He's funny, smart, and easy to talk to. Why, if he wasn't already involved with someone, I'd probably be tempted to stalk him. Just kidding, of course.




As far as appointments go, there are few (maybe less than that) appointments, no matter what they are for, that I ever look forward to. I hate having my time structured with "must-do" meetings. However, when it comes to the oh-so-revered trip to the stylist, I can hardly wait. If you enjoy having someone run their fingers through your hair, I feel in fairness, I ought to tell you that people line up for this man. He's just that great a stylist and that nice of a guy! Then there's his assistant, she's as fun as he is and she glows from the inside out. Honest, it's the truth! She doesn't even wear makeup. Isn't she pretty?

I have never had awesome hair. Never. But this man has definitely given it a fighting chance. And even better? While I'm captive in his chair, I laugh MORE than I have since the last time I was sitting before him with foil attenae sprouting from my head. My hair and I walk in withered from the world and all its complexities and he and "his PEEPS" go to work restoring spirits. I am not making this up either. You leave a happier person than you walked in and... with a better looking mane! Maybe he should hang a shingle but don't tell him that because I kinda like that it comes naturally and without an added cost. Levity is good for the soul and, apparently, it's been great for my tresses too. I mean, talk about fringe benefits (I honestly couldn't NOT throw in that pun).

Seems I've been talking to them for awhile about taking some pictures but we've never quite gotten around to it. Yesterday, I took the party to them! They weren't expecting it and they were way too busy to spend any time dealing with a photographer so I shot a few of them but, mostly, I got the details that make them and their place special. He loves religious medals (And he knows I do too). Since it had just been his birthday, he had a gift to show me (2 pics down). The rest are simple detail shots I caught while my hair was "curing." I tell you I just love this place and I love them!










Parting is such sweet sorrow!
Thankfully, I'll be back!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Old MacDonald Had A Cow...




In this exercise, I painted the same subject from the previous week (but from a different perspective). The deal this time was to use lots of colors--even some I would never pick myself. This week everyone in the class (25 people) picked a color that I had to include in my painting. It didn't matter if it was just a dot, the main thing was I had to use each color somewhere. Remember, it still needed to be done in 5 minutes! The second painting (Just Us Chickens) wasw also done quickly and is now the 4th painting in the farm series I have somehow, unintentinally, started. Ee-Ii-Ee-Ii-Oooo!






Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Cow Who Jumped Over The Moon


I painted my little bovine friend last week. I intended to paint a friendly cow and most likely a girl but I think she's just going to have to be a "he" because somehow "Bessie" isn't feeling like a good fit, namewise, for my hefty range rover.

Occasionally, the woman who conducts the art class I take gives us an assignment to paint with some kind of restriction-- whatever she can think of to mix things up-- it can be to use our fingers as brushes or to paint with your left hand if you're right-handed and vice versa OR to paint without a model, picture, or under drawing. Basically, using only the image as we have it in our heads. Last week, the challenge she gave me was to paint an image from my head using only three colors in, get this, less than five minutes. I was counting my lucky stars (no celestial pun intended) because I figured this challenge would get done, one way or another, without breaking too much of a sweat. So... that was last week. My boy cow was painted fast--in fact, I did make the less than five minute time requirement (with only seconds to spare)-- and then left to dry til the next class.

So fast forward a week... When I checked on him yesterday, he looked a little different than I remembered him and some of the colors had changed slightly after drying. I thought he resembled the moon's surface, texture and hue wise. My brain totally went with it. Before long I was mumbling childhood nursery rhymes and thinking about dishes running away with spoons. So whether it's his countenance that looks like the swiss cheese face on the moon, the colors that look sort of moon surfacey (is that even a word?) or simply his oh-so-implied lunar leap, this guy has earned his title... The Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Branching Out







Not exactly what the FTD florist delivers but I decided to create a bouquet or two. Normally, I paint in less vivid color but... I'm branching out. Get it?

Airing Our Dirty Laundry

I am a mother of four--that's right FOUR--boys! Handsome, funny and almost completely disinterested in clothes. So it should be something of a surprise, and it is, even to me, that... lying awake a few nights ago, I thought of making an embellished "very girl-y" t-shirt completely from a single let's-just-say "no longer used undergarment." I woke up the next morning and decided that I was going to give it a try before the week's events conspired and I simply forgot to try. Of course, first there was the little matter of getting every one to school which at times is the major stresser of my entire day. That done, I still wanted to give it a whirl. I know... I amaze myself sometimes. Mothers of school-age children out there, you know what I'm talking about.

Most of the t-shirts in our arsenal of unusable laundry are wearing the discoloration that comes from constant washing in a mineral-laden water supply but I did manage to find one that was fairly white and still in pretty good shape. Seemed a shame to relegate it to the ragpile anyway so I cut away the sleeves of the shirt that just moments before it was destined for a future of dusting and polishing.

The embellishing material came only from the sleeves which I cut from my too-small and cast-off Fruit of the Loom Tee.



Then I decided to try dye-ing it another color. I was thinking maybe a soft teal but...after a thorough check, I discovered Mother Hubbard's Pantry was completely out of that color dye so, as a second choice, I opted for diluting some red dye. I wanted to get a soft pink. This is what I got instead...

Not necessarily a bad color. Just too pink for my taste.
The neckline was easy--rolled down and stitched. Really, it was that simple.


All I can say is... Thanks to the magic provided by a little bleach, I got to the
soft blush color I was after with one washing! Clorox is definitely my close friend.











Friday, August 28, 2009

Mix & Match (After)



















Sadly, the color of the gerber daisies in ALL of these pictures is much more vibrant than it looked in real life and the thistle doesn't show up as well in pictures as it did in reality but here is how it all came together. I was pleased but, best of all, my mom was surprised and I think her friends had fun. Little brown paper packages (of course) filled with chocolates and tied with ribbon and roses were the take home favors. Instead of birthday cake and candles, I had individual cakes which were served on some of my small cake pedestals. I love how these little desserts looked grouped together at all the different heights and I really LOVED surprising my mom and her friends!

Mix & Match (Before)

This week one of my very favorite people in the whole world celebrated her birthday. MY Mom! Easily one of the nicest and most caring women you could ever run across. I know it and there's absolutely NO chance I could ever forget as people tell me that ALL of the time. I promise it's the truth!

She has a fabulous circle of friends. There are ladies she "garden clubs" with, ladies she "book circles" with, lovely women she knows through charities and other women's organizations, friends who share a love of theatre, orchestra and opera plus the women (some solo and some with husbands) whom she and my dad socialize with. But... there's this tiny group of women that get together every time one of them is celebrating a birthday and for this group I decided to throw a birthday luncheon instead of their standard get-together.

I made a tablecloth out of this fabric and used pink bandanas for the napkins. If you don't know me, it won't take long to realize that I'm all about about juxtaposition! Naturally, I liked that the bandana is ultra casual and yet the fabric has a more "dressed-up" feel. They match, but... then again, they don't. Sometimes, my "which one doesn't really completely belong?" approach is more obvious but here I think it's really pretty subtle.
I had a great time doing all of this because it was for someone so special AND because my sweet friend Elizabeth helped with all the behind the scene stuff. Friends now for almost ten years, I think my mom almost thinks of Elizabeth as a daughter too.



The flowers were plentiful and, yes, I realize I went a little overboard but I also think that having too much to work with beats coming up short. I used lots of roses, gerber daisies and thistle. I'll give you the details on the grand finale tomorrow!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Playing with Dolls!


A friend and I took her little girl to the park so I could take some pictures. I was thinking she would have a ball playing and, since she'd be completely happy, I'd get some great candid shots which would be awesome for any parent to have. Let me just say, I was right and, sadly, also wrong about my assumption. This little doll is really quite the "observer of nature." She was so busy noticing everything in the park that getting her to laugh and giggle simply didn't happen. But, as a happy consequence, capturing her "uncheesy" grin and sweet natural expressions was a snap (no pun intended). The full color shots are cute but that really wasn't what I was going for; the same shots in black and white are some of my favorites of the week.





I adjusted the contrast in the duplicate picture above just to see if I liked it better and I ended up liking them both so... I'm not deciding. At least not right now.
I LOOOOVE this little expression. Doesn't it just make you wonder what she's thinking about?


What a Doll!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The Icing On The Cake



I know almost nothing about cake decorating. I'm not just saying it either. I honestly have the big "nada " when it comes to cake decorating know-how or experience but I am a painter and I figure that ought to help me somehow. I may be fooling myself but I figure between "Charm City Cakes" and "The Cake Boss" programs on TLC, I've been inspired enough to believe that I ought to give it a whirl. I guess you could say, I'm a woman on a mission.
I often avoid store-bought cakes because of the shocking vibrance of bakery-counter colors, so I decided to try some neutralized pastels and some fun colors for flowers. Though you can't see them all in this picture, for the most part, I liked how these colors turned out but the frosting was really too soft for some flowers and too stiff for others. I'm filing this under "lessons learned" and will keep messing with texture and color for a few days. I'll let you know what happens and if it even looks remotely edible, I'll post a picture in a few days. In other words, don't go holding your breath!