We were extremely lucky to have all three of our grandchildren here for Halloween. Joshua was Count Dracula, Bobby was Max from Where the Wild Things Are, and Kathleen, a.k.a. Cheeky, was an adorable pea pod. I thought I'd share a few photos.
Here's one more picture of Kathleen in her Georgia cheerleader outfit. Despite her best cheering efforts, we lost.
That seems to be the story lately. I'm always trying to catch up — housework, errands, friends, art projects, blogging. My life has changed so much this year since I keep grandson Bobby 2 or 3 days each week. My focus has definitely shifted from myself and my art to him. And I'm happy with that. At first, I kept beating myself up that I wasn't creating much art, but I've cut that out now. I am enjoying spending time with Bobby, and I know that I'm making an impact on him and his future. That's an accomplishment to be proud of.
I have found some time for digital scrapbooking. I want to make a scrapbook for both Bobby and granddaughter Kathleen documenting the first year of their lives. I need to hurry, at least in Bobby's case since he will turn 1 year old in less than a month. Here is a sample from his book.
And here's a page from Kathleen's.
Kathleen is now 6 months old. I don't get to see her as often as Bobby since she lives far away, but I've enjoyed using Skype to visit online with her and her mommy. Isn't technology wonderful? At least sometimes. I just love this fairly recent photo of her. She has such an adorable little face. I guess you can tell why her nickname is Cheeky.
Bobby, my husband, Warren, and I recently visited a local park where Warren took this photo of Bobby and me.
I have found time to enjoy some knitting lately. I actually finished a sweater that I can actually wear! That was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and I sewed myself a skirt. I'll try to take photos of those projects and share them later — when I'm caught up. Hah!
Oh my gosh, the summer is half over! The last few weeks have been so busy for me. In late May, there was my fabulous visit with Joanne, Catherine, and other art friends in Michigan. Only downside was I caught a cold on the plane on the way home. Then a couple of weeks later, I was off to Birmingham for a workshop with DJ Pettit and Deryn Mentock. That was fantastic! DJ and Deryn are both generous and patient instructors. When I came home, I caught grandson Bobby's summer cold or virus. I thought I would be immune since I just had a cold. Wrong! This virus was much worse — high fever, chills and aches for a few days. Then came another trip, this time to Lakeland, Florida, to meet my great nephew, Ethan, for the first time. Between and during the traveling and the illnesses, I still had my babysitting duties for grandson Bobby who is now 10 months old and growing so fast. Normally, I keep him 2 or 3 days a week, but this week I'm keeping him every day. I now know why younger women have the babies — I'm exhausted!
One of the projects we did in Birmingham was a fabric and paper journal as taught by DJ. I fell in love with this project and I am longing to finish it. Hopefully, I'll get back to it this weekend. Here's are a few photos of what I've done so far. First, the front cover. We began by tracing a DJ drawing and painting it. You would think everyone's results would be the same. Not so!
I'm pleased with the cover although I want to do one that features my own drawing. Now here's my back cover which is entirely my own. (The brocade band on the sides of both covers is actually the spine of the book.)
Now here's a peek at the inside.
I love the idea of using vintage items like the doily and gloves as "pages" to wrap the signature. I'm dying to get back to work on this. I have an antique shirt collar I've been saving, and that will be featured on the next signature.
Now here's a photo of sweet Ethan, my great nephew who fell asleep in my arms as I sang to him. My sister took this picture which I will always treasure. That spotted thing behind him is my freckled arm!
I made this house for a swap with my Oh My Gothic group. Last year, we traded arches, but this year we're doing houses. This one is for Cat. Here's the reverse side.
Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted anything. Life has been busy, but I'm becoming accustomed to my new routine of keeping grandson Bobby 2 or 3 days a week. I've even felt the creative itch returning recently. I've been experimenting with acrylic painting, and I plan to take a class soon. I also made two houses for a swap with my Oh My Gothic group. Here is Heather's house, front and back.
For the door, I used a stamp from Layers of Color Beaded Frames set. I thought it made a cool door. I punched the shape for the window. The girl is an image from PaperWhimsy, and the eggs are from Character Constructions. Below is the house for Debby.
I had spring on my mind as I created this one. I used Art Impressions stamps for the door and scene on the front, and the the girl is Clara from my collage sheets.
I'll close by adding some recent photos of Bobby. He is such a joy, and it's a privilege to nurture him and contribute to his well-being and development.
Frankly, I have become a little bored with the collage and mixed media work that I used to love. I'm not sure if this is a passing thing, but I've decided not to force it and do what I like. And, for now, that seems to be knitting and cooking. (While neither activity is particularly good for the waistline, each does wonders for the soul!) Tonight, we are having crab cakes with roasted tomato remoulade sauce. Yum! And here are some booties I just finished knitting.
These are going to our brand new great niece. Our family is booming lately. First our 2 new grandbabies, and now a great niece and also a great nephew coming in March. The booties are pretty tiny — just over 3" long. I've already started another pair with larger needles just in case these are too small.
This week we are going to Chicago so we can finally see Kathleen Elisabeth (a.k.a. Kitty) who is now 3 weeks old. I can't wait to see her. Here are some photos I just received this week. The first 2 were taken within her first 24 hours, and the last 2 are from this past week.
Hello Kitty!
Sweet dreams!
I took this photo of grandson Bobby yesterday morning. Can you see his new teeth in that beautiful smile?
I want to thank all of you for the very kind comments and responses I've received for my One World One Heart giveway. I'm blown away by the number of comments I've received. I realized I forgot to tell you the size of the bird quilt. It is approximately 12" square.
It's true. I have so much to be thankful for right now with two beautiful, healthy grandbabies born in the past 5 months. And I have one of each kind — a boy and a girl!
If you remember, before Thanksgiving I started work on a book of thanks, taking each letter in the word thanks and doing a spread in a little board book. I didn't finish it before the holidays, but now I'm back at it. I just completed the N and the S pages — only K left to do.
Both of these pages use newly-released stamps from Layers of Color. I've had the stamps for some time, but couldn't share them until they were officially announced by Laura. Now available for sale at Layers of Color, you should check all the new stamps out. They are so beautiful. For these pages, I used stamps from these sets — Creative Flourish, Nature Walk, and Old World Flourish.
Here's a little photo of Bobby we took yesterday. You'll see he is wearing a Georgia t-shirt. There is an intense rivalry between Georgia, the alma mater of Bobby's granddad, and Georgia Tech, the alma mater of Bobby's dad. His dad was none too happy about granddad giving Bobby this t-shirt, so of course we had to get a picture to prove that Bobby is a Georgia fan!
Okay, not really a horse, but Valentines in colors other than the usual red and pink. I used black paper and the juniper (soft pale green) acrylic paint dabber. For the background of this first card, I stamped and embossed the Italian text (with clear ink and powder on the black paper. Then I dabbed the juniper paint over it, then I blended with a piece of foam lifting off some of the paint over the embossing. Next I stamped the heart shape using a stamp from the Fleur Hearts set from Layers of Color. I dabbed the paint on the stamp and stamped onto another scrap of black paper. When dry, I cut the heart shape out and mounted in the center. (Be sure to wash the acrylic paint off your stamp right away.) To finish the card, I stamped "heart" also from Layers of Color on one of my painted scraps, stuck a stick pin through it, and added a ribbon at the bottom.
I loved this color combination but decided to do a similar effect with the copper paint dabber. I had stamped that heart with the acrylics several times so I could choose the best one. In order not to waste paper, I turned it over and worked with the copper paint. Then I cut hearts out with my little die cut machine. The copper side was just so so, but when I turned it over, I saw the juniper pattern randomly placed on the black paper hearts. It was so beautiful, I decided to do another card in that color scheme. Here it is.
On a personal note, we have another grandchild! Kathleen Elisabeth, born January 8, at 5:41 p.m. central time, weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Isn't she adorable?
It's very quiet here right now. Husband is still in bed. Turkey is in oven. Ganache is cooling. So I'm taking advantage of the lull in the holiday madness to actually add a post. I thought I'd share these photos we took of grandson Bobby last week. He's the best Christmas present ever!
And one last photo. I think he had had enough picture taking!
Merry Christmas to you all!
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