I love the idea of wrapping presents in unique ways, of decorating them with beautiful bows and embellishments. This year, I was lucky to get them wrapped, period. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was short and seemed even shorter.

Anywho, I was wrapping presents this week and scribbling names directly on the paper using a big, fat, silver Sharpie. Then, it hit me. What if I could make labels from my art work? I scanned through my photos, trying this one and then that, until I settled on my newsprint angel girl. 

I opened PicMonkey and clicked on the create a collage tab. I uploaded my girl, chose the two photo collage, and placed PicMonkey 'paper' on the right side. Then I clicked on 'edit' to add the snowflake embellishments and the text. It was super easy, and I love how they look when printed.

It's Christmas Eve. I'm playing around a bit because my daughter has been in bed with the flu. It's been quiet around here with her cooped up sick. I'm hoping she'll get up for a while and open her one Christmas Eve gift and maybe watch a Christmas movie with me. She's feeling better, which is a big relief, but she's just not back to normal yet.

I know not everyone enjoys the holiday, but I hope you can experience serenity and peace as well as fun, love, and laughter.

Merry Christmas!
 

I'm sitting in my studio office kind of hiding out. Hannah wanted to have a party for her 18th birthday.... Not a huge one, just a few friends and then some. I really have no idea who will show up; you know how word-of-mouth can make news of a party travel faster than you can say social media. But I'm thinking the turn-out will be okay because, face it, her parents are home.

Every party that teenagers her age have these days seem to take place in the absence of their parents. Hannah doesn't go to too many of them and has even driven up, parked, and after hearing from a friend came back home after hearing about the 'fun' they were having.

Funny girl, Hannah. She definitely takes after her dad's side of the family with her socializing. She enjoys her friends immensely. But at the same time, she takes after me a bit. She enjoys her friends in small numbers. She's already figured out that big parties don't always equate to big fun. 

So, anyway, here I sit on the night of her birth hidden away so-to-speak in my space. I have three hours to go until her official 'birthtime.' When she was little I would tell her all about the day she was born. We would read the diary entries I made during my pregnancy. For several years now, she's had friends over for the night, so the birth story hasn't been retold in a while. Maybe tomorrow night when we're settled in for the night. Yeah. That sounds like something worth doing again.

... in the time it's taken to create the collage, I've begun to hear chatter and laughter on the back deck. I think I'll go downstairs now.... :)

Happy 18th birthday to my girl! I hope this year brings much joy to your life.

 

Coming soon to a computer near you!

Can you tell that I'm pretty excited about launching my Etsy shop? Nervous, too. Really. I'm just a little bit worried about cards collecting dust.... That the money I spent getting real cards made may have been better spent on something else... like groceries :)

But I just felt that the time was right. I do a lot of dreaming when it comes to my art and photography, but I find that taking steps to actually DO something with my art and photography takes a little more effort. And commitment. And confidence. So, we'll see.

Opening date: January 1. You can mark that on your calendar!

Tomorrow is the last day of the semester at school. My students are finishing up benchmark exams, and I am ready to get to the whole holiday shabang-thing under way. I've ordered my Christmas cards (a bit late) and am getting the house finished up for Christmas AND for my daughter's 18th birthday. (Geez, when did that happen? 18?)

You should have heard me on my drive home today. I was singing  trying to sing along with Francesca Battistelli's "What Child is This?/First Noel." I can't even begin to tell you how many times I pushed the back button to hear it again. And again. Her voice is so pure... and the music in this, the drums, everything, is just beautiful. You can find more of her songs here, including her new release called "Strangely Dim." If you're like me with hundreds of plans and dreams swirling about, this song may be just what you need to hear right now.

P.S. Today is my sister, Traci's, birthday. She's pretty much my #1 fan (along with my other sister, Parris, and my sweet mother-in-law, Lurline) when it comes to my art and photography. Happy birthday, Traci!

4Square

That's what I'm calling these little cards I had printed, and I have to tell you that I was practically dancing around the house when I saw that package on the counter. Thirty-six cards all 4"x4" in size.... complete with little Kraft envelopes. And all for my Etsy shop! 

I still have some work to do before the grand opening, but it's close. It's really, really close.

Love Knots

Cozy. That's what I'm looking for today. It's cold outside, at least the inside of my house is making me think that. Sometimes, I get all bundled up before heading out somewhere, only to find out that it's warmer outside than it is in my house. In the summer, that's a good thing. In late fall and winter, not so much!

If you're with me on Instagram, you've already heard the story about the quilts in the photo above. You heard how I was always nosing around in antique stores looking for old quilts. I didn't mind a little wear and tear because that's what made them special to me.The two on the bottom of the stack came from my mother-in-law's yard sale before I joined the family. Freebies and in wonderful condition. The one second from the top was an antique store find, and the one on the very top is extra special because I actually got to meet the person who made it.

He was Uncle Olen on Craig's side of the family. He pieced quilts in his older age sitting with his wife in their small apartment in Atlanta. He made two for Hannah when she was a baby. One with pink tones and one with blue because I didn't want to know whether we were having a boy or a girl. And he made this top one for us.

The quilts remind me of childhood years at my grandmother's house on my father's side. I didn't spend too many nights there, but I do remember being deep in the middle of quilts on a cold winter night in their white frame house. The quilts laying heavy on my body but keeping the cold out.

They remind me of a poem I read with my students each year.... "My Mother Pieced Quilts"
and of Alice Walker's masterful story.... "Everyday use." Mama and Maggie might not think my displays are necessary, but I think they would be glad to know that the quilts have seen a lot of use. Everyday use. If not now than at least in the past.

It's getting close to the anniversary of my mother's death. December 11. She didn't quilt, but she did spend hours and hours making clothes for her three girls. Easter dresses, school clothes, even when I was grown, she would make clothes for me. So, although she didn't piece quilts, she sewed and with every tiny stitch a little love was added.

I posted this photo on Instagram last week, and my sister asked if I had taken it at her house. Yes, I had. I hang on to the photos on my phone for a very long time. When I get bored, I'll scroll through the photos to see if one inspires me to play for a while. I'm not sure which apps I used on this one, but I loved how it turned out. With a few apps and cropping tools, it's easy to give a photo a whole new look.

If you thought you heard me sigh around 4:30 this evening, you probably did. That was when I walked out of the school and got into my car. I headed home for a week's vacation, and I am ready for it to begin.

I'd love to get into the attic and pull down all of the Christmas decorations this week. I want to have them ready as soon as the turkey and dressing have been eaten and the dishes washed and put away. Christmas is coming quickly this year.

Between attic exploration, eating delicious food, and getting ready to decorate, I'll be grading essays, too. While I enjoy seeing how my students progress with their writing, part of me thinks that teaching history or science might be a bit easier, at least when it comes to grading.

It's also time to see a few movies. Hannah and I saw Gravity last weekend. I always wanted to be an astronaut, but getting stranded in space would be scary to say the least. If you saw the movie, did you notice Sandra Bullock's toned self? Hmmm. I'm thinking it may be time to start exercising again. The Hunger Games movie comes out tonight, so that one's on my list. And The Book Thief. I read that book several years ago and wrote about it here. I definitely want to see the movie now.

There's nothing like having a few days off to relax and enjoy yourself. I'm definitely getting ready to do just that. I hope you have a great weekend and week, too!

Jo-Ann and Tim and Me

I was in Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store the other day when I came across this printed material. It mimics the look of scrapbook paper, and is, in fact, a Tim Holtz product. (If you peruse the scrapbook and craft aisles much at all, you're sure to see inks and all kinds of other goodies Holtz has created for us artsy-types. Well, when I saw it, I literally stopped in my tracks. I'm not sure if any "oohs" or "ahhs" escaped my lips, but I'm sure if someone were nearby they would have heard that sharp intake of breath when I first spotted the fabric.

So, yes, I bought some. Just a little bit from two different bolts of cloth. I had been looking for a bird of some kind for one of my mixed-media girls and decided then that I would create my own. I know it looks a bit amateurish, but that's okay. I like the look of uneven stitches. There's no doubt when someone sees my bird that it was hand made. I'm good with that.

I haven't finished the canvas yet, but I hope to soon. Right now I've got a little pumpkin-carving to do and some candy to stay out of.

Happy Halloween!