Making Time for Art...and Babies

Guess who's been up in the studio making a mess in preparation for making art?  I thought I knew what I was looking for, and I was pretty sure I knew which drawer it would be in, but alas, I was wrong.

So I've gone through 3 drawers in one of my fabulous IKEA cabinets, each filled with clip art and vintage photos and alphabet stickers and tape measures and so...much...more!  And then I got distracted and forgot what I was looking for, and began creating piles all over the farm tables. 

When I realized I'd veered off the beaten path, I started sorting and refilling the drawers.  And all those piles that never belonged in any of them?  They're still on the tables.

The girls are coming over to play on Thursday night, so I've got to tackle those piles and find new homes for them.  And then I've got to get back to the business of finding what I was looking for in the first place.

I spent a few hours on Saturday with my grandsons.  Jackson turned 3 yesterday and I don't know where the time went.  And Baby Luke?  Oh my, I hated to wash my hands or bathe or change clothes after holding him for the better part of 5 hours because I could still smell that new baby scent.

Sigh.  Isn't he just adorable?  I hope they're enjoying the fact that he sleeps a lot because trust me, it won't last. 

And then he'll be 3 asking "what's that" about a thousand times a day like his big brother.  I'm hoping he'll catch on to Mimi's prodding and start saying "excuse me?" instead of  "huh" all the time.  But right now he thinks that's the funniest thing he's ever heard and he giggles, then says it in a squeaky voice while tilting his head, and then giggles some more. 

And I'm sure it's just wishful thinking but doesn't it look like Luke might have my strawberry blonde hair?  Possibly?  Just a hint of red in there?  Though if he has blonde hair like his daddy and his big brother, I'm fine with that too.

I'll be back later with photos of the studio.  I bet you'll be able to figure out what we'll be making when you see the piles turning into kits.

Better at Playing than Photographing

Jackson spent his first night away from home with Mimi & Papa.  We were thrilled.  He didn't know he was staying.  While we were up in the studio playing with water colors and rubber stamps and trying out all my paper cutters, Mom, Dad & Baby Luke slipped away.

He wasn't upset at all and only asked about them 6 or 8 times over the course of the next 24 hours.

In addition to creating art we played with cars and horns and a guitar that I didn't give him at Christmas because it was too loud.  And after a very few minutes, I stashed it away for a future play date.  No way I'd send that home with a new baby in the house; my daughter-in-law would never have forgiven me.

He eats often, but like a bird, so imagine my surprise when he ate my supper after eating his own!  That'll teach me not to plan for the unexpected.  I was told he loves McD's pancakes so I made pancakes yesterday for breakfast.  He ate 2 of the 4 on his plate.  Perhaps they didn't measure up.  Or perhaps it was the fact that he spotted the iPad. 

The photo above was taken after pancakes, with the boys in their pj's, playing with the ipad. 

Don't know why I didn't think to take pictures in the studio, or outside yesterday playing in the sunshine, or during that 45 minute Mr. Bubble bath time fun.  Mimi's got to do better. 

Would you believe it snowed at my house all day on Saturday, yet it was just warm enough that it didn't amount to anything.

Oh sure, it was pretty.   And the dogs enjoyed eating it, followed by a fluffing out with the hair dryer.

And some of the kids in the hood threw snowballs and made snowmen, but with hour after hour of flakes, I expected far more accumulation no matter what the weatherman had been telling me for days and days.

Of course if that had happened, I wouldn't have been able to go visit my new grandson on Sunday.  I delivered roasted new potatoes with garlic & olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and sprinkled them with freshly grated parmesan cheese when I pulled them out of the oven.  They were one of the side dishes for my chicken casserole.  They hadn't eaten all day so as soon as I came in the door we were turning on the oven, and in less than an hour, a late lunch/early dinner was on the table, complete with crescent dinner rolls and more.

My mother beat me there by 5 minutes, so I let her hold Luke most of the afternoon.  Seemed only fair since I'd already been to see him twice at the hospital and this was her first visit.

Jackson played with my iPad for a little while, but for once thought playing with all his little cars and trucks was a better idea.  I held the baby for an hour, fed him a bottle and changed his clothes, but his eyes were open less than 5 minutes during my 3-hour visit.  Turns out he doesn't like being naked and screamed his little head off until I got his legs tucked into a clean onesie.  Putting on the t-shirt didn't help at all.  Nope, he had to feel fabric on his little legs before he was convinced he was dressed.  Note to self:  Go buy that boy some of those sweet little gowns with the drawstring bottom for quick changes! 

The girls are coming over Thursday night for a bit of fun in the studio so tonight I'll be putting away a few new CHA purchases that arrived last week.  And tomorrow I'll be planning something fun for us to do during the project portion of our meeting.  Ooh, can't wait.

Jackson...not yet 3

I know you'd rather see art than my grandson, but humor me.

I just got my hands on these and can't help myself.

Aren't his big sisters adorable?

That's Anna on the left and Lydia on the right.

Wait

For

It

Much better, right?

Little brother Luke is due to arrive tomorrow.

Mimi Linda can't wait!

Stampaway USA 2013

It's official.

In August you'll find me at Stampaway in Cincinnati, rolling out 4 new classes.

My first two classes are on Wed., Aug. 7th:

I know you won't believe this, but the first class is

A Portfolio of Cards

from 1-3pm

Gasp.

Cards?

I know it's a shock, but it's true.

And they're great!!

My second class on Wednesday will be a 4 hour marathon of techniques from 4-8pm. 

Woo Hoo!!

Talk about a great way to kick off a convention week!

A Bouquet of Techniques Shadowbox Collage

Now that's a mouthful, isn't it?

A 4 hour class deserves an impressive title, or at the very least, a long one.

And it's not just a techniques class...we're housing our bounty in a huge glass-topped shadowbox!  Need to post some photos, don't I?

I can't have too much fun on Wednesday night though because I've got my favorite class on Thursday morning from 8:30-10:30.  Oh my, that sounds early, doesn't it?

Art Inspiration Boards

I knew I wanted to do something great this year, so back in December while fighting the flu I asked myself what would knock my socks off, and sure enough, I've come up with the perfect class for that.

And since everyone knows I'm the Queen of Techniques, I came up with one more class to keep us all happy...

and to show off my newest line of rubber stamps:

An Accordian Book of Tags

from 11:15am-1:15pm

Truth be told we'll be using my line of rubber stamps in all my classes, along with hundreds of stamps by other manufacturers. 

And inks and sprays and paints and stencils and more.

You know I can't teach a class anywhere that doesn't include Dyan's new Dylusions Sprays.  Oh my, the new colors are even more fabulous than the originals.

And Tim's new Distress Paints have me swooning for sure!

Planning to attend Stampaway August 7-10th?

Planning to take any of my classes?

For those Lovelies who take all 4 of my classes this year, I have

a

BIG

surprise!

I have a fewstudents like my girl Tammy who have signed up for all of my classes in years gone by, but that was a total of three.  This is my first year teaching four, so that calls for a celebration, right?

Stay tuned.

Photos and more coming...