You've Got Mail

This past weekend we did a first. The planets all aligned. We actually had a nowhere-to-be, nothing-to-do Saturday morning. While at Lowes earlier in the week, I noticed a sign for Kid's Clinics. So feeling adventurous and free my husband and I, along with our three kids plus an extra kid friend, hopped in the van and headed for Lowes to build Valentine mailboxes. I brought my camera thinking I would capture some onsite building. But that could have meant sacrificing one of the 40 fingers we were trying to keep our eyes on. As a result, no pix exist from the actual clinic...too many hammers flying around. Believe me.

We completed four really cute Valentine mailboxes at the store. As we were leaving, the Lowes people handed out leftover kits from past clinics. We brought back home lots of projects and spent the rest of Saturday happily hammering away in our garage/workshop. If you have a Lowes around and have never been to a kid's clinic, I highly recommend checking it out. The kids get aprons and a badge (kind of like brownies or cub scouts) for each project they complete. And it's all free!

The best part about it all is the sense of pride and accomplishment that kids get from actually building and constructing wood projects. There is big time satisfaction that comes with swinging a real hammer—with adult supervision of course. The next clinic around here is on February 23rd. We're pretty excited about going again as we'll be building squirrel feeders. And boy oh boy have we got squirrels to feed.

While the Lowes mailboxes were very cute, they won't work for collecting Valentines at school in a couple of days. We need larger enclosed type boxes to hold all of those love notes and candy attachments from classmates. I made the mailboxes above for my school age kids out of recycled dry food boxes. I covered the boxes with fabric and embellished with felt scraps, ribbon and lace. The openings at the tops are lined with fake fur (Brendan's) and fabric (Cara's) to prevent peeking. Right now we're working on the task of addressing cards to friends and adhering candy to the envelopes. Actually Cara finished this activity in an afternoon some time ago. Brendan can handle about five cards per night so we're still working to complete his class list. Ahhhh...the excitement of Valentines Day....and hang tight squirrels, you'll have your treats—in your very own feeders (no stealing from the birds)—in a week or so.

Dear Mother Nature...

With all due respect Mother Nature, your chaotic weather is making me C*R*A*Z*Y. I realize that we humans are partly to blame... breaking down the ozone layer and all, but really. Last week we had days in the single digits. Yesterday, it was almost 60 degrees. Today, the wind is howling with a sporadic rain and at 7:45am the temperature is 55 degrees—in February in Ohio! My kids and I are painstakingly trying to figure out what they should go to school in.

The meterologists say by mid-afternoon the temps will drop back down in the 40s. Will the kids make it through recess if I send them in spring jackets? Or will falling degrees make them yearn for warmer winter jackets before I can pick them up from school? And just how trustworthy is my local weather channel? Will you play a fast one on those poor weather forecasters that try so hard to figure out what you're going to do next?

Forget about the days when you rolled out one season's wardrobe at a time. Now we must have spring, summer, fall and winter dress ready at a moments notice. My 1950s coat closet sure isn't big enough for this. I'll agree that predictability is boring, but even the plants don't know if they should sprout or rest.

Well, that's my whine for today. Maybe it's the rain making me cranky. Or maybe it's lack of sleep. The weather sirens went off last night at 1:30am to alert me that severe thunderstorms were moving in. Wait...is that sunlight starting to fill my windows?!? hmmmm...what was I complaining about again?

baby Kings and baby Queens

This weekend was about signing off on proofs (design work) and putting the finishing touches on my January baby tile orders that just arrived back from the kiln. I've been selling these 8" x 8" tiles (along with a wedding version) for several years. After having two little queens and one little king I've learned that they are the real rulers of the house/castle.

There is a scary number of beads that live in our house. I would not doubt that if they were lined up they could stretch across Ohio and maybe even back again. They are all organized by color which makes them all the more attractive and irresistible to me.

How precious is a New Year's baby? Here I'm stringing the carefully chosen beads on this tile's wire hanger. It's like the icing on a cake. As is signing off on projects that I enjoy while I'm doing, but somewhere along the way seem like they will never bid farewell to my desk or my studio.

The best part is now I can make room for new endeavors. I can hardly wait to get started on that one.

When Pigs Fly

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." —Walt Disney

I created a flying pig (from wood and aluminium cans) that serves as a reminder to live my dreams and ignore the pessimists, dream crushers and doubters. Yes, even when that pessimist sometimes happens to be me.

Besides everybody knows that pigs really do fly in Cincinnati.

Sweets for the sweet

This is the kind of "sponge" cake you were thinking right?! What 6-year-old boy would want anything but a yellow sponge that wears clothes? It's a big deal to me to make my kids birthday cakes. No bakery, no store-bought, no, never. One of my psychological hang-ups is the need to bake and decorate all child b-day cakes myself. I hope some day my children can look back at their b-day cakes and see all the mommy love that went into cake creations that were admittedly far from perfect. To begin I always have a birthday cake consultation with the soon-to-be star of the day about interests and dream birthday celebrations. This latest interview resulted in my first character cake and don't think I didn't ask "Are you sure you want Sponge Bob? Really, really sure??? 100%??" I'm not a big fan of duplicating characters or promoting TV watching, but this year I caved. Maybe it had to do with Brendan coming off a 5-day flu bug. Regardless he got his wish. Hopefully I can avoid making another Nickelodeon cake for the youngest in two months.

I have taken a few cake decorating classes to learn some tricks and get just a bit better than before. Having the right tools makes a big difference. And if you crave vibrant colors like I do you have to use gel paste to color the icing.

These are for the classmates. Since I'm behind for Cara's birthday, I'm settling up both birthdays by sending sugar cookies to school tomorrow with both Cara and Brendan. I made myself do something simple—bright and happy birthday colors with lots of colored sprinkles. Only when I snapped this picture did I notice how the Nancy Thomas studio prints resting on the counter had inspired my cookies. How obvious.

Happy 6th birthday Brendan...you're the sweetest boy I know.

XX00X Love, Mom

visual heat wave

brrrrrrr....Ohio is chilly today. I am NOT a cold weather kind of girl. It's in the low 20's dropping into the single digits tomorrow--yikes! So for warmer day visual focus I've provided a sunflower painting of mine. If you stare long enough and turn the below up to HIgh maybe we can convince ourselves that it really isn't that cold outside.

During the winter this guy makes it possible for me to get my work done in my cold basement office. Speaking of work I've had a lot this week. I'm finishing up a magazine design and preparing for another birthday. Our middle child is turning six and has requested a sponge cake. Stay tuned...

Is it Monday yet?

It's been a long week. The middle child was acting strange last Tuesday. On Wednesday when I woke him for school, I discovered that the sick monster had paid a middle-of-the-night visit. Feverish, pale, lethargic and hoarse led me to think that perhaps I'd have an extra child home with me. To confirm, I presented my 'areyoureallysickorjusttired' test by calmly noting out loud that today was gym day at school. Brendan replied that he was too sick to go. Stay home on a gym day? Check. He passes.

For the first 2 or 3 hours I tried (really I did) to keep the sick child sequestered namely from miss lovey-dovey-two-year-old Nora. That was before I caught her drinking right out of Sick Child's cup and realized that my efforts were fruitless. Nora needs to be right next to her siblings loving them and sharing everything. On sick days, I usually give a reprieve from my tv and Nintendo playing limits. Nora of course wanted to be supportive (above) so she's "playing" with Brendan. Brendan let Nora "play" his Nintendo while Brendan used big sister Cara's. Everyone knows that Nora is hardly trustworthy with a Nintendo so after the photo snap Nora was diverted to more appropriate two-year old activities (swear).

Finally, after 4 long days of a nasty flu bug and ear infection things seem to be looking up. Brendan is planning on going back to school tomorrow. And in case you're wondering Nora was sniffling by Friday. Hopefully the rest of us can stay healthy ....wait...did I just say that??? I'll be knocking on wood, throwing salt over my shoulder and avoiding black cats for the next several weeks. Happy January.

Half-price Inspiration

I treated myself. And I'm not talking about the cinnamon streusal muffins (although those are a treat too.) I'm a pretty lucky girl having one of my very favorite stores on the planet less than 4 miles away. This past weekend I spent some time soaking in the color palettes at Anthropologie which makes it a work-related trip ; ). I splurged on that clearance-priced potholder. The nostalgic pattern and color make me want to bake rich, wintry, comfort foods. Potholders CAN make a person happy.

Okay, I didn't make it out with just a potholder. I snagged the last "D" of the clearance fabric letters too. My strong attraction to letter forms has resulted in an extensive collection of "D's" all over my house. Kind of like a "D" I Spy (hmmmm...fun blog entry idea...I'm making a mental note.)

The first thing my husband said when he spied yet another D was "you could make that." I know he's right and honestly I thought that too....but honey, did you hear me say CLEARANCE! And I need this D standing around for inspiration. How can you not buy inspiration when it's marked half-price? So upholstered letter forms are now on my (very long) to-do list. Actually I'm proud of myself for making it out for under $20. Daley Dexterity Deserving Dignity (sorry—that came too easy! maybe I should lay off the D's??!)

If Only She Had a List

Here's my latest character...that naive girl with the red hood. Maybe if her mom had sent her to Grannies with a 'To Do' list she would have remembered that Mom had told her not to talk to strangers. If Red hadn't talked, the wolf would have never known she was on her way to Grannies. That big bad guy wouldn't have stuffed poor Grannie into the closet and sabotaged what was going to be a nice visit between a little girl and her Nana. Then Red might have made it to the cleaners. Thank goodness a hunter rescued the pair. Talk about a story that could have had an ugly ending.

The concept of putting all inclusive lists on my kids of what to do and not to do..."Don't fight with your brother/sister", "Be nice", "Eat your vegetables", etc. is thought provoking, but probably not practical (definitely not cool). I guess I'll continue to repeat all my pearls of wisdom over and over hoping that something will eventually sink in. Unfortunately, life experience and mistake making is the best teacher. I'll bet you Little Red Riding Hood will NEVER talk to a wolf she meets in the woods again. And just how long do you think it will be before her mom trusts her to take goodies to grannie by herself?!?

Creating

Life isn't about finding yourself.

It's about creating yourself.

This past Christmas one of my BFF's gave me a plaque with that saying. I've been saying it over and over to myself for the past several days. It's exactly the hit on the head I needed to break out of the 'who am I funk' I've been suffering through over the last few months. No more of that silliness. It's time to go at it.

Was that 2007?

Wow—that went by fast. I'll have to remember that they have a tendency to do that.

I hope your 2007 brought lots of happiness.
Cheers to the new year ahead!

Further up the alley

We've had lots of celebrations and parties around here lately. Our eldest just turned 9 in between Christmas and New Years. We had a bowling party to celebrate which of course required a bowling cake. Here's my answer to that. The pin was cut from a sheet cake and the ball was baked in a bowl. I used tea lights (each equals 3 years!) for the candles/finger holes. I swirled pink, purple and white icing for the ball because what 9 year old bowls with the boring black one? I used Airhead candies—cut in half lengthwise—to make the stripes on the bowling pin.

My girl is growing up about as fast as that ball is speeding down the lane. Each year brings more independence and a little more distance from me. Sometimes I want to stop it and other times I want to rush it along.

Regardless I realize that the moving ball is out of my hands. At least for now, my job as a parent is to cover the gutters when I can and help her hit as many pins as possible. All too soon she'll be on her own.

Happy 9th birthday Cara.

I wish you many, many

happy ones to come.

Love, Mom

X00XX0

A Cut for Christmas

This has been on my almost 9-year-old's mind for a long time. She's had friends that have done it and has talked about wanting to do it too. Lately Cara's long, long, years-to-grow hair had been drawing lots of compliments which was making that final decision harder for her.

I made it clear to Cara that it would be her call when we went in for a Christmas "trim" yesterday afternoon. I could tell Cara was deep in thought on the drive to the hair salon, however the minute we entered her mind was made up. She decided she was ready to donate her hair to another child.

With a quick snip, Cara was holding years in her hand. She knew it was worth it. After all It's just long hair to her, but the world to a child suffering from hair loss. Her hair measured just over 10 inches which is the minimum required by Locks of Love.

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. They meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses LOL provides helps to restore self-esteem and confidence to children, enabling them to face the world and their peers.

We mailed the hair off today. I'm proud of Cara for the special gift she has given this Christmas. A gift that really matters. No fancy paper or ribbon needed.

Locks of Love donor information can be found by clicking here.

Canvas Door Hangers

This is one of the gift projects I've taken on this Christmas. Now that I've cut back on the cookie/ candy craziness I'm finding myself with all kinds of extra free time ; ). I like these little guys hanging on door knobs, but they could also be hung on a wall or cabinet knob.


To start, I purchased primed 4" x 4" canvases with a 1-3/8" depth.

For the peace hanger, I stretched fabric over the canvas. I attached the fabric to the back of the canvas with a staple gun. I then sealed the fabric with a satin gel medium. After the canvas was dry, I painted over the fabric with a white metallic acrylic paint. Before the paint had time to dry, I used a wet paper towel to remove areas where I wanted the fabric to show through. Next, I used scrap booking letter stickers to spell peace. I applied a second layer of satin gel medium. After that was dry, I went back in and painted on top of the letters adding details here and there. Finally, I coated the entire canvas with a sealer.

After the sealer was dry, I cut a 40 inch length of ribbon. The ribbon should have a width between 1" and 1-1/2". I adhered the ribbon to all sides of the canvas with hot glue except for the top. Then I tied a bow at the top. (Don't be confused. The picture above shows a variation using the same fabric background. Here I traced a letter and painted in the monogram. I added a slightly different border with the turquoise paint that I have a fondness for lately.)

To the right is a simple monogram door hanger with a plain=no fabric background. After painting the background, I traced my letter on the canvas and then filled in with black acrylic paint. I also painted the sides of the canvas black before I attached the ribbon.

Now I think I need to go bake some cookies. I'm having withdrawal.

RED

This past Friday was the opening of the art show themed "RED" at Redtree gallery. I'm showing four pieces along with works from 22 other local artists. The show runs until January 5th. I've been on this experimental kick and spinning like I'm the big wheel on that game show. I'm not sure where (or when) I'll finally land and concentrate some serious energy. So for now, you never know what you're going to see here.

Above, as well as in the first painting way above, I've incorporated a base of papers, fabrics and old sheet music. I enjoyed visiting a different era while painting these gals.

My St. Nick orange is in the show along with "Green Apple on Red Cloth". Both of these are painted on red fabric that was first sealed with gel medium (which by the way makes them on "red cloth" in a 2-D and 3-D sense if you think about it.)

On a side note, I am ready to throw my camera in the Ohio river. I need to go now and compose a letter to Santa. Surely Santa will understand my frustration and get an elf to build a better one for me. I've been nice this year...

All Dressed Up

What goes on during her nap.

Crafts by little hands.

Family heirlooms.

Ahhh...the memories.

Remembering the reason.

Less than one inch of clearance equals perfection.

My white vs. their colored lights compromise.

A dressed up tree is magical.

Ohio Buckeyes

I keep telling myself I'm going to simplify things this Christmas season. That means no making 10 varieties of candy and 6 varieties of cookies among many other silly, silly things that I fell compelled to do despite how very busy I am. Luckily, buckeyes made the cut. How could I not make a batch representing our dear state of Ohio? In case you're interested, the name "Buckeye" presumably comes from local usage in the early days of settlement of Ohio. An early botanist found the tree on the banks of the Ohio River, and added "Ohio" to the common name in order to distinguish from the related Yellow Buckeye. In 1953 the Ohio legislature named Aesculus glabra, the Ohio Buckeye, as Ohio's official tree. I've been in a trivia mood this week so bear with me.

These are so simple to make. I'm including the recipe I use below.

OHIO BUCKEYES

Milk Chocolate for dipping (I use Merkens chocolate wafers--melted in the microwave)

Peanut butter filling:

1 stick butter, softened

1 1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups confectioner's sugar

Combine peanut butter filling ingredients. Roll filling into balls. Insert a toothpick in each and freeze for 30 minutes. Dip 2/3 of each ball into melted milk chocolate and place on parchment to set. When chocolate is dry remove toothpick and use fingertip to remove toothpick mark.

And here's a toast to the reject buckeyes. I'd be in big trouble if I didn't have a few of these for my anxious audience members. The rest of the buckeyes have to quickly packaged and stashed or they would never see the light of Christmas day.

St. Nick Day

I thought I'd paint an orange in honor of St. Nick Day. That is after I did a little research. With all the questions I'm getting these days from my kiddos I realized that I needed to brush up on my St. Nick knowledge. So here's a little background on that lovable guy--where the true story of Santa Claus begins. (The following is from the St. Nicholas Center.)

Nicholas was born during the third century in the village of Patara. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. Some of the popular symbols of Christmas started here:

Christmas stockings by the fireplace. And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there, goes the oft repeated Christmas rhyme. In the story of Nicholas rescuing the poor maidens from being sold into slavery, the gold dowry money, tossed in through the window, is said to have landed in stockings left to dry before the fire.

Orange or tangerine in the toe of filled Christmas stockings. The gold Nicholas threw to provide the dowry money is often shown as gold balls. These are symbolized by oranges or even apples. So the orange in the toe of the stocking is a reminder of Nicholas' gift.

Candy Canes. These are really candy croziers (bishops staffs), one of St. Nicholas' symbols. All bishops carry staffs, hooked at the top like a shepherd's crook, showing they are the shepherds who care for, or tend, their people.

Gift-giving in secret, during the night. Stockings are filled while children are sleeping. Nicholas did his gift giving secretly, under cover of darkness. He didn't want to be seen and recognized as he wanted those he helped to give thanks to God.

Seasonal concern for the needy.
St. Nicholas gave gifts to those in greatest need—the young and the most vulnerable. Christmas gifts and baskets given to those in need, along with other seasonal contributions to charity, reflect St. Nicholas' unselfish concern for others. He never wanted or expected anything in return.


The challenge in my house is to work on keeping the focus on the true meaning of Christmas, so especially today, St. Nick's our man. For anyone with kids in need of a Christmas commercialism break, here's a link to some cute St. Nick activities.
Happy December 6th!