One Proud Mama!

I am still bursting with pride for Ashlyn this weekend. Out of all of the kindergarten students at her elementary school, she was one of four students whose art project was chosen from the art director to be on display at the "Celebrate the Arts" exhibition this weekend at the high school with all grades from kindergarten to seniors. Imagine my excitement when I received the letter that her work had been chosen! I couldn't have been more proud, and being that it was an art piece made me even more excited. All of those countless hours we spent together painting, drawing, scrap booking, and doing crafts paid off. She does so well in her art class, and the teacher is amazing too. Every time she brings home something she has made, I am just in awe at what these kindergarteners are doing in class now! I just can't believe it, and that my baby is such an amazing little artist already at such a young age. This is the second time already that she has been noticed for her artwork.

The art show began Friday evening, and my parents and Doug's Mom and step dad came up so that they could all see her exhibit. Doug and I had not seen her work before the show, so it was a surprise to all of us. She did an oil pastel piece of the ocean with starfish, a turtle, and a sting ray in the water with Memphis on the beach. I just couldn't get over her detail of everything even down to the sea weed on the bottom. She was so proud describing her work to us. I couldn't be a more proud Mommy either. I think I have been beaming all weekend (actually, since I first got the letter!).


I have a couple of pieces that I have done over the last few days and will post them within the next couple of days. I just don't want to take anything away from her special post.

I am taking an online painting class from Paulette Insall called "All About Faces" that starts tomorrow. I am so excited, I cannot wait. I have been admiring her work for some time now, and am thrilled to be able to take her class and learn from such a great artist. If you are not familiar with her work, you should check her out - her work is amazing!

Well I am ready to enjoy a little quiet time with my husband before the crazy week starts now that the girls are asleep.

Spring Break

It is Spring Break for the kids here, and for me as well. My Mom and Dad graciously offered to keep my girls during Spring Break to give me one as well. Unfortunately, I wound up coming down with a terrible cold at the beginning of the week. It sure has helped being able to rest, though. With a 5 and 6 year old, that is a rarity around here! Thanks Granna and Gramps!

I have spent most of the week resting, but I have managed to squeeze in some creative time as well. I was inspired by my morning cup (more like cups) of coffee. This is the first one-

I wasn't too pleased with how my letter stamps turned out, so I will probably work on it some more. Anyway, here is the second one -

I was much happier with this one. I am working on a couple of other things that I will post when I have completed.

The most amazing thing happened today! My Dad found what he believed was some form of butterfly pupae in their backyard a few weeks ago. He made a tall cage for it and brought it up here so that the girls could watch it to see if anything happens. Needless to say my husband, Mom, and I have to admit, myself were all a little skeptical. It didn't really look like anything we had seen, and we sort of gave him a hard time about it. Well, earlier today, my husband came out of the room where we are keeping it and said, "You have got to come see this - it is absolutely the most beautiful thing I have seen!" I couldn't imagine what it might be, in fact, honestly I thought he was playing a joke on me and going to show me a "prize" that maybe our new puppy, Memphis, had left. Imagine my surprise when he shows me the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! It is a Luna moth with some amazing colors. It is lime green with purple and fuchsia tipped wings, and brightly colored "eyes." Here is a picture which can't possibly do this amazing creature justice, but here you go:


This beauty is totally inspiring me to make an attempt to paint him. We will see - I am working on it now, but I am not too pleased so far. I will post it if it turns out o.k.

For now, I am going to finish my Ben and Jerry's "Karmel Sutra" - YUM! and enjoy the rest of my quiet evening while my husband is at the Mason's lodge.

Have a great Spring Break!

Two in One Day

O.K. I am actually creating two entries in one day - a lot can happen since 5:30 am when I first wrote my other post. Seems like my daughter is somehow miraculously better - no more red throat. I think it must just be allergies. I know mine and my husband's are bad right now. She still is very inquisitive in whether or not she will have to have a shot if she has to go to the doctor.
My husband came home early from work today and spent some good quality time with Megan and Memphis playing the Wii. I was actually able to paint a little bit while they did. It's just something I made rather quickly, so it's not that great because I was experimenting with the tree. I seem to be fascinated with painting (or wanting to) trees lately. Actually, trees have always been my favorite things to paint. There is such beauty that can be found in trees, and I can always find a way that they symbolize something in my life at any given point. This time, it symbolizes growth because I feel like I am at a point in my life that I am growing - I think we all are at all times in some way or another.
Anyways, here's the picture I have been working on and also a picture of my girls and Memphis.

Million Dollar Question

Looks like more than likely, I will be taking Megan to the doctor today (again). While we were out running errands yesterday, she started asking questions just one after the other. Now, her questions aren't like what I would think most 5 year old questions would be, but rather very intuitive and in depth. Some of her questions went something like this:

"Why does Memphis have to have shots?" ,"What do they put in shots to make you better?","Can puppies dance?","If I were a puppy, could I dance?"....throughout the store "what did they make this out of?", "what makes stickers stick to paper?", "why do some stick better than others?" Then we start getting a little deeper:

Q: "How do you have a baby" I tried gently explaining that you have to be married and then you get to have a baby.
Q: "How do you get married?" A: I explained that you fall in love with someone and then get married.
Q: "What does fall in love mean?" A: I explained this as carefully and best that I could. She then says I am not ever falling in love or getting married." "Why?" I asked....."Because I don't want to have any babies because it will hurt!!"

This continues and I start cluing in that something is not right because she is getting more and more emotional with her questions, and she reverts back to questions about shots. Then, the million dollar question:

Q: "What makes your neck hurt?" -she always says that her neck hurts when it is actually her throat. A: "Does your throat hurt?" Q: "Will I have to get a shot if my throat hurts?" A: "More than likely not, they will just give you medicine?" Q: "O.K. then....my neck hurts!" BINGO!!

Sure enough, we get home and I look at her throat and low and behold, swollen red tonsils and a white pocket. She never ran any fever last night, but it still looks as though we will be making a trip to the doctor's office today. Seems like we just keep cycling back through this stuff. She gets it, then Ashlyn, gets it, and round and round we go. It doesn't help having several kids in the neighborhood who pass it around either. So, it looks like my day will involve a trip to Dr. Dan's office.
I did have about 30 minutes free yesterday where I played around with some color, and I made this:

My First Post

Well, this is obviously my first post. I have been lurking around the blog world for about 3 years now wishing that I could do this. I have blogs that I look at daily for inspiration and interest, and am amazed by other people's creativity. I am inspired by so many people and things, and I only dreamed of having an outlet like that to share my creations if not for anyone else, but for myself.
It finally hit me recently that why not stop wishing for all that, and just do it. I had to realize that I had to get over my fear of what other people would think about it so much, and realized what I have to say and what artwork I share is from my heart and that is what matters most. This is for me more than anything, and the thought of possibly inspiring someone else and meeting a community of others with the same interests as me is an added special bonus.
I was bitten by the creative bug at a very early age. My Dad is an artist and my Mom always has had some needlework project going on. Some of my first memories are of holding a paint brush and painting right along side my Dad before I ever even knew how to write. I guess that is why painting is my favorite art form, but I have always been one to love a challenge and want to try something new. Over the years my love of art grew as I expanded my creative world by trying new art forms and crafts. I have taken many painting classes, classes in pastels, and needlework. I later developed a love of jewelry making and working with pmc silver clay, an absolute obsession with scrap booking, and the list goes on and on.
It wasn't until recently that I discovered why I have such a love for art and crafts. I realized that it is my form of expression, it is basically my self journal. When I create I am sharing my true self, sometimes my deepest feelings without even realizing it completely until the piece is finished. I am a very private person who likes to keep my feelings to myself (not always a good thing to do), but when I create, that is my way of expressing myself, and there's always some little piece of that which I can find in what I create. It's probably not obvious to other onlookers, but I know it's there. There's something very healing and therapeutic about creating from the heart.
I now have two young daughters, Ashlyn who is 6 and Megan who is 5. They too will now be able to say that they have been holding a paintbrush before they knew how to hold a pencil and write. I can tell even at an early age, that they share my passion for creating. I am so inspired by them and my world around me and the pure beauty of our life. I try to create something every day, even if it is just doodling on a piece of paper, showing my girls how to do something, or taking a simple photo. I am creating is some way. By no means do I consider myself and expert, a pro, and a lot of the times even good at what I do, but I enjoy doing it.
I am a stay at home Mom of my two beautiful girls, a wife to a wonderful husband, Doug, and a Mommy to our newest "addition," our new Pug puppy, Memphis. My girls are exactly 1 year and 2 days apart. I have been so busy the last few years with my family, that I didn't create near as much as I would have liked or was able to. Now that they are older and most often like to create right along side of me, I am able to do it more. This to me is a beautiful thing.