oooh, it looks like a little gingerbread house!

Remember these?

The best part is always playing in the glitter!

Christmas Classics

A Charlie Brown movie, milk and Brownie Cookies with sprinkles, and lots of paint to decorate the Christmas knick knack gifts for Grammy and Nana and Jean Ayi. It is a very good start to this second week of Advent - the prophecy week. Hannah read from Isaiah 9: Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Father. Bethany read about Gabriel visiting the virgin, Mary. We lit the second purple candle.

Breaking News!

Bethany's art entry for "Reflections" has won an award for excellence and will move up to council for judging (whatever that means.) Hannah, however thrilled she is for Bethany, doesn't understand why her own submission is not on display. sigh. Scroll down a few entries to see pictures of both.

First of December - Time to Remember

The Advent House held a message behind door number one:
Today is special - the first of December -
A perfect time for us to remember.
We have many friends who are far away
Who we can send some hope today.
Come on then, it won't be hard -
Let's make them a special Christmas card!

So while I edited my address book, the girls worked on cards to send dear loved ones all their hopes and well wishes. Hope comes from knowing you are not forgotten. The address book was an old one I hadn't used in fifteen years. Sadly, there were many names, once dear enough to write down, who had moved - or divorced - or died. So many friends who moved on or moved away, now remembered.

These cards go out to you.

Wow!

Wow! is the theme of this year's "Reflections" event - a statewide arts program that allows elementary participation in the Arts. The piece is not returned, so I took pictures for posterity.

Bethany's composition of oil pastels and watercolor is "man made from a star."

Hannah's composition of oil pastels and watercolor is "erupting volcano."

Now we are six

Aside from the title of one of my favorite collections of children's poetry, it is a fact that my 25 week preemie, miracle extrordinaire, butterfly and swan, is now six. It happened so all of a sudden that four weeks later I can only say, time flies too fast. Heart of my heart, she wanted an "art party" for her birthday. I'll let you peek at some of the masterpieces...

The journey begins

I just can't remember how it happened though I think it might have been a stamp. I made a card or two and then Allison gifted me with some ephemera and paper.



Over the summer I picked up pencils and began researching handmade paper. I visited a few art stores in Dallas, Houston, and Austin and picked up papers I liked. I bought a few more stamps and some ink. I discovered Stampington Magazines and made a few more cards.




Since I work next to a B&N, I would browse the mag rack over break: Somerset Studios and Cloth, Paper, Scissors (CPS) were great eye candy and I thought about making my own paper but I couldn't find an old blender. Instead, I made a triptych (based on an article in CPS-15) for Allison and discovered mixed media and collage.

Currently I am experimenting with everything I find interesting: reclaimed books turned into journals, paper, paint, gesso, pencil, wood, and stamps. Each experiment teaches me more about what I like. Stamping on paper is pretty, but I prefer handling things in 3D. I like big strokes with big brushes and sponges. I like hammering, and rubbing, and adjusting, and working with wire. I like making "mistakes" and incorporating them into the final product. I like using cast-off things and especially recycling paper, especially paper with paint or drawings on it. I used to throw away my girls' paper scraps. No more!

Oh, and I like working outside. I have a tiny cubbyhole closet for my supplies that happens to be next to my patio which overlooks a creek. Instead of working in my closet, which I intended, I end up pulling what I need onto the table outside while the girls play in the creek.

I couldn't wait to post on my new space and I'll tell you why. This is my spontaneous blog - the part of me that doesn't think before she acts. (See, I even have to refer to myself in second person when I say that.) This is the me that changes direction at a whim, follows rabbit trails, red herrings and paper trails, for no particular reason other than I like the color of the paper.

Stone Pillars is contemplative, more cerebral. I hereby dedicate Paper Trails to the whimsical, colorful, and spontaneous.