Thankful

so very thankful for this little evening break when the house is quiet, the kids are asleep and i can just breathe and be and not be needed for anything.

i'm thankful for art and inspiration and just the everyday beauty the world has to offer.

i'm thankful for my family and my friends and for the love and joy they bring to my life.

i'm thankful for yummy art supplies and thankful for the desire and need to make art.

i am thankful for technology and the way it merges so wonderfully with art and our human need to communicate and share ideas.

i am taking the most awesomely awesome online art class with misty mawn right now and i cannot even begin to explain in words how i love it so! i am a slow and visual learner so this is a perfect class for me. not to mention that misty is a talented artist and wonderful teacher.

what are you thankful for? make a list, you will be plesantly surprised at how much there is to be thankful for and how most of it is intangible and immesurable.

Mama's Holiday Wishlist

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?
sweaters from anthropology, frye engineer boots, golden fluid acrylics, caran d'ache neocolor II watersoluble artist crayons, pan pastels

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?
recently i received an awesome hand knit headband from wendy! (i also love everything my daughter makes for me!) :)

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?
good question...probably something scrapbook-y or a more intense quilting project

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
a little casio electric piano

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?
littlest pet shop (but she doesn't really need any more!), movies, games, books

6. What is your favorite holiday food?
turkeystuffingmashedpotato

esandcranberrysauce

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?
baby quilts (might take a little longer, though!) ;) and most likely some ornaments and cards

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?
It's a tie between "A Christmas Story" and "Scrooged"

9. Favorite holiday song?
The Little Drummer Boy (sung by Bing Crosby and David Bowie)

10. Favorite holiday pastime?
Decorating the tree and just hanging out with the family at home listening to Christmas music and making holiday treats

Halloween Fun, Too

Another fun and spooky Halloween has come and gone. This year me and Maya made some holiday wreaths with a macabre theme in mind. The wreath below looks rather tame but upon closer inspection, you'll notice the fingers tucked in here and there (Maya's idea!).


One stop at our local Michael's was all it took to put these spooky wreaths together in a matter of minutes. I borrowed some red sparkly poinsetta from the Christmas section to top off the creepy red-and-black theme.

And added some fingernail polish to the plastic fingers for a gruesome touch. ;) (ooh, no pun intended).

This year we had some help from my stepdaughter, Brielle, to create a Halloween scene on the porch and a graveyard in our front lawn. Here she's posing as Captain Jack Harkness (from the show "Torchwood") with Sureya as a little monkey, Maya as Mulan and our old, dear headless friend, Freaky Freddy.

All night we couldn't figure out why little kids were so hesitant to approach our porch for sweets...until we noticed that from afar, it looked as though Brielle's head were attached to Freddy's body! And as you walked closer, it looked like Brielle's head was floating off to the side (thanks to a weird optical illusion!)

Next year, I think I'll get it together sooner and include Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) in with our Halloween fun. I'm taking Suzi Blu's online course right now and it is full of Day of the Dead inspiration and fun. Hope you're having some creative moments wherever you are! Let the holiday fun begin!

Happy Halloween!