Pink Glitter

Olivia and I took a break from school work today to make these super-easy, super-fun ballerina gift card holders. We took turns cutting and glittering. It was a lovely treat to turn up the Christmas tunes and play with glue and images. Must make a note to do more of this sort of thing. 

and today I am grateful for...

* for packages (see above image) that land in a big wonderful surprise on the porch and incite much ohhing and ahhhing! a hug and the biggest of thank yous to the awesome misty mawn!  the GORGEOUS print is on the mantel, the journal at home, here beside me as i type (i will place found poems on the creamy, painted pages.), the cards are all around the kitchen so that i can enjoy them every single day! misty is the kindest, most generous kind of soul but many of you probably already knew that. i was lucky to get in on her pay-it-forward post on FB. soon, very soon, i must think about working on making and gathering my own goodies to send out as i have finally found my list of names and addresses from months ago.

* for the joy of writing outside in the cool early a.m. and doing my morning pages though I really didn't feel like it.

* for summer break and trampolines and lemon tea

* for pretty yellow zucchini blossoms

* for impromtu lunch picnics on patchwork quilts which turn into lazy afternoon reading sessions. i finished up "the haunting of hill house" and worked on a short story. olivia started "the secret order of the gumm street girls." i don't know much about olivia's book other than magical shoes are involved but that is enough for me.

* for re-discovering Questionaut, a computer game that I don't mind my daughter playing. It is visually breathtaking and is oh so clever!

* for a phone call in which i was told that another art piece has sold! whoo-hoo! what a good feeling when another connects with something created by my hands and heart. i am still a bit in awe over the whole process. and EXTREMELY grateful. kelly will be getting a better father's day gift this year than last and i'm so happy to be buying it with "my own" money. i was also able to place a book order on Amazon and will be having a bit of repair work done around the house soon. hopefully very soon. and all with "art money." i am loving this and sending up thanks to the heavens as i write these words.

* and for an old dog that loves me. that's her oh-no-i-just got-caught-eating-the-cat-food face.

The hanging of ghosties, writing goals, R.A.K.s, and fried green tomatoes

This past week has been filled with:

*Halloween Goodness. We've been decorating around the house and that's always fun. Olivia immerses her whole self in the spirit of whatever holiday it is and becomes this little ball of energy zipping around the house, this time only stopping to paint a wooden house, read (DRIZZLE by Kathleen Van Cleve), or watch the newly-discovered episodes of Kate and Allie on Netflix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Goal Setting and Meeting. Olivia's also putting in the hours at dance. THE NUTCRACKER will be here before we know it. Olivia’s dance class time is my writing time. It’s good guilt-free “me” time and I usually head straight for a coffee shop after dropping her off, but this week I’m trying something new; this week I’m trying out library writing and so far, so good. See, when I’m in a coffee shop, I have zero willpower over chai lattes and caffeine in the evening is something it's better I do without. Plus, libraries have the super-cool book ambiance. I’ve found a favorite spot too, catty-cornered between mythology and genealogy. It looks out onto a courtyard. Cozy and perfect.

A few weeks ago I went on a writers retreat. A cabin in the middle of nowhere, and I do mean NOWHERE. (I mentioned on facebook that it was there I saw my first ever shooting star. The whole time felt enchanted, really) There we did writing exercises like this: our own "Where I’m From Poem"s, but we also had time alone to write on our individual projects. When we gathered together that evening we were all inspired and ready to make things happen. We decided that to keep each other on track between meetings we would set goals and check in once a week. My goal was to write everyday for 30 minutes a day. The first week went pretty smooth so I’ve decided to up the requirements a bit and make my new goal 5,000 words per week on the WIP (work in progress fiction story). This doesn’t include blogging and writing in my journal or doing morning pages. Now, this is going to be more of a challenge but I think it’s what I need to actually get this sucker finished. And (hope I don’t regret this later) holding myself accountable here on the blog with Wednesday check-ins. I did a bit of math and if I can stick to this goal (fingers crossed and wearing all available talismans) I will have the project finished sometime around April or May.

I don’t even have the words to express how much just completing this book would mean to me. This story, the characters, have been company through many difficult moments. It kept my mind busy in Mexico, and then during the chemo visits, the lonely, sick times on the couch after those chemo visits. What a joyous thing to see the characters through to the end, a promise kept to myself.

*A Random Act of Kindness. See the abstract there, the gorgeous square piece on the bottom, blue wall. I've tried three times this morning to get a good shot of it but it's cloudy here and not the best for taking photos. I love this piece. LOVE it. It was a surprise, a random-act-of-kindness, from my friend and local artist, Gina Louthian-Stanley. How fun and fantastic is that! Who doesn't love a surprise? Please click to visit her blog and see more of her amazing work. Gina's work is soulful and expressive. Haunting. Earthy. I just love everything she posts. We all see different things when we look at abstract art. With this piece I immediately saw a swan and that relates to another story, a fairy tale sort of story, I've had in the works and will share all about soon. I placed Gina's art in a spot where I can view it many times throughout the day. I can see it from the kitchen and now, from the dining room where I sit typing these words.

*Trying a New Food. Can you believe I've lived in the South for most of my life (other than my brief stint in NJ) and have never had fried green tomatoes? Well, I just thought that there was something wrong about that, especially being the tomato-lovers that we are in this family, so I picked up four very hard, very green tomatoes at the farmer's market. Just dip them in beaten eggs and then in flour or cornmeal and fry. Olivia helped with the dipping; she didn't help much with the eating though. I thought they were tangy and yummy. What do you think, ever had them?

internet detox

Every once in a while Olivia and I will take an internet/computer break. Here we are, school starting in ten days, and it seems like the perfect time. We still have many fun things to cross off our summer list, not to mention the fact that the weather here has been wonderful for night walking and star gazing, much too gorgeous to spend in front of a screen of any kind. I've promised her many, many games of outdoor UNO and there are countless other things I feel we must do now, and I write "now" because it just seems like we are transitioning into a some kind of un-name-able, different phase, now because my little girl starts MIDDLE SCHOOL in less than two weeks (!), dance classes will be starting back. Life is going to get busy.

So, here's my plan for the next few days:

PLAY. Play in art room. Play in art journals. Play more with painting on old photographs. Have fun. No worries about having finished pieces. (although i do have some finished pieces to share just as soon as i manage to take a decent shot of them...)

Make more foam stamps using technique learned in LK Ludwig's class (wonderful, inspiring!) a few years ago.

Spend time lovin' on those I love. Taking LONG walks, holding hands. Star-gazing. Reading on blankets. Getting my hands in some nature! (This heat has kept me inside way too much.) Do some treasure-hunting. Letter-writing. Fiction-writing. Stitching. LOTS of stitching. Knitting (just learning).

But mostly and mainly, just doing this, long and deep:

See you soon...

Happy creating!!!!!!

the light in the dining room...

...is lovely and I cherish the times when we gather there to work on our individual projects. Kelly, with his guitar. Olivia, photographing her beloved Pullips, Kaela and Chelsea, while I attempt to sew yet more snack bags. (love them-can't get enough!) Sadie, watching over the fabric and keeping us company.

mamaw's hands

Found this photo in my desk drawer this morning and scanned it in. It's been years, five at least, since my grandmother picked up a needle. Maybe when I head up the mountain next week I will take my sewing bag. Last visit, Mamaw didn't know me. I sat and rambled about the weather, the heat. She asked me to count the hummingbirds at the feeder. But now I am visualizing her running those hands over newly made French knots and smiling. Yes, it's the perfect imagining for tonight when I am over-tired (maybe a wee bit cranky but trying to hide it) and misspelling every other word.

Sending you sweet dreams and wishes for a creative tomorrow.

last day of dance camp

 

I wonder what goes through Olivia's mind when I reach for my camera. ("not again, MOM", perhaps) It's almost always nearby so it happens a lot. Most of the time my aim is to be a quiet observer, acting fast, in and out, nobody hurt, but occasionally I can't help myself, and I start directing. Once I get going, it's SO hard to stop. "Stay right there. The light is so pretty...I just have to...freeze...now, turn this way. Ok, look up, turn a bit to the right, that's perfect"....and so it has been since she was born. But she prefers candid shots these days and I have learned to keep the posed shots to a handful.

Friday, we were rushing, minutes from needing to walk out the door for dance camp, (rumor was that latecomers had to do ten pushups for every minute late) when something about the graceful way Olivia moved and the soft light on her cheek, her blue eyes bluer than usual, stopped me as I hurried through the room, packing waters, grabbing lunch bags. I watched her tie her pink Converses, smiling up at me, just like all the other mornings this past week. That's when I felt it, a solid thump, painful, right in my chest. "Your little girl is growing up, look she is her own person, she didn't even need you to do a bun today for the first time; she has a life separate from yours, a purpose all her own, someday she won't be in this house everyday, she will have her own place, a career. Think of how fast these tens years have gone," this thump told me. And so I listened to this thump, this wise thump, and I put down the things in my arms and sat down at the table with Olivia. It was only a few extra minutes but they mean the world to me. And luckily, the camera was on the table, not even in the bag yet, and maybe because Olivia also seems suddenly tuned to the passing days and her own growing, changing, she sat with patience and let me snap a few extra. Twenty frames. I have shared my favorite. (Notice the newly pierced ears.) And we weren't even late. Every light turned green. Five minutes to spare.