Valentine's on the Mind...

 This project started with a grand idea while laying on the couch nursing a sore neck. Some of my most brilliant work begins this way! I wanted to have a fun project ready for the girls when they got home from school and this proved to fit the bill.

Paper bags and ....SNACKS!

I gathered some paper bags and cut them to lay flat on my table. I had so much fun reminiscing about covering my text books in junior high and high school with these paper bags. I did, however, notice that Trader Joe's bags are much more artsy than the bags we used to get from Mister Market!

Paper bags were NEVER this beautiful in the 80's!

I then decided that I needed a tablecloth. I unearthed the sheet I had used as a tablecloth last Thanksgiving. It brought back lots of fantastic memories as I read the things our guests had been thankful for that day. 

The girls came home and got right to work. They were so excited to have free range with their paint colors and to be using sponges

 

 The end results were beautiful! I tried my hand at sewing them on my machine, but got a bit frustrated with how they were coming out.
So the next day, I went into the studio and took it up a notch and created this lovely string of hearts...Jolee had a day off from school, so she painted, I cut and sewed and she stuffed. Fun, fun FUN!

Felting Fun!

And recycling all at the same time! I went to my local Goodwill and absconded with some lovely wool sweaters and rushed home to shrink them! I then cut them up, sewed them back together and embellished them to make these delightful little pouches. I was a bit obsessed for a few days...many of you know about my obsessions...they are VERY intense and VERY short-lived! Here it is December and I'm movin' on to my next obsession...

oh, I haven't discovered it yet! Just give me a minute...

And shall we discuss the fact that it's December? So much for my regular posts...oh well!

Today's 10 things I don't do all of the time...but did today:
10. Let Meka stay home from school even though she wasn't too sick
9. Gave a craft project to Meka that I had visions for...and did NOT intervene and make it what I wanted it to be!
8. Took care of my leftover turkey before it went rotten in the fridge
7. Gave Meka LOTS of chores once Jolee came home and, in turn, my life was relatively quiet before dinner. Miracle. Meka prepared the apples for applesauce, helped prepare dinner, washed the dishes and then processed the applesauce once it was cooked. Jolee spent the entire time "painting"...wooden stars and herself!
6. Put Elvia's hair into cute-as-a-button pigtails and DID NOT get upset when she took them out.
5. Backed out of a church committment so that I could do some self-care this weekend
4. Advocated for myself to go away for the weekend with my dear friend, Denise
3. Convinced myself that I deserve to go away and that my family will survive...probably even thrive...without me!
2. Cleaned my art space and enjoyed the cleanliness!
probably the best one...
1. with the help of Hannah, realized that my sister's birthday is coming up and I need to stick to my "non-materialism" all around...not just when it's convenient. I was going to send her a card with $10...big whoop...but instead decided to make her the cookies that her mother used to make each year at Christmas. Much more thoughtful then $10 and much better all around.

and with that, I am going to bed to read one of my new books that I got at the library!

Yipee!!

Must make crafts...work, work, work...

This is my mantra these days...as you can see, my workshop is getting filled up!earring cards filling up

my messy production area

I've managed to crank out 50 pairs of earrings and the "legs" to my felted angels. I also threw in some fun collage on a mirror...we'll see how that goes over at the craft shows!

Oh, did I mention I've agreed to do two this fall? Crazy woman. That's me!

Let's see...today...I survived today. I suddenly realized that I'm very glad I'm not a single parent. I do think that I would send my kids to public school or live MUCH closer to Merriconeag...driving to Freeport twice a day is NOT my idea of a good use of time!

Okay, I'm going to try to simplify my postings. Lists.
Ready?
10 Things I did today (out of the ordinary realm of my life...see, it's tricky!)...my therapist would have a field day with this one! I can hear her now, "Leslie, you are always wanting to accomplish things. You feel the need to produce all of the time." I know, I know...

1. Visited with a friend in Yarmouth
2. Spent some time looking for fun children's books at the library
3. Took a nap with Elvia (she usually sleeps in her crib)
4. Took care of banking crap immediately rather than waiting a month like I usually do
5. Made some yummy chicken soup and BISCUITS for dinner! They actually ROSE!!! No hockey pucks tonight!!!
6. Managed to keep the woodstove going all day despite me not putting wood on before I left at 8am this morning!
7. Had "family reading time" on the couch (instead of bedtime reading in bed)
8. Let Jolee and Meka sleep in my bed
9. Oh! I almost forgot! I "organized" my freezer! I know, scintillating, isn't it??? I had all of this blackberry puree in ice cube trays that needed to be put in baggies and stuff that was frozen and needed to be sealed. Phew! A big job done!
10. Relaxed on the couch and read my newest library book, I Was a Great Mother Before I Had Kids (it's close...not sure of the exact title)

and number 10 is "pending" so I have to end this and get on it!

Catching up...

Things have been quite lively here...getting ready for winter (sigh....) and having fun during this beautiful fall!

I spent a lovely weekend away at Kieve last weekend...having a blast with some of my very wonderful women friends. It's so funny to look around the table at women that I would never dream to be friends with, and realize that they are some of my closest "people." I share A LOT with them...maybe TOO much!!!

Anyone got a dollar bill????? (Inside joke for this fall's group!)

Anywho...

Painting anyone? Jolee and Elvia did an outstanding job painting these pieces of a birdhouse. We have it almost constructed...more photos of it completed later.

And a piece of art. It wouldn't be a posting without art, right?

A Special Wedding collage

This is a collage I made for my brother and his new wife. I constructed it from old music sheets (a shared passion they have) and bits and pieces from their wedding invitation...you can read about it on the image below.

Art and BASIL!

It's been too long...I know. I've been busy! But, now Fall is in full swing and I'm back to living more indoors than out and finding more time to be creative. Phew!
Here's a preview of yesterday:



we started the day with some painting! The girls got "into it" a little more than I did...I was more tame and followed instructions from Kelly Rae Robert's FABULOUS book, Taking Flight. I don't love it yet...but it's still a work in progress:

And then came the BASIL!!! 2 POUNDS of Basil to be cleaned and then made into....
PESTO!!!!

Artful Navy Knowledge

Okay, so I have been totally open-jawed "oh-my-gosh" about the Navy and everything I've learned about the "inner workings." My neighbor is an officer in the Navy and his wife and I have become friends. She has commissioned me to make some art for two dear "cows" (Commanding Officer's Wife) in her life.

Donny asked me to explain the artwork one evening and I just had to say "no." I couldn't muster the energy to explain the whole thing...but I'll try:

One of the squadrons' logo is the "old buzzard." I designed the artwork using their logo and "changed it up" a bit by turning "him" into a female cow. I then added "stuff:" the red stripes are actually paper towels that I had used to clean up my children's art project months ago. The words are the "Navy Wife's prayer" which I got from my neighbor. The wooden letters signify the date of the husband's change of command. The rest is rather hum-drum...embossed stars, metal stars on the bottom...but it was definitely something new for me!

The second piece was using another squadrons' logo, the fighting tiger. I changed him up and made him into a cow as well! I, artistically, like this one better, but feel that the other one is much more in keeping with the patriotic, Navy theme. Oh well...my inner voice came out and called and I HAD to listen!

I did a lot of painting, which I love doing, in this one. The tree has the Navy Wife's prayer written on it and the wooden letters, again, signify the date of the change of command. The sky has embossed "8's" signifying the squadron number...VP-8. Now I just need to find a frame for this one!

I must thank Mary...she inspired me to be artistic again after a bit of a slump. And with summer in full swing, the garden has been stealing a lot of my creativity away!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.

My family made me a scrumptious breakfast: egg sandwich, strawberries, coffee and orange juice...all served outside on our patio. I had lots of lovely gifts...a new basket/tote filled with gardening goodies and a JoAnn giftcard! My thoughtful husband also got me a "grow-light" contraption for starting seedlings. He's so thoughtful!!! They also bought me some beautiful purple pansies...lovely!

We went to Lowell's cove just in time for low tide. I looked for sea glass and other treasures while everyone else had fun in the water. I know, ocean water in Maine in MAY!!! Craziness!!!


We then went to lunch at a lovely cafe in Harpswell.

We came home, I made some art. Donny made an amazing dinner and now I get to share my creations with you!

Enjoy!

One of my angels...

I painted this card for my dear friend, Susan, today. I visited with her this morning and was reminded of what a blessing she is in my life. She gives me such inspiration and always has the best advice. I love her dearly and consider her one of my very special angels right here on earth...

Art...finally!

Finally...I made some art! I was inspired while looking through a past issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine. It's nothing glamorous, but it filled my soul last night while creating her. I'm not sure what I'll do with her.

I have this issue with creating art. I feel like everything I make should be able to be sold. Crazy, huh? That feeling keeps me from making things like this "Joy Within" piece. I can't sell her. I ripped off the idea from another artist and it's very personal to me. that's good, right? I SHOULD be making art for ME, right?

The weekend was great. We went to Wolf's Neck Farm on Saturday and met our good friends, Becca and Rob and their kids there. There were, of course, poop stories. I'll spare you all from them. Let's just say they had more then chicken manure on their lawn that day....

Yesterday Lorraine came down and we had a great time looking at old photos and reminiscing. My favorite part of the day was preparing dinner while Meka, Lorraine and Donny were playing Parcheesi. Listening to their laughter and discussion filled me up with sunshine.

And back to reality on Monday morning! Meka went back to school today and Jolee and Elvia are playing "puppy." Thank goodness they are playing and not attacking each other!!!

Some artful stuff...

We spent an amazing week in St. Martin and I was inspired to do a line I call "Orient Beach Originals." Here is a peek at what's coming!

And here is a photo of the knitted dolls I finally finished up before we left. After many failed attempts, I think I finally have the heads down!

Post Birthday Update

This post is for those of you who read my post and thought, "oh, gee, Leslie has LOST her MIND!!!"

The REST of my 39th birthday was just lovely. I received phone calls from all of my parents, biological and otherwise. Even Barry remembered and called me last night! I was quite moved by them all calling me to wish me well on my "special" day. I received a riotous card from my dear friend, Vicki, and it brought me back to silly days in high school. The end of the night, however, was the highlight of my day.

I had brought the girls to Target for some "retail therapy" and got home to find the table lovingly set with my purple dish ware and purple tulips and a nice bottle of wine. Donny had gone to "Doug's" (a.k.a. Scarlet Begonia's) to get dinner. He and Doug designed a meal just for me! I had my very own, personalized Doug special! It was so delicious! Scallops, spinach and roasted red peppers in a pesto cream sauce. Oooh, la la!!!

And dessert...

My very favorite: German chocolate cake. We tried a new bakery, the European Bakery in Falmouth, and it was TO DIE FOR!!!

I think you all recall my foiled TJ Maxx shopping experience??? Well, Donny managed to surprise me with a gift certificate there to spend on myself. After dinner, I said "see ya!" to the family and went shopping! Hannah met me out and, after TJ Maxx, we went to Borders and browsed until 10.

So, see? I'm okay. I'm NOT losing my mind. Just a little bit here and there...nothing to get your panties in a wrinkle over.

New craft project? These LOVELY knitted fairy dolls in this month's issue of Living Crafts magazine.

Almost finished blanket...

So here is the blanket that I promised an image of. It's not completed. I did edging around the outside of it and it looked darling once it was finished. I'm working on another one right now. The edging is a bit of a challenge, as the squares are all different sizes.

Here are a few photos of the girls last week during our shaving cream/finger painting escapade! It's times like these when I think that I'm doing a good job as a mom...when I actually think of fun, silly things for the kids to do and not worry about how much of a mess it will make. And a mess it DID make!

My good friend, Denise, told me about another messy activity to do with the girls...fill a bin with play sand and put it on a sheet. What fun! The girls played in the sand for at least an hour. When they were all done, I simply folded the sheet, shook the excess sand back into the bin and the mess was all cleaned up! A great sensory exercise!

This past weekend I traveled to Massachusetts to visit with my dear friend, Gina and to visit with my Aunt in the hospital. I had a wonderful time with Gina. It's amazing that we can be in such different places in life, but understand one another so perfectly. She's going through fertility crap and I ache for her. All of the feelings came rushing back to me while I was listening to her. The hatred for anyone who is pregnant or just had a baby. It's so irrational, but so real. I'm so glad I'm not there anymore. I still yearn for the experience of being pregnant and being in "the club," but know that 4 children would put me over the top, WAY over the top!

My Aunt...that's another story...

We had such a nice visit. It was so strange to be alone with her. We used to spend so much time together. I remember visiting with her when Donny and I had broken up and her offering me so much solace. I was so sad at the time. We would go for long walks and just talk, talk and talk. Of course, she scared me into becoming born-again and I went a little off the deep end of Christianity for a bit...but I found my way back to reality!

Anyway...the hospital visit was so good. We talked about the old times...cooking together, playing all of the time...my mom, her relationship with her children, how disappointed she is at the way life turned out. We talked about her dying...how she's not afraid, almost looking forward to what's coming next. It was such a good visit...but then she told me that she was sneaking wine into the hospital.

Why??? I just don't understand addiction. I have had my share of them...bulimia was nothing to sneeze at...but I KNEW the entire time that I had a problem. I was aware of what I was doing to myself. She is in complete denial. Here she is in the hospital, dying due to cirrhosis of the liver caused from drinking...and she's STILL drinking???!!?? It's like the person with emphysema who continues to smoke. I don't get it.

And then I did something that I'm still struggling with. I told the nurse. She thanked me for telling her and then told me that she had to address it. I was sorry that I had told her. Who am I to play God and tell my Aunt what she can and cannot do? I did it out of love, that goes without saying...but there are other parts of it as well. It's done and I have to live with it...but I have remorse.

Today it's raining. I am SO tired of winter!!! I want to run away to a deserted island with my family and never come back!!!