Rapunzel

21 Monday May 2012

Posted by in crafts, flowers

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I babysat my granddaughter yesterday and we made Flower Fairies from Klutz Books. After making the first one, she wanted a Rapunzel, with long braided hair. Of course I had to rummage around in my bead collection to find the perfect tiny flower beads to braid into Rapunzel’s hair. I was not able to finish making it before she went home so Rapunzel spent the night at my house, perched on a bouquet of flowers.

Rapunzel lets down her hair from a bouquet of flowers.


Rapunzel lets down her hair from the bird feeder.


Waiting for a prince.

She’s almost Four!

19 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in birthday, family, party

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We celebrated the fourth birthday of my precious granddaughter today. There are more photos but I just had to post a few to commemorate the wonderful day.

We were busy watching her blow out the candles so none of us noticed her hand daintily holding her dress until we saw this photo.


She nibbled bites from the side of her sweet little cake.


Of course we must blow bubbles.


I adore her little cake with all the bites taken out of it!


Happiness wears curly pig tails.


Days like this have warmth that lingers long after the day is over. Love.

Figs!

17 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in gardening, nature

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The first year there were no figs. Last year there was barely one spoonful of tiny figs. But this year, after a mild winter and plenty of cool, spring rain, there are figs!

We do not know what kind of fig tree this is. The figs are plump and healthy. And within the reach of any hungry deer… which I am praying does not happen!


We don’t know what species this fig tree is either but it’s much taller than the other one. We will need a ladder to pick the figs when they are ripe.



“A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’
“And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”
From Luke 13:6-9


The first year there were no figs. Last year one tree had no figs and the other had one taste. This year is promising.
We just had to wait.

Word Confetti – U R Going 2 B OK

11 Friday May 2012

Posted by in art, Inspirational, mixed media, projects, words

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I’m taking an online class, Soul Restoration 2, by Brave Girls. One of the projects is making a vision board using words cut from magazines. I snipped away at the pages until the table was littered with word confetti. As I cut, I got a panicky feeling that I might not find all the words that represented me. My magazine stock was very limited and I worried about finding enough words. The stack grew much bigger than the canvas could possibly hold but I kept snipping away, feeling as though my entire life needed to be fully represented or my perfection-driven soul wouldn’t feel complete.

I paused, scissors in hand, and looked at the pile stretched across the table. There, in a little cleared spot, was U R Going 2 B OK. Nearby were 2 others – Life Matters and Good Enough. A huge wave of relief washed over me. It was OK!
It is OK to be someone that people don’t understand. It is OK to have big ideas and not be able to put them into words. It is OK to try to do your best and still stop right in the middle to smell roses.

I have this photo as my desktop today. Please feel free to save the image for your own use.

U R Going 2 B OK. Word Confetti. Please click photo to see the larger image.

Hope from a Rose

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in flowers, Inspirational

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I do not have an easy life. Thoughts tumbled in my mind, trying to find reasons for others’ actions. I finally had to let go of the jumbled mass of thought because there was no resolution. I looked out the kitchen window and saw roses. It was the New Dawn come to visit, knocking at my window! I opened the kitchen window and the roses rushed in, laying their furled velvet skirts on my window sill.
“I know where you live” was the gentle thought that entered my mind. “I know where you are. I know what imprisons you. I have not forgotten.”
The roses had grown over 30 feet to reach my kitchen window from the ground below.
I leaned over the kitchen sink and smelled the rose. The delicious fragrance filled my senses and I knew everything would be ok. Maybe not today but there is always hope for tomorrow.

New Dawn and Blush Noisette rose bouquet.



“Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

The Art of Wild Abandonment Bloghop Post :)

04 Friday May 2012

Posted by in altered books, art, crafts, painting, projects, woodwork

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Welcome and greetings if you are following the Art of Wild Abandonment Bloghop! You probably arrived here from the amazing blog of Paty Shaulis. Her artwork is exquisite!
If you didn’t start at the beginning of the bloghop, you can join in the fun by visiting http://clairesmillie.wordpress.com/ and learning all about it.

Make sure you scroll to the bottom of my blog post to get the link for the next hop on the bloghop!

I and hundreds of others recently finished the e-course, The Art of Wild Abandonment, taught by Junelle Hallstrom Jacobsen and Christy Thomlinson. The projects were crazy and colorful and we learned all sorts of new ways to get our hands messy and express our wild creativity.

In addition to learning how to draw radishes and owls and sheep, altering a purse with paint and turning a roofing brush into an art brush holder, we painted wood blocks! Here is my version of the wood block project – Bloom!

It started with a couple wood blocks my dear husband cut for me.

Supplies gathered to decorate the blocks – my sketches, paints, modeling paste, ink pad, oil paint stick, wood blocks and, not in this photo, a flower and a coffee bean.

Once I got the blocks painted, the rest followed quickly.

I decided to make a 3 tiered cake with swags of thick sweet icing around the side. The word I chose for the top was Bloom. It’s the perfect word to describe what happened to so many members of the class. We all bloomed!

A view from the top of that sugary cake.

But wait, what is this on the bottom of the blocks? Another design?

A view from the top of the blocks flipped over. But then what happened to those sweet swags of white frosting?

Is that… a sheep? 0_0

More sheep!

And a sheep on top!

It’s a whole hill of sheep! Bloom Hill, covered with sheep!

But let’s check out that cake again. The sheep are upside down. And what is that under the rose on top?

The sheep’s hooves!

To make the hoof prints, I glued a coffee bean to an eraser and used it like a rubber stamp.

Eat cake! Draw sheep! Bloom!

Have fun hopping to the next post about The Art of Wild Abandonment on the wonderful blog of Janet Terrien Bracewell. I love her art journal!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. :)

A huge thank you to Junelle and Christy for teaching the Art of Wild Abandonment. It was a really fun e-course!
And Thank You to Clairesmillie for coordinating this bloghop!

One last pic – my owls.

Finished a mixed media piece – Her Heart

01 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in art, Inspirational, mixed media, painting, projects

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Mixed media - No matter how far she roamed, her heart was never far from home. Click photo to see a larger image.

This canvas took weeks because I was discouraged so many times.

It started with a handful of disjointed pieces, cut and torn. Bits from a vintage vinyl wallpaper book, a scan of a page my mom colored when she was a young girl in 1941, my sister's beautiful calligraphy printed on tissue paper.


I was discouraged because I accidentally covered the canvas with too much paint, the colors of the vintage wallpaper butterflies and house seemed too bright, the woman seemed too pale. But I kept going and encouraged myself by saying “It’s not done yet” as I added brush strokes, sponged on painting, glued on butterflies. I set the project aside and looked at it as days went by and I tried to figure out what it needed. I finally rubbed in the brown oil paint stick around the border, and teared up, realizing that it was finished and I actually loved it. It says everything I want it to say.





The last thing I added was painting light in the dark door.



The first English rose bouquet of the season

28 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by in flowers, gardening

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Miss Alice was planted three years ago and has never borne so many roses as this spring. Since the deck is semi-shaded almost all day, it always surprises me that there are blooms at all. The roses stretch so very high to get enough sun.

Miss Alice, a lovely pale pink English rose from David Austin Roses, grows in a barrel on the deck.


I cut half the Miss Alice roses and a couple white Fair Bianca roses from the other planter to make the first bouquet of the season. This is the one time of the year that I move all clutter aside to make a place of honor for THE Bouquet. No craft, no painting, no created thing from my hand could ever match this scented masterpiece from the Creator of the Universe.

The first English rose bouquet of the season - Miss Alice and Fair Bianca.

Rum Raisin Scone – for ONE

27 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in baking, food, recipe

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It all started with the Sloppy Joes last night. He needed molasses to make a homemade sauce but we were out.
"Use a little Rum," I suggested. He considered but changed his mind. I googled rum sloppy joes but there wasn't a single recipe. So I poured a shot anyway.

There was some left so I plopped in raisins for no reason at all. When I woke this morning, I saw those plump little raisins and thought Rum Raisin Scone. Serving size: One. Not for sharing.
Keep it simple.

Single Serving Rum Raisin Scone - 1/8 cup all purpose flour, 1 Tbsp whole wheat flour, 1/2 tsp brown sugar, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, about 1/3 shot half n half or cream, 1/2 shot of rum raisins, little shredded orange rind. - Click photo for larger image -


Dry ingredients mixed together, along with the orange rind. Soft butter squished in with a fork. Raisins spooned in. I didn't use all the raisins.


Raisins and some of the cream stirred in with a fork. I used a little more flour, perhaps a teaspoon or so to make a dryer scone that I could shape by hand.


Dough shaped into one scone and placed in sizzling butter in the skillet.

The glowing red burner light reminded me that something good was happening under the old scratched lid. I forgot to look at the clock because the conversation went something like this...
-You're saying there is just one. As in Only one. No others. That's cruel!-
-No, cruel would be a single oatmeal raisin cookie.-
-That wouldn't be cruel, that would be Malevolent Overlord Boss.-
-Well this is just a Rum Raisin Scone with a touch of orange.-
-It's still cruel...-


And finally it was done - hot, steaming, melt-in-your mouth texture, barely sweet with the dark rum raisins and a touch of orange. It was flipped twice and took about 15 minutes on lowest heat.

I broke it with the intent of sharing anyway. But they declined. So I enjoyed my Rum Raisin Scone for ONE.
Unfortunately, there was one victim of this cruelty... Me. After I ate every buttery crumb, I craved another. But there was none.

I am Creatively Made

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in art, drawing, Inspirational, painting

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I am Creatively Made.

I first read a promo for the online class last year. I was not familiar with mixed media and had never drawn more than a few scribbles. The only art supply I owned was a box of acrylic paints and some dried up watercolor tubes. I never had a sketchbook or worked with graphite pencils, charcoal, stencils, gel medium, or gesso before. But I was driven to sign up for the course anyway. Sometimes you just know that you know that you’re supposed to walk a new path. I was driven.

So I signed up for Creatively Made by Jeanne Oliver. Everyone else had already begun by the time I signed up several weeks late. I didn’t sign up for art classes, I signed up because I desperately wanted to hear someone say it’s ok to be creative and to pour your life into it.

Jeanne’s words over the next several weeks opened my eyes to a whole new perspective, a new way to interpret life. I always thought that my interest in art and crafts was just a hobby, something I loved to do on the side of life. But what if that is WHY I was made? What if making art WAS exactly why I was made, 100% pure Julia, with a paintbrush in one hand, a pencil in the other and a dining room table covered with art supplies, canvases, sewing machine and fabric? What if the best part of me that God put together when he knit me together in my mother’s womb was to create art with my hands?

I was not able to complete the art assignments when everyone else was doing them because my eyes were usually too covered with tears. Instead of a paintbrush, I practiced holding truth in one hand and a tissue in the other. It felt good. It felt right. It felt like oxygen.

I’m still grappling with this huge revelation. Where have I been the past 50 years? How could I have thought that something so essential to my being was just a hobby?

So here goes.

This week I finished another project from Creatively Made.

Suzanne, Donna and Julia canvases - three creative souls. Sketches inspired by a Ziegfeld Girls coloring book from 1941. Click photo to see a larger image.


The background is created from bits of tissue copies of my grandmother’s handwritten recipes and an issue of The Household magazine from 1924. The images of women are inspired from a Ziegfeld Girl coloring book that my beautiful, creative mom colored back in 1941. The writing on each piece is a tribute to my creative sisters – she Smiled, for Suzanne; she Dreamed, for Donna; and she Journeyed, for me, Julia, the only sister who moved away and stayed.

Detail of one of the canvases.

I lift a glass in toast to Jeanne Oliver, who followed her heart and made a path for others. I lift a glass in toast to my creatively made sisters, Donna and Suzanne. And I toast my beautiful mom, Lauretta Musser, who never stopped being creative.

My next canvas will have these words: Never Give Up.