Thanksgiving Portrait

I told Jack and the kids that all I wanted for Christmas was a photo of us together. So Jack tinkered with his camera until he remembered how to use the automatic timer, and on Thanksgiving Day we all trooped down to Paul and Angela's clubhouse, and then to the lake to pose for photos. Before dinner, even! And no one even looks starved and cranky! This one came out especially well, with everyone looking happy.

I LOVE having a photo of all of us; and I will definitely print myself a big one to frame and cherish. Love this silly, funny, kind, crazy family!

3 Sketches Prize

I often win a prize at Coordinates Collections; and in October I won the 3 Sketches contest! I love all of their contests and challenges, partly because my work isn't judged and it's always a random drawing, which means we all have an equal chance. And there are 3 or 4 opportunities to win every month. Anyway, tucked into my regular order which I just received today was a package of Crate Paper Cowgirl collection. I love Crate to begin with, and I really love the browns and reds in this collection:

 

It's such fun to win a prize!!

Coordinates Collections November Blog Hop

The November challenge at Coordinates Collections was to scrap Fall or outdoor photos using burlap or fabric. I couldn't find burlap at JoAnn's, but did pick up a couple quilting squares. I also had some photographic canvas scraps that I've been saving to play with. I cut fabric and canvas into blocks, sprayed the canvas with Glimmer Mist, and stitched the pieces down. Alphas were stamped and embossed and stitched down. Embellies were stamped, embossed and popped up.

I've never tried fabric on a LO before, and had fun playing with this. The stitching doesn't show up well; and I think in the future I need to purchase topstitching thread which is heavier. Do you know what thread costs anymore? Holy cow! I haven't sewn in years, but prices start at $1.75. I can see I'm going to have to use my 40% off coupons if I want to acquire a few more colors! Anyway, here's the project:

It was another fun challenge!

Lynn's Adult Ed Classes

I've been enjoying Lynn's adult ed classes. The group is quite diverse in skill levels -- beginners to expert; but she's able to make it fun for all of us. And we all leave with a nice completed project at the end of the evening. I took a few snaps last night before I realized I was disrupting her train of thought, and promised to sit down and behave myself.

 

Every week Lynn strives to teach us something new. This was last night's project. We used a circle cutter to cut the large circles and assorted punches to  create varied holes around them. We learned to make pleated flowers. We painted grungeboard letters and trimmed them in white ink. We used a stipple brush to apply ink to the white paper and flower. And we cropped photos to fit the openings. Some of it was new to me and all of it was fun. I am definitely not her star pupil though -- I completely messed up my first circle cut; and even the second try didn't come out much better. I covered the blatant mismatch with a small circle. Honestly, Lynn, I do not love your favorite circle cutter -- I like mine way better! Then I managed to over-score my pleated flowers so that two of them fell apart when folded -- which is why my LO has one flower instead of three! 

 But the class we had a couple weeks ago was the best, something entirely new to me and worth the whole price of the classes. The card is embossed, bleached, colored with twinkling powders and cut and stacked. Of course then I had to run out to Michael's and get some PearlEx with my 50% off coupon! Can't wait to try this at home; but it will have to wait for a day Jack isn't home as he is very sensitive to bleach and will be miserable all day if he smells it.

I am so glad everyone is enjoying Lynn's classes so much, and that she decided to give Adult Ed a try. I probably won't be able to sign up in January; but I hope word of mouth will net her a whole new bunch of students. Not only does she patiently teach us a lot, but she is so much fun that I once told her she could probably teach me math and I would enjoy it! From me, that's a huge compliment!

Mexican Sunflowers

Six or eight months ago I fell in love with the tall shrub I think of as Mexican Sunflowers (can't confirm if that's actually right), which was growing in the little park next door to my house. I took a few clippings, and carefully dusted them with Rootone, babied them and tried to root them indoors; but they all gave up the ghost and died.

Then a while back, my backyard neighbor took cuttings of the same plants and simply stuck them in the ground along our mutual fence line, and kept them well watered. They are thriving and are already 6-8' tall; and I think it's hilarious that they didn't want to be babied at all! Now they are coming into full bloom; and I love looking out the back window and seeing these happy, cheerful flowers!

I even clipped a few and brought them indoors to enjoy, along with a few Mexican Petunias (what's up with all the Mexican plants?)

Sunny Side Down

For a girl whose natural state is Sunny Side Up, I don't know why I'm kinda out of sorts today. For starters, I'm feeling a little under the weather -- I think I picked up the appazootie from one of my little Tuesday night charges last week. And I'm a little bummed, if not surprised, by some of the election results, especially in Florida. I am wholeheartedly tired of politicians of both parties, and would love to see them engage in thoughtful debate and find common ground, instead of blocking one another's plans just for spite or political gain. I find to my surprise I still miss our little 21-hour puppy, and wish we could have her back (only with a bigger bladder!). And I haven't had the energy this week to go for my usual walk. I miss the kids. I miss the grandkids. I want the kids to get settled so we can move on. I want to be in GA where the leaves are turning. I already packed up all my stuff for Saturday's crop. I finished a bunch of Christmas cards yesterday for the troops. And I wandered around JoAnn's this afternoon, just to get out of the house! I guess I'm bored --which I never am!

OK, now that I've got all that whining out of my system, I'm sure by tomorrow I will be back to my usual self--Miss Sunny Side Up!