How to Steal Like an Artist (A link to share)

By now many of you have already seen this or read it.  It's been sent to me by numerous people.  It's one of those things that are so obvious we often need it spelled out for us in the simplest of terms.  Sometimes the simplest lessons are the hardest.

Here's a link... How To Steal Like An Artist (and 9 other things nobody told me) 

Go there.  Read it.  Soak it in and then do something with it.  Share it.  Print it.  Memorize it.  Get creative.  The sky is the limit because it's all all ready been done - we are simply repeating the same things over and over through our own eyes and hands.

I'm off to make the coffee and get those flowers all sewn down - maybe before the kids wake up.  They slept outside in the tent last night all by themselves!  

it's so bright

I know you all need for me to give you yet another reason why Jason Hubbard rocks because I haven't already filled your head with all the great things he does for us, but this one is definitely at the top of my list of awesomeness.

What is it you ask?

It is a giant light box!!! For tracing quilting patterns and drawings. It is a life saver awaiting my use - not to mention the kids love it too! It's been up and running since Friday and Kalib has traced all kinds of slime creatures from dragon quest (his latest obsession) which have then lead to paintings by both he and India.

If you look closely at what Jason is bent over it's going to be my next critter stolen from his sketch book. I've already got a couple of projects ahead of it, but he didn't like the eyeball on it, so he TRACED what he did like and redrew it and in no time it was pinned to my design wall awaiting my attention. It's coming soon. The quilts and works are a flowing through me.

So, how big is this giant light box you ask? Well... it is 24 inches by 32 inches and he managed to build it for right around $60. I have been looking at these for years trying to justify the cost, but they are so expensive and really too small for what I need in quilting. And we have talked about building one before, but it wasn't until recently that I realized it is just absurd that I don't have one. So, while cursing the last of the piecing for the quilt I was working on (I've already started a whole new quilt and I should have the background finished hopefully today or tomorrow) that I turned to this awesome man and said, "I need a light box. This is ridiculous trying to hold this up to the light so that I can see to get the pieces to line up and they slip apart when I bring them back down from the light. Can we please really think about it and build one?" Now, I had recently read a blog post of someone who built one too and that had gotten my brain going again, but theirs was too over done and probably would have cost us a fortune. My loving husband, went to the computer and started looking at them and how to build them and then he realized we had florescent lights under our bed that would work and all we needed was the box and the plexiglass. The very next morning we headed to Lowe's for the 2 pieces of wood he needed and he set to work immediately. The words of my joy cannot be expressed through my typing. Then, the snow came, and I couldn't order the glass. The box, with the lights all wired sat there, taunting me. I was feeling impatient, so at the first sign of things being safe enough for me to get to the glass store and get that piece of plexiglass I ordered it. On Friday he attached it and now I have a giant light box that cost very little compared to the ones I had been looking at and I am just giddy! I'll take pictures of me using it when I get there soon!!! Now, the big question is where am I going to store it? Who cares?! It's going to be out more than put away!

Thank you Jason for being so awesome!

snow... again

Being a southerner it is supposed to be awesome when we get snow. For me, it is not. Now, I don't mean to be a total downer about it, I do like it - when it comes on the weekend, but for me I run a delivery company and it is hard on us financially and trying to figure out when the roads are safe enough to put people back on them and all the scheduling and all the stress that comes with it - along with the longer work hours (which take me away from my favorite place - home with my kids) is NO fun for me.

Last Sunday, I went to a lovely sauna with some dear friends and I got home just in time to miss the beginning of the snow. I took a bath to wash off all the sweat and yuck that comes along with sweating and when I got out of the bath I peeked outside and there was already 2 inches of snow on the ground. I knew we were in for it.

You will remember (if you know me that is) that 2 years ago, we had a big snow storm that left us without power for 5 days, so we try to plan for it. The key word there is TRY, but were we this time? Certainly not - all the weather forecasters said it was going to be a serious snow storm and they weren't kidding. I had gone to the grocery store on Wednesday before (not because of the impending snow storm though) so we were well stocked, but we didn't check out flash lights or make sure we had candles or fire wood, not that fire wood would actually keep us warm in our house - it certainly didn't last time. We had already set ourselves to leaving and going somewhere that had power rather than trying to tough it out this time - IF the power went out. THANKFULLY, we did not lose any power this time. It got cold enough to turn the snow into ice for the week, but the wind blew everything out of the trees, so no power outages this time. We stayed warm in the house, BUT our porch had 9 inches of snow on it. We almost couldn't open the door and I did have to shovel snow off the back porch in order for Tonka to get outside. I have never seen that much snow in the 35 years I have lived in Georgia. We spent a lot of time inside. I was able to get a lot of quilting done - I finished the piece I was working on (pictures of that later in the week). We were housebound pretty much for the week, which you would think would lead to lots of posts from me, but instead, I was busy cooking, keeping the house clean, working and exhausted from it, quilting, and hanging out with my 3 favorite people.

So, here are a few photos that India took. I really didn't get out much in the cold this time as I had a cold and was too tired from work and the stress that came with it, but the kids had a blast and for that, I am thankful. They wore out the sledding tubes, so I've got to order some new sleds that won't wear out. I heard that if there is snow on the ground for more than 3 days then we can expect more later, so we've got to get on that! I want to make sure the kids don't miss out on a bit of fun.

christmas

It' so hard to get here everyday with something insightful to say when we are busy and absorbed into hanging out. Jason has been off work this week (mom hasn't, but I've been happy with the small amount of time I get to be home with him in the mornings.) We also have company from out of town which I'm sure I will get around to posting about in a few days.

Christmas was so awesome this year. We always strive to not go overboard, well I do, I want to buy gifts our children will cherish and remember and I want their gifts to have staying power and not be just another fad or the latest gadget. I want them to look back on their Christmas's and always remember that their parents made the effort to buy them what they wanted but they always put their heart into whatever they were giving. I think this year, my wish came true. I'm usually trying to finish up Christmas giving on Christmas eve. I'm usually a big ball of stress about what we are going to give, how are we ever going to afford all the gifts we have to buy (which compared to a lot of people is very little), but let's face it, we live on a small fixed income and we don't have a lot of money to spend and honestly, I would rather buy for my kids than anyone - that's how I always feel. This year was totally different. Not that Jason and I had a ton of money to buy gifts, but we managed everything we wanted to do without putting ourselves into financial woes and I ended up having the best Christmas shopping season I have ever had. We were all done a week before Christmas and had plenty of time to simply enjoy the season with our families. It was wonderful and the cherry on top was our kids thanking us for the gifts we gave them. Each one, exactly what they wanted.

Last year, we instituted the same gift giving strategy as some of our friends with larger families. Each kid gets three gifts. We buy something to read, something to wear, and something they can do. We haven't set a limit on $$ yet, but I see that happening sometime in our future. I like to buy the BIG gifts for birthdays. They feel more special to me. So, this year, when we started contemplating what to get the kids, my parents stepped in and said they wanted to buy the something to do gift we were planning, so we handed that over to them and we were able to buy something smaller. (THANKS mom and dad!)

For Christmas, India received a new pair of boots,

some software for making movies that she's been looking at for a while. (can't wait to see what she does with that!)


And a magazine subscription which hasn't quite started yet.


Kalib received a top hat (he collects hats)


The Guardian's of Gahoole Book Series


And Lego's and a Wii game (which I failed to get photos of)

My parents bought the kids a Wii (I'm still having mixed emotions about this, but I'm working to embrace it and I have to admit, Just Dance 2 - which India also got is A LOT of fun)


And we got...
a 32" flat screen, high defintion tv and new dvd player.


Christmas morning, the kids wake up and get their stockings which are filled with all kinds of small goodies. India got some baking stuff and 2 more books along with a lot of gag type things and Kalib got more hats and a couple more books.




Then we headed over to J's grandmothers where I am unable to get very many pictures, but the kids received many of the other things on their lists.


It was a lovely Christmas filled with family and creativity. What more could I ask for? The kids didn't get so much that it made me feel icky and the house was pretty easy to get back to our normal, so that was nice too and now, we are ready to see what 2011 holds for us. I can't wait!

ornaments

The highlight of Christmas every year for me is the when we make our ornaments for our tree. Last year we took strips of pretty paper and wrote what we were grateful for and put them in glass ornament balls. They were awesome, but we couldn't do the same thing this year, so we painted salt dough ornaments that we made. I love this tradition above all other Christmas traditions we may have because we laugh at each other and we are together in a very sweet way and there is no focus on anything else having to do with the holidays except being in that moment together. It is such quality time with our beautiful children and I want to savor every moment as they grow up so fast something I am really realizing now that India is taller than me.

This year, we gathered together and I read a story about the winter solstice. I read the story about Amaterasu retold by StarHawk (it's in the book Circle Round), a personal favorite. Then the painting commences. Thankfully, a couple of months ago I picked up a large coffee table at the Goodwill, so we now have a large surface we can all 4 fit around that is not also where we eat, although we do eat there a lot too. The ornaments turned out great and we spent a good two hours, just genuinely making art together and hanging out. Best night of the holidays thus far. You should try it. Make it a tradition. You won't regret it! And getting your ornaments that you made out the next year to put on your tree is priceless.

So, on to the details of the ornaments. I have tried a couple of years before to make salt dough ornaments, but they always crack and become brittle and this year I am so glad I didn't give up. I came across this recipe with directions for baking them slowly and that was the key. SLOWLY - like 5 or 6 hours at 200 degrees. Our oven even stopped working while they were baking and had to have a new element. Thankfully, we were able to get it back up and running and still get our ornaments made in plenty of time. We had to have lots of new paint and paint brushes, glitter pens, and we painted like 20 or more ornaments between the 4 of us and there are still more to be painted that I'm hopefully going to get to today. I plan to make a garland out of what is left and Christmas Eve is not too late for me to get it done - that of course is AFTER I clean and finish my baking and do laundry although I can paint them while the laundry is happening (thinking while writing again).

So, on to the pictures...

our sweet tree

It's been up for over a week, I have just been too busy to write. Typical of this time of year. Thankfully, we are done shopping and making for the holiday and almost all of the presents are wrapped and under the tree. Only 3 more to get under there before Friday when we celebrate Christmas with my folks. Saturday morning, early, we are off to Jason's grandmothers for the day. We decorated our tree a week ago Sunday, that's Dec 12 for those of you trying to figure it out. The kids and Jason got the tree while I was off spa-ing it up with my friends at the Jeju in Atlanta. I LOVE the tree they got! They went after a potted tree, which has never ended well for us. They have always died in the past and this one ended up being just perfect for the spot I wanted to put it this year. So, Sunday evening, we went and got some doughnuts from Krispy Kreme and turned on some cheesy Christmas music and set to work.

My favorite part of decorating the tree is really just going through the ornaments. You see, we have a holiday tradition of decorating our own ornaments rather than buying them. We often have a party and invite our friends over to do the same, but it hasn't worked out this year for us to do that this year. I've made salt dough ornaments (we had better directions this year) and now they are just waiting for us to get them painted. I also found an idea for a pretty paper snowflake that I may try once we get going on tomorrow night. I love how the kids make fun of what they have created in the past and seeing the progress their skills have made. I love sharing the stories over who gave us what ornaments. Of course, there are always a few we don't remember, but I love thinking about our loved ones as we hang them on the tree and the times we share with the memories. We always have more ornaments than the tree can ever hold, but that's o.k. we still get them all out and look at them.

So, without further ado, here's our tree.

and l

Roller Sk8ting

Athens has a new/old skating rink. The Athens Skate Inn wa s open when I was a kid and it closed when I was a kid and now it is open again. It's a slightly smaller rink than the Athens Skate Around, but it is so much cleaner and brighter and not as loud and seems to be run by much nicer people. We are very happy to have a new place to roller skate. The last time we went to the other rink, I really didn't think I would be able to bring myself to go back. The kids love skating as does their dad. I'm not so good at it, myself, but the next time we go, I'm going to skate. I didn't on Thursday because I wasn't feeling so good, but I'll get on the floor and maybe Jason and I can do a slow skate :) and totally embarrass the kids! Wouldn't that be awesome? We met our good friends the Bray's there and wore all the kids out... Here are our pictures.

dali at the high

On Tuesday of last week, we took the kids and Grace and Luke to the High Museum of Art to see the Salvador Dali exhibit. (the exhibit closes on Jan 9, 2010, so if you want to see it you should make your plans.) We couldn't take photos of the paintings and works there, but they were awesome and I am super glad we got to go. I have never seen any of his work in person, so talk about a real treat. He was such a talented painter and artist and he lived his art which is extremely inspiring to me. He painted like the old masters in the classical style and I just loved standing in front of the paintings, some of them much smaller than I thought they would be and some so much bigger than I thought. Some were 3 images in one depending on where you were standing in relation to the painting. I have no idea how he managed to do that, but it is certainly impressive. I loved how he expressed himself and his thoughts through his work and even if you don't like what he created you can't help but see he was inspired by living which is how we all should be. Here are a few photos from our day where we could take photos.

Christmas parading

We now have a yearly obligation to the Christmas parade. This year to India's great pleasure we managed to meet up with all her friends to watch the parade. It was cold, but the parade was fun. The girls heckled every float and had a great time entertaining themselves as well as the adults.

This is Gwenny - she's never been to a Christmas parade before. She was SUPER excited.

The girls


Some of the friend family...


I had an internal debate as to whether to put this one of J up or not, but he looks so funny... and thankfully, he doesn't embarrass all that easily and he was making the face on purpose AND he knew I was taking a picture... he knew I would put it up.


oh yes... our Christmas parade has storm troopers... that's right... us Athens folks are not only stupid football fans, but we embrace the nerdom also. I LOVE STAR WARS!!! This was the treat of the night for me. Wish I had have gotten my picture taken with one.


And a post about the parade without a few floats would be incomplete.




me and my little guy. (Ashley says I looked like a homeless person all wrapped up in my shawl, but I was warm... was she? No, she had to borrow Kalib's gloves - so there)


Kalib