Back from vacation

Had a wonderful week in Clearwater Beach, Florida. Took along a tin of art supplies which held many of my favorite colored pencils. I was working on my second Travel Journal and it helped the plane rides go a little faster. When I arrived at our resort I was digging through my stuff to show the grandbabies the journal and it was no where to be found. I must have forgot to put it back in the backpack when landing in Tampa. So, needless to say, I was so sad. I hope whoever found it is having fun with it.



BIG SURPRISE: Youngest daughter of Judyvan became engaged to a wonderful man. He joined our family in Florida and surprised her with a diamond ring. So very romantic. Here are my two granddaughters having fun on the trip.

New book, New drawing

I bought this great CP book by Arlene Steinberg and plan to complete every lesson. Here is my first one. She is such a wonderful artist and her colors are amazing. My dream is to keep learning and find my own style and find my creativity. I do believe that there is more I am capable of, it is just such a slow process. I will ask the Universe to be patient with me until I find the artist within. By the way, I just love the book. The Artist's Way" by Julie Cameron. So inspiring.

Photoshop Fun

Some fun stuff I did in Photoshop. I took a wonderful online course through Artella. I haven't played with it for a while, but watch for more. I'm in the mood now.

On the Go

I am heading out to Clearwater Florida next Saturday for a week with my darling family. No, I am not driving. It would take three weeks just to get there on my Harley. I am hoping to come back with a more positive regard for Judyvan. Wearing a swimsuit at age 61 is very scarey. I can't even swim -terrified of drowning - but I like to paddle around in the shallow end of the pool with my inflated donut to keep me afloat. I was quite adorable in a suit when I was younger, but even then I always found something to feel bad about. Most of us will never look like the swimsuit models, so I just have to give that one up. I am trying to love myself with all the bags and wrinkles and pudgey spots. I shall overcome.

A new collar for Dudley

For those of you who do not know, I have a huge crush on Cesar Millan, "The Dog Whisperer." I checked out his new book, "Be The Pack leader" from the library and checked out his web site. His wife, Illusion, developed a special collar, named afer her. It is supposed to give the Pack Leader (that's me) greater control so the little bugger is not pulling me all over the place. He is so darn strong. He has been to puppy kindergarten, obedience school, and tested to be a therapy dog. He almost made the therapy dog status, until he did a little number 2 right there in front of the trainer and was immediately kicked out. Very, very embarassing. I guess you can't go doing that business in the nursing homes. Anyway, I ordered the collar and am thinking of sending in a video to Cesar. I want him to come to my house and do a show on Dudley. I told my husband about the crush and he is very worried now.

Judyvan's Darling Suitcase

Here is an adorable suitcase I made for my granddaughter to store all the fun things I make for her. She can also use it for sleepovers. I had so much fun making it. I took an old suitcase from a garage sale, cleaned it up and painted it. Then I found all the pictures of her from birth to twelve and scanned them all, then cut

them out. I bought some ribbons, trim,

stickers, and other trinkets I had around the house. I layed out the pictures on the table first to get a sense of how I wanted to arrange them. Then used mode podge glue and pasted them all on. After it all dried, I put several more coats of the paste to make it good and secure. You can see both side are different. My granddaughter just loved it. I made one for my grandson too, but can't find the photo I took of it. So don't throw those little old suitcases away. Just make it into a piece of art.

Portraits of My Grandchildren

My first novel

This short novel is based on a true story about my Westhighland White Terrior, Charlie. He was terrified of thunderstorms and one summer day when he was let out in the backyard to play, he bolted like a strike a lightening. We searched all over our fenced in yard, but there was no sign of him. I even crawled in the mud on my belly under the porch in case he was stuck or too afraid to come out. Still no Charlie. We finally did find him a few blocks away. Some kind neighbors saw him running scared through their backyard and called him in. They dried him off and gave him some warm milk and loved him up until we found him and loved him up some more. I told the story to my grandchildren over the telephone and they wanted me to retell it so many times that I decided I would just write a book. So I did and here it is. There are only two copies published in 2000. If you would like to order a copy I will just make another one. Sweet Charlie died five years ago and the ripe old age of 14. I still miss him.