Art School

This weekend, my husband and I moved my son off to Winthrop University to go to art school.
How exciting is that?
How scary is that?
How awesome is that?
Three questions - one answer...
VERY!

My son has worked very hard to get to the point that he is at. He worked full time at a manufacturing job this summer, saved his money and went the last two years to a technical school to save us all some money.
He took all of his entry level education classes and most of his "free" classes there too - all to save money. And that was his idea. He was so smart to do that. I know that he wanted to go on to "regular" college with his friends but he knew that that the "logical" thing thing to do was to commute from home and take the classes at a fraction of the cost. His education is completely paid for up to this point and he is entering Winthrop as a junior. He transferred 46 credit hours into the art program.
He is thinking about Elementary Art Education as the final goal.
But the first year is going to be full of glorious art classes.

Anyway, I think that I did pretty good.
(emotionally)
(well - this IS my only child, ya know!?!).
I didn't "boo hoo" or embarrass any of us.
Not too bad, anyway!

There is so much more that I could write about this day but I am tired.
My house is a wreck after trying to go through things to see what he might need/want and
I'm hungry.
The most important thing being that
I am hungry...

Have a blessed evening everyone.
Hug your kids.
Kiss your spouse.
Be nice to everyone.
It just makes everything a little easier for everyone, ya know?

Everyone Has a Sense of Humor...

Even Mother Nature...

This deserves another look...

Can you believe this picture! My husband and I went kayaking at Lake Jocasse this weekend and saw this awesome site along one of the banks there. Jocasse is a 7,500 acre man made lake in upstate SC. There is a ton of documentation about the area before the lake was made, as well as a book or two.

It was breath taking there! The leaves were just beginning to change their colors in the higher elevations but at the boat ramps they were a riot of bold, brassy colors. The red was so bright that it almost leapt from the leaves...hitting you in the face as you looked. Yellow, gold, red, orange, maroon, brown...so many beautiful colors were there.

The water level was up considerably from the last time that we were there, but over-all it is still lower than usual. Normally the water is documented at 300 feet deep...wow...no wonder the scuba divers love this place, but this weekend it was a little less than that...maybe down 8 to 18 feet...? Not sure but you can tell by looking at the water line on the shore it's down a good bit.

We did a little fishing one evening...not much luck there but my dh did manage to "catch" a lost fishing lure...man! Why is it that the ONE time you wish you had your camera, you left it back at the ranch, er camper?! My dabh (and and brave husband) (more likely darsh-dear and ridiculously silly husband) got down to his birthday suit (YES!) in the cold, cold water to retrieve a $4.00 fishing lure...FOUR DOLLARS...!

It was a very entertaining weekend people...

never a dull moment with the two of us together!

We camped there the weekend, in a very comfortable RV (thanks Terry & Sandra!) at the Devil's Fork State Park.

We slept under a queen sized quilt that I made from one of the BOM Thimbleberry patterns...the only bed size quilt I have ever made. Considering the temperature was down in to the lower 40's, the quilt came in handy...I'm just thankful we were in the RV and not a tent...I don't think that my hip/back could weather those conditions.

Have I ever mentioned that my husband is an AWESOME cook? This weekend we ate like royalty. We had homemade chicken/sausage chili, topped with sour cream and cheese, a small side salad with fresh greens, red peppers and tomatoes from our garden and a glass of chilled red wine. Ymmm...Clear, cold night with an abundance of bright stars and shining moon light.

On Saturday, after a day long kayaking trip, we had thick & tender New York Strip steak cooked to perfection over the camp fire...almost like a blackened steak, it had crispy edges yet the inside was so tender that it just melted in your mouth. A heaping helping of steamed shrimp to go along with the steak, then add a steaming baked potato with sour cream & cheese, another luscious garden side salad. Wash it all down with a dry red wine and what do you have...?

Our camping dinner...

oh, desert...

blueberry cream pie ice cream...ymmmmm...

And I keep saying that the 5 pounds I gained came from the hormones that I started taking...

yeah, right.

Busy Weekend

Whew...What a busy weekend! I went to an awesome class/workshop/monthly club thingy at "Stamps And More By Eleanor" , which is an local stamping/scraping shop, on Saturday. Look here for more great classes http://www.stampsandmorebyeleanor.com/. I go there for my paper/ink/fiber/stamp fixes...usually leave there with a glazed look on my face...unable to converse logically for about an hour or two. I'm sure that my dh would say that in itself was fairly normal for me...Anyway, I wanted to go to the Altered Book Club meeting but got the times confused and ended up at the Tag Art Workshop. They use Tim Holtz stamps and the alcohol inks to do a different technique every month. I LOVED it! I am going to try and make the workshops every month. They take place the first Saturday of every month at 1:00pm. Anyone out there want to go with me? I soooo long for a fiber art friend that lives close to me ! One that loves to quilt as well. I have a lot of neat paper and fabric that I am willing to share...Perhaps I should put an ad in the local paper...hmmm. maybe I will.

The background of the rust/gold/butterscotch tag was done with the Adirondack Alcohol Inks and the Alcohol Blending Solution. It's a very simple , 2 step technique. If you're interested, I'll be glad to email you or post the directions. We then added images from printouts and placed Tim Holtz Fragments over them , utilizing Glossy Accents. It looks really cool.

The Eiffel Tower one was done with a mix of water, Faded Jeans Distress Ink refill and Perfect Pearls. You then spritz it onto the tag. You can't see the gold sheen sheen on the background but it is there, and it is beautiful! I'm going to try it on fabric next.

Of coarse there are different techniques on the top of each one. If I have time, I may post those as well.

Speaking of "will" , I'll turn the subject to Mother's Day. And the "Will" I speak of is my son, Will. He surprised me with a beautiful card, a yummy candle AND a bag of luscious chocolate! Yes, Will , the kid that once told me that Hallmark came up with Mother's Day so that they could make more money...lol. There is a picture of the card front above. It reads "Wonderful". Inside it says "That's what you are."

Now, isn't that just wonderful that he picked it all out himself ? I love the flowers on the front of the card and may use there likeness on a smallish fiber project.

My awesome (and handsome) husband gave me 2 dozen roses (wow!) that are really beautiful. I love getting fresh flowers and he often brings them home to me for no particular reason at all. Maybe to ward off bad juju...? Nah, he is just a really good guy. He also cooked me a special dinner Saturday night...champagne and all. Did I mention that he is an AWESOME cook? I guess by now you can tell that I think my husband is terrific...he truly is my knight in shining armor, dents and all.

We went to my mom's in Toccoa Georgia for lunch on Sunday , after church. We took my mom out to eat and my sister, Chrisie and her daughter Bonnie went with us. Man , I can't believe how quickly all the kids are growing up! Bonnie is 14 going on 21. Beautiful blue yes and so slim and curvy...hey wait. What did I just say?!? Curvy, yes! Yikes, my BonBon has curves galore! I'll try to post a picture of the dark haired beauty. She really is the perfect combination of her mom and dad. My mom was so glad to have us all there but we sure did miss my older sister, Cindy. We lost her one year ago to Renal Cell Carcinoma. She was so brave through the whole fight...she was such a giving woman. I know that her 2 sons, Jason and Matt, missed her so much this Mother's Day. There is a hole in all our hearts that will never be filled on this earth...but we will see her one day. All smiles, walking again, helping everybody else out...never a thought for her own comfort...that was my sister.

After Georgia, we went to T.R.'s dads to see his step mom Sandra. They were not home yet so T.R. planted her Mother's Day rose bush in her fabulous rose garden. She has THE most beautiful roses! One florabunda (spelling?) bush had 66 buds on it! 66!! She just has the touch for roses. T.R. and Sabrina (dh's stepsister) fixed dinner while we all consumed adult beverages and visited. My husband made up this great , really fast chicken recipe that he fixed. Everyone loved it and it was E-A-S-Y. You take a pack of dinner rolls. Cut them in half (like you're going to make a "roll sandwich"). Take a rotisserie chicken , pull it apart or shred it. Place this on top of the bottom layer of the sliced roll. Spread BBQ sauce of choice (we used a yellow mustard base one). Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of this. Replace the top layer of the dinner roll and warm/toast in oven. Eat! Enjoy the crowd exclaiming over how great it is!

I will say here that I am truly blessed this Mother's Day. My mom and mom-in-law are such wonderful, caring women that I know I could turn to for anything. I hope that they both know how very much I care for them.

Among all the travel this weekend, I did manage to knit up a wool bag that I am going to felt. The "small project bag" ...hopefully it will turn out ok, as I just made it up as I went...

This morning I had to sit and wait for another appointment and while I waited, I knitted what is going to be a paint brush holder / pencil holder to put on the large work table in my studio. I actually finished it this afternoon AND felted it! Man, I am on a roll here with projects! I just had to sit a lonnnngggg time this am...I'll take pictures when it's done.