GLORY BE and HAPPY EASTER

Oh Glory Be. I have been so busy but I cannot tell you with what smiles. As you know I am about to be a grandmother for the first time. We know it will be a girl. I have been making blankets and gowns. Not that she will need anything a grandmother makes but, it makes me feel good.  My daughter designed a lovely invitation and a couple of friends wanted to be hostesses for a baby shower. The weather has been so lovely that we held the party on the patio. My husband and i decorated with pink crape paper and paper lanterns. Her favorite colors are purple and lime-ish green.  The shower was a huge success. She got so many thoughtful gifts. The nursery is just lovely. Now ll we can do is wait for delivery.

I am learning to use the social media to post my watercolors on. I am not the least bit clerical so it is taking its toll on me. But I am getting there visit me (SandysColoringBox on Ebay  or MagpieTreasureTrove.etsy.com   I am posting birds today.

HAPPY EASTER

Be blessed to be a blessing

STRECHING MY LIMITS

I am so excited to have received my yummy soup from Diane Wilty at Lilyweed. She a ceramists from Kentucky. I have made my creation and can,but hardly wait to show you. I have also been putting my watercolors on Ebay and Pintrest and Twitter and CreigList. All of which is a lot of clerical work and I am not the least bit clerical. I mean really I would rather paint and create jewelry and quilts :^) Be blessed to be a blessing

7th Bead Soup blog Hop Tease

I do not understand how to navigate the new Blogger format, so I can’t put the Bead Soup Blog Hop button on my blog. However I am very excited to be participating in the 7th. Diane Welty is my partner. Diane loves in Kentucky. Her blog is Lillyweeds. I have sent her soup. I hope she will like. I had purchased the primary beads earlier in the year. Because of their intense color I had a time finding a focal that would be pleasing and complement the primary beads. So I rummaged thru my stash of Dichoric glass focal and fused one of the beads to it. Here is a little tease:

Be blessed to be a blessing

Fun Quilts

While at the DALLAS QUILT SHOW last March I purchased a variety of blue and yellow fabrics with the intentions of making a small quilt. I had no idea which pattern I would use. So for a few months while I have been recovering from shoulder surgery the fabric has been stewing in my mind. I could not decide just whated to do. All I knew I wanted to re-decorate my bedroom with blue and yellow. At the quilt show I saw a really unique quilt. Each square was a doll dress with a crazy quilt square in the center. I have decided to use that inspiration to make my quilt, only for the center to re-create a watercolor of a merry-go-round and country school. The merry-go-round was built by my father-in-love back in the ‘30’s from recycled cooling pipes for an ice company. The school was a little country school that mother-in-love taught at back in the early 1900’s. The name of the school was Mt. Hope. Back in the days of her teaching a teacher could not be married. (We have come a long way baby!) image of squares Here you will find photos of the squares before they are assembled each one is an original. I did not have just a thought. They are not anything like the quilt I saw at the quilt show. That one was only an. inspiration I just used bits and pieces of fabric and lace. I may embellish with floral embroidery.

Since I am about to be a grandmother for the first time (yea) I have designed a quilt for my granddaughter, who is due on April 8th Here you will see what I came up with I am pleased with the results ing

STARTING THE NEW YEAR WITH CREATIVITY

I haven't blogged much recently. My left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and to tell the truth my computer has been giving me a headache Not much happening here anyway. We had a wonderful Holiday, but glad to be back to the daily stuff. I have been teaching my painting class nearing 14 years and I have a brain drain. To remedy that I have been letting the students lend a hand by taking a month each to demonstrate something new or a new technique. It has been so much fun and educational. This past Friday one of my students (who by the way has just retired from Dallas Community Colleges after 40 years) did a collage workshop. He was so organized just like a professional should be. He had great examples to show and concise instructions. He brought loads of stuff to use in collage. Things like gum and candy wrappers and corrugated cardboard paint and glue and on and on. Some of the students took this opportunity to clear out some of their stash and supplies as well. Because everything is a potential art supply don't you know, we tend to get backlogged with stuff. The class was like a hive of bees. The room was charged with creative energy. The energy was tangible. The day was awesome. This class is my salvation. Here are some photos I took of the class as they were running over with joy and creativity.

Since I am a collage junlie I brought some of the collages that I have done thru the years. The bold colored one with bright red flowers was given the Best of Show in the Texas State Fair. fr

This one I have just finished.It is for a friend who councels hurting souls. It illistrates Isaiah 62:3 I call it the exchange scripture.

Be blessed to be a blessing

IT'S THE HOLIDAY SEASON

 IMAGE FROM GOOGLE

I am so happy that we are once again in the Holiday Season. I love the way everyone has regards for one another, I love the special music programming on TV and the Christmas movies on the TV. I love all the holiday lights and the decorations. I love to decorate for Christmas. I love the goodies.  Though, I don’t do much anymore. My son gave me a 6 foot pre-lighted tree for Christmas in 2003 but when he bought his new home I gave it back to him and got me a 2 foot tree, one, that I could manage by myself. We don’t do elaborate gifts. If we do a gift exchange, it has to be small and mostly handmade. But I promise to be festive. My kido’s are all over 50 years of age, and if they want something they have already gone out and bought it for themselves. I feel it is silly for me to try to guess at what they want. And I give all through the year.

My dearest friend had her 85^th on the 6^th of December, and to celebrate, her daughter gave her the gift of a concert to go to see Andrea Bocelli. She planned every early. She called me back in the summer and ask me to reserve the 30^th of November for a concert of Andrea Bocelli. Well that blew me away. That was before her mother have a sever stroke. But mom had recovered enough by the 30^th of November that she could attend the concert.

We were a party of five, the birthday girl her two daughters, the best friend and the favorite niece. The niece picked me up and took me to my friend’s house, because it is a long way to my friends and I don’t drive in traffic anymore. We all went out to dinner before the concert. Anyway, the concert was wonderful. Bocelli sang my favorite arias

Be blessed to be a blessing.

THANKFUL FOR THE GRACE TO BE THANKFUL

 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My precious little daughter-in-love wanted to make Thanksgiving dinner. Which, I was pleased as punch to let her do. I don’t know if Russians have a similar holiday as Thanksgiving. She loves to cook and I don’t. My daughter and I brought some the side dishes. Which, lessened the labor for my daughter-in-love. We had great togetherness. We were to watch a movie but we were having such a great time that we never got around to a movie.

As you are well aware, Black Friday biting on the tail of Thanksgiving Day. My daughter-in-love just could not imagine how bad it could be and wanted to go shopping. I cannot deny her so we went shopping on Black Friday. I never have before and never shall again.

I know that we are going to have a baby girl I decided to buy fabric for baby blankets. I chose several bolts of pink flannel to make blankets. We waited for a full one hour and half just to get our fabric cut. The bargains were great. I spent the last two days making blankets.

I had my final Doctors visit from my rotator-cuff surgery on Monday Yea, and I survived the rigorous rehab. I still have several months of strengthening exercises as yet. I will Lord willing make it, yet

Be blessed to be a blessing