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Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

I have to share this "Super" grid with you all on Halloween day!
16 shots of dress up (and one super meeting) from the past three years.

a sad story

a sad story
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

oh scroll ~ you failed me.


I'm sure she feels naked ~

Ah, the wee morning hour wake up calls... like, a dog knocking over a full sized cello and completely shattering sleep for the momma...there is some serious damage, but I believe it will be under rental protection (I believe, I pray, I beg...). So instead of continuing to lay and wonder and worry, I blog!



(my goddaughter, kitty~ Reese)

We are in Halloween mode around here, a party this past weekend, and trick or treating with grandma Friday. The kids always start planning their costumes immediately after Halloween for the next year. Though, I believe for the first time, their costume plans changed this year. We were to see Mother nature, and a vampire. Then Mother nature and two cowboys, then a "public schooler" and a cowboy and Harry Potter... and probably more that I don't remember.



So we ended up with "typical teenagers"



and a detective along with Harry Potter.

and voted most disturbing ~

my hubby as "Duncan" from Total Drama Island..
ahem..just an aside, my mother in law, husband and daughter watch that.

Moving on~


Welcome to several new readers! It's good to have friends that inspire around blog land. I will have photos of all the Jamaica art goodies that have been gracing our mailbox very soon. Thank you all for your generosity! We've got two weeks until the sale, several more projects to finish and lots of baking to do!
There will be an etsy shop in the works in about three weeks. All proceeds will go to Jamaica!

Collaged Journal
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

I'm getting my groove on ~
This is one of the journals for the Jamaica art sale & so far, my favorite. There are pieces from friends and stamps saved for such a project (coated in watercolor), a couple of little swatches of notecards Parker prepped with watercolor, a scrap from a calendar, and a page from an old book.. it's all ephemera. Ephemera, a word that I've seen tossed about in books or online, one that I'm tossing around now~
Ephemera: (uh-fem-er-a) n. 1. ornamental paper embellishments for scrapbooking, cards, collage or altered books. 2. printed material of passing interest, as in periodicals or pamphlets.
I used gesso for the square of white on this journal ~

another word I'm tossing around ~ gesso. What's funny is two years ago I knew nothing about gesso or ephemera. A year and half ago I was surprising myself with some sketches. Now I'm running in Dick Blick for gesso..maybe you don't see the aire of confidence in these words, but it's there and growing!
I don't see myself as a serious artist, I know my work is full of whimsy, but I love it.
Mollie had a post last week, so many things that could relate to. Right now there are books I want to dive into ( **list at the bottom of this post), there are classes I want to take (guitar lessons waiting for me, a watercolor class, beginning knitting) projects to try, places to go ( UWWG), and on and on.. I don't know that I've ever felt so full.
I journaled this last week:
" autumn 2008
LCOR playground ~ Lu & Park playing - swinging- Grace @ Praise, 70ish degrees, warm sun & cool breeze, Subway lunch, hot chocolate this morning... Parker turns 7 in 15 days.
I am content and thankful. That's where I find myself most days. Sometimes I worry about money (or the lack of), somedays I'm pissed off, occasionally I'm sad ~ mostly, I'm content and happy.
Thank You Jesus."
there are a few drawings on that page, a whimsical sun & leaf, a snail and some acorns... what it boils down to is contentment.
" for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know what it is to be straitened; I know what it is to abound. Every where, and by all means, I am silently taught what it is to be full, and to be hungry; to abound, and to suffer want. I can do all things, through him who strengthens me." (Phillipians, which my group is reading right now)
I know that not everyone reading is a Christian, but everyone reading knows I am. It is my hope that you are encouraged and inspired to go out, explore, delve into something that interests you.. say no to things that will sidetrack you, things that will eat away your time to explore.
Find your "so many things" and share so that others catch that enthusiasm! The state of things today is enough to crush all of us. I choose to explore.
How about you?


**books to read ( aloud and for myself)
the sisters grimm
Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper
Above All, be Kind
Life is a Verb
Did I Expect Angels
Dear-Deer
and so many more... check out good reads, I've got quite a list growing there!

a blessing
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

Yesterday, as I was hanging prepped tissue paper for our artist to artist group, Jonathan commented, "Looks like you're hanging Tibetan Prayer Flags!" I loved that and so, for the rest of the papers, I did ask a blessing on each of the kids in our group. It reminded me of praying in color
here are some photos from yesterday's group:

Our artist was Tomie dePaola (a personal favorite) and we drew someone we admire, Tomie-style. Around the person are things that represent them. One of the girls drew me ~ so sweet, I love her too!

This is a set of Grace's, mine and Parker's

You can click through for a larger picture. Grace's is GG, I drew my sister in law who is a scientist, and Parker drew Lucy (more sweetness!).
One of the pictures I like the most was this one ~ the top picture is by our 5 year old friend, who drew herself! It's a good thing to admire yourself & be so confident.
The bottom picture is her sister's drawing of her grandfather.
I'm trying to shy away from formally calling this a "class" as I think we have settled into just the right group of friends. I like prepping everything and reading aloud to them, but it is up to them to explore their own art and learn from the artist each week.
I'll just keep prepping those prayer flags & enjoy full busy tables of laughing kids!

six one way week thirty-eight

six one way week thirty-eight
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

this week ~ an aerial view

Artist to Artist week six

Artist to Artist week six
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

So, who knew Eric Carle would take two weeks? And then inspire a big project?? I am very happy with the way things have worked out for this group.
Tuesday we read more about Eric, more about his growing up in Germany (though he lived in the U.S until he was 6), more about how he gets his ideas for his stories.. then I held up a hat with topics in it and each group drew a topic from that hat. Little kids picked, "A Dog Rescues A Squirrel" and the older kids got "The Pet Show".


The little guys jumped right into it, throwing out ideas, asking to draw the animals, tossing in an evil villain cat..this group is made up of five kids (four girls, one boy) ages 5 to 8.





The older girls (10 - 13) got very bogged down with ideas, details, a few testy moments.. I would have never guessed! They were worried about structure for the book, "but we can't have a title yet.. that comes after writing!". Oh my.
I had to talk them down a bit, "It's just a theme, an idea... this isn't a technical writing class, just have fun!" and then the ideas began to roll.
Now, here I have to confess (and those of you who live in this town and know me are not allowed to leave comments of howling laughter!!) I am a "BIG IDEA" person... the details do escape me when I have a grand plan. So at our older kids table are some detail people and I think I was freaking them out!~
But all began to fall into place for them too.


This is Grace's house collage..

So now this group time has taken a turn.. instead of simply meeting an artist each week, we will also be working on a book. I hope to finish it up by the first week of December, have my dh make copies for everyone and they they can bind them as they see fit. Ours will probably be bound at Kinko's and become Christmas gifts for miss Reese and my nephew Bob! And maybe for the grandparents too..

His cello
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

Parker's cello still out this morning from his impromptu performance for his grandmother. We had my parents and grandmother over last night for my mom's birthday dinner.
After they went home I met a friend at Borders and we perused the shelves for hours. Both of us bought Star Wars Fandex for our boys ( I keep trying to link it, but it isn't working for some reason. If you're interested you can find it at Amazon), and I picked up a copy of Ribsy so we don't have to keep paying the library to read their copy! We all love Beverly Cleary's books. Grace really liked Ramona when she was younger, but Lucy and Parker have taken to Henry Huggins & his dog Ribsy.
Today has been so very quiet. Grace went with my mother-in-law to begin gathering pumpkins & gourds for the big Halloween party she always has. The younger two have been off playing, only occasionally asking for food or help with something. And the two of us have been just enjoying this warm, sunny day. Watching the Colts win - Yea!!

cereal muffins this morning

ice tea this afternoon... doesn't get much better than that.

Jamaican art

Jamaican art
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

The first few things on their way to the Arts & Craft sale for the Jamaica Mission Trip.
The verse is Psalm 118:24, watercolor on handmade paper, and I might mount (or sew) it onto a piece of felt.. it's still a bit of a work in progress.
Here are some patchwork notebooks:

I saw this at The Crafty Crow
This shows the backs of the notebooks and a simple watercolor bookmark:

Grace came home from Jo-Ann's with a stack of fabric for pillows, bean bags and little gift bags. Cute Christmasy prints, some autumnish colors & prints and one sweet little puppy paw print.
I expect she and Jonathan will get those started tonight. Remember, I'm not allowed near the sewing machine :-)

click for larger image
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

I know it has been quite some time since I have posted some of my own artwork. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is the artist to artist group is so amazing, I could just post their work and be happy! I love those kids.
The second reason is that their hasn't been much art from me in the last few months. I've done maybe 6 ATCs, all for swaps, so they were out the door before a photo was snapped.
This one is called "Pattern" and it is for the creative mom podcast exchange. I had a hard time with the theme. I could only thing of simple ideas at first, as in patterns of color. The second idea I had was patterns of daily life, which started to get a bit bothersome. Cook, clean, listen, eat, cook, drive, wait, clean, talk, eat, clean, learn, teach, clean, cook, clean, eat, sleep.... too many cooks and cleans in that list. (My kids are hungry ALL THE TIME!!)
Ah... but rooted in that pattern are things of beauty, walks at sunrise with a friend, trees to climb, leaves to gather, books to read, snuggling to be had...
thus my submission for "Pattern".

Young Artists
Originally uploaded by hsmom2luge

This is a quick shot of Grace and her friends loving our artist to artist group! These girls are awesome. But ~ This post is all about Grace. Grace, needs your help! Last month she found out that she has an opportunity to go to Jamaica in June for a mission trip to an orphanage. This would be her first ever mission trip, her first ever time out of the country, but not her first time ever serving others. This child has a servant's heart. She is sooo excited!
She has already begun to save her money to pay for the trip. It will cost somewhere between $1,200 and $1,500. For September,she has saved $200.00 by babysitting, mowing, dog grooming, etc... she is on fire.
We're going to have a booth at a Christmas arts and crafts fair where we'll have things like gift bags (fabric, sewn by Grace), bookmarks, cards, pillows, bean bags, anything we can create, plus some baked goods.
I just happen to think that maybe you all would be willing to donate some art for our booth too. If you are interested, please email me. We would be so very thankful!
I'm thinking about ATCs (Christmas or winter related, or not!), bookmarks, anything you've sewn, hand-carved stamps, anything you might want to share.
Please email me if you can help or have any questions.
Thank you so much!
jehmen at sbcglobal dot net