Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  I did sign up for Life Book 2015!  Crazy I know, like when am I going to have the time?  This will be an exploration of discipline and hopefully, (praying for willpower) to put some paint on paper to let the inner artist come through.

Here is a picture of my lovely girls with Santa.

A Few Minutes of Sewing

I had the joy of sewing a few things over the weekend.  It felt good to hear the sewing machine whirling once again.  I like using my walking foot and a tiny zig-zag stitch when working with fleece. I used the fleece I had on hand and used Vanessa from Crafty Gemini's tutorial on You Tube and her free downloadable pattern from her blog to make a fleece hat.   I first made her beanie pattern but it did not cover my daughter's ears.  Her pattern for a hat with ear flaps worked like a charm. I hope to post pictures of my daughter wearing her hat later.  I also tried several headband patterns.  This one pictured below was cute but the 1/4 inch casing for the elastic was challenging. Will post link later.

My Ballerinas

The girls are starting to have to work hard in ballet.  They still like it but Audrey is wanting to quit.  This makes me sad as it is the only time I get to see her dressed up as a little girl.  Otherwise, it is superhero or Star Wars shirts.

Halloween Photos

Audrey, Sean, Jamie

  

Listening to the Silence of the Woods

Actually sounds like crunch, crunch, crunch. I love the sound of dried leaves beneath my feet. Happy Fall!

Great Finds

One day in June, my library had a book sale.  I had just dropped off my girls at their ballet class and on a whim, I thought to hang out at the library before picking them back up.  It was so relaxing and peaceful.  On the way out I noticed they were having a book sale in another room.  I went in to have a look.

Right on the first table with the SciFi books was Anatomy of a Doll by Susanna Oroyan.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I grabbed it.  It looked brand new! I'm not sure how much I paid for it, but I think it was less than a dollar.   I am into making dolls so this was a great find.  At the time, I thought this was a rare book to find so I was thanking the universe for this treasure and took it as a sign for me to continue making dolls. Now I see on Amazon you can get a used copy for less than $2.00.  I still am thankful. 

I mentioned I'm trying to organize my craft space.   I found this little cart at Savers for $5.00.  I also felt thankful for this find. The wheels are in great condition. The baskets can be adjusted to hang at different levels.  It measures 25.5 inches tall and 16 inches wide.  I'm imagining it right by sewing my machine so I  can clear my sewing desk area.

I hope you find some great recycled treasures in your neck of the woods! 

More Doodles - Practicing for LifeBook 2015

Life has been full of ups and downs this summer flowing into fall.  The only constant is my doodling in anticipation for LifeBook 2015.   Another constant is my trying to tackle my creative workspace, which I share with lots of my girls toys.  Dollar Tree store has inspired me with all their little baskets in this endeavor.  The paper for the drawing is also from the Dollar Tree.

In the meantime, here is where I'm at with trying to connect with my inner artist.  I will be posting them in the order I drew them to the best of my memory.  Six women and one man.  Six portrait poses and one first attempt at full body.

Drew her while listening to The Woman in White

She was influenced by listening to Children of Dune.

Are we really free?