In 2009 I read many more books than one might expect a stay-at-home mother of a toddler to read. However, this came at the expense of physical fitness. Ah well, maybe 2010 will be more active. Then again, here’s my current stack. Only two books are holdovers from 2009: Raising Freethinkers and The Last Child in the Woods. The rest are all holiday gifts, and I am looking forward to delving into them. The lower half is nonfiction and the upper is fiction.
Happy New Year!
Claire chose snack for Santa, and even a snack for the reindeer (particularly Rudolph). Next is a bath, and then bedtime. Tomorrow is a big day! Happy Christmas Eve to all.
This lap robe is about 2000 yards of wool yarn. Very cozy. I just finished it this morning.
On this gray, rainy day, I decided to play a little with the camera. The Christmas tree is an important feature in my holiday traditions. It’s the centerpiece of our celebration. I have more ornaments than I can put on our tree, so each year I get to choose which ones I’d like to enjoy. This straw maiden ornament was given me by my mother many years ago.
I made the peanut elf ornament (below) when I was a Brownie scout, so that means I’ve carried this with me for 40 years!! I even have a construction paper stocking I made in kindergarten, and a construction paper flame ornament from first grade, but this year I didn’t put them on the tree.
I’m looking forward to Claire’s accrual of ornaments over the years, especially the ones she makes. Someday, I hope, she’ll have her own special tree.
In the spirit of incorporating my Husband’s family traditions as well as mine, I tried a new recipe. He grew up making thumbprint cookies with apricot jam, orange marmalade, and mint jelly. Not having those on hand, I used grape jam. Claire didn’t actually help this year, but when she’s older I’ll have her do the thumbprint part (and more, if she wants).
The recipe is here. It’s a fine, fine confection!
We arrived home last night at 11:00 p.m., exhausted and happy. Much unpacking and settling in to do. It was a great trip. Claire is a flexible and patient little traveler (inasmuch as a two-year old can be). We loved seeing family and friends and hope to do it again soon.
Each year, in the last days of Art Every Day Month, my thoughts turn toward Christmas. If I had time and was inclined to make Christmas cards, I think this would make a sweet design. Alas, this one will have to do. I’ve had great fun this month with the process, and I really like most of what I created. I especially like this small format, because I can actually squeeze a little creativity into the nooks and crannies of time I have.
Happy Advent!
I experimented with polymer clay. The chocolate brown was deeper than I had in mind, so I added transparent gold paint and some green puff paint. It’s not as lightweight as a regular Art Card, but I like it nonetheless. It was a piece I could do while standing in the kitchen as Claire played nearby.
In this piece I experimented with image transfer, paper, paint, a piece from a magazine bead necklace, a crushed bean shell, and seed beads.
The base of this card is card stock with a texture stamp in mustard and olive colored ink. I didn’t really like it and thought about tossing it. But I happened to come across some scraps of other paper I used in other cards and got to playing with the arrangement. It absorbed me, and I finally found a use for the random, stray puzzle piece that’s been sitting on my desk for months.
I wanted to subdue the brightness of the yellow card stock, so I used a texture stamp (made of rubber) and mustard yellow ink. Then I used a sunflower stencil. Simple and fun!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I wanted contrast and intensity. I had random scraps. This is what came together!
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped hill or mountain with steep sides that is smaller in area than a plateau. A butte is also a flat-topped hill with steep sides, though smaller in area than a mesa. Definitions of the surface areas of mesas and buttes vary. One source states that a mesa has a surface area of less than 4 square miles (10 square kilometers), while a butte has a surface area less than 11,250 square feet (1,000 square meters). Another source states that the surface area of a mesa is larger than 1 square mile (2.59 square kilometers); the surface area of a butte is smaller than that dimension. Some simply define a mesa as a landform that is wider than it is high and a butte as one that is higher than it is wide.
There’s your science factoid for the day.
I often like what results when I sit down without intention or agenda and play.
When at a loss for inspiration, reach for Crayolas. I still like to color in coloring books too!
