I have been very remiss in keeping up with this blog. Shame on me!!!

Well, I have somewhat finished painting for the Golden Goose show and have now turned my attention to painting and tangling ATCs -- aka Artist Trading Cards. This has been so much fun! They go together very quickly and I have been trading them (ATCsforAll.com) around the world. I have some coming from The Netherlands and Italy, and I sent some to Slovenia. Who knew that I could be collecting fine art for the cost of a postage stamp?! I'll post some pictures when they actually arrive, but for now here are some of mine for your viewing pleasure...

And our precious Anabelle has arrived since my last entry. I posted this picture to Facebook, but I really need it here too. Please welcome our newest ...

I truly have some of the most beautiful grandchildren. Belle makes #10 -- double digits!!! Well done, us...

Yes, it's been a while (but not a great while) since I posted anything. Got a little distracted I suppose...

A few pictures to make you laugh. This is Sam and his Grampa Holt "driving" home. Steve does not have his hands on the wheel until Sam starts to follow where he's looking. Their grins totally make my day!

This is a new tangled clipboard that I will be selling at the craft show. I deliberately painted it on purple so I wouldn't be tempted to keep it just in case it turned out incredible (as I think it did).

Until next time...enjoy!

We went to my brother-in-law Dave's place last weekend for a family get-together and picnic. I had great intentions of taking lots and lots of pictures, but these are the only ones that happened. You know the saying about good intentions...well, I'm trying...I know I'll get better. Until that happens, enjoy!

This is Sam pushing one of his cousins on the swing. They are both so very little that it made me laugh and laugh...

Here, Jacob is trying to lick the frosting off his elbow. His dad, Ben, and I offered to give him $20 each if he could do it. J did his best, but in the end couldn't quite reach that last bit that was dripping off...

This is how we make a plain, standard clipboard look really cool! I really didn't think it could turn out this well. The prep was very time-consuming, but the tangling goes so fast. I also used a different pen -- a Sharpie, rather than the Sakura. The difference is that with Sharpies you never know if it's going to run when water or liquid hits it; so it has to be sprayed lightly to prevent that. But the tip was larger than any Sakuras I have available at the moment, so I was pretty much between a rock and a hard place. Moving right along...I really like the way it turned out...

I was sitting in Church yesterday and noticed the hymnbook holder on the back of the pew in front of me, actually NOTICED the wood graining and how lovely the pattern flowed. So I looked around the chapel and saw the grains in the pews and on the pulpit, how soothing and warm they made me feel. Like the good little tangler I am, I whipped out my sketchpad and this is what I was impressed with...

Wood Grain step-out and then as a frame for Bembu

Note card with Wood Grain frame Paradox center, Linked, Arckles, Brayd, and Xyp

The Wood Grain can best be accomplished with a "nervous" hand. I also think it would be gorgeous using different shades of watercolor pencil for the shading. Have fun looking around your house and the wood surfaces and see all the different ways to grain...this could go on forever. Enjoy!

I've got lots of new tangles. The plaques are painted with DecoArt acrylics. I think my absolute favorite of these is the last one -- the color wheel -- go figure. Have fun looking!

This is a "step-out" for a tangle I call "Whirly"... the hatch marks around the background give a sense of motion, like a whirligig in the wind...

Whirly

Tortus

This one is titled "Tortus" -- I couldn't decide if it reminded me of a tortoise shell or turtle. And since I know there must be a difference, I just really don't know what that difference is. oh, well...

Enjoy your weekend...

I love the quote by Lewis Carroll in "Through the Looking Glass..." from the Jabberwocky...

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"to talk of many things:
of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax--
of cabbages--and kings--
and why the sea is boiling hot--
and whether pigs have wings."

So if you'll indulge me talking of many things, I'll let you in on the progress of my back and legs. I am doing so much better. The experts tell me it will probably never completely heal, but I am able to actually walk upright and move around with a lot more ease of movement, for the moment. The key I believe is several things in combination...(1) faithful, diligent prayer for healing; (2) stretches taught by the physical therapist AM and PM; (3) the little ultra-sound 10-min treatment; (4) cold, then hot, compresses; and lastly, (5) restorative yoga poses using two different DVDs. I do 1, 2, and 5 each day; the other two as necessary. So far this past week, I've been almost pain-free!!! Only one relatively "bad" day when I made cookies, so I was standing a long time. But the cookies are so-o-o-o yummy...it was worth the sacrifice.

Mama Blue Jay

Top right -- sleeping chicks

Top right center -- chicks begging for their next meal

The Blue Jay nest at the back of Steve's shop. I believe that's mom at the top; the pink and gray pointed beaks are the three babies. There was one built a few years ago in the same spot. That family had four chicks. I had to lock our Jackson up in the house when the babies started learning to fly. The birds would fall out of the nest and Jackson would try to scoop them up in his very large mouth! This year, Sam didn't really pay much attention, so I didn't know when exactly they all abandoned the site. But they were fun for a few weeks anyway...