Tomorrow is the Home Tour!!

I made a bookmark and wrote a little on the children that must have made a lot of noise and played in this house since the late 1890's til now....the original family who built the house had ten children! Our little tree with all the kid's homemade ornaments from elementary school, one of my son's when he was five with his picture...but something ate on it....still kept it....plus new ones made by new children in the family....old vintage beads and little glass balls and my favorite old reflectors that you slip over each lite...these were made during the depression to save on electricity by not using as many lites....they DO reflect alot of lite!! Some new fabric for my sofa throw pillows..... I painted card stock red...then cut out the pattern in a Christmas book of these birds....hung them on the dining room chandelier...added a little red glitter to them of course! I glittered two dozen pinecones!...now hanging on door decor outside....also had some gold ones....I felt like a kid again! A banner that I made with stenciled letters on each card...that was collaged with scripture of the birth of Jesus....my children have requested one that says "Happy Birthday Jesus"...for their house for their children to have each year.....what a treasure to do for them. I couldn't find a pretty Christmassy door mat...so I taped off and old rug I had...beige and dirty....and painted it!! Looks great in front of the door outside.....easy!! A Nativity I got at the local store years ago...it has a button for the kids to push for music and movement of the figures....a favorite with the children and it is up all year. A toilet paper roll Santa made by Kellie when she was in elementary....she is now 38. Yes, I save EVERYTHING... This collage was to honor a friend who gave me our family's favorite cookie recipe..now for 42 years....her name was Sue Ruehle, she was a mother of two boys who took me under her wing when I was a newly wed...in 1966.....she has since gone home to be with the Lord......this recipe was her grandmother's....from Ohio....it is a buttermilk cut out sugar cookie with almond flavoring.....iced with royal icing....I was too tired to make them for the Home Tour!! They are labor intensive.....but delicious and better the older they are.... My friend Mary brought me this beautiful deciduous holly from the woods....she removed all the leaves and we put it in an urn on the guest house porch....it was tall and elegant and beautiful....just like her!! A wooden album I made for the pictures of the history of this old house....and yes....I LIKE RED! These are old photos of this ole house and it's original family from the late 1890's. You will also see a lot of vintage decorations that were from our family...from the fifties...the guest book I made for the Home Tour....the 1950's Firetruck with all it's lites....and some of the vintage mixture of dishes that I love to mix and use. One of my favorite items are the little white celluloid deers....I have eight of them in four windows....they are up all year....I just remove the Christmas balls on the twig wreaths....they are my window treatments in the dining room.....I paid 1.50 each for the deer at a garage sale years ago. I love old dishes....and my dear friend made me these beautiful Queensland placemats one year for Christmas...the red goblets were my Mothers. These are old restaurant dishes with precious desert plates with roses on top...the gold cup and saucer are old gold lustre from the fifties and sixties...the irresdescent pinkish red thumbprint goblets were Dick's Mother's.....the Faux grained table ...eight feet long was made by Richard Hornberger and painted by PJ Hornberger the Folk Artist. I love it.... This is not a Texas deer ......unfortunately....I only paid 65. dollars for him because he is an Ohio Buck....I guess less appreciated here in Texas, but I think he is wooly wonderful....more like a real Santa's deer....don't you? He has a great rack and he used to have a red nose that lit up, but can't get it working! He and his nose are old too.....I love old, don't you? The little Santa and Mrs Santa sleigh has little presents in it that I remember my Mother meticulously wrapping to put in the sleigh, which is rattan....I found it in one of the boxes of her stuff....just another good memory!! The little cross was cross stitched by Dick's Mother years ago in the seventies....it is on top of the tree. Many of the nicer decorations, stockings, twig frame below,patchwork star ornament, amarylis flower, and some vintage Christmas ornaments were purchased at Herman Furniture in Brenham....a great store with a special touch..... OPPS...a little blurry but you get the idea....... I am finally finished cleaning this big ole house....just the downstairs that is....tomorrow is the Home Tour for our little town benefiting our Local Historical Society...whew!!....it was a lot of work, but a joy to do! I had a green light from the Lord....so to speak.....I knew in my heart it was time to open the house up again.....like we did when Dick had his retirement party in 2000. I haven't had this kind of JOY decorating and cleaning in years....my daughter-in-law showed me a book with ideas and we were off to the races!!! We bought ribbon, glitter, made notes of what to use of all my old stuff....and she reminded me to use my WORD TREE(don't have a photo but it is words from the story of the birth of Christ on heavey paper written in black then snow glistened, and on the back is the scripture of where the word is contained...then hung with gold cord...), etc....here are a few pictures of the decorating ideas we came up with....I'm an artist, but not a fabulous decorator....but here goes....just a few photos .....ha!...hope you have a while!..... Just want to share how loved I feel by the Lord....sounds weird I know, but we have been so busy, and with loss of my parents ....and other things.....plus in the last few years we have just raced thru seven years without realizing it....and age doesn't make it any easier....but I've had such blessings from the people around me who continue to love on me and reassure me of His love for me....for us.....all of us.....if we just let Him! We just want to say THANK YOU LORD for all the blessings and the trials...that make us closer and closer to YOU....You are ever faithful and never give up on us!! Enjoy.....especially enjoy the real meaning of Christmas.....you won't believe how pretty the Nativity that Dick made is!!! The prettiest camel will be finished tonite! Que Dios te bendiga!!! Says that God would Bless You!! Learned Spanish as a child .....my heart language.

A Long Trip...

Yes, we went on a long trip...three weeks....then one week to rest and renew our strength to begin decorating for the Homes Tour I agreed to do on Dec 6th. We drove (instead of flying)on this trip to see the leaves and colors and to just see mid-America....and to take two pieces of heirloom furniture to our daughter from my Mom.....it was a joy to drive especially since the price of gas had gone down. We were on our way going through La., Ala, Miss, Tenn, Kentucky and ending in Ohio to see our missed and new grand children!! It was a beautiful trip...especially when we arrived in the driveway of Olivia, Eli and our new Elena....and our beautiful daughter Kellie (the Queen, as they call her)and her King...Jimmy. It was a fun visit with swimming team, gymnastics, piano and home school, plus I introduced them to collage art and we made a journal and some Christmas ornaments...(an idea I got from Nelda Ream's Blog made with old spools) ....but the MOST FUN was learning a hard lesson with two competitive kids ages almost five and seven.....the fun in losing???....good ole OLD MAID....I grabbed them at the last minute at the store before we left Texas.....and I'm sure I played OLD MAID at least a hundred times....each time a little less CRYING from the loser who ALWAYS wanted to play another game....I never saw so much "hope" for some one to lose!!...I never laughed so hard! If we accomplished anything with our grand kids it was learning to be a good loser....we think! I HATE TO ADMIT...I WAS THE OLD MAID THE MOST....I wonder how that happened!? But they laughed the most when Grand-dad was the Old Maid...especially Eli! I'm thinking of some art along that line....also you will see some photo art pictures I did of Eli and Olivia for their new bathroom, with matching shower curtain....they loved the manipulated photo art and will send me one to do of baby Elena in her bathing suit! Anyway, here are some pictures of them and some of the beautiful barns and trees we saw while we were there. These are only a very few!!!....as I have tons of photos....a lot for new art ideas.....so please no copying the photos....We also visited some friends, Rita and Daryl Ruehle. Daryl's first wife Sue had gone home to be with the Lord in 1992...and then he met his wonderful wife Rita, who was also widowed. Daryl and Sue were our friends in F-100 training in Clovis, N. Mex in 1966 before Viet Nam, when Dick and I were newlyweds! Sue gave me her Grandmother's Christmas Cookie recipe and it has been a family tradition with my grown children, now for 42 years....so this year at the Christmas Home Tour I am honoring Sue and her cookie recipe....We had a wonderful time with Daryl and Rita....Rita shared a fabulous old family photo, quite large that was hand colored....it was inspiring!......Her old family picture is at the top of this blog...first photo!...also they drove us all over that beautiful little town of McCutchenville, Ohio. Thanks you two!!! We hope to get back to see you again!! On our departure from Ohio we took a different route to Texas going West thru Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and home....if it hadn't been Nov. I would have gone straight to Mt Rushmore....but a blizzard was coming the next morning, so we headed for warm Texas. We had perfect dry cool weather the whole trip! It was perfect.....then we stopped in Flower Mound to see our Peyton Marie....our two year old biker and artist....and her precious parents, our son, Scott and his beautiful wife Carrie. I don't do grand kids and travel much on my blog so bear with me....some new art is coming soon, PLUS photos of the Home Tour Decor and happenings.....but not tonite!! Glad to be home....I missed my blogging buddies!!! WOW, IT'S BEEN A MONTH!!!!!

A Doodle Day....

No serious art will be posted for a while...as we have a lot of irons in the fire....grandkids mostly and some construction and rearranging, plus packing stuff from my Mother for my daughter....etc............so I'll just show you two things from what I call my " DOODLE DAY".....when I just have to "doodle" for my pleasure only. The contemporary one is actually a collection or pile of pieces of scraps I doodle on when I'm actually painting a serious piece....and I collected them all, arranged them and made them into this piece of art with a little manipulation play on Adobe Photoshop to make it look like a watercolor.............Then the other is just that....a play with color and words....a "doodle".........have a "doodle day"!! Hope you are all having a blessed day!

My Second Try at Collage...

This is my second try at a collage, which is something somewhat new for me....it is a painted textured canvas, cutout zinnias from my own artwork, stamps on tissue with birds, vine looking scrolls and words that show us how trustworthy God is....in Matthew 13:31, 32. (you can click on the scripture if you want to read it) The collage is a bit busy, but it fits how my mind is....BUSY!...with some clutter spread around the house....even so, I think it works. I don't know what I am going to do to the frame yet, but it will come to me....then I'll hang it in the gallery.....unless you want to suggest something..... It was fun to do and I want to do more.....I forgot to mention it was highlighted with oil pastels and pencils, then stamped with the letters from my new letter alphabet set #4 from stamp-out-cute-.com. I hope you enjoy it.....and feel free to comment...as I am looking for honest critiques! ....or advice! ENJOY!

TREASURES FROM MY MOTHER...

I've been weeding out and going through old china that I had collected for years....and in a box of my Mother's stuff, I found these "Bird Nests"...in some plastic ice cream containers......obviously cherished and prized by her.....I don't know how I missed them.....but it is like a little visit from her....the eggs were mine and I added them for these pictures....feel free to use these photos if you like for art work.....she LOVED birds and she would watch a pair of Cardinals move their babies from the nest ....even if it took all afternoon! I know because I sat with her on one of those occasions....and now finding these "Nests" makes me so grateful for that afternoon with her....just before she had her stroke. She was partially paralyzed for thirteen years and couldn't walk or talk....but she would ...Oooo and Ahhh ...and make precious sounds...kind of like baby talk while smiling big....winking...and squeezing your hand! You always knew what she was saying! She loved people...especially children. Everyone in all the stores knew her! They would run over to her wheel chair as she made her way over to them....and there were lots of hugs....always. She was so much fun....Once when riding with me to go to my tenth year high school reunion....we kept seeing all these vegetables all over the highway!! She insisted we stop and retrieve as many as possible.....she said, "They are perfectly good....and not a bruise on them!" We kept stopping for more on this almost deserted highway, occasionally seeing an eighteen wheeler.....and a few coyotes.......we began to laugh and laugh at the sight of....US! She said, "I can just see the headlines in the paper...."TWO 'CUTE' TOMATOES....RUN OVER BY AN EIGHTEEN WHEELER WHILE PICKING UP VEGETABLES.................on the highway!" We were cute BACK THEN.......in those days. She was loved and cherished by our whole family....especially loved by my Dad in his special way....buying her diamonds and caring for her those thirteen years in a wheelchair.....always making sure she had her nails painted and taking her weekly to have her hair done......he (Pappa) was a regular at the local beauty shop......he would sweep up for the gals when they were cutting hair......not too bad for a retired Colonel!....however he was a farm boy....and I was proud of that more.....proud of both of them....they were loved and are so missed. Nelda, thank you for painting those wonderful bird nests....and bringing back memories of a loved and cherished Mother....and her bird nests! (We LOVED Dad too!) Check her (Nelda's) blog for the paintings!...and my friend PJ'S too!!

INSPIRED BY SCRAPS...

After deciding to do a new kind of treatment with my art....I began to search for old treasures purchased when I had my antique shop.....and found my old type letters that I had forgotten about! There is a complete set of capitals, small letters and numbers , plus a few punctuation marks....!!! I was so excited I started stamping letters to see how they looked and decided to make labels for the front of my ugly plastic boxes. Then made a label for my clear bag of scraps....I almost threw away! While looking at the scraps an idea began to emerge with the two pieces that have a large cutout in the middle....(which was a flower that I framed for the show)....anyway I took a 16x20 canvas and gessoed it.....then played with the pieces of scraps.....then made some script on my computer....Psalms 119....then printed larger..... Isaiah 58:11....a favorite of mine and decided it would be the theme....words in particular..."garden" ...."you will be like a watered garden".....well, you would have lots of flowers in a watered garden....so flowers it would be.....since I've never done this before and don't have new supplies yet...I used an old standby...decoupage medium. I tore and cut up old scripture for the outer edges of the canvas which you can't see....and some of my floral drawings or manipulated photos I've done in the past.... printed out.... You will not see it finished until much later.....but the last touches will be painting or oil pastel-ing the flowers to make them extend around the edge of the canvas and enhancing the gerbera daisy that looks dark...it will stand out more when I'm finished.....some stamping....then I have a few embellishments to add....and a few tiny photos to give it meaning....I will get a final picture and you will see the finished product around Nov 1....or sooner.... It truly was a joy to do....just playing with the shapes and colors and adding the words....I love the concept that it began with pieces that were doomed for the trash....but looking closer....there was something special about them....and as I worked with them.....I began to see a purpose for them....and upon finishing....the pieces of scraps doomed for the trash....were of value and had beauty....maybe we should think about people in the same way.....as we are each created completely unique and different....not a single person alike in the universe....but uniquely created.....Somebody is pretty smart and amazing!.....and it's not me.......Forgot to say "THANK YOU" to all you artsy bloggers who have inspired me!!!....and I welcome any advice, ideas and especially comments....enjoy!

JUST RELAXING...

The two week antiques show is over....our last B&B guests left today. We have just relaxed, sat outside and watched our chickens chase bugs, while putting our feet up. We had the best group of people at our B&B and in our home. The girls here in the houses were so much fun as we sat around the table and shared ideas and crafting tricks.....etc. My head is so full of a fun two weeks with THE greatest girls ever!! .....the yellow chicken was one of many presents those girls brought me!! I got a lot of goodies from them.....their "heart" sharing was the best!! THANK YOU to ALL of YOU!! I couldn't do any serious art while taking care of the Gallery with occasional customers coming and going......so I did a few "arty envelopes" to mail to friends and two to my grand-children....here is one for Eli and another for Olivia....with fun worksheets inside for them to color and figure out. Just a way to let them know how much I love and miss them!! YOU should try it....use junk mail and just paint it....go green...as Nelda says in her blog and as PJ has done and shown as well on her blog.....! Tomorrow is a day of rest....and WE ARE GOING TO REST SOME MORE!!