This Is What I Do: Create

Well, another year has come and gone and a new one will be beginning shortly. Next year I think will be appropriate for many of  us artists with a vision: ya know' 2020!  Yeah, I know, pretty lame humor! In some ways I am looking forward to 2020. I will be getting another grandchild in April (or maybe even the end of March). The parental unit, my son and his wife, decided to not find out this time whether it's a boy or a girl. Their theory: when you already have two of each, what difference does it make. I wasn't too excited when they first told me that they were expecting again. As a matter of fact, I remarked, "are you two crazy!" But, I know they aren't, and I also know that they are both wonderful parents, and those kind are the ones who should be having big families.They simply love their children, provide well for them, and that makes me happy. Another reason to look forward to 2020 is that my oldest grandson, who is now 26, will soon celebrate his 3rd ...

Fifty years ago on August 2, 1969, I married the love of my life. Our marriage lasted 38 years, 1 month, 22 days, and 7 hours, until an angel slipped in and took her home to her Heavenly Father. I have learned a lot in the last 12 years. Some not so good, some good. Let me share what comes to mind that I have learned. Not necessarily in any order, by the way! I can actually keep a good balanced  checkbook now. I can cook for one. It's not fun or easy, but I have it mastered pretty well. Dating is a lot different than it was 50 years ago. It's easier to stay home. Eating out in a restaurant alone is not too enjoyable. Most of the friends we had as a couple are no longer close. Many, not all, people who say "let me know if you need anything" really don't mean it. Being alone is not bad. Being lonely sucks. I could easily become a hermit. My children's lives do not revolve around me anymore.  My faith has grown exponentially. I hate doing laundry. ...

Our May mini inspiration mission was the following song lyrics: "Heaven opened its portals to me."  When I read them, I knew immediately that the song was "With a song in my Heart" That got me thinking and I remember going to my Grandma F's and she let me stay up and watch the "late show" which was a movie that didn't even start until after the 11:00 PM news. That was when I saw the movie, "With A Song in my Heart" for the first time. I can remember it like it was yesterday and it has to have been at least 65 years ago. (Grandma had a TV and we didn't!!) The movie starred Susan Hayward (pant, pant!!)  It was the story of Jane Froman, an entertainer during WWII. What a love story! She was hurt in an accident, spent lots of time in the hospital, was giving up on life as she knew it, but Therma Ritter and Rory Calhoun came to her rescue! Wow!! She sang to the service men overseas, brought down the house with the title song.  Needless...

Yep! The calendar says that I am another year older! A cousin asked me if I was 29 again. I said, "yes for the 45th year in a row!!" After I did the math, on paper!! How do I feel about being 74 today? Who cares! I don't feel any older than I did yesterday. I don't feel much older than I did 10 years ago. Oh, yeah, it takes me a little longer to get going in the mornings, but after my coffee and morning routine,  I ready for the day.  The worst part about being older is the way other people perceive you when they find out how old you are. When you reach a "certain" age, I have found that you become almost invisible to most people. Not saying that about my close family and friends, but to the general public, clerks in stores, etc. older adults are mostly ignored! That's okay in most things. If I need help, I'm not too shy to ask. There are perks, too, but right now I can't think of a one. Certainly not healthcare. The price rises yearly, and...

Friends of mine are expecting a new granddaughter in the future. I am a firm believer that grandparents are EXTRA special people and should have special things for when the baby comes to visit. (Baby showers never include stuff for Grandma and Grandpa. So I made something special for them. I made a PINK burrito blanket. That is simply a round blanket that I made from fleece, then edged on my sewing machine.  Easy to use, lay babe in the middle, fold up the foot part and then the sides. It's a good swaddler and there are no droopy corners to get caught on stuff or be dragging. BUT, the icing on the cake is the round Mandala afghan  to go with the blanket. It turned out even better than I anticipated. I used a little heavier weight yarn than it called for, and a size bigger hook. I did that because my eyes just aren't good enough to use that fine fingering weight yarn and a small hook. I cut the size of the blanket down so it was only 36" in diameter. If I had gone on to...

No, it wasn't. It called for coral, mint green and kraft brown. It also wanted us to draw a face or part of a face. It didn't specify that it had to be a human face, however. I considered a lion or a tiger, but settled for a human face. The prompt also had 5 words to choose from. I chose "root(s)."  I scraped the coral paint on the paper with a scraper. My mint green didn't turn out very well, but, hey, who really cares? It's the creativity that counts, right? I made several attempts with the face, finally coming up with one that I sorta cheated on and traced on with graphite paper!  I stamped on the tree in black and added kraft leaves. IN the grand scheme of life, do any of us today really know where our roots come from? As a man of faith, I know mine came from the house of David, but that's really stretching it a long way. So, I used the tree to represent roots, and family. All in all, it was not my best work, but as it turned out, I like it better e...

My good friend, Curley has a birthday today. I won't tell you how she is, but she repeating 39 again! Of course, I had to make her a card and since she already has opened it earlier when we went out for lunch (Mexican food, yay!) and then went to our knit and crochet group at the local senior center, I can reveal it now. I used two sets of Thinlet dies from Tim Holtz for the background and butterflies. The background and the orange on the butterflies is from some "watercolor" cardstock from Walmart. The black on the butterflies is a metallic bronze heavy cardstock. I mounted it on a black cardstock then attached the whole thing to a white card base. Happy Birthday, Curley. I hope your day was wonderful. Blessed to call you my friend!!  Happy 39...again!  (( Hugs)) Until next time, Go! Create Something! JF