Tradition

These cranberry turkeys have been a family tradition for many years. When I was young Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce gave away a turkey and a tree, cranberry cutter, when you purchased the sauce. You slide the cranberry sauce out of the can and slice it, then use the cutter to make turkeys or trees. My children all like the tradition, and now the grandchildren are in on it. We have 4 children, so I e-mailed Ocean Spray to see if I could get more turkey cutters (they just fit the size of the tin, so a cookie cutter won't do.) I suggested that they revive the offer from many years ago. They did not get excited about the idea like I thought they might, so I'm not sure who will end up with the turkey cutter when I am gone. It gives me something to look for when I go to the antique stores; It's fun to look for something special. Any suggestions on getting more cutters??

Peace

Peace and love to everyone this Thanksgiving day.
I created this "circle of peace"  a few months back when I had an "Asian" art show.
The circle is raised, and painted gold, so one can run their finger around the circle. It is a wonderful way to bring some peace if you are having a stressful day, or you just want to relax. The bamboo on the left is made with a hand cut stamp. 
My 9 year old granddaughter loved it, and seemed to understand the meaning, so I gave it to her.
It reminds me of a labyrinth, however much easier to create.

Falling leaves

What a variety of leaves we found on our walk through the neighborhood !!
The trees are just beautiful right now. We brought the leaves home and made imprints of them with paint.
I don't have a masterpiece to show, but it was a fun project.

Artist at work

We are visiting with our little artist granddaughter. She wanted to paint before breakfast today.



I love the colors she uses and hope to keep this one to take home with me.


She insisted on painting Papa T's fingernails with blue nail polish; he was a good sport, even though he wasn't looking forward to it. I told him that she will always remember that moment in time. :>)


We have been enjoying the summer like weather. We had smoked ribs on the grill last night. Papa T's ribs are the best!! I know some parts of the US are having snow storms. Snow is good for skiing, and that is about all, in my book.

Thanksgiving

We were getting ready for our trip for Thanksgiving when I realized that I had forgotten to buy Thanksgiving cards for some of the family. I decided to paint some, and these are the results of my efforts. I painted yellow gold mums on a big piece of 140# watercolor paper. Cut each to fit on blank card stock, and glued them on the front. I think they turned out pretty, and the family always likes a hand made card.

Surprise in the mailbox !

A few weeks back I had participated in a drawing at Choosing Beauty.com. sponsored by Liv.
Jennifer Swift, artist, was giving the gift. Guess what, I won, and today I received the package, all decorated with stamps and calligraphy. Inside was Jennifer's new book, "Creative Bloom", available on Amazon.
There is even the word "inspire" made out of wire in the package. Jennifer combines wire and fabric for some very unique ideas. I am so happy to have this book to read over the holidays. Thanks to Liv and Jen for making my day!

More Little Houses

You should see all of the little houses over at Creative Tuesdays. It is fun to see everyone's interpretation of a little house. Take a look. I especially like the little snail with the house on his back by Kristin Dudish.
The next challenge is something heavenly...hmm. Makes me think of "heaven's door" that I posted on my blog on August 18th as part of a challenge. I will have to come up with something new. Heaven or heavenly thoughts are good to think about.

Only in Texas !

New Home

This beautiful little doll house is going to a new home. Years ago, I took an unfinished bookcase and put wooden doors on it. I cut the windows and doors out with a jig saw;  I put curtains of lace around the windows on the inside, and painted the bricks, and flower boxes, etc. It served as a doll house for our youngest daughter, who now has a daughter of her own. It is time to pass it on. I have been using it to store painting supplies in my studio. We are going to visit, and it will be a nice surprise for our youngest granddaughter. I hope she will love it as much as I do.

Little Houses

I've always wanted to live in a little colorful house like one of these.
When we moved here, I got my wish. Our house is small; just what we need,
and we painted it yellow. Because we are in the historic district, there are
other colorful  homes on the block. Never gets boring around this neighborhood.
This is part of a challenge over at Mr. Toast's blog.

Warm Up

This morning Iwas reading the Cloth, Paper, Scissors newsletter. They reminded us of how easy it is to make post cards for our friends for those special occasions. I got busy and made three. We were supposed to put a favorite quote on them. I have so many favorite quotes that I know I will be making a lot more of these!
What is your favorite quote?

Post Card Swap

I am taking part in "The Great Big Stitched Post Card Swap."
I made my post card today, but my sewing machine went on the fritz, so I had to" pretend stitch".
If you look closely the heart is a button that looks stitched on. "Home is where the heart is". I like that thought.I must send my card off to merry old England.

Plein Air Painting

All of the plein air painters in the area were invited to come to the square in Georgetown and paint on Saturday. They came from miles around. Several set up on the lawn and painted the Court House; it truly is beautiful, since it's restoration a couple of years ago. I have not done much plein air painting, and do not have the proper easle etc., so I got a cup of coffee and a "morning glory" cupcake and sat outside the local coffee shop, and just sketched what I saw in front of me. I had to use that perspective again, and I can see where I did not get some of it right, however it was a fun day.

Sketching

I am trying to do something creative every day to keep the ideas coming, and the pencil sharp.
I love to draw, but do not do it enough. To get better, it takes practice, practice, practice!
A friend and I went out to Berry Spring's Park where there are several old buildings and even a couple of donkeys! This looks like an old feed barn. Perspective is one of the hardest things for me to do correctly, but I thought this turned out pretty good. This is a page in my new sketch book. "My create every day" sketch book !!

Spooky Night

We gave out 25 lbs. of candy in about 21/2 hours this year. Finally just turned off the porch light.I have no idea how much we would have to buy to take care of all of the trick or treaters. Most of the " little" goblins came out early, so that is good. It is fun to see how some of the adults dress; you can see that there were some pretty weird characters roaming the streets. Buzz Light Year was a hit this year, and hundreds of little "Marios" were running around collecting their candy.
The orange lights are coming down, and soon it will be time for the Christmas lights.
Time seems to fly by, and as we get older, it flys faster. Why do you think it happens that way?
I hope all of the younger people will realize this, and stop and enjoy each  moment.