A Make-Over with Pinky

Yep. I went to a professional for a little help.

She went with something she referred to as a "Cool Sweetheart Look".

My favorite part?

Having her little hands on my face and her breath on my cheek.

We have the fun house

It is Mike and I's goal to have the place all the young people go to. We hope to have a game room when the kiddos are older. But for now, in the last hot days of summer, we have them confined to a netted trampoline.

Please note how Pinky tends to look like a fashion model no matter what she is doing.

The goal of this particular kiddo invented game was for one team to throw a member over to the other team and if the other team could take them down, the team that threw their member lost points and the team that brought them down gained points. In the photo above Boo, er, Rex is about to be taken down. I don't even know one of the kids in there, he just showed up and started playing.
I love that about kids, now days you have to ask permission to befriend someone on facebook, but with kids you just start playing and work out differences as you go along. We lose that as adults. We expect proper etiquette and connections and crap.
 
I think I'd rather just wrestle you for points. 
:)

Clay Rollers

I love these people.

Spring is Here

Right here in our yard.

Finally.

Keep your enemies near

and your art supplies nearer.

This is Pinky's bedside every morning. What you do not see are the bits of paper littering her bed and floor, the handmade paper masks over her baby doll faces, the books she "made art" in and the pictures she used a glue stick to adhere to the walls. What amazes me most is that she does this sometime between 11 pm and 6 am. We tuck her in at 8, then check on her again before we go to bed and she looks like an angel, sound asleep, silky blanky arranged neatly over her body. Then in the morning we go into her room to wake her and this is what greets us, evidence of a huge, art making fiesta.
Mike gets mad; "She can't do this!" She will be too tired to learn at school." "We will take away her art box!"
I laugh inside, thinking "Over my dead body." This girl is learning way more then her kindergarten class is teaching her. Besides I would committ first degree murder to have the kind of creative force that
WAKES ME FROM MY SLEEP and drives me to create in the middle of the night.
That's awesome. 

We finally drew our name for our Ardent give-a-way!
The winner is
LUCID MOON STUDIO!
Pinky and I are going to wrap this up today and ship it off to Lisa tomorrow.
Thank you to everyone who left their name, Pinky was delighted that so many people would have liked to have one of "her heart beads". 

I actually said I was taking a few days off....

Since Mon. I have painted fingernails 4 times, put colored stripes in hair 3 times, braided said colored hair twice, watched 18 shows of Sponge Bob, printed and colored 6 color yourself pages of The Backyardigans, attended 2 tea parties, helped zip and button 100 clothing changes, made 2 paper lanterns, used 1 roll of scotch tape to hang up Art and took part in an expressive piece of performance art that demonstrated night to day with paper cut outs. Did I say I was taking time off of work? Did I actually post that? Good God, I am exhausted!

p.s. She is feeling much better after 3 days of a really high fever.

Polymer Clay and Found Objects

My kids and I find, save and treasure all sorts of little objects. Special rocks, crystals, beach finds and even Christmas lights.

To turn them into wearable art treasures, we rolled small balls of polymer clay, pressed them onto the tops of our treasures, imprinted with small sections of ornate stamps, poked holes or added jump rings to the tops and dusted with mica powders. We even pressed tiny jewels into some!
After baking in our oven for 20 minutes or so, I sealed them with a satin acrylic varnish.

We love them for their special meaning and the special memories each one contains. (Plus that ultra cool altered art look they have!) The kids wear their "found object treasures" with pride.




Clay - $2
Powder - $3
Found objects - free
Time well spent creating with the kids - priceless

The Biscuit Baker

I do not know which is yummier, the biscuits or her!

breakfast with boo

This morning, somewhere around 4 or 5 am, boo woke up with growing pains in both his legs. It happens frequently and I usually respond by administering pain reliever, heating up a heat pack and rubbing his back until he falls back asleep.

But we couldn't go back to sleep so we talked and snuggled. And giggled.
Until we were hungry.
He wanted to learn how to make toast, so I showed him. Telling him the most important thing was to never walk away from the toaster oven. You will burn your toast every time.

Guess what I did? And guess who reminded me and then laughed his skinny little butt off when I had to start new toast?

Then he asks for bacon, which is rare that we actually have some, so I fry some bacon for him and sit down, drooling, next to him while I eat yogurt.
We proceeded to have the most interesting conversation.

This is what I learned from my breakfast with boo.....

1.)Phalanges is spelled with ph not f.

2.)There are 27 bones in the human hand but only 26 in the human foot.

3.)The female Velvet Ant can't fly, but has a stinger. While the male Velvet Ant can fly but is not equipped with a stinger. Apparently because "Boys are smart and run away from danger." Boo's hypothesis.

4.) The okapi and the pre-historic macrauchenia (I had to look up that one) would have both had the same speed in running because their front top legs are the same muscley size.

5.) His ape (plastic) should live in our shower because it is "best suited" to a rain forest habitat.

6.) If Dad really didn't want him to jump on the bed, he wouldn't have put such a big bouncy bed in his room.

As I pick up the house later in the morning, I see next to his bed a stack of reading material;
Weird and Wild Creature cards, Zoo books, his Spore game manual, Mammoth Book of Dinosaurs vol.2 and Journey Through the Human Body.
He often reads late into the night and I am grateful he is as excited about reading as he is gaming. Neither of which I control by forcing upon him or limiting his use of. And I think he is better for it!

***BEAM***I love my boy***BEAM***

Family Requests For Art Dolls

A strange day, which started at 4 in the morning, with me getting horribly sick.
You do not want to know details.
But I am giving myself permission today to take it easy, drink lots of peppermint tea, catch up on blogs, read and feed the children microwavable food. :)

But I have a few non-people I would like to introduce:


First we have Morris. He was requested by my 8 yr old son, Rex.
I am now supposed to create a blue, wrinkled zombie as Morris was not quite horrific enough. (I really like him though AND his hands are some of the best I have ever sculpted.)

He has no story, but he leads a rather exciting life battling various creatures. His weapon of choice is the "Disemboweler" (thanks, g.g).

This is Sophie. She was created at the request of Miss. Pinkerton. We thought long and hard about what to name her, Pinky even got a piece of paper and "wrote" a list of potential names.
(It was sooooo cute!)
But she ultimately choose Sophie.
Sophie is sad because she is not allowed to dance on stage EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I Know! What kind of mother would keep a princess ballerina from dancing on stage every day.


When my mom saw I was back to creating dolls, she said she wanted one, this was so sweet, so I started her right away.
G.G had a name and a story already decided on and once the doll was done, wanted to learn how to make her own doll. This male doll would be lovers with the female doll I created for her.

So without further ado, I present Artemisa and Phillipe.
Artemisa is a poor French painter, living in a Parisian garret. She wants only to paint all day and lives on wine and bread.
Phillipe is her lover. A wealthy aristocrat, who has been cut off from his inheritance, because of his undying love for Artemisa.
Love stories like this never end well and I am fearful for the fate of our star crossed lovers.

The next series of dolls had to be set aside while I worked on wholesale orders and Christmas boutique items for a while. But I am very excited to get back to sewing the costumes.
I was able to purchase some unique vintage fabrics and I am imaging lots of full skirts, with short and long jackets, canes and little top hats!

What do you get ...

When you put together a tube of Hubba Bubba's blue raspberry sour goop candy, a new rental game for the wii and a whole afternoon of 1 on 1 attention?







A superhero mom.
Yep, that's me. The new SHM.

Some fickle things ...

Pinky's beaded bracelet. I love the mix of colors and textures, orange with red and white striped, pink and purple, green! I would have never thought to put these together. Aren't kids wonderfully inspiring? Rex even put together some earrings! I'll have to show you those, too.

I found a tutorial online for singeing silk. Then I proceeded to play with fire. heehee. I've made over 20 of them. I love the vintage look of them and so I named mine Tattered Blooms.
Perfect for a steam punk look. I've got red for Christmas, too!



I collaged this a few nights ago. She is available in my etsy shop now as an art print.
A woman with a sword. Cool.
She actually is an opera singer but I am afraid I have misplaced her name!


And finally... I was thrilled to find that some vintage silver filigree oxidized beautifully.
With the golden, gray, blue and green colors that I love from liver of sulpher, I paired them with some faceted lime Chalcedony briolettes.
I think I just might have to keep a pair of these.

Can you believe it's the middle of August already? Are you getting ready for back to school?
Rex has decided to be home schooled again, I can focus a little better now that business is not so extreme and have decided to try again (I am preparing ahead of time for a busy Christmas season).
But Pinky is missing her school so much I am hoping we are able to enroll her in her K4 class she was looking forward to attending. Until then I will have to put my nose to the grindstone to come up with learning activities that will keep her occupied and stimulated.
I like this site.
And this book.
Those should help until October at least.

My kiddos

When I am trying to complete a large order the kids either occupy themselves or join me.
These are the results of Rex's polymer pendants;



He's asking $25 a piece for them. heehee.

Pinky is my new beading buddy. She asks "Wanna bead?" and has her own special container of (mostly pink) beads. I'll take some close-ups of what she has created so far, too cute.
I created this lay out for her;



Mike and I watched 'Lars and the Real Girl' last night. Funny and sweet, I really liked it. It was thought provoking. And I could relate to Lars.

Summer Stuff

Mike took the kids and their cousin Katie to Grandma Dee's over 4th of July weekend.
They had a wonderful time, boating, swimming and watching fireworks.
It was very quite here, I spent most of my time creating but I do not have photos to show just yet.
Here is a closer shot of Grandma Dee. The kiddos adore her and are talking excitedly of their next visit!

She is one of those blessed women that become more beautiful as time passes.
Here is Rex under water, a huge milestone...

And another of Miss. Pinky on the boat....

Then they came home and we had the combined birthday party. Friends out of town, work schedules, etc kept us from scheduling the party earlier so we planned it for the 6th at Monkey Joe's, a huge bouncy fun place.
I could not for the life of me get a good photo...
But they had a blast.
Then to the park after wards, for cake and presents.
Fun was had by all!

We have watched movies like Zathura, Stuart Little, Annie, High School Musical, Veggie Tales, Pokeman, Barbie Nutcracker Suite, Madagascar and have read fantastic books like The Tale of Desperaux, Ruby Valentine, Hunwicks Egg, Insect Soup, Spanish Shapes, When I was Five, and Twoo Twit.

We have built Lego habitats, put on Barbie plays, enacted a paper doll beach scene, conducted music, shot out parachutes from Rex's rocket fishing pole (doesn't work for fishing but it sure does shoot things far up in the air!), built Hogwort's castle from Klutz's building cards, watched a puppet show, a magic show and Pinky has given herself a haircut.

We also visited Missouri Botanical Garden's for the free night with free admission into the children's play park and music. There was a fantastic mosaic artist called Niki.

It was extremely hot and I had injured my foot a few days before that started to hurt again after 3 hours of walking, but I would love to go back , my sister met us down there with her sweeties and our G.G. and Poppy came, it was a wonderful family time.

They have fountains the kids can play in!Right after this photo, Pinky pulled her pants down and mooned us. When we asked her why she said "I wanted a picture of my butt and I wanted to feel the water there." Oy ve!

Well, I have actual orders to pull and pack all because the lovely Steph Gibson included me in one of her glorious treasuries that made it to the front page!!!

Happy Birthday, Boo/Rex!

Okay, Boo/Rex. My gamer, animal lover, explorer, engineer, archer, fisherman, swimmer.
How does it feel to be 8?

From last year;
His favorite color - orange
His favorite food - fried chicken legs
His favorite drink - sierra mist
His favorite movie - any Star Wars
His favorite song - Gospel Boogie by T-Bone
His favorite thing to do - new computer games
His favorite place to be - home (I'm serious. He NEVER wants to leave.)
His favorite person - his Dad


And this year;
His favorite color - orange
His favorite food - pizza
His favorite drink - root beer floats
His favorite movie - Star Wars 3 - Revenge of the Sith (he is a huge General Grevous fan)
His favorite song - I'll need to find this out and get back to you.
His favorite thing to do - create Spore creatures
His favorite place to be - home
His favorite person - his Dad


Doesn't he look natural? He is now interested in archery. And shooting. Any weapons in general come to think of it.

This makes me queasy inside but I refuse to make a big deal about it. Thinking along the lines of... if I make it forbidden, he will still be interested but he will keep it a secret and try to find out about shooting behind my back. This is speculation on my part because he is a completely honest person, I am perhaps thinking of the future when he is not always under my watchful eye, ie....
"Hi sweetie, where'd you go today?"
" Oh, just a friends house"
" What did you do?"
"Hung out in his woods behind his house"
"Cool, I'll bet the woods are pretty this time of year "

While in reality they have found his dad's gun, figured out how to undo the safety and are going to call some friends and shoot cans off each others heads.

My plan is to give the facts.
How people each year have died from gunshot wounds, where the lack of knowledge is and the correct way to go about learning how to shoot properly.
Pray with every fiber in my being that he gets bored and moves onto a new and safer interest.
(breathe, G.G. just breathe.)

He recently won the City of Warrenton Kid's Fishing Derby 2008 for total weight of fish caught.
He received a plaque and a ribbon and a feature in the local newspaper!

But the best thing was the way his Big Pappa's chest almost split in 2 from pride.
Mike is an avid fishermen and he has been struggling to find common ground with Rex, outside of gaming, that the both of them could enjoy doing together.


This photo above is one I caught after finding out Pinky has been sneaking into his room in the middle of the night and snuggling up with her big brother. Look at how he grabbed her star pillowy!
When she is mad at us she goes to her Boo, often telling us that "Boo is going to take care of her and put her to bed" . Would you believe he does? He even remembers to have her brush her teeth and reads her a story!




When I think about your future I am so overwhelmed with hope, I begin crying. There is so much potential in you. Potential to change the world with your words and actions.
I strongly feel the need to stand aside and keep out of the way of what is happening in your life.
Always there to comfort and encourage but keep my own flaws away from your fresh thinking.
You are intense, passionate, caring, brilliant and strong. You instinctively seem to know right from wrong and you hold me to this standard. I am so grateful for your presence in my life and the huge, tremendous blessing I have been given to be your Mom.
Please God, don't let me screw it up.

Happy Birthday, Pinkerton!

She's 4 today!
She is the most loving, talented sweetheart I have ever known.
I think what most amazes me about her is her ability to just jump right in to anything going on around her. She is usually quite fearless, opinionated, and such a risk taker!


This is from last year;
Her favorite color - still pink.
Her favorite food - cookies
Her favorite drink - vanilla soy milk
Her favorite movie - Baby Einsteins Baby Bach
Her favorite song - Night Time is the Right Time by Ray Charles (otherwise known as "the trumpet song")
Her favorite thing to do - sing and dance to music
Her favorite place to be - outside
Her favorite person - her G.G. (Grammy)

And this year;
Her favorite color - It is now... colors - pink still dominating but red, orange, silver and gold are also colors worthy of her respect.
Her favorite food - cake
Her favorite drink - crystal light's strawberry banana juice
Her favorite movie - High School Musical 2
Her favorite song - "Fabulous" by Sharpa
Her favorite thing to do - sing and dance to music
Her favorite place to be - outside
Her favorite person - her G.G. (Grammy) "her girl friend who can drive"

Some things stay the same and some things will never be the same. My little free bird. We are such different people, I am at a loss sometimes as how to communicate with you. You seem to prefer your dad when it comes to activities and having fun. But when you are sick, you literally attach yourself to me. That makes sense, you are so much like your father; bold, stubborn, physical, social, busy! You constantly need activities to keep you from being bored and you have to be around people all the time. It must drive you crazy, being stuck in the house with 2 introverts. While things are stressful right now, I believe it will get better.

Blue skies, talkin bout blue skies

I have been spending some time here... google earth
I travel the coasts all over the world looking for a good place to settle down.
Pinky asks daily when we are going to the beach. I feel the same way. I do not want to hear booming bass, but ocean waves. I want my children to run and run as far and long as they can before something stops them. I want to live off the grid and collect rain water, completely sustainable.
Eat from my husbands grill, wash vegetables from our garden, make jewelry and art from sea treasures washed ashore.
Maybe volunteer to teach kids how to make their own artist trading cards?
Watch my kids grow and learn in tune with the earth, not focused on material things and career success.


Anyway...
I also spend time here... sandradodd.com
I just go down the list on the left side, feeling better after I read, able to apply what I've learned to my parenting. It's okay to not do things like everybody else. To pay attention to how my own unique family has different needs and adjust accordingly.


New Work!
I have actually had the pieces created and set aside for a long time, but I didn't want to list something that resembled another's work. But now, I think it's different enough to be my own.
I feel something has freed inside me, I can create what I what, when I want.

To the Zoo!

We visited the St. Louis Zoo yesterday with some family. A most glorious day, with a slight breeze and sunny skies. It was nice to be outside after suffering several days of storms (tornado warnings on Sun. and Mon. ) Our front yard floods with each rain and then even though it is nice the next day, the yard is still a swamp and not very much fun to run around in.
Some day soon we will have a yard, perhaps on a beach in Belize?
We could move down there and camp in a tent until we get green cards to work and find a shack to set up home in. What? It could work, I know it could.
I think we would be labeled expats, ex patriots.
Yikes, I don't like that. I love America even for all it's flawed history. I just can't afford to buy beach front property here.
Okay, I've gone off on a tangent. But I will have more to talk about tomorrow, or next week.