To say that I had a very busy three months would be an understatement, but it’s still no excuse not to have posted to this blog during that time. I am not sure how I am going to bring all of you up to date on what’s been happening in my life and with my art, but I will endeavor to do just that in the following narrative.
October was a blur. Four weeks of the Colour Me Positive Journal and Halloween pretty much dominated the month. Halloween is one of my very most favorite holidays and I start to decorate the house on October 1 and it takes me two to three days. I have friends come over and every year my goal is to put things in different places so that they cannot find the few new or handmade 2017 decorations. It’s become a challenge for a few of them, but this year I managed to keep them guessing. After they’ve seen everything, we go to dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants, Palumbo’s, in Temecula. Whenever I suggest we might try a different place, they all insist that Palumbo’s is our place and we’d hate to break tradition.
It was challenging to keep up with the Colour Me Positive Art Journal pages, but managed to finish them all not necessarily on time. You’ll note that the fourth in the series has four weeks including November journal quotes. Also created a house for the ReMe Retreat I was supposed attend in October, but was unable to due to unforeseen circumstances.
Other art created in October included a few of my houses and a new mixed media style. I also had fun creating a one-of-a-kind Halloween cake with my oldest granddaughter. We did our first one when she was much younger and I wish I had a picture of that one to compare. She is definitely a skilled cake designer.
November was very busy and included an incredible trip to Healdsburg for an annual girlfriends trip. We have been friends since the 80’s and all worked together at the Wallar Group. We have stayed friends and when possible we have an annual Christmas get-together at someone’s house. This year we decided to do a destination get-together in the Wine Country where one of girls lives. Lots of laughter, music, food, wine and, of course, shopping was included. Here are some memories from the trip. We also took a brief trip through the Santa Rosa are so horribly affected by the wildfires. I cannot express the sadness and empathy we felt and we did all we could to support the businesses in the area that had employees, owners and neighbors that were impacted.
A week after I returned from this trip, a girlfriend arrived from Dallas for the Thanksgiving week. Wine tasting and shopping in Temecula, movies, and a delicious Thanksgiving dinner cooked by my oldest granddaughter (again) – two turkeys, two ,types of dressing, sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes (made by yours truly), two types of cranberry sauce, and four desserts. We ate outside since it was a very hot 93 degrees in Temecula that day.
Very little are was done in November, but I did manage to create a few Christmas pieces and gifts.
Then came December. “How did we get here so quickly,” I asked myself. December was busy with family events, art, decorating, cookie baking, and, of course, a Christmas cake with both of my granddaughters. Here is a glimpse into my December activities.
Other notables over the last few months were a custom order from my Etsy shop. No one was more surprised than me when I got a request to customized one of my houses from a gentleman in New York. How he found me on Etsy I have no idea, but he wanted me to customize a house for a friend in Pittsburgh. I was thrilled to be asked and had a blast creating this one-of-a-kind for him. And, I finally finished my first piece for Jodi Ohl’s online Zen Houses course. Jodi is an incredible teacher. I am now enrolled in two online classes that include her teaching a segment – Creative Jumpstart, and Wanderlust. Very excited about these two classes. Creative Jumpstart is a month-long course and Wanderlust lasts all year.
MyMixedUpART 