Getting a Start to the New Year 2016

The second week of Christmas Vacation allowed us some actual clean up time and rest...a chance to catch up from the craziness of being sick the entire week of Christmas, a birthday, and of course all the preparation work (left to the last minute) for Christmas.  Christmas Eve and Christmas day were very nice and it was good to take a week off to just recover.  


The girls and I went to a friend's house on a cold and clear morning and we made fairy dolls (these are so much fun to make, we use pipe cleaners and a wooden bead and wrap the pipe cleaners in yarn and then made clothing, wings, etc..) .  Our friend's have a lovely view as we drive up into the hills surrounding our little town.  

Winter Landscape



I made several pairs of fingerless mitts and some boot cuffs in the weeks proceeding both commissioned work and to get some things into the White Oak for those last minute Christmas shoppers.  I was so excited to make enough this month at the White Oak to buy a big set of Sennilier Oil Pastels (which is one of two top artist brands, Picasso's favorite, but too spendy to invest in right away).  I will now have twice as many colors to work with.  I can't wait for it to come in the mail!

I was able to take a couple of days for still life drawing and felting this week and it was nice to switch gears and do something a little different with my crafty time. 

Backgrounds are what I seem to struggle with the most.  I also need to loosen up as I want to make more impressionistic representations...which is my favorite type of art.  I have been pinning on Pinterest tons of inspiration - Monet, Matisse, Van Gogh, and I found some new artists that I really like...I would love a Gabriele Munter print (a German expressionist painter from the early 1900's)


I used this still life as a felted project and an oil pastel drawing: 


Before felting

And, after  
I need to machine stitch in the detail work.

Oil pastel 

Sunday, we woke up to a smidge of snow on the ground and we headed out to church but the freezing rain made the roads so slippery that we decided to head back home in case they got worse.  Monday, school was canceled because of icy roads so Phil ran some errands (just in town) and took the children to the classroom while I did homeschooling planning.

I snuck out for a Goodwill trip and to go to the produce store.  This was the wintery view around 11:00 in the morning.  

Laundry, laundry, lots of laundry!  I don't do laundry during really cold spells because once we had water freeze in the pipes and it caused a flood...so just when the temperatures warmed up and I thought I had caught up on all the laundry - washing bedding, extra towels and such from being sick....we were struck with ANOTHER round of the stomach flu.  

SERIOUSLY?  We were sick for 10 days, had a week off, and now have throwing up children again??  Sawyer and Evi were both up all night on Monday/Tuesday with terrible vomiting.  Phil took the day off (well, he worked from home) on Tuesday and helped with sick children, clean up, and we took a rest day.  He took Wednesday off as well...letting everyone sleep in, rest, and ease into our school routine (and I took some much needed time out of the house!).  By Thursday evening, we thought we were in the clear and took the children to see the new Star Wars movie.  Jubilee was feeling poorly about half way through the movie.  I assumed that it was motion sickness from the movement and lights on the screen (this is also the child that gets car sick very easily) but she threw up twice after we got home and is currently resting on the bathroom floor, feeling terrible.  Not sure what the weekend will bring....

On a little side note, I was Sawyer's age when I went with my parents to the theatre and saw Return of the Jedi.  How odd to see the same actors/actresses some 30 years later up on the big screen, this time around with my own family.  



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Boots

Image
Last week, was snowy and cold cold cold, then rainy.  I continued to work on getting the yard cleaned up.  I dug out the ponds and refilled the holes with dirt.  I loaded up rocks, pavers, and bricks.  I cleaned out the water features.  I collected the strawberry runners so I would have starts to plant.  I unloaded 2 loads of bark dust.  The children were a tremendous help.  They loaded an entire trailer of firewood all by themselves and then helped with another load of rocks and bricks.  I am amazed at how much there is to load and fix just in the yard alone.  It is a lot of work for the simple concept of "curb" appeal.   Waiting for the snow to melt so I can put down the bark dust. Even with two pairs of socks, my feet were freezing so I broke down and bought a pair of Muck Boots.  The funny thing is, 2 years ago, I really wanted to have a new pair of winter boots but I just couldn't justify paying so much money just to have ...
Read more

Then Came Dense Fog and the Thunderstorm

Image
Sunday, I woke up to a dense fog and smoke cover combination.  I think this is probably the densest fog I have ever been in. Before the sun came up, it was white.  Once it got lighter outside the smoke color showed through. On the porch, looking toward the swimming pool (North) but unable to see it or the goat barn or the walnut trees. On the porch, looking toward the barn, only able to see the garden before the parking area. Outside the window looking at the tree block, barely 30 feet away. I am not sure how I let Phil talk me into (trying) going to the store...but the fog was supposed to lift by 11:00 and we were scheduled to gather at the Rawie's for church and I needed ingredients to put together something for the potluck.  (We ended up having to cancel our homechurch.) Our mailbox, we couldn't see any cars, so we had to roll down the windows and listen.  I was already terrified at this point and didn't want to continue. After having to slam on his brakes multipl...
Read more

More Hats

Image
The Etsy shop is still a work in progress and unfortunately the name Over the Top is already taken.  I have been tossing around the names Tip Top and Whimsy.  I managed to get 7 hats made during the month of November.  I have a couple that I can put on Etsy when we are ready to list them and several Christmas hats made for the children.  I have been timing how long it takes me to make a hat and I am surprised (and not in a good way LOL) at the number of hours I spend.  A baby hat takes over 5-6 hours, a child's hat takes about 7-8 hours, and an adult hat 10 plus hours.  It takes even longer if I decide to tear out the stitching because it isn't looking the way I had imagined.  The more yarn variety I use, the longer it takes me to weave in the ends.  I usually spend over an hour just with a tapestry needle making all the ends secure.  Minimum wage plus materials puts the hats in the 50-80 dollar range.  Yikes!  I would never pay th...
Read more