the "other" Mrs. Gentry

My childhood was surrounded by a lot of really good people. Mrs. Bundy was my art teacher from Kindergarten to 8th grade. I took 4H starting in the 3rd grade and the "other" Mrs. Gentry was my craft leader.

Alice Gentry. She was wonderful! She had kilns! She taught us how to paint ceramics. I picked a square box with roses on the lid and I painted it turquoise. I was fascinated with the whole process...yet absolutely scared to death of the kilns!!! I thought for sure I was going to fall inside one and I was going to burn "in hell" forever!

OK....just tie a little of the preacher's Sunday morning sermon into my vivid imagination and take it from there!!!

Now, Karla is not my only childhood chum that I love to go visit when I go "home". Alice Gentry's daughter, Nola, was in my class from K - 8. This is her way back then:


and this is me....
Again, I don't think either one of us has changed much at all!!!

And this is Gregg Byers on the left. We got together at the little community center and spent a few hours just having the best time ever talking about our childhood days. Of course, the school has been town down.....

but I swear, when I'm with my friends...I can still see us running up the stairs, down the halls, out to play ball, into the gym, up on the stage, in our band uniforms......

isn't memory just a wonderful thing?

I am so blessed to have so many friends from my childhood still a huge part of my life today. And even though we live a thousand miles apart, with skype, facebook, blogging and the internet....it seems like all of them are just down the hall from me!

And while Nola's mom, the "other" Mrs. Gentry, has been gone for awhile.....I can still see all the wonderful painted ceramics that would come out of her kilns when we were kids. I think it's just amazing that I'm now taking classes in glass slumping and fusing, working with dichroic glass and firing metal clay in a kiln. I know that she would love it all!

So "thank you" to Mrs Alice Gentry and Mrs Mildred Gentry - for everything you taught me as a child. And thank you for your daughter and your daughter-in-law.....that 40 some years later we are all still great friends!!!

These are a few of my favorite things.....

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad.....

I simply remember

my favorite things...

and then I don't feel so bad!!!!

OK, now that you have that little song going around in your head for the rest of the day.....here are a few of my favorite things that you are going to need for 8 Nights of Lights....starting in just 4 days!

And no....I'm not ready at all!!!  LOL!!! 

First up - Opals And I'm giving you the links so you can order all of these products. You might not get them in time for the first night....but you will have them fast!!!

So, yes, you can use UTEE - but it's not the same. Opals are more pearlized (i.e. think Australian opals - the gemstone). And my fav colors are Wild Hibiscus (hot pink), Alpine Heath (mint green) and Macquarie (turquoise) with Franklin (clear) and Abalone (pearl).



Black hot glue sticks

Fantasy Film My fav shades are Aurora, Watermelon, and Satin. But then I really love them all!!!




Snowflake stamps (oh! I hope these links work!!!)

A hot glue gun - I like Aileen or Black & Decker best. And transparent (transluscent) glue sticks. Hot or cool, doesn't matter.

A Milwaukee heat tool - or something that really heats fast. Or you can use a Ranger heat it tool - and just take your time! LOL!

A Melting Pot, non-stick craft sheet, alcohol inks, distress inks......

Radiant Rain Daubers

time.

Yes - time to play. Time to be creative. Time to make fun things!!! And of course, I will be telling you how to substitute product where I can. Like you can use your double broiler from the kitchen instead of a melting pot. It just takes a lot longer. But then, one of my favorite things is "time"!!!

How did time pass so fast? This was Christmas c 1963 - all 5 of us kids and 3 cousins.

Sharing templates and more

Do you use templates? Do you design your own? Do you copy others?

I have a favorite website for templates:

Mirkwood Designs

Do you share your links with others? Our Colorado Chapter of the Art Clay Society's next meeting is going to be on just that topic - sharing sources. It will include shopping tips, website links, any where we get whatever we use in our metal clay art.

So, do you like ephemera? I have to admit that I don't like all of it - I'm partial to vintage dolls, children, christening gowns....but I totally love Artful Mama's Ephemera

I have an old catalog like that, I should scan it in! OK, add that to my "to-do" list! LOL!

Sometimes, I just like the name of a website, but The Crafty Cow has really fun videos as well! Check them out!!! It's called "Live Moovision"!!

Maybe if I do videos I should call them Goo-vision after Lucy McGoo? :o)

Another website that is just full of freebies, hints, tips, etc., is Red Castle.

These are just a few of my favorite things. Hmm....that reminds me of a song.......

Are we there yet?

Did you see the movie? I have to ask - do you miss me yet? LOL!!! How fun to be posting live and in person without being present at all! Oh! I so wish I would have had time to get some video tutorials done before I left. And that got me to thinking - do you make long "to-do" lists and do you ever get to them?

And do you share your goals with others?

And what type of goals do you have for yourself?

Mom always said you need to have a goal.

My list is so long right now, and I thought I'd post some of it here so you can help me stay on task in the months to come!!!

1. Design new stamps for my Lucy McGoo line
2. Finish my Senior Certification with Art Clay Silver
3. Video tutorials (yes, it's down the list a little!)
4. Convert R. H. Mount cassette tapes to CD (yes, I have goals that are not art related!)
5. Walk 3 miles a day (and there are on-going goals)
6. List stuff on ebay to sell (and there are never-ending goals!)
7. Set up an online store
8. Repair the gardens (they got neglected this year!)

And I "thought" I retired! LOLOL!!!

Now, keep in mind that I have a "to-do" list for each of the goals above. I take a goal and break it down into a series of steps that I can work on a little bit at a time. For instance:

Goal: Design new stamps for my Lucy McGoo line

To-do:
1. Learn Illustrator (software)
2. Learn more of Photoshop (software)
3. Sketch ideas and scan into computer, then edit
4. Group images and sentiments by topics
5. Create sheets based on themes

And then each of those "to-do" lists get broken down into simpler tasks that I can accomplish in a few spare minutes here and there.

All of the above comes from the left side of my brain. The MBA. The manager. It comes from 33 years of working in offices, managing people and paper.

And it all goes out the window the very instant that I sit down and start to play!

:o)

The customer is always right!

One of the key components of every lecture I attended during graduate school was the concept that the customer is always right.

One of the key arguments I proposed to each professor in every class during graduate school was "who says the customer is always right?"

One of life's lessons that I have learned and have used is that truly, the customer is always right. Even when you think they are wrong. And it is so true, it takes 60 minutes to gain a customer and 60 seconds to lose them.

I'm not sure why there are those in the creative industry who think this is any different in this industry, but there are! If I teach a class and I have an unhappy student, the first thing I will do is offer them a refund, or a free product kit, or a private tutoring session. I try to determine why they are unhappy, but only after I have offered a full refund. Keep in mind, a customer is quite different from a peer, a fellow instructor, a designer who feels they have to compete with me. A customer is someone who has paid to attend a class with me, or purchased a product from me.

As a customer, I can probably aid in ruining a business just about as fast as anyone else can. I can be true blue and loyal until I come upon a faulty product. I will email, call or write and explain my disatisfaction with the product. I will even give a company 3 strikes as in my recent purchase of new kitchen appliances. But after 3 strikes, they are sort of "out".

I happen to teach a lot in the crafts industry. And I just make an assumption that there are going to be students who do not like my teaching style, are not happy with the final project, think it was too complex or too easy.....and I go prepared to make refunds or give something to these students. I respect their right to disagree with my teaching styles and the projects I present to them. They are my customers and they are "right".

We were also taught in graduate school about the concept of personal space. That the 3 feet immediately surrounding you is your personal space and should not be invaded without an invitation. I used to laugh as that was about the time my "hugging " ex-mother-in-law would always walk into my personal space, uninvited, to give me a hug. OK, so she never learned about personal space and nowadays I love her for just that reason! But there is a rule in life that you do not reach out to touch another person in any way unless you are somehow invited to do so. Don't you just hate it when a sales clerk in a department store touches your elbow to get you to look at a different bra? I want to reach out an hit her! LOL!

Of course, you do not need to go to graduate school to learn these simple lessons in life. I did! I'm a pretty slow learner, but once I learn something, it ususally sticks with me. I have also learned that if I violate these simple truths, if I accuse my customer of being wrong, or if I violate their personal space, then I deserve whatever I get from them. For the most part, I happen to think that my customers are right. I love their feedback, their input, even their negative comments. It helps me grow as an artist and as an instructor. It's always a great learning curve for me. But I hope I never quit learning!

The CEO is naked!

The Emperor's new clothes was a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. It went like this:

An emperor who cares too much about clothes hires two swindlers who promise him the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The Emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime. The Emperor then goes on a procession through the capital show off his new "clothes". During the course of the procession, a small child cries out, "But he has nothing on!" The crowd realizes the child is telling the truth and begins laughing. The Emperor, however, holds his head high and continues the procession.



It would go like this in todays world:

The CEO who cares too much about his product hires staff who promise him the finest products anywhere. These products, they tell the CEO, are only "bad" or "defective" to anyone who is either stupid, or unfit to be considered a valid human being. The CEO cannot see the "bad" in his products because if he does, then he would be "stupid"...his staff does the same. When the staff reports that the products are done, the CEO proudly displays them at a trade show, a convention, a grande meeting of some type. Showing off his products, someone cries out "it broke!" or "it just doesn't work!". The crowd realizes the person is telling the truth and starts to laugh. The CEO, however, holds his head high and continues to make the same product the very same way. After all, anyone who thinks it is "bad" or "defective" is just plain stupid.

I have worked 33 years in the business world. I have an MBA. I am retired. And now I just play. But I see this scenario over and over and over. My first experience with this was in the late 1980s when I was employed at the then Martin Marietta corporation. The CEO surrounded himself with 10 layers of VPs and managers who all praised him. Not one person ever mentioned a problem....while the little worker bees on the front lines buzzed day in and day out about all the problems and how the company was going to go under. Well, they didn't go under, but they were bought out and are known today as Lockheed Martin. CEOs just do not realize they are "naked" because no one tells them!

CEOs in the craft arena are absolutely no different. They surround themselves with design teams and staff members who tell them they are wonderful and that their product is the best thing on the market. They get told over and over that anyone who does not like their product, or who finds something wrong with it, either doesn't know how to use it, isn't using it right, or is just not an "artist" or "designer". They create online groups to market their product, refusing to allow negative comments within those groups, because again, anyone with a problem...has the problem because of them, not because of the product!

I don't think there is really a "bad" product out there in the craft world. But not every product is for every person. And there are defective products. Things break. There are bad designs. There is faulty manufacturing. What I see are very few CEOs who will admit it and say, "yes, I know, we have a problem with that product and we are working to correct it." How can they when they are being told by everyone around them that the product is all good!

Only when a CEO walks past the layers of management, employees, design team members and ardent fans and goes out into the real world and asks their customers how to IMPROVE what they make...only then will they put on clothes that we all can see!

B Line Designs

They have a new website design and you really need to go take a look around!

Yep, I'm on an "enabling" kick!!!

They've started a blog!

And you can download ALL of their catalogs (YEAH!)

Shall I just say "Happy shopping!!!!!"???

And do you think the enabling will end here???

I've been enabling ever since I was a little girl - in one way or another!

Jen-isms

You wouldn't like me as President! You'd never vote for me. But I thought it would be quite fun to list some of my own "isms"!

You will think Palinisms are great after reading Jenisms! LOL!!! But there are days in my life when I wake up and just scratch my head and wonder what the rest of the world is thinking.....



1. Who gave you a gift certificate on the day you were born that guaranteed you an easy life? NO ONE! So why do you expect it?

2. We were not all CREATED equal! My son who was born with a seizure disorder was not created equal to my son who was born with asthma. And neither one of them were created equally to any other healthy child. My son with the seizure disorder should NOT be given equal opportunities. No one in their right mind should hire him to climb up on a roof top and clean chimneys! DUH! People who write rules for our government and judges who regulate them just do not think!

3. Every moment in life is a choice. You choose every single moment. Live with the outcome of the choices you make. After all, you made the choice. If you buy a car (new or used) and then complain you can't afford health insurance - that was a choice you made. Live with it. Don't expect anyone to give you a car and health insurance. Make smart choices.

4. Taxes and death. Two things that have been around forever. Tax everyone (personal, business, religious, non-profits) at a flat 10% of gross receipts. No write-offs. No deductions. Fair. Equitable. The rich would be taxed equally to the poor. Corporations could not use 5-star resorts as a tax write-off. Think of the income to the government if those huge mega churches had to pay 10% of their gross receipts back to the government!

5. Buy now, pay now. Give credit to those who deserve it. Return to the 25% rule. You can get credit up to 25% of your net income. You can buy a house that is only 4 times your annual salary. That means if you earn $25K per year, you can qualify for a house worth $100K. With a 25% deposit. Think about it. How much credit would you have been offered with those rules? Would you have your current debt had these rules been followed? Would your home be worth less than what you owe on it?

6. Speak my language. It is a requirement to learn and understand English in order to become a citizen of this country. If you do not want to become a citizen, then leave. If you do not want to learn to speak, read, write, understand and communicate in English, leave. It is a choice.

7. Understand languages. The Bible really says that a tithe is a tax. But a gift is what you have in excess. Give gifts to those who are in need. If you were taxed at 10%, that leaves you 90%. 25% for credit (house payment, etc.) that should leave you with plenty of your income to live on and plenty to give to those in need. The Bible also says, "I will bless them that bless thee." Understand that the Bible is a book written by Jews, about Jews, for Jews. Understand Hebrew and Greek, not King James's English. Remember, James would have you beheaded if you didn't write what he wanted to read!!! God said He will bless those that bless the Jews. If you want to be blessed, send your gifts to Israel, not your local church. Give it a year and see what your return is. You might be surprised!

7. Eliminate entitlements. Who said you were entitled to anything? Save at least 10% of your gross income your entire life. Self-insure yourself for health and life. They did it 200 years ago. Let's do it again. Once again, go back up and reread "choices". If you buy your child the latest video game equipment rather than putting the money aside in savings, do not expect the government to fund your retirement or operation because of the "bad" choices you made.

8. Ban insurance. I once met a guy who started a life insurance company. He quickly sold millions of policies. I asked him how he expected to pay them off when the policy owners started to die off in 50 or so years. He said it wasn't his problem, he was going to sell the company long before that. As consumers, we have made a choice to invest in insurance companies: life, health, car, disability.....and there is no way any of them can pay off 100% of their future promises.

9. The new workplace is home. Eliminate offices and commuter traffic by allowing everyone to work from home. My neighbor is a vet and I can take my pets to him as easily as I can get in the car and drive down the street to his office. Zoning prohibits him from working at home. My husband works from home, but his company still maintains an office for him in a building. Who pays for that? You! The consumer who buys their products. The consumer is the only person who ends up paying for all those things that a company does besides make the product you buy. If you don't understand that premise, email me!

10. Put God first. In schools, in jobs, in life. If we enforced the 10 commandments, how much regulation would we need? Would there even be prisons? Follow Biblical rules:
a. An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth. If you get in a car blind drunk and hit me head on in my car, and my arm is cut off, then I get to cut off your arm in a nationally televised reality show. After 4 or 5 shows, would you drive drunk?
b. If you steal from me you work for me for free for SEVEN years. I'll bet no one would have to lock their doors or own a safe!
c. Israel is irrigating the desert, building greenhouses, growing food for a future world. Why are we not doing the same thing here? What are we doing for future generations?

So, like I said, you most likely would never vote for me, and are probably upset by some of my ideas. But take a moment and consider that 200 years ago, this nation did not have welfare, social security, a stock market, health and life insurance, prisons that were better than most of our private residences, unemployment.....only in the past 200 years have we brought ourselvs to this point and at least I have an idea of what I would do to reverse all this. Do you?

.....and now, I will get down off my "stump".......




LOLOL!!!!!

Mom always said....

"if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all!" Pretty good advice! I don't mind people linking to my blog to show others what I'm doing. But I think it's hilarious when they start making comments on their "private" websites and forums about my work. In reference to my recent blog on decorating my bins:

"she must have lots of free time"

Well, yes I do! I worked for 33 years and I retired in 2002 and all I have now is "free" time! It's absolutely wonderful!!!

"less time making it pretty and more time scrappin!"

I really want to ask that writer - have you scrapped enough to have been published 121 times? LOLOL!!! I personally think maybe I scrap too much!

"waste of time and pretty paper"

Well, it took me 2 hours to cut the paper and drop it in the drawers. Yes, I waste a lot of time - watching 2 hour movies, watching old reruns of the Golden Girls and Designing Women on TV. I'm retired! I'm allowed to "waste" time!

Waste of pretty paper? Well, in my opinion, I guess I could have painted the walls or painted the drawers and "wasted" paint on decorating, but I opted to use a gorgeous line of paper that inspires me when I look at it! And I bought it at wholesale prices, so it didn't cost me what a gallon of paint would cost! OK, the last gallon of paint I bought cost $32.00!! Maybe that's why I opted for paper this time!!!

People make such fun assumptions about someone else's life!

Blog software allows me to determine where hits come from. When I get a notice that is it an "uncommon use" I often go check out where the hits are coming from. That's how I see what you are writing about me!

We all spend an incredible amount of our day reading blogs, reading posts in yahoo groups and writing comments in forums.

I spent 2 hours decorating my studio! Hmmm....I think I'd better not say another word - mom might give me more advice! LOL!

And the teacher goes to class!

Oh! I just love it when I find a class that I want to take! So when I saw this copper covered journal - I knew I had to take the class!

Timeless Creations and scoll down to the bottom class. Want to take it with us? Sherri, Kathleen, Susan, Deborah - it's almost already full! We're taking the Thursday class.

And to show you how my brain works.....I immediately wondered if I could somehow use embossed diecuts in the etching process! LOL!

Now, for a little enabling, just go over to the left and start exploring their online store. You will quickly learn why this is one of my favorite places to shop when I run up to Ft Collins - just an hour north from here!

Yes, I know, it's called ENABLING! Well, it all started when I was a little girl and the ice cream truck drove miles through the country and ended up at our house on a hot summer afternoon!

Imagine the difference!

Imagination is more important than knowledge. But sometimes, what we know is just plain funny.



Look at that chubby little me on the left in the lower photo! I am soooooo dark!!! If I didn't KNOW that we were sisters, I'd never imagine we were even related! And it's not a fluke of the camera because mom got 2 photos that day. I am really, really (ok, REALLY) dark when I get out in the sun. And I have the curliest hair ever! And she is just so white - we tell her not to show her legs even today - we need sunglasses to look at them! LOL!!!

KNOWLEDGE:
I'm dark, she's fair
I'm brunette, she's blonde
My hair is curly, hers i straighter
We were born to the same parents
Grew up on the same farm
We are only 1 year apart in age

IMAGINE
the life we've shared together
for over 55 years!!!

And you should also know that when I started looking at the photo on the top, I thought those were dish towels hanging on the line to dry. Grandma Myrtle was a school cook. Imagine my surprise when I realized those are all DIAPERS! Because at this age, Elaine was a newborn, so mom had 3 little girls all in diapers.

IMAGINE washing that many diapers! Hanging them on the line to dry. Changing that many diapers! I was a little over 2, Colleen was just over 1 and Elaine a newborn. c 1954.

Imagine a hot summer afternoon in the Indiana humidity, 3 babies, mom and dad lived with her mom in the old farm house....mom's brother, Reese, was still at home, probably in high school about then, dad worked and farmed. One bathroom for everyone to share. I think mom & dad and all 3 of us girls all had 1 bedroom to share.

Imagine my shock when I learned as an adult that we were poor as kids! I had no clue. I thought life was pretty wonderful!

So, this was the opening for our retreat last weekend - a layout showing how different 2 women can be, from birth til now - but showing the imagination and wonder of what we can do when we get together as a group of artists!

And 40 years ago.....

Back in 68!! Oh what a year that was! Life was everything I dreamed it would be!!! Sweet 16, first kiss, first love, first heartbreak!!! What a very special time for me!!! Sharing secrets with my sisters, sock hops and band practice. We took the telephone inside the parlor closet when we were talking with our boyfriends. We thought no one could hear us that way!!! Our closet still had games and books, but now I added empty candy boxes, dried corsages, vacation souvenirs, newspaper clippings, pep rally banners, photos of slumber parties. I kept my diary locked up tight just so my sisters would never know what that first kiss was like for me!!!

Awhile back, I started to share my album "The Closets of my Life". It's an album that picks a year each decade and tells a story as you weave through the "book". I shared 1958. Today, I'll add 1968.

You know, your closet is where you put your shoebox filled with momentos, and where you hide your secrets. Loads of things from our past gets tucked away so I did the same thing with these pages. On the left, the title is "Unfolding our teenage years with these memories of mine". I put the round circles (playing tiles) over the f, h, and s. I graduated from Frankton High School...FHS. I took a page from my yearbook with all the autographs on it and used that as the mat for the photo frame. Don't you remember those straight a-line shifts? I think they are back in style now....40 years later!




The closet is based on my Great Aunt Muriel's wood wardrobe. A "closet" that I used to have in my house. The doors opened and then there were drawers inside on one side and you could hang clothes on the other side. I did the entire album using Chatterbox papers....this was made in 2003, one of my very first scrapbook projects.





So you open it up and there on both sides are the pockets....filled with memories and collectibles from my past. On the top, center flap is a photo of the 4 Moore girls with dad, our brother and both of our grandmother's. Mom must have been behind the camera.



And then you open up the entire "layout". What a wonder!

And yes, that telephone pops up!!!



My closet in 1968 was in a new house. That was the year we moved to the parsonage in Perkinsville. And although I had moved into our "new" house on the corner of Grandma's farm when I was 5, this is the first move that I remember. Our closet was filled with games (see the mini chinese checkers?), and I played the clarinet. There's a mini scrapbook tucked into this side titled "Frankton Indiana). and I have silk garter covers....I wore my first girdle this year. Sooooo glad we no longer have to struggle to get into those things today! LOL!



Junior year, junior prom. And yes, that is the actual pendant that he gave me the night of prom. The matching bracelet was just too big to fit into this page, but don't worry...I'll find a place for it yet! He joined the Air Force and wrote me beautiful letters that I hid in my closet for years. Couldn't let my sisters read those!!!



A closet isn't full unless there are a pair of ice skates....one of our favorite things to do in the winter. And right below them is a pair of 14 KT gold hammered snowflakes that I picked out on a summer vacation to Cripple Creek, Colorado. Back then it was an artists colony and I watched the guy make the earrings...and just had to have them. If I remember right, they cost $14.00....a fortune in 1968! Student of the week clipping from the newspaper, my report card for that year, and a viewmaster reel.....life was good!



We started going to Prairie Baptist Church that year and I picked my Life Verse from the Bible which is written inside one of the books stashed on the shelf in my closet below. I was a Jr Hi camp counselor with my best friend, Nancy. I was stage manager for our Junior Class Play, Our Town. It was the year I started doing genealogy. 1968 was the year of the mini skirt, but our dresses were below the knee. It was a church thing back then. Amazing how high you can get your hemline when you add a belt after you leave home! OK, mom, don't read this! LOL! I even paper pieced the saddle oxfords and shoes at the bottom of my closet.



The telephone is just the cutest thing! I've demo'd how to make this on DIY and you can find the instructions there. Yes, this layout was shown on DIY....just so much fun!!!



OK, you know the tune to the song (Oh What a Night!)....so just sing along with me

Oh, what a year that was, back in '68, What a very special time for me, life was great!

It was a very special year, a very special time......

Anna 1930

If you want to know what inspires me....then read Anna 1930, - mom is blogging!

I love to read her stories because they will trigger a memory long hidden away. And with the memories come new ideas to design new things!

I love to see her paintings because they inspire me to do even more.

I love to know that she loves Jehovah.

So if you start reading her blog now, you will then have an idea of things I might decide to do in the future! Could I recreate that tractor? What could I do with that gorgeous sunset? Such yummy colors! Which one of her stories will I scrap for the grandkids I don't have?

Life really is a circle!

Ranger Ink and me

Someone asked me why I had not done a review of Ranger's Ink. I said, "I don't have to...I love it so much, I wrote a poem about it

I love Ranger Ink

It's in my hair and on my clothes
In my shoes and on my nose
My husband thinks I'm the color of cream
So why does it shock him I appear to be green?
It's in my fingers, up under my nails
It's on my toes and the stairway rails
I dream in colors, bright and bold
My pillow cases have all turned gold
It's everywhere I look, it's all that I see
Ranger Ink...it's all over me!!!



This started as a sheet of white glossy cardstock. A black and white photo. A stamp done with black ink on white paper. And some printing on white printer paper.

ALL of the color is Ranger. WOW!!!! Who needs a review on a product this fantastic? You don't review it...you just write poetry about it!!!

Under the photo of my sister, Colleen, it says: "Now age 54, Colleen still has this very same smile, and she still loves elephants! The self that she has created is my best friend, my confidant, my inspiration, and through all these years, my sis has helped create the woman I am today."

And yes, any time I use this much ink on something, I really do end up with it all over me. But I don't mind at all...it's just so much fun!

Walnut Grove Wolves

I started this blog saying I would write about my childhood memories. A huge part of that is my grade school, Walnut Grove. The address was either rural route Cicero or Arcadia, Indiana. Not the Walnut Grove from Little House on the Prairie....but not far off in concept! A very small school with only about 20 students per grade with all 12 grades in the same building. Those classmates are the kids that I saw every single day for 9 years (Kindergarten through 8th grade) and were my childhood chums.

Our school colors were Gold and Purple...and we were the Wolves. I remember a mounted wolf inside a glass case in the school as the official mascot. Note, we didn't bother with costumes with someone dressed up running around the gym floor...we had the real thing back then!!!

One day, mom asked me if I knew the story about how the wolf got there and of course, I had no idea, so she sent me a photo of the "capture" and I've posted what she wrote below it:


"Maybe I was 5 or 6 years old. I was spending the night with my Aunt Muriel
House who lived between Cicero and Walnut Grove in White River Twp.
Indiana. There had been a wolf getting into the farmers sheep and killing
them. So they organized a hunt to kill it. That was legal and encouraged
at that time. Every one who gathered took their vehicles out into a field
and were in a circle so they could shine their head lights together and
could see to kill the wolf, while others were chasing the wolf into that
direction. My Aunt had warned me to be very quiet, not to scare the wolf if
it showed itself. She warned me and warned me.. However, the minute that
wolf showed up in the circle of lights, I stood up and shouted "There it
is" I was so excited. What she did to me, I do not remember!!! Later,
the wolf was Mounted and put in a glass case in the Walnut Grove School and
was there for years. They were known as the Walnut Grove Wolves. I was
told my Uncle Charlie shot the wolf. If you know of other stories about the
last wolf in White Rive Twp, let me know."

So if you have photos or stories about the Walnut Grove Wolf, please email them to me and I will send them on to mom (Annabel House Moore) and I'm sure she will email you back!

Funny what I remember about that wolf....it scared the crap out of me! I never like it....but it was the source of great pride...and great enthusiasm. It was our mascot and we were the Wolves....and we cheered like nothing else at basketball games.

As an artist, perhaps we each need a mascot that can be our source of pride, can cause us to be enthusiastic, and can cheer us on as we endeavor to design new things for others to enjoy. Ah! That childhood spirit...the ability to scream at the top of our lungs about a ball going into a basket...the sheer joy of great victory when your team wins...we could all use that a little bit every day!

Fruitless Fruitcake

I grew up in a family that celebrated Christmas as the biggest holiday of the year. My life today is entwined in memories of yummy smells this time of year. So, when it snows in Colorado, I get the urge to bake! Last night, I made Grandma Myrtle's fruitless fruitcake. Ok....don't click away just yet! LOL! I know....no one likes fruitcake. But this is FRUITLESS fruitcake....no candied fruit in it at all. And oh! I wish you could have smelled my house!!! Yummm!!

Now why do certain smells remind us of certain events in our lives? I don't think I had a childhood Christmas without her fruitcake. She also made date pudding, date swirl cookies and sugar cookies (which I made this week). I remember so much food as a kid....tables and counters laden with pies, cakes, dumplings, cookies, cupcakes and candy. It was the one time you ate til it really, really hurt!

So while things were in the oven, I quickly edited some photos from 1964 and did another digital layout.



I even wrote a little poem to go with it:

When it starts to snow
and the sun sets early
I remember holidays
from my past with glee.
Family gathered
to eat and play
time to share
things to say.
Hard to think
it was so long ago.
These photos keep my
memories aglow!

The fruitcake turned out absolutely perfect! You should give it a try...it's a prized family recipe!

Combine these ingredients into a saucepan on the top of the stove:
1 1/2 c raisins
1 1/2c dates
2 c sugar
5 T shortening
2 c water

Cook this at least 20 minutes, boiling all the time and stirring constantly. It will turn into a rather thick paste. Pour it out into a large mixing bowl and stir in

2 c flour
1 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1 c walnuts (chopped real fine)

after that is mixed well, stir in 1 more cup of flour

pour into a greased angel food cake pan. You know, the kind with a hole in the center. Bake in the oven for 1 hour at 350F. When done, let cool and then remove from the pan. Wrap tight in plastic wrap and set aside for at least 24 hours. Now, over the years, I have found that it's best to bake this at Thanksgiving and put in the refrigerator until Christmas. OK...who am I kidding? I've never had one last that long around here!!!

It has the consistency of fruitcake, but no fruit...and it should be quite chewy in the center. Just one of my very favorite things to have on hand to serve guests this time of year.


Note: Digital papers and embellishments from Memory Makers Magazine and Scrappers Guide.
Recipe credit to Myrtle House.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Today mom turns 77 and it's snowing and I'm going to miss lunch with her. So instead, I decided to write my thoughts about her because to me, she is the most amazing woman that I know.

She was born in 1930. I know the family didn't have much money, but I love that they had this photo taken of her.



She was a teenager during the world wars. She loved horses. I'd agree when she says she was a tomboy!



What I love is that she is so much fun! A few years ago, she said that she wanted to ride a horse one more time in her life. So I arranged a day with my friend Joyce....and mom rode her horse!




She was a nurse, then a family nurse practitioner. When I look back at her life, she took care of her father, her children, her husband, then her mother....she was a caregiver her entire life until Grandma passed away. That is when I say mom became the woman she was meant to be....when she had time to be herself rather than being the caregiver she always was.



She was 53 when she first picked up a paintbrush. And wow! What an inspiration to me. A reminder that I can learn anything at any age!

I don't know what I like the best. How she paints the calm quiet of an old pueblo building and the memories of our drives together to Santa Fe and Taos to photograph them:




or the grandeur of the Colorado mountains and her abstract interpretations of the gorgeous color that abounds on an otherwise snow-filled day like today:




Or is it her vivid flowers? Mom can look at a flower and see all the colors of the rainbow in it. She can make a bouquet burst alive and make you want to reach out and touch the painting just to feel the life that is in it:



She can paint a memory that no one photographed like the tulips that laid to rest on top of Grandma Hazel's casket:




But perhaps what I love the most is that she paints the memories that no one else has like this scene which was her Great Grandfather House's homestead...the farm that I grew up on:




She is the inspiration for the words for this writing that were turned into a stamp:



And I'm sure that about now, she is giving me this look:



I could write volumes about mom...but we will spread it out over future blogs. For today, I will just say that I am so blessed that Jehovah chose her as my mom, that I love her more than words can say, and that I am so grateful that she raised me exactly like she did!

I love you mom! Happy Birthday!!!

Why Play?

Nowadays, when I meet someone and they ask me what I do, I say, "I just play!". It always gets the best reactions, the most surprised looks...and the greatest comments. No one believes me! They will say, "no - really, what do you do?" and I repeat..."I just play!'

And then, someone asked me why.

Oh dear...I wish people would not ask me questions that make me think! It takes away so much of my play time! LOLOL! But I did ponder that question. And I'll ask you to do the same.

If you take a moment and think back to the happiest moments in your life, most likely, you will fall on some childhood moment when you were playing.

I remember summers on the farm, and Christmas.



Just look at that photo. We couldn't even sit still long enough for a photo! Well, ok...5 kids sitting still? But Colleen has blocks in her hands, April is playing with blocks. Elaine is getting up, I'm laughing at something and Nelson is on his horse. We had no concept of time. We had no problems, no worries. We really didn't know much about anything going on besides our family, our church and our school. We were happy.



Is it because when you play, the right side of your brain, the creative side takes over? I think it must be. Who looks at the clock when they are playing? Who looks out the window to see if the weather is changing? Who cares? If you are lost in your play, life is good, life is safe, life is happy.

I love this photo of Nelson going for the blocks. Look at his face. The blocks scattered on the floor are proof that he's knocked them over before...he knows what's going to happen, and he just can't wait to do it again!

That's what it's like when I play. I've done it before, and I know what's going to happen, and I just can't wait to do it again!



So give it some thought, think about it, why do you play? And if you answer that with "I don't play", then ask yourself the greater question, "why don't you?"

There are a million reasons in life today that take away from our time for ourselves. But I think if you want to be a well balanced person, to find some joy in this life, to be happy, then you need to play.

My answer to the question "why play?" Because 'I know what's going to happen and I just can't wait to do it again!'

Thankful for then and now.

I have said that a lot of my designs come from my childhood memories. And I am ever so thankful for them. But mostly, I am thankful for my family. I'm so glad I was raised on a farm. With a huge family. With lots of big family gatherings like this one.



It must have been Christmas as we are holding dolls. Colleen has a ballerina. No idea what I have, but I'm holding her tight. If you grew up in White River Township, you might remember some of these aunts and uncles of mine...Charley and Nellie House, Lacy & Muriel House, Tad and Geneva House....long gone, but the memories of huge family gatherings lingers on.

And here we are ...FIFTY years later. Oh! It just doesn't seem possible!!! But it is. Well, this photo was taken a year ago when we were all together. April, Elaine, me, mom, Nelson and Colleen, from left to right, with our spouses.



And then this year. Not all of us could be here, but we still took our annual photo. Nelson, me, Colleen and mom.



So if you knew us as little girls back in Indiana, this is who we are now.

I love that we take photos on Thanksgiving Day. I think I want to start a new series..just mom and me.



But this is my favorite photo. Mom and Colleen. Giggling. LIke they were both 10 years old. It's what makes this age so wonderful...you can act yourself and no one cares!



I am truly thankful for then....for my childhood, for the way I was raised, for the memories I have.

But I am most thankful for now. For a mom that I love beyond words, for sisters that I adore, for a brother who I still find fascinating...for all their spouses...but most, for moments like these when we are together and share our day.

I am truly blessed. Then and now.

Christmas 1958

Most of mom's old photos have been ripped out of albums until they are quite damaged. But this one...not only bent through the center...it somehow managed to turn pink/red over the years!!!


With a bit of editing in Photoshop, I think I've managed to restore it quite nicely. Even the plaid on the shirt matches through the tear!



Photoshop is just so wonderful for giving back memories of things that were forgotten. Now, I can't recall the the walls were pink in that house, so my colors may still be off a bit. I'm not sure dad would have worn a burgandy shirt....but it was Christmas and mom is wearing green (too cute!)

In 1958, Grandma was my age (GASP!) and I swear she looks a whole lot younger than I do today! LOL! Mom and dad were only 28? Yikes...my oldest son is 28! They had 4 little girls, ages 7,6,4 and almost 3....I'm not a grandma yet (thank goodness!) The 2 little boys are our cousins and my 2 uncles are in the photo.

I'm the one looking bored, playing with a book. Colleen is on dad's lap. Elaine is probably putting on play lipstick, I remember we played with that a lot. And April is the cutie in the pink dress.

Photoshop not only fixes photos...it fixes memory!