Where has that little girl gone?

As a little girl, I took piano lessons. I would sing along with the music and my teacher, Mrs. Bishop, asked mom if I could sing in her choir. In exchange, she said she would give me free voice lessons. I received a clarinet for Christmas in the 4th grade and played in the band shortly after that (small school...they needed everyone!) The 4 of us girls sang in church from almost as early as I can remember. Mom played the piano and we sang at home all the time. So music was a huge part of my childhood.

I believe it was the spring of 1964 when there was a vocal competition at Ball State Teachers College in Muncie IN. I don't remember the specifics...I just knew that we were going to the college and I was going to sing a very long song. Oh! I practiced for months with Mrs. Bishop. I still have the sheet music. "I walked today where Jesus walked" She would make notes on the music where I was supposed to hold my breath, or be loud or soft.

I memorized every line (OK, I still have the song memorized!) and I'm sure I wore my Sunday best.



I just remember being scared to death. Probably gave my voice loads of vibrato!

I won first place. I still have the blue medal!

So what happened? Why am I not some famous singer today? Why do I so rarely sing for anyone except me?

When I went to Bob Jones University, I took vocal the first semester. It was a semi-private class with just 4 students. I remember being horrified when the professor told me to sing to the students outside the window as they were walking by. He made me lay on my back with an orange on my stomach and breathe so it wouldn't roll off. I went to a lab and practiced 2 hours every single day that first semester. He made it so much work. He took away all the fun and joy of singing. At the end of the term, the professor told me I couldn't sing and that it would take years of coaching for me to ever sing.

I could have stopped there and blamed it on him, but I moved to Colorado and my sisters and I took up guitar and continued to sing. But you know, somewhere in the back of my head was this little voice that kept telling me "you can't sing...you need years of coaching".

Kerry bought me a keyboard a few weeks ago and I found the music to the song I sang in 8th grade. I can still play it. And I sang it today. How fun was that! But it made me wonder...where did that little girl go? The one who got up in front of an audience and sang her heart out and came home with a blue medal?



I'm hoping I can find her again and spend some time playing....and singing. I think it will be fun!

Coloring your life

I just love what you can do with photoshop. And sometimes old photos in black and white are just boring. But when you add color, it can totally change how you look at the past.




I think it brings things into perspective, makes the photo more interesting....but most of all, it makes you study the photo and you will see things that you never noticed before. For instance, I never noticed that my hand is not showing..it's tucked up inside my snowsuit. That's my Aunt Jean behind me and I'd love to know what color her shoes were. Notice I have no feet? Well, I'm just hopeing my shoes are also tucked up inside my snowsuit!!! There's a chipped brick in the backgound....things like that. It also makes you woner what color we were really wearing. The colors of the early 50s were more dull than the colors we have today, I can only guess at what they actually were.

If you don't have photoshop, you can always color with inks, chalks, markers, oils....I just think adding color to the past brings it into the present and adds life to whatever you are working with. Color your life....make it something you never knew it could be!

Bringing life to childhood photos!

I'm not very good with animation, but I had so much fun the very first time I tried it. And I just thought..oh! if there were more pictures of us as little girls, I could bring us to life! I don't think anyone has any videos of us as kids....but this is a "second best"!

In the mid 50s, we played with tin can phones, our dolls, and kitty cats. We really didn't have much stuff back then, but we sure did have fun!!!


















In this layout, I took mini cans, added a rope and created our original tin can phones on top of the photo.

I have always loved lumpy, 3D, textural projects. This is one of the very first Layouts that I created and I think it's a good indication of where my style started....and how far it's come. Not very far! I still like lumpy, 3D, textural projects....I just tend to make more of my own background papers these days.




The background on this more recent project was created by painting Ranger's new one-step crackle paint on chipboard, heating it, then adding layers of distress ink over it. The very same process was used on the wood frame on the left.

If I can't animate a photo digitally, then I will "animate" it on the layout by adding texture, dimension, depth....notice the little car sitting on the wood frame? "I said, don't smile"....such a fun, fun project!

It's my birthday...and I'm planning a party....

OK! Want to sing along with me?? Yep...FIFTY SIX years ago today...I was born! What an amazing life this has been! Do I have any complaints? OF COURSE I DO!!! Old age pain...things I can't do anymore.... But mom once said to me "Well, Jennifer, I don't think that on the day you were born, anyone gave you a gift certificate entitling you to "one easy life", did they?" and that has stuck with me throughout the years. These days, I just ignore my complaints, my aches and pains, because it really has been a wonderful life!

I doubt that mom planned to have so many little girls so fast....but I am SO GLAD that she did!!!



We have grown up, grown apart, and now grown back together as our lives have taken us to Colorado, California, Texas....and now all back to Colorado!



We are all about a year apart in age, and just about as different in personality as one could ever imagine. But I swear, if any of us ever need a thing...the other 3 are right there on the front doorstep.

Today is my birthday and I'm planning a party. OK...I'm planning several parties! I'm in San Diego teaching workshops this week and for lunch, today...a party with friends in Julian. For dinner...a party with friends in Santee. When I get back to Colorado...a party with friends there! I think I'll just plan to party all week long!

But for all the partying I can do, I always take a moment every year on this day to thank mom for bringing me into this world all those years ago. Hey mom! How does it feel to have a FIFTY SIX year old daughter? LOLOL! Probably not an ounce different than it feels to have FOUR daughters ALL over the age of 50!!!

You are the best mom ever and I am so honored to be your daughter! I love you mom!