Today started out wonderful.  One of the kids wanted to make cinnamon rolls from scratch for breakfast. We wiped up a batch that turned out not to bad. They could have had a little more cinnamon and sugar to them. I sat down and eat mine with a cup of tea while the the sun shinned in on me. Yeah, it was a good start to a day. 

I still have mother goose inspiration going on so I started working on some embroideries. I’m wanting to make several of them to put in a quilt. It seem a perfect time to think of babies as there will be another one in the family soon. That makes me an Aunt again. If it wasn’t so late I’d count up how many nieces and nephew they are but I’m to tired to do that.  Come to think of it…. by the time you read this I should be saying Yesterday was a great morning. The first embroidery I worked on is Humpty Dumpty. I have an idea of what the quilt will look like but I’m not sure on the colors just yet.

The next embroidery I worked on was, The 3 blind mice.  Silly little mice. I’m thinking maybe about doing Jack jumped over the candle stick next. Old mother hubbard? I grabbed a Mother Goose book at the library. It had a lot of stories that I don’t remember being a Mother Goose. It would be nice to throw in a few embroideries that are not the usual characters.

My studio floor painted.

A couple cute things found when digging through my supplies. It’s amazing what your find when you starting going through your closets and  boxes. Forgotten Treasures!

He is either seeing his reflection and attacking himself or he is really trying to get in the window. I’m surprised this little birdy hasn’t knocked himself out as much as he sits pecking and flying into that particular window.  We sometime find him trying it several times a day.

I just couldn’t stay away from the paints. I still wanted to play around with them.  Especially after putting the last coat of paint on my studio floor. Yes, you heard that right. I love the sound of that …”studio”. My own place to play and to keep everything in one room. Finally!  I’m tickled.  Just Tickled, tickled, tickled. The ceiling still needs to be finished but that will have to wait.  We have been slowly moving things up little by little. Creating our own little crafty stop. I’m also lucky to be sharing it with my artsy sister. She is so much support, fun to be around, and a pleasant gal to spend any day knee deep in art supplies with.  She also came to my rescue today. My internet has been down for a while so she was a sweetie and brought her laptop that has wireless.  

Here are a few things that have been happening around here since I last blogged.

The normal, everyday stuff.

A trip out of town to visit family.  As we all loaded into the car, my 4 year old told me to cross the green bridge. We haven’t been there for almost a year and it’s a few hundred miles away. Surely she wouldn’t remember the color of a bridge?  What a memory! When the bridge came into view there was a happy squeal from the back of the van and “There it is, that green bridge. I told you it was green.”  Wish I had her memory.

A few warm days where the kids stretched their legs running and riding bikes. Gathering handfuls and pocketfuls of last years memories. Picking this years promises as the crocus bloom around the yard.

Thinking spring makes me think of lemonade.

This week seems to be all about painting here.  I was sitting at the table wanting to make something but nothing was really jumping out at me. So I did the best thing…ask a kid.  They are an endless bottle of ideas. A girl holding a balloon was recommended so this was the out come. I really like her. The grass and flowers need a little fixing but other than that I want to hang this on my wall.

Then this owl sketch was inspired by a mother goose illustration.  When I first saw it. I thought it was a bunch of owls. It’s actually a bunch of bagged cats. I can’t think of what mother goose rhyme was about  bags of cats. I’m trying to track down a copy of the old mother goose book that contains this peticular illustration.  The tour guide mentioned that mother goose stories are not received well by lots of mothers now days. Due to violence, the hard times and usually horror story behind them. Was wondering how you feel about them? Love them, leave them or do you change the wording?  Me, myself…I still love them.  Broken crown, cracked egg, nose taking birds and all.

I was wanting to post this earlier but with the seriously crazy flu we had and then a trip out of town. I didn’t get to last week. The kids ATC they made for the kids swap. I love how each shows a bit of there own individual personalities.

My sons humor showed the most.

Then of course give a 4 year old a pen and a few stickers and they could go at all day. My favorite of hers is the blue one. I love the square legs and arms that she has been drawing lately. Before that it was circle hands with long stick fingers. They looked a lot like spiders.

I think I’m going to put away the brush for a few days and pull out the sewing machine.  Heather Ross is having a design challenge over at her blog. A summer wardrobe challenge. I read it over at Erin’s blog, who is having Heather as a guess blogger in a few day. How exciting for you Erin! I’m all about refurbishing the wardrobe this year.  Making my own clothes is something I really want to try this year. Plus with the economy in the shape it is, what better way to save on cost than to take what you already have and redo it. Add a bit of fabric here, shorten the sleeves, add to the hem, change out the buttons.

Yesterday we spent the day visiting Mazza Museum, a children’s picture book illustrators museum. A delightful place. It’s the only teaching gallery in the world. They house more than 4500 original artworks but I was sadly disappointed when I found out only about 400 of them are on display at a time. I so wanted to see them all. They rotate them ever so often so I guess a second trip will have to be planned in the future. This would be a place I’d love to volunteer my time at. We went with a group and had a guided tour. There was a lot of fun information that we found out. Like one artist used a single strand of her hair in one of her illustrations. A couple of my favorite illustrations was the smiling cats by Cecil Aldin. Love it!

Then another favorite is the illustration from a Mother Goose book. This one is by Alice and Martin Provensen. Sorry for the poor quality in pics, to help preserve the artwork they use low lighting in the gallery and no flash is allowed when taking a picture.

We also had an art activities planned. It was based on one of Eric Carle tissue paper illustrations. We had to come up with our own mixed up animal like in the book The Mixed-Up Chameleon. At my table we had a leopard whale, peacock jellyfish, dog that thought it was all different types of large wild cats. Mine was a fluffy tailed, long eared bunny elephant. I quite enjoyed playing with tissue paper and glue sticks.

Then before we headed out the door, there was a stop to the gift shop. I usually try to stay away from these just because they are so high priced and a trap for parents with a couple kids in tow. But this one I just couldn’t refuse. I wanted to go just as bad as the kids.

It must have been a Hansel and Gretel day for me. I love this cute little display in the gift shop. Then while browsing through the children books. We stumbled upon this Hansel and Gretel book. Illustrated by Jen Corace. A beautiful book to add to your collection. I highly recommend it. I brought one home with me. My sister also found Little Hoot, it too is illustrated by Jen. Another cute little book. It was kind of nice because the books on there shelves are organized by Illustrators last name.

My kids also loved the Skippy Jon Jonessection. They really enjoy the character that Judy Schachner has created. Even my oldest daughter gets a kick out them.  All in all it was a great day to be spending it surrounded by children book and amazing original artwork from illustrators.  We ended it with stopping by and getting a side of fried okra to eat on our trip home. A good day indeed.

Today feels like a great day. A good start to a week. Last week was filled with coughs, Popsicles, aches and a lot of sleep so that makes this week even happier. Only one lucky being in this house escaped it. It wasn’t me.  The sun looks like it’s going to make an appearance today despite the cold wind. I love the sunshine! And I’m thinking of warmer days can’t you tell.

I’m also excited about a trip to a Mazza Museum, the International Children’s Illustrator Museum we plan on taking in a few day. I do hope they let us take our cameras in. There will also be classes set up and the activities are for kids and moms a like. Can’t wait to find out what creative craft we are going to be doing. Here is a list of the mazza artists. This is also a good one to add to your favorites and browse all the amazing children book illustrators for future inspiration. I love childrens books!!!!

I heard it’s suppose to warm up this weekend. Yeah! Hopefully it will also warm up on the east coast for those who are covered once again in a huge blanket of snow. I also received a sweet package from Rebecca. We did a fat quarter swap that also turned out to be birthday presents. Our birthdays are just a couple weeks apart. A peak at the package I sent her is the above picture.

 Do you see that little package of 8 pins. They are handmade fabric covered pins! Rebecca and her friend made those. Very Cute!!! The fabrics are so fun too.

The apron she sent in the package is my birthstone color. Love it. 

This post is pretty scattered and randomly every where. isn’t it? (shrug shoulders)