Saturday, September 30, 2017

Baby Expressions

Four funny moods on my granddaughter's face (3-1/2 months):

What's that?

.

ehhhhhhh







.

I'm getting sleepy


.

Tummy full, Daddy



Friday, September 29, 2017

Papa Love

A photo from a couple weeks ago of Melody with her daddy, Jeff. I love the look on Jeff's face here. It shows his kindness.


Thursday, September 28, 2017

Chani

Julie's cats still aren't too sure they like the baby. Actually, this particular cat isn't sure she likes anyone but Julie's husband, Jeff. She has some trust issues.

But she's gentle and quiet and will let you scratch her head for a few seconds. She'll also let you brush her for just about as long as you like.


But please. Don't touch her tail!

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Subtle Color Change

It's getting pretty brown and crunchy down at the park. This is the uglier part of Fall before the beautiful vibrant colors arrive. Still, there's a beauty in these weeds.


Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Four Months!

I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with this little raspberry blower today. Our Melody is getting quite good at blowing bubbles and making farty noises! She also now has full control of her head. She's so strong! She'd much rather stand than sit. She's even big enough for her bouncer now.


But if Mommy is more than a few feet away, Melody is not all that chuffed to have Grandma hold her and play with her. She checks to make sure it's OK, then she'll look me over and try to figure out if I'm alright or not.

Little Melody has a mind of her own. She let me know when it was ok to give her loves, and when she was NOT going have ANY of that!

The most fun is sitting back and watching my daughter become a mother. The two of them are the best playmates. Julie can get Melody giggling, and her little dimples show up when her smile is wide. Julie is getting very good at understanding what each of Melody's cries mean. And nothing is more precious than watching them close their eyes and rest together after nursing.

Every now and then I feel like I really did some things completely right as a mom. It becomes poignantly apparent when I look on these two as only a grandma can.

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Painted Jars - Part 2

For my second painted jar I used a one quart mason jar that I brought from home. This time I used a chalk paint that I brushed onto the outside of the jar. I'd never used a chalk paint before. It's quite thick. The brush I used didn't give it nice coverage. I ended up using two coats of paint. Chalk paint dries to a matte finish.


Next I decided on the placement of the ribbon. I started with the wide burlap ribbon with the attached lace down the center. Then I found a red velvet ribbon with gold edges which I glued to either side of the burlap ribbon as well as around the rim of the jar lid.

When that was done, I used a stencil to add the scroll leaf design. I mixed a kelly green paint with some black to achieve the forest green color. I used half the stencil for the left leaf, then turned the stencil upside down and used the other half of the stencil for the right leaf. Again, if I had a more appropriate brush I could have achieved sharper lines.


Finally, I took apart an orange flower and a yellow flower, then restacked five petal sections, gluing them together in the center. This made for a nice full flower embellishment.

When I got home, I filled the jar with some autumn florals. I gave this to Julie as part of her birthday gift the following Sunday.


Painting jars like this without a lot of thinking and planning stretched me. I tend to be much more methodical in the way I go about crafting in my Studio. At the library, I was challenged to think on my feet and just play, seeing what inspiration flowed from what was in front of me. I'm looking forward to more of these library crafting sessions that will continue to pull me out of my comfort zone.

Friday, September 22, 2017

Painted Jars - Part 1

One of the nearby libraries offers an evening adult crafts class. A friend and I decided to go together and give it a try. The craft for September was painted and decorated jars.

We brought some jars and others were provided. They also provided lots of ideas from Pinterest and from library books about how we might choose to decorate. They had paints and ribbons and florals and beads and stencils and other components for embellishment. There was no instruction so much as oodles of ideas. The participants had ideas that fed off one another.


I brought some mason jars with me. In Part 2 I'll show you what I did with mine. I found this small jar with an interesting shape among the jars the library provided. I decided to turn the jar upside down and turn it into a pumpkin!

I used orange spray paint on the outside of the jar. I glued some raffia strips top to bottom to define the pumpkin sections. I cut three leaves down to size and glued them to the center top. Then I took a small piece of burlap ribbon, glued it into a tube shape, then glued it on top of the leaves to create the stem.


I think it turned out so cute!

This Fall I plan to create a pumpkin patch on my living room mantle. This quirky little glass pumpkin will be one of the stars of the patch.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Fawkes

Julie's cat is quite a character. He keeps his eye on each of us, then decides who will be the best candidate to give him pets or play with him. But if you go to the bathroom, expect him to accompany you.


Wednesday, September 20, 2017

What's It All About, Melody?

Melody contemplates life during a diaper change.


Or ... maybe she's simply into discovering her fingers these days. Which is more likely when you're three and a half months old?

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Three Weeks Later

I was dealing with some minor mental health issues for the better part of a month. One of the things that usually goes away during these episodes is my ability to concentrate enough to craft or photograph or write blog posts. But the worst of the fluctuation is over, and I hope I'm back to daily posts again.

Sunday was my daughter Julie's birthday. So Dale and Jeanne and I paid a visit to Julie's family. We brought her some gifts. I made her a cake. We gave Jeff some hugs, Julie lots of kisses, and Melody enough cuddles that she was ready for us to leave after a couple hours.

This was one of the more touching moments of the day.


I'm sure I'll be posting more baby photos in the days to come, along with a few crafts that I managed to create.