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These mischievous knee hugger elves were a fave of my childhood.

So when I thought about painting some holiday pages, they were my first thought as a subject.

I had a couple old sheet music pages of Jingle Bells and one of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman and thought both titles were just right for these sprites.

Of course, I needed a doodle of this jolly old elf too.

The my caroling book, where I was finding all the perfect sheet music, had a quaint little village on the cover and it inspired this painting.

Home, Sweet Home, found in another old book, was just what I needed for a ginger bread house.

And how could this title not get a snowy owl?

All of the pictures were created on vacation.  Either while watching the ocean from our balcony, or while on the airplane. When I travel by plane or as a passenger when we go on long drives, I like to flip through vintage books and draw on pages that catch my attention.  Then after arriving, I’ll get the paints out to finish.

Hmm, maybe I need another trip, so I have an excuse to make more.  I tend to only do these while traveling, and absolutely love working on them. It seems like I only have time when I’m on vacation.

To quote Frosty the Snowman when he awakens every time someone pops a magical hat onto his head- “Happy Birthday!”

I feel like this is a brand new start for me after 19 years of this blog, we have a new address and hosting site, a little bit of a new look too.  It hasn’t been a smooth (nor a cheap) transition for me, but I think this unexpected expense and the time to relearn how to post is worth it.

I had lots of help, but am still on a learning curve.   Hopefully I’ll be back in the swing of things with new stories soon.  Thanks for your patience in following along!

Cheers! Wishing you a special Christmas!

Happy Halloween!
Sugarwings and I were not going to be together in the 31st, so we celebrated the holiday early with a mocktail toast.

The recipe is kinda like one of Sissy’s friends was serving last week, but with a few embellishments.  Sugarwings and I like our edible glitter that swirls around in the liquid.

First, we generously smeared caramel sauce on the interior of the ruby flash stemware (a perfect glass for this beverage, its elegant color was a striking contrast to the ghoulish green soda).

Then added crushed ice and this BeetleJuice spiced apple soda.  It got a pinch of glitter, was topped with whipped cream, then Halloween sprinkles – oh and a couple eyeballs.

It made for a tasty, ghost toast to honor the  spooky day.

Now that the kiddo is back at Mom’s, I have de-Halloweened my house already (it’s been ghoulish since August, I was done).  Normally, I’d be ready to deck the halls November 1st but I’ve had to cool my heels on that project. We are ripping up a bathroom floor to get to the bottom of a foundation issue.

Bad news, major expense and mess plus delayed hall decking.

Good news, my boy is here to work on it! And I get a renovated bathroom! 

 

The Northern Lights were visible in Kansas again!

From what I read, we weren’t supposed to have a viewing here, but when I heard that my family in Indiana was seeing them, I stepped out to look and was thrilled to catch the show.

Tree and I had an adventure together, driving to darker spots to get a better look.  A quiet gravel road nearby was an ideal spot to lay on our backs and watch the skies through our phone cameras. We even saw a shooting star!

I felt doubly blessed. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

To be ready for Christmas crafting, I ordered 50 mini deer.  Preferably, I’d like to use vintage, but for how I use them the cost is just too high.  And I doubt my shoppers would notice if they were old or not.

The order came and the little guys were pretty cute, just what I needed.  But I did think the color was a little flat.

So I got out the warm, brown Stays On ink and rubbed some on with an old brush.  I felt like that helped give them some dimension.  

Most ended up coated with glue and a fine, snow-like glitter, so I didn’t replace the white spots.  I’m pleased with how they turned out, it was an easy fix, and so far I’ve used lots of them in my projects.  Yep, I’m full speed on Santa Season decor and have already been building up the sparkly inventory.

Pictures to come, and boy, will there be tons of them.

 

 

 

On our visit to see family in Georgia and Florida, we spent an hour or so on Fernandina Beach.

This wasn’t exactly a beach trip, between coolish weather and busy days with family.

When my sister-in-law and I saw a break in the clouds that coincided with a pause in our schedule, we grabbed our opportunity (and our jackets) and skeedaddled out to the sand to gather up shells, stretch our legs, and soak up any and all sun that was available. 
My teen niece from Wyoming didn’t seem to think it was chilly, even ran out into the waves.  My own feet, did not get near the surf.

It might even have been better weather back home in Kansas while we were on the coast.  But the key words in that sentence are “we were on the coast”. 

No complaints from me about time for walking on the sand! I was thrilled to be there, see family, and get this short but needed stroll to watch the waves.

Before hitting the shore for sandy toes, we walked through the town to have lunch.  It’s a pretty little place and the shops are interesting.

The best part were the photo ops.  Pirates and sharks galore! My sister, Bobbie, would’ve loved it, so I posed with each and every one. 

For her.

The next day, I woke up with a sore throat, so we cut the trip short and headed home.  I didn’t want to expose anyone else to my sniffles and since I’d been away so much since October, all I really wanted was my own bed to curl up in and blow my nose while getting caught up on my favorite shows.

This was my first cold in four years.  Funny enough, I was in Florida for that one too.

We took a new (for us) route home, on highways instead of interstates.  We decided it was the only way to go, we missed the traffic back ups in Atlanta, Nashville, and Chattanooga, plus saw interesting sights along the way.

 I was able to drive a few hours on the first leg of the journey but by day two, I simply wasn’t up to it.  Poor Rich had to do the whole day of driving while I sketched on old book pages.  At least on the smooth stretches of road. On curvy or hilly parts, the pen needed to be put down.  Between my dizziness from the cold and the somewhat twisty roads, I took some breaks in my work.

For the last two days, I’ve sat in front of the tv with my paints adding color to the stack of drawings that I made on the trip.  My timing was pretty good, two days of sketching, two days of painting, while feeling my worst.  Now I’m up and better, ready to hit the studio to mat and tag my doodles.

While I did get stuff done, I still am behind due to the faucet of never ending snot that I was dealing with.  Good Juju weekend is this week, and I still have some things to tend to there.  Luckily, my cold is ending in time to finish up and be there for customers.

There isn’t too much to work on, it’s pretty well ready to go, but there is still some fine tuning to be done, and photos to take.

I’ll show you the finished product next post.

 

 

Wishing you love.

 

This viscous weather across the country almost stopped our trip, but we managed to switch Sugarwings’ flight to a day earlier and avoided the snownado that was about to close downs flights all over.

Sadly, my boy and Dewdrop couldn’t leave NC because of weather themselves. So they missed our day at Magic Kingdom. We were down about not seeing them, then got a surprise call saying they were on their way!

They are driving all the way to meet us for one day at Epcot with us.  I burst out crying when I heard the great news.

I’m writing now from Liberty Square as we take a lil break in a quiet corner of a restaurant and refuel.  Time to visit a few ghostly buddies at the Haunted Mansion now, so I’m off to get spooked.

 

 

When we were invited to a croquet party, I was dubious about joining in.  I’m not sporty, have zero depth perception, can’t aim, and hate keeping score.

Oh my, I do not sound fun at all, do I?

Games are not my thing.

But when “proper croquet attire” was mentioned, I was in.  I’d watched Bridgerton, and I was ready to put on my best whites and grab my parasol to go be a spectator and have some good food, good friends and a glass of wine.

Before I knew it, I was sucked in, and realized that whacking that ball was more exciting than I thought it would be.  Next thing I knew, I was vying for third place to move on to the championship round.

Well, I came in 4th, but my husband let me be his partner and I got to be in the final round with him.

  We didn’t win, the title went to our buddy, Jim.

But I did receive two prizes! One for best dressed and for coming in second in the final round.

I think what pushed me over the edge to win for the costume were these magnificent, beaded tenny boppers.  I’ve had them for at least 30 years, and only bring them out for very special occasions.

The dress was pretty cool too.  I’d bought it to wear to Silverbella (I miss those so much!).  That was fifteen years ago, and when I put it on this time, I realized it didn’t fit quite the same.

My poor bust was halfway down below the bodice, so the top of the gown wasn’t filled out right.

Oh well.

As I age, I don’t care too much about where my boobs are or how things fit.  Which is good, because I have a feeling it just goes downhill from here.  Literally.  My chest will not be going back up to fill out any more bodices, this is as good as it gets.

And my sports acuity won’t be improving either.  Enjoying what I can, whenever I can is what makes each day worth getting up for.  I’m glad I didn’t put the pretty dress away because it made me look droopy.  I’m glad I didn’t opt out of playing the game because I’m not good at hitting a ball.  

Fun times are a gift that we have to open to enjoy.  Or at least be open to.