Snow, Christmas, Snow, Snow, Snow

They say that this is the first snowfall on Christmas Day in Atlanta since the 1800's. I really don't believe that. Anyway, that's the big news around here because you know, when any (and I mean ANY) precipitation falls in Atlanta everyone forgets how to drive. Really, even a heavy rain, so you can imagine what snow does to people.

Joel even pulled out his old snowboard and took his wife out "snowboarding" in our yard.

Joel and Katie 2 came up from Mississippi for Christmas and Katie 1 was able to hang out for a couple of days without having to go to work or school or down to Butler. So, it's been nice having all my kids in the same house for a couple of days. (Labeling gifts for 2 Katie Libramento's was tricky, so I resorted to K1 and K2, K1 being my daughter and K2 being my daughter-in-law)

We went to Troy's for Christmas Eve which was fun as always. We had a few more animals in the house than we usually do. Troy has 4 pets and was pet-sitting for an enormous gentle giant of a dog named Bailey. I would take that dog in a heartbeat! And Troy & Tara's friend came over with her dog. So, it was quite a gathering.

It was fun to be with everyone! We had a great southern feast with honey baked ham, Rosie's potato salad, deviled eggs, Thomas Jefferson's macaroni and cheese, collard greens, black eyed peas and cornbread. For dessert, pound cake and red velvet cake. Delish!

Christmas Day, here at the house was welcomed by the aforementioned snow. We exchanged gifts which was fun as always. Joel and Katie 2 gave me a book of booklets called "Craft-In." The booklets show you everything you need to know to host a "craft-in." You gather your crafting friends and eat and listen to music and craft together. I can't wait to host one! Katie 1 made Katie 2 a purse that she made. (She has a tutorial on her blog: http://www.thebrownshoes.blogspot.com/ Joel made Katie 1 a Rick Steves tshirt.

Then they got together and started carving images into rubber stamps. Katie 1 then stamped some fabric.

 We've been playing with my new wii and Beatles Rock Band. And we've been eating. I made Paula Deen's Chicken Pot Pie - amazing. You should try it.

I remember in the not-too-distant past when it was hot that I said, "I can't wait for it to get cold so I can complain about it." Well, now, I can't wait to have the heat back. It's pretty cold.

Hope you all have had a good holiday!

Sea & Sky Tree

We're not a very traditional family when it comes to holidays. We're always mixing it up a bit. I think I got that from my sister and stepmother who were always thinking of crazy fun things to do for the holidays. For example: one year our family had a city-wide scavenger hunt, one year an auction with a real auctioneer, another we had a costume party. Strange but really fun!

Decorations in my house are never the same. We might have a tree, we might not. Last year I decorated a wicker trunk and put all the gifts in it. One year, Katie and I decided that we wanted a tree that had sea shells and birds on it, just because we like those two things. So, we called it the Sea & Sky Tree. We glued ribbon to shells and found stuff we liked and put it on the tree. This year, we wanted to see that tree again, so I pulled out all the shells and birds and did it again. Here are some pix of it:

Steave says the starfish reminds him of Patrick Star from Spongebob.

Ice, Movie Tickets and The Sound of Music All Day

It iced up last night and so my school was closed today. That's usually a fabulous thing, but I had a field trip planned. I bought 29 movie tickets ahead of time - trying to be efficient. The last field trip I had planned, one of my students died and we had to go to the funeral. I'm just not having any field trip luck this year.

The ice melted. I ran around like a crazy woman. I flew by the closed school praying to catch someone who could let me in. There was, they did. Got the tickets. Took them to the theatre praying that they would give me my money back. They did. Thanks God for listening to my prayers.

I got a peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks to give myself a prize because Katie left for Butler and for running around getting the money back.

Now, I will watch The Sound of Music for the rest of the day, back to back viewings, if necessary to give my soul a boost of joy.

We're All Just Thieves

I suppose "real" artists are the ones who search for a truly unique expression. The rest of us are just thieves. I mean, maybe you're not, but I am. I find something I like and copy it. Sometimes with my own twist on the idea. Just like the strings of garland I just made. I saw them and copied them. I really love them. They are easy to make and look great!

The first one is just circles of paper sewn together...

I got some coordinating scrapbooking cardstock, drew 3 different sized circles (the top of a coke glass, the bottom of a coke glass and a spool of thread), cut them out and sewed them together. I sewed through the middle of the circle, did about 3 empty stitches between the circles so they could twirl and continued on. I made the whole thing before I was halfway through "French Kiss" (the movie, not the activity.) I love it! I can't remember where I saw it - following a blog trail no doubt. So, sorry, I can't remember who to give the credit to.

Then I saw a coffee filter garland idea and stole it! I had natural coffee filters and cut them down a bit because I wanted to use it in my small bathroom. Had I been making it for a larger room, I wouldn't have cut them at all. I also cut tissue paper circles in white and polka dot. I also had some natural funnel coffee filters that I rolled up to look like flowers (sort of) and strung them on natural string. I knotted the string to keep them from sliding one way or the other. I put them at intervals. In retrospect, I should have put the bunches a little closer together, but I like it.

I stole this idea from Pam Garrison and I think she was inspired by a display at Anthropologie. Hers are actually mucho better, but I like mine just the same.

I am now planning to steal a scarf idea...and the thievery goes on.

Banksy, Joel, Dog Poop and Graffiti

I'm sitting here killing time waiting on my doctor's appointment. I just went through my blog list and checked out all the interesting people that I follow. Many are artists and their work inspires me and fascinates me. I think I am a psychiatrist at heart because I'm always wondering what makes people do what they do. Why does one person think something is beautiful and another think it's crap?

On that note, I watched "Exit Through the Gift Shop" the other day and it was very intriguing.

It's a film by Banksy.  My son Joel put me on to it. Joel is an artist in his own right and has been following Bansky for years. I'm not sure how true or sincere the film is though it is filmed as a documentary. It's about the world of graffiti artists and considering that the essence of their work requres them to be elusive, I have a feeling that the film itself is that way also. I enjoyed seeing their techniques and I can understand a bit how addictive it must be, the rush of adrenaline the thrill of the tag. I think Bansky must be an absolute genius - even if it was a deliberate plan or not - through his style and presentation - putting his art out as graffiti - he somehow, magically, manipulated people's interest and was able to make street art credible. He got it off the street and into galleries and auctions. Amazing.

In one of my many forays of employment, I was a kennel manager. I hired a guy to work in the kennel and he was from California. He was also a graffiti artist. When Joel was in 3rd or 4th grade, he would come to work after school and hang out with this artist and he taught Joel about graffiti. I remember him teaching Joel about graffiti letters on the dry erase board we had to list the animals medications. I would take up some of his slack so he could spend more time with Joel. For some reason, I felt that their meeting was important.

I have always been fascinated with graffiti myself and many times as a family, we would take drives into Atlanta just to find graffiti. One of our favorite things to do is to be caught by a train, we sit back and enjoy the moving gallery. There was (and is) an excitement watching the cars go by that stems from my belief that God gave talents and gifts to people and that sometimes "greatness" is not seen by the whole world. We can discover it around us, everyday. We would sit excitedly, thinking that perhaps we would see a piece of art created by one of the greatest artists in the world - it's just that the world doesn't know about them and maybe never will - but we saw it!

Joel's art has grown and evolved, but I think its root and the beginnings of Joel's love of art began in his love of graffiti. I guess Joel will have to confirm that or not. So, what do you think, Joel? And I like to think that my cleaning out those extra cages so Joel could have more time with his teacher helped encourage his work - of which I am very proud!

If you're in Mississippi, go see Joel's work this Saturday.