Friday, February 18, 2011

I finally did something

 










I finally finished my Halloween journal and actually mailed it to a magazine.  I have never gone that far before.  It was such an accomplishment for me.  I have never put together from scratch a journal book.  I learned a lot about water color paints and pencils, gesso, modge podge about using scraps in my stash at home, and most importantly using things I normally would put in the trash at work. I am so proud of this work I decided to share some on this blog spot.

I made these characters to place on the outside because the some of the journal pages are about Ghosts, cats and pumpkins .  It's like they are inviting you in.  These creatures are made from plastic caps that I normally throw away at work.  Since plastic thrown out in our trash is a real problem on our mother earth, I decided to start saving the caps and trying to come up with ways to reuse them.  I really love these characters and they were a lot of fun to create.













This is my page for cats.  My daughter absolutely loves cats.  She has 3 in her home that she has rescued.  She is such a softee when it comes to cats that is why she is the queen of cats.  I was so proud of the watching eyes in the trees on this page.



I have always loved Haunted houses, black cats and woods that feel creepy on Halloween.  In the fall when the leaves have fallen off the tree I enjoy going outside during a full moon and seeing the shadows that are casted on  the ground from the trees.The more snarly a tree the better the show.  Walking through a woods can be so spine shilling.  There are animals making noises and casting shadows.  You can just feel there eyes watching every move you make.





 










What would a haunted house be without a creaky stair case?  Don't you just love those houses that when you walk in the room you feel like someone is following you?  You walk around the room always looking behind you., your hair stands upon end  feeling like prickly pears and you swear you  can hear something almost every moment you are there.    


I always pictured that the inanimate objects of all our most popular Halloween character also had excitement and energy before the fun of the magic hour of Halloween.  I could see the brooms dancing and gathering together bursting with so much eccentric energy.  You could almost see the swirls of wind flowing around them.




 This is a page that I imagined what my spirit would be like if I had no worries in life.  In a journal expressing Halloween one could visualize a special day when the child like fun and freedom could come out and play.  I pictured that freedom would look very energetic and full of color.





I remembered in my younger years that I had a pumpkin patch at the back of my property.  I lived on 5 acres of woods and abutted a field of pumpkins.  That always seemed so strange to me.  I thought that field was so desolate.  It was black and hot and dry.  Those poor pumpkins just laid there in all that heat.  I fell in love with them then because there birth and growing up was horrible to me, but in October they were so orange and so beautiful.  I always paint or construct a pumpkin with beautiful green leaves because the green makes their orange so beautiful and I think they deserve their beauty to shine.  So when I thought about the pumpkins for this journal I wanted to show fun and frolic in the pumpkin patch on Halloween.  I made the field green so the orange just shined on the page.  The way a pumpkin should be.


And what better way to end a journal than a picture of the full moon showing the energetic brooms swirling in their light with witches and cats aboard their backs. But of course there also has be a bat some where in the book. 


The thing I did right in my life


I am very proud of my children, but I have to admit that the 2 of them in the Air Force is a bump in my road that I never expected to have to travel.

My daughter was having one of her typical moods that she is famous for one time when I came to see her.  Being the nosey mom that I am, I would keep asking questions until I could finally get the answer to the problem that was at hand.  You could never imagine what my face was like when she said, "Mom I'm joining the Air Force".  I've always wanted to be the kind of mom that supports and tries to guide my children.  At that moment I was at a total loss.  The only thing I could do was say please take Smokey (her step dad) with you to the recruiters office.  Don't know if it was the right decision or not because Smokey is for the military to give children discipline and meaning into their lives.

Next thing I here is my son was considering joining himself.  He said he always wanted to but he didn't because he thought it would upset me.  Since Brittany made the move, he decided it would be ok for him.

When basic training comes it is the worst experience for a mom.  Suddenly these kids you have loved, nurtured and kept up with all their lives are striped away.  When I did get the opportunity to talk to them they were so distraught and their was absolutely nothing I could do for them.  Their voices were some other person on the phone.  Letters mean everything to a military person.  I mean they are like GOLD.  It is their only connection to the outside world.

 After I made it through them being in basic training, I thought ok our lives will be settling down, but NO.  When Brittany left San Antonio, Tx to go to Goodfellow Air Force base she met Devon Barker on the bus.
Their relation became close to a point that when it was getting time to change bases they decided to quickly get married so that they could be stationed together at the same base.  Only I didn't find out until several months later because she new how much a wedding meant to me, so she was afraid to tell me.  Oh well, her happiness means a lot to me to, and Devon is good to her, and they seem to be very happy.

    


I had probably the best Christmas ever in 2009 before my children scattered all over the place.  It was at my sisters and most of our immediate family was there.  We had our first ever white Christmas.  All of our family was snowed in and couldn't go home.  We played cards, watched old movies, and finally made bed palettes to sleep on for the night.  It was superb.  The next day I new my children had to travel by car, amazingly we had breakfast and watched the snow melt and the road became safe again.  I think it was a magic Christmas I will never forget.
I now have to admit that I think the Air Force has been a good thing for the 2 of them I just wasn't ready to let my babies go, but when is a mother truly ready.  I miss them very much.  I've already told my husband that he needs to work real hard to get our lives in order because when I some day here that grand babies are coming, well that's when we'll have to talk because I'm not missing that in my life. I just consider the separation I'm having with my kids right now a bump in the road, but I'm taking a detour for a while to find my way back to them.  Don't get me wrong I have enjoyed life without the constant care and worry of kids, but I miss that time of day when the kids are in bed safe in the house and the world just all seems right.

Saturday, February 5, 2011


There are a few things in my life that make me extremely happy. My sister is one of them. She is my best friend and confidant. I can relay to her anything that's bothering me, but I have to be willing to take brutal criticism. It's good to know there is a place I can go that no matter what I say they will still love me and be non judgmental. She's also a very beautiful and a graceful dancer. This gentleman in the photo is her Latino dance instructor. If you would like to learn to dance here's your man. He instructs in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area. If you would like to learn to dance with this man (he turns out winners) just contact me via email and I will tell you how to get in contact with him. makingdoundertheeaves@gmail.com or memories332@gmailcom