Welcome to Wherever You Are ...

2012

2012-01-16T16:23:00.003-05:00

All my dear friends....It has been too long..... I am working at Milford Central School while maintaining a small business in design. I have been working on t-shirts, paintings, signs, decals and bumper stickers. I am busy enough to stay happy and content.

I have not had the opportunity to visit with my dear friends Jack and Sondra. For this I am very sad. In addition, I haven't had time to visit with my mother whose health is slowly declining.

Needless to say I have had a bit weighing on my mind. Hence, the lack of posts. I do hope to post more this year. Thank you to those who have been my sounding board. Til later.......

Rainy Day

2011-04-17T18:03:00.002-04:00

We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese today. Got home an crashed..... yesterday burnt me out. Now just sitting here with the lights low and relaxing waiting for a thunderstorm. more later.

NYC Trip

2011-02-28T10:33:00.007-05:00

Well we took our little trip to NYC. The Children had a blast, they walked around like they owned the place. Scary! We were limited on time due to scheduling of the train, therefore we had to cut out many things from our itinerary. The kids loved MARS 2112 and Ripley's the most. MARS 2112 is a themed restaurant in NYC that takes you on a journey to MARS on their spaceship. You exit the spaceship and enter the restaurant (Mars) greeted by Martians. The kids enjoyed their meal that included crispy chicken tenders with fries, all you can drink soft drinks and a dessert for only 16.95 :-{ What was I Thinking? Well I must stay that in addition to the lunch the price included $5 game pass to the arcade in the restaurant. Knowing this, the kids were anxious to get to the arcade and agonized over the fact that they had to wait for their dessert to come. YIKES! After the stress of that we journeyed to the arcade which was a typical arcade and Torrey won a teddy bear for Eliza. Hunter of course was sore that he didn't get one so he used all of his money to attempt to get one. No luck!

After lunch we went to Ripley's. Surprisingly, we had no problems finding our way around the city. Ripley's was a bit pricey $107 for all of us! The place was creepy, cool, amazing and exciting wrapped all in one. As we weaved in and out of the maze of Ripley's souvenirs, we encountered bizzare animals with extra extremities, a chicken that lived for several years AFTER it's head was cut off (Yuck), torture devices, death masks and extraordinary people, just to name a few. The best part was the black hole, which as a small narrow room with a rotating tunnel speckled with glow paint. Inside the tunnel was a metal bridge, the challange was to make it from one side of the tunnel to the other while keeping your balance. I can't image that anyone could. I felt drunk as I swayed from on side of the bridge to the other. It is amazing that the tunnel spinning created an illusion that caused you to get dizzy even though nothing more that the tunnel was spinning. Hard to explain, but cool! Needless to say after that we were anxious to get back to our room to rest. An early train the next morning pulled us away from NYC way too early for the kids and not soon enough for Tor and I. NYC is so much better when you aren't worrying about keeping your children safe, happy and fed. Happy to get back home to OJO and Kaluah!

Easter Bunny Carrot Box

2011-02-21T09:16:00.002-05:00

I found this web sharing site that will hold my gsd (silhouette cutting files) for you all to grab. This is my first time doing this so if it doesn't work out let me know. Thanks and enjoy this. I am new to file design so bear with me. But hey they are all free. Who can beat free?
Enjoy.
http://www.4shared.com/dir/1LCz3A-S/sharing.html

FEbruary Break

2011-02-21T08:04:00.003-05:00

Well February has been a busy month for us.

Eliza and I have been busy with Girl Scouts. Our girls are planning a Father Daughter bowling at the Strike Zone on the 27th and we had to design tee shirts, make invitations and decorate our bowling pins for awards.

Hunter was in a talent show at the school. He was able to build a lego car in 58 seconds beating his own record of 2:15 . Wow! I helped Mrs. Sittler with the talent show, trying to keep all 70 of those kids in line is entirely too much for one teacher. She was so pleased that I helped that she send me a valentine. Oh so sweet. Thanks Mrs. Sittler!

Torrey has been busy with his classes, emergency squad and helping Vicki Winchester prepare the boys scouts for their emergency medical exam.

I have been working with Sondra Freckelton on documenting her print holdings and entering the data in a database. We also had to build a fence around her antique hemlock, as the deer were attacking it.

Finally, I started working on creating some of my own cutting files for my silhoutte. I would upload them but I have no Idea how. Last night I began a consignment piece for Tom Thayer (he had been oh so patient). I think he will like it. So take a look.

What an Exciting Time

2010-07-14T10:39:00.004-04:00

With Summer in full swing, Torrey and I were both blessed with wonderful opportunites. Torrey was offered a job teaching Summer School at Cherry Valley Springfield Central School as well as, a tutoring job. We didn't expect that. I was fortunate enough to have some wonderful artists and professors from SUNY Oneonta looking to recommend me for an illustration project for a children's book. This project is quite exciting and I am working with Louse Patane, a self published author. My other project for this Summer is an extraordinary opportunity to work with two world renouned artists; Jack Beal and Sondra Freckleton. I am working with them to catalogue their art collection. This opportunity has given me the opportunity to meet some really wonderful artists and learn about the art market. I look forward to the next several months. I will try to keep you posted.

SUNY Oneonta Student Art Exhibition

2010-04-08T11:59:00.009-04:00

I made it in. I have Four pieces that will be in the show this month. I am so excited. All are paintings with the exception of one which is a dress form artist book, that tells a story of how I learned to sew from my mother and how I am passing that on to Eliza. Well with no further ado... here they are.

This next one is my "frog pond"

I love this painting because of the delicate water lillys and my frog, which is barely visable but present no the less.

This one is "Frangipani" a beautiful flower that grows in Hawaii.

And finally, my "POP Butterfly Conservatory" I took many photos during our visit to the conservatory last Spring.

Painting away!!!

2010-04-08T11:34:00.005-04:00

I have been working on these two paintings today. Aren't they beautiful. I am so excited. Can't wait to get back to painting.

Break.....

2010-04-07T10:00:00.001-04:00

Spring Break for me and I have 8 paintings to complete, 2 presentations and a 3 -5 page paper. Wait, I thought I was on break. Humph!

I am still alive!

2010-03-29T19:15:00.002-04:00

Just sitting here trying to relax for the evening when my son comes out and screams...."it's not working". I ask what is not working and he screams...."my DS". Technology is a double edged sword!

SNOW DAY

2009-12-09T18:27:00.003-05:00

Snow days are fun for the kids but how about the parents? Well I had a little helper to put away laundry, to make microwave cupcakes... which by the way were pretty good and paint a girl in the rain on a spring day. We also watched ABC's Prep and Landing... it was okay but the build up to it left me feeling like it could have been better. Oh well, the kids liked it.
Kaluha is home from her surgery. She is tired and just lays between my feet. My poor poor puppy. Well I smell dinner, better go take it out of the oven. Hope you all have a great evening.

Black Friday

2009-11-27T19:36:00.002-05:00

Yeah... it wasn't bad at all. Did my shopping and didn't run into any lines or crowds. My computer may have been a little slow but alls good and well when you shop online. We had a great Thanksgiving at G-ma's. Gloria made a wonderful turkey and a juicy ham. I was wonderful to see Kenzie and chat with her. What a wonderful person she is. I spoke with my mom, Cathy, Aunt Liz and Dad... all were doing great and looking forward to Thanksgiving.
I am looking forward to a nice weekend with my kids.

Thankful

2009-11-21T08:05:00.005-05:00

I am sorry it has been so long since my last post. I blame facebook. I love facebook.
We have had a lot of things that have happend in our family. I have asked God many times, why do bad things happen to good people and I have had to rethink everything. I have to look at all of this from a positive point of view and be thankful that although live has it's unexpected and not alway enjoyable moments, through modern medicine our loved ones are still here and on the way to recovery. With that all said here is the roller coaster my family has been on since April. In september my mother in law experienced some health problems. After seeing the doctor she was diagnosed with uteran cancer. She goes in December 4th to have a hysterectomy. This whole year has been a rocky road for my father who has battled heart problems, blood clots, and much more. After more surgeries than I can remember, and many complications, he lost his left leg. He was comoforted by all his 8 children when he returned from surgery, which made him feel a little better. I feared that this would be devistating for him, but he is handling this all better than I anticipated. overall, he is feeling 100% better helping him deal with his loss much better. Most recently, my sister in law had emergency surgery for some health problems and she too was diagnosed with cancer. She will be undergoing chemo for the next six months.
Through all of this we have had to maintain our normal lives. In doing so I have been working on some wonderful paintings so here they are.

2009-07-03T20:07:00.002-04:00

Well geeze... it's been way too long. Honestly, I've been all caught up in Facebook. Whoa.. so hooked. I have loaded pic there for viewing. My daughter's pre-k graduation, Hunter's last day of school, our trip to the POP Butterfly Conservatory and my works of art. It is worth checking out. I am winding down on a Friday night, relaxing with my peeps (Torrey, Hunter and Eliza). We will be going to the 4th of July Parade in Springfield tomarrow and should be posting some pics on Facebook. Mom, if you read this...... please check out facebook, what a great way to network with friends and family and keep abreast of what's going on. Come on do it... everyone else is.
xoxoxoxox

Princess Party Anyone?

2009-05-29T14:25:00.004-04:00

I worked yesterday and today on this princess party favor set of six. I thought it turned out fit for a princess... tee hee. It is posted on my Etsy site.

Hope you enjoyed looking.

Got another

2009-05-26T17:54:00.003-04:00

Well this morning as I was looking through Hunter's Ranger Rick magazine, I got thinking... I should paint some of these animals. So I did. here is a Riendeer. Hope you like. It might just make it's way to my dad (Fitz) for father's day.

My Spare time

2009-05-26T10:43:00.003-04:00

I don't know if I had mentioned that my wonderful children (with help from papa and me) bought me a Silhouette SD for mothers day. What a machine. It cuts images out of paper so that I don't have to. But that is not it, I can obtain different GSD files from Quickuts and other sites, that allows me a wide variety of images to cut.

So I may have posted some of the stuff that I have done, but I really wanted to show you all this tiffany lamp. I purchased it online from http://www.paperthreads.com/, the artist is Jeannie Bean Crafts. So enough - check this out and try to remember that these are made out of paper.

Time to Craft

2009-05-26T10:20:00.005-04:00

It has been sweet, because I have had the time to work on some crafts. I wanted to show you first the flag I made out of canvas that I purchased at Wally World for 4.95/yard. I primed the canvas with zinzer then sketched in my design and painted. I then sewed the top and bottome edges under to allow me to hand it. I haven't yet, hung up the flag posts yet but I will.

The lotus flower is such a beautiful flower. I could have done without the butterfly, I should have put in a dragonfly. Oh well.

I worked on the teacher thank you gifts with the kids. I cut out apples from foam core and 1.5 x 12 inch strips that I mitered one of the long sides on. I hot glued the long sides together to form a sort of shelf. I then glued the apple to the shelf and had the kids cover the apple with red tissue paper the stems with green and the shelf with the color of their choice. Eliza chose purple and Hunter chose orange. I added a photocopy of a ruler and then coated each wiyh a protective coat and allowed it to dry over night. I covered soup cans with alphabet paper. I then cut a semi circle behind the apple and into the bottome of the shelf to fit the soup can into, allowing it to sit flat on the ground. I used ultra strong craft adhesive to glue the can to the apple and shelf. I then used stickers to put the teachers name on the shelf or in one case the apple.

Finally

2009-05-17T17:58:00.008-04:00

So I finished my last final exam last Tuesday. You are probably thinking, well why hasn't she posted? I function slow, I answer. tee hee

I really want to get some pics of my paintings up to forgive me for not doing a formal post regarding them

Tuesday, Torrey and I picked up some seedlings and other gardening supplies. We fiddled in the garden for a bit, until the kids were done at school. Torrey, the kids and I went to my parents. Dad made the most awesome lasagna, so good that Hunter couldn't resist coming back to the table to chow down on more. We had a good time.

Wednesday, I caught the Spring Cleaning bug and worked my way through a TO DO list that seemed to never end. The house was clean until about 20 mins after the kids got home. Oh well.

Thursday, Eliza had kindergarten registration. She was so cute leading US to the little gym, where registration was taking place. She has had an advantage, as her pre K is in the same building. She did well and was excited to be able to go right back to Ms. Testa's class, 'cause she is not ready yet to go to kindergarten, she wants to stay with Ms. Testa for more days. TOO CUTE. After returning from school, I had to throw together a Bakugan cake for the PARP program at the school. I made the Bakugan out of rice crispy treats, that I had molded in 2 small bowls, then cut them into the pieces that I needed to make the body. I found a recipe for marshmallow fondant that was really cool, cause it allowed me to roll it out and form it over the rice crispy body. The base was the actual cake - made to look like a Bakugan card. I could have kicked myself, as I didn't get pictures. BUMMEr! I will have to check with Ms. Clark to see if she took pics.

Friday, Eliza received an award for reading 250 books of the 1000 book club. She received a balloon and a certificate. She was so proud.

Yesterday - I was exhausted. We had plans to take Hunter to a birthday party - Torrey took him by himself. I was able to do a card for the two boys, I did Bakugan cards with WALMART card inside. We received news of a very good friend of ours that is very sick and in the hospital, with medical problems that mirror what Torrey went through. He will be in the hospital for at least 10 days if not more. I wanted to provide support for him and his family, offering my services to watch the grandkids. Kristen took me up on it late in the day, but not to rest or collect her thoughts, but because she took Rylee (her oldest) to a TBall game. I pray for them all. I know what a time they have a head of them.

Last night I stayed up to work on my card challanges, that I am four weeks back on. I finished the gate card, the apricot ridinghood red and confetti card and I couldn't resist using my Silhouette to create a card - so here they are:

Today, my CFS is catching up with me and I am exhausted. I am not functioning well at all. I did have my nephew over for a play date with Eliza. He was so good and the two had fun together. Thank GOD for V-Smile - it kept them busy when Torrey wasn't outside with them. What a wonderful husband. So I just got up to post a little. .

Breath Breath PUSH

2009-04-29T16:23:00.005-04:00

The end of the semester feels a lot like giving birth... deep breath and push out the work.....I can't wait for vacation. I have two finals on the 7th and 11th and I have two critiques on the 8th.

I wanted to thank all of you that were able to make it to the gallery exhibition that presented someof my works. I fully apologize to those who did go and I missed them. It was becoming very crowded very fast and Donna, Torrey and I made room for the incoming.

So I wanted to post one of my watercolor paintings that I have completed for this semester. It wasn't one of my favorites, but I think that I pulled it off. I haven't taken in progress photos, although I should have, and maybe I will for the other three. Hope you enjoy.

Off to see James and the Giant Peach with the 2nd grade classe, on Thursday. I have never chaperones before.... wish me luck...

Gifts

2009-04-23T06:50:00.004-04:00

A friend of mine asked me to decorate a pencil box for her (you know the ones Wal-Mart was selling in September). Well I had run out.... no more to decorate. So, my creative mind went to work and I was able to take one of my own pencil boxes and use it as a template to make a new one out of acitate. I thought it turned out fairly nice. I used Stampin' up DS papers to accesorize. Hope you like it. I know my friend did.

Exhibition for Re-Cognizing Joy - Reception Thursday

2009-04-22T17:11:00.010-04:00

The Special Collaborative Project that I have been working on with a really wonderful group of students and my favorite Professor, Rhea Nowak, is up and running. We set up on Monday the 13th and have a reception on Thursday the 23rd from 5 -7 at the James Mullen Gallery at SUNYOneonta. Whew! that was a mouthfull...... but there is more. The Juried Student Show is on Exhibit at the Gallery as well, and I have four works on display. In case you haven't seen any of these I will post them here.

Beacuse it has been so long since my last post I have a plethara to say. Let me see. Firstly, I produces a piece for the Art Gallery in Cherry Valley, the show was scheduled for April 4. I drove around Cherry Valley; the community center, the cafe, and to a residence, all places I had been told to check with for drop off of my piece. It was a cold blustery day and I was becoming increasingly irritated that no one was around, that I gave up. Feeling defeated, I drove home and received an email from Jane from the Art Gallery saying that the auction was scheduled for that night and I could submit my piece next year. The defeat felt more intense. BUMMER. Any way here is the peace made of recycled cereal boxes,broken glass and paint. I thought it was kinda cool.........

What else did I miss? Oh, I can't forget, Hunter had his tonsills out on April 6th. He was such a trooper. I have one photo of him prior to surgery and he has been up and running since.

Easter was fun. We had four Easter egg hunts, one here with Emmee and Rylee, one at Emmee and Rylee's house the next day, one at the neighbors house Easter morning, and last but not least one at Aunt Gloria's. A lot of candy and a lot of fun. I am still eating jelly beans.....

____________________________________________________________________

OK So before I for get I have pics of the instillation of the Re-Cognizing Joy exhibit.

Spraygraphic

2009-03-22T09:36:00.002-04:00

OK Spraygraphic is a great community for creative minds and I am a creative mind...tee hee, so I am a member. anywhoo, at the begining of the month they had a minimini 4 x 4 exhibition that they put out requests for pieces. I placed two pieces in so check them out here http://spraygraphic.com/rebarobinson - Check it out. I also have some pieces that I have worked on for other things. I also have two exhibitions that are at SUNY Oneonta this April and May, so when they are posted I will link to them.
April is looking good as well as the Cherry Valley Artworks http://www.cvartworks.org/ is haviing a Recyled Art Show and Auction that I will be submitting a piece for. So Excited. I will be posting it on spraygraphic later today. Look for it.

WOW

2009-03-22T09:27:00.002-04:00

What shocking news my family received yesterday. Its a long story but I wanted to tell ya'll as we are all excited! My brother in law, Marty, has two children that he hasn't seen since they were real little, I think 2 and 4 or 5. Anywhoo, Torrey and I tried many times to find them (BethAnn and Heather) but have been unsucessful. We never wanted to tell Marty we were searching for them as it was a very touchy subject for him. We didn't realize that Marty, too was searching for them and.... BethAnn was searching for him. Well my wonderful mother in law received a call on Friday from a friend of BethAnn's who was helping in the search for Marty. BINGO, contact was made. Marty and BethAnn were able to talk to each other for the first time in over twenty years! How tear jerking is that. I almost want to cry as I type. Well from there Torrey and I were able to make contact with her via email and we are beside our self with exitement and joy of this new discovery.
I will try to keep ya'll updated, but you know me, I am an intermittent blogger resulting in large gaps between my blogs.... Sorry!
Later

wasting time

2009-01-24T12:56:00.003-05:00

Beautiful Saturday... if you like whipping wind and 22 degree weather. Actually, if you are inside (which I am) it does look beautiful out. I had to bring Eliza to the clinic today. She has been complaining of tummy ache, difficulty hearing and sore throat.. diagnosis... strep throat and wax impacted ears..... really impacked...YUCK!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing when the nurse douched her ears. Pieces of was that were the size of my pinky nail. The poor child. She was given an antibiotic and is doing quite well.
Eliza is now playing with Kahlua and Hunter is watching Robbie the Reindeer. I have a moment to myself to blog. Mostly, I am just rambling and putting off my watercolor studies. I guess I'd better do it. WEll til later.

School/Family/Pets and Stuff

2009-01-22T16:21:00.004-05:00

I have to show you our new puppy..... We named her Kahlua. She is too precious.

Torrey and I have both started back to school. I am taking a Special Collaborative Group Project emphasizing JOY and what it means to each group member. We have to take self portraits, write a poem or short writing on what brings us JOY and each group member is to invite one person to photograph doing what brings them JOY. We are designing shirts that say JOY NOW to wear in the portraits. We will have to collaborate an exhibition of the finished works, promote the exhibition and create a web site dedicated to our collaborative. It is all new to me as well as everyone else, so it will be interesting. WE are making great progress and I hope that we can stay on track.

I am also taking BIO - Making of the Modern World and Watercolor II. All are quite interesting. Torrey is taking Computer Ed course, Geography, Education literacy, and US Presidencies.... GOD bless him.

Hunter is doing well in 2nd grade. Eliza is really enjoying Kahlua. She treats her like a baby. I have to watch her cause she carries the poor pug everywhere.

Sundy I will be meeting at Gloria's (sister in law) to have a stamp moment... time for us ladies to have some quiet stamp time. Donna will be joining us as well as Julia. Hope to get some pics of what everyone is working on and post them.

Well til then, I have two chapters in HIST to read, a 19 x 24 watercolor study to complete and a list serve to my collab group to post. Might not sound like much to some of you amazing women out there, but hey, I have limits.

Making Headway

2009-01-11T21:18:00.016-05:00

So far so good for the new year. I have had a week to myself, without the children, before heading back to school myself on next Wednesday. I have this vision in my mind to work on paper piecing for scrapbooks and such. It has been a constant thought of mine for a time now. I just purchased a new stamp from http://www.mftstamps.com/ called Isabelle Paper Dolls. Oh this fed my hunger for a bit. I created Sarah, my paper doll, from the set. I then packaged her up in a modified version on a box called My Sweetie box found at http://www.thecatspajamasrs.com/October2008.htm. I just love the way it turned out.

I have also been working on a project for my son's 2nd grade teacher, for his bulliten board. He requested me to make images of children doing winter activities. So I found some images I liked and transferred them to paper pieced images. These are too cute for words. This too is feeding my need as a starving artist... starving meaning need to create. Any who.... I am having fun.

Okay... one last thing... I am getting a new puppy... Oh she is soo cute. She is a 6 week old pug puppy. She will remain with her mother for two more weeks, get her initial vaccinations then come home with us. We went to visit her today and I took some pictures. I think we will name her Piper.

Happy New Years eve

2008-12-31T18:20:00.004-05:00

I am in the midst of making cards for our card challenge using brilliant blue, summer sun and real red from SU and having a manly theme. I had so much fun doing the first card that I totally forgot to use the color challange, so I had to go back and do another card the right way.

Torrey the kids and I are staying home tonight to watch the ball drop. Hunter is psyched about staying up late.... I know that he won't make it to 11:00. Any way.... I am hoping for a happy healthy new year for all my family and friends.... and I'll not forget about you. Happy new year..... keep the eve a safe one.

Ambulance Challange Make Over

2008-11-22T11:42:00.001-05:00

Torrey and Keith challanged me to take an old toy ambulance and remake it to reseble the Milford Ambulance. After much procrastination, I got to and and I am very impressed if I must say so myself. Well so were Torrey and Keith. I have to laugh, because I took a picture of Torrey riding shot gun in the ambulance at the Memorial Day Parade this year, and glued it to the passenger side. I then glued a picture of Keith in the drivers side. What a hoot! Oh can't for get that Polly is on the stretcher.

2008-11-22T11:37:00.000-05:00

Oh I almost forgot Debbie Doncaster, who has a blog that is extremely inspiring. She has wonderful ideas for card makers. Thought you might be interested in checking it out. In addition she is offering blog candy to one lucky winner. Check it out... post your comment and link her site to your. That simple. Good luck! Thanks Debbie for offering such wonderful blog candy to crafters. PASSION FOR CRAFTS http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/

Saturday

2008-11-22T11:29:00.000-05:00

Eliza is completely bored and I am in need of some me time so I called my big sis and asked her if her son Austin could come over for a play date. Eliza is so happy to hear he was coming. So anxiously awaiting his arrival, she got herself all dolled up and pretty for her friend Austin. Here they are upon his arrival. Too cute.

Little something special

2008-11-12T11:03:00.000-05:00

http://craftybe.blogspot.com/2008/11/little-something.html Check out this site for some awesome opportunities!

Creating A Likeness: Birthday Blog Candy!!!!

2008-11-12T10:56:00.000-05:00

Creating A Likeness: Birthday Blog Candy!!!! Hey check out this site. I am so inspired by her drawings and creativity, I hope that you will be inspired as well.

Strawberry Fields: BLOG CANDY

2008-11-12T10:18:00.000-05:00

Strawberry Fields: BLOG CANDY check this out for some great blog candy. I will try to keep this up to date..... but no promises

Fun

2008-11-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

Alright, so I haven't posted in a while. No excuses so I'll just give you some pics of what I have been working on.

This was for my Design 2 class. We had to create three panels using three of the same shape. Withing the three panels we had to stylize an architectual piece of our choosing. I chose to use the Kingfisher Tower in Cooperstown, NY http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/kingfish.htm The resemblences are not readily appearent but are present within each panel. This was not my final version, I had added red to a large portion of it and was satisfied to receive and A+! WooHoo!

Okay so lets move on to the next Design 2 project that was called 4 squares and a circle or 4 circles and a square. Using the elements of design; line, form, color, texture, and demension; we had to select 5 images each for a specific element of design. Using the five images we had to choose 4 for circles (or squares) and 1 for a square (or 1 circle), the key was to distract from the lone circle or square, by utilizing the elements of design. We could use any element of design for our lone shape, except the element of color, and this is key, because this allowed us to distract from the lone shape by using this color. Well enough.... here is my piece... no grade yet but I hear tell I am receiving bonus points!

I think that I was successful in distracting from the square. I am pleased with myself.

So until later, keep creating, share the love and art secrets.

2008-10-23T20:16:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been entirely too long. I have been busy with classes, kids in school, two craft fairs, commissioned projects and so much more. I know that some people can handle this and more while screaming... Bring it On!! but come on, I am only human and I don't take energy enhancing drugs or other stimulants. So please be understanding of my lack of post. I will be attempting to photograph my craft fair pieces and my Found Object sculpture...it's cool! I have a project still with my professor that I am anxious to get back to take photos of.. Afterthought... should have done it before. Duh!

Sculpture

2008-09-26T14:13:00.000-04:00

So I am taking 3 D Design at SUNY Oneonta http://www.oneonta.edu/ and my first project was to create a fish/creature freshwater or sea out of wire, being conscious to consider form, movement, volume and line. I decided to create a turtle. I really enjoy creating turtles and I have made prints of a turtle on wood blocks. I'm sure that I will continue this theme in many of my future pieces. For now, I want you to take a look at this scupture. Please keep in mind that I have never attempted 3 D sculpture, not bad for first try:

Well, my daughter, Eliza, see me creating and enjoying sculpture, so she decided to create a piece of her own. She used a twine ball and added craft items to create a ball head: Notice the use of flowers for arms..... too cute.

Playing Ketch Up

2008-09-26T13:58:00.000-04:00

Well I have to go back in time to September 14th - Milford Corner Store had a Sub Off. The Sub Off was a timed event to see wich employee was fastest in sub making. The contestants; Keith Velasco, owner operator and Kristen Velasco, employee and daughter of owner. Patrons were encouraged to place a bet indicating the who they thought would win and the time it would take for the winner to complete making the sub. Here are some photos of the sub off in action:

I voted for Keith 1 min 28 sec................ Keith you did a great job at 2 min 13 ........ but Kristen was the winner at 1 min 29. I'd like to see who wins at pizza making! Hey check out the stores site at: www.milfordcornerstore.com.

School's back in session

2008-09-08T12:12:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I started back to school on Aug 27th. Not only did I start back but so did Torrey, Hunter and little Eliza, who is in pre-k. We are all managing. Eliza's first day was full of excitement; new people, new friends and a whole new life style for her. She did well, but experienced nausia and fell victim to the first day jitters. Ms. Leach, school nurse, tried to contact both T and I, unable to do so, she called G-ma, who flew in to save the day. When T and I got home, we were surprised to see G-ma's car in the drive. G-ma was rocking in the recliner and little Eliza was passed out on the couch. What a day! We kept her home on Friday, just in case it was a tummy bug. She so wanted to go back to school, so she made a wish that she could go back on Monday. Well her wish came true she is back in today and as far as I know she is enjoying it.
I had my Language of the Visual Arts (ARTH200), with Prof. Farber, this morning, then on to 3-D Design with Prof. Goldman. Both classes are a lot of fun. We have a great dynamic in our ARTH200. The class has 35 students and everyone seems to contribute and add to the seminar. In 3-D design, I am creating a sculpture, out of wire, of a turtle. Wow, what fun I am having. I am almost finished with this awesome project. Who knew that 3-D was going to be soooo much fun.

Slow to Go

2008-07-21T13:16:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I last posted, but I have been busy with the kids, Torrey and planning for Eliza's b-day party and our upcoming family reunion. I really can't do too much at once or I get a little ascew. Here is what happend, I created those beautiful invitations for E's b-day party, finally settled on a date and mailed them out. I went to bed that night and it struck me dumb.......... I forgot to put on the inivations, who the party was for and where it would be! I am soooo blonde. So I called my family first to tell them my booboo, and my sister tells me that the day I picked is the same day as the Hill Family reunion. Crap!!! Well what the hay, I had to call everyone to tell them that I left out the important info on the invite (which I'm sure they were aware of) but also that I had to change the date. How embarrassing! Well with that all done, I had to drive Torrey to the VA in Albany for oral surgery on Friday. He had two wisdom teeth pulled. NOTE to all don't get them pulled at 36 unless you absolutely have to. Torrey's teeth had rooted into his sinuses and the root system was very secure, meaning a lot of pain for poor Torrey, who could only have local anestheic because of VA policies. To make a long story short, after 3 days he is still in pain and looks like someone slugged him. He is a tough guy and can handle it but that doesn't make it suck any less. With all this going on, I haven't had a minute to sit down and post until now.

All that said I was able to complete another challange.

I had dinner at my mother in law's the other night and had a little take home in this circa 70's style bowl. I loved the color combo, and wanted to try creating a card using them. These colors made me feel all warm and fuzzy, weird because they are cool colors. Well any who, I came up with this card, I really can't tell you the colors because I used my scraps to make them. I think the green is Mellow Moss, beyond that can't tell ya. The stamp is a TAC stamp, Silly Monkey. I used the cuttlebug to emboss the light blue cardstock and to create the oval ribbon slide. Details on the monkey are hard to see but I stamped it, then colored it, colored over it with versamark pen, heat embossed with UTEE, then stamped the leaves over the embossed monkey. I liked the look.

Wine is Fine

2008-07-11T23:57:00.000-04:00

My DH is very talented as well. He likes to brew beer, hard cider, wines and make soda's. He recently made some red wine. He is currently bottling it and has asked me to create a label to it. My neice, Cheyanne and I went to work using my Photoshop to create the label. Here is what we have come up with............

I think that for such a tantalizing, suductive, red wine, this is the appropriate label. For more information about Eva Coo check out this site. http://web.archive.org/web/19990911152105/http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/1999/06/02/eva.html

Fourth of July Parade

2008-07-11T23:41:00.000-04:00

So I didn't get a chance to post this yet, sorry it is late. Torrey, the kids, Hunter's friend Ashton and I went to Springfield Center to the Fourth of July parade. It was a great time for us and I did manage to get some photos of the event. Hunter and Ashton really liked the Monster Truck, way cool... I think that this was the most exciting thing for the boys.. next to the candy!

We were freaked out by the weird looking clown, wait aren't all clowns weird and freaky? Well the young lady behind us sure agreed with us.... Clowns are just FREAKY! YIKES!

Uncy Bill was marching with his fire department.... aww, doesn't he look like he is enjoying the moment.... wait I turn to ask Torrey, why isn't Milford marching? No answer.

Well the day was hot and the place a bussle with people and we took the quick out and the shortcut to our car. Nice parade, beautiful day, good day for ice cream at Pop's Place, then back home to take a dip in the pool. No big celebrations, just a lot of fun with family and friends!

Challange #2

2008-07-11T23:18:00.000-04:00

Well let's take a look at page 85 of the Stampin' Up Spring Summer collection 2008. The color challange here was to use Groovy Guava, Mellow Moss, River Rock and Ruby Red cardstock. With the weekly challange made, Donna and I set ourselves to work. In less than the alloted 7 day time span, Donna and I excitedly display our creations to one another and discuss our techniques.

For my card I chose to use the soon to retire Stampin' Up Unfrogettable stamp set. Using the challange colors, I cut rectangles from the Groovy Guava and the Ruby Red card stock. I then dran it through my cuttlebug with the swirls embossing folder. Once I had done this I distressed the edges then crumpled each piece. I taped them down to the River Rock cardstock and gently rolled the corners to give a worn look. I then cut the Mellow Moss card stock and the very vanilla for a mat. Using the SU ticket corner punch, I punched each corner of the two cardstock, taped them together then mounted them on the card. I stamped the images on white cardstock from Wally World and using my aqua brush and SU coordinating chalks, colored in the images. I stamped the Sorry I frogot! on the same white cardstock, then distressed and crumpled, then inked and mounted. For an added touch I ran my EK Success perferator along the background to look like it had been stitched.

G-ma used a teacut stamp purchased from our local craft store K and B Crafts http://www.kandbcraftsupplies.com/, she too, used the SU ticket corner punch and added SU organdy ribbon (no longer available). Great Job Donna!!!

Once again, I am pleased at our results... On to the next challange!

Getting Ready

2008-07-10T19:12:00.000-04:00

I am really strapped for cash this July (I don't know a July that I haven't been) and I thought I would go ahead and make the favors and invitations for Eliza's b-day party. The invitation idea came from splitcoast stampers User: Endless Possibilities http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/973903?cat=12786 I got the idea of the party blowers from the SU catalogue and found them on MarthaSteward.com http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.0e0eb51a2e6b5ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=7b9176ecfd22f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&rsc=type_1&autonomy_kw=party+blowers and the pin wheels I just took 12 x 12 paper and sprayed adhesive on the back of it, then placed another pattern paper on the back to give me a two sided paper that was sturdy. I then cut the paper into 4 6 x 6 squares and with a pencil marked and X from corner to corner, and marking a 2 inch square in the center. I used the X and the 2 inch square in the center as a guide to cut. I cut along the line up to the square center. I then folded down every other triangle and adhered with pop dots (they stick the best and give depth). I then placed a circle sticker in the center of the pinwheel. I poked a needle through the center to give me a hole to place the wire through. I used beads as an anchor so that the wire didn't pull through. I then cut a 1/4" of straw and placed the wire through it on the back. I used skewers that I had drilled a hole in as the handle. I placed the wire through that and wrapped it around for security. There you have it. Here are the Photos........... Oh lest I forget, I bought kalidescopes at the Dollar Tree and covered them with the brightly colored paper.

Challenge Completed

2008-07-03T14:37:00.000-04:00

First Challange..... page 42 from Stampin' Up Spring Summer 08 collection.
So Donna, my mother in law chose the color combo from this page....brilliant blue, confetti white, Old olive and purely pomegranate... I used Stamps Happen, Inc, Chickles by Zoe & Joey; Miss Understood. Love this one. I also used the Stampin' Up scalloped punch and tag punch, placing the scalloped behind the tag punch. I used decorative scissors to cut a strip of old olive along the top then using a needle to punch holes to look like stitching. I added blue satin ribbon then tied purely pomegranate double-stitched ribbon from Stampin'Up to the satin blue ribbon.

Donna (G-ma) used Stampin'Up Bloomin' Beautiful stamp set, creative memories corner rounder. This is a stunning card with creative use of layers. I have to say that I am very pleased with our results and can't wait to see the next challange.

Too Funny

2008-06-25T19:13:00.000-04:00

Torrey, my DH, had is last class for this summer session yesterday. He had to do a presentation on prescription drug use. He hasn't mastered powerpoint yet so, he decided to use this pizza box as a theater with sock puppets. I had to laugh when he caught this picture of our daughter, Eliza with the box on her head.

Self Challange

2008-06-25T18:31:00.000-04:00

I am a member of Splitcoaststampers.com but have yet to participate in one of their challanges. I was looking through my Stampin' up Spring Summer catalogue and thought to myself, what wonderful cards in here. Why, I should challange myself to either a color challange or layout challange at least once a week. Then my mind began to wonder, why not ask my dear mother-in-law to join me in the challange. Each week one of us will choose a card from the catalogue, from the card we choose we will indicate if we want to do a color challange or layout challange. We will meet once a week and explore our creations. We are trying to gather more people to join us for this Self Challange. So I am hoping to post my challanges each week, and my mother-in-law's, if she will allow me. Anywho, I thought, before we even begin, I wanted to challange myself first....so look on page 102, the first card on the page uses bordering blue, mellow moss, and naturals ivory card stock, close to cocoa textured cardstock..... blah, blah, blah..... forget all that, I have tons of scraps and I had to use them..... so I tried my best to match the colors....I think I did well.... Here is my card.... Oh, I used TAC fishing lures stamp set. So I think that this card will be heading down the street to a good neighbor of ours, who has invited us to several bar-b-ques. Good times with good friends makes one want to linger longer (by the way that is a TAC set as well....)

We visit the Farmers Museum

2008-06-20T13:19:00.001-04:00

Oh the rain is here to stay and does not prevent us from going out to play. We managed to get to the Farmer's Museum www.farmersmuseum.org/ on Wednesday, a drizzle here and there but over all we were lucky. Because of the wether we didn't experience a lot of tourists. Hunter and Eliza had a blast feeding the chickens and frolicking with the lambs.

We were fortunate to get close up to Zeb, the horse, and take pictures. We then traveled the trail behind the village up the hill to see the bison. Hunter was our tour guide, telling us what each building was for and about the animals. I was quite pleased to see him so excited.

We are fortunate to live only 15 minutes from Cooperstown and all it has to offer. A membership to the New York State Historical Association was only $75/year and allows us free admission to The Farmers Museum and The Fenamore Art museums, access to the Research Library, and as a benefit of membership I will also receive NYSHA beautiful magazine Heritage, a Quarterly Calendar of Events and Newsletter. CHECK IT OUT http://www.nysha.org/

Auction for Family Reunion in August

2008-06-18T09:12:00.000-04:00

My paternal family reunion is in August and every year we have an auction that allows each member of the family to submit an item to be auctioned off. Here is my submission. It is a study I did from Elizabeth Kincaid's book "Paint Watercolors That Dance with Light". I discovered this book through my advisor, Yolanda Sharpe and at her recommendation I purchased it. You can find the book at amazon.com. Enough............. here it is.... hope you like it.... I do!

T-Ball

2008-06-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

Hunter had a game tonight against the Indians. I had to post these. What a group of great kids!

Graduation Right around the corner

2008-06-07T08:16:00.000-04:00

Yes, my neice, Morgan will be graduating valdedictorian of her class! Not only is she bright but she is beautiful as well. I took a moment last night to create a graduation card for her. Stampin up paper (groovy guava), ribbon (double stitched wild wasabi) and stem silhouettes stamp set. I used water color paper to stamp on.

moving along

2008-06-06T16:01:00.000-04:00

With the end of the year coming ever so close (only 6 more days to go).... I have completed the small gifts for the children in Hunter's class, as well as Mrs. Campbell's first grade class. Really simple, they are just microwave popcorn wrapped in a decorative cover. Cute and easy. I also placed a unique popcorn recipe inside each sleeve for the children to try over the summer. I think that the children will love them. It's a nice thoughtful gift that the children can enjoy with their families.

Now Torrey, my husband, is on the Emergency squad and has signed up to work the Milford Village Days to generate revenue for the Squad. He will be working that day with Millie, another squad member. Now Millie is an amazing woman, she and Clover, yet another member, have gathered either by purchasing or soliciting donations, several items to support the sale that the squad will be doing. She asked me to produce a sign for the sale items, as well as a sign indicating the donors. I also offered to make thank you cards for the squad to send to the generous donars. So with that all said here are some pictures of them:

Smooth Sailin'

2008-06-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

Well we are at the end of the week and as I promised I am posting what I have been working on. First I'd like to show you my teacher gift to Mr. Cottrell, who, by the way, is a wonderful teacher!!! This is a clear acrylic photo fram from the dollar store that I used Autumn Leaves flourishes v.2 to stamp white stazon, I then used stampin' up chalks to add close to cocoa over the stazon. The images were from clipart on the internet. I used Miss Elizabeth paper pack for the background pattern paper, Stampin' up close to cocoa cardstock behind the saddle image. The clip holding the note paper came from Office Max. The horse head image also came from clip art on the internet.

My next project was to create gift for the teacher's assistants. I have done three but still have at least four more to do. What I have here are three mini notes books. I have made these and hope to create some more for other members of the MCS staff.

Lake Front

2008-06-04T18:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Eliza and I went to Cooperstown, to the lake front to feed the ducks, but only found students from the northern catskill occupational center planting flowers and other various landscaping. Unfortunately, this drove the ducks away and Eliza and I had to make alternative plans. With limited time left and funds low, as well we went home and did our laundry and then walked to the school to pick up Hunter. We played in the park for a short time then headed home for the the evening. Kinda a boring day. Well today hasn't been much more exciting, I went to Sally's who had 1/2 off all clothing and bought $90 worth of clothing for $45. YeeHaa!!!

I still haven't taken pictures of the gift for the kids yet. I'll get there. Feeling a little slow today. Maybe tonight I will get to it. Look for them soon. i promise by the end of the week!

Good Weather, Good Health, Good Times

2008-06-03T08:35:00.000-04:00

Well the weather is taking a turn for the better, as with our health. With those two in line good times are sure to follow. Eliza and I have two weeks to spend together before Hunter is finished with school. I hope to take her to Otsego lake today if the weather holds. We may even go to see G-ma. Oh and we need to go to the Family Dollar to pick up some bubbles, cause she is a bubble blowing fool. Torrey has started classes for the first summer session. Go Go Go. More power to him.
I will be working on the gifts for Mr. Cottrell, Hunter's teacher, as well as Mrs. Banks, TA and Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Eramo, Mrs. Campbell and Cheyanne, Hunter's CROP group. I am doing microwave popcorn for each child in his grade. I have wrapped them up with a cute note and attached special popcorn recipes for each child to try over the summer. I hope to get photos of the completed projects and post them this week.
TTFN
Reba

4.0

2008-05-20T17:23:00.001-04:00

Yeah...that's right....I checked my grades today and very pleased to say that I got all A's!!!! One year complete and two more to go. I sure am enjoying the academic, social, and spiritual growth this is allowing me. I feel like a new person. i really can't wait for the Fall semester to start.

Gotto go, Eliza wants me to cover her up.

Home stretch..........

2008-05-09T21:37:00.000-04:00

I have officially finished classes and now have one exam left and two more final projects due next week. My four panel drawings of hands were handed in last Tuesday. I forgot to take a picture of the final project but I do have pics of the beginings here:

This one is Age and Aging. I wanted to express arthristis and it's painful and debilitating effects. I wanted to include the x-ray with the damaged bone. I think that I was successful and ultimately, very pleased with this panel.

This panel represents hatred and despair. I really went out of my comfort zone with the use of different mediums and subject matter. This is actually not the finished panel, but the beginings of something much greater. I feel that I was sucessful in demonstrating the hatred, anger and painful emotions one might feel followed by despair when one is left with no other options. I can relate to this in many ways. This is an emotional piece for me because I think of a person very close to me that was unable to get beyond the despair of his anger and hatred of his own life that he committed suicide. His loss makes me cherish my life and the lives of the ones around me even more. He was an important influence in my life, even if he is not here to know it.

This panel is Love and tenderness. The hands in the center of my daughter and my mother-in-law. I wanted to show the love that can be expressed through a tender touch. The hand to the lower right is the giving of a young rose bud, the blossoming tenderness that then develops into the love of the rose in the upper left corner. I included the hand holding the rose to emphasize the tenderness of a flower and the petals that are falling to express the tenderness is but a moment and can change within seconds. A bit complicated, but effective.

Only 2 Weeks Til Finals

2008-04-26T15:46:00.000-04:00

Trying to get it together.....I have four watercolors due on the 16th, four 24" X 18 " panel drawings involving hands due on the 6th, a two plate lino cut and intaglio due on the 6th as well! YIKES!!! Oh just remembered, a 10 page paper for Western Civ on the artists of the Renassance. Hope to get the art images up online by then.

Til then, here are some pics of my inspirations...........