squeezing in a little art

I think its time to let these girls rest a while.

I like how they look in the Rhododendrons

On these pages I used graphite pencils, colored pencils, acrylic paint, acrylic glaze, glued on ephemera, clear gesso, rubber stamps and ink, and I think when its good and dry I am going to spray hair spray on it for a fixative. 

 Mixed media. 

I would like to throw a little more stuff on it, but I'm kind of afraid too.

Maybe in a week.

Things to do with grandkids...

Make home made play-dough.

We played with this for hours today!

 Introduce your grandson to the love of his life...

and the other love of his life...

 ice cream!

He didn't really care about the sugar cone. 

He was after the ice cream!

 More play dough fun! I think the sculpting was lots more fun than the cookie cutter stuff. This is a family on a big bean-bag type chair, a lamp, a flat screen tv, rugs, and a baby in a cradle with a teddy bear.

Tori actually thanked me for making play-dough with her!

Tell me if you want the recipe. It was fun and easy. from my daughter.

We also made peanut butter cookies. 

My recipe: 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg. so easy and fast.

Suzi Blu, art teacher

A few things from my latest on-line art class...

 Above is not something I am crazy about, but there is something about it I like. . . like not too bad for a first try.

Here is a face I sketched and shaded. 

Still needs paint and background. 

I will probably do it over the weekend.

and another face, sketched and shaded.

 I can see if I keep practicing these could be really fun to do. 

 I can imagine sketching all my granddaughters...

The lovely lighting comes from my back yard at about 7:00 p.m. in the evening.

Watch for the finished pages in a couple of days.

Suzi Blu is kind of a wild and crazy character.  Her videos show a slightly wacky side of her personality, but once she gets down to the ART she is a fabulous teacher who explains everything and she does tons of videos so you can see her "at work" on her projects.

A grandma kind of day

I spent the day with Tori and Wyatt. 

Tori is getting to be quite the photographer. 

she took these two rose photos.

and the next three photos at her great grandma and grandpa's house...

This was a sweet moment -

the first time Wyatt allowed great-grandpa to hold him in his lap.

Then we went grocery shopping - bought lunch, and went to the park to eat it...

I wonder if Tori and I have been watching too much "next top model" programs...

 Why is it all the kids want to go up the slides backwards???

Wyatt was afraid of the little kids' playground,

but felt totally at home in the bigger kids area.

siblings on a tricycle.

We found blackberries to pick. 

Wyatt LOVED them!

I've never seen anything like it.

Better than his binkie!

Queen Anne's Lace - the most beautiful wildflower.

and Tori "mountain biking.

We had such a great day. 

I only posted a small portion of the pictures Tori and I took today.

My Monday

 Things we did on Monday:

1. make blueberry muffins for a friend who just had a baby.

2. a trip to the park

Miss Tori took most of these photos with my camera.

I think she's getting good at it!

3. A stroller-walk around the neighborhood.

Grandpa pushing.

Wyatt had to keep looking back to see what Tori and I were doing.

Very focused on getting to that toy!

Wave bye-bye to grandma!

Fishing license pays off...

Friday p.m.

Saturday a.m.

Saturday breakfast

Phil and Walker went on a hike Friday. 

 Phil caught one BIG trout - TWELVE INCHES!

This is our second Saturday morning in a row having fresh

pan fried trout for breakfast. 

By the way, Phil catches it and cooks it!

Farmer's Market

Steamed carrots

with a little butter and garlic

Rainbow Chard Fritatta

Roasted beets

Beet Greens steamed

and stirred into yukon gold mashed potatoes

Looking forward to a colorful week