Mirthful

It is interesting that mirthful is this week's word and I am experiencing the worst weather of the winter so far. I am less than mirthful right now. My dogs that just slid about 8 feet on the icy patio are feeling even less so. But, as they say--the show must go on. I have a confession to make. I hate clowns and am terrified of them, however, I have a fascination with jester's hats. I make no sense sometimes. Actually, truth be told, party hats of any sort. Linda Malcolm at Lost Coast Designs has at least two wonderful sets of party hats of all sorts and then another must have set of wild animals with party hats. They are definitely for those with eclectic tastes and were perfect for my mirthful Every Inchie Monday theme. Enjoy......

Maudlin

Every Inchie Monday day again.....the week rolls around really fast. This week's theme was maudlin. I couldn't figure out my interpretation until I saw about 10 minutes of Beverly Hills Housewives or whatever it's called. They were bemoaning their youth and they looked stunning. My inchie idea came from that. It's always interesting where ideas find their beginnings. Enjoy....

Snow Day

An unexpected gift of a snow day and I got lost in my studio. Dreams do come true sometimes. This is a piece for my oldest friend in the world that I've found again. I feel so lucky to have made that reconnection since we spent a majority of our time together during elementary school. He was my other half.

Birds of a Feather

I am back in the tundra of St. Louis after quite an eventful trip to the Tampa, St. Petersburg Beach area for five days of gymnastics bonding. This was our fourth year to travel down with Sammi's team and we had a great time, although the weather could have been slightly warmer. Fun was had by all. This season is still surreal since it is Sammi's last under USAG rules so each meet is bittersweet. It was a fun time for her since she had uninterrupted team time and also took home the all around award for the meet after winning bars, beam, floor, and taking second on vault. Add to that the camaraderie of the team, team parents, coaches and just generally the gymnastics world and you come up with the first reason I titled this entry, "Birds of a Feather." Gymnasts are a different breed and those in that world with them all have to stick together. I would guess it is that way for any high level individual competitive sport as well. Well, we did all stick together and it was a memorable time.

I worked on my inchie for the word caring today. I didn't have a clue what I was going to do until I was in front of my bird feeder and saw a male cardinal putting seed into his female's mouth since she couldn't get up to the feeder (the restaurant was quite crowded). Hence, the inchie I made for caring has a pair of birds and the titled phrase. I spent quite a lot of time watching the bird interaction and found it quite amazing.

Powerful

That word means so many things to so many people. For me emotions are the most powerful thing in my life and always have been. This week I experienced a myriad of them....pride, fear, joy, and a little sadness as my daughter began her last competitive gymnastics season unless she chooses to continue in college. All were almost equal in intensity but the joy eclipsed the others when I saw her triumph over some physical and mental challenges. So for me, joy is the emotion I find the most powerful. I celebrate it in my entry for this week's inchie challenge. We leave for Tampa on Wednesday for her to compete again. It will be bittersweet for her since each meet will be her last one with the team. Fourteen years is a long time in a young life.

Eclectic

I noticed an online inchie challenge and decided to have a go. Now whether I will do it every week or not, I guess we'll find out soon enough. But it was very fun to work on this one today for the theme, eclectic. What's more eclectic than a post-Christmas phrase the I added at the end??? Today's "Fa la la" started as a leftover piece of transparency from a local demo last October. It was spot colored with Ranger alcohol inks, texturized with a product called Wood Icing that led to the darker more matte finish, and then gilded with Gildenglitz. I finished it off by backing it to a piece of white cardstock. What a fun time I had with this little piece.