Crafty BIrthday!

Today is my birthday...I feel more comfortable saying OUR birthday. I am an identical twin. Life has always been plural to me. My sister is 2500 miles away & two hours behind me, so at midnight my time I was a year older than she for two hours...hehehe! It gets pretty wet & cold where she lives so I made her a pink fuzzy hat & scarf. I had to play with them first though!

Since our day falls one day before Valentine's Day I often overlook the fun craft opportunities as a mom and wife. Our new house & my bigger craft room offers the chance to decorate & do that crafty valentine's thing. The only problem is that I have a BOY. I'm lucky to get him in the craft room for 15 minutes. I can get him to paint or glue, but not decorate. I decided to utilize his love of trains & dinos as a way of getting him more involved in the artistic side of his genetic gifts. It worked.

But there is still that hole. That empty place once filled by my two sweet girls who lived for only a short time in their physical forms. I miss the pink. I miss the girly girl stuff. I miss them. The awareness in the back of my mind that one week from now, one week from a very happy time of birthdays and love, is a time of darkness & sadness as we embrace yet another anniversary of Emily's passing. But that will be another blog.

This year, as we crafted valentine's, I kept their pictures close by & imagined I was playing with them & making them sweet pink surprises. It helps a little. It gets me through. My boy does the rest. The pink dino mobile was a success, as was the heart banner he helped me make. We hung it on the banister at the top of the stairs. Now....time to make the cookies!

Passing on the love

Jan 31st, I was awarded the Stylish Blogger Award from Tammy Lee Bradley in her Bliss & Folly blog. It has been nearly two weeks, so I am way over due passing the love forward but I am glad to say I am ready to do it. I spent much of that time pouring over blogs and even the Facebook Notes of a friend and have found my 15 favorite blogs to share with you.

But first I have some rules to include as they were for me.

*Link back to me as the person who gave you the award.  

*Share seven statements about yourself.
*Award fifteen bloggers.

Now for the seven statements about me:
1. I am an identical twin. 2. I love chocolate to the point that I swear I can live off it. 3. I am a twice bereaved mom. 4. I have a Masters of Fine Arts degree with a specialization in Costume Design. 5. I love to travel but don't get the opportunities as often as I'd like. 6. I teach high school theatre. 7. And I am obsessed with Lord of the Rings, LOST, and Star Trek.


Now for the best part. My 15 picks for the Stylish Blogger Award...


Diary of a Mad Fat Woman, by Julianna Wathen is the most inspiring and humorous blog I've ever read....and it's actually not yet a formal blog. Julianna is writing in Facebook Notes & soon to transfer to an official blog. Stay tuned for the announcement when she is up & running.
Little Blue Chairs by Laurie is a major source of my inspiration. She is redoing her house one project at a time and following her before and after shots along with how she does the work is what gets me going on my own home projects.
The Creativity Bug appeals to the crafter in my soul. I love scrapbooking & Sue & Sandy provide great tips and tricks to make crafting even more exciting!
It's a Darn Good Life is simply yummy! Megan's photos are like chocolate for me eyes...so yummy!
Fabienne's brilliant art work with paper crafts & scrap books simply takes my breath away. I adore her work & I'm even learning a little french as I read!
The Mortal Muses are a group of artistic ladies who collaborate on their blog and invite creative input and guest contributors to participate with them. It has been an honor to be chosen as a contributor, and they have the most inspiring work among them.
Shadowhouse Creations, by Jerry is the most amazing resource for PS work. He is creative & generous beyond comprehension. I love everything he offers.
The Coffeeshop Blog is another great source for free downloads & tutorials. Rita is a sweet & creative source of strength. I love reading her blogs, and following her help. It was Rita who helped me create this blog design!
I started participating in a Focus 52 project over at Two Scoopz with Jan. We have quite a talented group & you can join in anytime. Check out what it's all about, It's great fun!
Arlene Harris is a wonderful photographer. I love her blog, Walk With Me On This Journey for the beautiful & very personal images she shares. I find great inspiration in how I live my everyday life there.
The Inspiration Studio, by Kim Klassen is amazing. I love how she turns her photos into such beautiful art. I love the way she shows us where she gets her inspiration and how we can find our own.
At Kat Eye View the reader is invited to share their own images on her blog topic in each post. I love her eye and the world, and her way of taking me to Europe through her images.
For the scrapper in me I love my friend Emily's blog, Through Emily's Eyes. Her paper crafts, great photos, and wonderful sense of humor warms my heart. Go Pink Ninja!
Judy and her AMAZING social networking blog over at Simply Scrapping & Crafts is an entire world of everything you need to know, want to , don't know you know, and even more! SHe has a shop for supplies, tutorials, participation posts & networking opportunities.
And last but certainly not least, Susan, at Mac Thoughts is a brilliant artist trained in traditional film imagery and classic style cameras. She has an incredible way of sharing her city, NY. 


I hope you all find time to brows through these great blogs, full of inspiration for the soul. Be sure to leave them a note & tell them I sent you. And finally, thanks again to TammyLee Bradley at Bliss & Folly for the award, & I am sorry it took so long to Pass the love forward. 

Newborn session

OK, I know I rarely post images from my photo sessions here in my blog, & I promise to do more of that as they unfold. That said, here is a sweet little two week old. She was sooooo good & tolerant of all the posing & changing we did! These are a few of my favorites. Her mom & dad love black & white photography so that's what they got.

Did someone say snow???

 Getting Houston all excited about a few inches of snow then not delivering is just plain mean. We get it so rarely. I spend every winter drooling over everyone stunning winter photography and feeling so left out. Oh, I know it can really suck too. Oh I know it gets old, not just cold. I was born in Wyoming.

 I shot these images last weekend, in our beautiful 70 degree temperatures. Then I spent all week planning my photos for this weekend....the weekend we were guaranteed to get up to 4 inches of snow! OK, I knew it would not be as much as they said, but how many times can they say "Everyone within our viewing area will get some snow"?

 I produce high school theatre (for those of you who are new to my blog) & the school canceled two of our last three performances, costing a huge amount of money. I'm cool with the schools closing, but WHERE'S THE SNOW?????

 For all the photographic plans I had, my son had more! He made a list of thngs he was going to do at this park around the corner from our house. He was going to use a sled, make snow angels, build a snow man, and catch flakes on his tongue.

 So now guess who's trying to comfort whom? There is nothing so humbling as a four year old trying to comfort his middle-aged mom when they missed out on the snow! It really puts things in perspective.

 So while shooting last weekend I played with my fisheye lens,

 and my lensbaby composer lenses,

and my macro lens.

Maybe today I will still take D2 to the park & we will photograph the tiny ice cycles with my fun lenses. Our nephew, Toby & his girlfriend Val with her daughter Jalisa joined us last week & I bet they will join us again...especially since I have butterfly wings for Jalisa to wear!

 I'm not giving up hope just yet. Perhaps the snow will arrive before the warmth returns. Send your snow vibes my way and I will share the results soon!

Brian Stokes Mitchell

 Well, I know to many this is redundant. I've been talking a bit more than usual about getting to meet Brian Stokes Mitchell. I am ashamed to admit it, but before this workshop I was not sure who he was. Yes, I am a theatre teacher. Yes, I keep up with the shows on Broadway (OK, I try to), but the truth is that I am so wrapped up in keeping my head above water in my own immediate life that I don't get out much.

Hence the need for annual educator conventions! Each year at this time all the theatre educators in Texas gather for workshops to help us stay on top of the game. My friend Ruth gave my son an adorable children's alphabet book that uses theatre & Broadway to teach the alphabet. In the back of the book is a cd. One day I put that cd my player & out came this amazing voice! Imagine Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Jim Nabors all in one voice...that's Brian Stokes Mitchell.

 Months later, another friend, Chuck Wagner, talked me into going to his workshop while we were at the annual conference. To say he was inspiring would be an understatement. Brian spoke through performance, teaching the teachers how to teach. He made me feel proud of what I do all day, proud of the arts, and most of all (as subtle as his comments were) proud of my spirituality.

 He spoke of touching lives, being blessed, finding the passion, and recognizing the humanity in everything we do as artists, as teachers, and as human beings.

 He sang.

 Oh how he sang!

And when he was done I was inspired. Because Chuck has an impressive Broadway resume of his own & they know each other, I was blessed one more time before the workshop ended when Chuck introduced me to Brian!

One final note: Does anyone else think he should go on SNL & do an Obama impersonation?