Grand Ma's Woods

Dear Diary,

What a fun class this was today. I was running late but got caught up with the other ladies pretty quick. I learned how to do the wax build up technique on the sides. Mike helped me with the blue. I still need to add some stuff to it. It is not quite "there" yet. Sista Sarah Ann gave me the brooch and I bought the destiny dog tag and door key thingy at Mystic Paper. That is a picture of Daddy in WWII (I think he is in Belgium) and the picture that is not Elvis is my Granny. Don't tell anyone but one time she set her woods on fire. I think she was "burning leaves" at the time. The wasp nest I got out of a bush in my front yard. Suddenly last summer, I did a little wasp whispering. I got 3 wasp nests out of the deal and spray painted them gold. I knew they would come in handy one day! I'm going to need to look at this new project for a few days. It is missing something but I'm not sure what yet.

As usual Mike was fantastic! The class was full. I'm sure they have pictures on the Mystic Paper Blog. It was amazing how everyone's piece was different.

Long Live Asymmetry, or Symmetry Sucks

Dear Diary,

I got rid of my symmetry today. It really looked awful! I like the idea of it but it just doesn't fit my personality. That strange, uneasy feeling I had that day (when I thought I needed symmetry) must have been gas.

Bees Wax Collage of Mamma and Daddy

Dear Diary,

I finally fastened every thing onto the canvas! I found two rusty screws for the small canvas and glued the frame on. I can't get over how beautiful my Mother's eyes are! I think I'll try to solder an eye charm.

Saturday, I'm taking a class at Mystic Paper. Jennifer and Kim always make you feel so welcome when you go into their wonderful shop! They are so friendly you would think they were from the south. Mike Putman is teaching a class called Grandma's Woods. Well, you may not know this but the sistas and I are Timba Heiresses! (timba - Noun 1. wood as a building material 2. trees collectively) We have already been given a chunk of Timba Money and can't wait to get more! Daddy has Timba.

I'm trying to figure out how to work that Timba theme into my Saturday Artwork.

Symmetry

Dear Diary,

Something had been missing in my life. I felt empty inside and had a sense of foreboding. If you've never experienced this, it makes you feel like you need to eat something but don't know what. You have a taste for something, your stomach is full but your mouth is still hungry. Or, maybe my eating disorder was working overtime. I just didn't feel satisfied.

It all started the other day when I was cleaning my work/computer room and watching HGTV. Every design problem that afternoon was solved with symmetry. That had to be my problem. I have no symmetry. I decided that I needed to get some symmetry. The next day at Lowe's I bought some symmetry for $12.74. My symmetry is not that good lookin but it was drastically reduced. I think after I repaint my symmetry and embellish them they will be fine. (I cleaned the desk off so I could show off my symmetry.) Now that I look at the picture again, symmetry doesn't go too well with the clutter. I may have to change my style.

Guest Speaker

Dear Diary,

I can add guest speaker to my resume. I was the special honored guest of 45 third graders last week. They have been studying about the south and the Civil War and wanted a first hand account on the subject. I could never be a paid guest speaker because I get off track easily and talk about what I want to talk about and not necessarily what I have been asked to talk about. I started out telling them about slavery and the hard work they had to do in the fields , plus the long hours and the restricted diet of corn meal and bacon or fish. But then I got side tracked. I had my Lowndes County book with the beautiful antebellum homes and showed those to the children and told them lively stories of my youth and experiences at and about the different homes. Frankly. they were mesmerized! One child asked me if I lived back then! Oh did I ever honey! Yes I lived well and had so much fun! But not during the Civil War, the war ended in 1865 and I was born in 1957. We later ate cornbread, cheese grits, Mississippi Mud cake, and strawberries with whipped cream (in honor of Leslie) I could understand when some of the children refused the grits but the whipped cream? What is wrong with the children of today?

Dear Diary,

I just love these Bottle trees. You are really supposed to use a real tree and put bottles on it but these require less water. They are decorative but also practical. Having a bottle tree on your property keeps the haints away! These were made by a Mississippi Artist named Stephanie Dwyer (www.missmetaldesign.com) I think someone needs to make a bottle tree pin or charm or a little something you could wear around your neck if you ever visit Savannah, Georgia. Two of the three nights we stayed there I had fitfull dreams. The dead kept me tossing and turning all night. They kept begging me to help them! My poor baby sista was in the bed next to me tossing and turning too! Because my snoring and snorting were keeping her awake. If she wasn't so pretty she would have looked like the undead each morning from her lack of sleep, but, I digress.

I kept telling the dead that I could hardly help myself, they should look else where for a helper. It is so frustrating talking to the dead. They just don't listen.

Luckily, since I have been home, I've slept like a baby.

Dear Diary,

I printed this top picture for TumbleFish, this is the church that Forest Gump's feather floated across. I have watched that movie so many times I have memorized most of the lines. She told me her husband tossed the rocks at Jennie's shack house!

Oglethorpe had to be great to carry the name. They faced his statue toward his enemies - interesting!

Several of the houses they showed us on the tour had Iron gingerbread, bric a brac, accents. You could tell from the rust stains running down the fronts of the houses.

Who is Jacob? I'm lost!

The Ugly ORB that got Lucy!

Dear Diary,

I finished my last exam today so I had time to upload the picture of my lovely sista Lucy before her fall. (I blogged about this yesterday.) This is one dangerous corner in Savannah! It is amazing what the camera can see that the naked eye can't! I knew she didn't trip! This is my graceful older sista who had years of training in ballet from Miss Betty's School of Dance. Miss Betty's Ballerinas never trip!

Hey Ya'll, I'm 52!

Dear Diary,

I have been AWOL for a while. You wouldn't know it by this picture of me, but, I have gotten older and had two exams and one more to go and have also been on a fabulous trip to Savannah, Georgia. I am so happy in this picture because this is one of the best birthdays I think I've ever had. Precious took this picture outside the cemetery. I have always had an affinity for cemeteries. I can't recall my first trip to the cemetery. As a child we visited them often. I remember just visibly shuddering all over if I saw someone walking on a grave but realized in that cemetery in Savannah I was free of that. The older I get the less nervous about things I am! Isn't that wonderful? It seems I'm not the sensitive sista anymore. I think that's Janice now. You should have seen her at the Karaoke Bar! She was so uptight! Her fifty year old lips were pursed (To gather or contract (the lips or brow) into wrinkles or folds; pucker) and I was a little afraid she might snap if she had to listen to one more bad singer. But I'm getting off track.........

When Sherman took over the city of Savannah during his infamous march, the damn Yankee soldiers camped out in the cemetery and did a lot of damage to the grave markers! They changed dates with their pin knives and used the stones for target practice! Later the Savannah citizens affixed some of the misplaced grave stones to the back brick wall of the cemetery. I thought the way they displayed them on that back brick wall was very creative. It gave the place even more character! Speaking of character, Kay spotted a man talking and laughing to himself over by one of the tombs. She was a little frightened that he might be a schizophrenic. Now a days it is hard to tell, he could have just been wearing one of those ear pieces and talking on the telephone. We didn't get close enough to see.

My sweet sista Lucy got knocked down by a haint just before she crossed the street to go into the cemetery. She bloodied her knee and bruised her hand. Sista Janice helped her get back to the hotel and that night Sarah Ann and I took pictures across the street from that very spot. We got a shot of an ugly orb!

I'll be writing more later. I have missed following my friends blogs and missed creating. After I take this last exam, I'll take a little break and get to do some of the things I love again.