This Little Blog of Mine....

Today was a very good day.

2012-01-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

Today was a very special day! I am truly honored with a special memory that I will treasure forever.

When I arrived at school, my classroom was decorated with paper chains hung from the ceiling, around my door way, and on my desk....

Each class in the school had created a chain, one link for each student, in my favorite colors: turquoise and purple. I was shocked, surprised and touched. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure today was special.

Just before my first class, I was called into the big auditorium....and I was greeted with a standing ovation. All 200+ kindergarteners were on their feet, clapping and cheering for ME!

I was presented with a very special book. Each student in the school had created a note+drawing for me. The cover reads: " Whoooo Knew we had the best teacher!', the title is surrounded by little owls holding up banners with 'you're great!' 'Art teacher of the Year!' and 'Congrats!'

My principal presented me with a GIANT cookie cake with 'World's Best Art Teacher' on it and a balloon bouquet for my desk.

Going back through all of the drawings and notes in the book, there are some really cute spellings for 'nice' 'beautiful' 'pretty' and 'artist'.

One of the most special moments of the day was during my second class. A challenging girl, probably one of my toughest students this year (because of her behavior), asked me why I was the best art teacher. I told her, 'I don't know....why do you think?'.....and she smiled up at me with the most unforgettable precious smile, 'Because you love us.'

This was a day I won't soon forget.

(To find out what all of the hoopla is about, read here: http://nelliemaeii.blogspot.com/2011/12/missouri-art-educator-of-year.html)

Planning another Nelliepalooza

2012-01-26T13:07:00.000-08:00

A friend of a friend emailed me to inquire more information about my Nellipalooza scrapbooking retreat and I realized that I do not have a website or a way to share information about the event beyond my Facebook event page. As I was typing out a response to her questions, I realized I was going into so much detail that it would make a great blog post.

This was from the first ever Nelliepalooza!

If you are interested in a wonderful crafting retreat, please keep reading. You can email me or leave a comment below if you would like the link to the registration form. The next event is scheduled for March 30th-April 1st. Registration is due by St. Patrick's Day (March 17th). Cost is $16 per night, you can sign up for both nights, a total of $32. The only other requirement is that you sign up to help with a meal/snack/supply for the weekend. Guests bring their own crafting supplies and stick to their own schedule.

I started Nelliepalooza about 2 years ago for my birthday. I found a local campground...and realized it was really reasonable to rent for a weekend, so I invited all of my scrapbooking buddies to join me for a retreat. I used to sell Close to My Heart so I knew a lot of people from crops and crafting events. I think we had about 13 people the first time.

Everyone had so much fun, that we decided to plan a second event in the fall (in order to include the people that couldn't attend in spring). This will be the 5th Nelliepalooza event.

It is very simple, and easy to plan. I just ask for everyone to pay the $16 per night fee that the campground requires for overnight guests and to sign up to pitch in on a meal. I call everyone who is registered about two weeks before to follow up with them about their menu selections. (If I get too many breakfast casseroles, it is easy to make changes at that point). People sign up to bring whatever they feel comfortable being in charge of.

This year, we will be planning meals for Friday dinner, saturday breakfast, lunch, and dinner; as well as sunday breakfast and lunch. We will depart on Sunday around 5 pm....so people can help finish off the leftovers or snack on the other stuff until they go home. This has worked well in the past, some people prepare everything before they come, and some use the fully functioning camp-kitchen to make their meal when they get there. Some people sign up to be in charge of beverages or other supplies (like plates/cups/etc) so everyone is comfortable with what they need to provide.

The campground has a great facility for our activities. They have a big building which houses the kitchen and all of the 'scrapbooking' tables, so we don't have to go far to cook or snack. Just a few paces away is the founder's lodge, which has sleeping spots for up to like 40 people (or more!) in bunk rooms. Basically, just like going back to camp! You have the option of sharing a room with 3 other people, or if you are getting a large group together, there is a large room with more bunk beds. (OR, having a room all to yourself!) The building is air conditioned, has several showers and group-bathrooms...its a great place to stay for a couple of nights.

The camp is very scenic, out in the country so you feel like you are really 'away', but it is located just 6 miles south of the OLD Richardson's Candy House (reddings mill area)....a short drive away from the Neosho Wal-mart (and south Joplin area).

I am expecting about 20 this time around....which should work out well since we are planning lunch on Sunday (which we didn't used to do). People can come and go on their own schedule...stay for one or both nights, and they can even take a nap/craft/read/play on the internet....pretty much they do what they want, when they want....very informal...comfortable clothes, take a walk, watch movies, take a nap.

Hope this answers most of your questions. Please let me know if you have any other questions, feel free to forward the information on to other friends! The more the merrier!

To see photos from previous Nelliepalooza events click here, here, here, and here.

Here is the flyer with additional details:

Fisheye Photo Outing

2012-01-15T19:27:00.000-08:00

Even though I stayed in bed past 11 a.m. this morning and could've laid around in my pjs all day, I managed to force myself to join up with a little photo outing this afternoon.

One of my super special Christmas presents this year was a fish eye lens attachment for my Nikon camera. It is just a cheap little attachment, but I love using those kind of lenses because they give the digital a little bit of a lomo feel. I was also shooting with my Holga and Instagram on my iPhone 4.

I am excited to see how my Holga images turn out....I'm always nervous whenever I use 100 speed film.

Below you can see some of my favorites from today's shoot with the fish eye lens.

Machinery on the farm

As grotesque as it looks, I could not stop filming this deer skull. I even made a little stop-motion video with it....

Robert let me bring it home. It is on the mantle now....should be a great source of inspiration. (A little O'keeffe in all of us, right?)

The hip-hop-hippy on a windy day.

How many cameras does it take???

Interior, old shed

Wasp Nest Bird Cage

Jeepers Creepers, where'd you get those peepers.

Pinteresters Anonymous

2012-01-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

******Advertisement Alert*********

TOOT TOOT TOOOT TOOT!!

I'm totally tooting my own horn in support of the upcoming class I am teaching at Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin.

Ages 21+
Cost $20 includes up to 4 projects and snacks.
Saturday January 14th 7-9pm

Do you need a "Pintervention?"

Do you spend hours on your computer 'pinning' projects you would like to do?

Well this your chance!

Bring your friends and enjoy an evening of creativity.

If you are a DIY diva or want to be, this ongoing class offers the best of the projects as seen on Pinterest.com.

Mark your calendar now for Second Saturday.

It's sure to be loads of fun so sign up early to save your spot. Groups are welcome!!

These projects are tentative and subject to change:Doily VotivesTissue paper pompoms (easy and cheap and everyone should know how to do this)Glass Etching (so you can go home and etch your Pyrex!)

Instructor: ME!!
*To see what I've been pinning, check out my Pinterest page here!

Please contact Spiva at 417-623-0183 to sign up!!

I'm super excited!!

A Look Back at 2011 Goals.

2011-12-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

It is important to make progress on goals. It is important to look back at what was important a year ago and see if I have made any progress. I did it last year...you can read about it here.

Looking back at my goals for 2011, I feel like I did a pretty good job of meeting my goals.

Goals for 2011:

1. Keep volunteering. This was a strange year for volunteering. I feel like I have so much more to give but no time to actually do it...I started an after school art club a few times a month and I volunteer at Spiva. I don't have energy for more than that...especially not if I am trying to keep up with my workout schedule. There were a lot of opportunities to volunteer with the tornado, but I was so busy and overwhelmed trying to help my mom, that I didn't do as much as I should have.

2. Make and give more handmade gifts--especially sewn things for new babies. This year, I made 30 stockings and several other sewn projects. My sewing machine has been put to good use this year.

3. Get my photos organized. Well....I organized all of my photos on an external hard drive. By year. By season. By event. Every photo since I have owned a digital camera. Thousands of photos. And then my cat knocked over the hard drive and nothing is accessible. I am hoping everything is still on there...it was 360 gigs of information. The photos that I have printed at home are not very organized. This is still a goal for 2012. I need to buy a bunch of photo albums....or make some scrapbooks...Something....my photos are getting ridiculous!

4. Get a new comforter--I really want something awesome from Anthro. I got a new comforter from Funtiques and I love it!!

5. Frame more of my Holga and darkroom photos, get artwork ready for a real show in a real gallery and photo competitions. I had an exhibit for 3rd Thursday in July. While I didn't frame many of the enlarged darkroom photos, I used these foto clips from photojojo to create photo grids with many of the 5X5 prints. I put a couple of my framed photos in a competition and didn't get any awards so I felt a little silly entering more...but I know I will this year. Framing is so expensive!

6. Organize the files on my computer. Shortly after I wrote these goals, my computer got super slow. I tried cleaning it off, but I could hardly edit photos or access my files. It was ridiculously slow. That was why I had so few blog posts last spring. In May, we got new computers at school...and that really helped speed things up.

7. Work hard to create a successful and amazing summer art program at a local art center. Since I was so busy with Art Lounge, I didn't end up doing the summer art program at Spiva. I'm glad it didn't work out. One day a week was more than enough for me. I would've been crazy-stressed-out-burned-out if I had worked full time all summer. The Art Lounge class was the perfect amount of art teaching for me with everything that was going on around town and helping my mom.

8. Seriously think about what I want to do next....masters? move? teach forever? I feel like I am having an amazing school year. Seriously, I love this year. I've got some good classes and I am really happy. Since I teach Art Lounge one night a week, I am hesitant to start a Master's program, but I know I need to start thinking about it more seriously.

9. I got a membership to the gym....I hope to work out at least 10 times a month ;-) I marked each work out on the calendar this year and it was 161 times. I met my goal....Most of the workouts were in February and march. Things tapered off in Novemer and December, but I definitely want to keep up a similar schedule for next year. I have gotten lazy the last few weeks...but I love feeling good and looking good so it is important to me. If I am not careful, I will drink sodas and sugary snacks, but when I am going to spin class and zumba every day, I stay away from those things and I feel better.

10. Watch one foreign film every month (this month I watched 3 streaming on Netflix) Hmmm....Nope. Did not do this. I did watch all of the Girl With a Dragon Tatoo movies...and a couple of documentaries...but not very many foreign films. I didn't watch many movies at all. This month, I have been really addicted to Mad Men.

The last few are goals that could continue into the future...they are harder to measure and harder to reflect on whether or not I've made any progress.
11. Be more spontaneous.
12. Don't schedule so much stuff to do--make more time for my family. I envy that family on parenthood, they see each other all the time...I want to do that too. I still need to make this my goal...to be more
13. Be a better friend. Have more real conversations, be more supportive, more loving....

I'm excited for 2012!!!

A look back at 2011

2011-12-30T11:11:00.000-08:00

While I haven't blogged as frequently as I would've liked this year (especially in October and November!), I have tried to post as many quality posts as possible for the year. Last night, I sat down and made a list of blog ideas for 2012 and now the ideas are just pouring out of me....It feels good to be inspired.

In case you are a new reader, or you don't read every post, I wanted to share some of my favorites for the year. Sometimes it is fun to look back at everything that has happened...but this year hasn't really been a fun year....a lot of serious things have happened.

I love blogging about stories. To me, blogging is a much cheaper form of scrapbooking. A place to share stories, along with photos...not just the happy fun things, but the serious, real stories.

Even if nobody reads them, the blog posts are a place for me to record my history and my feelings.

This has been a memorable year. I will never forget some of the life changing things that have happened this year.

Summer of the Storm
Before and After Photos
Ode to the iPhone
Destruction in the Heartland
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Life
KC+Art-and the Joplin Community Mural-#1 & #2

Fall Memories (good and sad)
Charlie and Me
Sweet Special Granny
A Lifelong Journey Still can't read this without crying
Morgan's English Tea Party Parties and showers are so fun! I love planning special things like this for my friends.
The Smallest Act of Caring
Eagle Bluff

Goals for 2012

2011-12-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when people are looking ahead to the future. Here is a little wish list and goal list for 2012. I am hoping to cross a lot of things off this list! Looks like it is going to be a fun year!

Hipsta at the Marriott!

2011-12-28T06:01:00.000-08:00

Way back in November, I got to go to the Missouri State Teacher's Association convention in St. Louis. It was the first time I have ever missed two days of school in a row, so it was a little stressful planning to be gone, but it was a very interesting experience. We stayed at the Mariott in downtown St. Louis.

Even though I was supposed to be paying attention to the meeting, it was my first time...and I didn't recognize any of the people that they were honoring or any of the bi-laws that we were voting to change...I paid attention as much as I could, but I mostly just read my book...

Thursday night I got to go to a St. Louis Blues Hockey game...it was short walk from our hotel. It was super fun. The Marriott was a historic building....it was beautiful. Here are some of my favorite hipstamatic photos of the structure!

Destruction in the Heartland: Part 8.....homage to the memorial built by volunteers

2011-12-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

When my aunt sent me this article from the New York Times about Joplin, she suggested that I go find the house and take a few photos. I knew exactly which house the article was referring to and I really wanted to take photos.

I haven't photographed much of the destruction since June...it just hasn't felt right. But this is a really special place. And many of the destroyed places have been rebuilt or are in progress, so things are looking good in Joplin again. It looks like a scene from an art installation, and it feels a little erie wandering through the property. I felt like a trespasser, but amongst all the volunteer signatures, I felt like I was paying homage the memorial, dedicated to the people who spent hours cleaning up our city.

Please read the article above, it tells the story.

You can see a new home going up beside this one.

With frozen fingers, I juggled my iPhone and my Nikon to snap a few additional photos. I like some of these even more than the others....a different, edgier feel to the photos...a bit of redundancy, but still very moving.

Thanks for reading.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is a particularly special Christmas for my family. We will be spending our day together in a new home.

After the tornado, my mom's living room was completely destroyed.

It wasn't flattened like many of the apartments in her complex, but she lost all of her furniture and we spent hours going through the debris, collecting things that were special to her.

In the photo above, you can see a little antique Christmas tree buried with cotton candy insulation and ceiling planks. It belonged to my great-grandparents. My mom keeps it up all year. When I first climbed into her front door into the war-zone of her living room, I figured the little tree was a gonner....but somehow...it made it. We even saved most of the little colored light bulbs, scattered in the soggy wet carpeting of the living room, mixed with the broken glass of the screen door and splinters of wood.

This Christmas, a friend at school donated a small tree, and another donated some ornaments and now both trees have a special place in mom's living room. Side by side, a few small presents underneath.

The gift I am most excited to give this year is a painting. It used to hang above my mom's couch. (The brand new couch she just got in April, that was soaked and ruined). I painted it high school and even though it probably wouldn't be worthy of a major gallery...it was a special part of my mom's home. After the storm, we found this painting in the back bedroom. It had traveled down the the hall and wrapped around a bedpost. It was dirty and badly warped.

I had the canvas cleaned, re-stretched and re-framed. The only evidence of its damage is a small gash, a battle scar in the middle.

I am really excited to give it to my mom....I hope it makes her new house feel more like her home.

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas everyone!!

Photo Collage Friday {Saturday Christmas Eve Edition}

2011-12-24T04:00:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite photos from around the house.

I love this time of year.

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!!

Christmas Party Treats {Christmas Morning}

2011-12-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

Once the guests start arriving, I am always too busy interacting to take pictures of stuff like treats...

In fact, at my own events, I forget about things I spent all day preparing (like special homemade candy or decor). I love photographing other people's events because I don't know everyone and I can focus on the pretty stuff and the relationships I notice.

I should've taken a picture of the pretty donut tower....and the drink station....and the biscuits and gravy....I should've taken a picture of the treat table.....but I didn't.

Here are a couple of things DID I take pictures of at the Christmas Morning party.

I found this 'bacon and egg' candy on Pinterest. All you need is white chocolate (either chips or candy melts), some yellow m&ms, and pretzel sticks. I melted the white chocolate on some mini toasts from Wal-Mart (found near the fancy cheeses).

I started planning this party a while ago...you can see most of my pins here.

My favorite local donut shop recently rebuilt and opened (after it was completely destroyed by the tornado). I knew we had to have some special treats from there. These donut holes were devoured by the end of the party...but I still have some other donuts to finish off (oh darn!).

Peanut butter-filled bugles....another Pinter-esting recipe!

And these little donut snowmen...SO CUTE!!

Thanks for reading!!
Hope you all are having fun with your favorite Christmas traditions.

Christmas Party Special Gifts and Stockings

2011-12-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

My favorite part of Christmas morning has got to be opening my stocking. So providing a stocking for all of the friends and family at the party was essential to making it special. I bought a bunch of felt, cut out 30+ stockings and started embellishing them.

Each stocking is different!!

A few nights before the party, I had a dream that the stockings were filled with wrapped presents....so I knew I would need to make some boxes and buy some stuff to make them more full.

The stockings contained packages of hot chocolate, a full-sized candy bar, a mint tin, a fancy lollipop, a baggy with some Christmas erasers, a Ghiardelli chocolate square, a small toy like a spinning-top or a yo-yo, 3 small slim jims, and other toys from Oriental trading like gliders, paddle balls, back scratchers, Chinese finger traps, woopie-cushins...and an envelop containing a coupon for a night of fun with someone at the party....in each special envelop, people were 'linked' with someone in the room for some fun activity they could do together, like have a dance party, or go thrifting or have a game night. It was a cool way to pair up people (at random) who might not have known each other before the party.

I bought some pill boxes and small paper boxes and I also made 30+ origami boxes from craft paper and decorated them.

Here are a few of my favorite boxes. I used doilies, yarn, fabric yo-yos, magazine papers, old paint-by number copies, ledger paper, book pages, and anything else that might look pretty like tape or pearls.

The felt stockings were fun to make. I wish I would've made fewer and embellished them more. My favorite ones had stripes....IKEA fabric, felt and ribbon bunting, one has a doily sewn to the front and I even used some old ties to spruce up a couple of them.

It was such a fun gift...and an amazing party favor for each of the guests to take home....I have several extras....I guess I will have to find someone to give them to...I'm thinking I will make a little 'care stocking' for the janitors at my school. ;-)

Santa is in the building!

2011-12-20T06:30:00.000-08:00

There is something so magical about the jingle of Santa's bells and his hearty 'HO HO HO!' when he visits the school. It is just incredible to hear him interacting with the kids...and their squeals of delight!

Frustratingly....as one of my educator friends pointed out on her Facebook status....it seems like Santa is not enough to keep kids in line this time of year....when I was little, my parents just had to threaten us with "Santa is watching!" and we were quickly reminded that if we were rotten, we would get nothing for Christmas....But now, it seems like that is not enough.

I'm only saying this because last week was wild!! The week before Christmas usually is...I needed an extra dose of patience.

I've heard so much about the the elf on a shelf is so adorable and it is such a cute idea...It just seems like those little elves that jump from spot to spot each night after reporting to the north pole, are necessary to making kids believe that someone is really watching.....

'Santa' by himself isn't magical enough...to influence today's youth the way he used to.....

At any rate (elf on a shelf or not)....I am on the NICE list this year....Santa check it twice...and confirmed!

Christmas Party Photo Booth

2011-12-20T06:20:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, it was time for the annual Christmas party....The theme this year was 'Pajama Party'. It was so fun...and comfortable.....and I really loved seeing all of my friends relax and enjoy Christmas. It is my favorite thing of the year.

I love planning it and I look forward to it all year long...and now I am sad that it is over.

I will be posting a couple of more 'christmas party' posts...but I really wanted to share the photo booth with you.

The backdrop is an IKEA fabric with white icicle lights on top. I included little finger puppets and all sorts of props for people to use including wigs, hand-painted signs, santa hats, antlers, and other Christmas gear.

I don't have any pictures suitable to share using the finger puppets.....as you can imagine what finger most people put their puppets on.....*sigh*

While the wigs weren't worn in many of the photos, they look kind of cool on my dresser.

I ended up setting up one umbrella light on a table because the lighting in the bedroom was too yellow...and it was too dark with the lights turned off. Here are a couple of my hand painted signs.

My sister flew in from Hawaii just in time for the party! YIPPEEEE!!!!! She looks so cute draped in Christmas lights!!

I took a lot of photos at the party....these are just a few of my favorites!

Bokeh who?

2011-12-19T05:26:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite gifts was this amazing Bokeh kit for my digital camera. I got it last year....but it wasn't around the holidays so I haven't had a chance to play around with it until now. I am in love with the heart filter. I hope I have a chance to go see Christmas lights this week so I can experiment more. It would be great to take to Silver Dollar City with all the lights.

These were just taken around my living room....I'm excited to play with it some more!!

Missouri Art Educator of the Year

2011-12-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

Even thought I am on Christmas break....and the week before break is always a little crazy...

It is still a special time of year.

I haven't said it enough, but I am having a great year. I am really loving the fact that for the most part, my kindergarten classes are 'trained'...they have the procedures figured out, for the most part, which makes my job so much easier. We are over the CRYING phase...as far as I can tell....its been several weeks since anyone has been really frustrated to tears during art....

Also, the students this year seem to really love me. When I walk down the hall in the morning, I have to stop and hug at least 20-30 kids....and it is amazing. Seriously. I have some special kids this year. I will be sad to send them off to first grade at the end of the year.

Working at a kindergarten center is just tough!!

But it is also incredibly sweet.

I have a couple of classes of kids that leave art or arrive to art with someone saying "Mrs. Mitchell, I love you" along with a sweet hug. This is the first year that I have ever had kids show me so much love. I don't say that I love them back, I just hug them and say thank you. But I really do love them back. Even the clumsy ones...and the messy gluers, and the clueless ones, and the sweet quiet ones, and the wild ones, and the funny ones.

On Monday, a little kindergarten girl gave me this heart-melting little note. Granted, I am the only art teacher she has ever had, it means so much that she would use her new-found writing skills to tell me that she appreciates me.

I have another big announcement that is bringing some extra special happiness to the season.

A few weeks ago I got a phone call from the Missouri Art Education Association (my profession organization) and I was selected as the Missouri Art Educator of the Year.

For the whole state.

Not just elementary, but overall....I am still in shock and completely honored that they chose me for this prestigious award.

It means so much to be recognized with the highest honor at the state level.
In March, I will go to the state conference and receive my award. And I will give a speech. And I am already nervous. But I am so proud. When I go to the conferences, I always feel like I am surrounded by people who are just like me....more than anywhere else or anything else that I do...the conferences are are amazing. And I have made lots of friends around the state who are art teachers. We share the same profession and the same passion and now I am going to go formally express my gratitude for their recognition.

I debated announcing this award on Facebook...or here on the blog...because I didn't want to seem like I was bragging...but I am really proud of this accomplishment. And it has really motivated me to keep blogging about my happy art teacher experiences.

I am not a perfect art teacher. And I'll be the first to admit that I thought about quitting (in my first 3 years). But now I feel like I am really where I am supposed to be and what I do is incredibly important.

Anyway thanks for reading. I am looking forward to spending the next week with my friends and family, celebrating the holidays.

Merry Christmas!!

Hello, December

2011-12-13T07:15:00.000-08:00

Has it really been 13 days since my last post? Well I have to change that.

I went to a beautiful wedding over the weekend, my 7th wedding for 2011 (the 8th was at the same time/day and I wasn't able to attend). Wow! What a year!! I actually used the 8mm app on my iPhone 4 to do the videography for the wedding. I am working on the editing now and it looks amazing so far. Here are a few of my favorite snapshots from the event. I didn't take as many as I would've liked because of the videography duties....but I got some good ones nonetheless.

I have been really busy getting ready for Christmas.

My favorite thing this week...is wearing this gingerbread apron around school...because I get TONS of hugs!!

That is all for now. More later.

Holiday Happy List

2011-12-01T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here are 10 Things about the HOLIDAYS that make me terribly happy:

1. Glitter
2. receiving holiday cards and photos in the mail
3. trying new candy and holiday-only treat recipes
4. Christmas music (on repeat)
5. The Grinch, Elf, Home Alone, A Christmas Story and other Christmas movies on t.v.
6. Surprising people with special gifts
7. Handmade decor and presents
8. Driving around to look at lights (the landscape will be different this year, after the tornado)
9. Christmas morning (my favorite day of the year)
10. Rediscovering ornaments from previous Christmases

What do you love about the holidays?

The photo above is my stocking holder....I shopped around, but all the store-bought ones were so cheesy...I bought some blank ones at Wal-Mart and used some of my fawn collection to adorn the metal plates....so cute!

Have YOU seen Breaking Dawn yet? Let's talk about it.

2011-11-22T12:35:00.001-08:00

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to go see the new Twilight movie.

I admit, I am a Twilight fan. I've read all of the books. I've seen all of the movies...some of them at midnight, on a school night, wearing 'team Jacob' apparel.

I was one of the giggling girls who gasped aloud when Jacob ripped his shirt off in New Moon. I even have a little scrapbook about my Twilight adventures, with ticket stubs, sound track CD jackets, and photos with Twilight-loving friends.

I loved the books. And I believe that if you love something, you should just go for it...and unabashedly proclaim your love for it.

Before the movie, I made a quick stop at the drugstore for some candy. Peanut m&ms and sour skittles.

At the register, my total was less than $3.....I had about $10 in cash.....'darn....I have to save this to pay for a movie ticket...guess I will have to use my debit card for this,' I told the attendant.

The cashier, whom I've always thought looks a little like DJ Qualls, the nerdy guy in Road Trip (a side note that is neither here or there and has no relevance to this blog post, but is worth noting because if you go to the Mays Drugstore near my house, I hope you will look for him and tell me your thoughts about this random unimportant doppleganger sighting). Anyway, the cashier, asked me 'What movie?"

"Um, what else, the new TWILIGHT movie!" I exclaimed.

"Twilight? Seriously?" Another male cashier behind me chimed in. They both made some rude comment referring to how nerdy/dorky/lame I was for wanting to see movie.

I just laughed, turning the other cheek at the haters, and said thank you on my way out, as I tried to stuff my snacks in my tiny purse.

Driving to the theater, I thought of all of those Signfieldesque 'The Jerk store, called' come backs I should've said to those boys.

"Yeah, the Twilight movie! Its one of the few movie franchises that is actually made for women! You guys get all sorts of movies like the Transformers, Star Wars, and there are millions of superhero movies with midnight premiers, like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Green Lantern, et cetera, et cetera. Now, I am going to the movies, where I will squeal and giggle and swoon as much as I want over vampires and werewolves. Haters quit hating, thank you, and good night!" (At the end of my speech, the drugstore cashiers are bowing and clapping, proud that I have impressed them with my ferocious snarky response)

Proud of my little fictional comeback speech, I pulled into the theater in my over-sized sweatshirt, sweatpants, and met up with my girl friend. We bought some popcorn and settled in for 30-minutes of previews before the movie started. (Totally excited for the Hunger Games movie, BTW)

If you have not seen the Breaking Dawn, quit reading now. There are some spoilers below. Also, I am a true fan, so that gives me the right to be disappointed with something that doesn't live up to my expectations.....or whatever, I really don't care, I just want to talk about this movie!

When the movie starts, we get an immediate swoon-worthy shot of Jacob's abs when he rips his shirt off before morphing into a wolf....and then we don't really see much of him without his shirt on for the rest of the movie, sadly.

Before I go on I would just like to say that the wedding of Edward and Bella was truly beautiful!! It was my favorite part of the movie. The woods and the flowers and her dress, WOW!

The soundtrack was also amazing. Really great use of music.

The scene with the family giving little toasts at the reception, was hilarious!

However, there were some other parts of the movie that were also really funny/weird.....reminding faithful readers what a WEIRD book this was...making me wonder, should this have been made into a movie?

Don't get me wrong, I loved the book, I even bought the t-shirt and made a scrapbook about it...but....as a movie, some of the thing that were necessary to the plot, were just CREEPY on film.

#1 The scene where the werewolves are having a discussion on the wood pile about whether or not to kill Bell and her abomination-baby. In the book, it explains that the wolves can communicate via 'thoughts'...but in the movie.....my friend Tracy said it best:

'Ok I'm just gonna say it. Disappointed with the "Power of Gray Skull" wolf scene in Breaking Dawn'

The Power of Gray Skull is from the He-Man cartoon from the 80s.

The wolf voices are SO strange and cartoonish I remember looking around the theater, like 'Okay, is anyone else just weirded out by this shiz?" It is just a very weird scene.

#2 The part where Bella dies and has a baby. Okay, if you have read the book, you know that she dies. She is pregnant with a monster, and she dies giving birth. Edward has to chew the baby out of of her belly because it is breaking her bones and apparently no surgical utensils will penetrate the uterus.

They don't really show him chewing her belly....but they do show his face afterwards, covered with blood and chunks of something... her ladyparts, I guess??? I was completely creeped out by him going down on her in this way, even though he was trying to use his fangless-vampire-jaws to remove a creature from her womb, it was disgusting and dirty.

The baby itself is SO covered bloody jelly, but the area around the eyes look like its been wearing those sun-tanning goggles while gestating in Bella's belly. Totally necessary to keep the baby-actor safe, but a noticeable flaw in the makeup.

After Bella takes a look at creepy little baby Renesmee, she dies. Edward freaks. He stabs her in the chest with a huge syringe of his VENOM....making me wonder exactly where the clear-ish-white-ish liquid came from? When did he harvest so much Venom and how? And why did they need so much of it? And where in the heck do vampires excrete such a venom?

Then he starts trying to do CPR on her skinny, rubbery, dead looking body, while she lays there staring up at the ceiling turning into a vampire, but paralyzed and lifeless. He starts fanglessly-vampire-biting her all over...(S&M scene?) to 'turn/save' her.

#3 Bella shaves her legs the first night of her honeymoon, before the bed-breaking sex scene....um, why didn't she do that the morning before her wedding? Weirdo.

#4 Poor-hot-Jacob is now a pedophile. Jacob imprinted on a new-born. Ew. I understand imprinting, and I understand how the book explained everything somewhat perfectly, but him flash-forwarding through her life as if he is watching her grow up and seeing his fantasy of her, while she is in swaddling gear is just creepy and weird.

#5 Inconsistancies: When Edward and Bella left the woods of Oregon after the wedding, it was dark...and when they arrived in Rio, it was still night....did he run them all the way there? Did they take a private jet? I guess they took a private-super-fast jet and it only took a few hours....but seriously, that would've been a long flight...it would've at least been breaking dawn when they landed.

Edward does not sparkle in this movie. Even on their honeymoon, on a sunny island south of Rio, he doesn't glitter anymore.

Also, Bella's bruises are pathetic and fast disappearing....she should've been very black-and-blue after the romp they had and the bruises should've lingered and turned every shade from purple to yellow, like mine do.

Bella doesn't eat any eggs. In the book, she ate tons of eggs, and it made me hungry for scrambled, fried, boiled, sunny-side-up eggcellent eggs...but in the movie, she puked after one chicken leg and didn't eat or drink anything else except for a couple of O- blood-milk shakes through a straw, which kool-aid stained her teeth and lips, can I get an "OH YEAH!"

Okay, so these are the things that stick out in my mind after seeing the movie one time in the theater. I am sure if I saw it again (and i had a chance to go with some of my friends on Monday, but I turned it down because it is not worth the money to watch it again, I would rather not see it again unless someone else owns it and we are having a marathon during a crafting event), I am sure there would be tons more to discuss.

Maybe I was too blinded by the super hot Jacob abs in the last two movies to notice the poor acting and even poorer dialog, but I didn't care, it was visual eye candy and a fun fantasy.

In this movie, I laughed at the wrong parts and I tried, TRIED really hard to believe in the fictional rant I had unleashed on the cashiers just an hour before...but maybe they were right....this movie sort of sucked. But I am okay with that.

Will I be going to see Breaking Dawn Part Deux?...Yes, yes I will. #teamjacob #twihard4life

Eagle Bluff

2011-11-13T16:33:00.001-08:00

My dad called me Friday night to tell me about some eagles he had spotted on the bluff near his house. I grew up traveling this one particular highway....

It starts at 5-mile corner, the driveway in the photo above leads to an empty lot. Before it was an empty lot, there stood a burned-down trailer house. Before the trailer burned down, my mom had a boyfriend that lived there...many years ago.

Highway E continues past a white building/barn with sunflowers painted on it. Just past the little white building is a crumbling house, it used to have sheep wandering the surrounding pastures, and a 'crazy' hitch-hiker lady who would always be found on street corners around town. She was nice enough, but if you picked her up, she was like the hitch-hiker missionary, telling you about Jesus and the bible. I don't know if she still lives there, or if anyone does....the house is practically falling down now and the sheep are gone.

Just after that, you drive through an intersection, turn east and you head out into the country, to a secret spot where we used to drive through an old tree farm and go swimming on our own private creek beach. I remember the stinging nettle and the crawdads.

Turn right, you will drive over Wagon Bridge, the old version of highway E, where the Granby was built, near Shoal before it got flooded and the whole town moved to higher ground. I have many memories of wagon bridge...of taking pictures, going swimming, digging worms, and fishing.

Past that intersection, sits a beautiful mansion with a pond and fountain, and a copper awning over a massive front door.

Just beyond the mansion is a bridge that connects two bluffs. The bridge goes over a scenic valley, with grazing cows, a babbling river, and a train track. The familiar sound of the late night train whistle in the distance is one of my favorite sounds. The valley and the bluff together is a picturesque scene, especially in the fall.

Highway E is a very familiar place. The bluff that my dad referred to as 'our bluff' is most definitely ours. When I was a kid, I would hike up the dirt road behind our house to the bluff to pick flowers, look over the edge at the water below and pick blackberries. My first kiss was on the rocks overlooking shoal creek. It is a very special spot to me.

So when he told he he had seen some eagles in the trees, I wasn't sure if I believed him...

When he said, 'Nellie, you have got to get down here and see these eagles before the leaves blow off the trees, they are amazing! With their white heads, and the orange leave. Get down here and bring your camera with your biggest lens because these are National Geographic images!'....

I figured it was just dad code for: "You need to come see me soon, before the leaves fall off the trees."

I decided to squeeze his request into a very busy Saturday and drive down to Granby around 3:00pm, since he had seen the eagles on his way home for several days in a row.

Saturday was one of the windiest days EVER!

When I first got to the bridge going up to the bluff, and saw the eagles perched in the tree, my first response was, "Those are FAKE eagles......those aren't real.'

Seriously, the eagles were absolutely beautiful! And huge! They looked like fake eagle statues someone had hung up in the trees. Who would climb up in a dead tree under a bridge and hang up some eagle statues? No one. The eagles were real. Hooked beak and all!

I was fiddling with the settings on my camera, trying to get them just right. I was using my biggest lens, and the AUTO feature just doesn't work with my camera, so I have to manual focus and make sure the exposure is right on each picture.

When I say that it was windy...I mean that it was insanely windy. I had my camera mounted on a monopod....and the wind kept blowing the big lens, just when I had it focused perfectly, a lot of my images came out blurry.

I only had a few second to adjust my camera before the eagles started flying around. I am so mad. I wish I would have had my camera ready BEFORE I got out of the car, crossed the bridge, and pointed it at them...then I would've had more time.

The pictures of the eagles aren't the greatest. I know that. But it was amazing to see them....they were so beautiful amongst the orange trees. I am so glad my dad convinced me to drive down and try to spot them with my camera.

Sort of looks like a Monet painting...all blurry and dotted.

So I know that if you want to see some good eagle pictures, just google EAGLES...and some REALLY amazing images will pop up. But if you want to see a landscape that is familiar to me, newly dubbed 'Eagle Bluff'....you can only see the images right here.

It is so beautiful this time of year! I'm really glad I took this little drive down memory lane.

I love the Ozarks!

This is one of my favorite times of the year. In just a few weeks, it will be Thanksgiving. I am thankful for my family and my memories.

Morgan's English Tea Party Bridal Shower

2011-11-13T15:21:00.001-08:00

Today, I had the fun pleasure of helping host tea party bridal shower! It was SO much fun!

For the theme, we used Morgan's wedding colors....which is basically champagne....we added some silver and gold and since she loves peacocks, we used feathers throughout the decor.

A white peackcock lives near the home where I grew up and my aunt saved a bunch of his feathers for a few years. They are WAY prettier than any white peacock feathers I found online, so I asked her to borrow them for a centerpiece. (Thanks Auntie Robyn!!) The giant champagne class is a left over from a friend's wedding. I painted a big gold and champagne peacock eye feather on it.

We used a handmade lace table cloth, real and paper doilies and lots of fancy real china for the decorations and for the food.

We wanted it to feel like a really fancy tea party!

Mint chocolate diamond rings. The mold is from Hobby Lobby, really fun...my first time using a candy mold!

Stormi had these beautiful petit fours made, and they were so delicious!

I made these little cucumber tea sandwiches. SO yummy! Recipe here. There are many recipes online...I just used this one because it said FANCY in the title!

We had a bunch of tea flavors.....

And lots of things to add in...like real sugar cubes, honey, and lemon.

There was SO much yummy food. Stormi made some delicious scones, and Lindsay made some delicious chicken salad sandwiches.

Morgan and her mom admiring the spread!

The Party Planning Committee.... Stormi, Me and Lindsay. (Also Julie....but she had a baby 3 days ago, welcome to the world Emily Grace!) You can see here how dramatic the peacock feathers were!

We requested that everyone wear 'elegant tea party attire'.....I was hoping people would wear hats....but I knew that since I didn't specify, it probably wouldn't happen...so I made these little hair combs. So easy and cute! Just took some hair combs, added some feathers, and a little bit of glittery tulle and viola! (BTW, I spray painted the non-white hair combs gold, easy transformation!)

Here you can sort of see the punch....I borrowed Julie's dispenser, made an ice ring with fruit in it and used this punch recipe. Thanks, Pinterest!

At the shower, we played All About the Bride. Guests answered questions about Morgan, and they got a point if they wrote down what she said...and a bonus point if the groom also guessed the same answer.

Guests were also asked to make a little Magnetic Poetry poem for the bride.

I made a single sheet of words, using some from the Magnetic Poetry and some added words that related to the bride and groom and everyone cut out their own little poem and glued them to black paper for Morgan to take home.

SO CUTE! Morgan texted me a couple of them.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Morgan with the party guests!

Lindsay.

Stormi

Me!

The nieces.


English tea party!!! SO ADORABLE!!


My gift to Morgan....toasting glasses for the wedding, matching the big one from the table. She found some on Etsy that she loved, but they were super expensive ($75!!)

Wow, what a great day!!

The Smallest Act of Caring

2011-11-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

I need to share this story so that I will never forget it.

Although I would not normally share a personal story about a student, (and details have been changed to keep his identity secret), this is one of those stories that is a HUGE reminder that what I do is important and special.

Usually, students mature over the summer and naughty kids grow up a little bit. One year, a boy named Tommy, had been acting completely different than he acted the previous year. This boy was so sweet and smart the year before, but on this particular year, I started to dread his class before I even saw them coming down the hall. I didn't want to be mean to the kid, but he was just so disruptive that I could hardly get through the lesson without getting frustrated with his behavior. I even mentioned it to his classroom teacher from the year before, and she said that other teachers have commented on how wild Tommy had become.

One day, the class was coming down the hall and I realized that they had a substitute. "Oh, great," I thought...generally, whenever a class has a substitute, bad behaviors are intensified and the normally well-behaved students are a little wiry from the lack of structured daily routines normally enforced by classroom teachers.

As soon as he walked up, Tommy said, "What happened to your hair?" as the class passed through the doorway. Immediately, I snapped (without thinking), "What happened to your face?" and then I looked at the substitute and cringed...hoping she had heard him be so rude, but somehow she didn't hear my completely unprofessional retort. I don't actually think Tommy heard me say it, because he didn't respond, but kept bee-bopping through the doorway as if it is completely normal to insult a teacher and get away with it.

I walked into class, closed the door, and got on with the lesson. I don't remember if Tommy was his usual interrupting self after that...I just tried to teach about mixing paint to create tints and shades.

About halfway through class, the principal came in and wanted to take Tommy out. Tommy left his painting sitting on the table.

Near the very end of art, with only about 6 or 7 minutes left, (everyone else was cleaning up and we were about to conclude) the principal brought Tommy back to art. He took me aside and said that Tommy had been in his office, meeting with family services. 'Could Tommy finish his painting? He really wanted to get back down here to art, so that he could finish it."

I don't know why Tommy was talking to a social worker, or whomever it was in the principal's office...I never asked....but students don't just meet with family services for fun....it was an immediate sign that something was going on in Tommy's home life. I had seen the signs all year. His behavior was drastically different than the year before.

Instead of showing Tommy a little more love, or given him opportunities for more attention, I had started to dread even being in the same room with him.

There he was, in the office, meeting with some stranger, about some situation at home, and all he wanted to do was be with me, in art, working on his painting.

I was mortified and embarrassed and ashamed that I had lashed out at the poor kid with "What happened to your face?!" when he is dealing with some pretty terrible stuff at home.

Being an art teacher, I can usually sense when something is going on with a child. It isn't necessarily that stuff comes out in their artwork, usually I notice a huge shift in behavior.

If a student suddenly starts acting oddly or misbehaving, I can tell that something is going on...perhaps the child is going to dad's for the weekend...or stayed up too late because parents were fighting....maybe the kid is living at Children's Haven or in foster care.

Rarely do I ever know the details about what is going on at home. If I notice major changes, I will mention it to the classroom teacher and the counselor.

As I said before, I honestly never knew what was going on with poor Tommy...but his behavior started to improve after that. Or maybe, I started treating him a little differently because I had a little insight into the fact that something had changed at home and it was affecting his behavior. In any case, it is a huge reminder that no matter what, so you should always treat others with compassion because you never know what burdens they might be carrying.

Here are a few great quotes:

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. ~George Washington Carver

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~Leo Buscaglia

Halloween Post!

2011-10-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

Whew!! What a month October has been!

Busy.Sad.Busy.

I am so ready for Christmas.
I've already started making plans for the annual Christmas party.
SO. MANY. AWESOME. SURPRISES!!
I can't wait!! I'm ready to put the tree up right now.

I didn't get super into Halloween this year. Not much can top last year's concert+Power&Light in KC for Halloween.

Friday night, I worked my school carnival in my Eric Carle, Very Hungry Caterpillar costume.

Saturday night, we did a haunted walking tour of Joplin's downtown. It was cool, a few 'spooky' reenactments and a lot of history (Highlights: hobo camps, the KKK and prostitution on Maiden's Lane).

Sunday, went to see Paranormal Activity 3, it was pretty good...not as scary as the first two, but it was set in the 80s and that was pretty cool.

Today, I had a dentist appointment so I took the day off. I think I needed some time to get things caught up around the house and relax. Rather than cater to trick-or-treaters, I worked at Spiva with my Art Lounge class this evening. They finished up their giant paper mache head sculptures and we took some pictures, ate waffles and had a life drawing session with the giant heads on. It was super fun.

Hmmm....I planning some blog posts for the next few weeks. My blog has been way too sad lately! Watch for some fun stuff soon.

Thanks for reading. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

A Lifelong Journey

2011-10-21T21:00:00.001-07:00

While driving down highway 69 to Dallas on Wednesday night, I started thinking about all the times my family has driven down that same highway over the years.

Back-and-forth between Carthage and Dallas, getting off the highway at Big Cabin, passing through Muskogee, across the dozens of bridges at Lake Eufaula, topping the hill at McAlester to see city's the twinkling lights stretching out for miles, past the razor-wire-surrounded-prison-on-the-hill, and that enormous star at the 'Welcome to Texas' center at the state line.

For those of us who are used to two lane highways in the country, the trip from the state line through Dallas is a spectacle because there is something to look at in every direction, especially when you literally drive right through DFW airport.

The Dallas skyline is amazing at night. How many of us have 'ooh-ed' and 'aw-ed' as we drove passed neon-lit sky scrapers? Or during the day, exclaimed, 'Six FLAGS!!'

I started wondering how many times my Papaw, my dad, my Memaw, my aunts and uncles have traveled that same road over a lifetime. How many people in my family have gotten tickets, or crawled along in two-lane construction gridlock for miles and miles? Why were they making that long trip, to spend the summer together? for a graduation? a birthday? a reunion? a business trip? a funeral? a wedding? The journey itself is a metaphor for a life, with all the pot-holes, and speed traps, and road-trip games, and pit stops, and memories. Whether we realize it or not, my family will always be bound by that familiar path.

Passing by the lake at Eufaula, I got a sick pit in my stomach. This wasn't a fun road trip to Papaw's farm.

This was a farewell journey.

I had been suppressing my grief, and I was in denial until it hit me. Something about the combination of the sun setting, seeing the moonlight reflecting on the surface of the lake, and the sound of the music playing on the radio, the sadness overwhelmed me, with a million memories and the swift realization that never again would it be the same sort of trip.

We weren't driving merrily through Oklahoma to visit with family over Thanksgiving supper or chat about the weather. We weren't about to drive up to the farm, and see Papaw sitting in his recliner, petting Shadow, doing a word puzzle, trolling around on the golf cart or dolling out candy from his candy jar. This wasn't a vacation and my visions of Papaw in his element, loving life, are just memories now.

Papaw had a larger-than life-personality. He had the sort of personality that left you always wanting more, with his quick wit and sharp memory, he always had a funny story or a saying. The kind of story that made everyone who met him, want to sit and listen.

Some of his stories were so outrageous, and ornery, like the one about the time he was speeding towards Missouri on highway 69, in an El Camino and got stopped by a Hi-Po. He had just passed a couple of big rigs and after he got his ticket, the cop took off south, so papa hit the gas and flew past the big rigs again, exclaiming over the CB, 'I stopped back there and got my speeding permit, now I can really fly!", knowing full well that the officer could hear him bragging.

Papaw wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He would tell you what he thought about you, in a very serious-but-joking-but-completely honest sort of way. He never filtered his comments with a fear of hurting your feelings, which taught all of us to have a thicker skin, and believe in what we were doing or saying so that we could back it up. He was a tough guy, and he expected some toughness out of us, no wussies allowed.

Some would probably say 'Doc' was a bit of a legend.

To others, with his giving spirit and his generous heart, he was a hero.

After the tornado, I got a phone call that he and Memaw had a bunch of furniture for my mom's new place just as soon as we got her settled in somewhere, they would load it into a trailer and bring it up for her. Just like that. Just because it was the right thing to do, no matter that he was undergoing chemo treatments for cancer. A 14-hour round trip was all in a day's work.

Today, at the family viewing....I really wanted to say something to my family. I wanted to give a little speech, encouraging words, and tell my family what I was thinking. From the second that I knew what I was going to say, I started to shake with nerves and I couldn't get up the courage to say what I really wanted to say.

But I would like to share it now.

Papaw is a hero and a legend. And the incredible thing about heroes and legends, is that they live forever. Through our stories, and our memories, we can pass on all the things Papaw taught us about life and about doing the right thing and standing up for what you believe in, no matter what.

My Papaw had an extraordinary personality, lived life to it's fullest and loved his family BIG. I will never forget his laugh, his voice, and his giving heart. His suffering has ended, and he had a good long life. It is with a heavy heart and tremendous sadness that I will join with my family in Texas to honor his memory and his love, and say farewell. Never forgotten, June 9, 1934~October 19, 2011

http://m.joplinglobe.com/TJG/pm_105318/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=kJnn4GXP

New Vintage Dining Room and Hungry Caterpillar Halloween Costume!

2011-10-02T13:38:00.000-07:00


So crowded!

With nothing on the calendar this weekend, I made the most of every minute!

Friday night, watched Mad Men and ate sushi on the couch.

Saturday, went to Springfield to do some vintage shopping...had lunch with some great friends....

Best of all, found a great new dining table...completely made-over my dining room with the new find.

The old dining table was nice, but I hated sitting in there because it was just too crowded. I wanted something vintage.

Old Table

New Table Detail

I really wanted something that was more chrome, and more floral...but I realized a couple of things after shopping all day.

Finding a chrome dining set, with 6 chairs, and two leaves under $500 in good condition that didn't clash with my orange paint and stripes would be next to impossible.

New Table Chair Detail

So I felt really lucky to find this set with the dark green chairs.

When I found the floral table cloth, I was in love with the whole arrangement!

This is now my favorite room in the house! A great place to eat, pin ideas to my pin boards on pintrest, or type up new blog posts.

Sunday morning, in my newly revamped space, I spent a few {hours} on pintrest, brainstorming ideas for my Halloween costume this year. I have to dress as a story book character for my school carnival, so I always scramble around at the last minute trying to figure out what to be...I usually throw something together...this year, I wanted to make something really cool...but I wasn't sure what.....

Then I saw the cutest picture of a baby in a Very Hungry Caterpillar costume...and I realized that it would be easy and super cute to make for myself. The baby version was crochet, so I googled for more ideas.

I was delighted to find all kinds of things for inspiration.

When I went hunting in my stash for green fabric...I had very little...hmmmm. I wanted to start on it right away, and I did not want to have to run around town finding green fabric so I had to improvise. When I spotted a white pillow case in my stash....I thought it might work to paint the fabric?

Um, yes. Painting the fabric...that would definitely work. So I painted one side of the pillowcase with 'Eric Carle' colors and textures. After it dried, I peeled it apart and cut out arm holes and a neck hole....it was a little too tight to wear as a dress and be comfortable...so I decided to turn it into an apron.

I cut the bottom to be sort of rounded and started sewing lines across the front to make the segments of the caterpillar's body.

Then I stuffed those segments with batting, added some ribbon around the top for the neck, and added one of the few green strips of fabric that I had for the waistband.

The hat was tough. I have only ever made a few hats. I made a 'trial' hat.....but it was too small...so I thought I could just make the red one little bit bigger....that didn't really work, so I started sewing together little panels, sort of like a beach ball...the result is a little bit wonky, but I stuffed some purple felt antenas and added some felt shapes for the eyes and nose and it looks pretty cute.

The last thing I made was the feet. I just cut out a foot pattern, traced it on brown fabric....sewed two pieces of brown fabric together to make little 'pillows'. I attached those to the body, and viola! A caterpillar costume. I plan to wear it over a long-sleeved green shirt, and a pair of pants. It should be easy to take on and off, and it won't be too hot.

I have a little 'Hungry Caterpillar' bag, I am thinking about putting some food in there from the book: Lolly pop, apple, orange, etc.

For the school carnival, I was sort of thinking about taking my brown sleeping bag to school so that I could curl up in my 'chrysalis' in the corner...wonder if I could get away with that?

Oh mah gosh!

2011-09-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Did you guys watch the New Girl last night? Well, if you did not, you totally need to find it online and watch it. I laughed hysterically throughout the show, and I haven't done that with a new show in so long!

This year, I have been infusing lots of vintage into my wardrobe at school. I am super inspired by Mad Men and vintage looks I have found on Pintrest. Here are some of my favorite outfits.

Okay, now I am going to get back to my t.v.....so many shows premier this week, my DVR is already super full!!

~Nellie

Nelliepalooza the 4th

2011-09-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a lovely weekend!!

It was the perfect rainy, stormy weather to stay in and work on crafts.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Nelliepalooza.

I'm planning another crafting retreat March 30th-April 1st, if you are interested, email me for details!

Shrinky-Dink Rings at Nelliepalooza

2011-09-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

Live blogging at Nelliepalooza!!

This weekend was my 4th Nelliepalooza crafting weekend with friends. The first night we had 10 girls stay the night, with 14 staying the second night and about 3-4 that were in and out all weekend. Many people worked on scrapbooking and photo scanning/digital photo books.

Some worked on cards (like me, 100 days till Christmas and my cards are done!). And others worked on a whole assortment of crafting projects. My friend Karalee showed everyone how to make shrinky-dink rings. Super easy and fun.

How to make Shrinky Dink Rings:

1. Cut the shrinky dink to 5 1/2 X either 1" or 1 1/2" or 2" depending on how wide you want your ring.

Then draw a design in permanent ink. (think sharpies!) Many of us had our stamps so we made some great rings with Stayz-On ink and stamped images.

2. Heat up the oven, following the directions on the package.

3. Remove shrinky dink ring from parchment-lined cookie sheet, fresh from the oven, using tweezers
Lay on a pot holder and quickly and carefully roll around the barrel of a plastic 'thing' about the same size as your finger. I used a glue pen, others used markers, or glue sticks.

4. Enjoy your custom rings!!

Charlie and Me.

2011-09-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen that movie Marley and Me?

Well, I have not seen it because that kind of stuff makes me way too sad. I remember bawling my eyes out when I watched the movie Beethoven.

Have you ever read Where the Red Fern Grows? Well I did in 5th grade and it was the saddest book I had ever read. I remember crying, and crying, and crying so much for the dogs, Big Dan and Little Ann.

I hate sad pet stuff.
I get super emotional when someone loses a best friend.
A dog can bring so much joy to a person, so much comfort.

This week, my mom went into the hospital. Her dog (and my dog) Charlie came to stay with me while she is getting treated. She will probably be in there for a few weeks. Don't worry, mom will be okay, she is working on getting healthy, this is a good thing.

Charlie is a very special pup. I bought him when I was in college after I had broken up with my long-time boyfriend. The two of us had a daschund together, and when we broke up, Ace when with the ex. Charlie helped me when I was feeling lonely.

I soon realized that having a dog would not work for my schedule. I was in college and working and I never got to see him so it was going to be hard to potty train him. Mom became the 'grand-dog-sitter'. Soon, Charlie moved in with mom full time and she fell in love with his company.

Charlie slept with mom every night. At that time, mom lived in a trailer and Charlie would run around like crazy, making laps around the whole place. When mom moved into her new apartment, Charlie went with her. He had a favorite stuffed red bone, that we called his baby. If Charlie was chewing on a raw hide, we knew to stay away because he would growl ferociously if anyone came near it.

Holding Charlie, you could say 'who is my baby dog?' and he would collapse, limp in your arms and let you cradle him like a little baby.

When the tornado hit, Charlie managed to find safety in the apartment. I remember carrying the 20+ pound, wet, scared dog to my house when mom rode in the ambulance to get her foot stitched up.

Over the years, I have tried to help mom with Charlie as much as possible, like she had helped me when I first brought him home. He is loyal to my mom in every way, keeping her company when she is sick and in pain. He is right by her side. Sometimes, the only reason my mom gets out of bed, or off the couch, is to take Charlie out. He is her 'therapy' dog, her best friend.

This week, when I went to pick up Charlie, he wasn't himself. He has been down in his back and has been in and out of the vet (at an astronomical $2,000 bill in less than a week). His issues are related to a back injury that happened a few years ago. Mom's jumbo fat nurse aid stepped on his back recently, causing a major flare up. Charlie became incontinent and wheezy from the steroids.

Soon after Charlie came to my house, he took a turn for the worse. He licked a hot spot on his leg. It went from a raw area, to a deep hole, to a big gaping wound in about 24 hours.

Dogs tend to lick hot spots when they get anxious. I am sure not having my mom around, being in a new place and in pain, and being alone during the day for so long made him very anxious.

After trying a neck cone, bandages, and special spray to keep him from licking, I tried diapers, and bathed him and tried to keep his 'bed' area in the bathroom as clean as possible but his leg became infected. I could not keep him from licking that spot.

Those doggy diapers did not work. And I've never really been good at changing a baby's diaper, so trying to put a diaper on an lame, obese, incontinent wiener was ridiculous. The diapers this hole in the back, for the tail....it was just weird. But it was worth trying.

Poor Charlie looked so pathetic in his neck cone and diaper. It was so sad.

Charlie managed to wriggle out of the diaper pretty quickly meaning that he was just sitting in pee, on the bathroom floor. It started to become impossible to keep him completely clean for very long. Especially since I leave the house at 6:40 a.m. and don't get home until nearly 4:00 or later, I couldn't keep enough towels clean for his 'bed' on the linoleum.

After realizing that I could not care for Charlie, mom certainly isn't healthy enough to care for him, in such a condition, we agreed that it was time to think about Charlie's quality of life. Specifically, we were keeping Charlie alive because he made us feel better, but the truth was, it was just wrong to make an animal suffer like that.

Charlie wouldn't even lift his head when I went into the bathroom by Friday morning. His leg wound was infected, he hadn't pooped in days and he was depressed and in pain. I made an appointment for him at a local vet for that afternoon. It was all I could do to put on my 'Mrs. Mitchell' act at school. All I could think of was poor Charlie.

I've never had a dog that needed to be put down before.

Saying goodbye to Charlie was incredibly sad.

And not just, like 'oh, hey this is the right thing to do, he is an animal and he is injured and its hard to kill a cute animals'....

But like REALLY REALLY REALLY SAD.

More like, 'oh, hey this is someone's best friend, and you have to kill it because it is the right thing to do, and now your mom will be all alone because you couldn't save him and you failed and life isn't fair and you need to hold his paw and look him in the eye because he shouldn't be alone when he dies, he needs you to comfort him, and remember Where the Red Fern Grows?, well this is sadder than that times a million, yeah, it is that sad.'

Looking into his big, sad brown eyes, knowing that in a few minutes, he would go from being Charlie, to being gone, was heartbreaking.

The vet was very kind. She explained the procedure. I tried to comfort Charlie, but when I tried to tell him 'its okay Charlie' as the injection went into the catheter, my voice came out in a squeaky, choked, whisper sob.

Knowing that my mom did not get to say her last goodby to him, or be there to hold him one last time was...well...you can imagine how guilty I felt....but I knew I couldn't make him suffer until she gets out....

In one second, he was alive...and then he just wasn't....

At 6:00, I went up to visit mom. I handed her a small stuffed daschund, black with brown paws, and she started crying, big shoulder-heaving tears, holding it up to her cheek. She stared into the little toy's alabaster eyes and whispered 'you are a good baby dog, you are my sweet baby dog, its okay, Charlie, now you don't feel any pain.'

After a few minutes, I gave her some photos that I had printed for her, and we held each other crying. We told stories about Charlie and we would go from smiling to crying again, realizing how unfair life is and how much he will be missed.

Mom said she wants to go to build-a-bear together, to have something special made that she can snuggle with at night, since she won't have Charlie to curl up beside her anymore.

I had to write this.

I am sorry if it made you sad. It feels like I am reading some sort of super sad book, and I just keep reading the sad part over and over again, making myself cry. But this isn't some sad book, and I can't just put the story down and walk away. It is part of me now...it is my story...and I had to tell it so that I could set it free, move on to the next chapter...the happy one...where I get to take mom to a toy store to build her new best friend, one that will never get sick, that will always comfort her and lay by her side.

Thanks for reading.

Rest In Peace

Charlie Silver Bear

May 29th 2004--September 9th 2011

Photo Collage Friday {Number Seventeen}

2011-09-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

After the art auction in Kansas City a couple of weeks ago, we visited the studio of an artist living in the Crossroads District. He had many interesting things in his studio...my friend Meg thought it was one of the weirdest places she had ever been...This might not be my favorite photo collage ever....but I did find his studio interesting and there was some cool stuff hanging and hiding amidst the clutter.

Joplin Community Mural Project

2011-09-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

In July, I mentioned that a team of artists was working in Joplin to create a Community Mural. The team met with children, and adult members of the community to create a vision for Joplin's mural. The design is now complete and the team is working on the painting stages of the mural.

Here are a few iPhone photos from the first community painting day.

And here are a couple of Lensbaby photos from that first community painting day:

I would also like to share a conversation I had with a man on Facebook...he commented on the local newspaper's article link about the mural on August 24th:

Man: Is this free to the city?

Newspaper: The chamber's Cultural Affairs Committee received grant funding as well as assistance through the Mid America Arts Alliance and funds raised during the "Dancing With the Stars" event.

Man: I'm just curious because there is local artist who would have gladly donated their talents to a project like this...as one of the co-painters of the Hope Wall on 20th and Main I have been working with others to try to get more projects like this going...the hope wall with its thousands of signatures and messages from survivors, volunteers and organizations also became a "community based mural" by artists who donated their time to give something back to our city...dont get me wrong I'm not against this mural but my goal as an artist since this terrible event has been to do these things with minimal costs so that money is spent on rebuilding our city...lack of art or artists in this community is not in jeopardy but as more and more debris is removed the lack of homes, businesses and even something as simple as trees seems so much more important to me...I hope this isn't taken the wrong way...im just passionate about helping joplin recover from this tragedy

Me: 'Man's name', what an amazing opportunity for you!! The mural team is a group of incredibly talented artists working throughout the Midwest to create murals in rural communities. They are working artists (because artists can't donate everything they do, or else they would never eat!), who are affiliated with the Mid-America Arts Alliance Mural Project. Dave Loewenstein is incredibly talented at gathering the insight from an entire community and its vision for a mural design. The grant was in the works as early as last year, and was approved in March. The team arrived in Joplin in July and has been meeting with community groups to develop a design for the mural. You should definitely head down there this weekend to talk to them, you have some great insight on keeping their community art momentum going after they leave!! All artists are welcome to donate their time and talents and be part of this amazing mural. Wow, I am so excited about this project, after seeing what has been painted in other small towns this is a really amazing opportunity for Joplin!!

Man: I work Saturday...may go up Sunday

I am watching comments on other post relating to the mural...One woman said: 'I think that is cool what they r doing there but wish they would of did it the way ppl did it at 20th an main wall by the station....'

I really, really, really cannot wait for people to see how incredible this mural will be when it is finished!!

Magical. {Art Room at Night}

2011-09-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

Destruction in the heartland...September 5th...Part 8.....Cleanup.

2011-09-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend 1 week after storm

If only it were so easy to forget and move on.

About 80 days after the storm, I had to bring my mom to Joplin to close her old checking account and get a new I.D. card with her new address on it. She said that she wanted to go by and see her old place.

When we drove up and saw how much of her old home was gone, she was very upset.

She said, 'I didn't even know it was a tornado. I was never scared of storms and I'm still not. I just thought it was a mean man, hitting me in the back with the door. I didn't know what was going on.'

A week or so later, a severe thunderstorm came through. There wasn't a tornado warning, but the thunder woke my mom up. She called me. She was scared and upset. I think a lot of people were afraid that night.

The cleanup in Joplin is miraculous. Here are some pictures I took last month around Joplin. I tried to take them to 'match' the photos I took immediately following the storm.

About 80 Days after the tornado

Art Gallery + Kaleidoscope

2011-09-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went up to Kansas City for an art auction. Before leaving town, we stopped into the Kemper Art Gallery. This is one of my favorite places in Kansas City.

In one of the galleries, enormous Jules Olitski paintings filled the walls. If you have never seen a Jules Olitski painting in real life, it is hard to describe how the large Color Field paintings can make you feel when you are standing in front of them.

I wasn't allowed to take photos in the exhibit...but I did have a bit of fun with a cheap wood and plastic kaleidoscope lens. It sort of took the viewing experience to a whole other level....

Here is a photo of the exhibit program through my iPhone lense+Kaleidoscope lens. If you can imagine looking a room full of floor to ceiling paintings through this lens, this is sort of what it was like...only better....

Seriously...it was amazing.

Here is the kaleidoscope I am referring to....picked it up at a little toy shop in Eureka Springs for a couple of bucks.

Since we couldn't take pictures inside the gallery with it...we took it outside and put it up to the iphone camera to take a few shots of the famous Louise Bourgeois Spiders.

Here are a few more shots from my iPhone of the Spiders.

The kaleidoscope is a really fun iphone 'attachment'!!

And just for fun...I saw the picture below a few weeks ago on a blog and it made me smile...using the kaleidoscope made me think of it!

Twist and Shout Art Auction in Kansas City

2011-09-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about Kansas City is the first Friday artwalk in the crossroads district. This year I haven't been to a single art walk in Kansas City-- GASP!!

I was incredibly excited to head up to the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center for their Project Reclamation Twist and Shout art auction. A big group of Joplin people made the trip up to Kansas City for the auction, which raised over $22,000 for the arts in Joplin.

Over 120 artworks were on display for the one-night show. The place was packed with people hoping to taking home one of the works, created using debris from the Joplin Tornado. Several of my favorite art people opened up their tornado ravaged home so that the artists could use stuff plucked from the rubble to create original artwork.

Two of my favorite people!!

Each family or person who opened up their home to the artists had a large photo on display, and their story shared beside the photo. This is Sam Lewis, he is an art teacher friend of mine.

The artists did some pretty amazing things with the damaged goods they found.

I really wanted this big 'everything's fine' sign...it was hot pink, with gold glitter...I thought it would be perfect in my classroom. I bid on it, but didn't win.

The entire night was amazing. I have never been to an art auction before.

I tried to bet on this beautiful 'globe angel' created using half of a globe found in my friend Meg's home...but when it got up over $800, I knew I could never afford it!

To read more about the Twist and Shout Auction, and the Project Reclamation experience, or to see more photos, click here.

Love you Meg!!

After the auction, we went to the Wunderbar.....a very YUMMY German restaurant!
And then we stopped in to a very eclectic artist's studio.

Here are a few Instax wide images from the night.

Sweet Special Granny

2011-09-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

My great-granny Opal passed away this week.

I spent Tuesday evening with 20 family members, surrounding the hospital bed of my great-grandma after she suffered a stroke. We left the hospital late that night with some hope that she would wake up, but it was just her time.

Grandma Opal was 90, almost 91.

She was the sweetest, most special grandma, with a sharp mind....her hearing and vision were mostly gone, but she had so many poignant memories. She could recall things I said and did as a kid, down to the littlest details...and it was the same for all of her great-grandkids, and grandkids.

I think my dad was her favorite...but we all felt like her favorite.

She could see the good in everyone.

I sat on grandma's front porch with my dad, his arm around me. Tearfully he explained, 'Everyone loved grandma Opal. When she worked at that corner store, she could talk to anyone and make them feel better. People right off the street would walk in and keep coming back because she was so loveable. She made friends with strangers and there was a time when everyone in town knew her. Nellie, you have part of grandma in you. Not very many people in this world can say that. But we were so lucky to have such a special grandma in our lives. She had so much love for everyone and you have that inside you. Never forget that.'

The thing I will always remember about my Grandma is that no matter what, she would always remark on how good I look, 'have you lost weight?' she would ask. 'You look thin,' she would say in a flattering tone.

She always made it a point to tell me how proud she was of me.

She was always my biggest fan and greatest supporter.

The date on this photo is wrong...it is from 2001.

Grandma Opal hated having her picture taken. If someone took out a camera, she would leave the room. There are few photos of her where she is looking at the camera or isn't hidden behind sunglasses.

I love you granny!!

i'm blogging this and that is all.

2011-08-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I post infrequently because I have nothing to say and no inspiration...but sometimes I don't have many posts because I just run out of time and can't fit blogging into my schedule (Gasp!).

I have so many blog posts brewing in my brain right now and tons of new photos to share.

Right now, I am jetting off to bus duty, then a meeting, then a dentist appointment for my Invisalign, then I'll rush home to change and hit the gym in time for abs at 5:00 and Zumba at 5:30....perhaps I will have time to write after I shower and eat dinner?

Check out this amazing little picture from last week. Something about it just makes me happy. I posted it on my Instagram with the tag: 'we we we so excited' #friday #rebeccablack

I'm thinking about incorporating some children's art into my own work...this one will be first...something using Miro's transfer technique.

Anyway, if you are an art teacher and you follow my blog, check out my lesson plan site, This Little Class of Mine and become a subscriber. I just started my 'Year in Kindergarten' blog posts with a script from the first two weeks of school. Click here to read it: This Little Class of Mine.

Two painting ideas combined

2011-08-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I told you about a really cool painting on Alisa Burke's blog...I fell in love with it and made two, one for my home and one for my classroom.

In the meantime, I completely fell in love with this crayon wax melting on the whatever blog. I guess these are all over pintrest?
I decided to combine the two into a totally new, fun painting for my classroom!!

I'm really happy with how it turned out!! Such a fun, easy, creative thing to accomplish for such a busy time of year!!

Art Walk with Lensbaby part 2.

2011-08-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I told you a bit about the Third Thursday art walk events.

Last month, I shared a bit about my art exhibit at Art Walk in Joplin.

The same night that I had my own show downtown in July, I also took a group of students around for the first time.....check out our post on the Art Juggler blog!.

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures with my Lensbaby from last week's Third Thursday art walk.

This is one of my favorites ever!

{Vintage Style} Dress...yes, I did wear this to school!

Love these photos of Justin and the pitcher of lemonade at Salon 529!

The Bee Keeper Society of Southwest Missouri had a booth set up at artwalk and one attraction was the glass case with a big honeycomb and live bees swarming inside it (sort of like a glass an farm). I was freaked out at first, because bee hive give me the creeps, I'm always afraid of getting stung. Then I noticed what a cool reflective surface the glass case had...so I had to take a self-portrait with it!

Isn't this a sweet daddy-daughter picture?!

I'm looking for more cool opportunities to take lensbaby photos...any ideas?

Art Walk with the Lensbaby part 1.

2011-08-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love going downtown for art walk. Every Third Thursday in Joplin, artists set up downtown and it is free an open for the public to view the artwork.

Most of the art is not displayed in normal galleries, it is set up on folding tables, and in temporary display units in the shops downtown. It is a lot of work to set up a whole show for just one night...and this summer has been super hot, but if you build it, they will come!

I enjoy looking at what local artists do, but I really love taking pictures downtown. Last week I shot with my Lensbaby attachment on my Nikon D5000.

Downtown Joplin is so beautiful. I really love it when they block off the streets!

This was an amazing 'town-hall' event...citizens could give input on what they wanted to see created in the destructed areas of Joplin.

This guy didn't like my dress and jewelery....he whispered 'shame on you' as I walked past him to get photos of the girls doing Zumba in the street. Guess he doesn't like vintage.

I love Zumba! I try to do Zumba three times a week at the YMCA....here are my instructors and classmates doing zumba in the street--it was an awesome event!

I would've been out there with them but I made up excuses for why I couldn't (and wouldn't): I ate dinner downtown before they got started and I was too full to dance, it was too hot, it was the second day of school and my feet were too sore, I love to Zumba but I am not very good and I would've been too embarrassed to do it in front of the whole town, but most importantly I was dressed up {vintage style} and didn't have time to change before art walk.

Don't these balloons look awesome with the lensbaby?!

Thanks for reading, look for more pictures tomorrow and peak at my {vintage style} dress!

Photo Collage Friday {Number Sixteen}

2011-08-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

This makes me happy!! What a great idea, tie-dye your 'I Heart Joplin' Shirt. I saw this at art walk in Joplin last night. I wore the cutest vintage dress. I will be spending tonight writing up blog posts to auto-post thru next week. I took these photos at art walk with my lens baby, and I took a bunch more...look for the posts with those next week!!

Photo Collage Friday {Number Fifteen}

2011-08-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

It is my last day of summer!! I am super sad, but I have had a great vacation. Today, I am blogging, baking pies, making a birthday gift, and sewing an apron. Busy busy!

For this week's photo collage Friday, I took some photos in my classroom of summer projects I have been working on this week.

#1. Paper mache paint brush: A couple of years ago, I saw this great jumbo paint brush and palette set from Pottery Barn Kids. I totally wanted it for my classroom, but $200 was a little too pricey. Two years ago, I made the paint palette with scraps of styrofoam. This summer, I finally got around to making the paint brush using paper mache. (Thanks for the help, Emma!) I made a cool set up jumbo paper mache art supplies last summer for my other art room.This was a super easy project, both the paint palette and brush are attached to my concrete walls with foam tape and hot glue.

It looks pretty cool above my paper case, huh?

Before I can tell you about the other two photos in the photo collage, I have to tell you about a place in St. Louis that is an art teacher's mecca. I'm not even kidding at all.

It is called Leftovers. And it is amazing.

This place is a superstore of sorted, cleaned, organized junk. And for $7 you can fill up a paper bag with anything in the store. As much as you want. If it doesn't fit in the bag, they will cut you a deal. I got the long cardboard tube for the armature of my paintbrush from the store and I was so delighted!

#2 Splatter paint classroom furniture. I've always wanted something splatter painted in my classroom, but I'm usually too lazy/busy/forgetful to make something. Last week, I set up an old wooden table and a stool on a drop cloth and started splattering. These two pieces of furniture are a great addition to my classroom!!

#3 Spray Painted Clothespins. Okay, about 7 years ago while I was doing my student teaching, a little old lady came in and taught for one semester. One thing she did while she was working in my classroom, was spray paint a bunch of clothes pins in order to separate the classroom art work by table for each class. Brilliant! I've just been marking a little scribbled line with a marker on the end of the clothes pins for years, but this summer, I finally got out my rainbow colors and started painting the pins.

Photo Collage Friday {Number Fourteen}

2011-08-05T03:36:00.000-07:00

These are all sky photos taken on my iPhone. I created this collage on my iPhone as well. It has been so sunny and hot here in Joplin, I really wanted to combine all of the beautiful sky images I have captured lately...especially when they reflect a bit of rain (which everyone is praying for daily).

Only one more week until I am back to school. I wish summer could last a little bit longer!!

Lens Baby Photographs {Part Two}

2011-08-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here are the second half of my lensbaby photos from St. Louis. To see the first half, check them out here. I am trying to watch Louie and blog...and for me, t.v. and blogging don't mix...I can't think...and write...when I am trying to concentrate on a t.v. show. So I'm just posting photos for now!

Lens Baby Photographs {Part One}

2011-08-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I traveled up to St. Louis to visit a friend and help her get her art room ready for the upcoming school year.

We had many amazing adventures and I had a chance to play around with my lensbaby camera attachment.

You might remember the snowbound pictures I took during one of our blizzards last winter.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun playing around with it and I really love these photos.

By the way, if you like the dreamy effects in these photos, you can do the same thing with an app on your iPhone called TiltShiftFocus....it is great, you can take any photo and select where the focus is with your fingertips.

Anyway, I only posted half in this post...watch for a 2nd post later!!

Thanks for reading!

Large Painting with words {Addict}

2011-08-01T04:21:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've realized that the dark wall color in my living room and lack of light bearing windows makes my front room a dim cave most of the time. In search of ways to brighten it up, without repainting, I came across an idea that I immediately fell in love with.

On Lisa Burke's blog, she posted about how to create a large painting full of text and I knew immediately that it was the perfect thing for my home (and I already had the perfect canvas ready to go!)

I went down the the basement, found some old white house paint, primed the surface and searched through songs to find something that reflects what I am feeling at the moment. I chose two verses from 'home' by Pink Floyd.

As you can see, even with the morning sun streaming through the dining room, my couch is in the dark. The painting has added a large, white reflective surface to the room, especially when the t.v. is on. Maybe not so much in the morning, but it is much brighter than the mirror and photo frames I had on the wall before.

Now I just need to make some new colorful pillows so that my living room will look half as trendy as Lisa's! (I really should go back and take a photo during another time of day with a camera other than my iPhone...but whatevs)

I was so in love with Lisa's painting that I also really wanted to create one with the ee cummings poem, 'I carry your heart.' I had another large canvas so I decided to paint it and take it to school to spruce up my room for the year.

Anyway, I decided that the worthless back corner behind my desk needed a makeover so I have been busy this summer clearing away the clutter. You can kind of see the 'before' picture of this corner and the old poster collage on the wall behind my desk in this photo.

I am going to leave the lomography rainbow up for the year....hoping to inspire students with my artwork. I am also thinking about doing a lesson with this poem to start out the year, because I know it will be a conversation starter for the students.

Have you done anything new in your classroom? What song or poem would you paint on a large canvas?

If you are interested in stretching your own large canvases, check out my DIY on the Birds of a Feather blog from last summer.

Thanks for reading!!

Photo Collage Friday {Number thirteen}

2011-07-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we put together a show of sculptures and Lomography work for the 3rd Thursday art walk in Joplin. Here area few of my favorite photos from the night. It was so great getting to hang out with all of my artist friends.

Faux Aluminum Sculptures DIY +{the inspiration}

2011-07-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

I don't normally share art lesson plans on this site, but I am pretty proud of this one. While brainstorming about my Art Lounge class for high schoolers at a local art center, I put several things together to come up with this highly successful project.

First, my mom had just given me a huge bag of hotel soap that had been donated to her during the tornado relief. I knew I would think of something to do with it.

Second, I had intended to do a carving project with the Art Lounge students either incorporating potato carving or soap as a stamp for a 2-D project. I was getting a little sick of 2-D and so were the kids.

Third, my friend, Brandon Nepote was at my house a couple of weeks ago working on some sculptures for an exhibit. He had an old wooden ball bat that used to belong to his sister, as his parents were cleaning up after the tornado, they recovered it and passed it on to a kid in the neighborhood.

Brandon, being the ~~sentimental~~ artist that he was, convinced the kid to give it back to him so that he could use it in a sculpture.

While at my house, he sawed off the top and bottom and used a wood rasp to add texture to the surface of the bat. Then he covered it with foil tape. Then he spray painted the entire thing....and used sand paper to wipe off some of the paint. I watched, perched on my back steps, sweating as he completely transformed the old bat.

He looked up and smiled, "Faux cast aluminum!" he exclaimed.

You can see the bat in the photo above......it has a question mark sticking out of one end...and an arrow pointing at my ~~dorky~~ friend on the other end. By transforming wood to look like metal, he can take an all-wood sculpture keep it light-weight, but make it appear to be mixed-media.

Did I mention that Brandon has an MFA in sculpture? He is pretty awesome. And he is a goofball.

I took an idea right from his master's studio and tweaked it to fit the materials I had on hand for high school students. In the DIY below, we are using soap, but any wood would be acceptable instead if you have some in your studio.

This is a great carving project which has stunning results, using mostly house-hold items!

You will need:

Soap (either full bars or travel size, we like the free ones from hotels)
Carving tools (potato peeler, paring knife, exacto, utility knife, speedball linoleum cutter, and if the soap is soft you could use an ink pen)
Foil tape, can be found at hardware stores like Lowe's or Home Depot
Large pink eraser or cork
Black paint and brushes
Paper towels
Wire

Step 1:
Gather your materials and sketch out a design for your soap.
Some soaps are difficult to carve while others can practically be molded with your fingers. We had a huge stash of soaps from hotels.

When selecting your tools, think about ordinary objects that might be used to create cool textures in the soap. The potato peeler is great for carving off edges while the cheese grader works like a wood rasp to create a shaved texture on the surface of the soap.
The wire can be used to fix anything that might break off....It is also good for assembling pieces to a base.

Step 2:
Carve your design into the soap using your carving tools. A speedball lino cutter works really well for images like this face. Remember to create a relief on the surface, leaving some areas raised.

If your sculpture is in-the-round, like the one below, you will need to carve every side.

Step 3:

Cover your soap carving in foil tape. We like to cut small squares and strips to make covering easier. When the entire surface is covered, use a pink eraser or cork to burnish the surface, flattening some of the creases, by rubbing it with a piece of rubber or cork, you help the foil to adhere to the smaller details, showing off the relief and adding texture.

(Here are my examples)
They sort of look like chocolate foil bunnies!

Step 4:
If you created a base for your sculpture, or if a piece of it breaks before you cover it in foil tape, you can use wire to attach the pieces together. Be sure to give your soap the 'poke' test before you use it in your sculpture, if it is too hard to poke wire into, you won't be able to use it as a base or attach it to a base.

Step 5:
Once your sculpture is covered in foil tape, and the pieces are assembled, use a paint brush to cover the surface in black paint. The black paint will fill in the cracks. Wipe off the paint before it dries. This will give your sculpture the look of cast aluminum!

Make a series of sculptures and show them off!

Here are the sculptures made by my students:

This DIY was featured on the Art Juggler blog!!

If you try this sculpture yourself, please leave a comment with a link to your project, I would love to see it!!

A Vision for Joplin

2011-07-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

A muralist is in Joplin, meeting with the community, planning a mural for our city and he asked a group of my students to draw what they wanted to see in the mural, to draw their vision of Joplin.

The teenagers had trouble coming up with ideas because before the tornado, Joplin was pretty boring...and since the tornado, everything that we used to take for granted is so much more precious.

We drew a sketch for our mural and put a big drive-in screen, with cars from every decade parked in front...and a playground with children who could see 'butterfly men' fluttering around them.

Our sketch had lots of trees, and somewhere in the design, we wanted people wading in a creek, catching crawdads. We thought it was important for the mural to show downtown and discussed how much of the mural should be devoted to the tornado. The students agreed that they wanted it to show happy people in Joplin.

Here is the mural team at Spiva, presenting their history, how they are working with the Midwest Art Alliance to bring art to small comunties....sharing a bit about what they do and also showing us example of other murals they have done. The more I learn about Dave, and what he has done in other communities, I am so impressed and excited about the mural.

This project is going to be amazing, I cannot wait to see what Dave and his team come up with for Joplin. To follow their progress and read about what the are doing around town, you can follow the blog here: http://joplincommunityartproject.blogspot.com/

While the team was there, we showed them the mural we made.

Art Lounge students made a list of words to describe how people in Joplin felt after the tornado. The students, aged 10-16 selected some of the positive words and some of the negative words from the list to include in the mural around a central figure. The figure in the center was left faceless so that viewers can picture the faces of those who helped them after the storm. The figure represents neighbor helping neighbor to cleanup and rebuild.

The mural was created on a blue tarp, which represents the new, yet temporary landscape of the city. The acrylic paint will eventually peel and chip off the surface, just as the blue tarps will be replaced with shingles and new roofs.

The Art Lounge mural is currently on display at Spiva if you want to see it in person.

I plan to photograph the Joplin mural project while it is in progress so watch my blog for future updates.

What would your vision for the mural be? What would you include in a mural about Joplin?

Summer Reading

2011-07-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

This summer, I've been totally addicted to ~~trashy~~ romance novels!!

Itseems that when I get in the mood to read, I am not motivated to accomplishanything else.

I will proudly boast that I have spent more than one morning, inbed, reading until almost 11:00 a.m. after staying up until after midnightreading.

I have spent hours and hours with my nose in the books this summer,and it has been wonderful.

Whathave I been reading, you ask?

I am so glad you asked, I will tell you....I'vebeen completely addicted to the Fever Seriesby Karen Marie Moning.

I finished 4 of the books while I was in Arizona inJune....and had to download the last book on my phone because it isn't out inpaperback yet and I had to know what happened!

As soon as I got home from mytrip I went out and bought every single one of the HighlanderSeries books...and I just finished that series as well.

The thing I've gotten from both book series, is an escape....they allow me to travel to Ireland and Scotland, and visit castles and fall in love with sexy time-traveling, magical, mysterious men. It is an escape I have desperately needed.

Sorry for the pathetic picture. I am writing this at 1:24 a.m. and I don't have any other photos on my computer, or the motivation to go take another picture, besides...its too dark now anyway.

Ican't decide if I should start a new series or devote a bit of that energy toblogging/crafting/cleaning....hmmmm.....

What are you reading this summer? I'm thinking about the Hunger Games, do you know anything about those books?

A high definition kind of life.

2011-07-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday someone asked me, 'What have you been up to this summer?' and I actuallyfumbled around because I have been busy, but I couldn't pinpoint or summarizewhat I've been doing in one concise description like 'teaching' or 'working'...

Ihave worked a little bit, teaching one day a week at the art center.

Ihave gone to the gym a bit.

I helped move my mom.

I went on a couple of trips.

I had a little photo exhibit....but....what have I been doing with mytime?

HaveI been frittering it away?

Nope.

Iwill brag a bit that I have had one of best summers ever.

I'vefrittered a bit here and there...but I've stayed busy with froyo and waterparkdates, creek excursions, darkroom parties, weddings (3 this summer!), Harry Potter cake pops extravaganza-day, craft nights, andfamily cookouts.

Thingsthat normally seem mundane and boring have felt special and fun, like goingshoe shopping at the mall and getting my haircut.

Perhapslife was in black and white before the tornado and now it is in high definitioncolor.

Nowmy free time feels freer....food tastes tastier...and life just feelseasier.

These days, I savor everything.

Ofcourse it is still painful to drive across town and see dirt lots where homesused to be.

It is scary driving down Main St. from 20th to 32nd at nightbecause there are no street lights or illuminated signs or the dim glow from a porch light in either direction, for miles.....I cannot go anywhere without a visual reminder of what happened and is happening around town as lots are cleaned, debris is removed and preparations are made for new construction.

I think those things are a constant reminder that life is short, and bad stuffhappens...(it is hard to relate to other atrocities in the world right nowbecause I am, we are still grieving and recovering in Joplin).

Whilepeople still tell stories about where their coworkers rode out the storm or howsomeone lost a beloved pet, 'tornado' is not the only thing we talk when I gettogether with my friends. We are starting to move forward and talk about books,t.v. shows, and gossip....just like we used to do 'before' the storm.

AndI think nearly everyone who was affected will look at their life as it was'before' the tornado and 'after' the tornado.

MaybeI am just on a 'vacation high'....a little too happy....a little toocheerful...or perhaps this is just part of the recovery process, but all I cansay, is that right now, life is good. I find myself appreciating every beautiful flower, every pretty rainbow, and every delicious meal with genuine gratitude.

I wrote this post Sunday night and set it to auto-post Monday evening around 6:30....well, around 6:35 I was leaving the gym and I saw this magnificent rainbow....my post never went live and I think it was missing this image....I took this photo on Main Street in Joplin, (yes, I did drive out of my way to get this shot) The rainbow was starting to fade as I was racing to a spot where I had a clear view of the sky....which just happened to be on a very badly damaged section of the street. I posted it to facebook with the caption Hope for Joplin.

This photo was taken with the hipstamatic app on my iphone.

Summer blogging fail.

2011-07-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

That's right, I've been the worst blogger ever this summer. And I'm okay with that.

My friend Whitney Scott mentioned that it has been too hot to blog, and she's right!! It has been miserably hot in Missouri this summer. In Joplin, we had a record blizzard, a record tornado, a record heat wave...I'm afraid of what might come next.

I had super high hopes of writing 'A Year in Kindergarten Art' blog series this summer over on my teacher blog page This Little Class of Mine. (Embarrassingly, I haven't posted anything new since January, even though I had a student teacher this spring and had plenty of time to write up new content. I blame it on my old, super slow laptop!)

I have photos from nearly everything that I did last year, but the one project I don't have a picture of is the mural project I do the second week of school...and without a photo of the project I have done 80 times (I'm not exaggerating, 11 classes of kindergarten, 2 classes of first grade, over 6 years of teaching, I've done it literally 78 times) I just don't have the motivation to write the blog series without a photo of that project.

I also had high hopes of sharing a series of blog posts dedicated to Roylco, the art supply company who sent me some great supplies for my modified art class for students with special needs. The photo above shows some life-size characters the class made using the pre-cut shapes from Roylco. It was a wonderful project for that class and I am excited to share how they did it.

I guess I will be writing the kindergarten art series once school starts, with each lesson plan going up right after we finish it sprinkled with lessons about art for kids with special needs.

Anyway, I haven't had much motivation to write anything this summer, especially not lesson plans.

My guilt about avoiding a project about lesson plans has kept me from writing anything at all.

I'm hoping to change that tonight. What started out as one really super long post is now getting broken up into several smaller posts for this week. I have to take advantage of my writing mood while I am feeling it!

Tomorrow I am going to school for the first time since June 2nd....to check on my school supplies and gather some project samples for my friend Danielle, she just got her first elementary art job and I am going to visit her in St. Louis next weekend.

So anyway, thanks for being patient with me and watch for more posts later this week!!

Bride and Groom Plank the Altar

2011-07-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

I just went to my cousin's wedding, we got the bride and groom to plank on the altar!!

More pictures from the wedding coming soon.

Photo Collage Friday. {Number Twelve}

2011-07-21T02:42:00.000-07:00

I know I shared a photo collage of my nephew just a couple of weeks ago...but I really wanted to share another one, I took SO many cute photos!! I miss this little guy so much!

This collage reminds me of all my favorite things about summer: sprinklers, bubbles, splashing and laughing!!

Photo Collage Friday {Number Eleven}

2011-07-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

Summer favorites!! My summer is OVER half OVER!!

I am loving every ounce of my freedom. I am trying to do responsible things like drink lots of water, cook healthy meals, work out at the gym...but I am saving plenty of time for fun stuff too!! Here are some of my favorite photos of the summer so far. ENJOY!!

Photo Collage Friday {Number Ten}

2011-07-08T02:39:00.000-07:00

Hey hey hey!! I'm away on vacation this week!! I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite photos of my nephew. These were taken while I was in Arizona last month. UGH! I can hardly believe it is July!!

To see how much he's grown, look here, here and here.

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

I spent Sunday in Oklahoma City with my aunt and uncle.

We took photos at the bombing memorial.

All three of us have a Nikon D5000.

It was a magnificent exhibit.

Made me think a lot about terrorism.
Made me wonder if we are ever truly safe anywhere?
Made me think a lot about freedom and hope and tragedy.

Me!

And a cute convertible that drove by when we were leaving. I like this photo because of the red*white*blue scheme.

Hope you are having a good vacation. Mine is pretty great.....It is SO HOT here.

Photo Collage Friday. {Number Nine}

2011-07-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

In June, I spent a week in Lake Havasu Arizona visiting my brother and nephew. It was amazing. I loved waking up beside the lake every morning, watching the colors on the surrounding mountains change as the sky changed. As the sun rose and fell the mountains would go from green-yellow, to brown, to red-tan, to black, to purple, to pink, to blue....all in one day! It was a gorgeous landscape.

To see a few more photos of Lake Havasu from last year, look here. Holga pics here.

An Ode to the iPhone

2011-06-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

The day before the Tornado, I got a new iphone 4. White. It was lovely.

The iphone 4 is a thing of beauty. It is sleek, with a high definition screen with a front and rear facing camera.

I was blissfully aware and grateful that summer was about to start, and I had a new phone capable of video, photo, and millions of other things. I was completely smitten with my new phone in every way.

With my cell company, I am only eligible for a new phone with a two-year contract and I must wait until my previous two years is up before I can get a new one. I've had my old phone over 2 years.

In Joplin, we now categorize things as 'before' the Tornado or 'after' the Tornado, because amidst the swirling destructive funnel cloud, time actually stood still for a few minutes and then rebooted. So many people looked death in the eyes, realizing immediately that life is finite.

Everything that ever has been or ever was is completely subject to the power of wind, a storm can forever instill a fear of future storms.

I look around the city that I love and can count dozens of friends and family that used to live here, but have moved away, seeking housing in other towns or states.

Everything that we held on to as 'normal' has been skewed, changed, or destroyed.

During the tornado, I was grateful for my phone.

Although some service was limited, I had trouble calling from certain areas because towers were down or jammed, I sent lots of text messages and received so many voicemails that my mailbox was too full to get any more.

Of the few phone calls I made that night, I remember calling my boss to tell her that I wouldn't make it to school the next day--a sub plan was on my desk. I remember talking to a few family members from out of state, trying to remain as calm as possible so that I didn't scare them when I explained what they were seeing on the weather channel was even more horrifying in person--and that I couldn't reach my mom by phone, so I was trying to get to her by car, then by foot.

I took photos of nearly everything that I saw, even though many of the images from that night are burned into my brain, forever. I even took a couple of videos. In fact, the first videos on my phone are from that night, seeing the destruction in Joplin for the first time.

The night of the tornado, I finally got online around 3:00 a.m. and I was able to post pictures and status updates letting my friends know what was going on. Internet was down all around town, but I could get on Facebook and I could check my email on my phone.

The photos in this post are from the 2,2010 photos on my iphone...I try to document everything. I can't help it. If there is something I want to remember on Facebook, I take a screenshot so that I have the information later.

Fast forward about 24 days. After using my phone nearly non-stop to look up phone numbers and contact apartment complexes, I finally found housing for my mom and got her moved into her new place.

On the morning of June 15th, I was at the Joplin airport, ready to head out of town to visit my brother and nephew in Arizona for a week--a much needed break from all of the destruction.

While waiting for security to open at 6:00 a.m., I went into the bathroom with my carry-on and slid my iphone into my back pocket. BAD IDEA. Just before sitting down, it slid from my jeans into the toilet with a big splash! I didn't realize it immediately, but as soon as I saw my poor, white iphone bobbing like a turd I reached down and plucked it from the water. I tried to dry it the best I could with my shirt and then some paper towels. Luckily, the bathrooms are very new and surprisingly clean--I remember noting before even going into the stall.

My phone shut itself off within three minutes. I assumed that it was fried and horror, dread and anger set in. I was angry with myself, I was angry that I wouldn't be able to contact my brother and tell him what gate I would be at in Las Vegas, I was angry that I wouldn't be able to check on my mom--her injured foot wasn't looking so good before I left. I was extremely pissed that I fried my iphone in less than a month of owning it.

It is quite sickening to see the tornado damage from the sky. I took two photos. One is of a lush, tree filled neighborhood and the other is a destroyed neighborhood. Keep in mind, this is one small chunk...the devastation goes on for miles like this.

You can see blue tarps covering the rooftops of some homes and buildings. This is a photo of what is normal.

The next 48 hours without my phone were so frustrating. I had to borrow phones from people, and if I didn't know someone's phone number, I had no way to contact them. Seriously, how many phone numbers do you have memorized anymore?

Without my phone I couldn't check the time, weather, texts, play words with friends, check my calendar, check facebook, take photos, take videos, check my email, look up a map, use pandora to exercise.

I know that lots of people in Joplin lost everything and I was on vacation, in Arizona, beside the lake and I had a home to go home to...but still...the idea that I was 2,000 miles from home with no way to contact anyone and no phone numbers...and no way to get my phone fixed...I was more stressed and panicked that I have ever felt. All the what-ifs plagued my mind. What if I get lost? What if my debit card gets lost? What if I need to access the internet about my flight? What if I need to call a doctor in Joplin for my mom? What if my mom's foot gets infected? What if someone tries to contact me from FEMA?

I had trouble falling asleep and woke up in a complete frenzie because I had no idea what time it was, and I always play words with friends first thing in the morning and last thing before I fall alseep.

I put my phone in a bag of rice and set it outside in the dry Arizona air for a day.

I left it in the ziplock bag of rice until Sunday. I maintained an extreme level of patience despite my panic.

Finally, I could stand it no longer. I drove it to the AT&T store to ask them if they would open up the back of it for me so I could make sure it was dry before I turned it on.

The girl at the store was less than helpful, she told me she couldn't and wouldn't touch it. I should drive to the Apple store in Vegas and plead my case with them. I told her it would be useless, my warranty was void the moment it came into contact with water.

When I got back to the beach house, I decided to call Apple customer support to see what they could do.

The lady on the phone was SO nice and sympathetic. She understood that it had been an accident and offered me several options.

First though, she said--'try to turn it on'...the damage has been done by now.

I reminded her that it was probably dead, so she told me to charge it for 30 minutes and she would call back and I could turn it on with her on the phone.

When she called back, I held down both buttons for what seemed like forever, and nothing happened...then I saw an apple flicker....then the dead battery symbol....while it charged, I took out the SIM card and gave her the serial number...a few minutes later, it flashed back to life!

The battery was completely dead, but by god it was alive!!

I didn't have to spend $199 to get a new phone..or $599...or whatever...based on the options she quoted me at first...my phone was ALIVE!

Don't get me wrong, I love my family and I was having a great trip.

I was spending lots of time reading....but when you are staying at a lake house with 4 males....and the only thing on T.V. is either cartoons or deadliest catch...you find yourself in dire need of a distraction.

From the moment it turned on until the end of my trip, I was using my phone almost nonstop. I took tons of photos and even downloaded the last book in my book series and finished it off with my Kindle reader.

Anyway, I had a great trip. I am glad to be home, and really glad to have my iphone working again.

I'm off to the gym...walking...with pandora playing....

the great white toilet shark lives again.....

Destruction in the heartland...Sunday June 12th...Part 7...Hope.

2011-06-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

A sneak peek from Joplin today, a few weeks....days, really...after the storm.

The flag still flies at half mast in honor of the people who lost their lives.

An artist carves eagles into the massive stumps in front of Joplin High School with a chainsaw.

Crudely dubbed 'HOPE' high school with duct tape to fill in the letters surrounding only the 'OP' after the tornado tore 'J-L-I-N' from the sign in front of the school.

The hand-painted sign near the newly sculpted mascot eagles reads, 'her feathers are ruffled, but she's not DEAD'....a symbol of hope and strength in Joplin.

Every single citizen has been affected by this....everyone has a story....ten stories...

Earlier this week, I saw Father Monahan in a local diner, surrounded by men of other faiths. As they ate their breakfast, they talked of the President's visit and the memorial service...a framed photo of the priest, shaking hands with Obama sat on the table with the salt, ketchup and creamer.

Thursday, I read a comment from a man on Facebook, to a local media personality...the man said he was sick of all the 'tornado news', according to him, 'the local media needed to report on something else'. The man was from a local town, disgruntled about the fact that the humane society would not allow him to volunteer because of his disability. He was obviously frustrated, looking for a fight.

This storm changed our city. It changed the news. It changed the way I relate to the world around me.

I have to drive through 'HELL' to get home--literally, the scar across my city mars every path across town, it is hard to get anywhere without seeing the destruction.

Teams of men have begun clearing truckloads of metal, wood, and trash. I heard on the radio that a football field, including end zones and sidelines, stacked 200 feet taller than the empire state building was a rough estimation of the amount of debris that needs to be cleared from the tornado's path.

*Edited* here is a link to my flickr with a few better photos of the carvings, a downtown mural, and some pictures of an amazingly destroyed church.

*Edited* Here is a link to my youtube video of the artist working...its farther away and windier than I realized....

(I'm off to photograph the Skaggs family!)

Photo Collage Friday. {Number Eight}

2011-06-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

A little bit of spin art for your Friday.

Magic.

2011-06-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

Can you see Hagrid? and Voldemort? and Hedwig? and Harry?

I took these photos the last day of art. My kindergarteners made pocket portfolios. This kid likes Harry Potter...and that day, he made me happy. Very happy. (Almost as happy as this puppet pal video on youtube)

He didn't know how to spell their names, so he used a little initial above each character's drawing. 5-Year-Olds are so cute!

I found these photos today and I just HAD to share. I think we are all just grasping at straws for normalcy around here....trying to talk about sports, or television...or anything but the tornado, or the weather for that matter....

Anyone know a good spell for normal?

Nellie starts with an 'N'...maybe if I make a little 'N' above a drawing of myself, I will feel a little better? 'N' can stand for Nellie and Normal....

I am looking forward to doing a lot of blogging this summer--packed with photography, writing, and some art teacher stuff. Hope you'll keep reading!!

A little bit of magic...a whole lotta love!!

2011-06-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

One of the most beautiful things about this weekend was the wedding of my friend Scott Murray to the lovely Jennifer Greer. I've known Scott since college and I was honored when he asked me to photograph his wedding.

With all of the stress and craziness of the past few weeks, I was a little worried about my photography skills...and my passion for photographing something so huge and important--weddings are stressful--especially for the photographer. I just didn't know if I would be able to convey the beauty and happiness and do it justice...too much on my mind....

Once I saw the amazing tree-lined pathway to the wedding ceremony location had been filled with twirling white hearts....my own heart skipped a beat...and I got really excited to take some beautiful, magical photos.

I pushed aside all the fear and stress and I just tried to be patient, and shoot.

Here is a sneak peek of the photos from Saturday. These are a few of my favorite photos.

Jen's relationship with her parents is so beautiful....I could not stop taking pictures of their love...it was so moving.

I had a unique aerial view of Scott and Jen's first sight of each other before the wedding.

Scott is an artist...and Jen is a stylist...they have the most amazing style...they both looked stunning!

Congratulations to the happy couple!! I wish you both all the best!

Thank you for sharing your special day with me!

Destruction in the Heartland....part 6...Friday June 3rd....Did this REALLY happen?

2011-06-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

Everything isn't happy and rosy and perfect 100% of the time in blogland people.

I am going to write a few more posts about the Joplin Tornado....if you don't want to read, I completely understand. It is depressing. This Little Blog of Mine will return to school stories and posts about pretty things soon...but for now, I just need to write.

I just keep thinking about all the places in town that got blown away. Literally. There is nothing left. I've been in denial--like a lot of people--but the REAL is finally setting in....

This really happened.

Our town REALLY got destroyed by a massive tornado.

For REAL.

Joplin was on CNN. I saw Anderson Cooper in front of St. Mary's. THE PRESIDENT GAVE A SPEECH AT MY UNIVERSITY!

For REAL.

Many of the places on this list hold many fond memories for me.... I wanted to compile them here to reminisce....

Pizza by Stout-- When I was in college, my Art League group met there every single week--either on the patio or in the glass room on the front to talk about art.

When I graduated from college, my entire family went there for lunch.

When my dad turned 50, we gathered everyone into the party room, got a KC Chiefs cake and celebrated together.

Cupcakes by Liz--This was a new business, but it was one of my favorite places in town. It was perfect for a girls night out--the cupcakes were delicious, the atmosphere was delightful and I would recommend it to everyone for a perfect date night MUST.

Frank's Lounge and Murphy's Irish Pub--Practically the only places in town to do Karaoke. Both gone. I've had many fun nights with friends, singing and celebrating various graduations, birthdays and St. Patrick's days.

Macadoodles, Academy, Aldis, Dillons---When you lose your neighborhood grocery store, favorite liquor store (with discounted fuel once a week), and sporting goods store in one shot---its hard to figure out where you will buy things that you are used to having access to. I visited all of these businesses nearly every week. Gone.

Salvation Army, Good Will---I love to go thrift shopping for clothing, random household collectibles and vintage sheets. Good Will is badly damaged and the Salvation Army moved to its new location just a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't even had a chance to visit yet! I doubt they will remodel renovated grocery store---it will probably just be torn down now.

St. John's Hospital-- I think my doctor's office is still in tact, as it was located in a separate location....but the skeleton building that remains is just depressing and haunting to drive past. My insurance is through St. John's and my mom always stays there when she is sick or needs to have a surgery.

Elec Tric Art--A local tattoo place...my friend Dennis has tattooed many of my friends and family at that location.....now it is gone.

Jo-Ann's Fabric, Home Depot, Wal-Mart-- Wal-Mart?!?! I do not even know what to say....these are staples in my life--buying everything from lumber to sewing machine grease---at these now-gone locations.

iHOP, Taco Bell, McDonald's, Chick Fil-A, Arby's, KFC, Cherry Berry-- These are just a few of the fast food places that were damaged or destroyed. (Luckily Orange Leaf is okay---we got two new frozen yogurt places in the last month--after never having any FROYO in Joplin before. I was seriously OVERJOYED when I found out that Orange Leaf made it through the storm!

Cunningham Park, Par Hill Park, Huge parkway near Murphy BLVD--These parks used to have playground equipment, huge green trees, and they were beautiful places to spend an afternoon on a quilt, in the shade. Now they are just barren eyesores.

Most of these places will probably rebuild...but some of them will not. Joplin is such a different place to live now.

It looks different.

It feels different.

The people look different.

It is different.

The scariest part for me isn't that the businesses below are gone...its that we are not safe in our own homes.

I've never been afraid of storms before...and many people here never took tornado warnings seriously, we have so many 'watches' and 'warnings' when spring storms roll through...we all take those things for granted.

People in Joplin have experienced loss...and devastation....and fear....

Many people were injured...many people know someone that died in the tornado...everyone knows someone that lost their home....

Friends at work ask me about my family and home....and when I tell them that my mom lost her home, I get a variety of responses depending on how far removed they are from what happened. Some are completely sympathetic...some are bracing for the worst...and some are just asking to be nice....

The co-workers that live in Joplin, or who have volunteered cleaning up debris, or the co-workers that are sharing their home with a family that is displaced...those co-workers get it....this storm 'happened' to them too....but unless you've driven through the devastation, or lost your neighborhood, or neighbor, or neighborhood grocery store, it is hard to grasp how difficult this tragedy is.

So, readers....I am very grateful to have my house....Joplin is my home and I am very proud of the city for how it managed to crisis and I am still dealing with how REAL everything is.

P.S. I think I have a home for my mom...in a nearby city...it is very similar to where she was living before the tornado took her home. If all goes well, she can move in next Friday.

Photo Collage Friday. {Number Seven}

2011-06-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Around the house.

In the wake of the Joplin Tornado disaster in Joplin, I am thankful for a house to come home to....dirty dishes in the sink, a screen porch, and a fridge full of magnets.

So many people in my city are homeless.

So many people have spent the last 2 weeks searching through rubble for their belongings.

I have spent the last two weeks desperately searching for a home for my mom.

I haven't had a lot of free time recently to hang out at home....between school and trying to help my mom, things have been super crazy.

Here are a few recent shots from around my house.

By the way, today is my LAST day of school....Happy summer...thanks for reading!

Photo Collage Friday. {Number Six}

2011-05-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

This is an actual mural at my school. I thought it fit the criteria of being a 'photo collage' without much editing.

The school year is almost over! I am so excited for summer, but so sad to take this beautiful work of art down. It has been up since after Valentine's Day....it makes the hallway feel like an art gallery.

Destruction in the Heartland....part 5...Thursday May 26th: Reflection

2011-05-26T20:12:00.000-07:00

At school today, I played a few rounds of Apples to Apples Jr. with my students and found that my responses to the green cards were much more tailored to my emotions when connecting things like 'Neighbors' and 'Brave' or 'Valuable' with 'My Town'....

Normally I would have played 'Rain' for 'Calm' but today, I was very cautious about playing words like "rain" "thunder" or even 'wind' for fear that it might trigger a story or reaction from my students---the game was a much needed distraction for all of us.

Reality still hasn't sunk in for me yet. It seems completely unreal that my grocery store, Taco Bell, pizza place, cupcake boutique and countless other favorite, familiar places in Joplin are completely gone.

'Familiar'-- 'Damage'

Driving around this evening, watching the destruction fade from bad to worse from one block to another. Green neighborhoods with tall oak trees, full of leaves suddenly give way to gnarled, broken, charred, twisted tan and brown exposed wood.

Cases of bottled water sit on every corner, stacks of 24 packs are piled high in parking lots--free to anyone that needs a drink.

Orange and yellow neon vests of workers can be spotted all over town.

Police uniforms and vehicles from 40+ miles away patrol the streets.

Counting my blessings that the 32nd street hill created a bit of a wind block for my own home, with only a few leaves and limbs in the yard, I don't have any broken glass or wood to clean. My belongings are not covered in wet, disgusting yellow insulation, my treasured possessions are not scattered across the city.

'Blessing'--'My Bed'

In some places, it doesn't even appear that a house or structure could have ever stood there, completely flattened. Seeing photos or even video is nothing like seeing it stretch on for miles in person. The scope of the destruction and the scale from eye level is so devastating, and heart wrenching. The unfamiliar landscape of a war zone, in the heart of our city.

Cars have been scattered, shattered and shredded, flung into trees and homes, piled on top of each other. Sheets of metal indicate the direction of the wind as they stretch like pulled taffy around tree trunks and snapped telephone poles.

Apart from Rangeline on a Friday night, I've never been stuck in traffic in Joplin...but today, it was difficult to get across town without getting stuck behind blocks and blocks of crawling vehicles--arms extended from the windows holding digital cameras, waiting for a traffic cop to wave us through an intersection.

While the sounds of sirens have faded significantly since Monday, chainsaws rip through trees on every street--a mechanical removal of limbs and branches. Large machinery and trucks are parked on various street corners, the hum of the trucks and the beep of the buckets as they transport workers trying to restore traffic lights.

The smell in the streets is familiar--the musty smell of an old attic--a little damp....old wood....musty boxes full of winter clothes....a touch of mold....I fear that warmer temperatures in the next few days will kick up the smell of mold, and sour, wet fabric making it unbearable for workers and families to collect anything of value from their demolished homes.

'Stench'--'Home'

Yesterday was rough. I had to grab lunch with a friend because I didn't have time to pack one--when I walked in to Culver's in Webb City, I recognized a friend from college...and gave him a huge hug.

A few minutes later, I gave his fiance a tearful embrace as well. This sweet couple is getting married a week from Saturday--their house is okay, but many people in their family lost their homes--an unbelievable emotional burden for such a beautiful family celebration coming up. I am supposed to take their pictures...

After school, I took a much needed 3-hour nap. I have had a stress-tired-stress headache for the last 3 days and getting some rest helped tremendously. Sometimes I find myself crying, while listening to the coverage on the radio...not for what has been lost...but for the outpouring of love and support in the community.

'Amazing'--'Strangers'

After another stop by mom's yesterday evening, I went to Wal-Mart to get my mom a pre-paid cell phone so that she could have contact with her family and friends....I had the overwhelming urge to hug strangers. To just wrap up anyone who looked tired, or sad or empty.

People keep asking me how my mom is.....sometimes I hear her crying.

She is alive, but she had so little before the tornado took everything, it is difficult to cast out the thoughts of 'those things are replaceable' when they really might not be---little things like her T.V., towels, wind chimes, picture frames, and curtains--those are not available at donation centers and will be difficult to recover after sitting in puddles of water under piles of wet wood and debris.

Also, I spilled a big bag of dog food in her kitchen...It sits in a heap, wet, soggy, stinking.

Since Sunday, I have been obsessed with the radio, internet, FB and T.V. footage of the disaster, but I am nearly ready for some distraction. Maybe if I don't let it sink in, it won't be real. Maybe if I don't look around or think about the 'deadly' 'wind', it can't hurt me.

As much as I am ready for my life to return to normal, I think it will be harder to face the devastation when the sounds of the chain saws stop, the sight of workers and police, and the piles of water are gone, and the empty, quiet darkness sets in.

Right now the city is a bustle of people and traffic from surrounding areas scurrying to help recover missing people and possessions...but when they all go home, and the utilities are restored to the houses that remain, and the radio starts playing music again....that is when reality will set in....that is when the dark, bitter landscape of our forever changed city will become the new familiar site--in place of the beauty of the green oaks, the painted shutters, and the un-torn, un-tattered American flags that used to hang on porches from poles instead of bark-stripped limbs.

'Ugly'--'Landscape'

A beautiful post....

2011-05-26T16:03:00.003-07:00

By my friend Whitney.....read it here.

And a letter from Tuscaloosa. Read it here.

More later.....xxxx

Destruction in the Heartland....part 4...Tuesday May 24th: Timeline

2011-05-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today was not a picturesque as yesterday, I just really wanted to write this play-by-play down...it will be a blur later....it seems like it is important to record this information, in order to reflect,

4:50 Wake up, send updates and check facebook.
5:30 Get up and get dressed.
6:45 Leave Julies, drive to my house.
7:00 Arrive at mom's demolished apartment. Load keepsakes, some clothes and other things of importance.
7:40 Arrive at my house, unload most of mom's belongings.
8:25 Drive to Webb City, Mo--drop of mom's prescription order for antibiotics to fight infection in her wound and a few other prescriptions that were lost in the storm
8:40 Arrive at Leslie's--drop mom off, get her settled
9:00 Arrive at Carterville Elementary. Start spreading my brother's baby book pages, keepsakes, and wet photos on the floor and in the drying rack in my classroom.
9:15 2nd grade class--(Student Quotes: "Did you know anyone that was hurt or killed in the tornado?")
10:20 3rd Grade Class--(Student quotes: "Mrs. Mitchell, you look like you've been crying")
11:20 Leave school, drive to the drug store (Gray Jet flies overhead--Wonder, is that airforce1? --it is not, president is coming Sunday)
11:45 Arrive at Leslie's give mom her medicine, check on her--she is in good spirits, she has been using their phone to make calls to family and friends. Today is my Grandma's birthday!
12:00 Arrive back at school, post photos and blog writings
12:15 1st Grade Class (Student Quotes: "Mrs. Mitchell, you look different"....Well, I am different--no makeup, jeans, discheveled hair full of insulation, tired puffy eyes)
12:40 Shaina brings me a chilli dog, coke and tots (Thank you Shaina, I was running on fuel from a few chocolate Donettes from 6:20am!)
1:00 Dr. Storm helps me find some crutches for my mom.
1:20 3rd grade class (Its the last week of art for many of my classes--I put out games
2:20 Leave school as soon as class walks out
2:35 Pick up mom--carefully getting her down the stairs at Leslie's with new crutches.
3:35 Arrive in Miami, OK--My aunt Tara met us to re-dress mom's wound, evaluate and assess her health (my mom has seizures, blood pressure issues, and occasionally requires oxygen)
4:35 Drive back to Joplin, drop mom off at my house, get her settled--start washing some of her things--move some furniture to make her more comfortable
5:30 Drive to Kristy's house. In AWE of the police command center a few blocks from my house--hundreds of police cars and officers, national guard vehicles.
5:45 Load a full sized bed and mattress for my mom from Kristy's shed. Listen to her recount her story from Sunday--she went to St. John's immediately after storm (she is a nurse, she works there), only realizes it has been hit when she pulls up--starts moving patients down the 7 flights of stairs on mattresses, blankets, sleds, chairs, and wheelchairs in the pitch black building. Quote: "I just kept thinking that was what it must have felt like in the Twin Towers"
6:00 Drive to mom's apartment to collect some more things: towels, first aid gear, oxygen tanks, find a wheelchair near the nursing home, 'borrow' for mom (I promise to return it when mom is off crutches-- there were a dozen sitting in the open) Roadblocks up all over town. Saw Anderson Cooper near St. Mary's Church. Still chuckling about wrecked cars as we pass them--a CNN reporter said that vehicles were literally 'balls of steel'.....so now when we see a crumpled car....we laugh about how Joplin has huge Balls of Steel!
6:45 Arrive at my house, unload the bed and things recovered from mom's (including a ceramic antique family Heirloom Christmas tree)
7:00 Drive to Julies to get some things left behind this morning--including all the food from my fridge that she was keeping cold for me
7:30 Drive to grocery store to buy fresh food--some things were spoiled--needed fresh bread, milk, essentials
8:15 Drive home (Before 9:00 city-wide curfew)
8:45 Groceries unloaded, clean insulation from kitchen counters from some things from mom's house
9:00 Eat a ham sandwich (watch some Tosh.0)
9:20 Take a shower. Standing naked--washing hair--tornado sirens start going off!! WTF??!!! totally my worst nightmare--naked and my house blows away!
9:30 Dressed, gathering flashlights, first aid kit, cleaning wheel chair in case we need to get mom out of here, plugging in the radio to listen for updates (need some 'c' batteries!!!!)
10:00 Listening to the storm get stronger, watching lightening, listening to the radio for updates. We still have power, internet, and cell reception.
11:00 Still awake, fielding phone calls and texts, facebook updates, writing this.
12:00 Plan to sleep in my own bed.

Thanks for reading. More soon.

Before and after photos of Joplin

2011-05-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

See some more before and after shots of my town here.

The St. Mary's school in the areal view is the Church with only a cross still standing near my mom's house.

People from Joplin: if you stand at the Plaza Apartments, you can see all the way to St. John's Hospital. So much devastation.