Halloween Post!

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

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!

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!

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

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

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.

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}

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

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}