BACK TO SCHOOL
So hard to belive that my kids went back to
school today! I'm excited to have more free time
but I'm also sad cause I do enjoy having them around ~
noise and all!
While driving home after dropping them off at school
I started thinking about each grade that my boys are in
this year and my memories of each of those school years.
My oldest Austin is in 7th grade - I had such a bad perm in
7th grade - the lady actually left the rollers in too long and it
burned my hair - was frizzy for over 1/2 the year - YIKES!
I also had my first serious crushes on Grant VanOstrom (SP?),
Jody Spratley (Grant's best friend ~ that can never be a good thing),
and Curt Oliver ~ he had Farrah Fawcett fly backs and was so cool!
Have no idea where they are today but bet they are just as gorgeous as
I remember them being way back when. For some reason I cannot
remember any of my teachers names (except my Art Teacher) ~ I think
I was too hung up on boys during the 7th grade. LOVED my ART teacher though
Ms. Matson ~ I remember learning how to grid out a mural on graph paper before
painting it on the wall - we painted it on a bed sheet. Loved it.
I wonder how many crushes Austin will have in the 7th grade. What teachers will
make an impression on him ~ I pray it will be his best year yet and that no girl breaks his heart!!!!




















My Kendall ~ starting middle school ~ 6th grade
I loved 6th grade ~ it was my last school year in Southern California before moving to Millington, Tennessee. My teacher was Mrs. Wildman and I adored her. She was soooo old
and smoked like a chimney. What a sweet lady though. She always wore these cool pant suits and I remember one so vividly ~ it was white with big red flowers on it ~ like hibiscus or something like that. We got to bring hook rugs to work on (remember those? mine was of Holly Hobby) during breaks and she also taught most of us girls how to knit. She let us stay in during recess and work on our rugs or knit. Wish I could remember how to knit - have all the needles and all those belonging to my great grandmother Adkins but can't remember how to make anything with them ~ maybe I'll learn again this year.
I also remember my music teacher - Mrs. Eastland - we had such a fantastic music program at our school ~ learned to play the harpsichord, violin, guitar (my favorite), bongo drums, and many more instruments - music programs aren't like that anymore in schools - unfortunately!
Kendall adapts so well to new surroundings and I know he'll make many new friends being at a new school. GA doesn't allow them to play sports in 6th grade (school sports) for which we are thankful ~ cause Select Soccer will take up too much of his free time as it is.
I pray that he enjoys the 6th grade as much as I did and has fond memories of his teachers for years to come.















My baby Holland started 4th grade today!
I remember my 4th grade teacher Mrs. Benson
(same school as 6th - Santa Margarita Elementary School in Oceanside, Calif.) She was gorgeous and I loved the way she dressed - girly and fun. I remember 4th grade was when I learned how much I loved math ~ sadly that went away in the 9th grade though. I had my hair cut like Dorothy Hamil and loved it.
Cannot believe my baby will be 10 years old next month. I never really believed people when they said "they grow up so fast" especially when I had 3 boys under the age of 3 ~ all in diapers ~ no sleep ~ it just never seemed like it would happen ~ and yet here my baby is almost a decade old. OKAY...now I'm crying.
I pray he will make some really good friends and enjoy his 4th grade year.



















FREE TIME!!!
I'm excited about my FREE TIME though and hope I get lots created! lots painted! house cleaned in between, Pictures on pages, and back to my exercising and bible study.

SCE items
















Amazing what you can do with a .79 cent mask from
the craft store huh? Not sure how well you can see that
some of the pansies are three dimensional. I painted
all of the it on water color paper and then but a few of the
pansies a part and pieced back together adding dimension between
with silicone glue. I padded the back of the mask with stiff
felt to give the mask some body cause it was so thin. I sanded it all
and painted it black and and put jewel stones on. Then I sprayed
it all with this new puff glitter. Then I glued the top part on and added
the butterfly that cost me a $1.00. LOVE IT! I almost didn't take it
with me to wear in the Mask-er-ade ball cause I wasn't sure if I liked it
that much but it grew on me and now I can admit that I'm quite pleased
with.

FLIP FLOPS













My friend Terry saw flip flops painted and sent me a picture ~
of course I had to make some as we artists do!
These took all of 5 minutes to paint and I sprayed the puff
glitter on them as well. I took them down to wear in the
fashion show but opted not to enter them - cause I didn't want
to have to walk in the show for just the shoes and had no time
to paint any clothing to enter. I wore them through out the conference
though and the compliments alone were worth it for me! They look
very "posh" with an all black outfit even though they are flip flops.

Will hopefully get pics of my 16" flower pot that I painted ~ thought I took
pics before I took it to CE but they aren't on the computer so I obviously didn't take
any. It was for the silent auction and did quite well I thought bringing in $120.00

Summer vacation is over!
What a busy week. Kendall (my middle son) has soccer camp all week, I have my
first Spouses Club board meeting tomorrow (did I mention that I'm Pres.), and my kids
start school on FRIDAY! Can't believe that their summer holiday is over already. We will
try and get to the pool for the next couple of days since we'll only be able to go on weekends until Labor Day ~ there is a double size olympic swimming pool on the AF base and it's awesome!
So...back to the grind!

Happy Birthday David!
(My brother-in-law ~ married to my
older sister ~ and also known to my
3 boys as "UNCLE COOL")

SUPER CONVENTION PAINTED PIECES

I loved all of these projects that we painted.
I have to admit I was very impressed with my
CLOUDS on this one ~ looking at it makes me
wish I was at a beach soaking up the sun.



















I painted this beach scene in a class
that was being taught by Donna Dewberry.
Loved painting on the smaller canvas and
can't wait to frame it and put it in my bathroom.






















LOVE THIS PAINTING!!! I painted
this piece in a class taught by April Numamoto
Love her! She was such an awesome teacher.
Although this is similar to the first one I'm still
gonna frame it and put it in my bathroom.
Can't wait to paint this on a wall ~ not sure if I'll
do it in this house or not since we will be moving in
two years.
















WISTERIA WALL BORDER
This was an awesome class taught by Angela Anderson,
a One Stroke Certifying Elite and Wall & Furniture Specialist.
www.personal-designs.com

I can't wait to frame this and put it in my
kitchen. Not sure how clearly it will show but there is
wisteria and white hydrangea flowers with rosebuds all
on a vine with a gold ribbon running through. It was a
blast to paint and I'm very pleased with the finished
project.
















Fabric painting Class ~ taught by Donna Dewberry.
I love this style of painting that DD is coming out with.
Very modern very cool!
I painted this on the back of my 10 Wonderful Years
of One Stroke painting t-shirts that I purchased at CE.
I forgot to take a piece of clothing and so wish I had brought
an extra pair of jeans to paint this on the leg.
I loved the painted clothes in the 80's - remember those
painted things with dimensional paint! I am very guilty of
having worn several over the top LOUD painted items.
Well, this was my first thought when I heard we were painting
on clothes ~ boy, was I pleasantly surprised that it looked
nothing like that 80's stuff I remember so well.
The paints are AWESOME! Nothing on the market like them.
In fact, the paint isn't available on the market either - check
out DD on HSN on September 8th if you LOVE to paint on clothing
you won't want to miss out.

I'm gonna give blogger a break right now as I have been having a difficult time getting my pictures to upload today to my sight. Will get the rest of the pics uploaded tomorrow and also put the ones of my painted items I took down to CE with me.

SUPER CONVENTION 2006















Donna Dewberry and Me



















Me and Priscilla Hauser

















Chris Wallace (Walnut Hollow) and me


Wow! What a time I had at Super Convention 2006! I'm exhausted but learned so much and made some great NEW friends ~ Hazel, Charlie, Nancy, Renee, & Norma Jean.
I'll get some of the things I painted uploaded today and share those with you as well as some of the things that I painted to take down to CE with me.
I was very honored to have met one of my painting idols ~ Mrs. Priscilla Hauser. I have watched her for years on the Carol Duvall show and just adore her. She was so incredibly sweet and gracious ~ not to mention one of the greatest decorative painters out there.
I also recogonized Mrs. Chris Wallace from the Carol Duvall show - I'm sure they've been seen other places but that's where I know them from - and she is very soft spoken and very sweet. We did a fantastic wood burning craft at the Do & Dash event the first day with both of these ladies and had a blast. I LOVE Walnut Hollow products and have been purchasing their wood pieces at Wal-Mart to paint on ~ they have some fantastic pieces to paint.
The first picture is of me and Donna Dewberry the QUEEN and creator of One Stroke. They really put on a fantastic week for us painting fanatics and although exhausting getting up at 5:30a.m. and going to bed after midnight almost every day I had the time of my life.

It was nice to get back to my boys ~ My 3 boys and husband that is.
The house was spotless and a roast was cooking in the crock pot ~ how awesome is that! I was also given a box of peaches from Hazel's husband and my hubby whipped out a peach crumble to have for desert - hot with lots of frozen cool whip on top! YUM!

Well, now I have to unpack. We got so many goodies from all the vendors and Dewberry Designs and I have to find a place in my painting room for those as well as get some laundry done - which my hubby already started for me this morning ~ I sure do love that man of mine!
I've got a busy week but HAVE to find some time to paint some of the things and technics I learned down at CE. Have a fantastic week ya'll.

FLORIDA BOUND!
I'll be away until Monday next week (July 31). Will have lots to share and lots of pics to show what I've been up to.
Have a fantastic week!
Sandy

I love pansies!
I got these cut little cups and saucers at an auction while in Nebraska this summer and didn't know what I was going to do with them. There were only 3 cups and 6 saucers but I had to have them ~ all for the big price of $1.00

I taught my painting class today and was so impressed with my student - TERRY - she painted her first flower pot with sunflowers - if she'll share photos with me I'll post them soon.
I was going to paint sunflowers on this little set but thought it would be so pretty and daintly with pansies so here it is. I'm going to glue the cup to the saucer and put some frosted glass in the bottom of the cup and a tea light and then give it to my friend. Hope she likes it!

I'm hoping to get some scrapbooking done tonight - DH works late and my boys will watch a movie - especially if it means they can stay up later than usual. I'm gonna try and tackle this creative prompt that CHRISTI gave out yesterday. Will hopefully share soon!

BEAUTIFUL EYES
My nephew has the most beautiful eyes and he really does just melt your heart with one look.

BRAIN BLOCK!!!!!
Have you ever looked at magazines, other peoples work, etc. and just have complete brain block after doing so! I enjoy looking at it because it gives me such inspiration but at the same time if I look at it all too much ~ like I've done lately ~ then I go completely blank! It especially effects my scrapbook pages.
I'm also trying to find that perfect thing to paint and take to this conference with me for a silent auction! In a room full of awesome painters I want it to really stand out (and make a lot of money of course) and I think that thought is keeping me from just creating it! I'm gonna sleep on it tonight and hopefully something will come to me tomorrow.


PAINTING CLASS
Back to teaching painting classes tomorrow! So looking forward to it. Two hours of painting, lunch, lots to talk about with my friend Terry and hopefully a finished product at the end. I haven't taught a painting class since leaving England last summer and am ready to get back in the swing of it.

Small World
It's such a small world! Took my boys to the pool today and heard someone say "Sandy??" I looked at this lady and thought OMG it's Beth and family. We were stationed together at Offutt AFB from 2000-2003. We kept it touch for about a year and then last track of each other due to busy lives, kids schedules, etc. What is so great about friends like these that you make when moving around with the military is that you can just sit and chat like you just chatted on the phone yesterday and the day before that and so on. It was so great catching up with them. Her son and my middle son were great friends when we were there (K & 1st grade buddies) and they picked up like they've been hanging out on a daily basis. Completely forgot that her parents live close by and she was here visiting. We'll hopefully catch up with them next week for dinner! We ended up leaving the pool because someone got sick in it and they kicked us all out - YUK!

Here are some photos of the flower pot I did as well as a small milk can I painted for my friend Trish. I painted it for her Saturday and her packers came on Monday - gonna miss you my friend.

I finally finished the flower pot - phew! I'm such a procrastinator - wish I wasn't - but I just have to feel it to do it.
Now...I've gotta get another order painted and then I can SCRAPBOOK! I am so behind. I will hopefully get some pages done in the next day or two and get them uploaded.
I'm busy getting ready for the OneStroke Super Education Convention the end of the month. Have so much to paint, am busy scrapbooking my portfolio so it looks more professional and have to make sure I have all my supplies before travelling 5 hours away from home.

I just painted this for the Robins Air Museum Auction being held this Saturday. I'm hoping to get a very large flower pot painted as well ~ and since I told them I was bringing it I better get busy painting.

Okay, my first day on my BLOG ~ how exciting. What to write about? I'm sure will be the question of every day now. I write like I speak so it will be filled with grammatical errors and certainly VERY little punctuation - an English major I am not.