"Parisian Soiree"

My mom had the time of her life last night! She danced ALL NIGHT LONG! 

She said it was the first time in 50 years that she danced like that.

This is Mom dancing with Andrew, the bartender, who took a liking to dancing with her. He was the sweetest guy...and one of 4 or 5 guys that kept Mom on her feet the whole night! wow..

When she took a break from dancing, Mom posed in front of the Eiffel Tower that I had labored over for two days. She was pretty decked out and thought the Tower was pretty fun. 

My friend, Suby, was one of the first people I saw when we walked in. She and I went to high school together in Austin and we have both lived in Santa Fe for over 20 years. My mom hadn't seen her in a very long time and they were both pretty happy to meet up! They even danced together to the awesome band that played...

Mom and I posed in front of the Tower, for posterity. I don't often like to have photos of myself, but it was such a fun night and I thought it would be good to document it.

We even got Cullen to join us in one shot (below) He helped me "build" the final Tower with the lights and everything. I am pleased with how it turned out.
We danced and danced and DANCED the whole evening - it was a blast! I hope that everyone had as much fun as we did.....

Thank You, Oolie!

wow.....

I received a delightful little package today from Miss Oolie.

What treasures in such a small package!

Tiny felt blossoms from someone's forgotten Easter bonnet, clipped carefully from the hat so that they may grace another magical "something"....
I can hardly wait to find the time to create a fairyland with these yummies!

........... nice colors, hunh?

Happy Birthday Cheryl!

Today was my friend, Cheryl's birthday. 

I have wanted to make a bunting for her for a long time, so I did it this morning. I went to watch her daughter, Keifer, play a basketball game this afternoon. Cheryl was there, so I gave her a big hug AND her gift.

I hope she likes it. 

I think that RED may have been a better color choice for her, but this one IS bright and fun..... ...and pretty cheerful, don't you think?

Here is the stitching process on my '30's Singer Featherweight...

....and the finished bunting! 

I am so glad that I have made my first one and will feel more confident making the ones that I have already cut out. I just need to stitch 'em up and get 'em out there!

Who wants one?hmmmmm...a big bunting SMILE!

KAYAKing

Thanks for all the comments about Forrest's birthday. I appreciate them so much. 

We got through the day.. and will get through this week with some lingering tears,

but many smiles, too.... lots of fond memories.

I want, now, to share some photos of Grayson (our 14 yr old miracle) Two years ago, he received a (white water) kayak for his 12th birthday. The following photos are from his party on the Chama River (northern New Mexico) when he tried it out for the first time. 

We took a few of his best friends down the river in our raft, while Grayson paddled next to us.

This March, we are going on the Grand Canyon and he and his dad will kayak some pretty BIG water for three weeks!  

I think Grayson is really excited about the trip....

........and nervous.

I know, though, that he is very capable and will have the time of his life.

The Chama is a nice "family" river. The water is pretty calm and the rapids are Class 2 and 3 (out of 5 - with 6 being "unrunnable"), so it is a good river to learn on.

The Colorado River through the Grand Canyon is HUGE.

 The scale is different, ranging from 1 to 10, with 10 being the hardest.

There are two rapids in the bottom part ranked 9 and 10 - whew!

I will be on the top "7 Day" part with several friends, and then we will hike out at Phantom Ranch. 

The rest of the gang will take another two weeks to finish the rest of the river down to Diamond Creek, which is above Lake Mead, in Northern Arizona.

 

I will be back home, alone (with dogs and cats) for a couple of weeks, thinking about them everyday!

It will be the trip of a lifetime for all of us, but for Grayson, it will be the first in (hopefully) a long list of amazing rivers that he will be paddling in his life.

One day at a time.......

FCH 1990-1994

Once upon a time, I had two sons, 

Forrest Cullen Hallmark and Bryce Carlson Hallmark

They were happy guys.

In 1994, they died in a car accident.

Today, January 18th, 2010, would have been Forrest's 20th birthday.

I feel the need to share photos of him to honor his short, but

incredibly happy and full little life.

Forrest at age one - he thought he looked pretty dapper in this hat.

This photo always makes me smile....

Forrest was a dinosaur guy! 

This was part of his Halloween costume one year,

but he wore it ALL the time. 

He would carry a book around with him, "Pocket Guide to Dinosaurs"

and correct other people's pronunciations and give them important 

facts about dinosaurs.

He might have been a paleontologist one day....

He loved these jammies! They were his favorites and he wore them long after they fit him.

I love this picture of the two of us.....

This is one of my very favorite photos of Forrest.

It was taken the week before he died.

We were hiking up Aspen Vista with Cullen and Bryce, 

my niece Leila, my mom and dad and me.

It was Father's Day and Forrest had snacks for everyone in his backpack.

His life (their lives) were too short.

I still don't know how people get through something

 like the loss of a child.

I do know that it IS one day at a time.

You learn to live in the moment and appreciate every, little thing.

And you cry......a lot......

 Forrest, I wish you a Happy Twentieth Birthday today, 

even though you are not here to celebrate it.

We all love and miss you,

but you will always live in our hearts

TaTToos

Tattoos are something I have never really thought much about - for me.

But, in the past month, or so, I have seen some pretty "cute" ones (if tattoos can be cute...?)

This one (left) is the most inventive and FUN tattoo ever!

My friend, Anika, has a little mustache tattooed on her left forefinger - and voila! - instant disguise!

And this afternoon, my friend Dierdre and her daughter, Alita, came by to show me their brand new tattoos that were inspired by Danielle's birds from her marvelous 2010 calendar from the Spoonflower challenge a few weeks ago.

The ones directly below are on Dierdre's right ankle.....

..and the birds to the left are on Alita's side.

Danielle was a bit disturbed that someone would permanently attach her birds to their skin (!)

But, I think they are delightful........

Colorful, imaginative and lots of FUN!

hmmmm, maybe I should consider getting one...

more toile...

So, aren't these lovely little tulips?!

wow, it is like a breath of spring in the house...

I sent in my submission to Spoonflower's Toile challenge.

I had several colors to choose from, but liked this "mustard" color with the dark taupe outline.

This one is called, "Circle of Friends" and I like it a lot.

The other colors are nice, too.....

As a coordinating pattern for the "Circle of Friends" I have designed these stripes. 

I am pretty pleased with how they look, but need to figure out a few more patterns to go with the two finished patterns .....

.....what do you think?

The photos aren't very good - sorry 'bout that.

xo

Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts, okay?

thanks!

TOILE

Well, I have found inspiration again!

I do not know exactly where it came from, but I cannot stop sketching out ideas and thinking about colors .....

Here are some of the things that I have been working on for the next Spoonflower challenge - TOILE. I am so pleased with what is happening and excited to try more...

Above is my first attempt at a more "graphic" toile - hmmmmmmm....

I think that having a weekly challenge is so good for me because it makes me think "out of the box". I have always been good "thinking on my feet" and this is a good exercise of that.

I have also been talking to Danielle in London via Skype, which is fantastic! It makes me sooo happy! We are both amazed at the possibilities.

These houses (top and bottom) are more "me", but not quite what you might think of for a toile.  Still, they may work. I am going to play with the pattern a little more.

This last one is "A Circle of Friends" and is very nice when repeated. I am working on the flowers around it a little more, so the dancers will have a bit more "frame" around them.

It is a good time right now - beginning the decade. A clean, fresh slate awaits. Don't waste it!

Do something you have always wanted to do! Be silly...paint the wall in the bathroom a crazy color. Make something with you hands - a big, hearty soup from scratch. How 'bout cookies?! hmmmm, I might have to do that....

Stay warm and cozy and find something to make you smile. Today is worth that - and so are YOU!

Charley Harper

Several months ago, I was in a wonderful little shop here in Santa Fe ("one of one") I struck up a conversation with the owner, Melissa, about an artist named Charley Harper.

I was looking at some of the wonderful cards and calendars that she had of his work...and then she pulled out a beee-utiful book done by Todd Oldham: "Charley Harper, an illustrated life"

wow....

check out this tiled wall! ...can you imagine?    ...wow......

 (click on the photo to enlarge)

As we talked, Melissa told me about the day that a couple walked in and commented that the shop had "some of Charley's work".. She talked to them and found they were Todd Oldham's parents (!) ...another "wow".......and they live in Taos.........
I spent a long time looking at the beeee-utiful book, and then she asked if I would like to borrow it. I was blown away. 

These pictures are from that book. I apologize for the quality, but if you look "through" my lack of photographic expertise, you will see how incredible his style and keen design sense is. 

What an inspiration...

more MAGIC

Just going through my photos and found this one from my childhood book, "Ring-A-Ling"...

It still thrills me to see these pictures - such memories do not disappear.

I used to pretend that I knew what this mouse was cooking. I also wanted to live in her house in the tree. What a magical time childhood is, both from the child's perspective and the parent's.

BIRDS

I have finally done it!

My friend, Becky came over today to help me get this image of birds uploaded to Spoonflower. Tomorrow is the deadline for this week's challenge of BIRDS. They gave four (or five) colors for the "challenge palette," which is very different for me, but I LOVED it! I am pleased with what I did, but it is not over yet. Now, you must ALL go to Spoonflower and VOTE for my pattern (if you like it, of course)

Thanks for your support, everybody!

Happy 2010 to ALL!

An angel left these under the tree and I feel like the luckiest girl on earth.

I know that they will take very good care of me this year.

(and lead me in the right direction?)

A very HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you out there who might happen across my little blog.

I made this stamp and am sooo happy with the results.

Chances are that some of you might actually get one in the mail...

Hope the year brings all good things to you..

May we all cherish each moment we have and appreciate all the little things.

xoxoxoxo