Best Girlfriend

This is my best girl friend....I met her through a beginning calligraphy class and we became best friends. Philbrook Museum is hosting a calligraphy exhibit where she has two amazing pieces of art that are presently displayed. I did photograph her two pieces with my digital camera but with the lighting....they just didn't show well for my blog....but her waving hands teasing me did....

She is on her way to becoming a published children's book author and illustrator. She has so much talent!

Gone to Ireland

Our daughter has graduated from the University of Tulsa School of Law with honors. The weekend after graduation she immediately began an intensive study for the bar exam. She said she was only going to take it once. The passing score won't be confirmed until mid-September. However, she's confident that she passed and has turned in her books. YEAH!

So our trip to Ireland is our gift to her. She studied a semester in Dublin and loved it. My husband's family is from Ireland and we plan on visiting many cousins while there. We don't have any set agenda.....just to have fun.

We all are traveling light because we've rented a car to sight-see on our own, staying at bed and breakfast establishments. The exception is that we stay our first night in a castle in Shannon and the last remaining three days in a castle in Dublin.

I have made a sketchbook with Arches Text Wove and taking a travel watercolor set and one pen. Mari Le Glatin Keis convinced me this was the best way to capture moments after I read her awesome book, The Art of Travel with a Sketchbook.

So I'll see you in a few weeks! (The typewriter idea came from Catherine's Blog)

Jacob's Ladder Book

This is the Jacob's Ladder Book that is our latest exchange project with the art group I am involved with. Minori lives in Japan and I asked her what theme she would like her book to be. Since she said that she did not have any particular wishes, I decided to make a book about Oklahoma and Tulsa. (She already probably knows more about this state and the area of country I live in than I do but I could not resist)! The western theme goes well with Oklahoma. That's me at age three.....being the cowgirl.

The first stop I made was to the Lyon's Indian Store to purchase postcards. We have the Five Civilized Tribes here in Oklahoma, but they only had postcards for four tribes....darn! I may check back with them when their stock has been replenished before I send the book to Japan. But right now, there is one tribe missing.

The other aspect about Oklahoma is the number of horses we have in this state. Did you know that Oklahoma has more horses per capita than any other state in the U.S.? We have over 300,000 and the variety of sizes and colors of the horse population adds to the mosaic of the Oklahoma landscape. (This information was on the back of the postcard).

I decided to make a box to fit the book. My first thought was just have the postcards mounted on heavy cardstock and there would be enough weight to play with the book structure....but I was wrong. So I had to take the book structure apart and make matboard tiles to hold the postcards. The size of the book was dictated of course by the postcard size....so it is now very heavy - the complete opposite of what I started with!

I purchased a belt several years ago at a garage or estate sale to use later in my artwork. I completely took the belt apart and salvaged the parts that I thought I'd use "someday". Well, doesn't the closure for the box work perfectly with the rawhide strips - completely unaltered!

I really love my new western stamps, too. Stamp Diva has a great selection. So I will now show you the book structure and let you enjoy the photos without my comments.













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Summer in Tulsa

My neighbor Holly has a great gardening thumb and these are the photos of the beautiful landscape that I get to enjoy all year long!

This is the view of our side yard looking into her yard. The very dear neighbors we had before only had a beautiful green lawn. Bernie always wanted to plant flowers but her extremely frugal husband Eli was against such a frivolous expense. They were the original owners to the property and raised their family there for forty-five years.

The new owners were so excited to have this "blank" canvas in which to paint with flowers. Holly has done an incredible transformation. Bernie has passed on and it gives me great pleasure to know that her property is brimming with luscious plants!

The Other Paris

Okay, so Charles City, Iowa is not the same as visiting Paris. One of these days soon....I'll have an opportunity to visit Paris. In the meantime, it's off to Iowa to spend July 4th with my sister Annie and her family. We've been getting together over this holiday for about twenty years now. Sometimes we meet around Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas, too.

The best thing about traveling to Iowa is the very nice and welcoming cool weather compared to the ovens of Oklahoma! It's so refreshing. And the second great thing is that we travel through Kansas City and I get a chance to see one of my favorite brothers, Paul and his amazing wife and family. The visit will be too short!

One of the big attractions that my husband and I always look forward to is the small town parade. It is an absolutely "must" see experience. It always makes me cry because everyone knows everyone and the whole spirit is terrific. Charles City is known as American's hometown. There will be antique tractors, new farm equipment, the local fire department, and the local horse club. Then there are many surprises of floats and advertising of small businesses.

I also want to mention that the fireworks display is beyond Tulsa. First, everyone all year long donate to the fireworks in the donation jars set in all the businesses for the whole year. They raise a ton of money.....so look north...you'll see incredible fireworks!

So I am off to see I O W A ! ! !

(The recent floods have really created hardships for the farmers and city folks. I pray their recovery from this disaster is speedy!)