Working on Illustrations

For years I have had it on my list of things to do -- to illustrate a book of the silly songs my mom sang with us growing up as a gift for her.  This year I decided it was time to buckle down and do it.  I asked Teri if she'd illustrates some songs too, and Ashlee who just started teaching this year didn't have time, but her kids did one song for the book as well.  Tamsyn also did 2 songs and Natasha helped me with one.  During the whole process, I couldn't post any pictures, but I was having a daily drawing contest with Jackson Allen.  We both had to draw 5 sketches a week and have one of them be something that was more finished.  It was good motivation for me to keep drawing everyday and thanks to that little competition, I not only finished the book, I also finished several nesting dolls as well.  Here are some of the sketches and illustrations in progress. I thought it would be fun to illustrate every song in a slightly different style. So there are collages in paper and fabric, pen drawings, marker, colored pencil and paintings as well as mixed media.

Click on this link to see a PDF of the book

Dec 16 - Tamsyn's Birthday

Tamsyn is 12!
She is a super intelligent, sweet, cat loving, creative, caring, fast running, little plant and animal enthusiast.



Tamsyn wanted a peppermint ice-cream cake.  I made brownie layers to go below and on top of the ice-cream, and bought peppermint oreos to put as a layer in between as well and a center of fudge.  I then used chocolate shell ice cream topping to get the hard chocolate surface on top.  It was super tasty and turned out pretty cute too.


Tamsyn asked for wax to use for sculptures of Chrismas, so we decided to get her sculpey - modeling clay that you bake.  She has made lots of really cute things with it already.


She got money and cards from Grandma and Grandpa Hyde, and Helen and Hy and got this painted rock and money for savings from Grandma Alyce and Grandpa Bill.  Thurston gave her a scratch sketchbook he picked out at the school holiday shop.

Dec 9 - Dec 14

Friday - Dec. 9th
Today school was cancelled because we had a little snow.  The kids built a fort around the fire pit and made a snow man.  We were supposed to have a HS basketball game, but that ended up getting cancelled too.

Tamsyn took these pictures.

Dantley has been asking Natasha to teach him how to sew for a while now.  Today she decided to sit down and help him.  I snapped a few pictures when I passed through her room because I thought it was cute... little did I know that just a few minutes later...























I would hear a loud shriek from Dantely followed by his footsteps running through the house to find me.  He was yelling that Natasha had sewn her finger.  She was letting him do the petal and while she was adjusting the paper that they were sewing his name on, he accidentally pushed it while her finger was under the needle.  The needle went straight through her fingernail and out the other side of her finger.  When I got to her room she was calmly waiting for me.  I turned the nob to raise the needle, but it started going back down before it was out, so we had to slide her finger off the needle.  There was even thread in it, that went through the hole in her finger.  It made me feel a bit nauseous.  Luckily Natasha stayed calm through it all.  She asked me after why I didn't take a picture of it before getting the needle out.  I sort of wish I had, because the after pictures don't show how freaky it was with the needle going through.

I wasn't sure what to do for a puncture wound so I went and got some peroxide and had her put it on it.  Which I found out when I called the nurse hotline that that was the wrong thing to do.  She said not to put peroxide on it because it delays healing and that Natasha now needed to hold her finger under running water for 5 minutes to flush the peroxide out.  I think holding it under the water hurt her more than the actual needle did.  We wrapped it up after it was cleaned out and she used it pretty well the next day at basketball practice.  It healed pretty quickly.


Barbara Sasse has been bringing over bags and bags of sample upholstery fabric from the store she works at in Portland.  I guess they are down sizing.  I told her I'd take it -- I have been using some for collage illustrations and the kids and I have been going through it looking for some that will work to make into stockings.  It is really nice designer fabric and fun just to look through -- but it is making a big mess.


Dec 10 - The big ice storm didn't hit our side of the county, but on Saturday Jake and I were planning on going to the temple to go through with Rhonda Murphy.  We ended up getting caught in traffic and were not going to be able to make the session, so we turned and headed to the outlets in Troutdale and found that all the hoopla about the ice storm wasn't for nothing.  It had gotten bad over there.  We have been wanting to go buy Jake some new work clothes and a coaching outfit or two for me, so we did that before heading back home.


Dec 11 -  I was contacted by someone who saw my nutcracker nesting dolls on an old blog or website of mine.  He asked if he could order one to use to put the ring in for when he proposed to his girlfriend.   I haven't painted any for a while, but I decided I could for something like that.  Here is a photo of them in progress.


Tamsyn met with the Beehive presidency and sister Norman on Sunday.  They welcomed her into Beehives and gave her this fleece blanket.  She will soon be in my class!



These two... just goofing around.

Here are the finished nutcracker nesting dolls.


Dec 13
Dantley's kindergarten class made gingerbread houses out of milk cartons and graham crackers.  He was pretty proud of his. His teacher sent me the picture from school.


Jake went to Alaska for work.  He left on Sunday the 11th and came back on Friday the 16th.  It was going to be a crazy week without him, with lots of babysitters -- but school and games were cancelled several of the days, so it didn't go as planned.


Tamsyn's concert was on Tuesday the 13th.  The 6th grade choir is pretty small. Dantley went with me and took some selfies while were waiting for the concert to start.



Tamsyn had two solos and one speaking part.  She did a really good job, and isn't afraid to sing out nice and strong. The last two numbers were combined with the 7th/8th grade choirs.






Dec 14 - A couple ornaments Dantley brought home from school.



Thurston got a certificate during the school assembly today for excellence in Gratitude.