Beach Photos Part II

These are some of my favorite photos from our beach trip.   Here's why:

Sarah Beth is obviously not cool with the sand because it makes her dirty and she doesn't like to be dirty.  Lisa and Dale are doing their best here trying to show her that it's fun stuff to play with.  Even the last day she hated it.

I just love the colors in this photo and her sweet little pose.  She wouldn't sit anywhere where sand was touching her.  It was kind of nice because I didn't worry about her wandering off.  That yellow beach towel was like a cage.

I like this one because we look like we're having a great time.  Really she was just being bribed to take a photo smiling.

I like this one because it looks like a magazine ad for some super sunscreen.  See - we've been in the sun all day and look - still white as a ghost but in a fashionable way.  And the reader of the magazine would think..."Yeah, I want to be as porcelain as they are.  They look like they're having a great time and aren't worrying a bit about skin cancer."

Eric and Lisa

Brother-in-law and sister-in-law who own the house we stayed in.  Very generous to take us on such a nice trip.

Who wouldn't want to look back a this picture in ten years and say, "You see how sweet you were?"

Shelby and Erica - Sarah Beth's cousins who are in college.  Sweet girls who make the best cousins.  Sarah Beth loves them. 

Another cool image caught by Uncle Eric.  I just like the whole shot.  Never mind the fact that Sarah Beth wanted me to pick her up the whole time because she didn't like to feel the sand on her feet.  You swear she was walking in a never-ending pile of ants.

Shelby and Erica insisted that I take photos of them jumping.  I like this one best.  I like the fact that from their knees down, their legs form a nice continuous diagonal.  As far as photography and art go - the Rule of Thirds is very clear here.

I got a little jealous and we all joined in the jump fun... except for Eric and Sarah Beth.  Eric took the photo.  Sarah Beth obsessed about her sandy feet.

Yes, this is still the beach.  It was behind me as I took this picture.  I just love this shot.

Maybe some more beach pictures later, but maybe not.  We'll see.

Budding Artist/ Obsessive Hygiene

So if you know my girl then you know she hates to get dirty.  That being said, we had some time to work on her obsession with personal hygiene.  Being an artist myself, I really want some of my strengths to come through in her so we took a trip to Hobby Lobby and bought some tempera paint (paint I have never owned due to it's cheap, temporary quality.)  For this, however, tempera was just right - no permanent stains, easy clean up, quick wash off the hands in the event of a panic. 

In the left photo, the hand holding the brush is obviously smeared with red paint.  She's not that messy.  I smeared it on her to break the ice and let her know that it was ok to get a little messy.  It took some convincing and some fake laughs on my part but she was ok.

In the right photo she's wearing Daddy's white tshirt whenever she gets the fever to create. She calls it her "paint dress".   She likes it.  You can see that there is a paint brush for every color and that none of the colors are mixed and dirty with other colors.  We established that rule early on so that colors would stay pure. 

She follows the rules gladly talking to herself as she goes along... "Now blue.  Ok. Let's put blue on the page.  Oh beautiful.  Now green.  Get the green brush.  Ok.  Oooh.  So pretty.  I love to paint."  Then, when she gets a dot of paint on her hand...  "WIPE IT OFF!  WIPE IT OFF, MOMMY!"  Once I wipe them clean we're back to, "Ok.  Now the red one..." and so on.

More beach pictures to come.

Hello and Goodbye, Beach

Dear Rosemary Beach,

Thank you for a wonderful visit.  We loved the water.  We loved the house.  We loved seeing and spending time with family.   We hope to visit again...unless you get smeared with tar. 

Love,
Sarah Beth and Kim



This is one of my all time favorite photos of Sarah Beth and me.  The wild hair, big smile, white skin even after three days in the sun.  More beach pics to come later.  Thanks Eric for the perfect lucky shot!

Fashionable Plastic Bags

Ever wonder what to do with all those Wal Mart bags lying around the house?  With an iron, some parchment paper and lots of plastic bags, you could deck yourself out in full attire.  

If you're interested in how to fuse plastic bags together, scroll down past the pictures.

My workplace put on a contest which called for us to sport our best at a fashion show.  (I'd rather sit in the corner while someone else sports my creation.)  I had decided not to participate because I didn't want to "walk the runway" for my colleagues.  One of my coworkers volunteered to don my work.  She was a good sport and won a super cool bookmark for my two-hour plastic bag dress. 

A description: 

I apologize for the poor image quality.  These were taken with my iPhone, some in the dark. 

TOP

That's me (dark hair) in my office trying it on.

I tried on the top over my white t-shirt.  The top is a strapless corset that laces up the back.  The darts in the front (which are hard to see) were made by ironing the bags together on the wrong side of the fabric where darts would have been if it were sewn together.  (confusing I know)

SHOULDER PIECE

It's basically a piece of elastic sewn in a circle with the bag straps tied on to one end.  Lots of people make no-sew tutus like this.  The same applies to the top of the back of the skirt.  It was hot glued to the rest of the skirt.

SKIRT

The base of the skirt is made of single fused layers of Wal Mart bags - thus the blue and white motif.  The only reason the front is short is because it took less time than making a long front.  I wasn't going for a Guns-n-Roses "November Rain" wedding dress.  I hadn't even seen the video until after it was made.  I was going for more of an Elizabethan style getup. 

HAIR

I made a flower with leaves coming out from it and attached it to a clip.

Fusing Plastic Bags

It's a pretty easy thing to do. 

Materials: 

two large pieces of parchment paper (not wax paper*)

scissors

iron

ironing surface

plastic bags

Prepare your plastic bags by cutting off the bottom seam and the two handles and laying the bag flat.     Set the iron to a low to medium setting.  Place one piece of parchment paper on the ironing surface.  Put a plastic bag on the parchment paper then cover it with the other piece of parchment paper.  You basically have a  sandwich -- parchment paper/plastic bag/parchment paper.  Iron over the surface of the top parchment paper at a medium speed.  Don't go slow or the bags will melt. 

The key is to test the heat of the iron on a scrap bag.  (I know, they're all scrap bags.)  If the iron is not hot enough, the bags will remain separate.  If it is too hot, the bags will form holes like Swiss cheese and disintegrate.

I've ironed up to 16 layers of bags together at a time without a problem.  More may be possible.  You just have to get used to how your iron works.  Don't give up after one try.  Just keep the bags away from direct contact with the iron.  Nothing good comes from it.

SEWING

Plastic bags make a great sewing surface.  The surface is very friendly to the sewing machine and thread holds it together remarkably well.  There's no need to worry about fraying edges either.

PAINTING

Straight acrylic paint will eventually peel off but works great for temporary stuff.  Prime the surface if you insist on using acrylic paint.  Spray paint is permanent.  Alcohol Inks (used for scrapbooking) work well and give a nice leather effect.   (The clutch below has alcohol ink painted on it and has been sewn together.)

*Wax paper will melt onto the plastic and not come off.  If you want that effect, go for it.  It works too.  That's how the flower on the purse was made. 

Good luck.  Make a purse or something.  It'll be waterproof!

Musical Obsession

Todd took SB to Toys R Us today since he's on vacation this week and it's Daddy/Daughter field trip time.  Yesterday's field trip was to Barnes and Noble where she came away with a great Eric Carle book.  Wubbzy is currently her favorite cartoon right now. 

Does it show?

This is her later that same day with an "important" (Daddy's words) other purchase made at Toys R Us.    She sat with it the rest of the day.  Strummed to her heart's content and then strummed some more.  We had to figure out a way to "put it to rest" for the night just to get her to bed. 
There has never been another toy she's enjoyed more. 

 

I'd like to see someone try to pry her little fingers off that guitar. 

Happy 2nd Birthday

This place was no strawberry patch, but it turned out just fine.  SB loved it so much that it was worth the arm and leg we paid for the place.  Happy Birthday, my sweet girl.

That's Karagan, wild child not afraid of steep slides.

 

We are waiting for a new baby cousin.

Thanks friends and family for everything.

If You're Happy and You Know It...

Then your face will surely show it...

I guess you think I picked that song just because it matches the pictures so well.  Well... you're wrong.  I just titled this post the song she was singing (and demonstrating) on her recently acquired trampoline.  Anytime I need to get her motivated to leave a place, I offer to "go home and jump on the trampoline."  When the bribe is in play, she's off to the car without even so much as a "goodbye it was nice to see you today."  I wonder if it'll still work in about 12 years?   I'm optimistic.