Relaxing after Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is over now and the black Friday sales are going strong...I guess. I don't participate in shopping the day after Thanksgiving anymore.  When I was younger, we would go out shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but that was before all of the Midnight (and now earlier) sales became so popular.  We used to get up (not early) and go out to the mall and spend several hours shopping. But I am not about to go out at midnight on Thanksgiving and shop.  I guess its just not for the non-shoppers...like me.  I like to enjoy the holiday a little bit longer and relax while I visit with my parents at their house. I will be back to the studio in a couple of days, working on Christmas commissions. Shown here is one that I finished and the recipient has already seen it so, I'm going to post a picture of it now.    It is an 8 x 10 pen and ink home illustration.  I have a few more to finish before Christmas and several more to do after Christmas! Thank you to my customers and hope they keep coming!

I think I'll do my shopping online...later.

Beth ♥

Colors of Changing Seasons

This year the trees in our yard have had pretty colors.  I was afraid the dry summer would keep the trees from having nice colors.  Over the last week, I have managed to take some picures of the trees before the leaves dropped.  But one tree has really kept its pretty leaves longer than the rest.
This morning the frost was covering the leaves on the ground.  So I don't expect the leaves on the red tree to be around much longer.  But I've enjoyed it while it lasted.

Next post I'll show what's been on the drawing board. Enjoy the color while it lasts!

Beth ♥

Traditional Sunday Naps

Sunday naps are the best kind of naps.  I remember growing up, Sundays, of course, were the day of rest. Stores were not allowed to be open, unless it was a grocery store...and they were only allowed to sell necessities, like food.  So my memories of Sundays usually involved an afternoon nap...after church and Sunday dinner (lunch) was eaten and cleaned up.  I never was into watching sports and we didn't have hundreds of channels back then, so there was not the distraction of tv, definitely no computers or cell phone distractions...yes we actually survived without cell phones and internet! (which is probably why earlier generations can be so creative...we had to be creative growing up, to keep from being bored!...but that is another whole blog post.)  So, what was left to do on Sunday afternoons?  Take a nap...of course!

I bring this up because that is what I did today...I took a long Sunday nap. i don't have a photo of myself napping (thank goodness!), so I'm sharing a photo of my great-nephew when he was a newborn. Now they (babies) know how to nap!  I've been so busy for the last couple of weeks that I have not slowed down enough to relax much.  I finished a large commission Friday, almost finished unpacking from the Art Festival last weekend, and went to Memphis Saturday for our monthly CPSA meeting, so today I just let myself relax and take a nap. It was so nice. Even after getting an extra hour of sleep, I felt like my body just needed the rest. After I woke up, I actually felt like doing some cleaning!  Just a little bit...after all, it is Sunday, which is supposed to be a day of rest! This week, I took advantage of that.  Tomorrow brings the start of a new commission, more projects, more cleaning, and busy days ahead getting ready for the holidays.  Hope you enjoyed a nice Sunday afternoon nap today!

Beth ♥

The Art Festival...

 

...is finally over.  We traveled to Georgia this past weekend to participate in the John's Creek Art Festival.  The whole week before the festival we checked the weather predictions daily.  Everything sounded like it would be great weather.  We got there Friday afternoon to set up the booth and we were tired from the drive, but we managed to get the tent up, but we were extremely hot and tired by the time we were done.  But that would change throughout the weekend. Saturday we opened to nice weather.  It was a little cool, but very nice most of the day.  By closing time at 6:00, it was beginning to get a little chilly.  We were a little worried about predictions of wind overnight, but during the night it was fine, but much cooler.  Sunday morning, we arrived and began re-setting up the display and some light rain began.  It didn't last long, so I felt we would be okay...but over the course of the day, conditions deteriorated.  Apparently the storm of the century was traveling up the East coast...Hurricane Sandy decided to move in a little too close to the Atlanta area.  The last couple of hours of the show, we were dealing with gusting winds, which is not good when you are in a tent!  The photo I am sharing is from Saturday, when the weather was good.  Sunday, I didn't take any photos. I was too busy trying to stay warm and hold the sides of the tent down!

Even though the weather was disappointing, to say the least, I enjoyed the show, meeting new artists and seeing others that I had met before.  As usual, the Splash Festival organizers did a great job! But I am glad its over. We were both exhausted from trying to keep from blowing away with our tent! Now back to work on commissions.

Beth ♥