Happy Halloween!

Henri' and friends

Well, sometimes Henri's friends are hiding on him or he forgets where he played with them last and he hunts and hunts for them.  Relentlessly.  So here they are all together.  Him and all four of his favorite playmates.  Happily napping.  Quiet time.  Shhhhhhhhhhhhh...

and the rest of the story...

Contiuing with memories of our trip to Maryland, our walks through the neighborhood were enlightening with all the pretty houses and fall decorations.

Saving a caterpillar who was slowly getting across the road.

 "don't worry, we will put you in the grass where it's safe."

Birdwatching.  That's a Mockingbird!

Visiting the cows a few blocks away.

Look at these different faces and personalities!

Curious?

Time to relax.

 Puzzle solving.

The little neighborhood grocery.  How many days till Christmas!!!

Family dinners.

A happy birthday!

A concert.  All nice things to remember.

Then it was time to go.  Back on the plane, till next time.  "Good-bye, Maryland."

and "Hello, Illinois". 

The start of something good...

Yes Audrey!  Check out our new blog http://www.bestcookseast.blogspot.com/  . 
And everyone remember Audrey's http://www.heywhatscookinmom.blogspot.com/  and Marge's http://www.rotatingkitchens.blogspot.com/ . 

Maryland's Pumpkin Patch

 Back to our trip to Maryland, the outing for this day was this big colorful barn...with a great little gift shop inside!

I love all these different kinds of squashes!

So pretty!

Boasting their colors!

The hayride was fun, riding through the beautiful countryside.

The pumpkin patch seemed to go on forever.

Looking for the right one.

All waiting to be chosen.

We found the one!

Beautiful horses to give wagon rides.

Peaceful country.

Minding the straw bales.

Weeky Stuff

Monday was Calligraphy class and we are going to make a little book to put our alphabet practice papers in.

Tuesday, I thought I'd better finish my Halloween card!

Wednesday morning was my collage class and we are beginning to make an altered board book, so lots of sanding and coating with gesso going on!

Writing thoughts about our theme, "The Days of My Life". 

 Brainstorming.

Thoughts about our pages.

And searching for papers to satisfy those thoughts.

Wednesday afternoon was Quilting Class and here is a little "ten-minute" table runner we made!

Today was Pen & Ink and I am still hunting for a third leaf with a face and personality.  "Wooo-hooo where are you?"

Yesterday's art lesson

This watercolor leaves art lesson is from http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/ .  While Danielle was here yesterday, i went out and gathered some fallen leaves.  I set them all out on the table and Danielle drew the shapes of the various leaves on watercolor paper using Crayola Oil Pastels.  After the leaves were drawn, she filled in the background and the leaves with watercolor washes that I had mixed.  The colors mingled and puddled in spots and gave interesting effects.  The oil pastels resisted the paint and it was a fun and magical project!  She loved it.  Thank you, Patty!

Carvings...

Getting back to Maryland, I wanted to show you Chuck's woodcarving studio.  It's a wonderful, creative place to be.  I know my woodcarving friends will be interested to see!

Here he is at work.  Chuck enjoys "relief" carving and I think he is a master at it.  Every piece is a treasure.  Relief carving is where figures are carved in a flat panel of wood.

The process involves removing wood from the flat panel in such a way that an object appears to rise out of the wood.

It begins with a design idea, usually put to paper in the form of a master pattern, which is then transferred to the wood surface.

 Beautiful scenes. 

Some painted.

 Some stained.

 I am lucky enough to have one of his plates hanging in my home.

 His reference drawing hangs on the wall as he carves out the scene.

 Some of his finished pieces hanging in their home.

and wonderful Santas on the mantle.