A birthday dedication to an amazing father

I know this may be a bit strange to write about, but today my father would have been 100 years old.

I also know that if cancer didn’t take him from us, he would have made it to 100.

For those of you who follow my blog, we are of Middle Eastern decent.  Big family.. lots of love, laughs and eating…. you know how that goes in big families… and yes a bit of craziness too.

My dad was born in 1912, came to America as a young boy, went back to the old country to choose a wife (yes, choose) and brought my mom back to America to live a bring up a family.  A family that grew into the 7 of us.. mom, dad, 4 girls (Joan, Liz, Linda and Judy) and 1 boy (Joe).

Dad was our King and Mom is still our queen.  His love for his wife and children was second to none.  He was always there for us, no matter what.  He would be so proud to see his 12 grandchildren grow and succeed and now his great grandchildren come into this world and join the family.  Yes, dad, you now have 6 great grandchildren and 2 more on the way any day now.   How proud he would be to see all of this.  But, I know he is looking down on us and is proud.

It’s hard to believe the 12 years has passed since he left us, but he is always thought of… always.

It’s interesting that the number 12 is coming up a lot.  He was born in 1912, passed away 12 years ago and has 12 grandchildren.   l love when that happens.

On behalf of my 4 other siblings and my mom, who is our rock to this day, we want to say Happy Birthday to an amazing father.  Happy Birthday, Dad.. we love you and miss you.

Love,

Your Number 5

Judy ♥

A Dedication to ….. …my daughters!

Hey Blogsters..

I’m going to just jump in here and show two lovely young ladies how much I love them and how proud I am of them.  So, I’m dedicating this post to my two daughters, Megan and Rachel.

Their fun and humorous creativity just touches me.  How many times have I said to them “want to do some art in the studio”?  Their reply was usually “no”.    Is it not cool to sit with mom and be creative?  Maybe when they were younger, but the last several years has been a big fat NO.

With that said, take a look at creativity in action with some of their work.

First, there is Meg.. She’s going into her Sophomore year at college in the Fall.  She brought home her art portfolio from her drawing class; take a look.

These are canvas boards are 16 x 20″

This one below is a huge sheet of drawing paper about  18 x 26″.

Another large drawing; 22 x 30″.

Rachel is going into her Junior year in High School.  She made this book from the both of them for mother’s day; I just love it and will treasure it forever.  Sneak a peek at a couple of pages.  Size is 5 x 5.

I guess being creative myself all these years did rub off on them somehow.. I’m so proud of them in everything they do.

Love you, Meg and Rach♥

Mom

Thanks for stopping by.

Next up….. my favorite new books and dvds – a review

Painted Pottery.. just for fun

Hey Blogsters:

To mix things up a bit and to just have fun,  I did something different from my usual creations.  I went to a paint your own pottery place with my two teenage daughters (19 and 15).

There is a place not to far from us called, ironically, Paint Your Own Pottery (PYOP).  Check out this great place.   This is an open, clean and friendly place for ALL ages.  The owner Vaishali Patel, is wonderful, along with her staff.

After it took me 30 minutes to pick out the bisque (because of her large selection) I wanted to paint, I then spent another 3 hours painting it.  What?  3 hours?  I know.

I decided to paint a large serving bowl, about 16″ round.  I thought it would have been easy to just slap on the paint, but there really is a method to it.  Don’t ask me why, but I decided to paint a little girly face in the center of the bowl.. and that took an hour itself because I had to work down in the base of the bowl with these tiny needle nose bottles of color.  The outside is painted with turquoise and then I dripped a dark purple around the edges so they would drip into the center.  I then added red dots along the bowls edge.

Here is a picture of my bowl.   I am very happy with it and my girls are loving their pieces also.

Sometimes it’s good to do something artistically different from the norm.  Especially if you have a bit of a creative block.  Shake things up a bit.

Thank you, Vaishali, for a fun and relaxing visit.

Thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Next up…. Buttons, Buttons, Buttons!

Love Letters

Hey Blogsters…

We are enjoying the 50′s here this weekend.  How nice to have the sun shining down on me when I was out for my walk this morning.  It may be a tease for now, but we’ll take it.  As they say in New England.. “if you don’t like the weather… wait a minute”.

About 5 years ago I started making mixed media customized wooden art letters for family and friends.   The look on their faces when they open the gift and see their own personal initial that has been decorated with them in mind, is the most satisfying feeling you can imagine.

Here are some letters I’ve made over the years; they are proudly hung in each of their homes.

This is just a few of them.  They are all made with each individual in mind.  All (except one) here was made for my adult nieces and nephews.  I’ve put some found objects that mean a lot to each of them.   For example… a key from my father’s basement from years ago.. or a my mother’s old jewelry.  They’ll now have a piece of their grandparents with them forever.

Most of them have copper tape running around the outside edge.  Take a closer look and you can see the details of the decorative paper,  found objects,  stamping, embossing, old and new jewelry and, of course, polymer clay.

If you need a creative gift for someone, consider making a Love Letter.. it will go a long way and anything made from the heart will never be forgotten.

Thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Next up…. Painting Pottery

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hey Blogsters!

This post is dedicated to my mom who will be 84 this week.  To all she touches, she is our mother, grandmother, sister, neighbor, chef (still cooking for her family) and friend.  One of the wisest woman you’ll ever meet.

How can I begin to tell you what my life has been like with such a wonderful woman, like my mom, guiding me all these years. Being the youngest of 5 siblings (4 girls, 1 boy), I may have been a bit more free wild growing up in the 60′s and in my teens in the 70′s.

My mom, Georgette, came to America, from the Middle East, with no education at all and not knowing one word of English and 14 years younger than my dad.  She was a stranger in a strange land.  My dad always related their life to the song sung by Tony Bennett, “Stranger in Paradise”.. and it was.  That song can be emotional for me; especially since my dad has passed (10 years ago).

You see, my dad (Fred) came to America, also from the Middle East, when he was 11 years old. He went back to Syria at the age of 32 to choose (yes, choose) a wife going door to door (yes,  “door to door”) over a ten month period of time visiting many families with single daughters.  I remember him telling me that if he wasn’t interested in the women, he would jingle his car keys to give the signal to his friend, who accompanied him, that is was time to leave.   At the end of his search, he chose my mom.  They married in Syria, then mom left her mother and siblings behind to find a better life.

If you’d like to see the handmade journal I did about my dad’s life journey, click here.

Dad brought her back to the USA to live with him and his family (his 6 siblings… I know).   She inherited 2 brothers in law and 4 sisters in law.  With no English to be spoken, she was a stranger indeed.

After 15 years and having 5 children of her own, we moved to a home of our own.  I was 2.     Even in our own home, mom was the go to person.  She did all the holiday parties at our house, did all the cooking.. gosh, I don’ t how she really did it, feeding a family of 7 every night..  I can’t hardly keep up with 4.

As my mom reaches yet another birthday year, we are truly blessed to have this strong woman still in our lives.  She always tells me how proud she is of all 5 of the kids, but we are more proud of her.

Thanks, Mom and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

All My Love,

Judy (aka #5)

A lovely celebration…

Hey Blogsters!

This week (Sunday, actually) I celebrated my birthday and turned the big 50!  Yes, I have completed 50 years of my life.  I got calls from everyone.  I kept saying I was trying to ignore that I was turning 50, but everyone kept reminding me… ha!

They say time goes by so fast and you really don’t understand that when you’re young, free and having way too much fun… yet it is true.  You watch your children grow from little peanuts to beautiful young adults, mourn family members whose time came to leave this earth, watch your nieces and nephews, that you held in your arms as infants, get married and have their own children………..and  BOOM, you’re 50!  Um, what just happened?  But, I must say, and yes, I must, that all is good and I could never ask for anything more than what I have right now, right this moment.. that’s all I can control.. right now.  Life is good.

So, with that said, after a lovely surprise dinner celebration with some of the most favorite loved ones in my life, I have to share a gift with you from my most amazing niece, Christina.  You remember Nina?.. named after my “Nina Pods”? She’s the one that wrote the poem to go with them; click here for the Nina Pod post.

Nina’s gift to me was 50 things I love… a huge basket of 50 things.. imagine that?  They weren’t big things, just beautiful little treasures that she knew I would love like body lotions, stationary, vintage images, beautiful tissue papers, candles.. so you get the idea, right?  However, I think my favorite part of her gift was her card she made me.  A handmade fabric card that just left me in awe of her work.  Take a look and you’ll see what I mean:

Measurements:  12″ tall x approx. 7″ wide (folded)

See what I mean… how special, don’t you think?  I’ll treasure it always.

Thank you Donnie (a great and supportive hunk of Irish joy), Megan (daughter 1: thank you for surprising me and coming home from college), Rachel (daugher 2: a great secret keeper), Nina (well, need I say more about her), Todd (Nina’s hubby, who’s just plain awesome and so supportive), Riley and Connor (N&T’s kids:  can’t say enough about how important these kids are to me.. love them).   You all made my birthday celebration the most memorable one.  I love you with all my heart!

Nina.. can you say “blog”? … time for you to have one and show your artistic talents.

I leave you with this video of Sally O’Malley (Molly Shannon) from Saturday Night Live doing her “I’m 50″ skit with Danny Devito.. so funny.. (you have to watch a short commercial first).  Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Next up:  Mini canvas fun art!

Judy