An Early Christmas...

Well, hello there my friends! I hope you are all having a most wonderful season... and not getting too wrapped up in the commercialism/marketing machine that seems to run rampant this time of year, but hope you are finding time to do the things you love, with the people you love, and are remembering to find the joy in the simple things.

Since I was scheduled to be back in New Mexico for work next week, and I have no family here, I had the chance to celebrate an early Christmas as well as spend some quality time with various family & friends... and for that I am truly thankful! Most of my gifts this year were hand made, of course! Well, for the most part :). I started with the ceramic bowls I made & filled them full of little goodies (coffees, teas, salsas, chocolate of course, gift cards for the teens, even a lottery ticket here & there, 'cause hey, ya never know!) Then I shrink wrapped them, added a pretty bow & whala! Instant gift! They were really fun to make!

I think they went over well, too... so that made me happy! So while everyone is finishing last minute shopping, I have already celebrated, so now I can focus on other things... like trying to find a relatively inexpensive... as if that exists... place to live in Santa Fe. Since I'll be staying with friends this year on Christmas, and my ornaments are in storage... I appreciated spending time admiring my mom's tree... and my mom for that matter!

Mom- decorating :)

Beyond all the gift bowl making, & running around visiting people, I also had a bit of time to relax, walk along the ocean & soak up some Southern California sunshine & warmth. And now, after 2 days of driving, I am safe & sound back in Santa Fe... missing my family, but looking forward to starting the next chapter of my life.

:)

Hope you are all well & enjoying the warmth of family & friends!

♡♡♡

And a special thanks to my mom... for all you do, for who you are... I hope you know the difference you make in all the lives you touch!

Photo Etching~ The Good Stuff~ Take 2

Here are the results of my 2nd print... still a ways to go, but I really liked the way this one turned out. I am a little partial though, due to the subject matter... 'cause it's my mom! This picture was originally taken about 36 years ago, sometime in the early 70's by my dad using slide film & an old 35mm camera. I just recently got it printed & had a digital file made. I love this picture... mom barefoot & raking the yard! Even though we didn't have much compared to what everyone has these days, we had what we needed, and I am glad to have grown up this way. We had a very small house (my brother's room was the hallway!), but we had lots of open space... and dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, goats and a garden. As a kid... it felt like a little farm... and since there were no tract homes, just open space around... there were lots of places to run free & explore. But, I digress! Back to printmaking. So here's what the photo looked like after transferring from slide to digital to print:

Then~ etched, inked, wiped & ready to print~

And~ The Final Print!

While this technique is extremely labor intensive ( it took about 10 hours of work for the whole process to get the print of the van below, & the print of my mom shown here) I am really liking where this could go...