Holiday Happenings

 It has been awhile since my last post before Thanksgiving. I hope that those of you who celebrated had a wonderful day! Ours was on a smaller scale this year so it worked out quite well. So, where have I been????

 We all know that life happens and sometimes something not anticipated causes a change in your everyday routine. Without going into too much let me explain. Hubby has a great aunt (88) and a great uncle (94). Both live alone in their homes. For many years they have been so very kind and supportive of hubby and me despite the lack thereof by the rest of his immediate family. Aunt Betty doesn't drive so I along with some friends take her to appointments, shopping etc. Just before Thanksgiving Betty found out that her brother Truman who was still driving and handling all his affairs had a horrible fall in a parking lot. No broken bones or concussion but numerous open wounds and severe bruising etc. There is no one else to help out so I have been treating his wounds and taking him to various dr. appointments, etc. along with Betty. He should NOT be living alone but at this point refuses any other option. Uncle Truman has a mind of his own and our biggest fear is that he will get in one of his cars and drive (despite dr orders not to). Needless to say in order to prevent that from happening I am running over to him frequently. I am so very grateful that he will accept my help and I believe he is starting to realize how lonely he was since his wife died.  I have worked with the elderly all my life and know this is where I need to be right now. Hence, no Christmas shopping even started, no decorations out, and only a few cards made. But IT'S OK. It will be what it will be. Thankfully there are no little ones to get gifts for and no young ones living at home!

 I have manged to squeeze in a bit of art so here goes...

 First up is my calendar spread for December-the last class in JoAnne Sharpe's Draw Your Awesome Year online class. This is what's done so far:

   I hope to get the watercoloring done real soon. In the meantime I'm jotting down a note about each day so I can fill it in when I get a chance.

  Here are a few EASY PEASY Christmas cards I made:

  I simply used  decorative gift tags, decorative card stock and either ribbon or washi tape. Linking to the Simon Monday Challenge blog (theme is holiday cards) and the Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog (theme is Christmas/holidays).

 In looking and trying to decide what kind of online class I want to take for next year I recently discovered Wildly Inspired Wednesday through Effy Wild's blog where she posts videos , art and challenges each month. This project is the current challenge/ episode. There are 15 episodes in all and although the challeges are finished I can't wait to get the time to look at a few more and try some of them. Oh, and Effy generously offers a seat in one of her online classes each month!

 The challenge was to create this portrait using graphite, a black Stabilo All pencil and a waterbrush to pull color for shading. To complete her I used a bit of watercolor pencil, and water colors:

   I chose to add the words which kept coming to me as I was working on it. I am linking this to Art Journal Every Day and Paint Party Friday. I will try and get around to as many of you as I can-I have missed your linked art projects lately!

   " There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up."
                                                                                                                   John Andrew Holmes Jr.