"Nephi Get Burrito", "If the Shoe Fits!", First Day of Autumn...

Between Christian's techie know-how, and Mikelle's strange creativity, the kids created a video called "Nephi Get Burrito". They were assigned a stop-motion Book of Mormon video for Family Home Evening (FHE). I guess we should have specified that it had to be true to the story. Still, even with the warped "artistic license" that was taken, I still believe it's a classic.

I originally didn't want to put it on YouTube, because have you ever seen the comments people leave on YouTube? However, I discovered there was a way you can put the video on there and have the settings set to be able to 'approve" comments before they're posted. Perfect. So the see the above video. Click here! 

"Nephi Get Burrito" is an adaption of Nephi and his brothers going back into Jerusalem to retrieve the Brass Plates from the evil Laban. To see the actual context of the story, click here. 

Buck Cluck

Mikelle and Christian's unusual and creative adaptation of the story reminds me of the movie "Chicken Little" when at the end, Hollywood wanted to make a movie about everything that had happened. Chicken Little expressed his concern about whether they would stay true to the actual story. Buck Cluck (voiced by Garry Marshall) said, "Oh, son. These people are from Hollywood. The one thing they will never do is mess with a good story...." lol 

(Now I need to watch that movie. One of my favorites!) 

A day or so earlier, Mikelle and Christian created this little gem called "News 8". (It's not on YouTube, just on a Public setting on my Facebook)

News 8 has more of the Dragon character in it that was only barely shown in "Nephi Get Burrito". One thing I would have liked to see from Nephi Get Burrito is a chase scene with the dragon after Laban kept the "precious grapes". 

If the Shoe Fits

I added more Halloween artwork to my Etsy shop. This one is called 'If the Shoe Fits' with a witchy theme. 

And here is a better scan image of the first Halloween Image "All Hallows Eve"

ABOUT

I also created an 'About' page on Etsy! I don't know if that's going to help bring in more traffic and business, but it can't hurt, right? 

It has a nice heading with a little slide show of art examples, along with a nice presentation and background of the art and who I am, blah blah blah.

FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN

Yesterday was the Autumnal Equinox of 2012. And it's going to be 106 today. Thankfully we'll be in double digits next week and I'm crossing my fingers it stays that way. I've started roller blading again, but only in the mornings to take Christian to school. Plus, he needs the exercise on his bike. It's impossible to get that kid to play outside - even when it's descent outside - as he's so in to the computer and other gadgets.

Just ending with this tortuous picture (sigh):

Fall Is In the Air!

Well, sort of. It's still very warm, but there are signs that Autumn is coming. Sure, I'm sad we cannot have this season as other parts of the country, but at least another Summer is coming to a close!

To the left is a Blue and Gold partial color motif I finished and posted it to the Etsy shop earlier this week! 

If we add another bird to our "brood" it'll be a Blue and Gold. But that'll have to wait for the Wickenburg house.

Moving along...the air is cooler in the mornings and Halloween is coming! And you know what that means? I get all crazy excited and obsessive! Yay! Here is my first of who knows how many Halloween motifs. This (below) hasn't been scanned yet, but I did post it to Etsy anyway taken with the camera.

Why it is tilted that way, I don't know. It's not how I saved and edited it. We'll try this one (below).

I'm already working on another Halloween one (hint: It'll be Witchy) until a client gives me info for a custom motif she would like me to make for her daughter.

Moving along...last month, after I finished the San Antonio Temple motif, I completed a second one with a custom twist for my nephew and his wife who were married last December. i couldn't post it right away because they hadn't seen it yet. I was slow getting the frame and having it sent to them, but finally, it is in their hands! Therefore, I can share it now. 

It says "Example" because it's one of the samples on the Etsy site of custom temple motifs that I can complete for others. Mikkel and Lise of course do not have that on the original work I sent them.

I've also made this and posted it on a few Facebook pages. Of course traffic is still slow.

In addition to the Blue and Gold Macaw tribute above, here is one that pays homage to my ultime "dream" bird - the Blue Hyacinth Macaw. If you really want to know why it's a "dream" bird, google the price of these beauties. 

Back when I was finishing up my last year at San Tan Foothills, I did this Watercolor of a Blue Hyacinth . I gave it some last minute touch-ups and added it as well. 

And to end with something completely unrelated and has nothing to do with my art, it's this silly 23 second stop-motion video Christian and Mikelle made today. My favorite part is when the Dragon returns at the end. 

Click Here.

Taking a Second to Remember...

First, it's important to take a second to remember the fateful day of 9/11/01. It's crazy that it's been 11 years. Mikelle was just 13 months old. I was surprised that my NYC Motif has had some attention on Etsy. Not a sale of a print, per se, but a few have added it to their "Favorites". I am quite honored! 

I am sure past 9/11 entries I may have gotten into where I was when I heard 11 years ago. If I haven't, I'll come back and add an edit to this entry.

On the subject of art, here is the completed Salt Lake Temple Motif. It has already been added to my Etsy shop as well:

I have more completed artwork to add, but the computer has been quirky with the thumb drive that has the scans on it. Therefore, this is an abbreviated posting. 

X-Man Diaper Fetching
Oh, I almost forgot. Mikelle took a cute video of X-Man last week. As always, I gave it a public setting on Facebook because it's still a pain to try to put videos on here. Here is the link: Clicky Here

Salt Lake Temple Art and Day of the Dead Large Motif

I've been pretty stubborn about doing the Utah temples in my Motif art. Why? Well, sure, Utah is the "hub", but so much of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exists outside Utah. I wanted to make sure I gave it that approach first. 

Well, I've had multiple requests for the Salt Lake Temple, so here it is. It's not quite finished yet, but it's pretty darn close.

It will be finished before Tuesday and Chris will take it to work to scan it then. After that, I'll have it available in my Etsy Shop. It'll be available in a 12x12 size for $25, a 14x14 for $28.

I also finished my huge color Day of the Dead/Dia De Las Muertos Large Motif. I intend for the original to go to Sundust. I just have to get a matte cut for it. I'll put a color print option available on Etsy as well.

He Thinks He's Big People

8/31/12 20 Months Old

AleXander is certainly trying to let us know he's in a big hurry to grow up. 

He reminds me of little tiny dogs who stand up to the big dogs because they don't realize how small they are.

I know it's hard to realize how small you are when you're only around big people. Christian is 8 and Mikelle is 12, and then there's Mom and Dad. When I take Christian to Cub Scouts and they're all playing basketball in the Cultural Hall, Alexander gets so excited, yells "Ballll!" and runs into the middle of the game as if he's the star player with no sense of how much bigger those boys are and any danger involved.

It's sad for me because I want my baby to stay a baby as long as possible. On the flip side, I love seeing him learn and grow and what he gets excited about. 

And boy, is he talking. I used to be able to make a cute short list of the words he says or tries to say. Now I've lost track! And we're still working on "please" though! 

Trying a little list even though I know I'll leave stuff off:

Big Bird - Big-Buh 0r Buh Buh

Spongebob - Buh Bob! 

Elmo - "Mo"

Remote - "Mo"

Jesus - Jeesah

Nose - No

Ear - Ear (with an "ah" for the r)

Eye - Eye

Snake - Nake
Blue - Boo 
Steve (as in "Blues Clues") - Deev

Mao Zedong

Ball - Ball

Daddy - Daddy

Mommy - Ma

Doggie - Was "Doggie", now is just "Dog" 

Fish - Feese or Feesh
Dorothy - "Dothy" For Elmo's fish Dorothy

Star - Dar
Flower - Wowwuh

Door - Doh

Moon - Boon

Tree - Tee

Bird - Buhh

Airplane - I can't make the word for it, but I know it when I hear it and he's pointing in the sky.

Cat - Mow (for "Meow") Pronounced like "Mao" (right)

And one of his fun noises and terms of endearments? Snorty Pig noises. Gotta love that kid!

Can you tell he loves hats? He's rocking his big sister's Fedora and a Halloween felt candy holder:

When his big brother Christian was 18 months, I put him in his dad's Fedora, a big shirt and one of dad's ties to get this adorable shot. It was August 2005:

Christian 18 Months 8/2005

Due to my summer "blahs" I didn't get around to doing the same with Alexander until a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, my friend Mindy was ready and willing with the camera. You can't tell Christian and Alexander are brothers, can you? ;-)

 

8/31/12 20 Months Old

 We would had more smiley pics, but despite a long morning nap, X-man was in a MOOD. He's generally a very happy kid, but not free of drama and when he is in a different mood, he makes sure you know about it. (nah, not one of my kids, right?)

And trades are great. For Mindy's services, she walked away with one of my Lehi's Dream prints in a black 12x12 frame. 

Oh wait, that's the right frame but that's not Lehi's Dream. That's my London Motif. Here is the Lehi's Dream in a frame:

And get this - When my ETSY Shop went live a few weeks ago, I thought my Washington DC print was available and listed! Somehow I left it off and didn't notice until today! Here it is! I'll also have a 14x14 $30.00 listing in addition to a 12x12 listing.

HAPPY LABOR DAY

Come on, Autumn! It's not fair for the rest of the country to break out sweatshirts and have the crispness in the air while we're still sweating it out. This is a another hard part of summer because it drags on!